Walk | Talk | Think   Rune had decided, in an odd, spur of the moment, half-insightful-half-mad sort of way, that he needed to get out of the pack lands. Not permanently - Secretua meant too much to him, to his family, for him to ever think of abandoning it, not to mention he still enjoyed being a leader for those who chose to stick around and follow his direction. But he had noticed the pack's numbers beginning to dwindle away. First one wolf would fail to make a presence for themselves, and then another, and then another. Each month seemed to drag someone else away from their pack despite his best efforts to keep them there. He knew pack life was not for all, but it irked him that they would leave without a notice.  He had begun considering the fact it might have been the types of wolves he was recruiting. Much of his efforts had been spent within the Battlefield, a place he was now realizing where only the desperate sought to find themselves a home. Maybe only the poor quality of wolves traveled there. Maybe he needed to broaden his horizons in other ways and search in places that he might never have thought to search.  It was certainly a good enough premise behind him being here of all places. Although technically he was not altogether here at all. The grey wolf stood upon the border of the territory, peering inside with a sort of perverse curiosity that expressed itself in the pinched, wrinkled state of his nose and the furrow upon his brow. The Range was certainly not his first choice. It held too many poor memories for him, too much discomfort for him to really think of venturing beyond the boundary upon which he stood. He knew, or at least the rational side of him knew, that he was being foolish to continue associating the bad that had taken place here with the empty territory, but still he could not entirely shake it. It was not a sentiment easily overlooked.  Rather than venture within and scope out the Range proper, still somewhere inside and protected by the wild and overgrown vegetation paired with unnatural and dilapidated fences, Rune paced along its edge, peering inward and wondering if anyone had chosen to reside here in the absence of his previous joke of a pack.

Now allowed outside of the den, a fact that many of the strange little family took joy in, Shakespeare Destruction would not hesitate in taking these precious opportunities to escape from his siblings when he could. He disliked the time away from his mother he was quickly realising, she was nothing but loving towards them, even Caesar and Colette despite how annoying they could be. They had been bickering again, and the quiet boy had slipped silently outside of the den to explore. The problem was he had probably ventured a little too far. His mother, father, siblings or even any of the extended family could be seen around him. He was in true isolation for the first time in his life and couldn't be entirely sure whether he liked or disliked it. Company was of course wonderful to have, though the peace away from arguing and the excitement of having this space to himself was rather gleeful for the boy. Such emotions would fade though and now he would come to wish for his parents to surround him as he caught sight of the strange grey male wandering the lands. Yellow eyes would cast a nervous glance to the path behind him, wondering if he could find his way back to the den before this wolf noticed him? It was rather unlikely though he would try anyway, moving to hopefully flee the scene.

The tall wolf was recovered completely in no short thanks to his talented sister. The toe the damned rattler bit had to be taken from him, and he would have sworn Orchid found pleasure in its removal. He'd been getting along fine without the thing and was now finding himself out in the territory once again. His first stop had been to his brother's den where his offspring had been nestled safely. They were good looking children, and rather fine additions to the Destruction line. He hadn't quite said it to the younger man, but he was proud of the accomplishment. Now if the dysfunctional couple could keep all three alive he would be floored. He hadn't been to see them recently, Isolde seemed rather nervous around him let alone around her spawn. He had no great worries however, knowing they would start exploring outside the den soon and he would surely find plenty of time with them. As he loped along he'd find the scent of one of those children, eager to see it again he would follow the trail to the borders of the Range's territory. First seeing the small form of.. Shakespeare? He thought he remembered all of their names. As he was escaping from a rather familiar looking wolf. Though they'd never spoken on a personal level Rune's appearance would bring back vague memories of Viridiana's rule. A smirk would cross his features as he came to bar the boy's path home. "Stay. You might lure your father out." Chuckling darkly he'd nudge the boy forward, he was going to greet this wolf. Maybe the boy would learn something. "Hail," he would call, greeting the grey wolf. "I've not laid eyes on you in an age." the comment would follow, his form drawing more near the border, hopefully with Shakespeare in tow. "Scorpion, and what are you doing out here?" He had no idea if the man remembered his own name, but hopefully that would clue him in that the Destruction had lost his name. "Speech"

She was drawing herself out of seclusion, abide with the mind of a wronged cat intent on pretending it had done nothing wrong. So she found herself walking across the Range as through she did so every day, until she found the scent of Scorpion, seeing no reason not to follow the scent she would do so, thinking as she did that even if she could not be a healer in a pack, she could at least look after her family – recent events showed they sure needed the care, shaking her head in disappointment at Scorpion and the lack of responsibility he had taken over his injury she saw the truth to how her family might need her. She approached Scorpion now, and saw that there was a pup with him also, not to mention the adult male that stood across from him. She didn't hesitate to continue forward and place herself by her brother, giving him a gentle nuzzle on the side of his neck as she did so, before turning her attention forward to stranger, who, now that she thought about it looked somewhat familiar – hadn't he been a part of Covari at one point? Her thoughts turned to Warja for a moment and she found she still missed her promising apprentice. ""

Walk | Talk | Think   Though he paced along the outward edge of the territory, as if afraid to taint himself with the memory of the pack that once resided here, Rune's gaze continued to glance inward. His stay had been short, and there was much of it he had not seen due to an unshakable discomfort while living there, so very little struck chords within his memory. He supposed it all looked the same, supposed not much had changed in the months, nearly a year, that he had been gone. But any and all trace of the pack that had tormented so many was gone, its border a long forgotten memory now. That, at least, was a relief.  It was quiet enough to fool him into thinking it empty, abandoned, but only until the tall, timber-colored male materialized out of the vegetation with a youngster in tow, his lengthy strides bringing him undoubtedly closer to Rune. The apparent approach caused the Guardian to stop and stand firm, his posture lifted in reflection of the responsibility he wielded now as ruler of Secretua, even if Secretua was somewhere behind him.  His brows drawn together, the look on his face as stern as it ever was, the blue-eyed wolf assessed the lanky wolf who greeted him as if in recognition and failed to draw any correlations himself. How was it that he recognized him? Where had they met before? No explanation was given, just a name offered, and even that failed to ignite any spark of clarity. This Scorpion was still nothing more than a stranger. Briefly Rune's eyes flickered down to the youth that Scorpion had brought along, assuming some sort of relation there, and up and over the female who had quietly stepped up to join them, before his puzzled gaze fixed on the tall male and a question, direct and unrelated to the stranger's inquiry, was asked. "How do you know me?"

Whilst Rune wouldn't immediately spot him, Shakespeare it seemed would have the misfortune to go running right into another wolf he didn't recognise. He was starting to have second thoughts about his wandering, it'd never caused him any trouble before but now he was surrounded, yet another wolf soon appearing to join the gathering. Though he wanted to, apparently he wasn't allowed to run though, Scorpion as he soon learnt the man was called, had commanded him to stay. Though he would have preferred his mother's company in this crowd, sure that she might perhaps pull him away from it all, right now stuck with these wolves any familiar company would be better than none. Well perhaps not any, Caesar would probably find a way to make things ten times worse for them all but he was sure his father would at least look out for him. And so Shakespeare remained frozen in the middle of the group bright eyes glancing up at each of the adults in turn, flicking to the surrounding lands as well in hopes of seeing one of his parents appear to rescue him from whatever he'd managed to walk into. It didn't seem like anyone was in trouble at least, he knew when someone had walked into that sort of mess rather well now thanks to his brother and sister.

The wolf who skirted around their home seemed completely at a loss even as his name was given. He would hold himself differently now too, with the authority of an alpha. Also interesting. Though what he would find most surprising was the hint of a whiff he would take in of Priti. Not that he was about to say anything. Orchid would come up behind him, offering a gentle nuzzle before their guest would question Scorpion. "Did you not live here for a time?" He would ask, head tilting. Surely he hadn't made some kind of mistake? He wasn't about to repeat himself either, with no more of an explanation Scorpion would watch to see if any recognition would be found in the wolf across from him. The tall man would keep his position neutral, though alert in case for some reason Rune might charge. "Speech"

Orchid would watch the exchange between the two at first in silence, her eyes moving from one to the other as each party spoke. She even spared a glance for the pup that had made its way over, a brown coated creature that she wasn't certain resembled Sol or his brood partner. Her eyes flicked back up to the speaking adults and she could feel the confusion in the air between them. Going on impulse the girl stepped partially forward, still staying at her commanding brothers side, respecting his authority as she had done her entire life. She did however speak out of turn, looking at the stranger as she asked her question. “Do you know Warja? She was my student in Covari, a promising young healer who was a pleasure to teach” she would ask and explain both, through leaving out the part that she missed teaching the other, having such a promising young student had been wondrous, and her other attempts to get a student hadn't been as successful – they almost never showed up for lessons. ""

Walk | Talk | Think   Cryptic was the best way Rune could have attempted to describe the male Scorpion's answer, a question in exchange for the question he had asked first. It was irksome not to receive a direct answer, a fact which likely made itself known in the deepening of the frown that the grey Guardian wore, but quickly, as he answered the question turned on him, he started to understand. He had lived here, yes, once upon a time. Back when he had thought he could trust his family, back when he had still called them family. Of course, they were nothing to him now, but he still remembered that time, those months when Covari, as Viridiana had called it, used to live.  He could not remember this yellow-eyed wolf, nor the other two, but the association there was enough. If they had been a part of Covari, if they had had any associations with Viridiana and the charade she had been carrying on with then he was no friend of theirs. The whole of him tensed, his stern expression becoming more aggravated, almost hostile, as he looked at each of them anew as if seeing them for the first time. No, he should not have come here. His aunt's failure still remained here after all, and he wanted nothing to do with it.  It was the woman who saved them. Rune was ready to throw some scathing remark their way and leave without a backward glance - more, in his opinion, than they deserved - but hearing his daughter's name spoken from her lips completely threw him. Confusion colored the aggravated look upon Rune's face as she spoke, and after as he tried to put the pieces together. That was right. Covari had been where Warja had first taken a shine to herbs and healing. And here, right here, was her teacher.  He was stunned. Since he had known of her desire to learn more about healing, since he had formed Secretua, he had thought about getting her another teacher, someone whose skill and expertise she could learn from and grow with. It had never dawned on him to go looking for the very same woman who had kindled that growing need to learn in the first place. "She's my daughter," he answered, his tone rigid though lacking in the hostility that had a moment ago been visible within his expression. He was still tense, still leery, but as his eyes roamed from the quiet healing instructor to the yellow-eyed Scorpion Rune dared to ask another question for himself. "You say you were part of Covari. Do you associate with them still? The ones who ruled?" He had to know, before he made a rash decision all to surprise his daughter.

Warja. Covari. Not one bit of this conversation made any sense at all to the poor child and he still failed to see why on earth it was important to stay. Would dragging his father out really make a difference would Soliloquy really be able to help? This strange male didn't seem to to be overly keen on this little gathering either and Shakespeare honestly couldn't blame him. Forget his father, he wanted his mother. Golden eyes would glance down that path that had led him here hoping that perhaps she would appear to save him from this mess he had walked into.

He wasn't entirely pleased at getting ignored twice, but he'd remain silent and let Orchid speak her mind. Rune seemed rather displeased at the words that had come from his mouth, even if the question was simple. Dark ears fell back as he stepped back for Orchid to take the reigns. The mention of the girl's name was enough to make the man pause at least and he would eventually make mention that she was indeed his very own daughter. His attention shifted, Scorpion's golden gaze connected with the man's blue orbs as another question was asked. Though he'd been offered little information himself the tall brute still felt rather relaxed, "Pft. They no longer hold any loyalty of mine." Exaggerating the offense taken as the pup at his paws looked back down the path. Was Soliloquy on his way out here? "You've still not answered any of my questions." His tone lazy as he looked back over his shoulder, hopeful to see his brother out and about before turning back to the grey man before them curiously.

Kids had a tendency to stray. Three of them and two adults left you kind of outnumbered if one cleared off one way and the other two in other directions there was no way you could follow them all, you just had to try your best to round them all up one at a time. When it was time for dinner you would have thought that plan was easier and yet Shakespeare was not anywhere in sight. It was time to go and find him again it seemed. Caesar left a trail of chaos behind him, Colette was easy to follow by sound but Shakespeare was certainly a little better at travelling undetected. It was surprisingly easy to find him, caught in the middle of a meeting it appeared. He would have casually approached declaring that the pup had finally met his Uncle Scorpion and Aunt Orchid but there was of course this third adult that caught his attention. And so of course Shakespeare would be momentarily ignored as he addressed the matter at hand. "What's going on here?" He enquired as he came to a stop at Scorpion's side only glancing down for a moment as his son sat down upon his paws.

Walk | Talk | Think   The man's golden eyes were calculating but his tone as he answered was still more neutral than Rune's sounded to his own ears. And nothing was held back. There was no contempt in the spoken words about Viridiana and her wife, but there was not fondness or obvious respect either. That was a good sign, one that further loosened the tight muscles around the grey Guardian's shoulders and eased a quiet breath out of his lungs in something almost like a sigh. Maybe they had been dropped just as Rune's family had been, left behind without a thought, without a backward glance. Maybe that would work in his favor now. He was reminded again that for all the information he had been given nothing had been offered in return, and it was only the arrival of the new wolf, one who held a strong resemblance to Scorpion, that stopped Rune from answering right away. "I was here for a time. In Covari. I came here to be with family, and I was abandoned by that family. Nothing but morbid curiosity drew me back." That had to be it. He gained nothing by coming here, back to the border of that pack that once had been, except maybe... His critical blue eyes passed once over the newly arrived male, over the healer female, and then back toward Scorpion, the apparent leader of the group before him and possible patriarch for whatever family still lived here. "I've put all of that behind me and have a pack of my own now, a place where my family can finally be comfortable and safe." Safety had been first and foremost on his mind once they had been abandoned by the pack, and he was proud to say he had created that for them, his haven of Secretua that was still standing and still strong in its own right. "Are you comfortable here? Safe here?" he asked, feeling some vague sense of camaraderie with this man and his group. They had been left too, only they had failed to regroup within a pack as his family had. "Would you rather not be in a pack?" Appealing to the woman, he turned his blue stare upon her and added, "I know Warja would be happy to see you again."