Curiosity had dragged her here, where Valentine's mother and her oversized mate had made their pack. She'd belonged to a pack here once before Cataleya had claimed it - Cataleya and Kylar had belonged to that pack too, and Cataleya had taken a dislike to her almost immediately. Lucky her. Though, it didn't seem it was that difficult to accomplish so that wasn't so very special. She'd enjoyed needling the rage-filled bitch and her psychotic consort, enjoyed watching her kids' disgust with their barely-older aunt and uncle, but then the whole lot of them had just vanished. It had been so long there wasn't even the tiniest lingering trace of the family, and as much as she'd not gotten on with Cat her heart still ached in sympathy for Valen. She knew what it was to be abandoned by her family too, but at least Neios had the decency to tell her she was leaving. Cataleya and Kylar had taken Valen's three surviving siblings and vanished without a word. Heartless, arrogant bitch. Maybe it was curiosity that had sparked her journey, but it was basking in and feeding her anger that kept her wandering the territory. But a fresh scent caught her attention and wiped the almost-snarl from her scarred muzzle. What was this then, had some pack moved in on Arcanum's old territory? She sniffed at the scent, but no, it wasn't exactly a scent marker. Not like a real pack anyway, the scent being less a border marking and more a mark of consistent activity, just a small group of squatters. A family of some sort, or just a rogue group? Curious, she followed the most recent scent trail deeper into the plainsland. ""

Zuriel let a pleased smile touch her muzzle when she saw the new growth of elderberries. It seemed like her mother and brother were constantly sick these days so any growth in the herbs and plants around their home was a good thing. She was sure the lingering cold that stubbornly held on to the land once Spring came hadn't helped anything, but it was still frustrating to not be able to cure their cold. Her father had been a huge help though and she was so proud of how much he had learned. She was sure if she wanted to go take a breather and get out of the Plains for a little bit she could with him on watch of their family, figuratively of course, she could without problem. She still hadn't quite let herself do that though. She really hadn't come across any other wolves in the Plains since they moved here, but she knew that there was nothing keeping strangers from doing just that. That's why when she caught an unknown scent she wasn't surprised, but she was definitely curious and maybe a bit cautious. She picked up the bundle of elderberries she had picked off the bush and padded off to follow the scent. It didn't take her long to spot the violet-hued woman that seemed to be doing the same as herself and following the scents of the wolves in the area, which in this case was her and her family. When her dual-toned eyes met the similarly two-toned gaze of the stranger she knew there was no getting away without at least saying hello unless she wanted to seem incredibly rude. She sat down the berries she was gingerly carrying and greeted the white-marked woman. "Hello there." "Talk" "You" Think

It seemed that one of the wolves whose scent she was stalking was destined to instead find her, and Cascade's steps stopped as her head turned to track the approaching wolf. A faint half-smile curved her muzzle. "Hello there," she echoed with a faintly amused twist to her tone. The wolf was a yearling, gray in tone and with nothing remarkably standout about her, though the berries she'd set down to speak didn't go unnoticed. A healer of some sort, or something like it. Cascade arched her neck and tilted her head as she regarded the yearling. "Awful brave of you folks to be hanging around Arcanum's old territory," she observed. "You never know if they're going to come back and take offense to someone squatting on their favored lands, you know, and they're notoriously... vindictive." There wasn't anything about her, really, that a casual glance could link her to the son of Arcanum's alpha, no clear nephariusness like the so-foolhardy Cataleya had always carried, but that didn't mean that she was safe. Cat had been a pushy, irritating broad and she'd probably pushed the wrong someone too far and gotten what she'd deserved, but Valen had always been very fond of the old bitch, so seeing someone take over his mother's lands threw a burning match onto the oil-soaked tinder that she'd been brooding on since she'd started wandering these empty lands. Outwardly she was as calm and friendly as ever, or nearly - a certain tightness to the jaw, a faint curl to her lip as she smiled, a certain lilt to her voice as she addressed the yearling, but all easily dismissed. Surely she was no threat.

Zuriel wasn't quite sure she liked the tone that the stranger had to her voice or the slight grin she carried. Something about it was slightly unsettling even though she wasn't sure why. Zuriel's brows pulled together with thought and slight confusion as the woman spoke of a pack that apparently once held on to this land. Zuriel was sure that her mother probably knew of this Arcanum she spoke of since her mother has a great memory of many things, but she couldn't say she was familiar with the name. "I'm afraid I don't know anything about that," she said, voicing her thoughts and lack of knowledge aloud. She watched the woman a little more closely and began to wonder if perhaps she should have just gone on back to the den like she had planned. "Were you part of that Arcanum pack?" she asked, curious as to why this woman was so concerned about their being on this pack's old lands. Zuriel knew these used to be where her grandmother's pack had been back in the day as well, but it hadn't been called Arcanum. It was... Valhalla? That sounded right. That was all way before she was born though. "Talk" "You" Think