The pack was growing, slowly. Slower than she'd hoped, for now they had land to protect, livestock to care for, facilities to set up, and a dearth of paws to do it all, but it was better that than growing too quickly and finding themselves unable to sustainably support their population. It wasn't like she and Tam hadn't been taking care of the shaggy-wooled sheep by themselves for some time before even Ayer came along, let alone the pack, so while every new set of paws was more than welcomed they could manage well enough for now with the fewer.

The land that she'd been considering for its abundant clay was quickly filling with the scents of another pack, though, one she did not know that was apparently expanding to touch Avalon's current border. Avalon didn't yet have the resources to lay claim to the river and keep its deposits open for use, so she would have to do what she could now before they made their claim official.

Shoulder deep in the river's water, she was digging carefully at a clay deposit beneath a bank, loosening the wet, sticky earthen substance without just dropping it unceremoniously into the river and losing it. Reddish water stained the ashen white of her fur and dripped off, but she ignored it except for shaking it out of her eyes if it dripped there. There were already two other large clumps of clay wrapped in wet hides to keep them from drying out waiting on the shore to be transported home.

Bellamy had continued on her path South, gauging the lands that were taken and those that were still available. There was no possible lay she could survey ever territory within Boreas, or in Auster for that matter, in the short amount of time that she had to get to know them. She was racing against the clock, her decision to shoot for a pack challenge on her mind. Rising from the ashes of Menagerie was an option but… it didn’t sit right with Bells. Almost as if she would be spitting on Wren’s grave. She had hoped that the woman wasn’t involved in the incident but when she never returned to the pack… Bells found herself, Ears, and Whiskers making their way alongside a river. The Rio Grande, it was called. She had been making her way along the riverbank when she noticed a figure in the waters ahead. There was a woman who was shoulder deep in the water, seeming to dig out the clay. Where she was centered there was reddish water surrounding her. Bellamy approached her with ears perked forward, a bit curious about what she was seeing. “Hello there. Can… I ask what you’re doing?” The woman had noticed the hides on the shore but she was genuinely curious. She’d never seen someone harvest clay before. "Speech" 'Thought.'