When her sister asked her to help with scouting out the territory she had her sights set on to expand Obscura into, Ruse was more than happy to oblige! Exploration and learning the land was her favorite thing and being able to help out her family was a close second. She gathered up a few extra sets of eyes, including Bancha, Scylla, and Cerberus, to help her pick out all of the important details about this land. She was sure she could manage to put together a good report on her own given enough time, but she knew what she viewed as important and what others viewed as important could be two very different things.

She led her exploration party out into the grove of slender trees and immediately her head was tipped back to look up through the vibrant pink blooms that covered every tree. "I'm so glad we get to come explore this in the spring!" she exclaimed, her tail wagging exuberantly as she admired the beauty of the trees. Just a handful of weeks before this place had been quite dreary, but with the turning of the season the dormant buds had burst into bloom and it was absolutely lovely. "Alright! Let's take a look around and see what interesting features we can find. Anything that would be helpful for the pack is a bonus!"

"Rusalka"

Scylla had begun patrolling their new potential territory upon making the decision to take it. The only difference today was that others would be patrolling along with her. A few siblings and Sweet Bancha. It didn't matter that the pups name was only Bancha. In Scylla's head, his name was Sweet Bancha. He was just so... sweet.

Ears shifted as Ruse began to speak. Her larger sister was leading this group expedition and Scylla was curious to see her siblings in action. She didn't expect them to have as big of a hard on for duty as she did, but she did expect them to be above par.

Ruse spoke of the foliage and there was no way to deny that the leaves were pink. Like... really pink. That wasn't the reason that she agreed to this place, however. "A plethora of useful plants grow here and, thanks to the fire that razed this place to the ground once upon a time, the soil is extra rich, thus ensuring better greenery." There were still signs of the fire here and there such as large chunks of now petrified, burnt trees, half embedded in the ground and covered with moss.

"Scylla Klein"

Bancha was more than happy to be assisting Ruse and thus Scylla on scouting the Redbud Nook territory. If he was to be put to work, he would do it. Not that he had much else to be doing other than exploring and examining plants so it wasn't far out of his normal day-to-day anyway.

Following the group to the familiar territory he'd been in once before with the group that was once Valta, he decides to stick near the territory's border. Walking along the growing scent trail of Obscura that had no doubt been started by Scylla, Bancha also takes note of the vibrant pink blossom petals. Unlike during the colder months, the grove of cherry blossom trees were now in full swing, littering not only their branches, but the sky and the ground with the soft, delicate petals. It would make hunting more difficult as it would obscure the tracks of animals, but would eventually provide more nutrients to the soil once they'd decayed.

"It would be a great territory to grow herbs to harvest for the colder months. Plus, if there's ever an event, the trees make the perfect backdrop!" His voice is cherry, curled tail wagging as he continues to follow the others. Every once in awhile, his own leg would lift to a tree, leaving his own scent mark to help build up the pack's scent along the border. And if any loner's scent were to trail through it, he was sure to scuff up the dirt and cover them.

BANCHA

Cerberus had accompanied his sisters and a young boy through the redbuds on a patrol as they scouted the territory for resources for the pack if this was the new land they would be claiming. He had done this once with Ruse before, so he would get the goal of what was at hand. He had dabbled some studies into healing and navigation, but he was no expert at either. He walked along with the others, observing the redbuds that were iced over the last time he walked through here. He was sure they took some time to bloom over the last few weeks and the land was probably not as beautiful as the seasons between. But this was much more appeasing in the spring he had to admit.

Cerberus walked close to the groups of wolves, smelling the air and brushing some of the petals from the ground as he wandered. He noticed a few tracks and signs of coyotes around, making note that they may have to do a large patrol with their fighters before fully claiming the land here. He said nothing other than a nod of his head as the others had mentioned the land being useful for bountiful herbs and plants. He was one to like the natural beauty of the redbud land, so a public place to host festivals was a good idea too. He watched their surroundings intensely, hoping that they wouldn't run into any trouble at the moment. But it seemed the predators in the area only made their stay at night.

"Cerberus"

As Ruse wandered through the lightly forested nook with her scouting party, she listened as Scylla pointed out the abundance of plant life that grew here thanks to the rich soil. "Good point! There's probably other good resources to be had out here as well. I'm sure prey animals love this place," she mentioned, looking around for any signs of deer rubbing against tree trunks or burrows where smaller prey animals might be hiding. She looked over to Bancha then as her favorite little explorer pointed out what a great place this would be for any kind of pack event that they might want to hold in the future. "You're so right!" she replied excitedly, giving him a grin. She didn't know if Scylla was going to be the type of alpha to want to host events like that, but if they ever did this would be the perfect place for it.

She looked around again, trying to look at this land from the lens of a pack utilizing it rather than just a pretty land to admire like she had in her previous visits. It was a nice, open space with a good amount of tree cover for shade. There were plenty of spots where their members could make their dens if they wanted to and there was plenty of spots where their hunters could lay traps or set up ambushes for prey that passed through. All in all it was hard to find things that couldn't be utilized for the pack. "I think the only thing that might make this place even more habitable would be a river or stream, but we have plenty of sources of fresh water in our other territories so I'm not too concerned about that," she mentioned conversationally as they continued to explore.

"Rusalka"

Bancha follows dutifully, his paws taking him along the border as they explored. He notices Cerberus’ quiet demeanor and wonders what was on the man’s mind. The youngster isn’t that type of pushy though. Just cheerful and lighthearted, but would stay out of other’s business when necessary. Never one to poke and prod. Not like they were doing to the nook today.

“The river from the rapids and falls does lay just along the southern border,” Bancha points out to Ruse with a nod of his muzzle and a light swish of his tail. “If we needed water closer, we could dig a well?” He questions, head canting as he peers out into the distance. The stream leading from the rapids inland toward the bigger Rio Grande would provide ample sustenance, but something did occur to him them. “Is there a potential for the nook to flood if we get a heavier rain?” His concern is shown by drawn eyebrows as he looks back to Ruse and Scylla.

BANCHA

Bancha spoke excitedly of pack events and Scylla grimaced. Not everyone wanted to be as reclusive and self sustaining as she did. It would be better for everyone if Obscura was left alone. But... "A market every now and then wouldn't be too much of a hassle," she agreed, shooting the boy a smile. "The trees are widely spaced and thin enough to keep an eye on visitors." And she would definitely be keeping an eye.

Next, water was brought up. They were indeed close to other sources of water, but it would be nice to have something here as well, especially if they were going to have visitors to these lands. "It would be simple to create our own stream or pond or well," she added, nodding again to Bancha. "With soil this rich, I believe it would be wise for healers to set up gardens and fields here instead of the falls or the mangroves. We could possibly raise our own livestock on these lands as well if anyone is up to the task."

"Scylla Klein"

Cerberus could catch the look of Scylla's face on the mention of large events like festivals. He wouldn't call her out directly on it, waiting a few seconds with a little smirk on his face, "Hey, we could set up a large communal den like dad did with the dam. It would be nice." Somewhat serious, somewhat joking. He was mostly a friendly guy sure, but he didn't like the idea of huge parties of strangers being on their pack lands. He liked going to The Hallows Bonfire, but just didn't sit well with him at home. A strange clash in his mind. But he could have the same feeling with Scylla on this one.

His guard brought down some from the potential threats of the land, he would regroup better with the scouters. "I agree, I'd prefer a den in the groves or the falls. This land seems like it would be better to farm our own resources." Simple enough. It was pretty flat, beautiful. Good for a lazy afternoon. And if he were a healer he could imagine getting work done in a quiet atmosphere. Just as he liked it.

"Cerberus"

Bancha tossed out the idea of digging a well and Scylla mentioned creating a pond or stream here themselves. She did think that the other sources of water they had near by should be fairly sufficient, but with the idea of using this land for farming or livestock she could definitely see how making water even more accessible would be really helpful. She also liked the idea of holding a market here occasionally if that was something they wanted to start up. The nice thing about this place was how open and flat it was which was kind of a down side to their current territories. Their other territories had plenty of benefits as well, but it was nice to have options!

She hummed with thought at Bancha's concern that this place might flood with all the nearby rivers. "I've never noticed it flood before. I think the rapids can expand quite a lot and it flows down into the hot springs so I think it should be okay. Not to say that it's impossible though," she mused as she scanned the land and tried to judge the slope of the land and whether or not the river was a higher elevation than where they currently were or not. "Maybe that's something we should study more as we settle here and make some precautionary measures just in case," she added as she glanced over to Bancha again with a grin. "Is there anything else we want to examine or talk about? Or do we feel like this has been a pretty through exploration of our new territory?"

"Rusalka"

Bancha is content to explore and patrol. The nook is beautiful especially during this time of the year. Watching the petals float about lazily in the air, he nearly trips over a root. Recovering with a quiet oof, he returns his focus to actually patrolling and listening to what the others have to say.

It’s good to feel appreciated. He smiles at Scylla, at Ruse, and even a little at Cerberus though the man hadn’t paid him much mind. Such things didn’t bother Bancha, not much did. “If a market here is too much, we could take our goods to them too,” he offers, getting the feeling that Scylla definitely wasn’t keen on allowing strangers into the territory. Understandable!

“I can help keep an eye on the land’s conditions as we continue into the rainier season,” Bancha adds, his tail swishing happily as he looks to Ruse. He doesn’t want to say that he agrees its been a thorough exploration, that would be more of a Scylla decision.

BANCHA

The boys enthusiasm brought a grin to Scylla's maw and she nodded. This wasn't just her pack, she reminded herself. This was their home and she should take the wants and needs of others into account. The slate fae nosed Bancha's cheek. "We can have a market, just for you," she assured him.

Scylla's mismatched eyes scanned her surroundings and she motioned towards a somewhat large clearing where trees hadn't regrown. "That would be a suitable place for events. It's close enough to the border that we shouldn't have to worry much about outsiders making their way back to the main territory." Her gaze flashed to Cerberus and she couldn't help but smirk as she noted the cheeky look on his face that had accompanied his remark on the communal den. "As for a communal den... well, I'll leave you in charge of crafting that, brother mine." He wanted to be mischievous... she could be mischievous in return.

"Well done, Ruse," she commended her navigationally-inclined sister on her observations. "This land will indeed be ours."

"Scylla"