Virtuous hearts; Tirisfal Valley

Ali watched as one of Nuri and Silent's children, Elysia, came up to Corset. Though Corset seemed hesitant to play, it was enough for Ali to see that she was unharmed. If anything, it simply looked like she needed to be around someone her age. She smiled at Serenity. "You are a blessing to this pack, Serenity," she said with a wag of her tail, and turned to see Cardinal approaching up the hill. She sighed in relief. "I do need your help, actually... All of these injured wolves have completely cleaned out my stocks, and the flood washed out Doctor's as well. Both of us need to re-supply, especially since spring is here, when the herbs are most plentiful in the valley. If you're not familiar with the plants, then you needn't worry about it... Things are slowing down, and Jewel will be back soon enough to get the job done." Speaking of her daughter... Where was she? Concern clenched the husky's heart and she glanced in the direction the hunting party had disappeared to. They should have been able to find food easily, given the season... Hopefully, Jewel wasn't hurt...

She took a survey of her patients around her - Namaria was still asleep in the den, Cobalt was nursing his broken paw (which only time itself would be able to heal), Faramir had ran off despite her injuries, and Corset appeared to be doing just fine. Everyone was familiar with one another except... the German Shepherd. Ali could feel Blue's eyes upon her. "I'll be right back," she said to anyone that was listening, and approached Blue, who lead her down the hill for a more private conversation. Ali was skeptical - she smelled of Hamara, but it had been ages since she had seen Hamara's queen, Serien. "Are things going all right? Is Serien doing well?" she asked. The last thing any of the packs needed was another war with Muerta...

Blue sat back on her haunches, facing Ali. "I don't know who Serien is," she said rather plainly. "But if she was the leader of Hamara, she is no more. There was a typhoon a couple of weeks ago that destroyed the place. I'm from a new pack that has established itself there."

"Oh," Ali replied, mildly confused. "Well, if you want to talk about becoming allies, I'm not the one you want to talk to. That'd be our leader, Nuri Bade."

Blue shook her head. "But you are the one I want to talk to. Because, you see, what we have in Hamara is unlike anything else in this country. We accept only members that meet our qualifications, if you catch my drift."

Ali paused, considering this. She glanced over her shoulder back up the hill, where all of the others were. She turned back to Blue, her brows knitted. "You mean..." she began, but almost too hesitant to say what was the obvious answer. "You mean to say that you're from a dog pack?"

"Precisely," Blue said, nodding as she spoke. "Consider me telling you this to be an invitation, and an invitation for you only. You may come and be with your own kind, for once."

Ali fell silent, considering this. She had just returned to the pack last winter. She remembered that during her leave of absence in Tirisfal she had been taken by the humans and put back on a sled dog team, running with the fastest of huskies and strongest of malamutes. There had always been some sense of teamwork between them, one that was more difficult to find in the place she was now. The idea of being with dogs again brought up so many old memories that she had completely forgotten about... When she had first come to Tirisfal, when she had met Robin, when she had had their children... Her blue eyes met the Shepherd's. "Would my family be able to come with?"

"Only if they are of dog blood," Blue replied. Ali hung her head.

"I am sorry. I will have to decline your invitation, but... I will consider it for the future."

"Understandable," Blue replied, standing up, her business finished. "You will always be welcomed into our lands. In the meantime, I bid you farewell."

"Farewell," Ali said, and watched as the German Shepherd turned in the direction whence she came. It was an odd offer indeed, and she knew that if the same invitation had been offered to her two years ago, she would have accepted without hesitation. She turned and headed back up the hill to the dens. She had a family now, one that needed taking care of, and much looking after... At the same time, though, it wasn't as nearly as successful as she had hoped. While she had a loving husband and brilliant daughter, she had lost two sons... One, to the claws of death, and the other to... Well, she wasn't sure where Robbie had gone, but her heart told her that it was not a good place. Darkness swallows children too easily, she thought.

Cirrus bounded through Tirisfal's colorful forests and blooming meadows. He curved northwards towards Glacier Falls Hideout, picking up his brother's scent. He followed the clear-running river upstream until he found it spilling over a tall, sandstone cliff; beneath it, was a large, sheltered cavern. Nimbus' yellow eyes glimmered from behind the waterfall's veil. Cirrus approached, mildly concerned. "What is it, Nimbus?" he asked. "I thought you were patrolling for any more dark wolves?"

"Rest assured, there are none. It seems that they were only chasing Faramir for a short distance," Nimbus replied. "But Messenger Mammatus has come to see me and deliver news to you... Father has passed."

Cirrus' expression fell. "How?"

"Old age. A heart attack, most likely. Mammatus said that his funeral is in three days, and after that... Well, I suppose you know what needs to happen."

"Unfortunately so..." Cirrus said, and moved his gaze to the waterfall beside them. "I was just starting to get comfortable here... For once, I didn't have to worry about someone evaluating me and the way I did something. I liked not being in charge. But such is the curse of royalty, is it not? All of us are responsible for our pack... Thank you, brother. We shall make our leave, as well as tell Cumulus, when he returns from the hunt."

"If you don't mind, I've already had my fill. Guarding the borders builds up an appetite that I've been able to slave off on my own. I will see you back in the Billow Mountains."

"Very well," Cirrus replied, and watched as Nimbus made his exit, loping off to their home territory. Cirrus sighed and hung his head, but only for a few moments - he now had a new mission to carry out, and it was an extremely important one. He and Cumulus would have to make haste. Thus, he ran back to the direction of the High Dens, where hopefully, Cumulus and Jewel would return...

Cumulus startled in surprise as Jewel's nose pushed into his shoulder, the skin beneath his white fur blushing red. Her smiled and wagged his tail at her suggestion of quartering up the elk. "Yeah, we could do that," he said, and went to work immediately, using his teeth to dig through the tendons and cartilage of the elk's front right leg. The stringy flesh thrummed against his incisors, but the more he worked his jaw, the sooner they snapped and the leg became limp. Soon enough, he was able to grab the leg of the elk and pull, the hide ripping. The leg came free, thudding to the ground, pulled out of its socket. His white fur was red and bloodied and his muscles ached, but with Jewel at his side, he knew he couldn't stop. "We'll make the trips together. If you carry one piece and I carry another, we can bring back the meat double time. And, there will be less heavy work," he said, the elk leg at his feet. He wouldn't be able to carry all of it, drag it at the most, but there was enough meat on it to feed at least two wolves, and his stomach was growling. He had no doubt that the rest of the pack was starving as well, by now.

Back at the site of the High Dens, Cirrus nodded his head and Cobalt's words. "I see," he said, his tail thumping on the ground. "I'm glad that you made it over the mountains. The weather doesn't take too kindly to wolves up there. My brothers and I are from a small pack on the border of Tirisfal and Muerta." As he finished speaking, though, a low, rough howl rose in the air. Cirrus frowned and stood. "I am sorry to leave you without warning, Cobalt, but that is my brother, Nimbus. It sounds as if he has news for me. I have no doubt that Ali will take care of you, and the pack Alpha, Nuri Bade, should be returning to introduce himself to you soon. In the mean time, farewell," Cirrus said with a dip of his head, and bounded off once more towards the borders of the land. His stomach growled, reminding him of his hunger, but as always, these things would have to wait. He wondered what Nimbus would have to tell him, and hopefully it did not have anything to do with dark wolves...

Ali's auds perked at the sound of Nimbus' howl, and for a moment, her heart skipped - Surely, it was not because of more dark wolves? She watched as Cirrus bounded off, seemingly unalarmed, but with a pace of haste. She looked over her shoulder at her patient, Namaria, who fell into her slumber once more, it seemed. She kept an eye on Cobalt, who ate the herbs and nursed his paw; she would need to venture out for more supplies to fully fix him. And for her to do that, she would need a break from her work, or for Jewel to return from the hunt. She silently prayed that she hadn't been hurt - she didn't know how she would be able to handle it if she lost her daughter, too. The lack of a howl from her unnerved the husky, but she kept her nervousness to herself. She felt the dog's, Blue's, eyes upon her, as if examining her every move. She wasn't sure why, either.

A familiar voice caught her auds, and Ali turned to find Serenity and a young whelp approaching. She smiled, her shoulders relaxing, glad to see his face. The last she had seen him, he had wandered off into the storm. "A lot has happened," Ali replied to him. "But all will be well soon, as they usually are. Tirisfal is best known for its ability to recover, is it not?" She wagged her tail and smiled, wearing her rank as healer proudly. Her cerulean gaze turned down to the pup at his side, and she smiled, lowering her head to the pup's height. "Hello there, Corset. My name is Alaina, but you can call me Ali," she said with the warmth of the sun, which started to peek out from the clouds again, now that the storm was over. "I promise you that I won't hurt you, nor will the rest of the wolves around me. Come here, so I may take a look at you."

In another part of the lands, Robin backed away from Doctor, respecting his work space. He caught the last bit of Nuri's words. "I believe Nimbus is already out to make sure they don't come back," he added, and was about to say more, when a pair of wolves spoke to him, catching his attention. One was clearly old and exhausted, while the other was young and full of energy. "I can't say for sure whether or not you will be able to join, as that is up to Nuri, our pack Alpha," he replied. "But if you mean no harm, then you can most certainly stay the night. Tirisfal harbors all kinds of travelers." Robin looked over his shoulder at the Alpha once more. "What do you think? I can lead them back to the dens if you would like to speak on the matter later, my liege."

Doctor nodded, understanding the reasoning despite their worry about the younger wolves. They would be safest where they were, unless something else came up. Ridding the negative thoughts out of his mind before he'd somehow influence such an event to occur. He cautiously removed his paws from Cresent's wound. Although relatively deep for slash wounds, he'd been putting pressure on the worst of the wound for a long time, so the injury wasn't bleeding now.

While he did that, he started replying to Nuri, "There are no others injured. Those wolves shouldn't be back. I've dealt with that sort before, by the way they acted. Take down the leader and you destroy what held them all together." Offering a small smile as an attempt to be reassuring, he said, "At least none of the pack was injured, and it only took one death to stop more bloodshed. Better than unnecessary genocide by far. Nimbus should be enough for patrol, although..." He looked around. "It'd probably help the pack feel better if there was at least one more patrolling. We unfortunately probably should soon organize the newcomers as well... or just keep them in one place or doing something a bit useful." He hadn't missed the newcomer who had followed Robin here.

Robin had returned. Doctor gave him a nod, saying, "Thank you, Robin," though a bit disappointed that he lost his herbs. He'd just have to wait until they came back in season. Until then, he'd be able to do without keeping a stock. Any travelling wolf had to. There was no reason he couldn't just because he settled, although it was nice to be prepared. Gingerly taking up the garlic, he positioned his jaws just over the injury, he readjusted the plant before tightening his grip to allow any juices still in the herb to drip onto the open wounds, starting with the deepest. He'd like to save crushing the garlic as a last resort if the juice wasn't enough. While he could use a rock or his paws for the crushing, he'd still have to pick it up to position the pieces on the wounds. Garlic was a taste that his disliked, and allowing it to drip always seemed a bit nicer ever since he found a spot in his mouth where he wouldn't taste it much.

Robin found Cardinal not far from the low dens, overlooking Serenity Lake. Robin paused; it had been a while since he had seen the bru, and he was tempted to stop by and chat, but he had others waiting on him. With a quick bound, he loped his way up to the high dens, where he found Ali inside. She was standing over Namaria, and Robin made sure to keep his distance, the femme's pregnant scent entering his nares. The last thing he wanted to do was get nipped at. He glanced and found a blue-black German Shepherd waiting outside, but she appeared patient enough. Ali must have dealt with her already, and she must have been waiting for Nuri's return. "Ali," he said with a soft bark. She looked over her shoulder, brow knitting in irritation. "Do you have any garlic? The flood cleared out Doctor's stash."

"Yes, I do," Ali replied, huffing and turning to the very back of the den, where she kept her stash. She grabbed two cloves in her mouth and dropped them at her husband's feet, her blue eyes sharp. "Here. It's what I have, for now."

"Thank you," he said with a duck of his head, noting the anger in her tone. "I'm very sorry about running off like that, by the way. I just want to keep everyone safe."

"I know you do. It's why I love you. Just try not to be so reckless, next time," she said. Robin nodded, the pressure of her being angry with him off his shoulders, and he bounded back to the group, the cloves of garlic in his mouth. Thankfully, not much looked to have happened since he had left. He cautiously approached Doctor and the wounded Crescent, setting down the garlic at Doctor's feet. "Sorry about the wait," he panted. "But the flood cleaned out your stash in the low dens. I had to run to Ali to get these."

In another part of the land, Cirrus walked with Cobalt to the high dens. Thankfully, it wasn't too long of a journey. When they reached the bottom of the hill, he let out a loud bark. Ali appeared at the top of the hill and came sprinting down. "What is it?" she asked, seeing Cobalt. "Cobalt here looks to have a broken paw. Would you be able to fix it?"

Ali nodded. "Of course. Come with me, and I'll get you some medicine," she said to Cobalt, smiling. She hid her annoyance and exhaustion from the both of them, a feat she had dealt well with in the past, when things weren't so busy. As she headed back up the hill, she wondered how her daughter and Cumulus were faring from the hunt. Hopefully, they hadn't been injured... She had so many patients already, as well as a handful of newcomers that needed a talking to. She looked behind her and saw that Cirrus continued to offer his shoulder to Cobalt, as so he wouldn't have to struggle his way up the hill. "I am so sorry about all of these interruptions," she said to Namaria, who still lay in the den, her belly swollen. She went to her stash of herbs and frowned at what little supplies she had left. She had gathered everything during the spring season, when she was teaching Jewel the arts of healing, and now she had just a few herbs left. She picked up a single poppy seed flower and two feverfew plants, laying them at Namaria's side. "Eat these if you are in pain. If you can, bark or make noise if you are giving birth. Try to take it easy, you can do this." She felt horrible for having to treat her patient this way, especially a pregnant one. She knew that she should be giving Namaria her utmost attention, but there were so many outside factors that needed help as well. She went back to her stash and grabbed the remaining comfrey flowers that she had for Cobalt. Now, she was out of pain killers. Hopefully, Jewel would return soon so she could send her out for more herbs...

Cirrus walked with Cobalt. "So where do you come from, Cobalt? Anywhere around here?" he asked, not knowing if the wolf was a native of Fire and Ice. Ali looked extremely busy, and they were in no hurry, as the ominous howls of the dark wolves had stopped. He had no doubt that one of the pack members would have raised a howl if there had been serious trouble.

He turned back to Cresent briefly, carefully lifting a paw to check the bleeding. The blood flow was slowing down. Another wolf, apparently the mysterious Faramir, came over, but he didn't move his paws from the worst of the wound, and gave her a hard look in warning not to get too close. He didn't need a wolf knocking him over while he was doing something important. Nuri came over as he was waiting for Robin's answer, demanding a report. He didn't blame the alpha. He gave his full attention to Robin, who was taking a chunk of out another unfamiliar wolf. Such busy times- new arrivals and intruders. He would have apologized for Robin, but it was a high tense situation, and newcomer or not, he should have the tact to know to stay where he had been.

Nodding at Robin's words about getting garlic, he turned to Nuri, not wanting to delay a report. Besides, he'd been here this whole time and could give an adequate report. "A mob of wolves were looking for this Faramir, and started to enter our lands as I got here. I halted their approach, this injured wolf turned traitor on the group and killed the leader, who fled. Before I give you the details, I left Jewel and Cumulus at the hunting site, where they'd be occupied and in one place." He sized up the new arrival that had followed Robin before looking back at Nuri. "They might need help with that elk, despite what I had told them." Perhaps Nimbus would come across them and help, but he waited to see Nuri's response.

Cumulus watched Doctor leave, his heart pounding in his throat. He tried not to show fear, but he had the feeling he wasn't doing very well... Especially after his clumsiness during the hunt. He looked away from Jewel, his cheeks burning red beneath his white fur, and to the elk the trio had killed. "So. Um. Any ideas?" he asked with a wag of his tail, wondering how in the world two yearlings were supposed to drag a 300-pound elk carcass up a steep, rocky slope. It was then that he remembered what Doctor had said - if he alone could figure out a way they could drag the elk without much effort, it would impress Jewel. He wondered what his brother Cirrus would do, or even Nimbus. Well, Nimbus would have caught his own thing, so he would never have the problem. And Cirrus always worked in teams. "One of us could stay here, or we could probably call the others for help... If they aren't busy," he said, sighing. It didn't seem that resourcefulness was his strength, either.

Back in the mainlands, Blue watched the events unfold with a silent, cobalt gaze. She watched as the one named Faramir fled to the sound of the dark call, ignoring her injuries completely. She watched as the Alpha barked at the healer, Ali, to stay calm, who's tail twitched between her legs in submission, but otherwise complied. Still in a slight panic, Ali ran up to her; when both of them looked, the newcomer that had been at Blue's side, was also gone. Ali's ears pinned back in anger now, the emotions flashing through her. "Where did they go?" she asked in a sharp voice, withholding her snarl. Blue couldn't blame the husky, and thus she took no offense. "The wolf you were healing went to the sound of the call. The brute followed," she reported, watching as Ali began to pace back and forth, burning off her anger. Ali sighed and shook her head. "I know that this is making a bad impression for both me and the pack. I am very sorry," she said. "What is that you need? I can take care of you if you are injured. My name is Alaina, but most call me Ali around here."

"Blue. I come from Hamara on special business... With wolven formalities, I suspect I'm supposed to speak with the Alpha about being here in the first place, but let me know when you're free. You'd be more of the candidate I would discuss this business with," the blue-black German Shepherd replied. Ali raised a brow in question, wondering what the fem had to offer, and further wondering what that offer had to do with her. She nodded her head. "Right. As you can see, there is a lot going on, so it may be a while until we can talk," she said, when the sound of movement from within the den caught her ear. It was Namaria, waking up from her sleep again; it seemed that the fem wasn't experiencing an easy pregnancy whatsoever. She tipped her dial to Blue, excusing herself from the conversation, and went into the den. "Are you in any pain?" she asked Namaria, seeing her come to. If she was, it would be a bigger problem than Ali had predicted... She may even need Doctor's help for this delivery.

Not far away, Cirrus nodded to Cobalt's words. "You can lean on me for support. We'll want to move quickly. I don't know what exactly is going on at the moment, but we don't want to be lingering on the borders," he said with an air of importance, taking a quick sweep of the landscape around them. He thought he saw something move in one of Tirisfal's many flowering meadows, but he could not be sure; for all he knew, it was nothing more than a deer.

And then, along the far edges of the border, blood was spilled. Robin's fur raised and he knelt down into a defensive position, his tail raised and a snarling escaping his maw as one wolf turned on the other. The group that had once been there turned tail in cowardice, and it appeared that the wolf that killed the leader of the group had no further intentions of killing. A youngster was suddenly right next to him and Robin flinched, but he held his teeth back before accidentally clipping the bru. It wasn't until Doctor spoke did he relax, his maroon eyes still swimming with heated emotion. "I don't know who you are," he said to Hermes, his voice hot, but stern. "But get back to the main lands. This is no place for a newcomer. I know you want to help, but we can't risk anyone getting hurt." He knew it wasn't his top-tier place to tell wolves what to do, but something about running to a fight didn't seem like a very wise thing for a newcomer to do, especially when no one in the pack knew his name yet.

Doctor was sorting things out. Nuri arrived and demanded a report. Needing to slave off his anger, Robin said to the Beta over his shoulder, "Yes, I know the basics. I'll get some garlic for you." He dipped his crown at the Alpha, not meaning to vanish on the spot, but orders had been given and he knew he needed to tend to them. Nimbus, meanwhile, only shook his head as the events unfolded. He had been hoping for more excitement, maybe a little more blood. He nodded at Doctor's words of watching the border. "It's what I do best," he replied with a swish of his tail, and then he bounded off in the direction that the group had fled, their scent thick in his nose. He doubted that they would return, for they seemed to be bullies more than dark wolves, but Nimbus patrolled the borders nonetheless.

Robin nosed his way down into the valley, heading straight for Doctor's stash dens. The ground was still thick with mud from the storm, but at least things were navigable again. The water was flowing into a new creek that had been made, winding between a pair of dens, and hooking into Serenity Lake. The lake itself, at the moment, was a murky brown, but Robin knew that it would clear up in time. It always did, afterall. He went into Doctor's den, made eroded by the weather, but still standing. He reached a paw for the herbs and... they were gone. Robin sighed. They had most likely been washed out by the storm, as most things would have been. He would have to travel back to the high dens to get the garlic from Ali, and he knew that she would not be pleased...

He turned at movement coming to a stop on either side of him, his gaze torn away from the somewhat surprising turn of events. Doctor broke the formation, walking towards Cresent, speaking aloud for the sake of Robin and Nimbus, "So this now deceased wolf... Midnight, wanted Faramir for whatever reason. Now you," he gently, but firmly placed his paws on Cresent's wound, making it clear he was merely putting pressure on the wounds along the wolf's side to slow the bleeding, "...you turned traitor on Midnight's small group. They fled at the sight of their slain leader. Must not be so close-knit. We have questions, but we will wait until you're out of danger of bleeding out."

To Robin, he said, "You can identify basic herbs to stop bleeding and prevent infection, right? That's what I'm going to need from my stores." He knew Robin wasn't a healer, but Doctor guessed he could at least identify them. Turning to Nimbus, he said, "I'm going to be healing this wolf here. We can't guarantee the rest of those wolves won't come back for revenge on their slain leader. I'd rather keep them closer to the border if they come back, and I'll require your aid if they come back."