The Ground Walked Here Is a Wonder

Maybe for one of the new members? But also AW since he's along the borders

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Winter was many things. She could be cruel and take, just as she did with his Father, but she was also nurturing. That was what Mother liked to believe. Runar found the concept hard to grasp, but he understood one thing. If one did not take, how could one give? In the grand scheme of things, winter had provided far more this year than she had taken. Three fresh faces traded for the loss of one. That was good, no? Father would have wanted him to look on the bright side anyhow.

Runar had always been a boy of high spirits, but even he had his days. The paws he was meant to fill were not small, and Runar may be a large man, but even he could not fill every hole. He trailed alone with his thoughts through the snowy outskirts of Vanderfell's forest. Whatever juggling had happened beyond their borders left the air clean. The few travelers they had came from within their walls, but that was no reason to slack along the borders. They were the first impression of a pack and a testament to their strength. So he would do just that, patrolling the outskirts, enforcing their claim like the unwaivering wall he was.

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Father was gone.

Even understanding it was a part of life did not make the accepting of that easy. He was always such a light, and now most everything felt cast in shadow. She had let herself wallow for a little bit, but knew enough was enough. Time to start contributing again.

Little brother was head honcho now, and she certainly didn’t dispute it. Cleo had never been ambitious, a very “no muss, no fuss” sort of woman. She was happy to be among her family, which only her family would really know. A smile was hard won from the monotone she-wolf, but it was that she was still here that spoke for her.

She patrolled the borders too now, encountering him on her path. Cleo picked up the pace to meet him with a wagging tail and a lowered head.
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He heard her steps before his sister's pelt broke from the winter-patched undergrowth. Cleo had never been much of a talker, not that Runar minded. He was known to fill the silence, but right now words did not flow freely. A smile twisted the side of his maw, falling haphazardly as it tried to span the other side. Whereas his sister approached with a lowered head, he would with a playful bump of his own to her shoulder. “She is quiet...the winter. So are Vanderfell's borders.”

It was funny though. He could have sworn he saw something shift beyond their trees. The grass rose into peaks, almost appearing like spanning hills in the distance, but that was silly. Runar might not venture beyond their borders often, but he knew well enough that no other mountains lay between here and Shiroshika. “Have you noticed it?” He chances his delusion with his sister, knowing she out of most would not think twice should he be mistaken. “To the south. Runar saw hills beyond Ullarcraig Run.” No scent of wolves though, not in a mass to suggest neighbors. Runar knew he was lucky that they did not share borders with another group. He was still learning from his mother, and company came with many more strings of consideration.

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