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Halcyon Mountain. Right outside of Shadowed Sun, because Cer is good little thing and does not trespass.
There was a slow, light drizzle of rain but the sun managed to break through the clouds every now and then, giving the earth a very peaceful, surreal feeling to it. Cercelee was enjoying the day, even the rain was pleasant, although during her long trek her pelt had gotten soaked. She traveled unshifted, as she rarely was shifted and found that four legs was faster than only two. And today she had no time to lose, despite her lack of any time pressing issues, she was on a mission. The ivory lady was making a conscious effort to involve herself with the world around her, living inside her own head was fine and all, but now that the pack was growing in numbers, she felt that she needed to be more aware, for them at the very least. Involving herself meant learning about the other packs, and while the meeting of the leaders had helped that cause immensely, Cer was not quite satisfied.
With Labyrinth Glen disbanded her trek was much quicker, as she did not have to skirt what once was their claimed lands. It was strange moving through the lands, the scents of all the wolves still strong, but none of them seemed to linger on the lands, or at least none that she had run into. The idea that Dahlia de Mai might disband as well, so quickly and completely, depressed her, but she ignored it and moved on. Shadowed Sun and Insieme were her destinations, although she knew that she would probably enter neither of the pack lands. Aside from Dahlia de Mai, Cer had yet to step foot on any claimed lands, having no friends in any of the other packs, she really saw no reason. Yet she did not even know the exact location of them, and that was a sad fact. Today she would remedy that.
Finally she found herself outside of both packs, and was surprised to find that by following along the borders of each, she learned that they were quite close together. The borders perhaps even touched, but she did not enter either lands to find out. Instead she traveled just outside the borders and found herself climbing up the mountain that she had climbed down, months ago, fleeing the fire. Quite a ways up the mountain, Cercelee finally allowed herself to stop, and rest. Navy eyes fixed on the invisible boundary, yards off, that separated the neutral lands of the mountain from what she knew was Shadowed Sun’s land.
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"Cercelee, isn’t it?" Pilot had seen her at the pack leaders meeting that had been held not that long ago (the one he had shown up late too). He couldn’t be one hundred percent positive that it was her, but he was almost certain that it was Dahlia de Mai’s scent that lingered there. "Coming to see Shadowed Sun? Or are you headed towards Insieme?" Where he had come across her was not too far from the other pack as well. They had both settled down right next to one another, and Pilot had heard that the Italians were actually thinking of settling where Shadowed Sun had. That was, until Tayui and the others had claimed it on that night back in April.
He found it funny and slightly ironic to see yet another white wolf so close to Shadowed Sun’s lands. It seemed that most wolves that had ended up there were all monochromatically colored. If his sons did decide to come live with him, that would be another addition to the white pelted wolves. It was odd. He knew that there were different species, but he wasn’t sure of his own lineage. Maybe ‘Souls was prominent with the arctic wolf genes that ran through the squirrel boy’s own veins.
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Don’t worry about it 
Cercelee, isn’t it? Cer’s dark eyes settled on the small framed male. Although at the leader meeting she had not time to really get to know any of the leaders on an individual level, she remembered this one’s name. It was hard not too, because even though his pelt was that of every other wolf’s she’d ever met, she had never seen a male whose size and build so closely match hers. “Why hello Pilot. Yes, it’s Cercelee, but you can call me Cer if you’d like, easier on the tongue.” Her voice was cherry and warm, delighted that he had remembered her name. In a way other leader’s knowing who she was helped her to feel less like she didn’t belong as the leader of a pack. If they accepted her, she could accept herself too.
Cercelee cast a glance at the borders of Shadowed Sun, thinking of the appropriate response to his question. “Both. And neither. I just thought I should know where they are, but I hadn’t intended on visiting either of them.” Cercelee smiled sheepishly, knowing some wolves were more protective of their borders than others. However Pilot hadn’t seemed to mind her presence thus far, and she wasn’t really that close to his pack. “You don’t mind my sniffing around here, do you? I just thought it pathetic that I couldn’t even direct others to the location of these packs.” Just more short comings on the list why although she was willing and loved to lead, she was not completely qualified. Cercelee watched the male, her child like curiosity rising in her, wanting to ask him questions about Shadowed Sun and Insieme, but holding her tongue until she felt more at ease.
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"Well, it’s good to see you again Cer," he replied to her, taking a few steps further down the sloping hill side and looking out towards Insieme’s lands. He never really seemed to see a lot of activity there, but he was pretty sure it was a rather small group of wolves. The Italians; he had always hoped to speak with them to find out more about their culture and their world over the sea. He was curious to hear their language, too, from a native who would know it flawlessly. His own sons had been taking lessons from Naniko.
He looked back to Cercelee with a small grin and nodded at her words. "I know what you mean. I need to do some exploring myself. I’m still not one hundred percent sure on how all of the lands are laid out." He wondered if anyone had drafted out a map at all. He would love to sit down and look at it. If he were any good with that kind of thing, he would have taken it upon himself to draw one out. But he knew he would never have been able to accurately portray the lands. It would take a lot of work and traveling. "Feel free to have a look around. I’m sure none of us would mind." Even though Shadowed Sun had claimed the lands, he didn’t see why a neighbor couldn’t have a look around.
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Cer could not help but smile at the male. So rarely did she interact with anyone outside of her own pack, the meeting of the leaders and her frequent arguments with Iskata seemed to be the bulk of it, and neither of those were overwhelmingly pleasant. Pilot seemed to be at ease, neither phased nor bothered by her visit, it was nice enough to exchange pleasantries with someone. He all but gave her permission to snoop, and Cercelee was grateful. The ivory pelt female did not really need much information, she had actually gotten all she had come for, an exact location, but why not take the opportunity to learn more? And to at least establish a neutrality between Shadowed Sun and Dahlia de Mai. “Well, should you ever wish to visit Dahlia please feel free.”
Navy eyes swept the lands of Insieme, the same direction Pilot has just been looking. Insieme, to Cer, was the most mysterious pack. She had heard rumors that the wolves had come from across sea, which was not unusual, but that the whole pack had taken on the European traditions. That was strange to the female. That and she had never seen any of them. A leader hadn’t even shown up to the meeting. Clearing her voice, she hoped she didn’t seem rude, but she spoke good natured and with genuine curiosity-no ill intentions. “Are there many of them? Insieme I mean. I’ve never met any of them. I heard they all came from Europe?”
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"Thanks for the invitation," Pilot responded generously. He wasn’t sure who actually made up Dahlia de Mai’s ranks, but he was curious to find out if he knew anyone that lived there. He would be interested to know that Ember Phoenix now resided there, but he wasn’t aware. Most of his relations lied within his own pack or Twilight Vale.
"Insieme? Well, I don’t know much about them. I do know that they’re mostly all Italian and the leaders originated from Europe. I’ve never really seen much of them to know for sure. I’ve just heard rumors and passing whispers about who they really are. They seem to stay quiet and out of everyone’s way." They were peaceful neighbors to have, that was for sure. Pilot was glad it was the Italians and not the ill reputed coyotes living next door.
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Pilot was ready enough to share what little information he had about the pack. Europeans then? Firefly came from somewhere in Europe, (Ireland was it?) she spoke of it often in what little time Cer had spent with the younger girl. The Dahlia de Mai wolf did not know much about geography, only that Europe was many, many days travel away from here, and Cer couldn’t really understand why they bothered to leave their homes. She was content here, were they not content in Europe? Other than their origins there was not much Pilot had to say about them, but the fact that there wasn’t much to be said gave her a clue about them as well. “I wonder if there is not many of them? Labyrinth Glen has just disbanded, did you know? I walked through their lands getting here, empty. Lack of members I guess was the problem.” Cercelee paused there. The idea of Dahlia falling to pieces was always in the back of her mind, whether it be from them slowly leaving the lands or the Inferni war or any other reason. The thought made her sick to her stomach. “And what about your pack? What’s the story there?” Her question was spoken warmly and light heartedly. She did not wish to make it seem like she was prying, but it was interesting to know who settled down where and why.
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It was strange to think that the pack was no longer around. It had only been a few months since the fire; so that pack was similar in age to Shadowed Sun. Already it had lost its flair. He shook his head slowly, sad to hear that. He could imagine it being hard to lose a home for such a simple reason as that. Not enough members. Shadowed Sun’s had dwindled. If a few members somehow decided to leave, their pack could face that same situation. Pilot hoped it would never come to that. If Shadowed Sun ever died, what would he do? Where would he go?
"Shadowed Sun? Well, I found Tayui on the mountain shortly after the fire, after I heard her calling out to anyone near. She was looking to start a pack, so I decided I would help her in her endeavor. Our outcome was Shadowed Sun, a pack we’ve founded on the principle of learning. Kieran Heartsong, Zexion, and Skoll were the first members and what made the pack official." He smiled towards Cercelee, hoping that was what she had meant. "What about Dahlia de Mai?" He asked, curious to discover the history behind that pack as well.
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Cercelee nodded. Shadowed Sun’s founding didn’t sound all that different than Dahlia’s, and Cercelee guessed that many of the packs that emerged right after the fire had a similar story, with Inferni being the exception. After the fire everyone had been scared and upset and they just needed a home, and companions. Something to hold onto and care about again, to make them feel grounded, so the packs were created out of necessity and need, our of a longing to fill gaps in people’s hearts that had been burned out along with their homes. Inferni had just wanted to regroup, and Cercelee wondered why more of the others packs hadn’t. “Colibri Soul started it, and she chose me to help her lead. We just wanted a home, as well as our other members. Slay, Mew and Hanna.” Cercelee would always remember them, the five of them, even if they left. She felt closer to them than she did most the other members in her pack, and she doubted she would feel differently no matter how much time passed. There was something special about creating something together. “Colibri left though, shortly after the war with Inferni started. I didn’t want to lead alone, and I don’t want to lead a pack into war, which is the reason Haku’s there at all. Truth be told though, I’d rather that Dahlia’s history wasn’t quite so interesting just yet... I could have gone years without this falling on our pack so quickly.” Cercelee smiled sheepishly at Pilot. Shadowed Sun was lucky they had avoided the fray, sometimes Cer was worried that such a big war would kill such a new pack.
“Learning eh?” Cercelee was eager to change the subject back to Shadowed Sun. “What kinds of things do you all learn about?” It was interesting that the pack was brought even closer by shared interested, shared knowledge. Cercelee was sorry that Dahlia de Mai had no such thing to offer their members, although the members seemed loyal enough without it. She was also curious if everyone in Shadowed Sun could read, she had no idea who was or wasn’t literate in Dahlia de Mai, but it seemed like a pack like Shadowed Sun wouldn’t allow any one member to remain illiterate for long.
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To tell the truth, Cercelee’s question almost stumped Pilot. What did Shadowed Sun learn? They had dedicated so much time to establishing the pack and settling in that no one had really taken too much time to set up lessons and teach various skills. There were a few things that Pilot had to offer in terms of teaching others, and plenty still that he did not know. Though they had planned on arranging a way for the members to learn from one another, they hadn’t really done that yet.
"Well," Pilot started. He felt almost guilty for always going around announcing Shadowed Sun as a pack of learning but now realizing they hadn’t really done much of that. "There are different skills that we all have, so our aim is to offer our knowledge to anyone in the pack. Me, for example… Well, I know low speech and I am fairly knowledgeable about medicines, so I would then teach anyone who wanted to learn about either of those." At least, that’s how it would work in theory. "We haven’t really gotten all of that set up yet, though. We’re still all just trying to settle in."
He caught a scent on the breeze, thinking it may be someone from Insieme, but realized it was one of Shadowed Sun’s own. He turned his gaze back to Cercelee, offering a smile. He wanted to get back to his gardening soon.
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Yeah, I’ll have Cer excuse herself.
Cercelee listened politely, but found that as the male spoke her mind reeled. The male knew low speech and about herbs and medicines, both of which were very useful areas of knowledge. If Shadowed Sun did succeed in sharing their knowledge with other members of their pack, and all members contributed unique skills, soon the members of Shadowed Sun would be among the most skillful and intelligent wolves in the lands. The idea excited Cercelee and also caused a pang of disappointment in herself. How was she bettering the Dahlia de Mai members? She wasn’t, as she had no unique skills, no useful knowledge to pass on. She was ordinary, and even those were did have skills or knowledge, she never encouraged them to share. Mew could play and read music, Hanna knew about medicines, and Windseeker knew low speech, at least that of her feathered companion. Would it be better ufif they shared their knowledge, rather than each member having a niche? Would it make them stronger if they all could do the same things? Of course certain members would always excel over others, but it was something to think about. Returning the smile to Pilot, Cercelee bowed her head politely. It was about time to head back, and Cercelee know had much to muse over the way she managed her members. “Well Pilot, thank you for your time but I won’t keep you any longer. I hope that we meet again sometime.” Cercelee smiled again and turned to leave, wondering if her short comings in knowledge created a short coming for her whole pack.
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