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A'cuil wagged as well, though not as fully as she. He was already muzzle deep in the warm meat they had taken by the time she spoke, thanking the spirits for such a full and bountiful meal! It seemed like ages since he had tasted prey so heavy and good. Although, really, it had not been so many moons since he stood in a clearing of his fellows, taking his piece of a stag a certain bright one had killed... A'cuil snorted, and shook the thought away.

Alley's warning came right on cue, as the brute found his appetite suddenly soured by worry. The feeling left the blood bitter on his tongue. "Don't worry." The warrior told his friend, swallowing the last of his mouthful. "Like I said - just impudent youth. It is a shame to leave the kill, so we could stand them off here. Warn them back to the forests around us, and let them know that the Delta is taken." It had been a while since he had to warn off anyone. A'cuil looked over to the nonwolf, a cocked ear wondering what she thought of the plan.

Standing beside the male she watched over him, as had become her habit. She could see the refreshed, content look in his eyes and it made her glad. Every day she spent with him she was all the more glad for the day she had come across him. She lowered her head and took a few licks of their prey, eager to eat, but soon distracted.

Soon they were close enough that she could hear their voices, a male and a female for sure, shouting over the water's raging roar. She tensed when the voices stopped and her fur began to bristle. She stepped closer to A'Cuil so they were standing shoulder to shoulder. "Ah, Worry? Never." she said with a grin. "While I don't Doubt that we could warn them back, the voices I hear and then scents I smell are not those of youth... well, there is a pup, but an Adult Male, and an Adult female..."

A snap was heard and her head turned instantly. "Well, now would be a good time to let them know that, as we are no longer Alone..." tho, she was certain he knew that. She could hear the slow approach she looked at A'Cuil. "I don't think they're here on accident, A'Cuil. I think She very much meant to find you." Her eyes lowered and she turned her head in the direction the female was slowly approaching from. "She can hear us, as close as she is now, and she had not turned back... I'm certain it's you she seeks." Alley told the Snakeskinned warrior, her umber eyes focused on the greenery around them. "And two more will soon draw near."

The bearwolf frowned. He noticed the distinctive shake of a shiver under fur, and decided to give the lass a little bit of time. If she wanted a chance to reconsider his offer, Sjun would not be the one to deny her, no matter how pressed for time they might be.

Clio was over already, after all; she was a capable fae.

Even with that in mind, it was entirely too soon - for his liking - when Loki gave her fur a more natural shaking, and looked up at him with the words of her assent. Sjunheal stared at the pup for a long moment. But he had always been one to let a wolf make its own decisions, and so his stout muzzle was alongside her body in the space of a breath. He did breathe, gently: preparing himself for the ones he'd have to hold while he bore her. A wet nose butted reassuringly into her side. "It'll be up an' over, gel, just you wait. Easy as anythin'."

And then Sjunheal crouched down on his front paws, opening his jaws to encircle the little fae's middle. His fangs were far too large to catch her scruff.

Clio's ears tuned to the voices a short distance away. The non-wolf's voice rang clear, telling nothing but the truth behind her mission. She could see it now, the black canine-like creature. Through the thicket ahead she could make out a slim - but strong - frame, one well trained. A foreign object dangled from its neck, but Clio paid no attention to it. This had been A'cuil's company for many moons. A female who wasn't even a wolf. Clio grimaced lightly, but it dawned upon her that it was likely this creature that had kept A'cuil alive for so long. Stories of how weak he was after the match had circulated, leaving reason to doubt his survival.

A'cuil spoke and her entire body jumped. Mentioning the bright Alpha pained her, Don't you think I cared? Her mind, struck by the thought. Clio took short, measured steps forward, fighting the urge to bound over to A'cuil. The trees had begun to to thin, now. Snakeskin peeked through the branches and she could not help but grin.

Clio? That was it, she could not suppress the urge any longer. Blue-orange eyes jumped out of the foliage, almost as if she were pulled forward by some hidden force. The distance that remained between the Sure-Claws was closed in a few leaps. Disregarding the instinct to take caution with the non-wolf, the fae padded straight over to A'cuil. Without a word she faced him, odd-coloured eyes on his carmine.

It had been so long. Her fears were finally silenced, until now her mind had still doubted. A disease that could not be cured until she could see A'cuil in such promixity. A weight lifted from her she felt a sense of complete relief. So, Clio leaned forward slightly and licked his cheek. "I found you." She said at last, barely above a whisper.

"Wasn't aware I was gone." The warrior's voice dipped, instantly, several octaves lower. The gruffness there only served to illuminate the fact that this conversation was already moving in directions that A'cuil was neither familiar nor comfortable with; and it truth, maybe a little afraid of. After all, the not-uncomfortable warmth welling in his chest was not something that he could bite or tear. The way the world stopped moving in the precise moment Clio's tongue touched his fur did not have a throat for him to snap.

And now he was lying, among other things. The male was well-aware of the fact that the other wolves had no way of knowing what had happened to him. He had assumed over the moons that they might have thought him... "Did you think me dead?" Searing red eyes stared unabashedly into the fae's. And of course, the pack had moved on... But that brought his nightmares to the fore, and he would not think of them now.

Speaking of nightmares! Without giving it a thought, A'cuil's head snapped to the dark nonwolf. His senses, still not firing on all pistons, had not fired anything close to the proper alarms as she barked, and fell. He was ashamed of himself for that. "Are you alright, Alley?" Even as he spoke, the brute's paws made for her. "Is anything injured?"

Alley looked at A'Cuil as he approached and her tail thumped a few times against the ground. "I'm fine." She murmured, standing back up slowly, assessing herself. "That was merely a display of uncharacteristic clumsiness. She startled me a little, that's all." She stood up straight and suppressed a small whine.

Her right front foreleg ached, as though she had pulled a muscle or twisted it when she had landed. "I'm fine. No serious damage," she assured him, voice soft, expression sheepish and embarrassed. She stepped towards him and stumbled a little, the leg troubled her when she put too much pressure on it but she tried to cover the stumble by sitting down. She looked at Clio and nodded, "Well enough. As A'Cuil said, I'm Alley..." she introduced herself, out of courtesy. She shook out her black coat and gave A'Cuil a soft smile.

It was not in Sjun's nature to keep a young one waiting. A brisk shake, and the larger beast was ready to forge deeper onto to the island. Not that there was much to forge into: the land that Sjun observed - granted, on a much higher plane than others - was calm after the hectic closeness of the forest. Not nearly so much so as the mountains, of course; but one couldn't have everything.

He breathed deep: the story of the Delta unfolded all around him. By the scent of things, his pupil had been running this place for some time - and he, surprisingly, was not alone. The strange, female..."dog" scent was here as well. It was not overly offensive, but Sjun found himself a bit disturbed nonetheless. He hoped A'cuil was alright.

"A'right lass, let's get a move on. Run in front of me a pace - step quick, step silent, an' keep an eye out for Clio." He looked at Loki meaningfully before trotting forward, marking their direction on the path ahead just as he would for an adult fae. "And for the sake of fang, give a yip if ye sight 'er first."