There seemed to be some kind of disturbance in the usual on-goings on the pack this winter. And it wasn't just the bad ice storms - and the ice along the channel too thin to make the crossing to the island - that made this winter in Glorall different than those past. There was a shift, some imbalance that had nothing to do with the weather. It seemed too close to Eden for me to even consider trying to figure out, and so I had kept my focus on hunting. The thin ice had allowed me to hunt water mammals later in the season than usual, building up the caches to ensure the pack was well fed. There were expectant mothers, too, who I guess took priority when it came to meal rationing. The topic made me shrug - I'd never really thought about becoming a mother myself, but I suppose when you're carrying extra lives around inside of you that warrants some special attention. Then again, if I had all that extra weight on me I wouldn't be able to maintain my standing as the most skilled hunter in Glorall.

In any case, the trouble late into winter here in Glorall was that it became nearly impossible to hunt the animals of the sea, even if you could get through the ice. The cold weather made hypothermia a very real risk if your pelt got soaking wet, so I had to turn to other resources. Birds were nice for a snack, but the deer found further inland were a more fulfilling hunt. Knowledge of the fact that Iromar had a resident population of swamp deer was what brought me towards our western borders that afternoon. I was scouting to see if any deer may have wandered across into Glorall territory - after all, the cervidae weren't aware of the wolves' pack boundaries.

What I didn't expect to find was the dark form of a youngwolf stalking along the shared bored between Glorall and Iromar. Though I'd heard the short howl announcing the arrival of a wolf upon the borders not long before, matters of diplomacy and greeting new comers wasn't exactly my forte. And I was already busy looking for prey, so, someone else would handle it. Anyways, I didn't really make the connection that this might be the same wolf. I followed him along for some time, keeping my distance, wondering what he was up to. But before long my curiosity got the better of me - well that and the fact that I was honestly pretty annoyed he thought he could just traipse about in the pack lands without an invitation. So I barked out to him. "Hey, kid, what the heck are you doing here?"