He knew Niyol would be interested in helping him track down the "pirates." He was sure someone would show up and he could always pin the stone thieving on some random they came upon. Now that would be fun! He was sure Niyol would believe him, no matter what, then they could double team the imposter. Niyol was always up for good fun and it wasn't like they were ignorant. Their parents were very talented as hunters and warriors and even scouts so between him and his brother, they pretty much learned everything. They could probably track and climb trees better than some adults. Mochi had watched his brother enough times to know Niyol took it all to heart, just not in the way his parents would have wanted. He helped many times as Niyol covered up his tracks and ghosted for a little while. Sometimes they hid out together and had good fun and other times Niyol went off on his own. But today, he was willing to follow Mochi over the borders of Taviora and into the free lands. Today, Mochi was the mastermind. He would just keep letting Niyol believe he was in charge.

He didn't bother to glance behind them. Surely the border patrol of Taviora would catch their trails soon enough but he hoped to have enough distance between them that it didn't matter. He loped into the trees, knowing the minute they weren't in their pack lands anymore. He could tell Niyol knew too, by the curious gazes he was sweeping across the trees. It almost looked the same, yet wasn't. He did slow down though as his paws started sticking in the dirt. What was this stuff, quick sand? He paused when his back leg really sunk in, bringing him to a halt. Niyol stopped too, but Mochi could tell he wasn't sinking as much. He scowled. Not fair. His brother admitted he could smell the swamp smell before asking if they were close to the swamp pack lands. Mochi's eyes widened at the thought as he looked around, as if checking for evil wolves in the trees. He shrugged as he looked back at his brother. "I don't know, probably. Maybe the pirate is from there. We should be close." He tugged his lips back into a grin, eyes twinkling with mischief. Niyol's next question only seemed to help confirm his own theory.

He nodded. "It would make sense. Who wouldn't want a stone of power but murky swamp wolves?" It made perfect sense to him. He noted the thoughtful expression on Niyol's face and he straightened up, not wanting to lose momentum. "We can be sneaky. Maybe there's a clue around here. Let's scan the area." He slowly made his way to the firmer ground, pulling his paws free with a sigh of relief. Then he put his nose to the ground, acting like he was diligently searching. Of course, there was plenty of pack scents and wolf scents here but he needed something more concrete to show Niyol. Then he saw a crumbled stone and smirked to himself. Eyes flashing bright, he made sure his brother's attention was elsewhere before he hid the larger parts of the stone and made a loud gasping noise to gain Niyol's attention. "Hey, isn't this a piece of your stone? It sure looks familiar." Of course, all stones pretty much look alike but he'd picked one that reminded him of that stupid stone more than anything else. After all, it had to be believable. He watched his brother's expression, gauging his reaction.