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Back at the den, Tosca was wide awake. She sat as still as a statue; only her blue eyes moved, scanning back and forth in the darkness. She had woken up from her light sleep and as usual, she wasn't finding it easy to curl back up again. Instead, she'd noticed for sure that Una was missing. Whether or not Twilight was hidden in the cave or not was a mystery, and Tosca was sure that even if he was gone, he could take care of himself. Through the starlit darkness, Tosca could finally make out the outline of someone. The tawny wolf squinted into the dark and recognized her sister trudging up the hill. Una spotted her younger sister and without making eye contact. Not a word was said between the two as the grey-brown wolf entered the cave and laid silently down away from the rest of her siblings. Tosca's eyes shifted back out into the dark and didn't notice the second wolf until he was much closer.
"Are you okay?" Tosca asked in a low voice, once Twilight was close enough.

The black wolf nodded his head. "I'll be fine." he said. His yellow eyes moved to Una, huddled a little further away. "Although, if I were you, I'd talk to her. Be gentle though. Don't turn it into a fight." He made his way to his shadowy corner of the cave and stayed there. Soon, the sound of his even breathing came from the darkness as he fell into sleep.

Tosca nodded and glanced at her now sleeping sister. It could wait until tomorrow... Tosca's ears flicked back in front of her, out into the dark. From the mouth of the cave, she could easily overlook the river. Curiosity was ebbing away at her, wondering what was on the other side... or who was on the other side. Tosca silenced her own thoughts. She wasn't going to be stupid like Una was. They'd already had their adventure for the day.
Tosca's eyes drifted behind her again, passing over her sleeping siblings. The wouldn't notice if she was gone for a little bit! She couldn't sleep anyway!
With a slick smile, Tosca trotted down toward the river. She'd stay in her own territory, but who knew what she might coax out!
Once she got to the edge, the tawny wolf plopped down and rested her head on her paws. No unfamiliar sounds reached her ears. No unusual scents got her attention. Against her better judgement, she started to doze off...

About an hour passed as the moon slowly drifted across the night sky. Then, a figure made its way across the river silently, careful not to disturb the sleeping she-wolf, and walked cautiously towards her. The wolf was a male with redish-brown fur with white on his belly and the underside of his tail and his eyes sparkled with curiosity. Had circled the female once then sat a few feet away, studying her.

Tosca shifted slightly in her light sleep and a small wind rustled her fur. The young wolf shivered and moved a bit in her sleep. And once again, Tosca was awake. She sat still for a few moments, trying to remember where she was, then she sat up quickly, glancing across the river. Nothing was there...
Sighing and shivering, Tosca decided it would be better if she headed back to the warmth of the cave. She stretched, yawned, then turned to see a dark figure with golden yellow eyes.
Tosca jumped.
"Who are you?!" she shot quickly in a low, unsure voice.

The other wolf quickly held a paw up and backed away. "Hey, hey, take it easy, I wasn't gonna hurt ya or nothing." he said. "I was just curious, is all." He nodded his head over towards the opposite riverbank. "I'm from over there. I heard that there was a new pack in the area, so I decided to come check it out." The red and white wolf wasn't much older than Tosca and was trying his best to be friendly. "My name's Farren. What's yours?" he asked.

Still a bit defensive, Tosca glanced across the river, just in case this strange wolf had some sort of back-up. Finally, her blue eyes met the gold ones. He didn't seem like he wanted a fight...
"I'm Tosca" she replied slowly. "You're from across the river?"
Tosca tried to keep her mouth shut, not wanting this newcomer to think she was young or immature, but curiosity keep her wondering.
"Are you like us? Just wandering around? Or is that your family?"

Farren sat down and nodded. "Yeah, I'm from across the river, and yeah that's my family. My father is the leader of the pack." he said. "I'm not a wanderer, like you guys are, but I have often wondered about the world out there. Just never left the pack to go see it." He smiled walked around her, heading for the river. "So what made you come all the way out here to find a new territory?" he asked.

Tosca still watched his every move cautiously, even though she was pretty sure Farren was safe now. The she-wolf sat and glanced over at the other side of the river, a bit calmer this time.
"Oh" Tosca replied quietly. "I don't really know what made us come here. We left my old territory and started looking for a new one, and somehow we've ended up here"
Tosca subconsciously glanced at the cave. Everyone seemed to be asleep... that was good.
"Your father probably isn't too thrilled with us, huh? Especially after my sister and our reaction today" Tosca grinned.

The golden-eyed wolf chuckled at that. "Actually, he had a good laugh about it." he said. "My dad thinks that your leader is a little too cocky for her own good, so he was a little annoyed, but he doesn't plan on harassing you guys into leaving or anything like that." He looked over at the den and smiled. "Guess you wanna get back home to your pack, huh? I guess I'll go then." He turned to leave.

Tosca glanced back at her cave and oddly enough, wanted the strange wolf to stay.
"Oh... okay" She said quietly. "Maybe I'll see you here another night... 'cuz I usually take walks at night, and who knows if we'd bump into each other again or something"
Tosca shrugged, trying to not make it seem like a big deal but flashed Farren a smile before quickly retreating toward the cave. On her way back, she realized how foolish and stupid she'd been. She could've been eaten by a bear! Or the strange pack could've been mean and attacked her! And above all, she let a known stranger and possibly an enemy onto her own territory. At least it seemed like no one had noticed her gone...

Farren watched the she-wolf leave and returned her smile. He would most assuredly have to 'bump' into her again some other night. But for now he had to get home before the others realized he was gone.

As Tosca returned to the cave. Twilight pretended to be asleep, but in reality had seen the whole thing. A small smile was playing on his lips and he resisted the urge to chuckle. Soon he had drifted off to sleep again, and would not wake again until morning.

After an eventful night and an unusually well night sleep, Tosca found herself awake not much longer after Kai had left the cave. The white wolf was playing in the snow by herself and seemed thrilled just to do so. Wagging her tail, Tosca decided to join in the fun. Since the night before, she was secretly walking on air and felt like a puppy again.

Una groggily woke up soon after. Tosca's playful yips and Kai's giggles had jerked her out of her dreams. She blinked in the darkness and sat up a little. But she didn't feel like playing at all.

"Staying in here, I'd imagine?" Twilight's voice hissed out at the grey she-wolf from the shadows. His yellow eyes trained on the group of playing wolves outside. Yuma had joined in the fun by now as well and Rowtag was standing off to the side, watching with a smile. "You really should lighten up a little." He chuckled to himself at the irony of such a statement coming from him.

Una looked around behind her but didn't reply at first.
"I don't want too" she mumbled, at the same time realizing how puppyish she sounded. No wonder Tosca seemed more like a leader. "I'm still tired anyway..."
Una sank down to the ground again and pretended to yawn tiredly.

Overhearing her sister and Twilight's conversation, Kai took a break from her playing to visit Una.
"Come on Una! Don't be such a sleepy head!"
Una rocked to her feet, but still hesitated. "Why don't I just go watch our territory border or something... don't packs usually do that anyway?" she asked, turning to Twilight with a blank expression.