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Twilight also felt a sneaking suspicion towards the she-wolf, but he said nothing. It wasn't his place and he really didn't care one way or another anyhow. Instead he turned his attention back to Tosca and the others. "Alright. You have your territory now. What's next?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's right." Yuma said. "What's the plan, boss?" he asked Tosca. He had decided long ago that he would prefer to have Tosca as leader rather than Una. She seemed to know all the right things.

When Yuma's words reached Una's ears, the she-wolf stiffened and bristled. She'd think of something tomorrow... it was too late now to do anything. She'd just have to try harder tomorrow to show that she was the better leader, not Tosca.

Tosca on the other hand, was overjoyed with this new prospect. Trying to hide her happiness, Tosca scanned the pack's new territory.
"We should explore the territory in pairs. On of us should stay here to guard the cave and the other four will go and find out where our territory stops. So who'd like to go with who?"

Yuma immediately jumped up and said, "Well I sure as heck wanna go! I'll go with anyone, doesn't matter to me." He was already pacing back and forth thinking with giddy delight of how much fun he would have out there exploring. Rowtag shook his head and sat down and motioned with his muzzle toward the cave. He clearly didn't want to go much of anywhere.

"Okay" Tosca said. "Rowtag can stay here with Una"
Tosca glanced briefly at the cave, then scanned as far as her blue eyes could see.
"One group will start heading east and stay near the border. The other group will head west and we'll eventually meet up in the middle"
Kai nodded, understanding. "I'll go with Yuma!" Kai offered. Yuma was by far, her favorite sibling.
"Alright, then Twilight's with me" Tosca confirmed. "It's pretty early still but if it starts to get dark and we still haven't met up, turn around and head back. If you get lost, howl"

Yuma gave a yip and immediately started out to explore. "Come on, Kai, hurry up!" he called over his shoulder. It wasn't long before he disappeared over a small hill. His feet seeming to carry him like wings carried a bird across the land.

Twilight shook his head as he watched the two youths go. Then he turned his attention back to Tosca. "Where to?" he asked. "You're the one in charge here. You lead, I follow."

On the inside, Tosca beamed, but on the outside, she held an emotionless face and nodded. The tawny wolf started on her way, starting off in the opposite direction that Yuma and Kai had disappeared from. The river that they had found split off into several smaller creeks and from what Tosca could smell, the same pack held the territory just on the other side of the creek even as they walked along. Who knew, maybe they were just a few young wolves too!

The black wolf could smell the other pack as well. He glanced along the opposite shore for signs of this other pack in the area, ever watchful for some sign of a threat. "I've got a bad feeling about this." he said. The other pack's side of the river was heavily forested with pine and he could see slight, barely seen movements among the lower branches. They were being watched.

As soon as the words had come out of his mouth, Tosca began to tense up too but continued walking. Were they a threat? Friends?
"What should we do?" she muttered in a low voice, not knowing where the unknown creatures were.

Meanwhile, Kai was having the time of her life... and she wasn't even doing anything. While Yuma did his sight-seeing as usual, the almost white wolf darted back and forth, attacking invisible shadows and jumping through the air when she imagined someone sneaking up on her.
"I wasn't so sure at first, but living mom and dad was one of the best things to happen ever!" she yipped happily.

"Yeah, I know!" Yuma said. "I've always wanted to see new things like this. It's awesome!" He was having the time of his life. All the new sights, smells, and sounds of their new home were pulling him in. The young wolf was totally enraptured.

Twilight continued to keep a close eye on the opposite shore. "Just keep your voice down and pretend you don't notice." he said. "If they attack, we want them to think they have the element of surprise. Then we'll turn the tables on them."

Tosca nodded gravely, and walked, trying to look away. Instead, she tried to look at the trees several feet away... if their plan was to run, they probably wouldn't make it into the trees in time. The young wolf forced herself to not think about that and glanced straight ahead of her at the cloudy sky.
A small rustle came from across the creek and for a split second, Tosca froze, but as she remembered what Twilight said she forced herself to stay calm.
The fur on the back of her neck stood on end.
"I'm thirsty" Tosca finally mumbled, barely able to take the suspense. She padded over to the edge of the creek and lowered her head to drink, but her ears strained to hear another sound.

The black wolf did not drink with her, but rather kept his eyes and ears pealed for anything strange or out of place. He heard the rustle as well, but he refrained from saying anything or even acknowledging he had heard it at all.

As Tosca lapped the cool water, she could almost see under the tree branches. For a second she thought she spied... wolves paws? The tawny wolf finished and slowly headed back over to Twilight.
"I guess we should continue on our way. At this rate, Yuma and Kai are going to beat us back to the den"

The black wolf nodded and turned to follow her back to the den. As they left, he cast one glance back over his his shoulders. His eyes glazed over for a moment, seeing something only he could see. Then it was over. He began walking again to catch up with Tosca, a small smile briefly flashing across his face as he chuckled quietly to himself.

"What's so funny?" Tosca asked, not sure whether to smile or be alarmed. Tosca glanced over her shoulder. Nothing was there...
"Was it a fox or something stupid?"

Kai and Yuma were still having uninterrupted fun. Neither had seen any sign of another pack or any sign of bear. Their parents had always talked about things called humans, but from what Kai could see, there weren't any of those either.
"This place is huge!" she said, dumbfounded. Where they were was bare, but up on top of the hill where the den was, rocks and a few spindly trees dominated the landscape. Deep woods also surrounded the territory, but Kai was scared to death of the darkness of it... what if they were attacked in there?! And from where they were, they could also see a few small creeks much farther away.

Twilight shook his head with a small, knowing smile still on his face. "It was nothing. Nothing we need to think much about at the moment." he said. They had finally reached the den once more, with Rowtag standing outside. He smiled and nodded as they approached.

Yuma sighed and took everything in. He loved it more each second! He was curious about the distant forest, but was feeling tired. Time to rest. "Let's go back. I'm beat." he said. He raced Kai back to the den and the two showed up panting not long after Twilight and Tosca had got back.