Book 6. Chapter 48: Interlude: Kres (III)
Kres soared above the purple treeline, wings spread wide as he caught an updraft. He'd been hunting those down anywhere he could find them, the heavy machine parts on his back weighing him down. The recent events weighed just as much. It was a chance to save everything. The mites had offered a possible path out of the abyss, and they had been everything legend had known them as.
The recent events played through his mind as he scanned the forest below for any sign of the greyroamers. This large winding mountain offered good visibility on the vale near the peak, and with the infestation cleared out, they should have far more leisure time. The pack should be around here. He just had to keep an eye out for any terrain that looked like natural shelter. Greyroamers were drawn to those places like flies to fruit.
It didn't take long to spot them. Small ditches dug into the ground, covered with one fur patch for each. Tradition among them is to keep their most prized kill's fur coating as a nest to sleep on. A few were currently sleeping, while the rest were busy rolling up and rotating out.
A center slab of stone ran red with wet blood, where the carvers were busy stripping off skin and bone from what the hunters gathered up. Kres felt a little queasy at the sight. They were awfully skilled at their work, tails wagging away to a rhythm of general happiness and semi-focus. But they did eat a lot each day, several times what Kres would need for a week.
He banked left, circling lower, aiming for a treetop with clear enough branches that wouldn't get snagged on his bag. Howls and yips came from below, where he found Silverfur and others gathered around, scratching long lines on the ground with a careful paw.
Kres recognized it as a greyroamer map. Likely of the area. Small rocks dotted the area, landmarks of some kind or another, but Kres wouldn't be able to map those. They had scents rubbed on them that matched the same as the location they belonged to.
Silverfur gave a few careful nose twitches, his tail swishing back and forth. "We'll send Bluepaw, Bluepaw, and Bluepaw to scout if there's any movement. The humans were deadly, but they were only thorough when the enemy was penned. Once they're done rolling their packs and eating, they're to leave immediately."
Naming conventions still eluded Kres, he knew the three being sent were different greyroamers who were closer together as kin, but there was more than just the vocal growl to denote each individual. The Icon taught them the human workaround - keeping it all in words. Forced them to have multiple elaborate names just to be specific, and there were still the occasional naming overlap, but they generally worked it out due to how rare it happened.
Greyroamers almost all had the same name since scent, nose twitch, and growl were all intermixed to differentiate them - it was beyond annoying to deal with. At least they didn't change that name up.