Laconic

The wolf arrived before dawn broke. Tacenda was small then, only four adult wolves and young Wander and Aubade, still so young that they were not yet named. She drifted through the trees like a ghost, nearly silent, until she broke the treeline, into Ephemera's clearing.

The being herself was already awake. She was seated, regally, in her normal resting place, fiery-blue eyes trained on the newcomer. The newcomer's own eyes, chocolate brown, settled on Ephemera's chest. She came to a halt, and ducked her head in greeting, as if she was not facing something eldritch and powerful. Ephemera's lips twitched, amused. "This is the second time I have faced trespassers in the last moon. I have not seen another living wolf for centuries before. What is your name?"

"I have no name." The wolf replied, voice high but unafraid. Once more, Ephemera's lips twitched, now smiling fully, feral and threatening. Sparks jumped from her teeth, nothing like the display she had given Monochrome, but frightening nonetheless. The wolf reacted only with a look of mild interest. "Why have you come, Wolf With No Name?" Ephemera asked, voice laying over itself in that queer way it often did, like hundreds of wolves speaking at once. The wolf narrowed her eyes in reply, like she had not considered her reasons before stepping over the scent lines.

"I dreamt of a wolf with the blue fire of the Dreamlands from her paws. She said nothing, but turned and ran west, beyond where wolves who are not desperate travel. I took it as a premonition. And now I am here, and you are there, so I must not have been far off." As she had spoken, Ephemera drifted closer, until she was practically nose to nose with the wolf. The ashen-pelted could feel the heat from the flames in the god's eyes.

"I will take you to meet my most favorite disciple, the Alpha of the living pack, Newcomer. Do not waste this chance." Though the wolf had been calm throughout the whole interaction, her shoulder's sagged infinitesimally in response. She nodded, and followed behind Ephemera as she led her down the rocky path to the living space below. Sunrise had broken then, though the small pack was quiet as they watched the procession. They finally came to a stop, before a black and white wolf, laying prone with two pups nursing at her eagerly. Above her stood a lighter-colored male, clearly her mate. The newcomer had barely taken them in before Ephemera disappeared on the wind without a word.

Monochrome did not ask her business as Ephemera had, only nodding her head shortly and asking if she had any medicinal experience. The newcomer nodded, she had come from a long line of medicine wolves. In fact, she had stated, she new a mixture that would make her milk let down easier, grow her pups larger. She was quick to mix it for her, and the relief on Monochrome's face was immense. In return, the Alpha female gifted her a name, Laconic, an honor she never would have been gifted anywhere else. She also gifted her a position; an herbalist, and later, Ephemera gifted her an even higher position, Evanescent.

She spent her days healing her pack, even as it grew, midwifing the females and healing the hunters, mixing tonics for the weary scouts. She spoke to Ephemera like she was an old friend, showed no fear in meeting her eyes. The pups Monochrome had been nursing grew quickly, and she turned her head when they raided her stores, was unsurprised when quiet, sneaky Aubade was dragged to The Looking Pool during a hyacintho, leaking blue from her paws. Laconic had suspected she might have been the wolf in her vision ever since the pup was a few months old.

Laconic is a quiet wolf. She carries out her role with great pride, still maintaining that ghost-like bearing that she carried when she arrived. Each morning, she places flowers at Ephemera's resting place. Even if she is not one of the founding three, she is a Tacenda wolf, to the bone.