Stone Circle You're different so tell me more about you

Valette was curious about this @Poppy dog girl. She hadn't been that nice to the girl when meeting her but that was because the dog felt strange to have in their midst. It hadn't made the relationship between her daughter and Murdock any better. Though, in a way, it might be good for Steph to not dote on Murdock too much? Valette pushed that thought away. Now she was looking for the dog. So she sounded a summoning howl for the girl.

Valette wondered what Murdock saw in her. She didn't have the bite force of a wolf or the instinct. At least, Valette assumed. She realized she didn't know anything about this dog that lived under her leadership and it unnerved her. So, today the alpha female decided that she wanted to got to know the other.

The woman patrolled the river, occasionally thrusting her head into the snow to attempt to gain a stranger scent before spring backward with a huff, picking her way upriver before beginning the process again. There was a scent here, foreign and strange, something like the cats that had inhabited the barn, and yet more menacing. The howl had her abandon her investigation, ears flicking back as she recognized it's source. Something like dread began to curl up in her chest, but she pushed it away with forced optimism as she made her way towards the source of the howl.

She picked her way towards the woman, weaving through the trees. She'd grown quite good at navigating the territory and arrived not long after she'd been summoned. Her greeting came with a dipped head and lower body, seeking to display the submissiveness that wolves so valued. "good morning, miss. ma'am. "  Quite suddenly stuck on which title to use, she instead used both in a quick dump of words, cringing in the slightest as her tail wagged in (slightly nervous) appeasement.

Valette didn't need to wait long for the girl to appear. She seemed rather nervous. Valette couldn't really blame the girl. She hadn't treated her very kindly. Valette nodded in return. "You can call me Valette," she returned to Poppy. Valette still wasn't certain what to think of the girl. She was so tiny, not even small wolves were that tiny. But the good thing was that she was at least submissive.

"So, how is pack life going so far?," she asked curiously. "Has everyone been nice to you?" Valette expected most of them to have been nice to her. Perhaps Ezekiel would have been horrible but Valette expected him to have left Easthollow. He hadn't been seen and scented for a long time. She wished he just would have stayed. She would have made him feel welcome.

She dipped her head quickly at the woman's offer, slightly astounded. Her mother had drilled into them the importance of calling respectable dogs by respectable names, and to this day the girl did not know the name of the aged farm dog next door; she knew him only as Mr. Sir, a title he had seemed fond of. A smile curved her muzzle as Valette asked of her life at Easthollow, speaking sincerely on the topic. "very good, ma- Valette. Everyone has been nice, and I've learned a lot. I think I've gotten pretty good at patrolling, too."  She offered, referring to the times now, in the morning, when she'd stalk around the fringes of the territory in a military type march, peering intently at every suspicious bit of movement and adding her own scent to the others.

Valette dipped her head briefly, it was mostly like a nod. "I am happy that they were. I thought, in the beginning, they might see you as prey, but if they didn't then that is good," she spoke with a nod. Valette was surprised that she picked up patrolling. The alpha female tipped her head a bit. "Are you sure you want to do that? I mean, if there is a wolf that needs to be chased away. Do you think you can do that?," she asked. Valette didn't know much about these dogs and Poppy looked rather sweet than intimidating.

"Perhaps you would like it more to fish, or become a herd watcher. Isn't that was your kind does?," she asked, it didn't sound unkind. Just a bit uncertain. "Unless you want to do the patrolling but it can be dangerous that is all I am saying."

Valette doubted her ability to patrol, and the girl's ears dipped a bit. She'd been nore interest in the vigilant guarding of the borderline, not the actual possibility that she might have to chase someone away. She pondered the possibility a moment, before responding, rather disappointedly, "well - not very well." She thought that she might be able to look pretty scary if she put in the effort, but if she was being honest, she doubted she was very much intimidating. 

Her ears perked as Valette mentioned herd watcher, and here she was quick to reply. "it was my job, but home, to watch the flocks and herd them. I was good at it, too - I just didn't think it'd be helpful, here. I'd like to be useful." She admitted, head canting a moment as she regarded Valette, wondering a moment if she might be very wrong indeed, and her real purpose might benefit the pack she was so eager to prove useful to.

Valette was glad that she hadn't stepped on the other's toes by mentioning her past. It seemed the female was quite happy to prove that she was useful and useful she could be if she was familiar with herd patterns. Valette didn't want to talk her down too much, but patrolling the borders didn't seem to be a thing for her.

"It is really helpful! I am a deerstalker, a specialty for when you have become a hunter. I watch the herds from Stone Circle. I see if there is one injured or perhaps ones that can't keep up. So when we have a hunt I know which one to single out," she explained. "Plus it is also important to know how many males and females there are. We don't want to hunt too many so the balance tips over. We need healthy herd so they can have babies in spring," she explained about her trade. "It might be something to for you if you liked watching herds?," she pointed out.

Her bat-like ears stood upright atop her crown as Valette informed her that in this, she could be really rather helpful, and the collie grinned. "I could do that," she assured the woman, nodding sincerely.  "I used to watch sheep, and cows, once, but deer can't be too different" She'd taken her duty as flock guardian very seriously, even when she'd been locked into the chicken wire pen and could only watch them from afar, even when they began to die of the disease that had her master become angry. But this was different, surely, and there were no pens and no masters here, and her job ought to be twice as fun (and important). "I could report to you," She offered seriously, a cant of her muzzle as she considered the prospect. 

Valette was pleased to see that she and Poppy had something that they both liked. Valette might not have been too welcoming to the dog when she joined but she was trying to make up for that. "You can join me when I go if you like? Then I can tell you what to look for," she offered to the female. "There are many aspects of the herd you can pay attention to," she added.

Perhaps she could teach Poppy the art of being a Deerstalker. "I would like you would report to me because I could use that information when we go hunting. I need to know what animals are injured. When we hunted a bison with a limp it was even too strong for us," she spoke with a soft sigh. It caused many injuries.

The alpha offered to have the sheepdog join her, and Poppy nodded eagerly, glad for the chance to learn from who she assumed would be the best at deerstalking. "I'd like that," Pausing a moment, she ventured, "when are you going?"  Poppy was quite eager to begin her lessons under the alpha, but doubted it would happen as quickly as she wanted it too; for surely Valette was very busy. 

Valette elaborated on what to look for, and Poppy nodded along as she went. Injuries, but ones significant enough to not be dangerous during a hunt. "what kind of injuries should I look for?"  She had mentioned that a limp on a bison hadn't made it weak enough to hunt, but what about a limp on a deer?

Valette smiled when the other female told her that she liked to join her. She felt that this was a good step in the right direction. She might not have been too kind to the female at first but she was trying to make an effort now. Valette thought about the next question. "Probably soon. I can howl for you when I will go an watch them. Then we can meet at Stone Circle."

Valette smiled as another question came. "There are injuries that are easy to spot, like a limp. But there are also more subtle ways. If one of the animals is slower to react or sleeps more there can be something wrong as well. Plus, when the snows fall we have to pay attention to the females and their fawns." Valette didn't think it was too cruel to take their babies, they were just easier targets. Especially if some were still born.

A smile curved her muzzle as Valette agreed to call for her next time she surveyed the herbs, and her tail wafted the air at her hocks. She'd surely be eagerly awaiting a summons by the woman, and did not yet know that coming events would waylay the call for quite some time. 

Again, she listened carefully, ears pressed forward against her crown. When the woman finished, she nodded a moment as she took in the information. For a moment she was silent, and then her next question rent the brief pause.  "how many fawns do you hunt, without harming the herd? do you hunt the pregnant does?"  She might be a tad slow in other aspects, but Poppy was good with herds, and hunting them was simply something else she must add to her knowledge.

Valette didn't know that Poppy had been so interested. She would have warmed up to her sooner. "It depends on how many there are born. Usually, I don't like to hunt the pregnant does but I'd rather wait until one would die in labor," she explained to the dog. "Plus if you hunt the mother with the unborn calf you don't have that much more extra meat. So if you wait till the calf gets bigger then you have another individual to hunt. If we need a lot of meat it is better to take down a bison if we can," she stated.

"Hunting a deer is very different than hunting a bison. Before we settled here I never hunted a bison, and I am still learning to perfect the technique. The bison are the hardest to hunt as they fight back, deer don't do that as often. How many fawns and calves we hunt really depends on how many there are at the moment. Plus it is always better to kill a baby male than a baby female," she spoke with a nod.

She took in the information raptly, ears pressed forward as she listened. "they're like big, angry cows, then," she murmured, half to herself. When the woman finished, Poppy turned over the information once, before another question leaped to her tongue. Her jaw fell open and shut, thinking that it must surely be rude to continuously launch questions at the woman. Instead; "thank you, mi - Valette. for teaching me." The words were sincere, and her tail wafted at her hocks as she committed the last few words to memory.

Valette tipped her head. "I am not sure that I know what cows are,' she admitted. "You will have to decide for yourself if they are alike," she hummed. Valette knew that some female deer were called cows, right? But deer and bison were definitely not the same. So, she couldn't possibly know the answer to that.

Valette dipped her head. "You are welcome, Poppy. I like teaching about wildlife so you can ask me things when you have questions," she spoke with a nod. She didn't think that Poppy could hold herself with a bison but if she could show more insights in how they lived and behaved it was always welcome.

Valette admitted to not knowing was cows were, and Poppy supplied a quick answer, thinking a moment of how best to explain. "they're like bison, but a smaller, with short hair and big spots. friendlier, too. maybe a little dumb." She finished, not exactly fond of describing things as dumb, but believing the description apt - there was a vacancy in their gaze and slowness about them.

She offered a final thanks to the woman, beaming happily a moment before she made her goodbyes, performing an odd little bow. She thought better of it a moment later - if Valette, hadn't liked the honorary titles, surely she wouldn't much like the bow - but deciding it was too late to do anything about that. With a final flagging of her tail, she girl departed, trotting back the way she'd come to share with Murdock her newly acquired knowledge that Valette wasn't quite so bad, after all.