would be nice if Menta could meet some of her pack members :)
It was early morning when Menta woke, full of plans and intentions. Today the Theta was sure she would go exploring more of the Sunspire Mountains on foot (paw?), full of lay of the land advice from Asterr and a recent bird's eye view from a high edge on The Wall. The cream wolf felt confident enough - and slightly more fed enough, which was a true blessing - that she wanted to experience all these places, put the smells and sights they had to offer to the names she had heard and distant views she had gotten.
For now, though, the cream was content to bask in her thoughts as she sat and gradually woke up. Sun was starting to trickle in through a small hole in the ceiling near her, and her yellow eyes flashed up to the gap with amusement. That's a nice touch, Menta thought to herself, happy with what she noted to use as a natural alarm clock in the future. A wide yawn was given as she shook her head to further wake herself up.
Squirrel had come to grips with her sister's disappearance, getting up early that morning and making to throw herself into pack related work. The meeting with Avannon seemed to have knocked some sense into her, made her remember she was not truly alone and that she had a pack that would care for her if she allowed them in.
It was with that mentality that Squirrel left her den and began to look for the newest members in hopes of meeting them and becoming acquainted. There were quite a few of them or so it smelt like as she got to the central pack territory and began to sniff about for whom she would approach first.
Menta lazily made her way to the closeby mouth of the cavern, her tail shuffling in a slow wag behind her. It was hard to contain her excitement and plans even as she woke up, and her yellow eyes sparkled with anticipation against the sunlight as she scanned the area in front of her. The land seemed to produce its own different kind of reward as another pack wolf - another cream pack wolf! - quickly made way into her sightline.
Tail was wagging unabashedly, now, as Menta let out a pleased greeting woof towards her new packmate. She showed a toothy grin, greatly amused by the situation, and immediately trotted up to the oncoming female. Menta took for granted that the other would be friendly - they were packmates, after all - and took the opportunity to immediately introduce herself.
Menta Speiza, she spoke as she got a better close-up look at this other female. While it would be undoubtedly vain to find her attractive, Menta was pleased to find that her fur coloration could have more or less been a familial match - her own siblings had never gotten the same coat as she, and Menta often lamented being the odd ball. Those eyes, though - blue eyes had never run in her family, and the Italian wolf found it a pretty contrast.
Have you been part of Ryūjin for long? She did not waste time in the first of many questions she held for her, although she kept it as the only one for now. It could be a practice in patience, Menta thought, her tail still wagging.
It didn't take Squirrel long to come across one of the newer pack members and she felt a jolt of surprise go through her as the other appeared. The two could have been related though their eyes were different colors. They had similar builds and fur colorings, though Texiceia found it a bit coincidental she shook it off easily.
"Hi! I'm Texiceia or just Texi. Some call me Squirrel." Squirrel introduced, overjoyed to meet a friendly pack mate. Perhaps the two would become good friends like she had with Avannon.
Menta felt her curiosity grow when the smaller cream gave multiple names but no other answer. Which do you prefer? she asked politely, cocking her head a bit to the left. Menta had nicknames from home, of course, but all of them were embarassing holdovers from childhood - nothing that her pride would allow her to open up to strangers about. A swish of her tail and she swiftly sat down in front of her, prepared to ask other questions that perhaps the female in front of her would feel more comfortable answering.
Are you enjoying the sunshine? Menta tamed her inquisition far, far back from all that she truly wanted to ask in hopes that this idle chit-chat about the weather would help the two get more relaxed together. While the Italian wolf wasn't really the best of small talk, she had seen it work its magic before - and the weather was as beautiful as it had been since her arrival, sun out and highlighting the yellow undertones in their coats.
"My friends call me Squirrel." Texi smiled, refraining a laugh at her inside joke. No one in Ryujin called her by her birth name. Whether that necessarily meant that she had no friends or not depended on your view. There was Jolly whom she hadn't recently seen and it was a bit odd around him considering he used to be, might still be, in love with her sister.
Then there was Avannon but their friendship was rather new. "Oh yes, it's nice." Squirrel blinked her eyes almost sleepily, sighing happily at the warmth of the summer sun.
sorry, she can be a little judgmental/proud butthead
Why a wolf would want to be called after a scoiattolo out of all of her choices was beyond Menta, but the cream kept quiet about her thoughts on that. She certainly wouldn't impose or assume to be a friend after a two sentence conversation, and so the Italian wolf tucked away all of the names into her brain for future reference. It was still nice to meet a new packmate, as Menta had not yet had the opportunity to meet more than a couple so far, and she kept her honest smile on her maw.
Menta fidgeted mentally for a moment as the other seemed to relax in the weather chit-chat, unsure exactly where to take the conversation towards but not feeling the need to move on quite yet. She was full of energy today, sure in her big plans, but this was worth the time invested. Being born into a pack meant that Menta felt she automatically knew and felt connected on a basic level to her packmembers, but here she didn't have that privilege - and so she was determined to put in the work to get to the same point.
Do you have a specific trade here in Ryūjin? Menta asked, having come to find out that the packs around here had designated such things. She had met only those who had claimed to be scouts and ambassadors so far, but had heard whole lists of jobs wolves undertook and prided themselves on.
"Not yet but I plan to become a Hunter. Whether or not I take up a second trade, I haven't yet decided what else I'm interested in. Maybe astronomy with Noctura." Squirrel thought aloud, shaking her head as if to get back on track with her conversation with Menta.
"What about you? Any trades or aspirations?" Texi asked, genuinely curious. It was always nice to get to know new members, find out if there were any similarities.
Menta listened politely as the other cream wolf talked. Hunting she was skilled at, of course, but it wasn't perhaps her forefront of pressing interests. Finding new land, probably. Figuring out the secrets that the land held. Scout, she stated most assuredly, seems the right fit for me.
She hadn't been used to designated titles back home, but that seemed to be the one for her if there was to be one. Packs seemed to take pride in what assigned duties their wolves had, and so it would be her duty to the pack to prove her worth in such a way. I'm actually about to go do some exploring, she said, blinking the sunshine away as she realized that the day would slip from out from her paws if she wasn't careful, but it was nice meeting you.
Squirrel nodded, thinking about her own travels across the lands to find Bird here. Personally she had had her fill of travelling for the time being, ready to stay in Ryujin for the time being. Someday she might want to venture outside the mountain but for now Texi was content to remain here.
"Have fun," Squirrel smiled, turning to leave the wolf to her privacy. Texiceia padded away with a smile on her face, proud of herself for making good on her personal mission.