Patrolling borders had become something that she enjoyed, it had once seemed a boring task. It gave Liri time to think, a good thing considering she had a lot to ponder these days.
Had they chosen the right thing? Liri couldn't help but think that perhaps it would end in failure as her last three packs had. Quite the track record for someone as young as she, it didn't quite seem fair at times.
There was also the matter of her missing pack mates, or rather
former pack mates. Samuel was still heavy on her mind though she no longer obsessed over where he was. It was his choice to leave, she couldn't stop him. Often she preferred thinking about Minna rather than her errant ex-husband. Would she add a sister-in-law to the list of friends and family long gone?
Amara was another figure to think of, the ex-Alpha had disappeared without a word; literally. Liri could only hope that the distraught femme's unborn children were safe since it had long ago become clear that Amara, the Amara she had known, was gone.
It was too much to think of all at once. Liri felt like she would explode if she thought anymore on it. This was a new place, a new home. The healer would try to forget it, it was time to move on. As she padded through the Strath, Liri tried to do just that.
Even though the pack was still in its early form, not fully official, Grace was confident that she would find the Strath her longest standing home-hopefully, the place she died one day. It was peaceful here, not to mention beautiful, and Zaavier-well, he was just wonderful.
Limping aimlessly though the land, Grace caught scent of another one of her packmates. She hadn't met any of them, but now seemed as good a time than any. The russet girl was swift in finding the pale form of Liri, and she chuffed out a greeting as soon as she thought the woman would hear her.
Already her confidence was bursting, and she pranced forward with a waving feathery tail and perked ears-more friendly than she'd been towards a stranger in, well, probably her entire life.
Liri was broken from her thoughts by the chuff, glancing up to find it belonged to a dark female with red hints in her fur. The woman, whom she believed to be called Grace, bore a mangled leg and limp that Liri allowed herself to stare at for only a moment. For medical reasons.
After the moment was up, she turned a friendly smile Grace's way and dipped her head in greeting. "Hi! I'm Liri," she introduced herself just in case Grace didn't know it.
"Your name is Grace, right?" The healer decided to clarify and get it out of the way before an awkward situation came about from not knowing her name.
First and foremost came the stare-Grace was more than used to others giving her scars and leg a look over upon first meeting- that the russet girl was neither comfortable with or bothered by. It simply was, and that was the end of it-after a moment, they usually stopped, and Liri was no exception as she introduced herself.
The surprise came when the pale woman knew her name, and Grace's inky mask twisted in confusion before again forming a smile. The red girl nodded, giggling under her breath as she joked:
"Yeah, that's me-the leg gave it away, right?"
"No," she denied. "You're the only other girl. That is, if my sister in law never shows up," the healer chuckled though in truth she was worried about Minna.
"Have you been with Zaavier long?" Her head cocked, gesturing to the path to ask if Grace would join her.
She was the only other girl - really? It seemed hard to believe, there were so many other smells here; granted, they'd all been stale to hard to detect. Had Zaavier lost followers? Couldn't imagine why.
"When was the last time you saw her?"
Liri gestured for her to follow, and follow the russet girl did. She limped along at the Healers flank, nodding to the pale womans question.
"Less time than you have, I believe. Only a few days ago. You?"
"Long before we met Zaavier, when we were still travelling from Blackfoot Forest," she commented idly, forgetting for a moment that perhaps Grace was unfamiliar with the place.
"She's a wandering soul, Minna is. I believe she will be back," Liri assured, hoping that it was true. Leto would be crushed if she never came back.
"About the same," she answered. It hadn't been long, the Strath was still so unfamiliar to her. When she woke up she kept expecting to open her eyes in the cozy den back in Rosings, Liri half expected to find Aaron or Amara wandering around the territory.
"What's your story? I'm sure it's an interesting one, you have depth in your eyes," Liri didn't pause to consider if it might be an odd statement. Still waters run deep as Father used to say.
Blackfoot Forest - why did the place sound familiar? Grace let it go as the conversation went further, the pale woman claiming that Minna was a wanderer. She hoped Liri was right about her friend: the more packmembers they had the better, right?
"My mother and I are both filled with wanderlust, but we always come back - Hopefully, your Minna is the same."
"About the same" came the healers voice, and Grace felt a little better knowing that she wasn't the only newbie. It did make her worry more about why there were scents here that no longer were - had Zaavier just moved here, she would have written it off as just the last wolves that were here, but the man had been here at least a month or two. She felt bad to think he'd been abandoned.
"Were are all the other people I smell around here? Hasn't Zaavier been here a while?"
Next, she asked about Grace's story - well that was a long one. Heat blushed her pelt at her words about depth and the yearling padded on with her golden gaze on her paws sheepishly. Her past wasn't easy or fun or boring - it'd been traumatizing, detrimental on her entire life and mental state afterwards, and made her a natural coward. So, yeah, Grace had depth. However, being raised as she had been, still never had learned how much was enough, or how much was too much. When she made friends, she was either too distant or never left their sides. Everything in her life lacked balance - here, in Hideaway Strath, she hoped to gain it.
"I-Well, the entire thing? I've been around."
"Hopefully," she agreed, thinking of her best friend with nostalgia. Would she lose Minna too, along with all the others who had always promised to stay? It didn't seem so far fetched after Samuel's abandonment, even he seemed like a distant memory now that she lived in the Strath.
"I'm guessing due to the lack people and the staleness of their scents, they lived here with him at one time but no longer do. Perhaps they all just left," Liri could understand that. She and Zaavier weren't so different, all their pack mates had left them.
"You've been hurt," the healer said it unthinkingly once again. It was in the way Grace said it, in the formation of her scarring. Liri remembered distinctly how Aaron had read through her much the way she had just done Grace.
"Takes one to know one," Liri offered in consolation, hoping to let her know that she wasn't alone. It was the closest Grace would get to a sappy heart to heart.
Liri came to the same conclusions as her with the scents - Zaavier had been abandoned, and it was a shame. Whining in sympathy, Grace shook her head. At least he would have the loyalty of the wolves here now - right?
"Poor Zaavier - He seems like such a good, kind leader."
Again, Liri cut to the chace, and while it did bring the slight feeling of embarrassment, Grace was glad she didn't seem to be alone. Her words were accepted, and some part of her was glad there was no coddling.
"I... Yeah. My father - he raised his kids to believe women were for either training dummies or breeding sons.... That covers most of my scars and the busted leg, the mentality, the stutter.... Living in the Teekons has both hurt and helped me. Pheonix Maplewood was the first place I found, and where I found my first crush. The alpha male was an ass, though - attacked my mother when she tried to join me and attacked me for defending her: the scar curling around my muzzle is from him, and the one across the bridge of my nose is from a rose bush I explored with my crush."
Pausing, Grace glanced over and made sure Liri wasn't being bored out of her mind or anything. After taking a deep, shaky breath to settle her nerves - reminding herself that she was walking with a friend now - she went on.
"When they were driven out to find a new home by Sleeping Dragon, I went to find Nova again. She led me to Warbone and Marauders Keep - we lived there together through the famine until Warbone vanished and Tavi took over. Not long after that, Nova found Phares - he taught her about his religion and following Raas, and when she went to Larksong Grotto, I stayed behind. The Marauders fell into hell after that - my friend Trick convinced me to leave and use my skills elsewhere. It took a long time to get to Redhawk Caldera, and I was only there a week or two before a mental breakdown had me running back to Nova for a month. I've been a loner since leaving the Caldera wolves, ended up wandering a while. Met up with the new alpha of the Marauders - my friend Stark, who wasn't at all happy with my leaving - and the alpha of my first pack. Saena: she gave me this new gash on my eye, and now I can barely see any of it. It took me a while to get here, but Zaavier found me by the borders and offered me a home. This place just felt so right, I had to try - and here I am. Enough about me - what's your story?"
Liri nodded, listening with patience as the tale unfolded before her. It was long and complicated, but the healer followed along to the best of her ability; nodding in sympathy when it seemed right.
"My mother died in birth, I was raised by my father in an unloving family; though I won't say I had it as bad as you. I at least had Leto. A plague wiped out much of my natal pack, a bear attack took my sister."
Here she paused, allowing herself to remember Ameta for just a moment. Her sister had been too good for this world, too fragile as well. Ameta would never have survived Liri's first marriage.
"Afterwards I was alone, Leto had abandoned us beforehand. I married a cruel man, Remo. He deceived me and I was young enough to believe in love at first sight. I was beaten, humiliated, you name it," Liri said this emotionlessly, having accepted the abuse of her past.
"I made it to Rosings shortly after escaping and was placed in an arranged marriage to Samuel. He was a good man, a gentle one. I truly loved him. But alas, all the members of Rosings seemed to be cursed with wanderlust. They all left in the end, save for my brother. I led as Alpha but I couldn't hold it together with everyone gone," defeat coloured her tone.
"I left with Leto and Minna but Minna too seems to have wandered away. We met Zaavier in the mountains and offered to join him. He agreed," she concluded, unnecessarily.
"It's such a shame that the women who were here abandoned him. I feel for Zaavier," Liri frowned. How selfish could such a large group be?
Liri listened without interruption, and when it was the paler womans turn to tell her tale, Grace did the same. She winced at the news of her mother, nodded in understanding at an unloving family, shrugged at the comparison. At the news of a plague, her golden eyes went wide, and her heart ached for Liri - but she still wasn't done, and Grace stayed quiet. Just as she'd thought to herself she was glad Leto had been there for her, she told her he'd abandoned them.
One thing Grace couldn't connect with was the awful husband - the closest thing she'd ever had to a mate was Esaro, and he'd been the kindest soul she'd ever met. It was he who restored her faith that not everyone was bad. Her hackles did lift in anxiety though, flaring nervously at both the story and her sudden lack of emotion.
When Liri talked about Rosings - a pack Grace couldn't recall, despite having lived not far from it - and her arranged marriage, the russet girl felt like this was going to end badly too. After all, no Samuel was in Hideaway Strath. It was worse than she'd imagined though - the woman lost her love, the pack she led, her friends, and her home. After that, she and Leto had come here.
"I hope you find peace and happiness here, Liri. Who knows, maybe some of your old packmates will find you here."
Liri voiced her thoughts about Zaavier and his group, and Grace nodded with a solemn mask. In her mind, she was thinking of excused as to why they could have left - but they all sounded as lame as her own reasons for leaving her own previous packs. This, she kept to herself - no need to make everyone worry she'd be the next deserter.
"He's got us, now - we'll be settled before we know it."
Grace was quiet through her tale, expressive with her body but not vocal. She seemed nervous at some spots and almost agitated by the end. Liri felt a twinge of guilt in causing Grace's discomfort but she would no longer hide her ugly past.
"Thank you. I hope we all find such things. It would be nice to have friends again, love that doesn't waver," Liri mused, longing saturating her voice and tinting her eyes. Was that so much to ask for? Someone who would stay?
"I'm sure if we all pull our weight we'll get this place running. Others will come in time," she was certain of it.
Grace nodded in agreement, face set solemnly - it would be nice to feel at home, to grow, to be happy again. It'd been far too long since she'd felt accepted, and the promises Hideaway Strath held for her were bright.
"To have a calm, safe home filled with the ones you love - hopefully, that's what Hideaway Strath is for everyone."
Nodding again, she agreed with Lirl: they could do this by themselves for now, but eventually they would gain numbers and become stronger.