He fell into the quiet focus of the patrol without much difficulty. It was familiar and he held onto that feeling because it soothed his fear and worry over Aquene.
He would never admit it out loud, but the vale was far preferable to the canyon as far as climate and terrain. They picked the perfect time to come, too; it was spring, so the valley was full of vibrant greens and various colors of whatever flowers or plants grew here. His wife filled his mind again; he knew she would love to see what medicines grew here that didn't grow in the canyon. With a heavy sigh, he pushed away the wistfulness that suddenly filled his heart.
Luckily, there was plenty to inspect and mark, and he took that moment to do as much to a tree that would help mark the borders.
tamar left
@Arsenio to explore and ran to catch up with kallik.
he marked a tree. she reared and carved another with her claws.
"aquene will love it here," she declared, unwittingly echoing his inner thoughts. tamar looked sideways at the pale soldier, wondering.
"are you very sad without her here?"
the vale made her bold. she would not question why.
Tamar joined him before too long, and he silently greeted her with a stiff nod.
Her topic of choice made it hard to avoid his worry and sadness over leaving his wife in the canyon. He just hoped he made it home before she gave birth. But Tamar was right: Aquene would love this place.
He considered ignoring her question all together; discussing his feeling was not something he liked to do, especially with anyone other than Aquene. But something kept him from blowing her off all together. She was his wife's friend and Arsenio's wife. Plus he knew her words came from a place of kindness. So Kallik finally nodded. And worried,
he offered.
"i am too."
her voice was plain. direct. "but she saved lady ruenna. she is very strong. sometimes i do not know if aquene understands this about herself."
tamar drifted toward a tree bearing a fruit she had never seen before. "do you know what this is?" she asked curiously of kallik.
Tamar was perceptive, something that normally made him uncomfortable. It was harder to hide his feelings from wolves like that. But he didn't find it to be uncomfortable in her case; maybe because of the relationships she held with his mate and Arsenio. Maybe he just knew he could trust her. It didn't really matter why.
Yes, she is,
he agreed. She does not see herself clearly,
Kallik added. It was something that he always tried to change but he probably understood better than most.
When she asked about the fruit, the soldier looked up and shrugged. I am not sure.
There were many of the small, round fruits hanging from the tree and dotting the ground around them. Kallik sniffed one closest to him before picking it up in his mouth and biting down. He winced and made a disgusted face, immediately spitting out the chewed, red fruit. It's sour,
he informed her, his discontent still present on his face.
tamar sniffed at the fruit.
"perhaps it is not yet ripe?" she posited, using a small paw to bat it gently from their path. kallik's expression had been quite funny to see but she did not want him to think that she was laughing at him.
he was quite prickly. it was endearing, for it showed how much he loved aquene.
she rose up and stropped bark from another tree.
Maybe,
he answered. He wasn't willing to test that theory, though. He smacked his lips a few times as he tried to get the taste to go away.
Kallik waited for her to be done marking the tree, and then he rubbed himself against the same one, leaving scent and fur there; it would be an obvious marker.
He would rejoin Tamar once he was done. How do you feel about all of this?
he asked. Moving here and leaving Mereo?
He knew Aquene was sad to leave the canyon, but also excited for the opportunity.
tamar looked at his white fur caught in the treebark.
"i feel better about it than i expected to feel," she said with that same new candidness which had stayed with her since she had come to the vale.
tamar drifted a little along their path. "i feel — inspired perhaps. if aquene was here, i wonder if you would enjoy yourself more, kalllik," she gently teased.
He was glad Tamar was liking it here. And he truly had no issues with the vale aside from one, and that was that his wife was not here with him. It was no one's fault and there was no immediate solution, so he would just have to deal with the uncomfortable distance. Soon, they would all be here, and things would be better.
As if reading his mind, Tamar's words mirrored the gist of his thoughts. Kallik nodded. I would,
he answered honestly after first sropping to mark another tree. It might seem pathetic to some, but he was much happier when he was wherever his wife was. He was obvious about it because he didn't care how it looked.
kallik loved aquene.
but he was also descending into his own head. tamar watched a flock of sparrows wing overhead.
"arsenio has shown me a way to hunt birds in the mountains. we will have to find new things to hunt here," she declared. "i saw the track of a large deer, i think." it was an elk but tamar had not seen such an animal before.
"shall i show you?" she asked, hoping to get more than two words from her friend this time.
Tamar pulled him from his thoughts, telling him of how she and Arsenio had found a way to hunt birds and how they would need to find different prey here. She also mentioned finding the track of a large deer.
She wanted to show him, and he would oblige her, mostly because she had asked, but also because it would be a good distraction. Lead the way,
he told her, dipping his head. Learning of the prey in their new home was just as important as fortifying the borders.