It had been a mild winter, and already Atreyu could feel the first hints of spring quite literally peaking through the light snow that had settled upon the earth. He wondered if the lack of blizzards during the winter meant the spring and the summer afterwards would be harsher, but he was no Naturalist and so didn't dwell on the thought. Instead, the yearling busied himself with nosing aside the frosty dirt, uncovering a single yellow flower, giving it a fascinated cant of his head before eating it whole.
He then pulled up and chewed slowly, as if mulling over the peculiar flavours of the flower. He would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in replicating the...curious incident with the other plant that he encountered and consequently inhaled with Spectra. That had been a hell of a day. This flower didn't seem to cause the same strange effects, however, and the boy spit it out with a disgusted frown.
Lyric was trudging through what was left of the snow. She was finally happy spring was here. It meant warmer weather. Although she worried too much warmer. She was still adjusting to her new surroundings getting to know her way around. She had visited the waterfall in the earlier days. Its quite a beautiful place.
She spotted a creamy white coloured wolf nearby. He was eating a flower? Perhaps he was looking for medicinal herbs. She had no clue but she was curious to get to know this wolf. She approached slowly as she knew this was a pack wolf. Chances are this wolf ranked higher than her. "What are you doing?" she asked with a curious tone.
She couldn't figure out why anyone would want to eat a flower. It was peculiar. Yet somewhat intriguing.
Atreyu turned after scanning the field and finding no other tiny flowers peeping out from the ground, ready to head back to the forest and try his luck there, but a silver form quietly moving towards him caught his eye. He gave her a lopsided grin at her inquiry. That question seemed to be asked of him a lot lately. Usually, the boy would get on the defensive, but today his temper had cooled somewhat — perhaps the flower did have an effect on him.
He spun around fully then, facing her and meeting her icy blue eyes. He hadn't seen the girl before. She must be a newcomer. "Ah, y'know, just taste-testing the local flora," he replied with a shrug, glancing back at the chewed up flower that lay sodden on the ground.
The wolf seemed to search as if to find more flowers starting to ground but to no avail. He then turned to her with a lopsided grin answering her question. Perhaps this wolf was a healer. That's why he was eating the flowers. To see if they had any value to him. "Are you a healer, is that why you are tasting the flowers?" she asked tilting her head slightly. Lyric was a very curious wolf and perhaps sometimes asked too many questions but to her. Knowledge was key. She padded closer to the wolf. He smelled like the pack she was in so she knew he wouldnt attack. "I'm Lyric by the way, and you are?"
Her assumption that he might be a healer made him chuckle — he had no talents in healing others. Now, hurting them, that was a different story (despite the fact that Atreyu had never really been in a proper fight, he liked to think himself capable of dealing fatal blows). "Nah," he answered with a shake of his head, before eyeing her up as she stalked closer. There were tiny scars on her muzzle, ones that he had missed before. A warrior? Though she didn't look like one who liked to fight.
"I'm Atreyu," he said. "You been here long?"
Lyric looked around and then sat down a few feet from where Atreyu was standing. He seemed to be looking at her trying to figure out if he'd met her or seen her around before. "Yeah I'm new here, Thistle Cloud found me near the borders resting and we talked. Here I am," she stifled a small laugh.
Perhaps not a healer. Then what was he. Warrior perhaps. He looked like he'd be a strong fighter. Then what the heck was he doing eating plants. This wolf was strange.
She decided rather than asking more questions she would just let him talk. Perhaps he could tell her more of this pack she had joined.
When she sat down it was clear they were in for a conversation — not that Atreyu minded. He was a sociable creature, even more-so towards his pack members (though, perhaps not that freckled kid he had met on the beach a few weeks ago). Planting his own rump onto the cold ground, the boy quickly scratched at an itch — or flea — behind his ear as the girl spoke. He stopped with his foot still hovering above the snow, tilting his head.
"She didn't attack you?" he asked, genuinely curious. He knew Ragnar and Thistle to be unforgiving towards trespassers, though perhaps she wasn't too close. He couldn't imagine she would be treated too kindly if she took a nap within the scent-marked border. "We usually keep trespassers as slaves here," he added with a wink, giving no other information as to whether he was being serious or not.
"Nah i wasn't trespassing i was just near the borders. Not to close i guess." she chuckled at his comment about them being kept as slaves if they trespassed. She wouldn't be surprised. She wasn't a fan of being trespassed on nor could she imagine any wolf would. Let alone a pack. In spring. Pup season.
"What trades are you in then?" she asked tilting her head. Still wondering what on earth the flowers could have any use to him. It seemed every wolf here was expected to be a part of a trade so as to have work to do. Equal shares at that. She was happy with the choice she had made when Thistle Cloud asked her which she wished to follow. She was sure she would be good at it.
She hadn't been trespassing then. Fortunate for her. Atreyu longed for the day he encountered a wolf too deep within their territory. He had little experience fighting another wolf, though he was confident he would be able to take them down with ease. Yeah, he'd teach them a lesson about etiquette. Her laugh caused him to wag his tail, glad she wasn't put off by the fact that they kept slaves. It was an unusual custom, but Atreyu could see the benefits — a slave would be so very handy.
He paused for a moment at her question, before lifting his chin proudly. "Well, we're only allowed to take on three or so jobs, I think, don't want to be overburdened or anything," he began with a shrug, looking her in one blue eye before continuing. "So I'm going to be a gamekeeper, outrider and a warrior." It was a good mix, he thought, and was already on his way to officially becoming one of them. "What about you?"
She listened as Atreyu explained they were only allowed three trades so as not to be overburdened by taking too much on. She looked at him for a moment as if deciding he woud be good at the jobs he was aiming for. He would. He would make a great warrior outrider and a gamekeeper. He made some good choices.
She paused to think for a moment about her choices. She was sure she would do very well to fit in. "I had planned to go for Caretaker and Counsellor, I feel like i would fit in very well with those two trades. I havent decided whether I will try and take on a third. Right now im taking things one step at a time," she smiled at the thought of her getting to be a key member of a pack finally.
OOC: Haha sorry i havent posted in a while. I wasnt in the country and it made it very hard to get on here. :P Im home now. I should be back to posting often XD
Adding in an ending!
He responded to her own ambitions with a shrug and a smile, though wondering what each did. He was pretty sure the counsellors helped sort out fights (maybe she could teach Charon some manners) and the Caretakers were the ones who looked after the pups. Noble professions, in their own right. Not as dangerous as being a Warrior or Warden but Atreyu couldn't imagine trying to entertain two-month-olds for the entire time while their parents were out hunting. He shuddered at the thought.
"Well, if you decide on becoming a fighter, too, I can help train you," he added with a confident grin, though something told him she wasn't the type to work disagreements out physically. But who needed social prowess when you had the ability to simply shove them to the ground?
"Oh! Did Thistle show you around?" he suddenly said, getting to his feet.
"I can also show you the coolest spots — we have a waterfall!"
When she didn't object, he then turned and gestured with a few wags of his tail for her to follow, excited to show the Bay's newest member around.