Rolling on his back, Dante squirmed, back twisting in the dirt as he tried to get an itch plaguing him halfway down his spine. Growling with annoyance he rolled once more, then sighed with relief as he finally hit the spot. He was well aware of the picture he probably made to anyone passing by, a fully grown male wolf wiggling like a pup in the dirt, but that itch had been driving him insane half the day. Finally, though, it was gone. Rolling to his paws, he stood, pelt covered with leaves and dust. Chuckling at himself, he shook, trying to get most of the dirt off. A fine picture he would make to any of his new packmates should they come upon him now. Not that he thought they would mind; they didn't seem the type.

Turning, he pulled a few leaves that had gotten tangled out of his pelt, then looked back at his tail. A burr seemed to have gotten stuck right near his tail. Shoot. Turning around, he went for it, but wasn't quite flexible enough to reach it and almost lost his balance to boot. Resigned, he sat. That's what he got for playing in the dirt.

Seems someone had been witness to his little ritual. Slightly red under his fur, Dante laughed. "I hate to bother you but I'd be obliged if you would. The little bugger is a bit out of my reach, as you probably saw." He eyed the burr as though it had personally affronted him. "Tricky blighter."

Then he looked at the fem who had so kindly offered help. "You are Blue Willow, correct? I don't believe we have had the pleasure of officially meeting." He had seen her around but there were many in the pack whom he had never spoken to. It seemed like everyone had other things to be doing, especially she, considering she was not only Alpha but also healer. With Peregrine's injury he imagined she was kept pretty well tied up most of the time. "What brings you out on this beautiful day?"

"Thank you." He looked back with relief at his now burr-free pelt. He grinned good-naturedly at the teasing... it was well merited and in good spirit. "I haven't had many since I was a pup; fell into an entire bush once." Well, more had been pushed. His half-sister's doing. She hadn't had much love for her half-siblings, though now that he was older, Dante could understand why. He didn't agree with her treatment of them- they had been only pups after all- but they had stolen away her birthright. She was bound to be a little miffed, at him especially.

"You are correct, the pleasure is mine. And somehow I feel the trade suits you. Would you like any help or company?" Dante had liked the look of this wolf when he first saw her and felt no differently now. She had a kind face and a gentle voice, both good indicators of character. The fact that she professed herself a healer only cemented his opinion of her. She was one he would like to count among his friends, if she felt the same. "Are you searching for anything in particular?" He hadn't grown up among healers but he had pretty sharp eyes. He didn't know the names or the uses but if she described some he could at least help her look.

He chuckled also, remembering the day. "My sister actually. My parents had the firm belief that if you didn't live with your mistakes and help yourself out of them, the lesson wasn't learned." It wasn't a bad mantra, really, when you didn't take it to the extreme. "Tarin helped me on the sly though." He wondered briefly how his sister was doing. Probably raising pups and enjoying life in her new pack. At least that's how he liked to imagine it. Perhaps one day he'd stop back in. He wondered if Peregrine would allow that.

"I will keep an eye out for those. Assuming you know best, I'll follow your lead." He would fall in step beside her, for she probably knew where it was better to look for such plants. He hadn't mapped those details out yet, though he was beginning to get to know this place better. "What made you decide to become a healer?" He asked, curious as to what influenced her decision. It was a pretty selfless thing, devoting one's life to learning how to help others.

"He must have been a great father. You don't seem to have turned out too badly," Dante jested, grinning at her. If she was envious of his siblings, he in turn was envious of her relationship with her father. He wondered what it would have been like, to have a parent that actually cared about more than size or strength. To actually be proud to claim you father and talk about your parents.

"It sounds like a hard life, but a good one also. Wandering is lonely and dangerous, yes, but it also lets you experience all walks of life and meet all sorts of interesting wolves." He had enjoyed the meeting new wolves the most. "I bet you picked up a lot of different practices too, traveling like that. Each place probably had different plants and knowledge. Though the hunting is troublesome. Tarin and I couldn't take down more than a hare for a long time when we left."

He returned her ornery smile with a genuine one, then went back to searching the ground for their target crop. As he did, he listened, enjoying hearing her talk about a life that was so different from any he had heard about. He knew there were nomadic wolves out there but had never met one who had lived that life.

Dante himself recalled the first time that he ever caught a deer unaided. It was a small one, regardless, yet at that moment he had felt completely grown and strong in his independence. He and Tarin had eaten well that day. Since then he had learned strategies that had let him pursue larger game, his size aiding immensely in the take-down. True it was easier with a pack, but not impossible. Her father must have been more skilled than Dante, however; he doubted he could have hunted for himself and a family. Shortly after they were fully grown they had come across the Highland pack and Tarin joined, leaving Dante to continue alone. He didn't really have to worry about any but himself, so it did not matter that most of the time he had to settle for lesser prizes.

"Otherworldly indeed. Though your healing fits that description as well, at least to a simple soldier like me. Seems to me your legacy is already starting. After all, you've helped so many of the pack with your knowledge." He wondered briefly if he'd ever have that sort of impact on the lives of those he was quickly beginning to care about. He could only hope. Suddenly those thoughts disappeared, though, and he quickly trotted over to a tree. "Look!" He smiled happily. "Is this one of the plants you were looking for?" The plant had hairs but he couldn't be sure.

Dante nodded. "That is true." He frowned. " I would love to have a skill like that. To be useful in ways that don't involve violence. I suppose I've never had the chance to learn." He smiled. "But I suppose I've learned something today. I never knew that plant could be useful, I've always avoided it." Perhaps one day he could be useful also for something other than harm. Protection was important, but something about this place drove him to strive to become more, to improve himself and not settle back on the easy route. He didn't think he had the memory or nerves for healing, but maybe he could find something else.

He could sing her praises all day, but something told him that the sweet she-wolf, like he, was uncomfortable with flattery. So he redirected the subject, bringing up something he had been curious about. "By the way, I really enjoyed the story that you told the other night. Where did you learn it?" It had been strange, the rhythm and voice unlike anything he had ever heard.

"That would be wonderful. I would greatly appreciate that. Thank you, Blue Willow." He shook his head. "Your father must have been a wolf of very many talents. No, my sister had the head for herbs and the like. Our pack may not have valued her, but I did more than anything. You actually remind me a lot of her." He thought of Tarin, with her low tolerance for violence and love of helping others. "I think you two would have gotten along very well." If only she had continued this far with him.

He laughed at the slight obviousness to her answer. "I probably should have guessed that, shouldn't I have? It threw me off a bit. It was strange to hear a story in which the gods play no part." In all stories of his youth some sort of deity had a hand in the outcome, no matter the tale. He supposed that whoever made the stories hadn't wanted to give offense by omission. Whatever the case, it had made her story stand out to him. The story must have come from a place with a much different belief system than his own ancestry.

"Those who don't appreciate it do not understand it's worth. It really is too bad." The sad thing is, he had been one of them once. When he was young he would have judged Blue Willow just as harshly as his father for he believed in the wisdom of the fight, nothing more. Lucky thing, growing up.

"I would like to hear the stories of the gods of whom you have heard." Dante did not know whether or not she believed the stories, but he did. He liked to believe in the gods, up there watching over their charges and twisting fate. True, in many of the stories their touch was cruel and their influence dark. They were obviously wildly blown out of proportion, but were not all stories based on some measure of truth?

Dante nodded. Therein lay the difference between wolves like Blue Willow and wolves like his father. It was as simple as that. Some did what they did because it was right, others just to get ahead. Dante wondered sometimes what sort of wolf he was turning out to be. He hoped the former but feared the latter. Sometimes he wondered if he was running so hard from his fate that he was, in fact, only bringing himself closer to it. If one does something for the good of another so that they can feel better about themselves, isn't that really just for their own gain in the end?

That wasn't something he wanted to get into now, though. It was one of those questions he didn't think would ever have an answer. Instead, he focused back in on the conversation. "You don't have to think of one now. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around," he jested. They were, after all, packmates, and Blue Willow's position made her rather hard to miss. "Some stories are better for the wait, after all." Besides, today was beautiful. He was sure that there were more constructive things for her to be doing than keeping him entertained with stories. Best save that for a dreary day when there was not much else to be done for it.

She really was too sweet. All of her duties, everything that she was dealing with, and still she had the time to offer to share stories with him. He wondered at it. "I wouldn't say no, but only if you have the time! I'd hate to keep you from more important things." He hoped she realized it wouldn't offend him at all if she had to go now. He wasn't the type to take offense nor to think that he needed to be top priority. In fact, his top priority was usually to try and take as little time/effort from others as possible. He hated to be a bother.

This was especially true with wolves like Blue. He felt that she was the type that would fall over backwards trying to do something for someone else if she felt it was what they wanted or needed. This was why sometimes it made him uncomfortable to be around wolves like she; he hated when others felt like he had expectations of them when he never really did.

Dante's ears were alert and he watched her, eager to listen. When he heard the name he smiled, for he knew the story of Achilles. However, she told it differently. In her story the moral was not to tempt fate. When Atrix had told it, the moral had been to trust nothing but one's own claws. Never depend on another to keep you alive, for only you decide whether you are strong enough. He enjoyed her version much more.

"A fine tale and a wonderful telling. You have a gift for it, you know." He thumped his tail appreciatively on the ground behind him. He felt like a pup again, for he could have listened to her tell stories all day. If only, but he was hardly so young now, and one of the curses of adulthood was the responsibility it brought. "I hate to keep you any longer. I know you still have more herbs to find." He said, looking towards the sky. It was somewhat hard to tell how much time had passed under the cover of the trees. "Perhaps another time we can meet up and I could give you a story in return?"