Qeya River all falls down

Now it was Freyja's turn to be confused. Tambourine smiled lightly at her puzzled question but quickly nodded. "Yep, the Alphas are the top dogs. Then there's the Betas, though we don't have any of those in the Keep right now." Perhaps neither one of them was dumb, then. They were just different. There was nothing wrong with that. As a matter of fact, the young boy rather enjoyed meeting those different from himself.

"Do you just have one leader then?" he pressed, voice laced with curiosity. He was so caught up in the conversation that he'd nearly forgotten what they were doing. But the sudden and powerful scent of their intended target filled his nose and Tambourine glanced forward along the riverbank, gasping quietly when he spotted the doe bent over the water for a drink about a hundred yards upriver.

She listened closely to what Tambourine said, nodding at the information that he offered. It was intriguing to the young girl that their packs were structured so differently, and yet, it seemed that perhaps they might have some similarities as well. “Our Heda is the “top-dog”, so to say,” she began, borrowing his term with a smile, “But, we have two other leaders-- our Wocha and Bandrona. They specialize in the craft of fighting and ambassadorship respectively. There is another position-- the Fleimkepa who keeps the pack’s lore.” This was the position she desired, but she did not disclose this.

With her information shared, and a sudden, heavy, wave of the doe’s scent overcoming the pair, Freyja froze, lifting her tail as if to command the other to freeze. Keeping her eyes on the doe, she asked a question of Tambourine, quietly. “She’s the only one I see. Do you seen any others?”

Tambourine shook his head. "Just her," he replied in a low voice. His pale eyes scanned the riverbanks even as he spoke, just to make sure. It was strange to see a doe isolated like this. Where were the other does? Where was the stag? Was she hurt or sick or something?

It was tempting to go after her, especially since she was alone, though Tambourine reminded himself that they were only tracking, not actively hunting. He took a step backward and recollected the words Freyja had said a moment earlier. "Those are some fancy words. So you have four leaders too," he pointed out, finding it interesting that they shared a similar structure if not the specific titles and roles.

"So if you're not a fighter, ambassador or lore-keeper," he wondered, making eye contact to double check that he had the terms right, "you can't be a leader?"

To Tambourine’s report, Freyja nodded as her curiosity ensued. Like the pup from the keep, Freyja also found herself wondering why the Doe was alone. Despite this, she did not further her questions on the matter and instead  found herself more interested in the other aspect of their conversation. Her curiosity in her tracking had been quelled for now and would only be ignited once more if they happened across more deer. She attempted to set aside her instincts in that moment in favor of the conversation.

She took a step back as he did, settling herself down next to him as she listened to what he had to say. She nodded to his understanding on what had been spoken, but she did not offer any more words. Instead, she listened and found herself caught off by his next question.

Drawing a blank momentarily, she attempted to think of an alternative situation where a leader did not possess any of the said skills and yet, she drew a blank. “I can’t think of a time where there was a leader that did not fit any of those molds,” she answered lamely, looking to Tambourine.

She confirmed his brief synopsis and Tambourine could only say, "Huh." Not that he wanted to be a leader, but this whole conversation made him wonder if he should really start thinking more seriously about a trade. Stark mentioned it now and again but never really forced the topic. But spending time with Freyja today made him suddenly wonder if he needed to get with the program, maybe take life a little more seriously and find a particular path to follow.

He glanced at the doe, who finished her drink and began sidling away. He didn't mind hunting, yet it didn't call to him in any special way. He enjoyed exploring, yet the idea of turning it into a job didn't appeal to him. Maybe he needed to sit down with his Alphas sometime and ask them what they thought he ought to do. Perhaps Stark and Banner would recognize potential in him that Tambourine couldn't yet see in himself.

Since they wouldn't be following the deer, Tambourine decided, "I should probably get going." He flashed Freyja a smile. He was glad to have made her acquaintance. "Thanks for letting me tag along," he said to her with a wave of his tail before turning with a final "Bye!" and then plodding back in the direction of Marauder's Keep.

Like Tambourine, this conversation had brought a good amount of perspective to her attention and she knew that she would need time to digest such information. Falling back into her own thoughts, and her expression fell at this. Lost in these short moments, Freyja did not offer anything. Previously, she would have kept her attention to the deer, but, at the moment, that didn’t seem important.

Eventually she snapped out of it, her eyes shifting as Tambourine spoke again as he announced his departure. Smiling, Freyja waved her tail once and offered her parting words, “Safe travels”. Her mind was still heavy, the Feisripa lingered there as he went his own way. Shifting her eyes from his disappearing form and towards the deer, Freyja sighed heavily and turned tail on them both as she started back in the direction of the mountain. She had much to think about and would do so in the coming weeks.