Bearclaw Valley I am still here. Give me back my smile.

It had been almost two weeks, and she was still sore. Two weeks since he had touched her. She shivered, but not from the cold. Closing her eyes for a moment, she shook his image from her brain yet again and stepped out of the den. She wondered how her friend was. Since it had happened, she had stayed close to the valley, starting at every noise. He's not here. Pull yourself together. He's not here. 
She had repeated it until it echoed in her mind. It had calmed her in the days that had followed, yet today it was not helping as much as it had been. Dakarai had been very quiet, and although she didn't blame him, she missed conversations. So out she went, a small smile on her face as she hoped she could find someone to talk with.

The hunt had given Blondine a decent look at all of the faces within the Valley and awakened an inner curiosity to know more about them. It was late morning and the skies were clear, save for a few sparse clouds. The weather was agreeable and the wind was fairly tame; as far as Blondine could tell, today was as good as any for a hunt. The herb caches were carefully maintained, but their meat supply didn't seem to be as well-guarded, so Blondine thought that she ought to help out.

On her way out to the outskirts of the territory where the herd roamed, an unfamiliar scent wafted past her nose. Blondine's ears were perked with interest as she followed it, soon finding herself upon a vaguely recognizable femme. Howdy, she called, gait speeding as she approached, I don't believe we've met.

The voice made her jump slightly, and then vague recognition hit her. She smiled at the wolfess and spoke, her tail swaying slightly. Hello. I think you are right. My name is Onyx. I believe we were both at the hunt. Tilting her head, she perked her ears forward to hear the other wolf. She closed her other thoughts off, determined to get over her wariness of wolves. What's your name?

Ah, the hunt! It was where many scents became faces, and faces became names. Blondine was glad to have finally tracked down this Onyx, as it brought back a certain memory to her mind: the woman's incident with the bovine's wrath. A look of concern instantly crossed onto her face as she searched for any obvious injuries, rudely ignoring Onyx's question before realizing. Pardon me, she cooed, I'm Blondine, Blondine Abernathy.

I'm a medic, Blondine explained, eyes darting back to Onyx's seemingly untouched frame, I was wondering if you were feeling funny at all, after the whole debacle with the moose.

Blondine. She wagged her tail slightly, then noticed the woman looking over her. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she wondered why. The wolfess spoke, and an understanding came over her face. Shaking her head slightly, she smiled at the other, a genuine happiness setting on her face. I had the wind knocked out of me. My shoulder hurts a bit, but other than that, I feel fine. It's nice to hear someone ask about me.

The extent of one's injuries was easy to downplay, so while Blondine was listening, she didn't have much regard for what was being said. She looked at Onyx and grunted before furthering her investigation with light prods and pokes to make sure nothing was hurt below the surface. Getting the wind knocked out of you, that was an easy way to bruise or break a rib.

Well, who else would I be asking about? Blondine asked, pulling herself back up with a wide smile, I don't see anyone around to whom I would rather speak. I think you'll find that I tend to ask about others a bit too much, but pride is a sin and compassion is not. That's why, whenever folks would clown her for being too caring and soft, Blondine knew better than to fight back. 

The Lord's got something for you, you know.