Redtail Rise Like a small boat on the ocean

Saena prowled along the borders of her pack at a quick pace. It had been a month since her encounter with Fox, and though scars remained (some, like the large one on her belly and the one on the side of her neck, more prominent than others), the majority of the pain was finally gone. The Alpha female could move freely again without worrying about pulling open a scab. It was a liberating feeling, and today was the first day she even noticed the change.

But there was heaviness to accompany it. For all of her gladness over having healed well, Saena was unable to celebrate in the wake of Smash's departure. Wynter was also oddly absent, which was the last thing Saena had expected of the aspiring mother. She'd granted permission to breed at last right before Wynter's presumed disappearance. It was very shifty.

As she paused to mark a stone on the ground, the Alpha found her mind going to Reek and how he fared. She'd willed him to cut back on his duties, and thanked the heavens that nobody was in dire need of healing lately. Thinking of that reminded her that they had another healer in their midst, one who had only just recently returned, and so presently Saena turned her snout to the sky and howled for @Oliver in hopes he would accompany her and tell her a bit about himself. If not him, then someone else. The Alpha hoped for company either way.

hiya ^^

"Wow, that is one big ass spider," Oliver said aloud as he examined the arachnid sitting perfectly still in the center of it's web. The delicate web, anchored to two stalks of long grass, was a deceptively lethal trap. The dried out husks of several victims were still entangled in the silky strands, formerly living proof of it's effectiveness at catching prey. Oliver silently wished that catching food could come as easily to him as it did to this fat spider. "Look at you, you got it made. You get to sit around on your big fat yellow ass and have your food deliver itself," he talked to the creature in the same condescending tone usually reserved for him. "Bet no one calls you lazy."

When he'd finished his mini rant, Oliver lowered his head and picked up a stick he'd placed at his paws. Using the stick, he removed the spider and the dead bugs from the web, then used the web to wrap a minor cut on his foreleg. It would probably seem rather strange to observers, but Oliver knew that, when applied to a wound, spider webs were known to help stop bleeding and prevent infection.

Just as he finished patching up his boo-boo, Saena's howl rose from somewhere nearby, summoning him. Oliver turned and made his way toward the Alpha, intercepting her at the borders in no time. He approached the higher ranking female with flattened ears and tail tucked away in submission. "Hey, Saena," he greeted cautiously, fearing more aggressive treatment like the sort he'd received from Arion.

There was no immediate response on the wind, but Saena knew wolves around here infrequently howled back. It was something she was raised with, so to her, it wasn't unusual. She would hang around for a little while and if Oliver never turned up, then it was no skin off her back. Luckily, the newcomer had heard her and did appear after she spent only a short while alone.

As he came on the scene, she was inspecting a pupa on the underside of a leaf. Her interest in Naturalism was rapidly dwindling along with the ghost sightings and weird dreams, but it was still interesting to look at. Not so interesting that Oliver didn't capture her attention, though. The Alpha female straightened up and smiled at him.

"Hey, Oli—" she said haltingly, frowning as she caught sight of his web bandage. Having been exposed to very little healing in her life (what little she'd seen consisted of herbs, not webs), she couldn't help being a little creeped out, because she thought he'd stepped in something and was now toting around a spider or two. "Uhhh, you got a little something," she said, surely not needing to indicate what she meant when both her eyes were locked on his makeshift wrapping.

 The Alpha female's welcoming smile quickly faded and was replaced by disgust when she caught sight of Oliver's little patch up job. He froze, trying to decide if he should try to explain the purpose of the web or pretend like it had become wrapped around his leg by accident. Perhaps he might have been able to impress her with his knowledge of the healing properties of cobwebs, nature's band-aid, but he figured it was more likely that she'd think he was gross and weird, and he did not want to give her that impression.

 Oliver pretended to be noticing the web for the first time. "Ugh, gross," he said, scraping the web off and flinging it away. "Must have walked into it on my way over here. Thanks for pointing it out," he said, hoping she was convinced. "So anyway, you wanted to see me?"

Oliver did seem bothered by the cobweb, so Saena merely assumed it was some gross accessory he'd accidentally picked up on his way here. The bedraggled male flung it away in a very convincing manner. The alpha might've understood the purpose if it was explained to her, but her naivety regarding the usefulness of cobwebs would have to persist for today.

"Yeah, I actually just wanted to get to know you a bit better," Saena told him, inviting him to walk with her. Walking and talking was so much less awkward than just standing and talking, or so she thought anyway. "You've mostly interacted with Reek. I wanna know what makes you you. Aside from fearlessly collecting nettles, that is." Maybe he was secretly a Naturalist like herself, somewhat in tune with nature, although she was admittedly bad about keeping that up lately. She would have to return to her roots eventually; maybe she could start now.

"Where did you learn to heal? Did it start as a fascination with nature, or were you trained in it specifically?" That seemed like a good start. She didn't want to talk solely about skills and trades, but being a bit work-oriented most of the time, Saena had trouble not starting with that.

Oliver trotted to catch up with Saena so they could walk side by side, though he was mindful not to crowd her personal space. He smiled at her, hoping she couldn't see just how nervous he was in her presence. She was the most beautiful creature he'd ever laid eyes on, and he was finally alone with her. The butterflies in his stomach were all on a mad sugar rush, banging and crashing around inside him so hard he felt like he was going to throw up.

Saena brought up the nettles and he snorted at the memory. "You know, I went through all that trouble and he didn't even want them, he was just hoping I'd come back covered in welts so he could laugh at my pain," he told her, pretending to pout. Even though the joke had been at his expense, Oliver enjoyed Reek's sick sense of humor. "Nice try, Reek, but you're gunna have to do better than that."

Saena asked him about how he came to be a healer, a simple question with a simple explanation. But when Oliver got nervous, like he was right now, he had a habit of saying too much. "Well I needed to learn a trade, and I'm not really great at stuff like hunting or fighting so I decided to take up healing as my main job. My mother is a master healer, she taught me everything I know, though I could really use a refresher course or something because it was so long ago now. My first choice was to be a puppy sitter, but my dad said I needed to get a real job and I can't goof off forever. Not a very interesting story, I know, but there you have it," he spoke quickly, without so much as pausing to take a breath. 'I'm doing it again,' he said to himself. 'C'mon man get a grip.'

Oliver decided to let Saena talk about herself for a bit. "What about you, what's your trade? Besides being in charge of an entire pack, of course," he asked, staying on the safe subject of work.

Oliver's so cuuuute!

When Oliver told her about Reek's cruel plot, she couldn't help but to laugh loudly. It was just like Reek to send someone out on a mission for no better reason than his personal amusement. Of course, he would never ask a newb to do anything really dangerous, but a few nettle stings was hardly a bother to most animals. She wasn't surprised at all when Oliver proclaimed that their beta would have to do better to best him.

"Careful," she warned in a voice that was low and sly, "he might make you collect jellyfish next time!" The only thing Saena knew about jellyfish was that they stung hard. She'd never actually seen one, and if she did, her reaction would probably be priceless.

She listened attentively as the thin black male recounted his time with his parents. He wasn't a great hunter or fighter by his own admission, but he was far from useless in Saena's eyes. Though she herself wasn't a huge fan of using plants for medicinal purposes, her aunt Blue Willow was a renowned healer in these parts, so she very much respected any wolf capable of stopping bleeding and curing ailments with no more than leaves and dirt.

"Your dad sounds like a drag," she said with a chuckle. "Pupsitting is very important, you know. Imagine how insane parents must go without a good pupsitter to rely on!" She actually had no idea, but she guessed it was hard being a parent. "If that's your passion, well, you can follow it here. Reek and Wynter are planning to have kids." Although she hadn't seen much of Wynter lately and was pretty sure the female was no longer around, Saena didn't really want to let Oliver know of that dysfunction, nor did she want the hope of puppies to die from the pack, however temporarily it might be.

"Oh, well, I'm a gamekeeper, like a hunter," Saena told him as they passed under a thick canopy that cast them in deep shade, "and a naturalist, so I read the weather and stuff. It's not totally useful," she admitted while giggling, "but I do like it. I'm an outrider too, but I think everyone is secretly an outrider. Everyone's gotta do some traveling now and again." She paused to lick a piece of stray fur back into place on her foreleg, then told him, "I don't think my parents inspired any of those choices. I became a naturalist 'cause I wanted to, and an outrider 'cause my sister was one, and a gamekeeper because I wanted to do something actually useful for the pack I was in."

hee hee, thank you :3

Oliver cringed at the mentioning of jellyfish. Sea creatures were so gross and creepy, jellyfish most of all. "I would rather stick my dick in a hornet's nest than touch one of those nasty things," he declared to Saena. 'Oops, that was probably inappropriate...'

He nodded in agreement with Saena's comment about his father and the importance of a good pupsitter. "Yeah, my dad is pretty old fashioned in many of his ways of thinking. He was always so disappointed in me, cause I'd rather pick flowers and patch up boo-boos like a 'sissy' than go join him and his buddies on one of their hunts. He kicked me out because he couldn't stand to look at me." His ears drooped sadly at the memory, then perked back up as he moved on to a less depressing topic. "Reek's having kids, huh. You mean to tell me someone's actually into that guy?" He said with a teasing grin. "But seriously, who is she? How come I've never met her?"

He gave a nod, impressed, when Saena told him she in fact had three trades. "Wow, you like to stay busy, huh." he remarked. "You know, I can't make up my mind on what my third trade should be, any suggestions?"

Inappropriate or not, Oliver's comment made Saena laugh uproariously. Her family had pretty bad manners as far as watching their mouths went, so the last thing the yearling would ever take issue with was a potty mouth. Besides, the thought of any wolf sticking their junk in a hive of angry insects was just too priceless, although Saena was much too naive yet to really know just how badly that would hurt. To her, it was no different than putting a foot or your nose or each into a hive.

"Your dad sounds like this guy that used to live in my old pack," Saena said thoughtfully, "the one I was born in. He tried to ream me out for getting hurt on a hunt once, said hunting was no place for girls. Ever since that, je treated me like I was unfit to do anything, all because I'm a girl." She chewed her lip for a second, then abruptly asked, "your dad's name isn't Koda, is it?" She didn't think Koda was old enough to have fully grown kids, but there was always a chance. She wasn't exactly a sleuth when it came to knowing how old other wolves were.

Giving him ample time to reply, Saena bobbed her head thoughtfully, then allowed the conversation to move on to another topic. Oliver's father or not, Koda was the last thing she wanted to let sour her mood. Instead, she focused on the joy of puppies that Redtail Rise would soon experience, and grinned anew. "Yeah! Her name's Wynter, she's a sweetheart. One of the nicest ladies I know. They came from a pack together on the coast." When asked why he hadn't seen Wynter, Saena shrugged at Oliver and said, "I think she's been doing a lot of exploring lately." That could very well be true.

"As for your trade," she trailed off, humming thoughtfully. Caretaker and healer went so well together that for a moment, she couldn't think of anything more suitable. But then she remembered Osprey and suggested, "you could be a storyteller. My aunt was a storyteller. I think they call them chroniclers. Or you could be a counselor if you think you can give good advice to people." Maybe he didn't like telling stories or listening to wolves' problems, though, so Saena studied Oliver a little while longer before trying, "or maybe a naturalist like me. You could specialize in botany to complement your healing trade. I could try to teach you some, though I'm honestly sort of out of practice. Maybe we could help each other out if you wanted to go that route."

Instead of sighing in disgust or shooting him a dirty look, Saena burst out laughing. And it wasn't just a forced giggle either, it was genuine rolling-on-the-ground laughter. She actually found him funny? Oliver laughed nervously along with her. "I'm glad you find that so funny," he said. 

He listened as she told him about her time with her former pack, shaking his head 'no' when she asked him if her old pack mate was actually his father. "Naw, my dad's name is Glen, and he lives far away so there's no chance you'll ever meet him, hopefully," he told her. "But this Koda sounds like a smart guy, I think he's on to something," he said this in a serious tone, with nothing in his expression to indicate that he was joking. He kept up the facade long enough to see her reaction, then he cracked up. "Just kidding, he sounds like a total ass."

The subject changed to Wynter, Reek's mysterious mate. "Well she already sounds way too good for him," he said with a laugh. He was only half joking, however. The young man was vexed that the nicest girls always ended up with the biggest jerks. Maybe underneath that ragged exterior, behind the abrasive personality and the sarcastic jeers, Reek was really a big softie with a heart of gold. Or he had a huge penis. Otherwise, how could anyone be into that guy? But if someone like as homely as Reek could find love, maybe there was hope for Oliver yet.

"Oh man, can you imagine what it's gonna be like with tiny versions of him running around all over the place?" he pretended to shiver in fear. "Those little demons will burn this place to the ground, I just know it."

Oliver considered Saena's suggestions quietly. Chronicler seemed like a better fit than counselor, because Oliver was terrible at dealing with his own problems, but when she suggested working on naturalism together, every other option went out the window. An opportunity for him to spend even more time with her one on one? Hell yes, he was all over that. "Naturalism sounds amazing, let's do that," he said enthusiastically.

Glen. That was a pretty weird name, thought Saena, but then, who really had a "normal" name? Certainly not her. For a brief instant her gaze hardened on Oliver as he dared to say that Koda might be on to something, and she considered snapping at him and forcing him to submit and take it back, but then he said he was joking. She let out a slow breath, though it was clear that that joke wasn't nearly as funny. At least Oliver agreed that Koda was an ass.

The alpha focused on Wynter and Reek, letting her brief flare of anger simmer quietly away. "He's a nice guy," Saena protested, feeling protective of her friend and fellow leader. He and his mate were adorable together. Saena wouldn't have it any other way. "You just saw his joker side, that's all." Still... "Their kids are gonna be hellions, though," she agreed, knowing that Reek himself was a bit of a mischief maker. She'd never seen the full extent of that side of him, his penchant for causing trouble, but she didn't doubt it existed. All wolves had it, some just suppressed it better than others.

"There can't be that many of them," she brushed off. The Rise would be safe even if ever one of Reek and Wynter's children came out breathing fire. There were enough adults to fend off a threat of even demonic child proportions. "I'm excited to meet them," admitted the pale-furred female. As much as she originally wanted her eventual litter to be the first born on these slopes, she was excited for her friends.

Oliver then agreed to naturalism and she smiled. "All right! Well, I'll have to brush up on it a bit to teach you much, but let's meet up in like... a fortnight or so and work on it?" By then she should have a decent amount of material to work with. The two wolves agreed and then parted ways with plans to meet up again for some naturalism training.