Rising Sun Valley Seasons come with Change

"He was a pack mate," Saena explained, motioning for Lacinia to walk with her. Her mistrust was slowly fading away, if only because they seemed to have oppression by males, or a single male in her case, in common. "I wasn't allowed to teach him a lesson, but I will if I ever see him again." The words came out strong and confident, but they were partly untrue. Saena knew she was no fighter and that she was unlikely to prove much of a match for Koda. She would give him a verbal lashing, call down her pack mates on him, but never fight him one-on-one. She didn't believe there was honour in fighting a losing battle, and she certainly didn't care enough about honour anyway.

"What talent was that?" Saena asked, genuinely interested in what this female could do. She imagined it had to be something useful, like guarding the borders or padding the caches with food or healing the sick, for Aklaq to still be alive after being kidnapped. She admired any wolf who chose those more natural, basic trades as their own. They had the makings of true wolves, not ones whose ideals clouded their ability to work efficiently with the pack or effectively defend their lands.

"A new beginning," she said automatically. "I always wanted to rise and help lead my old pack, but things there were disorganized. Crimes were going unpunished. I couldn't deal with it anymore, so I left. I'm looking for a new beginning." Her ear twisted to face Aklaq, allowing Saena to survey her response in a way without breaking eye contact with the horizon. "It'll be a pack that develops as it goes, I guess, but I know that crimes won't go unpunished there."