Swiftcurrent Creek In Sickness or in Health(IC Joining)

The sudden leap startled Bazi, who flattened her ears and took a quick step back. Nightingale landed awkwardly, and it wasn't long before exhaustion and sickness pulled the pup's feet out from under her. She collapsed in a tiny, ragged heap. Fox did not look happy. Bazi watched Ferdie grovel for the tiny life, shrinking in Fox's shadow. Eventually, a deal was cut.

It baffled her that he would do this for a wolf that offered no immediate assets to their pack. Sure, Swiftcurrent Creek was a hodgepodge of family names, but each one had traded their loyalty and skills for a carefully monitored trial run - no exception. This runt would only burden them in the short run, and break Ferdie's heart when she failed to live up to Fox's demands. What could he possibly teach a pup in a week? She could hardly hunt or scout, and they had no qualified healer that needed an apprentice. The prospects looked grim.

The pup would have to share their den, no doubt, and Bazi wasn't entirely happy about that, either. The very sight of the little thing tugged at her heartstrings, but she wanted no part in Ferdie's experiment. Partly because she was fairly certain the pup would be dead in a week's time (and didn't fancy enduring that loss), but that wasn't the whole of it. The lion's share was a curious mix of ambition and utilitarianism, and not something she particularly was proud of. Above all else, she wanted Fox's trust and approval, and she wanted a strong pack - a pack to rival Shar-Kali's, that no Vale wolf would think to cross.

"There are a couple of extra furs drying outside the den. They're thick," she told Ferdie. With that, she turned west, licking Fox's chin before loping in the direction of the Sunspire range. There was saltstone to be found, and one of the older, flatter skins would do nicely as a bag.

Exit Bazi.