Blacktail Deer Plateau Bring it on, baby. I can take you and your spatula.

Hey X! I hate to do this because I'm loving this thread, but can we put it on pause for a bit while we're discussing the rank shuffle system in the ooc pack GOSSIP thread? It looks like there might be the possibility that rank shuffles could be done away with, and if that turns out to be the case then I would like the chance to edit this post to reflect the new information before we continue.

Edit: Okay, I edited to just sort of.. glaze over the rank stuff while it's being discussed, I didn't want to hold up this thread any longer. So we're good to go!

Rue had hoped her words might relax Siqsa, but they seemed to have the opposite effect. She saw his body tense and ears swivel, and she knew what he was doing because she did the same thing constantly herself; he was searching for the danger hidden in this encounter. For the Unseen Other. For proof that Rue was not who she appeared and claimed to be. Rue, ever-vigilant and suspicious, did the same thing nearly every time she met a stranger outside the packlands. But... at least she could come back home and relax. It must be exhausting for Siqsa to feel like he had to be on his guard even within his own pack's territory... such an existence was hardly better than that of a lone wolf, in Rue's opinion. 

Siqsa continued to add details to his account, and Rue's understanding emerged once he revealed that the "mousy" subject of this rant was a fellow packmate. She definitely saw the problem now, but still, Siqsa's reaction seemed a little over the top. Siqsa asked for the Mouse Kid's name, and she shook her head at the question. "I haven't run across him yet. Perhaps he's still hiding." She quirked a brow in a tiny expression of amusement. 

Something in Siqsa seemed to shift when he finally looked up to meet her gaze. His following words were less defensive and more just.. confused. Perhaps this was the true source of his distress-- Siqsa didn't understand what his place was in the kind of pack that that would allow someone like Mouse Kid to exist. The desire to know one's place was one of the most basic, natural inclinations a wolf possessed.. Rue could certainly understand Siqsa's frustration, if he felt he was without a place and had zero idea of how to obtain one. Rue shrugged at the question, wanting to say more but unable to find the words other than to answer his direct inquiry. "You could challenge for rank if you wanted, I think. But I'm not sure it would help you... find what you're looking for. Rank doesn't seem to be especially important here." Rue knew this would not be satisfying answer for the young man, and it frustrated her to give it just as much as it would probably frustrate Siqsa to hear it. 

Siqsa continued, further expressing his feeling of being the outsider here. Rue knew what that felt like-- oh, did she ever. She felt somewhat more equipped to answer this line of questioning though, and for the first time she nodded assuredly when Siqsa fell quiet. "Here, self-betterment efforts are channeled into the development of a trade, and there seem to be all manner of trades. You can refine your hunting skills or healing skills, or you can train to be a fighter, or you can work toward.. deepening your understanding of the natural world.." Rue's voice drifted away as her confidence faltered. She had only just recently had all of the trades explained to her, so she was still a little fuzzy on all the possibilities available in Blacktail Deer Plateau. 

She cleared her throat. "But. Here we are a.. a family, Siqsa. Just existing is okay, because we have what we need. And we have each other. And because we are a family, we can forgive Mouse Kid for his nature if he is working to benefit the pack and improve himself. Just like we can forgive you for your nature, if you are doing the same. I- I don't know for sure, but I don't think you're in quite as much trouble as you may imagine. At least.. you're not in trouble with me."  Rue took in a deep breath and let it out, and she let her gaze drop to the ground. It was difficult for her to explain what she only barely understood herself, and she had no idea if she had helped at all or if she had only suceeded in making Siqsa more bewildered.