Wapun Meadow With big meaningless eyes and tongues like fly paper

Ashlar was unconvinced but he relaxed, some, to Aventus' smile. He couldn't help it. Every particle of his nature was designed to read that smile as sincere and to assume, because of it, Aventus meant him no harm.

He smiled back and tried to relax the pounding in his chest. If they wouldn't need to fight, then maybe it would be okay.

Why doesn't he like them? What did they do? He ventured curiously to ask this, put enough at ease to delve a little deeper. If they were so far away, what had they done to earn the bear king's ire? And, in turn, what sort of thing angered the pack?

While it was mostly to understand, it wasn't entirely unselfish. If the boy could avoid such a fate himself, he'd like to.