Blackfeather Woods Decisions

Venus had been thinking a lot about spying. Something else had been banging her. She has had a interest in herbs. With winter quickly approaching, maybe Blackfeather would like another herbalist. One thing she didn't know, was if she could specialize in two different things. She poked her nose around a few trees, looking for moss. Even if she wouldn't be accepted, she wasn't going to deprive her pack of moss when winter is so close. She found a huge clump on the base of a tree. She griped it with her small front teeth, and gently pulled. The clump came of with little resistance. 

She trotted along, thoughts still whizzing through her mind about specialties. If she couldn't have both, which would she choose? She picked up a few more small clumps of moss, until she decided it was time to talk to @Burke. In the middle of thinking, a few loose strands of moss tickled her nose, making her shoot a loud sneeze, the moss balls flying in every direction. She laughed a bit, and went around picking up each individual moss ball. She passed by the Mire, glancing at a large heron. She lowered her nose to the ground, Burke's faint smell was over powered to the smell of the rotting swamp. She padded along, hoping to bump muzzle first into Burke to express her concerns. She planned to tell him about her past experiences, she hoped he would give her a small test to prove her devotion. But she still was torn between spy work and herbalist work, if she had to choose between the two.

While Venus was at the Mire, Burke was back at Spiderlings' glen to take care of Pietro and Kendra. Or at least, to be a father to them. It was getting colder, and he hated for the small spiderlings to catch a cold. He didn't want to limit their play time. He nosed over his grey son, his pale eyes looking for Kendra who was surprisingly not far away from her brother. Burke kinda liked that they would stay together. 

Burke decided that he was allowed to lay down. As a caretaker he was basically the only one that was officially the babysitter. Though, Burke liked to think of his trade from another point of view. Being the alpha he was basically everyone's caretaker. He did a lot for his pack and ever since Meldresi died he had only worked harder not to think about her. He did had to smile in the privacy of his little family. They were really cute. 

If Venus wanted to find Burke she would have to look from him at the glen or howl for his location. Burke had his mastery in counseling so he could probably help advise Venus

Venus picked up Burkes scent as she was trotting around. She had been near the den when his scent got stronger. She didn't want to interrupt Burke when he was spending time with his children. Venus was more worried about entering the den and Burke taking it as aggression. She sniffed around, her mouth still full of moss. He poked her nexk in the entrance. "Hey Burke, you in here? It's Venus." Her voice was muffled to basically an inaudible whisper. She placed the moss to the side, and placed a rock over it so the cool wind didn't blow it away. "Hey Burke its Venus, you in here?" Her eyes searched the entry, she wasn't about to bust in, like an intruder. So she strained her ears and waited for a response.

Burke is in the spiderlings' Glen, not his den!

Burke looked up when he heard a voice. At first he didn't really like that he was disrupted but at least she was respectful about it. He pushed himself into a sitting position. "I am here," he called out to the female on the edge of the clearing. With those words he invited her in. If he was in his den he wouldn't have invited her in but this was a clearing for the pups to feel safe in, meet pack mates and explore.

His pale eyes glanced at her, his children close by him. "What is it?," he asked. The alpha male was curious what she wanted to talk about. Burke was more than willing to give advise or talk about what she wanted to know.

Venus was embarrassed at her stupid mistake. She ran over to the Spiderlings den. He poked her head in. She smiled as Burkes children pranced around him. Her eyes were bright as she looked from the pups to Burke. She dipped her head in greeting. She flipped through her brain on how to start this conversation. She didn't know if Burke would be open to her ideas, or if he has heard it all before. She would have to think of a way to show she could handle two passions. She dropped her mouth full of moss to the side. She stayed standing, for she though it was rude to assume she was automatically welcomed into this den. "I'm sorry for bothering you, but I have been wanting to talk to you. I have had a passion For herbs ever since I was young. I don't know if it is possible, but can I practice in both Spy work and Naturalist work?" She sounded confident, but humble. She knew she was intruding. She wouldn't want a wolf she didn't know very well walking in on bonding time. She truly appreciated Burkes trust in her, and her body showed it. She was relaxed and her tail was low. She didn't want him to find her untrustworthy around his children.

Burke tried to split his attention between his children and Venus. He couldn't really focus on her only and have his pups go all over the place. He did caught the gist of what she was saying. "But of course. Being a healer is an actual trade, being a spy is not really, that is more being an outrider," he explained to her. Now his mate was gone they missed their head healer, Potema and Cicero did have their healer skills. She could possibly learn from them.

"If you want to learn herbs for healing purposes then I would advise you to go to Cicero or Potema. They could help you," he explained with a nod. His eyes traveled to Pietro for a moment before having his eyes back on Venus. "I am pretty useless with Herbs, if you want to do more spying I can think of spying missions for you, or giving messages to other packs ect. So you will have your outrider too," he offered.

Venus watched as Burke looked from her to his children. He probably wanted her to leave, but she wanted to know what she could do. She carefully listened to his ideas about meeting with one of the two wolves in training to become a healer. She knew she would probably go talk to them after she left the Glen. Then Burke explained that she could have more spying missions, which made her smile. Not a lot of stuff made her smile, but the thought of creeping around other packs and relaying messages, she was excited. She glanced back down at the small squiggly pups. Her work could help them survive in the future. That is what she aimed for. Being able to help others. "I would love to go on more missions, that would be great thank you. I will go talk to Cicero when he is free." She said. She smiled at the pups still playing around Burke.

Burke nodded towards the girl and quirked up his lips a bit. "I shall think of some missions for you to do then," he returned. It was good that she showed interest in becoming and outrider and a healer. Both were quite useful. "Anything else?," he wondered briefly. He wouldn't want her to think that he was quickly giving some answers so she would leave. He was a counselor and now he was in his doctor phil mode he was more than willing to give more advise. The pups seemed to behave for now.

Venus smiled as Burke agreed to let her go out on more missions. As he asked if she had anymore questions, she glanced down at the pups. What a great life it was for them, being raised in the greatest pack, with a loving family. She looked back up at Burke. "How can you juggle everything Burke? You have pups, your an amazing pack leader. How to you stay so calm?" She asked and cocked her head slightly.

Burke looked up at the very personal question the female asked. It was probably just interest that drove her question but it wasn't something other normally asked. Venus wasn't there when it all happened but of course she knew. He had told her not to go there after all. His place eyes fell on her for a moment lightly scolding her for her question. "You have not known me before everything happened. I am always calm, and now, I need this state of mind even more so," he explained. Burke was usually a stoic mask of calmness. Now even more so, it was the mask he hid his true feelings behind, not that he was telling her that.

Venus thought about his answer. She knew there was something more to it. "Sorry for asking." She didn't want to explain further by what she meant. She glanced back at the pups. "Thanks for thinking up the missions." She added. "And one more thing, could you help me out with some techniques for spying?" 

Burke shrugged lightly, yes it was a personal question but one he could evade answering fully. So he wasn't too bothered. "I can. I am actually a mentor in spying ," he explained, though he didn't mention the brotherhood. He needed to get to know her more before he could talk about such things and ask her about joining those ranks. "I will reach out to you when I have some free time on my hands,"he explained to her. That was he could plan a good time to have such a training.

End after your post? I can't think of much else to write :D

Venus bowed her head as she waited to be dismissed. She flicked her ears. "Thanks for the help Burke, I really appreciate it. I look forward to upcoming missions."

Of course!!

Burke nodded softly and then let her go. He would have to think of something for her to do. Maybe with Nemesis. She was more experienced and could help out Venus with a mission. That sounded as something interesting for them to do together. Burke wished her goodbye and then went back to his children giving them all the attention.