Blackfeather Woods Blackbird song

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Akela had forgotten the feeling of just being able to relax. His muscles were relaxed and he felt for the first time in months his own fatigue. It seemed like his body was finally giving to the idea of safety that this pack could provide him, which also help with relaxing his face. The scar had healed fine, but the tension was still there. While scars were not that uncommon among wolves, he knew the one he had on his face, was enough to attract the attention. He knew far well ( and with all the macho arrogance that goes with it) that he was quite the view for sore eyes.

Since he had parted with Burke , he had mostly observed, quietly the others, how they acted, how they glanced him or not. You could know a wolf better like this, more than already communicating. He was the new member here, forcing conversation would have been rude, so he simply let others get comfortable enough to approach and greet him at their pace.  Rubbing his snout with his front paw, he caught a slight blurry figure on his left side.  Turning his head to have the sharper version, he huffed.  " Starring can be perceived as rude you know ...I don't bite...very hard"  That old joke... he really needed to not use it anymore.

Ever since she returned from her little romp as a "loner", Potema felt...distant from her pack. Her brothers were still scarce, and there were way too many unfamiliar faces. The teenager was jealous when one of the new women who was sent out for a spy mission. Not that she wanted to be a spy, she wanted to be free. She loved her family, but the thrill of being alone with no one but Mongfionn at her side, and the power of her Goddess' magic. A lone witch, if you will. But she was much too young and unexperienced for such a feat. She would have to be patient and wait for the day she became an adult, a mere moon from now.

Until then, Potema bided her time gathering herbs, as an apprentice is wont to do. The task was harder now after the storm, with many of the plants in the eastern half of Blackfeather being swallowed by the swamp waters, but it allowed her more time to wander about. And meet the new wolf.

She knew about him; an old friend of Burke's, named Akela, but that was it. She really wasn't prepared for him. She thought he was just some old wolf, but looking at the guy, he was quite handsome. Especially with all of his scars. She heard that he was a loner before, which truly impressed the freedom-seeking teenager. Imagine what stories he could tell...

"You really don't look like you would do much damage anyway." She said, regaining her mind from her hormones. She walked over to the wolf, knowing that whatever cover she had before was broken. They were packmates now, anyway. She didn't need to hide. "So you're Akela?"

Akela remained seated, much like when he had met Burke, one paw over the other in a quite posh posture. He titled his head as the young white wolf approached and noticed her eye as she turned her head towards him. So that was Potema , huh?  Burke had not told him some details, for example her age. " And you much younger than I pictured. " he retorted back with a sly smile. Her remark highly amused him. He liked to keep a low profile, not give away what he was really capable of. He was not here to hurt anyone, but he was not of a submissive nature. He highly valued respect above anything else.  "I'm an adorable pup, that's for sure..." he joked and chuckled, following her lead.


He had encountered his fair share of teenagers. Some ran away , wanting to be free, yet not really knowing what it meant to be alone.  Others did not have anyone left, or were just traveling to family. In each case, he was reminded of his own youth, how careless and innocent he had been , despite the little stumbles on the road.  "So you're Potema. Burke told me about you. Or well no he said we could bond over eye injuries stories ... the bullshit that comes out of that wolf's mouth at times ... so much for language...but oh well, you're old enough , right , doll ?"

Potema let a wan smile appear on her face, slightly genuine. It was rare for the young girl to actual be amused at someone else's joke or witty retort. Usually, it was the opposite. The girl tried her hardest to hide the way she observed his face and body. Bottom line, she was enamored. A suave, sly, James Bond-like male was her type. But he was old, not as old as her parents, but old enough to be her father.

"Did he really? That's ridiculous." Her brow furrowed. Was he trying to pair them up? Just because they have similar injuries didn't always mean they would get along. Was she some kind of payment for an old deal? "Curse all you want, I won't mind." She was old enough for dirty language. She was one month away from being an adult, after all.

"Bwah, he meant well.  Probably thought I could help out. But what he doesn't know is ...you don't really need help, you just get used to having one side fucked up...once the pain lowers" Akela replied and licked his lips. "But, still, half of the world to have twice more fun in. "  He studied the young wolf. She seemed curious about him, and amused. That was always a good sign and an ego boost even for poor old him.  "Good, don't have a filter, don't ask for one. " he retorted, although he did want to maintain respect between him and others, it was not a strict respect , and he was not a cold distant loner, even if he had his moments.

"Come sit darling,  It's a nice spot here, you can watch that poor bastard over there trying to catch the squirrel ... quite entertaining really, he knocked his head into that tree ....oh I lost count...still funny though, even with one eye" he winked with his hurt eye.  "Worse than watching the salmon dance ...have you seen it ?"

"I got over it months ago." It was a lie, in a way. Losing one whole visual sensor was traumatic, whether she liked to admit it or not. That, alongside the dreams and the voice, was subtle proof that she was still not all right in the head...not like she ever was to begin with. "He helped enough."

She blinked with her good eye, metaphorically turning red at the invitation to sit by him, and then even redder at the wink. The teenager paused, then walked closer to the former loner, less interested in whatever hunter he was talking about and more worried about being close to an attractive man — something she had never done before.

The older wolf smiled softly at the teenager.  "Are you trying to convince me or yourself with that lie ?" he asked her without pushing matters any further.  He titled his head towards her. Of course Burke must have helped, but if he got the family picture right, it was still family, and sometimes you just needed out of that  -are you feeling better ? - looks of the family and clan.  "That kind of daddy huh ?" he smiled.  " Such a shame he denies our love ....don't tell your mother I said that. " he joked. 

As she sat next to him, he nudged her , shoulder to shoulder. "So badass , what is it that you're doing? " he asked her, feeling how tense she was, he hoped it would eventually pass, he knew that for any female this time of the year was not easy.

Potema didn't answer, knowing to herself that she was over it, no matter the older male's teasing. It was just an eye, not a limb or ear. She got over it; she had another eye after all.

The girl perked up at the mention of love. Love? She knew that Akela was an old friend of Burke's, but an old lover? Or was he just teasing? "So my dad's bi then?" She asked without disgust, but simple curiosity. They worshipped a Goddess who presided over Sex, after all. Sexuality wasn't that big of a deal. But she did wonder what her mother thought of the idea of another male moving on her territory — er...mate. "Trying to find what plants survived the flood." She said matter-of-factly, before remembering that Akela was relatively new to the pack. "Did you see that tornado that caused it?" It was a while ago; there was a chance he wasn't in the area when it hit.

Akela chuckled.  "We had something yeah ... our good old alpha ...don't tell him I said he's old, he's a little sensitive when it comes to age and weight" Akela replied with a wide smile. That lie would maybe, probably cost him.  He listened to the younger wolf and nodded his head.  "And what's your conclusion ? Have you seen Celandine? I have been looking for some actually. " he asked interested in the matter. He was no trained healer , but he had on his time on his own acquired some knowledge in the area or through other wolves he had met.

"I was in the mountain when Nature decided to show her strength. It gave me some shelter from the winds , but in the aftermath of it all, it made traveling quite difficult , if not impossible, between the floods, fallen trees, corpses etc. I was lucky as they say. It must not have been easy for you guys. "

"Why? It's inevitable. And besides, he's already old." She shrugged, never understanding why wolves were so concerned about age. Her mother and Burke aged rather well, in her opinion. While she had never seen a wolf in their dotage, what she knew of old wolves never fully matched her parents' descriptions and activities at all.

The storm flooded most of the western half of Blackfeather, ending not too far from Redgrove, where she was living. It spilled into some of the tunnels, temporarily flooding some of the western tunnels. The herb store, Ilinalta's Keep, was untouched blessedly. They had some Celandine left in the stores. "Celandine can't grow in the heart of the Woods, you would have to check the outskirts for them." They liked shady, but not dark, places. The buffer zone was full of them, little invasive species that they were. "Lucky you." She deadpanned, a little jealous of the mountain packs, who where largely kept safe from the storm, and not in the path of the tornado. "It wasn't. We've still have yet to find a few people." She did not sound worried about them at all. She didn't know them anyway, or cared.

Akela started to laugh.  "Oh  I like you already" he nudged her and continued to chuckle. Any excuse to tease Burke was a good excuse to tease Burke.  He shook his head at the thought of pointing that out to him and  how it could go.  He knew that Burke had more patience with him than others, but if he pushed too much, he could snap as well and be grumpy. 

When she explained about the herbs, Akela nodded. It made sense.  " I shall then, or maybe you have something else for it.  I'm no healer , going with what I was taught by my grandmother ...without pun intended, you could take a closer look " he suggested with a sly smile, but he did need to have that healed properly , if he ever wanted to function  properly.

"Will those be missed if they will never be found ? " Akela asked.  His question had a hint of asking if he should care about it or not, since well, he was content not to.

She flushed (metaphorically) as he laughed at her joke and nudged her light-heartedly. She hadn't felt this kind of camaraderie in weeks, ever since her swimming lesson with the sorely missed Charon, who was leagues away. She had kept to herself, throwing snide remarks where needed, learning as much as she could about magic and herbs, but never having fun with anyone else. Until now.

Potema stole a look at the injured eye, analyzing it with the detached, medicinal precision she developed over the moons. "There's not much to be done." She concluded, shrugging with the same sort of acceptance she created for her own injury. "Celandine would help when your eye hurts, but it won't fix what's been broken."

She was rather indifferent to the ones who went missing, barely knowing them anyway. One of them was Lusa's pups, and a few of the older pack members, but their names escaped her. "Yeah." She supposed they would, but not by her in the slightest. "One of the younger pups went missing, so his mother and father would mourn him, wouldn't she?"

"Darling, remind me to not come to you to cheer me up.  You're one of a straight forward no hope remains kinda healer. " he pointed out , although it was not a reproach, just said with a mild sad smile. So be it, he would never use his eye again , although he would have preferred for it to not work at all. Seeing half of the world as through water was not the most amusing thing and got him tired most of the time.

"Weeeeell, if you ask me ...out with the old, in with the new...got me a spot, and we met, I say fait is pretty good these days" he joked.  He did not know those wolves at all, so he could not really miss them.  Always look at the bright side of things, right?  " So what are you plans for when you reach the golden age of not being called a kid, although I might slip...you're soooo young " he stated a little dramatic (fake dramatic)

"Are healers supposed to lie to you?" She looked confused and slightly annoyed by the thought. She was not exposed to the normal complacent, nice stereotype of healers. She knew they were less physical than warriors or outriders, but never less blunt or hardened. "Healers' jobs are to identify and solve the problem, not comfort."

She smirked and laughed softly. To others, it must not have been a funny joke to talk about death so lightly, but they were the Dark Brotherhood. Death was what they lived for. "I want to wander for a bit. Learn some more things. Then I'll come back and be a Dark Sister."

"Nope, but a little tact would help. Helps not only the person you're treating, but yourself as well. Grumpy patients are hard to treat, believe me, I witnessed that more than once. " he frowned to her and licked his snout.  " I must agree to disagree. In pain and suffering, identifying and solving the problem is as important as comforting. Without falling into an excessive nurturing , giving hope, brings  a good spirit , good spirit when being ill or wounded helps recover quickly.  But if you believe that does not fall into your job qualifications, that's fine. "


Akela nodded. "A great way to learn and find out more about the world and yourself. " he approved.  "I learned much being on my own... you'll have story to tell if one day you'll have pups of your own "

Potema was not a comforting person in the slightest. She failed to emphasize; when someone told her their home burned to the ground and displaced them, she wondered how the fire started, what it looked like. The whole mental healing part of being a healer was not up her alley, so to speak. She didn't respond to Akela's spiel, instead glancing over before looking away to some fixed point in the distance. "I'll have to see if my mom will let me go."

"That is part of growing up darling. When you'll be an adult, you'll be free to do whatever you want, and then you'd have to live with the consequences.  Your mother will not want you to go, she will be pissed, but if it is what you truly wants, you'll do it eventually. "  The larger wolf yawned, then stretched.  " I think I'm going to go for a patrol before laziness really kicks in. " he nudged Potema with his nose against her fur at neck level.  "It was nice meeting you , darling.  Next time, you'll serve as my private pillow  I'm sure that spot there  is comfortable" he winked and stood up to then leave the girl and get some work done  before the sun settled .

- END -