Blackfeather Woods In a forest of lies and shadows

@Potema

Sighing, Nemesis rearranged the plants that hid her cache. She would have to hunt soon, the deer she had caught was baring its last strips of meat. After all, she did have to share her kill with that fox she found trying to steal it. But she had gained from that encounter so she really couldn't complain. Hunting wasn't a problem for her at all, she just didn't like the search. She was much too impatient to walk the forest, searching and searching for one decent meal. The animals were returning to the lands but there were also more wolves to hunt them. Sharing was a b*tch.

Lifting her nose to the air, she could swiftly pick up the scent of many animals nearby. The winds blew stronger these days, the nights getting colder. Fall was upon them and she had to find a suitable den so spend the autumn let alone the coming winter. As she loped along the broken ground, she picked up on a new scent. It was different, but definitely Blackfeather. The scent was young, so she knew she couldn't have met this wolf yet. It was another thing, the absence of ranks that bothered her. She noticed some had not been seen around the pack very much, since she arrived really. It was suspicious but she was in no place to judge. 
Picking up her feet, she ran to meet the scent. Up ahead, she could spot a pale figure, different to the likes of this pack. Most of Blackfeather were black and other colour but no pure white. The wolf was smaller in comparison but clearly younger. Nearing closer, the female looked alot like Meldresi and she figure that this was one of her kin. Nemesis hadn't met any of the priestess's children, so this was the first.

Softly, she approached the female, noticing that one of the girl's eyes was marred, a scar crossing it. She wondered who could have done such a thing to a child, even for her standards, it was cruel. But she didn't focus on it, it wasn't any of her businesses. 
Instead, she approached calmly and respectfully, giving a small greeting. "Hello, my name is Nemesis. You must be the priestess's daughter, correct?" She asked, not wanting to be wrongly implied.

The cold was returning, and that she liked. Sure, the cold killed plants and animals, but she was born in it. Molded by it. She could survive another winter.

Like the others around her, Potema prepared for snow and cold and more storms. She did not hunt, but gathered what herbs remained after the flood for their stores. The young teen dried them in the sun throughout the day to preserve them, returning to the sunny spot as the ball of light fell beneath the mountains to cover the land in darkness and cold.

She gathered the herbs to her, wrapping their crispy leaves in softer moss to preserve them, her mediocre task paused by the sound of another behind her. The girl dropped the leaf and turned, her good eye locating the black wolf. While her greeting was formal, Potema's was less than cordial, annoyed by the interruption. "Sure. Name's Potema." What do you want? I'm in the middle of something."

Potema's tone took Nemesis slightly off guard, but she thought nothing of it. Before Blackfeather, she would have snarled at any other who would dare disrespect her, but now, she frankly didn't have the urge anymore. More than half of Blackfeather itself had the same moral code, respect me blah blah blah. But in this case, as she seen it Potema was Blackfeather's princess. It led her to wonder who would inherit the pack, or if the title was strictly given to the next highest rank. But that was a topic for another time, and certainly was not the place.

Potema seemed to be gathering herbs for the coming winter while supplies were still available. It reminded her to refill her caches, before the herds dispersed and the forest animals hid themselves away. It only seemed natural that the girl would take after her mother in the medicinal way's despite her injury. 

"Nice to meet you" She gave, not returning the insolent tone. "Are you a healer too?" She asked out loud, even though the answer was quite obvious. She had only met the one healer, Meldresi but no other's had made known to her.

Potema continued to wrap the dried leaves, not looking up once at the other woman as she slowly completed her task. This, in her humble opinion, was much more important than conversing with some wolf, higher rank or not. She was a princess, and the only healer gathering herbs at the moment for the pack stores.

Potema's head lifted, her eye looking at this Nemesis with a look that said "are you stupid?" . "Yeah, I am." She bent down again, wrapping the last bit of herbs in moss. She looks at the herbs she gathered; normally bringing this to Ilynalta's Keep would take three trips, two if she really stuffed her mouth. But now she had another wolf to help her. "Would you mind helping me with these?"

Nemesis nodded in agreement, taking a leafy bundle in her mouth. She was unknown to where Potema would lead them, her having not have fully explored every secret valley, grove or hide away in Blackfeather. It had never occurred to her that such stores were available to the entire pack, but thought it best to explore when needed to avoid any trouble that might arise from her snooping around. 

"Where do you plan on taking these?" She asked, lowering the bundle from her mouth to ask first. She wasn't about to follow the girl absentmindedly to who knows where, on her unconscious insecurity.  Even though Potema was Burke and Meldresi's daughter, she didn't trust her, not yet anyways.

Potema tided the bundles up, making sure not to spill a single particle. She stole glances at the bundles Nemesis was holding as well, hoping that she wouldn't screw things up. When the older girl asked where they were going, Potema blinked. "No one has told you where the herbs go? Really?" She scoffed in disbelief. "Ilinalta's Keep. It's the pack's main herb store and the infirmary." She picked up one bundle and tucked it in the crook of her neck. "I'll show the way, then." She snatched up the other two bundles in her jaws, fully packed, and trotted off towards the Keep, not pausing or looking back to see if Nemesis was following.

The trip was uneventful, with Potema saying nothing to her helper, as she could not have with the herbs in her jaws, and would not have if she didn't. But suddenly, the princess froze, hearing rustling in a bush nearby, and a snarl that was not canid in nature.

A raccoon, larger than any she had ever seen, darted out of the bush, slamming into Potema's side, teeth grasping her scruff in an attempt to draw blood. Potema nearly dropped her bundles in shock, and, refusing to ruin her work, she held onto the herbs, using her neck and legs to try to pry the mustelid off of her.