Blackfeather Woods Welcome to the carnival

Anyone who wants to meet the newbie

Thatch had just been accepted into the brotherhood, and was now seeking out some of his pack members. Seeing as this was a pretty close pack, it would probably be a good idea to at least make friends with one of them. He paused in his tracks to sniff the air, the whole place mingled with wolf scent. Not sure which one to follow, he shrugged and tromped along sticking to the shadows of the dark forest. He loved the whole, evil and dark atmosphere of the territory, not to mention the wolves themselves. He felt like it was where he belonged.

However what he was most excited for, was to begin his training as an assassin. This pack seemed to have a lot to offer, especially in the ways of murder. If they couldn't help him reach his final act, then who could?

Kendra trotted through the woods, she was looking for her twin brother Pietro and for Miss Venus, she hadn't seen both in a while. Her brother only for a few hours but that was still concerning for the little girl. The young female was pretty keen on knowing where her other half was. Kendra was not often found by the borders, she disliked the light that was not being blocked by the canopy of trees. Even now in winter the trees had such a dense branch system the light was still being blocked. Kendra let out a howl for either of the two.

Her pale eyes fell on a brown wolf up ahead. Venus! She trotted forward. No wait, the scent was male. Mikasi? He didn't look like Mikasi. The young male trotted forward with curiosity now. Her red tipped tail, the same dye as her father had on her shoulder, swayed behind her. Kendra was a rather peculiar girl, and highly curious too. "You are new," she stated when she at a normal distance. Her dark coat matching with her surroundings. Her pale eyes just like her father, along with the dots on her brow.

Thatch jumped a bit at the sound of a young voice. It had surprised him, and he didn't like being surprised. He liked being the surpriser. He turned towards the girl, keeping his distance so that he didn't scare her. He dipped his head to the her, he could be very friendly when he wanted to. She was probably still not a year old by the looks of her, her fur was black and her eyes a bright blue. Two little dots perched above her eyes led Thatch to believe that she must be Burke's daughter. Best not to be too snarky to her then.

Im Thatcher, but you can call me Thatch. He said with a friendly smile, tail wagging slightly behind him. Your the big guy's daughter aren't you? He asked, referring to the alpha.

Kendra looked a bit surprised when the male was surprised that she was there, she had not intended to sneak up on him, or startle a new member. She was not evil mean. She had a curious way of thinking and was not easily scared but she was not mean on purpose. She was often in the pitch black tunnels so being above ground for her was being like she was always visible. The girl wagged her tail slightly. "Nice to meet you. I am Kendra," she introduced. She tipped her head a bit when he mentioned that she was Burke's daughter.

Kendra was not really into labels. Even as a child when other members called her princess she told them she was Kendra, nothing more nothing less. She was very different from Potema who wanted to be called a princess and treated like one. "If I am why would that matter?," she questioned him, curious about his answer. She was not mean about it, just stating a fact that he wanted to label her as the daughter of. She was Burke's daughter but she couldn't see why that mattered in a conversation. Probably because this newbie didn't realize how things worked in this pack.

Kendra was a strange little girl. She didn't say much, but seemed very curious. Thatch liked her well enough. She reminded him of himself before... well before he killed Portia and went a little crazy. He used to be pretty quiet too. But once he learned that staying quiet wasn't getting him anywhere, he gave up on it. Being sane was overrated anyways. She asked him why it mattered, that she was Burke's daughter. Thatch responded quickly. It doesn't. Just wanted to know. He shrugged and shook his head.

So what do you do here? For fun? The caramel covered male asked, he was pretty curious too. He also thought he ought to know more about the pack and what they did. They surely had rules, probably a religion and list of do's and don'ts. Those kind of things would be nice to know. He sat down in front of her, still keeping a respectful distance between them, his yellow eyes glinted in the dim light of the forest.

Kendra watched him with a glint in her pale eyes. He did not really reply to her what she had been asking. Kendra was quite patient, she had to be with her interest in plants. The girl grinned a bit. "But what would you do with that knowledge though? Would that mean you give me a special treatment?," she questioned him quite sharply, mainly out of curiosity not because she wanted to be treated like she was special. The girl grinned a bit at him, he was not getting away that easily from not answering her questions.

Kendra also knew that she couldn't tell Thatcher too much about the brotherhood and the paw prints that were linked to it, such thing was rewarded for when he completed his trail. Kendra had seen a lot of wolves that had been here only on trail and then be kicked out. If one was on trail it meant they were sort of part of the pack, but also kept from the secrets. She liked secrets, not because she would have leverage on someone, she was not interested in blackmailing but more in the personalities that wolves tried to hide. She often listened, to later draw conclusions. "You pick something you like doing and make it your job. We work hard here, all of us," she explained. She was not even five months old and she had already one trade. "I'm a naturalist, I'm currently working on my botany speciality. I also want to do toxicology but the older wolves don't want me around poisons yet," she explained to him. "Which I guess I can understand, once again labels are in my way."

Thatch didn't like being on the hook, but Kendra had caught him and wasn't letting go. He shrugged again, and sighed. Well I suppose so. But not if you didn't want me to. If it was my dad and you were the new. And my dad was alpha, wouldn't you, being the newest member, be careful not to anger me? He asked with a little laugh, he liked riddles and confusing little jokes. He wondered what Kendra would think of it.

The peculiar young girl's answer wasn't exactly what he'd hoped for. But he was new, so he shouldn't expected a little secrecy. He still had to prove himself, win their trust. They wouldn't tell him much unless they could trust him. Maybe becoming friends with this girl would be more beneficial than he'd thought. The way Kendra spoke about the pack made Thatch smile. They were strong, but also they were a family. He was determined to become one of them, officially. Naturalist. Interesting. It's a pretty neat trade. I'm working to be a tactician, but first I'm gonna have to be a mercenary of course. I wouldn't mind being a healer either, or maybe a spy.

Labels seemed to be in everyone's way. Weak, useless, worthless. Those labels had been used on him once or twice by his father. He wasn't a fan of them either. Yeah, labels do suck. He sighed, mind shifting for a moment back to his old life. The sight of his mother's body, twisting as she choked on her own breath. Sick. He remembered calling for help, how no one came. The only other wolf who even sort of cared had been Verem, but he wouldn't mind ripping her to pieces either. He quickly snapped back to reality, forgetting his past and once again becoming himself.

Kendra was pleased to have her answer. This told her that Thatcher was a bit insecure about himself. She would not make fun of him for it, she was just an observer. She couldn't place herself into his story because she never been new to a pack. "I don't know since I haven't been in such situation so I won't pretend to you that I do have knowledge of your situation now," she commented. "However, you should know that you should treat me as you want to treat me. This pack accepts members for who they are. That is what makes us special. One might be a murderer, and the other mentally crazy, but we will be there for them. So I think you should just be Thatcher and work hard and you will fit right in." She spoke to him with a hint of a smile on her lips.

Kendra raised her chin up a bit proudly when he complimented her. The girl hummed happily and then nodded. "Thank you." What pleased her was that he didn't comment about the fact that she shouldn't be around poisons. "My brother wants to have the mercenary trade too! You can play fight with him so I don't have to do it! His name is Pietro and he looks even more like father than me. I look like mother, except for the eyes and brows." Kendra wished she could have hung out with her mother more, she loved her father but seeing that he had no interest in plants the young female didn't have much to talk about with him. "I could help you if you want to be a healer. I could identify plants. I am not sure if I want to be a healer myself. It would mean I have to kill plants and I don't really like killing plants yet." Kendra was getting more talkative which was a good thing.

Thatcher smiled at the girl's words. She seemed very kind, very likable. Almost too innocent for what would be exposed to her someday. He hoped that she would stay this way, but lord knows he didn't. I think I will. Thatcher will be Thatcher. He responded thoughtfully, glancing down at the younger child. She seemed proud when he complimented her, and he smiled back, ears perking cheerfully. No problem. He said with a quick nod of his head.

So she had a brother? Who wanted to be a mercenary? Thatch made a mental note to find the boy, and maybe spar with him. Then she said something about mother. He hadn't noticed that the pack had two alphas. He wondered what the deal with that was. Was their mother dead, or simply not around? It made him a bit sad, he couldn't imagine growing up without his mom. He probably wouldn't have grown up without her. He was about to ask about the ordeal when Kendra brought up a new idea. It would be helpful to learn more about plants, and if he did decide to go for the healer trade.

That sounds great, I could use a little training I guess. He was excited to learn some from the girl, but what interested him more was how quickly she'd opened up. It seemed she too wasn't one sided.

Kendra smiled when he said that, and she could only agree. If she looked at all the types of wolves they had no one was the same and all had their own problems. Even their father who was a bit paranoid with keeping everyone safe. Kendra flickered her dyed tail. She had the feeling that if Thatcher worked hard then he would be able to say. The girl was mildly surprised when he wanted to start now. But then she realized that was exactly the right spirit that he needed. "You want to learn something now?," she questioned, just to be sure.

She was already starting to think which herb she would show him. Maybe a practical one. Maybe one that could cure most little things. She wondered. Most of those herb things and their effects wad Venus her specialty but seeing that she wasn't around and she would only be a good botanist or toxicologist if she knew about plants and their effect they had on wolves. She licker her lips, up for the challenge.

Thatcher nodded at her question. She seemed a little surprised at his ready to go attitude. He chuckled a little through his response, Yes now, if you're up to it?   He stood and stretched his long legs, white paws skidding through the dirt. After a quick shake of his caramel brown pelt, he looked back to his new friend with a grin. So where should we start? The things my mother taught me were mostly physical, so if you ever want to be a healer, I can teach you some about fixing sprains and physical therapy. He said, flexing his paws in and out. He was usually pretty patient, but right now he was anxious to get moving.

Kendra squinted her eyes a bit. "Of course I am up for it!," she instantly spoke and turned around and started to trot of in a certain direction, expecting the other to follow her. She looked at him with a face in disgust when he talked about healing. "I won't be a healer," she stated with a certain air. She had just told him that she did not want to be a healer. She wanted to be something else, a botanist and toxicologist. Only under toxicologist was a bit of healing considering that she needed to know how to cure a poison if she was poisoned herself.

She trotted towards the tunnel system before she entered she turned around. "Wait here," she commented with a serious expression. The girl was sure that he father did not what a newbie in her mother's keep. Plus she wanted to keep the chamber with herbs and other special things like the brotherhood's red dye a secret. She trotted inside and came back with Lavender. She talked about this with Venus and with Pietro. She dropped it by his feet. "You know this plant?," she questioned him. "And the uses of it?"

Thatch found that he was very fond of Kendra's spunky attitude, and her brightness. It brought out the childlike playfulness in Thatch, the kind of childishness that had been looked down upon in his old pack. He was gonna like it here. She was keen to start, so he followed her, prancing about with his tail swishing through the air. He was very excited to have a pack, friends, and start learning. 

She led him towards a system of tunnels, where she told him to wait. He nodded in understanding and thumped his rump onto the ground. He waited for Kendra patiently, yellow eyes keeping an eye on the cave entrance. He wanted badly to peek inside, but he could get in trouble. He surely didn't want to get chased out of the pack, so he stuck to the forest outside, twirling his paw through the patches of grass. Kendra came back and dropped a bushel of lavender at his feet. He knew this one, there had been loads of it back at Goldenreach.

Yeah I know this one. It's lavender, it can be sedative and is used in coughs and fevers. He responded with a look that said, 'is that all you got?'

Kendra looked a bit disappointed when the male knew about Lavender already. She had to admit that she knew the names of most plants but not their uses. Maybe she would be better learning from Thatch instead of him learning from her. At least they were both busy with plants. Kendra grabbed the plants and then returned back to the cave system, back to the chamber that held it all. She placed the lavender back where it belonged. Kendra grabbed some Oak leaves and then came back to place them before Thatcher. The girl looked at him curiously wondering if he knew about this one. If he did then she would not go through the embarrassment to drag more herbs before him. Or maybe she would if she didn't know one, and that was how she learned new herbs. Hmm... She found herself pretty smart now.

Her pale eyes settled on the male, wondering what he was going to say. She wouldn't look away from a challenge but if this wolf was know it all on herbs then she couldn't really win from that with her three month old knowledge. She would admit defeat if it would happen to be so. The girl realized that she couldn't know as much as an adult like this male. When the male gave her another reply Kendra decided to throw in the towel. At least she had learned about some more plants. She was steadily becoming that Botanist she wanted to be.

- end -