Hushed Willows I will be fair, but firmly cruel.

Just beyond the entrance of the Crook Stark had taken up host on a cleared patch of land. He was sunning himself, taking advantage of the warmth of the sun's rays on his back before it became to unbearably hot to do so. In a cat like fashion he had taken to grooming himself, tugging tangles out of his pelt and cleaning himself up. He finally stretched out a bit, head resting on his forearms. His day had been productive, scouted the borders some before he'd rounded back to check the lands - so far no encouraging growth but he was still going to stay optimistic that the plague had passed and there would be life returning to the lands soon enough.

Grace stretched her way out of the Crook, yawning wide and extending each limb until it shook. Her golden eyes scanned the area as she pulled herself forward, and a dark frame of Stark was evident not far away. The yearling grinned, happy to finally have someone to herself, and chuffed and easy greeting. 
        "Hey, Stark."
Perhaps now she could form new bonds, now that everything seemed calm for the day. Less and less was she shying away from others and more so was she clinging to any friends she made. After Esaro, she worried everyone would leave her.

He didn't lift his head fully, offering a few thumps of his tail. "Grace," He greeted, giving a little nod towards the area near him. He'd be happy with some company for awhile. "Been fishing lately?' He asked with an easy grin - while they hadn't had the best of luck it had been better than he would have done without her help.

The russet yearling plopped down and sprawled out beside Stark, her own tail thumping against the earth steadily for a moment. She couldn't help a laugh at his comment, and joked right back with him. 
        "Not lately, no, but perhaps later I will. What've you been up to?"

She flopped down next to him and Stark smiled, settling easily. He was getting more comfortable near the rest of the pack.  "Mostly scouting stuff, trying to get familiar with the area." He hummed out. "Oh! I met some dogs!" He said brightly. The big one was huge, a fluffy sort of monster and the other one - the blond one, it had such a weird hat thing. "I was out there, I think it's called Stone Circle?" he still wasn't sure about the lands as much but he was eager to learn and prove himself. 

The yearlings interest piqued at the mention of dogs, though he already held her golden gaze. Shed seen them from afar, and Flora was part dog, and they'd interested her from day obe. The location, however, was unknown to this female.
     "If its outside Marauders Keep, the Ember wood, or phoenix maplewood, I likely don't know where it is. What were they like?"

His first impression of the pair had been that they were kind. Perhaps naive, but, over all nice. "Generous." He said quickly. He could say a lot about both creatures, given what the pair had been willing to give to him. They'd shared their meager meal with him, after all, and it had quickly given the two a place in Stark's heart. "One is massive and black, the other more blond. Really pretty tail." He admitted, but he liked that flowy sort of plume. 

"They're way far out there for you though, if you're more prone to staying in this area." Unless they traveled more, of course. He could understand that - they might explore more and see what they could find. 

Grace was definitely one who tended to wander, though she hadnt in a while. She liked seeing new things, gathering information. The two dogs he spoke of, though, interesting as they sounded, were not enough of a temptation to lure the yearling away from her duties here. 
Not that they were much, with the famine. Herb collecting was impossible and now so was hunting, for the most part. But Warbone might not be happy for her wandering for a simple reason like that.
The thought of traveling with Stark, however, was overbearingly nice. Often was she too nervous to go some places, but at the side of a big warrior like him? Their possibilities were endless!
        "Maybe we could go off on an adventure soon then?"

to save the timeline gonna place this before the prey thread

Stark gave a smile when she mentioned going for an adventure, nodding at the notion. "Once the world is green again and we've had more than fish to eat," He said with a grin. He was exhausted - he hadn't eaten much in the past few days and while his good nature meant he wasn't run down - yet - he had the sinking feeling that he still had a long ways to go. 

Grace gave a smile, nodding and wagging her tail behind her. While she knew the dogs may very well be gone by then, the promise of adventure was good enough for her to wait. Things needed done around here, after all, and though she knew Trick would be able to cover any healing aspects, Kunik another hunter, Warbone would need every soul possible to keep the pack running strong. 
           "Fair enough."

Stark wasn't sure where the two would be, maybe they'd be tracking their family, or maybe kills - he didn't know. Maybe they would be there still once the herds returned. Stark gave a little shrug, although it definitely wasn't unagreeable to him. "Hopefully they'll be around still." He said with a small smile, only sparing a glance over at the female.

Fade or keep going?

Grace nodded, stretching out each limb from where she was still splayed along the earth. She'd been doing so much lately, it was nice to just lay around and talk about future adventures. When she was done, she pushed playfully at the dark mans paws, giggling, but a wide yawn caused her to pause mid-swipe.

I like your new avatar! - and your call! I don't mind either way. Or we can always fade and have another thread sometime :3 

 

Stark laughed softly as she kicked at his feet, rolling on his back and letting his tail wag in wide arcs, hitting her side happily. "We'll go all sorts of places," Stark hummed out happily. "As soon as the ground is nice and green again, we'll go heading all over the place." Stark promised. He was too needy when it came to knowledge, he wanted to know so much. He was fond of Grace, even though sometimes he stumbled over what he was saying and feeling, and he would have been happy to go exploring with her. "That's something nice about how these lands seem to be. There's all types here."

Thanks, I edit them myself :) All my avatars are done by me! ^_^  I'm out of ideas to keep this going, but if you can I'd be thrilled to let them go longer :D 

Grace grinned and looked up at the sky, wondering where they would go first. Perhaps they could go over their own mountains, and the one after that: what was stopping them? Always would she come back to Warbone, Nova, and the Willows, no matter their state. 
          "Where will we start? There's so much space in the Teekon's alone, not to mention the outside of it."
The yearling wished they wouldn't have to wait for green, but it was nice to know that there were at least plans.

We can fade here, no problem!

The prospect of traveling more was one that pleased Stark. He was still feeling a little.....uncertain, about the packlife and his place in it. He was trying though. He couldn't open up entirely, but, he at least had several wolves he was fond of. "South." He said quickly. "There's so many places to explore, lots of stuff to do there." He said with a small smile. "There's so many places I haven't seen - I bet every one of them has a secret." 

He was happy to spend the afternoon speculating. It kept his mind of the growing hunger or his frustrations at feeling a little stagnant - he'd work at it. Keep pushing himself. It was all he could do, after all.