Grouse Thicket Discovering fruits

Keeping vague about Vassago

Burke wanted to explore more of the neighboring territories, and he ended up at a very young forest close to them. It was tough to wade through because the trees were standing close to one another, and there were some weird things on the ground he hadn't seen before. Burke nosed one of the apples, he even grabbed one. The juice that came out of the fruit when he picked it up left him a bit startled.

He dropped it and moved his tongue weirdly to get the taste of his tongue. It was a very different taste than what he was used to, but not entirely unpleasant. He started to lick over the outside of the fruit. He wondered if Deer liked it, probably, it seemed to come from a tree. The male looked for prints but from where he was standing he couldn't see any. Curious.

You bite into it, the cream wolf called out with a grin.

Menta had been nosing about the area, intent forever on her desire to explore and figure out all of the lands, when she spotted a batch off fallen apples laying ahead. It seemed another wolf had discovered it first and wasn't quite sure what to make of it - nudging some around a bit, and getting startled when the apple made its sweet taste known to him. 

And if there was anything known to Menta, it was the delectable tastes of spices and fruits - enough that she felt comfortable enough to call out to this stranger, who apparently wasn't experienced in such joys. There was nothing so pure in life's litle wonders than different tastes and the cream wolf felt that every being could stand to be enriched by them. Such a feeling made her feel emboldened enough to take a few steps closer to this male, to pause her own interests and make sure that he could also appropriately experience something as wonderful as an apple.

Burke snapped his head up when another came into the picture. A pale looking female. Burke instantly stepped a bit back and bared his teeth briefly. He disliked being caught of guard, but the female seemed without bad intentions. The male's ears flickered, his pale eyes on her for a moment, taking her in. His nose scenting multiple wolves meaning she was in a pack. She might think that he was in a pack too because he smelled of Malice, Aeronwyn and Shink, plus of course the pups.

"It is not meat," he commented in return. he did not know much about about what fruits he could eat. He knew about some berries but with the master poisoners that lived at Black Feather he rather trusted the meats more than the fruits. Though these seemed harmless. "You know about them?," he asked, sounding a bit standoffish.

He seemed suspicious and startled, which Menta had not been entirely expecting. The cream's grin slowly faded even as she gave a few conscious wags in an attempt to show passiveness friendliness. I mean no harm, she tried cautiously, staying in place. Perhaps her joy for the fruit had made her a bit too bold - certainly she was acting much more bold than she had as a lone wolf, and now she needed to curb her enthusiasm.

It is not meat, he scolded, and she held back a small sigh. There were so many more tastes in the world than those that meat had to offer. It is fruit, the Italian explained delicately, one of many, like berries. Surely he had tried berries before? Although guessing by the fumbling he was doing with the apples, who knew.  I do know about them, Menta said, trying not to let too much pride come to her voice. It's called a -- 

Hesitation. Did she know the English word for it? This was the first time the cream wolf couldn't immediately grasp the word she wanted to use since arriving here, having switched away from Italian rather effortlessly, and she didn't like the fuzzy feeling it gave her brain. A mela, in Italian, she finished lamely. Perhaps the English word would come to her later.

Burke kept his eyes trained on the other. His pale eyes had no trouble looking at her directly. He was the leader of his little band. The girl didn't look harmless but he was not going to underestimate her. That was a stupid thing to do. "The one who intends harm often speaks about doing no harm," he retuned to her, wisely so.

She explained that it was a fruit, also mentioning berries. The male looked rather skeptical. "Berries can often poison," he pointed out, though he was never sure because he didn't study herbs or plants. The girl did gave him a name though. He never heard of that name. "A mela? What is this Italian you speak of," he asked, eyes squinting.

Menta had to hold back another internal sigh. What good she would do with a poisoned wolf, she didn't know, but he wasn't entirely convinced that his corpse wasn't the reward she was after. Poisonous berries were real enough, she supposed, but the cream wolf had enough knowledge to steer clear of those -- fruit to her was just a delectable treat, and he seemed insistent on staying ignorant.

Another language, she explained patiently, the one I grew up speaking. While English was of use, it was the least often utilized in her birth pack. I'm sorry I can't remember the English word for it. If I ever knew it, she realized - that was also a potential. He seemed just as suspicious of Italian as he did her knowledge about melas, and she supposed that wasn't exactly helping her case for being trustworthy.

If you'd like, I can eat one to prove it's of no harm to you. Menta's tail wagged, pleased at the idea of this, although she made no move to get closer to him and his apple pile before gaining permission - he clearly needed slow moves to put him at ease.

Burke still watched her. He wasn't very trustful of other wolves at all. Especially not outside the territory he wanted to call his home. He lifted a bit of his muzzle, giving him a stoic look. His eyes were also not straying away from her. He was not going to give her a window to attack or do. Even though she looked like a sweetling he was not going to fall for it.

She spoke about the language and how she spoke it in her birth pack. Burke really couldn't find any care for those words. "That won't be needed," he spoke, after all he had already bitten into it and tasted the rather sweet taste himself already. So if it was poisonous he was already going to die anyhow. Though he was pleased to hear that is was not the case. He rather liked living. His docked tail stood upright.

He seemed to shut down any attempts she made to explain both the mela or the reason why she called it such, and Menta began regretting walking up into his line of vision. It did not seem that he cared for such company - or the fruit, really - and she found herself lacking in how to help him with either. It would be undoubtedly impossible to lighten his mood by a stranger, and the cream wolf had never been the best at small talk.

And it seemed clear to her that he was getting agitated by her presence - his docked tail was stiffly held as upright as it would go, and he never released the tension his muscles displayed. My apologies for interrupting your discovery, Menta said in her low voice, trying to smooth over whatever perceived offense she had caused. I can take my leave.

With that, the cream wolf turned around to make good on her suggestion. The apples around here could be chewed on another day - since clearly he wasn't going to be doing much of it - and the lands she wanted to explore reached far beyond this place. 

It seemed his distant demeanor had scared the lady off. Burke was not really in the mood for chit chat, ever. Still he wanted to know a bit more about this female, as paranoid as he was becoming. "You can tell me where you are from and what your business is to be here?," he asked her as she turned away. Now she was here and bawling about these Mela's well, then she might be willing to talk about where she lived and to what pack she belonged. At least, she scented of others wolves.

So Burke was curious where she came from and why she went to these lands. He didn't think she was connected to Black Feather, yet maybe she had an acquaintance there. So Burke rather not risk it, and wondered if she came to scout this direction for her pack or for something else.

So he did want company.

A small smirk found its way on Menta's face and the cream took a moment to compose herself and erase it before turning back around. She was a social wolf by nature - by every wolf's nature, she had assumed - and enjoyed the opportunity to pause her exploation and find out more about another. My name is Menta, and I hail from Ryūjin in the Sunspire Mountains, the Italian explained calmly to start the introductions.

I generally enjoy exploring new lands, she said with a honest roll of her shoulders in a loose shrug. It seemed as though it had gained her at least the knowledge of all of these orchard -- the fruit loving wolf found this discovery as great a success as any scouting mission could be. Where are you from?

Burke face instantly turned into a glare. "Wipe that smirk of your face girl," he instantly commented. He didn't need a smart ass comment turned back to him because he was asking a question. An important one too. He snorted at her word use, but he was happy that she came from the mountains, the other mountains, not these mountains. God. That was far away. "What are you even doing here? You are a week worth of traveling from your pack. If you are a scout then why travel so far, your pack won't have any use for the knowledge you gather here," he pointed out to her, wanting to give her a reality check.

Burke squinted his eyes when the question was returned at him. Though he had a back up plan after all. "Thor and my pack is not too far from here. Not that it is of any interest to you because we keep to our selves mostly," he pointed out. She couldn't know any better because he did smell of Malice and his young, and the other followers he gathered to found this pack.

sorry she's such a proud butthead! I enjoyed the thread. 

The female's muscles stiffened as she was referred to as girl, a dimunitive term that she took to be condescending lambasting as he shot further perceived daggers her way. A sigh was held in, not for the first time in this conversation, and she did not bother explaining that she was neither scout nor on pack duties. This simply was an exploration of her own amusement, one that was for its own sake - Menta's favorite kind.

But none of that was important as she had already made up her mind about departure, a more set idea this time than simply for the courteesy that she had just offered. He mentioned a wolf named Thor, who Menta didn't know but tucked away and registered as he claimed to share a pack with him - albeit without the pack's name. The cream nodded once, curtly, and offered a brief I wish you and yours well as standard politeness still dictated from her before turning around to trot off. Her pride called her away from here, away even from the delectable looking melas that he stood by - later, she would come calling again to enjoy them, but for now there was anywhere else to be.

Burke is a douchebag! hahaha. I liked it too!! :D

Burke watched the female go, that so politely wished him well. He was pretty sure that she didn't mean that, but he let it go. It was not worth it. The male decided that he had enough exploration for now and he would return to his home. The girl had given him some insight though. She was all the way from the sunspire mountains which meant that even Black Feather wolves could come this way. And that was very dangerous. He would worry about it later.

- end-