Moonspear Sweet child of mine - where do we go now?

ooc: set on 30th December. Evening.

Ever since Wraen had joined Moonspear in mid-summer, got settled in and found friends, she still had not referred to the place as "home". Whenever she used that term, it was in reference to place, where her parents and younger siblings resided. Charon's lands were sort of Home 2.0, but not really. Up until the day, when she had got lost and the two weeks it had taken to find the right route back. Loneliness for the most part with occasional strangers met along the way to clear it away, exhaustion and hunger had been her loyal, but not the most pleasant companions. But on the evening, when she finally saw the familiar shape of the mountain against the dark moonlit sky, her heart lept from joy. 

Forgetting that she could barely walk without wincing and limping, and that there was hardly energy left, Wraen made her way towards the packlands as fast as she could, thinking of all the people she was about to meet, her den and proper food at last. But among all these rational and selfish wishes was the victorious feeling of finding home again. 

She stopped by the borders to check the scent marks and then proceeded further in the forest.

Hydra had noted the absence of Wraen, but hadn't thought anything of it. Maybe she was an aspiring scout, too. In recognizing she did not know all that much about one of her close friends sisters, Hydra decided that she ought to change that. So she committed to doing so upon the girls return. It was much to her fortune that, as Hydra was patrolling, who was it that returned but for Wraen herself? Once the Beta finished (re)establishing one scent mark, she altered her path to intercept Wraen's.

Hydra chuffed to the girl, approaching from behind, to let the other know she was there. Hey, she greeted, tail waving, how was your trip? I didn't know you were interested in becoming a scout, because, as far as Hydra could tell, the only wolves gone for that length of time were scouts. With the exception of brief familial visits... but Hydra had not run into any wolf that wanted to go home to see family, yet, so.

Wraen jumped a little, when Hydra appeared from the darkness and joined her. "Oh, hey!" she said stopping briefly to wag her tail and regard the Beta with a kind smile. Still she felt slightly uneasy around the black she-wolf, as if getting lost and disappearing from the packlands suddenly was something she should feel guilty about. 

Therefore she could not quite tell, if Hydra's next comment was a sarcasm or a genuine curiousity. Up until then Wraen hadn't shown any particular inclination towards any of the trades and she did not think that losing one's way in unknown lands could count towards "scouting" or anything useful. "Ah, the trip was not intentional," she explained and smiled uneasily. "Got seriously lost, but managed to return in one piece."

Wraen informed Hydra that the trip was unintentional, which caused a brief red flag to wave within her. But Wraen explained, and Hydra remembered once being young and getting lost and out of sorts. Then, she had Rian to help her—but the dashing man had long been dashed from her mind since their last encounter. She had poured her feelings to him, and though then he had said they were shared... he had been gone since. Still there was wonder that plagued her—could he be in the grip of Blackfeather...? Time would tell. Hydra would no doubt get the answer to that question.

Oh, she responded, frowning. I would have went looking if I had known about your lack of sense of direction, and the words were not meant to be cruel, though they might have come off that way. Hydra did not want Wraen to think she didn't care, because she did. Wraen was pack, and Hydra looked out for them. I am glad you managed to find your way back, though. Learn anything new and exciting out there? Hydra hoped that someway, somehow, Wraen had benefited from her negative experience so that it wasn't all for naught.

"Well, it is pretty hard to predict at the beginning of the day, whether I am going to get in trouble or not," Wraen brushed off Hydra's worries with a joke. Because - truly - out of one hundred and maybe more hikes, trips and exploring missions she had taken - this one only had been with rather unexpected and grim consequences. Her inner compass had never failed her up until that point. 

"Now I know that scouting skills are something I have to practice more on," she replied the first thing that came to her mind, when talking about "lessons learned". "Is that trade taken by anyone? 'cause despite this I enjoy the thrill of the journey and I have to practice of not getting lost."

Hydra smirked at Wraen's initial statement. Mornings can be rough that way, she quipped playfully. Hydra was more of a nighttime wolf herself, so she meant it. Though no matter what, she was always on top of her game—that's what she told herself anyway. As Wraen continued, Hydra looked thoughtful. Not taken yet, no. Alya's interested, but two scouts don't sound like a bad thing. There was another wolf that had been working on the trade, but from what Hydra knew of her? Well, the Beta hardly even thought of her as a candidate. 

When she had been younger she'd gotten lost once, but since then she had become far better at judging direction. It was the getting lost bit that inspired her to work on that; the vulnerability she felt when lost was not something she would ever like to endure again. Hydra was not good at being vulnerable, at all. I can help you practice, Hydra offered. Though it was not the trade she was after, her tracking could lend Wraen a helping hand potentially.

"I heard that there are different types of scouts. Ones that deal with politics and conveying messages, ones that explore the lands and the last ones that I have forgotten about," Wraen at some point had been instructed about trades, but aside from the general terms, was not so sure, how precise her knowledge was about details.

"Oh, that would be nice," Wraen shot Hydra a grateful look, but decided that, since beta was a very busy wolf, she would not bother her, unless she was facing a dragon or something of equal danger level. "But now it got me thinking... do scouts seek out and memorize the, where food sources are located? Not just the big game. But say... edible plants, morsels that are worth scavenging - all that stuff?" she thought it would be nice to combine a new hobby and her existing knowledge.

Hydra looked thoughtful as she remarked on different types of scouts. Well, which do you want to be? she asked at length, deciding that ought to be the one Wraen pursued. As for her next inquiry, Hydra nodded. That's kind of also in line with stuff that I want to do, just under a different name. I'm working on becoming a tracker—part of that is knowing scents, she explained, and where they come from. I don't see why you couldn't combine the two if you wanted to. I think it's a good idea, if that's what you like to do, also. Her tail waved, appreciating Wraen's thought on the matter.

Hydra had always liked and respected Wraen, thinking that even if she was a bit interesting from time to time, she was a good wolf. That she was Terance's sister made her opinion of her all the higher. She hadn't seen them hang out much, which she supposed in a way was the same as her and Korei Julia, but she had always thought them closer. Terance, when not hanging or patrolling with her, seemed to be chasing after Lyra or seeking out Rannoch. 

She did not know why these things came to mind, but she felt that if he wasn't Terance ought to be appreciative of Wraen as a sister. The tawny wolf seemed smart, anyway. Have you got all that stuff memorized? she queried.

"Scouter or Trackouter... I think the last one sounds better," Wraen played with the two names of the different trades, but despite this light-minded response, she nodded and smiled in response that she had understood everything and that this everything would be in her mind to stay. 

"I am good with scents, when I am not lost," she added, because her last adventure did not speak very highly of her tracking skills. In her defence, however, there had been a snowstorm, which had hidden and washed away most of the trails, and finding a way back under those conditions, was challenging even for an experienced wolf. "Mom did a rather good job at preparing us for the life on our own - finding different food sources and stuff. You know - "desperate food", "green forage", when all else fails, or the "pig food"," Wraen paused here having a feeling that she had missed something and she really had. "Oh, and the "eat all that's more valuable than flea-skin" kind of food."

ooc: very lovely avatar. :)

Hydra grinned. We'll call ourselves the trackouters, she quipped with a wag of her tail. The word was amusing, and she had to laugh a bit. Her grin didn't leave as Wraen spoke of their mother, a wolf Charon thought well of. The list Wraen provided was an interesting one, but one that she had never in her life heard of. 

What's the recipe for all of that? I've never heard of those, she admitted, ears flattening atop her crown for a brief moment. Hydra had just heard of the basics, but that got her by just fine. Then again, Hydra didn't doubt Wraen knew a thing or two about surviving. She got here in one piece after all, two times over.

THANK U <3

"Never heard of those? It can't be..." Wraen looked at Hydra in disbelief, because she had been under impression that just the same way her sister Sarha, the Ostrega girl knew almost everything. How else would she have climbed that high? It occurred to her that she might know about this stuff, except with different names for each food group. 

"Well, when our family left, this place was under a famine," she began, not remembering much about this time from her early childhood, except for the hungry feeling and disappointment in the fact that Osprey did not have enough milk for them. "And out in the wilds not every day is lucky. My parents were two adults with three hungry mouths to feed and there were days, when we did not see the tiniest morsel of food," despite this part in her biography, she remembered it fondly as the most interesting one. And here is a reason why...

"So, until we were quick and skilled enough to hunt our own hares and rodents, mom and dad taught about the foods that wouldn't be your first choice under regular conditions, but that would keep you going, until you found something better. So... "desperate foods" are technically anything - bilberry bushes, grass, moss etc. - that you eat to keep your stomach filled and the hungry feeling at bay. It's the "die slower" food or your last choice, when all else fails, but you still hope to survive somehow," she told.

""Green forage" is close to the previous food group - mainly stuff our usual prey eats. Berries, when the season is on, mushrooms, if you know well, what you are taking in your mouth. Not nutritious, but keeps you going. "Pig food" is the roots or anything that is underground and "flea-skin foods" are the stuff you scavenge. During our travels we happened to run into this huge place, where there were mountains and mountains of smelly and odd looking alien stuff, but there was edible stuff mixed in as well," she spoke about the garbage pit they had come accross, when traveling near human settlements. Not that they knew, what they were.

Hydra knew some of the scavenging basics, but not much. Her own family had not been effected by the famine, after all. Her mother and father taught them about survival, but Wraen had the experience. The girl did not sound as though she had hated that portion of her life, which was good. Once Wraen had finished, Hydra had a newfound respect for her, and Terance too.  

I never went through anything like that, Hydra admitted. It made the life of a lone wolf sound all the more unappealing, but that did not mean she looked down on the others experience. But you learned a lot from it. I was taught the basics, but there is nothing like firsthand experience. I'm glad you made it through those tough times, Wraen, she spoke in earnest. You became all the stronger for it. And smarter, her tail waved. 

All the talk of food kind of made her hungry, honestly. You down for a quick hunt? She asked. Hydra also wanted to make sure that Wraen ate like, millions of things. Now that she was in Moonspear, Hydra would see to it that she never went hungry again.

Regarding this Hydra would see to it that she never went hungry again. I just had the mental picture of Hydra being that granny-type of character, who always thinks that her grandchildren are not eating enough and after the summer holidays sends them back to the city nice, round and fat. :D

Wraen felt embarrassed by the praise she received, because in her eyes that kind of information was a general knowledge. Nothing special and most people either knew it already and learned from experience. Besides - now in winter - except for the food for the desperate or scavenging on the shores (very dependant on the tides) there were less other options. And there was always this little, but very important particle involved called "luck". Without that - everything failed.

Frankly speaking, Wraen was too tired for any kind of hunt, but she did not want to damage her newly created "survivalist" image, by refusing Hydra's offer. Plus, she was a leader - you did not say "no", when the head of the tier asked you to do something. Therefore she shook her coat, stretched, pushed the idea of nice, comfortable den and long, long sleep, to the back of her mind and smiled encourigingly at Hydra. "Let's not waste any time then."

ooc: fade out in your next post and have another one?