Overture Downs You're spilling like an overflowing sink.

@Grezig set the night before the hunting thread

Kavik had left Liri and Illidan with the the others in the spot they had all decided to rest for the night. He, of course, couldn't rest until he had done a sweep of the perimeter. The patrol not only soothed his need to be proactive about everyone's safety, it also helped distract him from his constant worrying. He was glad that Liri had brought back two more wolves willing to travel with them, he was just too caught up in his own shit right now show it. It was kind of shitty on his part, especially since they could help hunt and offer protection, but his anxiety didn't listen to reason, no matter how hard he tried.  So, to take the edge off a little, he patrolled every night before sleep. It usually eased his mind enough to fall asleep, if not for a few hours. 

As he walked around the meadow, he took in the scents; Liri's hitting him first and soothing him a little. The scents of the other three were there too, but so far, he hadn't picked up anything that spoke of danger. He would still make multiple trips on the same route, only turning back when he was absolutely sure they would be safe for a while.

Grezig, too, was doing a patrol around the area. The need to do so came instinctively, as something she could do to help out her “pack.” Sure, they weren’t an official pack yet, but she deferred to Liri (and to an extent, Kavik) as her Alphas, and their little group felt a bit like home already. It wasn’t that she did not respect Kavik, either. It was simply that she’d hardly spoken to him.

Speak of the devil, though. There he was, up ahead. Maybe tonight would give her an opportunity to get to know him a little more. She gave a low chuff and wagged her tail to show friendliness. “Are you patrolling also?” she asked.

Kavik's ears twitched at the sound of approaching footsteps. He turned to see Grezig, the female they had met at the river, coming up behind him. He slowed to let her catch up as she greeted him, but didn't return her friendliness; Not because he didn't want her around, but because his current mood had made him forget his manners. His mood that softened a bit because her 'also' had implied that she, too, was patrolling, and he was glad that she seemed to share his protective streak, or wanted to help out; either way, it was relief to know that this wolf was eager to pull her weight.

"Yep. Can't sleep if I don't," he answered. He inclined his head to imply that she could join him if she wanted and continued on the path in the grass that had already worn a bit by his multiple trips.

“Ah,” Grezig said, unsure of how else to respond. She did not have trouble sleeping so she had nothing, really, to say in response to this information.

She was invited to continue patrolling with the male and inclined her head in return to show that she would walk with him. As they continued on their way, she occasionally bent her head to sniff at things or swivel her ears around at the sounds of the night. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. All was safe and sound here. But she had not gone all the way around and she would not stop her patrol until she was completely done. Some wolves would have wanted conversation with their patrolling partner, but Grezig was not much for talking, especially not when she was trying to hear the potential sounds of danger. So they walked in silence. 

Unless, of course, Kavik felt the need to break it.

For a while they walked in silence, broken only by their paws moving through the grass and the sounds of the night around them. It seemed Grezig was comfortable with silence, which was a relief; Kavik wasn't a talker during good times, let alone now when he was grumpy at best. 

While they walked, he couldn't help but feel guilty about remaining distant from the newcomers. Liri seemed to have no problem making friends, but she also seemed a little more at ease than he had been as of late--okay, a lot more at ease, which also baffled him. He was glad for it, though, because it seemed to help her put him in his place when he was being stupid; plus, he felt like her calm, healing energy helped to keep him from being consumed with worry. And with all that they had going on, she still found time to think about his needs and had gone searching for a plant to help soothe his nerves. So, he was pretty sure he didn't deserve her. 

Steering his thoughts away from his healer, he considered the wolf currently at his side. So far, she seemed to be a valuable addition to their group. It would definitely be helpful to have four wolves to hunt with. Kavik glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "I'm glad that you decided to join us," he finally said. "And I appreciate you taking it upon yourself to patrol." He could hopefully start relaxing a little knowing that there was one more wolf invested in the safety of their group. Well, he would try anyway.

Grezig glanced at the black wolf when he finally spoke. She listened to his few words in silence, and when he was done speaking, she did not immediately respond. She did not feel the need to respond. He had not asked her a question, but rather, had made a statement. She continued patrolling without speaking for a time, merely grunting to show that she had heard him. Eventually, she said, “Thank you.” But maybe that wasn’t clear enough, so she added, “For letting me join you, and for… appreciating my work ethic.” That seemed about right. She nodded again, this time more to herself. Then, deciding to keep the conversation going, she asked, “How long have you known Liri?” Immediately afterwards, without giving him time to respond, she shook her head and amended herself. “No. A better question. How did you come across Illidan? He is young, and not your blood."

They resumed silence once more after her wordless response to his statement, and when she offered him her own words of gratitude, he bowed his head once in acceptance. 

He gave a small huff of laughter at her questions and how she asked the second without giving him time to answer the first. Choosing the easier question first, he frowned an replied, "Liri found him on his own shortly after we arrived in the area. We don't know what happened to his family, so we've been keeping him safe until we can find them." Kavik knew they had to be close by; the boy wouldn't have lasted very long on his own. 

"As for Liri," he paused unable to stop the smile the crossed his face, "We haven't know each other very long, but our connection....is hard to explain," he said, love obvious in his bright green gaze. He didn't know how else to describe it; it almost seemed metaphysical, like they were created for each other. He didn't expect others to understand, nor did he care. She was his and he was hers. The end. He didn't say anything else about it, already feeling a little uncomfortable at sharing the meaningful statement in the first place. Instead, he continued the patrol, waiting to see if she had any more questions for him.

Grezig listened to the male as he told the story, short as it was, of finding Illidan. She was disappointed. He did not know much about the boy. All of the information he gave her she could have guessed herself. She huffed. It would have to be enough, for now. Perhaps she would question the boy herself. If his family was still alive, she did not need a couple of angry parents to find them and demand to know why this ragtag group had “kidnapped” their son.

Kavik moved on to talk about Liri, but he shared even less information about the woman than he had about Illidan. It was clear that he cared for her, and Grezig supposed that that was all that mattered. She had never known love, herself, and did not care about such matters much. What she did wonder, however, was whether their connection — Kavik’s and Liri’s — would last long enough to get their pack off the ground. Being a loner was difficult, and she was curious to see if they could withstand the hardships of being a tiny nomadic tribe and remaining lovers — or whatever they were. A break-up between them could spell disaster for whatever pack might come of this.

Grezig voiced none of these thoughts, for she did not wish to plant seeds of discontent anywhere. Besides, it was not her place.

They had walked in silence for some time once more before she finally asked another question. “What of… Elixir?” It was a strange name for an even stranger creature. “Personally, I would hesitate to allow a mutt into the pack, for I worry about her ability to keep up with full-blooded wolves. Then again, we have taken in a pup who slows us down every day, so what does a mutt matter?” She paused for a moment, reviewing what she had just said. “Do not misunderstand. I defer to Liri’s and your judgment on all matters. I am merely thinking aloud.”

Kavik considered Grezig's statement. He, too was concerned about what the wolfdog would be able to contribute, but hadn't voiced as much to Liri yet. Liri may have the same reservatios, but with all that had happened recently, they hadn't had much time to discuss things in private. For the time being, he had decided to give Elixir a chance to prove herself valuable before he made his concerns known. He was glad to know that he wasn't the only one that was worried about it, though. 

"Please always feel free to share your concerns with us," he said first. He appreciated the respect, but had no desire to lead a pack in where the members felt they had no say. He valued the point of view of others and felt it helped avoid biased decision-making. "I am also a little concerned about what Elixir can offer, but I trust Liri's judgement. I also feel like every new member of our group deserves a right to prove their worth." Grezig's concern was appreciated; it showed that she was thinking of their safety, as well as further proving her merit. "Perhaps a group hunt would answer the question for us?" he asked, also thinking out loud. Although, the ability to hunt wasn't the only value one could offer to a pack, it could give them an idea of how much her domestic dog genes hindered her, or if they were a hindrance at all. "Or, at least give us a better idea of her skills," he added looking to the sandy wolf to see if she had anymore to say about it.

So Grezig’s concerns were appreciated and she was encouraged to speak her mind. That was good. It was a different leadership tactic than she was used to. Her parents had been at least a bit tyrannical in their rulership of her natal pack. Perhaps that was more because all of their members were their own children? Well. What mattered was that Grezig was not used to her opinion meaning much to those in charge. It swelled her with pride for a moment before she shot it down in her head and told herself to stop thinking stupid thoughts. It was a good move on Kavik’s part to take into consideration other pack members’ thoughts and feelings about a topic. It would mean, possibly, less internal strife later on down the road when they were an official pack.

She was glad to hear that Kavik shared her concerns about Elixir, but had to admit that he was right. “Yes,” she said. “I think all pack members, regardless of their parentage, should be given equal chances to prove themselves. Personally I do not understand the appeal of mating with a dog, but no one should be judged ahead of time for who their parents were.” Grezig could be quite even-handed when she wanted to be. On the other hand, she had prejudices just like everyone else. But… in a setting like this, where numbers mattered more than breed in terms of setting up a pack, she really didn’t care what you were as long as you were loyal to the cause.

“I like the idea of a hunt,” she said. “We will need the energy that a large kill would bring us for the journey ahead.” She paused, thinking of something, and then added, “Speaking of which, where are we going? Do you have an idea of where the pack will settle down?”

Kavik gave and amused smile at the mating comment. He couldn't say he had ever really thought much about dogs, especially mating with them, but was inclined to agree with her statement. Of course, now, he didn't entertain the thought of mating with anyone but Liri; another conversation they needed to have once they had some time to themselves. 

The female was right again, they would benefit greatly from a big meal; It was just a matter of getting everyone organized enough to work together as a team. The four them could easily take down a decent sized animal if they worked as a unit. 

Then Grezig asked the question he was sure was on everyone's mind. Where were they going? And honestly, he wasn't sure. They had gotten lost in a storm and decided to leave their former pack to start their own but hadn't decided where they were going. Illidan had been dropped in their laps and prevented them from not only traveling efficiently, but also from really being in control of where they went. They couldn't exactly leave the area with him without first trying to find his parents. He had grown fond of the pup, but he couldn't deny that traveling would be a lot easier without him; Not to mention his parents had to be beside themselves with worry, if they were even alive. Of course, if it came down to it, and they couldn't find his parents, they would take the child with them, and everyone would have to just deal with the added burden of traveling with a pup. He would not leave Illidan alone to fend for himself. 

He knew it would sound unorganized of them to tell Grezig that they had no set-in-stone plan yet, but he was not one to lie. "Honestly, we hadn't had a chance to discuss that far before we found Illidan. We had intended on heading for the mountains, though." He longed for the day they would all be settled in a territory they could call their own. The safety and comfort that it would bring was something he yearned for daily. "Unfortunately, we have to try and find Illidan's parents before we can move on from here," he added with a sigh, hoping Grezig would understand. He could already tell she would be a vital part of their group and future pack.

Grezig remained silent as Kavik explained their (his and Liri’s) intentions. Everything hinged on the boy. She released a breath through her nose and pursed her lips, wondering if they shouldn’t simply leave him in the forest to die. It was a cruel thought, one that she dismissed immediately. It would allow them to move faster, but at what cost? Not even a wolf like her would have the blood of a pup on her paws. She would never sleep at night afterwards. If they had found Illidan abandoned before he was weaned, Grezig would have killed him herself. That would have been a mercy killing. Neither she nor Liri were producing milk and so, otherwise, he would have starved to death. But he was almost three months old, old enough to eat solid food and old enough to retain memories, and old enough to begin showing personality. She would not kill him for her own convenience now when he had so much potential for the future. 

“The mountains,” she repeated, voicing none of her thoughts about the boy out loud. Grezig had never lived in the mountains, only seem them from a distance at the edge of her forest home. It would be a different sort of life to live among them, one she supposed she looked forward to — though her excitement was more for the idea of living in a pack rather than the location itself.

Kavik mentioned the boy again, spoke of possibly finding his parents. Grezig grunted once as an acknowledgment, Illidan’s fate resting heavily on her. She said nothing more, lost in thought and unable to find anything else productive to speak of.

You wanna fade?

Sure!

They went back to walking in silence for a little bit before he decided that he was ready to return to Liri and go to sleep. They had sufficiently patrolled the area and had found no present danger. The scent they left behind would also hopefully deter anything else from coming close, at least for the night. 

He slowed to a stop and turned to Grezig. "I think I'm ready to call it a night." He turned towards where they had left the others before nodding and adding, "Thank you for the company. Let me know if you ever need to talk about anything else." It had helped calm his nerves to talk business and made him feel that he could rely on the female to help carry the burden of protecting their little group. With that, he turned to head back to his healer, leaving her to decide if she wanted to follow or continue patrolling.

Soon, their patrol came to an end as Kavik claimed that he was ready to go to sleep for the night. Grezig nodded her assent and turned to follow him back to the others. She did not feel the need to continue the patrol without him, as they had gone round and round a few times since they had begun talking. “Thank you, I will,” she said in response to his words. It was nice to know that she would have his (and assumedly Liri’s) back if she ever needed it, and she was growing increasingly glad that she had thrown in her lot with them. Smiling to herself (or doing whatever was Grezig’s somber equivalent of a smile), she found a place to lay down and promptly fell asleep.