Emberwood and now every insufferable convo

@Sweet! (mind if this is backdated a few days?)

She wasn't sure where the itchy paws were coming from; she'd never had an inclination to wander before. Lily had thought that once they were settled in the willows, she would pretty well stay put. But now she was skirting across territories, and found herself in a completely different wood altogether, exploring. Huh--funny how that went.

The blackbird sniffed around, picking up the different scents of this forest compared to their new home. She supposed it wasn't such a bad idea to get a feel for surrounding lands and the creatures that dwelt in them. Especially now that she was a leader of sorts--she needed to make an effort to be informed and outgoing.

Not that she wasn't already. It was just, you know, a lot to take in.

He had thought about following his sister to wherever she ended up, but inevitably found her exuberance and boisterous attitude to be too much, so he backtracked a little. Once he found the familiar-ish forest Sweet took to the paths again, deciding quickly enough that it could serve as his new home for a little while; his family had never been comfortable among pack wolves and he'd found many signs that sections of the valley were claimed, which made him nervous. 

The boy was pacing between the golden trees, almost dancing from leaf pile to leaf pile, when he heard a crunch - like something was walking nearby. He stopped immediately and slunk as best he could towards the sound, wondering if it might've been a deer or something else edible - but then he spotted the fine-boned black wolf, and froze.

God, she had to get better at paying attention. It wasn't until she had almost stepped on the pale wolf that she noticed him, and she leapt backwards, heart lodged in her throat. "Bloody hell!" she exclaimed, shaking her head. A bemused laugh escaped her maw, lit in a rueful smile. "So sorry. . .that's what I get for exploring when my mind's on other things."

Trying to compose herself, she stepped back, clearing her throat. "Erm. . .I'm Lily. My pack just moved into the forest just north of here. Do you live around here?" she inquired, brows raising slightly. There weren't many scents layering his pelt, which led her to believe he was a lone wanderer of some sort. Maybe he needed a place to stay?

At least get his name before you make the pitch, Lily.

He wasn't very well hidden in the forest, but due to his golden coat he was somewhat lost among the leaves; because of this, the stranger managed to nearly run right in to him. Her voice boomed around him and he scurried back a step and a half, stopping only when he felt his rump brush against a nearby tree. At this point she was already apologizing and rambling about some pack — and he felt himself already closing off to the conversation.

Around here? No -- well, yes, uh, sort of. Here. This forest. His response was clipped by anxiety but after he word-vomited at her for a moment, Sweet paused to gather his thoughts and try to be more precise. Sorry, I mean I live here in this forest right now. This valley is full of packs, its uh, kind of overwhelming. That was a little bit of an over-share, he thought. She didn't care about other packs, or the fact that a lone wolf would have trouble travelling between them safely. God, she was probably going to try to recruit him! Sweet didn't want to make her angry, whoever she was, but he had his mind already set on saying no.

"Erm, all right," she said in response to his question, shifting awkwardly. He was quite. . .strange, but perhaps it was because she had startled him. Either way, she hoped he'd calm down soon. She didn't know this part of the world very well; she didn't need some wacko leading her astray.

"It's a pretty place to live," Lily remarked, more to make conversation than anything else. "What's your name?" She had offered her own but had received nothing in return. Maybe he was shy, too, along with being a head case.

Right. So, she was looking at him like he had two faces, unless that was his anxiety talking. It probably was. Kind of like having an angel on your shoulder or whatever, except that it was this oppressive, claustrophobic weight that heralded doom like a squalling murder of crows — his brain was on a tangent now and he had to shake his head to clear his mind; that coincided with her statement about how pretty it was, and he had to stop a second, and then nod instead.

Whats your name? she asked.

Okay kid, time to relax your noggin. You got this. You know your name, that's the easy part. Talking is easy too — you got this bro, you got this — Is carrots sweet sole-ay, he blurted as one long word. He swallowed a lump in his throat and, looking askance at the dirt beneath his feet, breaaaaathed for a second and said a little more clearly, I just go by Sweet.

Carrots? Okay, that was weird; maybe he was speaking some kind of-- Sweet, she repeated, smiling. It's a pleasure to meet you. She kind of wanted to nope out of this interaction, and perhaps he did too, but she felt obligated, now. Like she was in too deep to just walk away and call it a day.

Are there a lot of packs in the valley? Lily asked, brows coming together slightly in concentration. That could either be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on if they were packs who followed the rules and left others alone--or if they took pleasure in antagonizing others. Should it be the latter, she wanted to know right away. Do you know anything about them?