Emberwood nothing you can say that can tear me away

@Marten

the morning was spent avoiding the family. bhediya found it overwhelming to be surrounded by kin after having convinced herself that they were all lost. eventually, she would seek out easy or pihu and invite them on a stroll, but she'd then found herself enjoying the alone time.

the border wasn't the most well-kept. bhediya thought about awol's words and found validity in his concerns. marking their territory would soon become one of her priorities.

she sat at the edge of the emberwood and looked down into the valley in search of potential company.

opposite of bhediya, marten hadn't seen family in weeks. laurel, perhaps, was the last member of his family he'd ever seen... and even so, they weren't even  blood related. xan, he'd seen, but marten struggled to put the face with the family -- he had hardly considered xan family after all the hardships he'd put indra through... but... even so...

the woods were a sort of getaway, in that marten didn't have to be reminded of indra or laurel or xan -- and here he was rebuilding a home. it helped with his grief, and marten quite liked ibis, but he hadn't met anyone else... not formally. what was he supposed to say? ah. he didn't even know what he was thinking about.

so, when he spotted the dark wolf sat along the edge of the territory, he figures it about time to introduce himself. from a distance, marten lets out a friendly woof, and begins to pad over.

bhediya turned to see a wolf who she didn't recognize. hello, she called, i don't think that we've met. ibis was long past the days of bringing home strays (something that she expressed her disinterest in), so bhe wondered who this boy belonged to. he could have been another wolf who'd just never crossed her path, but believing that such a thing could happen twice was difficult.

the scout thought that it didn't matter. they were packmates either way, as was made apparent by the clear scent of their alpha on his coat.

marten, says the yearling in introduction, though his kind smile and the wave of his tail is not as blunt, i'm the pack's medic -- though i'm not sure i'm the only one. it didn't really matter if there were more -- the more the merrier, honestly, but marten just hadn't had a clue who else was a part of this pack besides ibis... and now this older woman... though he didn't know anything else about her.

i'm bhediya, she smiled, one of the wolves helping ibis. it felt strange to call herself a leader, as third-in-command only put her but so high. bhe nodded for the two of them to begin walking. how long have you been with the pack? there weren't many (acceptable) ways to start a good conversation, so she hoped that small talk would suffice for the time being.

the way she worded her ... title was strange. marten can't help a bit of confusion from sweeping across his brow, which furrows slightly. helping... ibis? he asks with a tilt of his pale head, what do you help her with? perhaps she's some sort of... advisor? marten considered himself a counselor -- therapist -- though, so he wondered if that's what she meant.

how long had he been with the pack? uh. marten strained to remember time, honestly, it felt like yesterday and somehow years ago at the same time... leaving easthollow, that is. indra's death. since we were at the marsh, he answers, unaware if that information is a valuable answer or not. he doesn't ask it in return, because it doesn't matter much to him. instead, he asks, what are you doing? referencing her sitting quietly at the border, that was.

i'm one of the leaders, bhediya laughed. it probably would have been easier to have just led with that. i'm an advisor by trade. it was a much more difficult job than she'd anticipated, but it was too late to turn back. there were only so many years in a wolf's life and she didn't want to waste any training for another occupation.

their time at the marsh felt so distant. it might have been because bhediya was hardly home then, a fact that she sometimes forgot. watching for newcomers, she sighed, but i'm not having much luck. their numbers were great so there was no need to bring in help, but bhe worried that they might not have enough hunters for winter. 

they would figure it out, though. no big deal. i'd rather walk, if that's okay with you. watching nothing can get boring.

the pair strolled for a while, eventually breaking off after growing tired of small talk.