Neverwinter Forest Can I believe you?

It had been about a week since she and Mal had chased out the intruder. The wounds on her face were superficial and she hardly noticed them anymore. The gash on her shoulder was still very sore, though, and she didn't help things by continuing her patrol schedule. She knew she was supposed to take it easy, but it just wasn't something she could do right now; it was a battle between suffering under the weight of her thoughts or suffering from the pain in her shoulder, and she had chosen the former without hesitation. So, her shoulder was not healing very quickly at all. It was red and painful with every step, but the pain kept her from thinking about other things, and so she got some morbid satisfaction from how much it hurt. 

Of course, she did want it to heal eventually, so she kept an eye on it (an untrained eye), and would report any weird stuff to Aibreann. She couldn't be hindered forever, but nor could she just sit around. 

Trying her best to conceal her limp, she slowly made her way along the southwest edge of the territory, stopping to inspect things as usual and marking anything that needed it. Things were quiet this morning, and she was grateful for that.

cam wasn't much use in the case of any border intruders, but should he ever find himself in the melee, he'd do his best to defend neverwinter forest. he had heard about this latest incident, which had seemed particularly brutal, and noted the resulting wounds. when he saw simmik up ahead, he smiled—seemed as if she was on the mend.

of course, the young woman wasn't one to lay about, anyway. cam gave her a chuff as he slipped down the forest path, emerging from the thicket to fall in step alongside her (though slightly behind her shoulder, in proper deference). do you mind if i join you? he asked quietly.

border patrols, he could do. it made him of use to the pack; beyond snaring the occasional fish or watching the pups, he felt as if he wasn't doing enough. he needed to step up, if not for the pack's sake, then for mal's. 

the alpha had given him so much, after all. a home. a friend. a new life.

how could he possibly repay him?

She was not alone very long, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Simmik liked to be alone, but she would never turn down a packmate that wanted some of her time. Cam was suddenly at her side, his quiet question earning him a brief nod from the Beta. Not at all, she answered, slowing a little so that they could walk side by side; the slight limp kept her from going too fast anyway. 

So far, she had found nothing abnormal along the edge of the territory, but she did stop to mark a fern as they continued the patrol. Finally, she shifted her gaze to Cam. How are you? she asked, curious about his well-being, especially with everything that had been going on lately.

acceptance, and he relaxed a little, staying quiet until she spoke up once more. rolling his shoulders, he squatted—you didn't lift your leg before a leader, he'd come to learn—and marked a bit of grass that had gone scent-stale. with moonspear's wolves so close, it would take a fortified border to keep them away—and he wondered if even that would stop them.

i'm quite all right, cam replied. same old, same old. how are you? she was the one chasing intruders away, after all, and getting injured in the process. part of the job description, he supposed, but it didn't stop him from worrying about mal's right-hand woman.

he stood and began to walk again, glancing at her from the corner of his eye as he waited for a response.

She waited for him to finish marking the place he had found while she considered how to answer his return question. She shrugged a little as he stood, causing a small pain to shoot through her healing shoulder. I'm okay, aside from feeling restless and cooped up, she told him, deciding to be truthful. She started walking as he did. I'm not used to resting so much or staying within the borders for so long. Of course, she had stayed within the borders before, but that had been a completely different situation—she hadn't felt safe to explore, but now she was getting back there and often made quick trips to the adjacent territories. Small price to pay, I guess. Really she didn't mind if meant the pack was safe from trespassers, but she did wish they had been able to take that guy out for good instead of losing him somewhere outside the forest.

he nodded in understanding, though it didn't ring true to him. he was perfectly content with resting within the borders—but he knew simmik wasn't that way. and that was okay, the world needed all types. . .even though sometimes, he wished he was more of her type than his own.

cam glanced at her, a curious glint in his eye. how old were you when you first learned about borders? he asked. 

they were about the same age. it wasn't that elysium had been deficient with borders, more that they treated boundaries much more casually than most. they were there, sure, and needed to be watched over, but a wolf passing through seemed no real emergency. in fact, the only emergency there he could remember was. . .

well, the bear. and that had been different.

but he had posed no threat to moonspear, and perhaps this wolf had posed no threat (at least initially) to neverwinter forest. and yet simmik had fought back. how had that been so instilled within her, while it had escaped his own mind?

I was young, still too young to go off on my own, but my mom would take me along the borders and explain things to me. She told me what she did when she patrolled and the things that she looked for, Simmik explained. She assumed that was how it was for everyone. As I got older, I also learned some by watching others deal with strangers at the borders. One memory in particular was quite painful, but it was seared into her memory. She had followed her dad's trail to the borders where he was questioning someone, and he had let her run the show some. Of course, she had gotten in trouble for it later because he had not wanted her dealing with strangers yet, but she had still learned some useful skills that day. She wished she had gotten to learn more from him. 

She pushed the memory away, not wanting to dampen the mood or really talk about it should he notice a change in her demeanor. Is that how you learned, too? she asked, curious now.

he knew it might come, but he was still a bit surprised to find sadness rise up within him at her words. his family had been loving, kind. . .but they had not brought the kind of lessons simmik had learned early. perhaps lily would have, with time, but—

cam shook his head. my mum—erm, mother died when i was young, he explained. and i didn't see my father much, and after that he disappeared. 

had they been stationary, he might have stretched out his limb, smoothed back the fur to show her the old scar. as it was. . .he kept on walking. i learned the hard way, cam muttered, looking straight ahead. i was stupid, foolish. i trespassed onto moonspear's territory and, of course, they went after me.

the stick had done the most damage, physically, but the memory of the hulking she-wolf's icy stare, of snapping teeth and billowing black pelt truly haunted him. he had healed all right in flesh, but in mind he still suffered. he had, however, learned.

i don't want that to happen to anyone else, especially that young, cam said, looking at simmik. i'm glad you were taught, and i'm glad the lesson will be passed down to the children here.

His mom had died when he was young—she suddenly felt bad for bringing it up, even if there was no way she could have known. I'm sorry, she said quietly. My dad died when I was young, she offered as a way to show him that she understood better than most what it was like to lose a parent. 

He went on to explain how he had learned the hard way, and she nodded. The hard way is an effective teacher, but there are better ways to learn, she answered. There were plenty of things she learned the hard way, but if she could prevent the younger generations of Neverwinter from having to suffer that way, then she certainly would. 

Neither do I, she agreed. We can both teach them, she suggested. If you're interested.

The rest of the patrol went by uneventfully, and they talked about the things they knew and the things they wanted to know. Simmik thought he would make a good addition to the pack and a good teacher for the pups. If nothing else, he could potentially be another friend here, which was always needed.