For the first few days of her time in the Sunspire, Mallaidh kept her head down. She found a place to rest near the borders, shaded from the sun and left the her little world cool. She managed to find a few mosses to held dress her wound but the supply was short and it wasn't the best sort of medicine she wanted. Better mosses were to be found but she was able to get by a few days. The wound no longer dripped pus, no longer looked angry, and keeping what she had on it and resting her weary bones had given her a spring in her step that she was thankful for.
There was a significant improvement on how long she would last throughout the day. Her energy was returning and, content with her surroundings, she began her search for a more permanent place to sleep and keep her medical supplies.
Her paws were not entirely free of soreness, each step of an incline up the mountain told her that much, but she was able to overlook it temporarily as she sought out empty caves, coves between large boulders, and places hidden by a canopy of trees. Mallaidh's nose touch the ground, softly, and tried to find soil that wasn't too hard to dig through. In the current weather, it was important, for dirt hard to overturn in the winter would be of no use to her. She didn't like the idea of starting in the winter when things were dead, or dying, but it was all she had to work with.
He had a mind that day to hunt down some food for the caches. Winter was coming and he'd spent far too much of it abandoning his responsibilities as a pack wolf to slip into that blissful haze his poppies had given him. Thinking back on it made his stomach turn in disgust, and he was eager to stop himself from encountering those thoughts. He trekked along the terrain, planning out his movement for the day when he happened her.
Summer had never seen the tawny female before, and in an instant he felt guilt twisting in his gut. How long had she been one of their number? How long had he overlooked her? With a pleasant rumble from his throat, he sought to capture her attention and make amends for any potential oversight.
Grey rock of the mountains greet Rain's return from the other territories of the wilds. She had gotten little news from the other packs and no clues as far as the previous alpha's disappearance. The only information that she had was the possibility of improving relations with Swiftcurrent Creek.
Trotting swiftly towards the pack, her stride is filled with purpose and bliss. She is more than happy to back home, somewhat exhausted by her trip. It had taken nearly over a week to travel the whole of the Wilds, she had not realised the distance of the area encompassed such a large section of land. Not to mention there were more packs than she had thought. The image of each new friend she had made among those packs encourages a small smile from her wary features.
The scent of two wolves and a sound of a rumble causes her pace to falter. Passing around a rather large boulder, she stumbles upon two wolves, one of them digging into soft ground. Rain slows to a stop while looking between a tawny female and a young black male. "Hello," she greets slowly.
The scent of another wolf nearby had her on alert but she had yet to stop what she was doing. She felt safe in her new home, for the most part, and she made an effort to get her scent mingled with those of the mountain in the past few days. Her entire guard was not down, however secure she may feel, and the rumble did not throw her off. Slowly, she looked up to see a male that was undoubtably larger than she. Strong, but he was young and she at least had that in her favor.
Her jaws separated to speak at the same time another wolf came across the scene. This one vocal, she offered a slight dip of her head in acknowledgement, but left her posture hunkered down for safety. Mallaidh could not tell if the male was old enough for their adult ranks but the female was. Hello,
she pipes up, clearing her throat, I'm Mallaidh. I was, um. I was looking for a good place to build my herb and medicine storage.
"Hi, to you both," he said in response to both of their greetings, "I'm Summer. It's good to meet you Mallaidh, and...?" The dark wolf cast his gaze over to the other girl who had not yet shared her named with them, expectantly.
Turning back to summer Rain asks him, "Are you helping Mallaidh? Or were you walking about for a different reason?" She isn't trying to be intrusive or sound suspicious of him and hopes the young male doesn't hear it as such. Not knowing either one of them yet, she can only guess their reasons for wandering about.
She nods her head at the question. I aspire to be. I was one in my former home,
she explains, making sure she didn't appear totally helpless. It wasn't long before the conversation shifted back to the other wolf and she cupped her ears forward to listen. It was awkward, at best, as she looked to the female. It wasn't invasive while at the same time being so. Mallaidh didn't point it out and continued to be quiet.
"I'm glad," Summer said to Mallaidh, "We could certainly use a healer amongst us. I wish that you will never need to use your skills on any of us, but it will be a great comfort to have you amongst us." Illness and injury were an unfortunate truth of life in the wild, but the boy could still hope for the best that such afflictions would leave the Spire alone.
"I was on the look out for some prey to help fill our caches," he said, turning to Rain to answer her final question, "Judging by the antics of the wildlife, we may have a hard Winter upon us and soon. We must make sure that we are prepared." Summer turned a thoughtful eye skyward to peer at the clouds and the sun.
She finds herself taking a liking to Summer and smiles. "If I were not on my way to see Amekaze, then I would have liked to join you on your hunt," she tells him. "Though, this is the first I have heard of a wildfire. I've been away for a while. Was the fire here in our mountain?" She questions, curious to hear the news of her pack after having to gather news from other packs.
Summer turned to Rain as she began asking about a wildfire. He paused, confused for a moment before he realized she likely had misunderstood him when he'd said "wildlife". Smiling, he shook his head. "I'm sorry, I think I misspoke. I meant to say 'wild life', not wildfire," he replied, "There has never been a wild fire here that I've known of and hopefully there never will be." The thought of the mountain succumbing to such a thing made his heart ache. He never before had felt so attached and at home with a place before, but the Sunspire meant far more to him than just the land that he lived in.
Mallaidh moved to excuse herself, clearly eager to continue her herb collecting. Summer nodded politely to her as she left, then returned his attention to Rain. "I'd be happy to accompany you to find Ame if you want," he said, eager to learn more about his packmate. He had no real direction in mind for his hunt, so whatever way Rain was going was as good as any.
Realizing her mistake after Summer spoke she feels a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry," she tells him. "I hope there are no wild fires here either! Especially since we are amid the snows of winter. I wouldn't really expect any fires until summer, but hopefully none start next year." There would be no reason for fires now with the snow keeping everything wet that could burn.
She nods too as the healer excuses herself. Summer then asks to accompany her. "I don't mind if you come with me a ways, but we will have to part once I catch a fresh scent trail. There's something private that I must discuss with her." Rain smiles at the youth adding, "I would love to hunt with you sometime though. Be warned that I'm not very good at it." She trots a few paces northwest, then stops and looks to Summer. "Think you can catch her scent before I do?" She challenges him with a small laugh before bounding off.
You know, this kind of struck me as a good place to fade. Hope you don't mind!
Summer shook his head against her apology. There was no need for it. They may have had a stronger sense of hearing than other species, but that didn't mean they weren't prone to mishearing each other from time to time.
Rain agreed to his company in a way that sparked his curiosity. Something private to discuss? He certainly hoped it was nothing troubling, but her good spirits seemed to suggest that it wasn't. So Summer simply nodded and then laughed at her little challenge. "You're on," he said as he picked up his own pace to chase after her, eventually to part ways just as she'd requested so that he could follow the alluring scent of stoat.