Great Bear Wilderness tastes like darjeeling.

Although her back and shoulder still ached, Fin was far too sick and tired of resting and relaxing and being careful to remain within the boundaries of the Caldera any longer. She was confident that her injuries had healed enough that she could take care of herself if something ended up happening to her while she ventured out on her own. Plus, it wasn't as though her little excursion was taking her too far out of bounds... And what could happen on the nearby, placid shores of Lake Rodney?

Finley cantered merrily along the bank, humming softly to herself as she went. She was playing with the idea of attempting to fish, but really was far too distracted with just getting to be on her own and moving and free of the dull ache that for so long had plagued her steps.

It seems to me that you got yourself a lonely thread. Hope you don't mind if I liven it up a bit? ^.>

The only reason Somnia ever left the Caldera since joining had been to hunt. But those outings didn't happen too often. Maybe once for every half-cycle of the moon? To make up for the lack of quantity, they were often about a quarter of a day's travel to get to the large areas unclaimed by any wolves. She spent a decent amount of time hunting, then tried to make it back before the end of the day.

Somnia was planning on taking one of those small journeys to find more food today, but it seemed there were other plans in store for her as she spotted her Beta along the edge of a nearby lake. At least, it looked like her Beta. But then again, a lot of wolves held similar pelt patterns, so a quick scent check never hurt. One scent check later, Somnia knew for sure it was her Beta, Finley.

Somnia let out a few friendly barks to announce Finley of her presence. Then, she ran over, adjusting her speed to match Finley's pace as she reached her side. "Hi. You seem happy. Is it due to the fact that it's not half-bad out today?" She joked slightly. She had done that on purpose, for Finley could decline and say why she was happy, or accept and just end the subject there if she didn't want to talk about it.

o y ty :D

Finley leaned down to nose at a small drift of snow that had piled up along the banks, enjoying the feeling of the frigid crystals tickling her nostrils when she first noticed the approach of another. She lifted her head and glanced over to watch as Somnia trotted up alongside of her, offering a smile and a wag of her tail in greeting. Once near enough, Fin nosed affectionately at her packmate's cheek before adjusting her steps so that the two could mosey along together.

"That's one reason," Fin replied, "But mostly I'm just excited to be out and about without my shoulder screaming in pain at me." The wound had healed up nicely thanks to Blue's and now Ashton's help. She was still hoping that she'd have a bit of a scar, though the fur that was coming back in along the edges of the cuts likely would mask them once it was full and thick again. "That Ashton is completely out of his mind, but he knews his stuff at least," she mused aloud.

Somnia offered Finley a smile back, and the tail wag followed whether she wanted it to or not. She wasn't used to the physical parts of the greetings everyone seemed to share, but she would adjust to it in time. Then, they were multitasking, walking and talking at the same time. As long as nothing magically appeared in their way, and if they kept the pace as it was, Somnia wouldn't trip over something... Hopefully.

At Finley's shoulder comment, Somnia glanced at her shoulder, which as far as Somnia knew, didn't seem to be life-threatening injury at this point and time. "Yeah, that's always nice." She commented. Then, the Beta mentioned Ashton and Somnia's ears perked for a moment. "Definitely a bit weird and crazy, but I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing." She added in her two-cents.

Somnia agreed with Fin on both accounts, but Fin paid more attention to the latter. The urge to gossip rampantly about him struck her hard, but she attempted to hold her tongue. She was the pack's beta after all. Talking about a subordinate behind their back with another subordinate somehow didn't strike her as being very... beta-like. Or maybe it was. She had never been in the position to know, nor had she ever remained a part of a pack long enough to be pulled into the confidence of the second-in-commands. Alphas yes, but that was more or less just... pillow talk.

"Not at all," Fin replied, "Pretty sure we're all a little weird and crazy, honestly." She gave the girl a grin so that she would know she was kidding, not wanting her to take offense at the implication. She really meant herself more than others. While she didn't necessarily think she was touched in the head for making a hobby out of fighting bears and antagonizing rattlesnakes, she was aware of how others viewed it.

"You making any headway on earning any trades?" Fin asked, making conversation, "I assume you're going for gamekeeper, considering the squirrel-murdering you were attempting when we met."

Somnia nodded in response to Finley's first statement. Of course they were all a little crazy and weird at times. But, wasn't it the crazy weirdness of life that made it fun at times? After all, weird meant different, usually in a bad way, but bad or not, different kept things interesting. And Redhawk Caldera could definitely be interesting at times.

Somnia smiled as Finley mentioned the squirrel-murdering. "Yeah, I'm an aspiring Gamekeeper. I'm trying to achieve it soon. Before winter ends at the latest." She also wanted to take a shot at the Counselor trade, for helping seemed to be second nature to her, should one ask for it. After that? Somnia wasn't quite sure. There were quite a few options she found she wouldn't mind pursuing. The top two candidates at the moment were Naturalist and Warden.

"What about you? What sorta skills you got under your belt?" She was curious as to what the other greyscale female had chosen. Maybe some of the trades more involved with action?

Just as she'd suspected, Somnia too was pursuing the trade of gamekeeper. If all went according to plan, it seemed like the pack would have a good deal of gamekeepers under their belt, which was never a bad thing. Never could have too many wolves collecting food, especially in the Winter.

"I'm sure it'll be yours before then," Fin reassured her friend with a smile, "Peregrine has a soft spot for 'em." It was quite true. More than one wolf she'd shared a pack with had there been a rumor about that he'd offered to mentor (that was the weirdest sentence I've ever written and it's so bizarre, I'm going to keep it there as a testament to my failure). "I'm a gamekeeper myself," Fin replied, "And an outrider and warrior."

Peregrine had a soft spot for Gamekeepers? Somnia hadn't experienced it firsthand yet, but then again, she wasn't too close to either Alpha yet. Peregrine wouldn't have known about her being an aspiring Gamekeeper unless someone else had told him. Somnia would have to have another occurrence with him besides a pack event. She pushed it out of her head for the moment.

Finley's trades were definitely involved with action. She could probably make a good adventurer. The trades showed that she could keep herself fed, could defend herself, and knew enough information about travelling and scouting out new places. "Ever discover anything interesting?" Somnia asked. It may have seemed random, but it matched up with the dialogue in her head.

Dear god. Fin could have gone on and on about all of the interesting adventures she'd had in her travels. It was a shame she had absolutely no skill in story-telling for she could have written one hell of an autobiography about her travels. For only having spent two and a half years on the earth, she'd had the experiences of 20. Even when not looking for trouble, the Blackthorn had a knack for finding it, and she'd traveled long and far enough to have it again and again and again.

"Person, place or thing?" Fin asked with a laugh and a cocky swish of her tail, "You come across plenty of interesting things when you travel a lot. There are so many adventures to be had..." She trailed off a little wistfully, reminiscing about her time as a vagabond and wondering vaguely if she would one day return to that lifestyle. It was strange to think that she might not, but in truth, once Peregrine and Fox's first litter was born and grew up, they might not have any need for her anymore. Maybe she was destined to leave the Caldera to again make room for the young as she had before with her birth pack.

She was offered a choice. Interesting objects piqued her curiosity, but maybe that wasn't the best choice. She might want to see the object in person if she heard about it. Interesting places would be a similar scenario. "People." Somnia decided.

People could be very interesting. They were far more complex than objects and places, and one person could be a thousand different shades of interesting. Plus, everyone was different, and the crazy ones often made for great story characters with unpredictable reactions. After all, you couldn't predict what an unknown character would do, which kept the story interesting.

Her companion chose "people", and so Fin furrowed her brows thoughtfully, shuffling through her arsenal to pick the best one. There had been so many. There had been crazies, there had been angries, there had been the perfectly normalies. The latter weren't as interesting as the former, though, so it was with one of those she finally chose.

"I met a mountain lion once who thought he was a coyote," Fin said finally, "I guess the coyotes took him in when he was a cub because his mother had died. He had no idea he was a cat until I... accidentally pointed it out. They were pretty pissed. I would never have dreamed of running away from a bunch of coyote"--she emphasized with a derisive sneer--"But when they have a 130 pound cougar as a pet, options are a little limited."

Turned out Finley had some pretty good stories at her disposal. "How is that even possible?!" Somnia exclaimed with an incredulous look. "It would be one thing if it had been some sort of canine, but a mountain lion? You would've thought that those cats were smart enough to tell the difference between their own kind and coyotes!" That mountain lion must have been dropped on it's head when it was little. That was the only explanation she could come up with.

"Guess I'll have to start calling you the Queen of Epic Stories." Somnia joked, attempting to keep the flow of conversation going.

Fin laughed at Somnia's reaction to her story, nodding in agreement. "I do think it was a little... slow. Like, maybe the mom had abandoned it because she knew it was mentally deficient and probably wouldn't survive? I dunno. It was all just bizarre." There had been a sort of blank, empty look in the wild cat's eyes. But she'd just assumed it was dumb because its keepers were dumb.

Queen of Epic Stories was a title that made Fin laugh. "I dunno, I feel weird enough being called 'beta' to be honest," she admitted with a chuckle. Fin had never been trusted with so much responsibility before. Usually because... well, she was a bit of a crazy, and most of the packs she'd run with in her time hadn't found that as appealing of a quality as Peregrine and Fox did. She also usually didn't stick around long enough to make it that far up in the hierarchy.

"Could be." Somnia responded to Finley's comment on the mountain lion.

"You'll get used to it eventually." Somnia reassured her, lightly bumping into her. "Maybe you could start to use the title a little bit at first until you get used to it? Or, I could just call you Beta every single time I see your face, and eventually you'll be forced to get used to it." While the former was a serious suggestion, the later was friendly teasing. The smirk that was on Somnia's face would be enough to signal that she was teasing.

Wanna wrap this up here and we can maybe has a new one? :D

Fin gave both of Somnia's recommendations serious thought. It would feel weird to constantly tell everyone she was the beta, but the girl was right--she would get used to it eventually. After all, she supposed she didn't have any problem actually carrying herself and posturing like a beta. That part actually came quite natural to the self-centered narcissist, to be honest...

"Let's try both," Fin suggested with a smile and a laugh, "I'll probably need you to do it just to remind me that I'm supposed to be doing it."

As enjoyable as her little venture outside of the Caldera had been, something told Fin that it was probably about time to be heading back. They'd been lucky enough to escape any sort of danger thus far--a real feat considering who it was in Somnia's company--but she knew when it was time to stop pressing her luck, so she turned to the girl to give her a friendly nudge on the shoulder. "Come one, I'll race you back," Fin said, picking up the pace a little, "Just remember, you have to let me win--I'm the beta." With a laugh, the Blackthorn took off at an easy lope back towards home.

Sure! :)

"Okay Beta Finley." Somnia said. Nothing said she couldn't start right now! Somnia made a silent vow that from now on, whenever she saw Finley, instead of calling her Finley, she would call her Beta Finley.

Somnia was proposed with a race back where she had to let Finley the Beta win. "Deal! I'll stop just before the border and let you waltz across that while I sit there saluting you." Somnia quipped before taking off after Finley at a similar pace to hers.