Wild Rye Fields Take it easy

Takes place soon after @Cottongrass was accepted. Assume Askan has given him a quick tour. For cotton but other WRF woofs can pop in if they want to

If Cotton had expected fanfare or a big warm welcome then in was in for a disappointment. Their home was a vast field, sheltered by sloping hillsides and a thick pine forest to the south. It was safe, secure and perhaps most importantly it was large enough that everyone had their own space. Even when the pack had been full to the prim Askan had never felt smothered , if he needed time to himself there were vast acres of land just waiting to be roamed. He was sure that if he needed it, Cotton could find somewhere to hide until he felt a bold enough to mingle.

For now it was simply a matter of showing him around, just like he had with Reyes.

Except this time as Cotton followed him as closely as he could, like a shadow, Askan could see that he didn't want to be here. Not in the same way his mate did. By this point the Southerner had made the field his home, he just hoped that Cotton could do the same. He deserved it just as much, if not more.

"All right." Askan said, as they came to a stop by the creek, the territory's main water source."Should probably find somewhere for you to sleep. Can't imagine you using the main den right now, gotta settle in first." Which was fine, even Askan had needed some time before he was ready to mingle."What do you think of it so far, anyway? You like it? Lots of hills to slide down, and in a few weeks the grass should be nice and long. Good to hide in."

As they neared the creek, Cottongrass finally gathered the nerve to stray from Askan's side. It wasn't much, honestly. All he did was take a few tentative steps and then he was sniffing at the water's surface with his tail swaying behind him. Even then most of his attention was on Askan, making sure the older wolf didn't wander off without him. And at the mention of the main den Cottongrass shuffled his way back towards his friend.

Because he was making something of a mental map with places marked safe and unsafe. So far the main den was the only thing marked as unsafe because the last thing he wanted was to be surrounded by wolves. And everything else was surprisingly okay. There really wasn't much to Wild Rye Fields' pack territory. On one edge there was thick forest. On the opposite edge there was nothing but open land that stretched on for what seemed like forever. And in between there was gently rolling hills and dead shoots of grass sticking up from under a blanket of snow.

He plopped himself down on his hindquarters near Askan, head cocked while he thought about what he had seen so far. "It's good." He finally mumbled. Because it wasn't a lie, not exactly. But Cottongrass couldn't bring himself to say that he liked it when he just didn't hate it.

Good was a whole lot better than bad, but it still wasn't great. Not by a long stretch

Askan frowned, but figured he shouldn't push too hard. No doubt this was tough for Cotton and the last thing he wanted to do was make it any worse than it already was. The Selwyn wasn't adept at the art of consolation-the best he could do was an awkward 'there there'- but he still wanted to do something, anything. Even if it only helped a little.

So rather than picking at his choice of words, Askan merely nodded, as though sated.

"Good. So what do you want to do now? Find Reyes? Have something to eat?" Normally he wouldn't offer a free meal to a newbie, but this time the treat was on him. Whatever he ate Askan would replace. It was the least he could do. Considering that he was having a bit of a rough time.

Would he be like this with every new member of the pack from here on out? Hell no. Cottongrass was a rare exception, he'd known him long enough to at least trust him, in a sense anyway. Cotton was harmless and good, and Reyes had a soft spot for him, so it made sense to bring him here. At the very least, now Reyes wouldn't worry about him all the time. And he wouldn't have to leave in the dead of the night to see him either. So really, in the end it was better for everyone. Even if the change was a little hard to adjust to at first. But hey, if Reyes could do it surely Cotton could as well.

All good things took time and surely after all the shit he went through with his family-who sounded awful to say the least- he could do with some TLC.Or so Askan thought.

Whatever fragile sense of security and comfort that Cottongrass had managed to build crumbled when Askan spoke. It was like his anxiety reared its ugly head in full force. Because really, he was fine with the other wolf toting him around and showing him the pack territory. He could focus on sniffing and poking at whatever he was supposed to be focusing on and they would move on. It was easy work and something he quietly enjoyed—listening to Askan talk while he thought of whether or not the area would make a good hiding spot or something. And maybe it helped that they never bumped into anyone.

But the idea of seeing anyone—even if it was just Reyes—struck fear into his heart. He didn't know why. It was just that... What if Reyes was busy? Or in a bad mood? Or something else that was as equally bad and terrifying in that moment. And then Askan had to go on and mention eating. It had Cottongrass feeling like a scared and confused puppy all over again. Because in his birth pack there were so many rules and he could never remember all of them. Was he supposed to eat from pack caches? Or was Askan suggesting that they hunt something? And—

His ears rolled back against his head, broad shoulders curling as he tried to make himself small. Like that would fix anything. "I—" Could we do something else? Something safe? But he couldn't bring himself to say those words. Because Askan was being nice and Cottongrass just felt miserable and scared which made everything inside of him worse.

"I dunno." Was what he finally settled on, the words soft and mumbled as he stared down at his own white paws. Silently he willed Askan to just make him do something. So that he wouldn't feel so bad because he was pretty sure he could do what others wanted without messing up.

Askan understood that all of this was new and tough for Cotton to digest, but as much as he didn't want to get annoyed he couldn't help but feel a little frustrated. Like all things, it would take time for him to settle in and find his place here. But couldn't he at least try and find his feet, without Askan having to instruct him the whole time? It's not that he disliked helping, or anything like that it was just couldn't he try and be a little less feeble? He wasn't like this when he'd been on his own. He could clearly look after himself well enough to survive for months as a loner, so why was this so hard?

He was tempted to call for backup to be honest, surely @Reyes would know how to deal with Cotton and his strange, flighty demeanour. And if not, then it was something all three of them could work through together. It was a pleasant notion, the three of them working things out at their own pace. Of course doing anything with Reyes at his side was nice but having Cottongrass there as well didn't sully it, as he'd anticipated. He was a welcome addition, a new member of their rag-tag family.

"Hmmm." Askan mused, struggling to think of something that wouldn't freak out the white poof ball.

But he was so flighty, so nervous and the Selwyn had no experience with these sorts of people. Was he making it better or worse? He had no idea! Cotton wasn't giving him much to go on! Damn kid. Looking down at his muddy brown paws, he pursed his lips. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, maybe Askan just didn't have what it took. Why did he even bother?

"Well I'm hungry and there isn't anything worse than eating alone, so you're gonna have something as well. Consider it my treat."

As it turned out—being told what to do didn't help Cottongrass' terrified state of mind. But he quickly found that he couldn't actually complain about Askan's decision. Because hey, it was better than his plan of doing nothing and standing there in awkward stalemate until the world ended. He pushed himself to his paws. "Okay." Was all he mumbled, ears rolling back against his head while his bushy tail snaked around one of his hind legs.

Without any more hesitation he shuffled forward, the movement forced and tentative while his yellow gaze flickered from Askan to the open field surrounding them. It occurred to him that he didn't have a single clue as to where they might be heading off to. He tried to convince himself that things would be fine. That really, there was no way he could make a fool of himself if he just did whatever Askan did and he wouldn't have to disappear for good.

And besides, he could remember how food was supposed to fix everything. That a friend told him that forever ago, before winter had come in and settled for what seemed like good. A part of him couldn't help but wonder if that rule still held true or if it even meant anything in the first place.

Askan knew his home well enough to know where the caches were hidden off by heart. And as luck would have it, there was one nearby. They could have trekked to another, better stocked supply but it wasn't worth it nor would it help Cotton feel better. Which was what was important as of there and then, or at least it- or rather he- was to Askan. Funny how that had changed. But he'd realised that unlike his life back home in the Selwyn mountains, things weren't static and stuck in place. His life here had fluidity, nothing every truly remained the same and all he could do was hurry along and try to keep up with the changes. Hopefully Cotton would learn to adapt to these changes, after all it seemed as though he was stuck in bit of a rut. Like a hole he just couldn't climb out of.

It took a few minutes of clawing at the dirt, but eventually Askan managed to pluck a rabbit from the frozen larder. One of the good things about the cold weather was that the food in the caches stayed fresher for longer. Askan didn't exactly understand why or how, but the cold kept the rot at bay meaning that they didn't have to worry about the stink or the taste. Rotten or not, he'd eat it anyway if he was hungry enough, but in his opinion fresh food always tasted better.

With an amiable swish of his tail, Askan chuffed and dropped the rabbit at Cotton's feet, as if to say 'there you go' , before he bent down and grabbed one for himself. His one was a little on the scrawny side, small compared to Cotton's but rather than complain he just hunkered down and watched Cotton expectantly.

As stressed as he seemed, he had to eat. The sooner he did that the sooner he'd feel better, right?

"Go on, tuck in. It's dead, it won't hurt you." He assured with a bit of a smile, as though he thought he was so clever. Which he did and was.

Shallow water has trapped several fish in a small pond. Hunt Opportunity

Food fixed everything.

Or at least, that's what Cottongrass tried to convince himself as he watched Askan dig into what was probably one of many caches. But when the older wolf pulled out a rabbit and dropped it at his feet, he just ended up feeling queasy. Like he was left out in the summer heat all day without anything to drink, and it was a sensation he was all too familiar with in that moment. Yet he forced his tail to wag along and he flashed Askan an admittedly weak smile.

And with nothing else left for him to really do, he stooped over and started nosing at the rabbit's once silky fur. It was cold and he found that most of the animal was frozen solid. But it was fresh, and Cottongrass realized that it would probably be the best meal he had eaten since forever. Yet he still wasn't hungry. Not in the slightest and he couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong with him.

That maybe he really should leave because he was eating from the caches of a pack and it wasn't nice to lead people on. He could remember the she-wolf from hours earlier, no doubt one of the leaders except he found that he didn't know her name. She probably wouldn't like him doing this and then disappearing. But before he could continue his line of thought, Askan spoke. Saying something about eating and how the rabbit wouldn't hurt him, that it's dead.

His ears twitched and he gave the male another uneasy smile. And almost obediently he flopped down onto his stomach, drawing the rabbit in close so he could lick at its fur. Moments passed with him just nosing and poking at it, really just playing with his food. But he caught the expectant gaze of Askan and he immediately started gnawing on one of the animal's back legs. Bones crunched and he grinded down on one of the rabbit's joints, teeth pulling apart stringy tendon.

"Thank you." He mumbled around a mouthful of muscle and fur, and bones continued to crunch in between his jaws. It was more than a touch awkward as he absentmindedly bobbed his head along, hoping he looked busy or something else that was appeasing.

They ate in relative silence, aside from the usual crunching of bones and tearing of flesh. It wasn't uncomfortable, as Askan liked Cotton's company well enough but for some reason he got the sense that the same couldn't be said for the newbie. Not the latter part, it was clear that Cotton liked Askan to the moon and back, but rather the former. The white wolf was anything but comfortable, his body language screamed it so loud that the Selwyn couldn't help but notice it. He would have had to have been blind if he couldn't. Frowning as he ate, Askan did his best to try and figure out what was bothering him so. He was doing everything in his power to help, but it just wasn't enough.

Cottongrass wasn't happy.

And whilst it might not necessarily be Askan's fault, he certainly wasn't helping matters.

And by the Gods above it was so frustrating, how was he suppose to just stand by and do nothing as Cotton, someone he was supposed to look after, was clearly suffering in silence. It was awful, he was so close and yet out of reach. If he were a better man he no doubt would have known what to do, but he was ignorant, a fool and so was struggling to even think of what to say, let alone how to deal with this mess. The very same mess his actions had created.

"No need, that's what friends are for." He shrugged, as though to make it less significant than it really was."That's what we are, right?" Suddenly he wasn't so sure.