With the phesants safely stashed where wayward cats weren't likely to carry them off she was trying to consider where they should go next. He had mentioned that he had hunted for his parents but found himself more dispososed to guarding so she thought a round of the borders might be the best place to start... unless of course, he was exhausted and wished to take a break. Yes, perhaps that was the best course of action for now, especially with Maera being out of action for the time being. The last thing she needed was another sick wolf on her paws.

So when he questioned her she sat, a short chuckle and a shake of her head offered in response. "Oh this is all very new. Maera, bless her, ran herself into the ground and now she's under the weather. I'm just filling in. Maybe one day I'll do it for real, but for now I'm just doing what needs to be done," and hadn't that been what she had always done? "The ultimate substitute, that's me! Substitute mother, substitiute leader, even a substitute friend!" Perhaps she was unable to keep the edge of bitterness out of her tone, but she dressed it up with a bright smile and a thump of her tail in the mud. "I'm glad you came back. Truly." Her face had gone all serious, but underneath all that, she was wondering just how long it would be before he left her too.

He always seemed to see right through her, probably largely due to her inexperience and youth. Her head tilted in apology, "Well... I mean, Mae and Kerb have had enough to worry about and dad's still dealing with mum up and vanishing again, I managed to track her down the other times. My brother vanished earlier in the year when mum started to go really downhill and while I was looking for him my friend, Zerxes, left without even saying goodbye, not that I even had a chance to notice right away. I've got three younger siblings and mum hardly remembered we existed most of the time and I didn't want them hurting. Maera and Kerberos, the other leader, had Lacey to keep them busy. Dad was leading for a while but he got sick so he had to step down, and now Mae is down too. Things have just been so chaotic. I mean, in amongst all that theres been talk of moving... I'm of half a mind to just go back to Oak Tree Bend, at least Aponi seems to know which way is up. I'm in over my head!" Once she started the words just wouldn't stop tumbling from her mouth. It had been so long since she had just talked to someone without worrying about what they might think of her, or her pack, or who she might upset by saying exactly what she thought. The poor man, he'd barely even been here for two minutes.

Treyah laughed nervously. "S'not too late to dig up your birds and run." She was only half joking.

Treyah managed a nervous laugh when he claimed she had one-upped him in the crazy family stakes. Not that she was surprised at all. As far as she could tell from all the stories she had been told growing up, nobody else struggled to hold their shit together like the Tainns. But then it was her chance to laugh again, "Oh I've run plenty of times, how do you think I wound up at the Lake? I just can't seem to keep myself gone." She always came back, no matter what. She couldn't just leave them like her mother had. They might have looked alike but she wasn't her mother. There was enough of her father in there too to keep her coming back.

"So what about you then? I thought you were going back to Oak Tree Bend? What made you change your mind?"

She managed a laugh as he bought up the bewitching again, "Ah that's right, curses muttered in the storm and all that, next thing we know I'll be talking to the crows and growing a big ol' wart on my nose." The thought alone was enough to illicit a shiver from the girl, she never thought herself particularly beautiful but she was vain enough to want to avoid any unseemly marks on her face.

It was true that her sister was a capable leader, and she supposed were she not her flesh and blood that Treyah might worry about returning to her after an unexplained absence too. A smile was quick to settle on her face with a shake of her head, "Nah, she's not the sort to get sentimental about wolves that leave without warning. You turn up smelling of another pack and you might not make it back." Her tone was joking but her expression was serious. As much as she loved the silver Aquila, she could be scary when she wanted to be.

"Besides, you should probably rest up for a day or two, once the kids get used to you you'll be hard pressed to get them to leave you alone." And wasn't that the truth.