Kenelm listened quietly and intently as Nineva began to unravel her tale. He never once interrupted her, though his mind flashed with a great many possibilities and opinions as she spoke first of her family being forced to leave Whisper Caverns, then of joining the girl's aunt - Kenelm could only assume this meant that Nineva's family had in fact joined up with a much larger pack - and finally to her mother and brother leaving. From the way Nineva told it, there hadn't even been any explanation as to why they had gone away, or to where.

Kenelm listened, and he saw it both from his perspective and from that of the girl in front of him, and when he allowed the two to meld together the picture they created made him ill. It sounded a great deal as though their parents had made the initial move to protect Nineva and her siblings from having to endure the coming winter without the protection of a full pack... but what had then driven her mother and brother away? What in the world had been so important that any mother would leave any number of her children behind, even under the care of those who loved them?

Kenelm's ears swept back to lie flat against his head as Nineva broke down in front of him, sobbing through her last declaration as she hunched in on herself. No. There was nothing - nothing - that could ever warrant doing this to a child.

The man leaned forward again, drawing her into a hug with one forepaw. There wasn't much he could say to soothe what was hurting her - not at the moment. She didn't need him to say anything just yet; what she needed most right now was to be allowed to vent as she needed to. To that end, he waited until she settled again before offering any of his thoughts on the matter.

“It sounds as though your Caverns were vacated to protect you and your siblings,” he said slowly.  “If it was only you and your litter with your parents, that would have been quite a few mouths to feed with only two or three hunters to find food.” And it might have been three - Yuka sounded as though he was someone Nineva saw as worth listening to, judging by how he had made his appearance in her brief story. That likely meant that he was an older sibling, a yearling at the very least. “I've been on my own for many weeks now, Nineva. It's been hard keeping myself fed, even before I was hurt.” His injured back leg twitched as if in response to his words. “Looking after pups on top of that would have been very hard over the winter. Even with more than one of them, your parents would have had to protect your territory from invasion and other predators; kept themselves and the rest of your family fed; kept everyone healthy and warm; and kept an eye on you, your siblings, and each other to make sure you were all safe. That's an awful lot for such a small group to accomplish. Your family's move was most likely meant to keep your family safe and well through the winter,” he stressed, willing it to be so even as he tried to soothe Nineva with the notion. “That doesn't make it fair, and I know it still doesn't make sense, but I think they were trying to protect you.”

“But I don't blame you for wanting to go back home,” he added empathetically. “I lost my own home to a fire not very long ago - that's why I'm all alone now. I would give anything to have it back.” It was the truth. Even in spite of all his troubles at the end, Kenelm had never once entertained the notion of leaving outright. His family had all been there - his brother and sisters and parents and the pups of the other subordinate family. He had been content... and then it hadn't mattered anymore. Nineva had thus far been far more fortunate than him, and the Ashfoot man wasn't about to let that fortune be squandered.

“If I could go back, I would,” he told the girl before him. “My home is gone forever - but yours is still right where you left it. You have an opportunity that I don't, but we have to be patient. Winter is coming, and even with two of us it would be suicide to attempt to retake Whisper Caverns until the weather warms again. I want to help you,” he told her sincerely, “but we have to be smart about how we get your home pack. We can't retake a whole territory on our own, even once the spring comes. We need more wolves to help us - wolves who can help us hunt and maintain the borders, wolves we can depend upon to remain with us no matter what.” Certainly wolves of better stuff than this Deacon she had mentioned, and far better than her own mother and Yuka had proven themselves to be.

“And we need you to be older.” He pulled away to gauge her reaction to his next words. What he had in mind was imperative to helping her reclaim her homeland, but if she objected, he would have a fight on his paws. “We both need experience living among wolves we aren't related to, and we both need time to recover from our wandering - not to mention shelter and a guarantee that we won't starve during the winter.” He dipped his head so he was eye level with the girl as he asked, “I know it won't be your Caverns, and I'm sorry about that, but until we're able - truly able - to retake your home, how unwilling are you to join up with another pack? It won't be back to the thickets,” he promised. “But finding another pack would go a long way to preparing us both to retake Whisper Caverns.”

He fell silent at last, well aware that his speech had been a long one. He didn't really consider himself a logophile, and for the moment he felt a little winded from the effort of saying so much - and of planning so far ahead in such short time. This must be what it was like to be an alpha - to be exhausted at the thought of the work to come, long before the work itself could take place. If everything went according to Nineva's desires and the careful planning Kenelm hoped she would agree to, it might very easily be something Kenelm would have to get used to.