The grizzled man swept past her as he agreed to the plan and took the lead all at once. Naia blinked, hesitating only long enough to recover from the briskness of Kjors’ departure.  She stepped toward the little spring he had so affectionately nicknamed Zephyr Rill (not Hill). The Timber lady lapped up some of the chilly water, enjoying the refreshment so much that she dunked her head under one of the rill’s churning water chutes for a quick moment. She inhaled sharply as the rivulet’s icy fingers tickled down her neck and spine and she pulled back quickly. Shaking the excess water from her pelt, the scout felt at least somewhat rejuvenated from the unsettling conversation. She continued to linger at the Rill, knowing that the longer she waited the less likely she was to catch up to the swarthy man. And the less likely she was to catch up to Kjors, the less they would have to speak to one another.

Maybe you’ll learn something from him,” she reasoned with herself, hating that she had to give herself a pep talk in order to coax her paws to move forward. She knew from growing up in The Republic that just because you were family didn’t mean you had to like one another, but so far Naia had gotten lucky with Cut Rock River. Kjors was the first, and hopefully would be the only River wolf toward whom she harbored ill will. All the better that he’s the one I’m leading to danger,” she thought bitterly, ..At least I won’t get distracted trying to protect him. It was the reason she had approached the new recruit about this task in the first place, knowing that if she tried to take guardians Aleksei or Karpos with her she would be a basket case worrying over their safety. With a long breath to steel herself, Naia trotted into the forest after her irksome new acquaintance.