The long strokes of her tongue were soothing to her. at least until she started thinking. Of Ash. Namara growled deep in her throat at herself even when she had accepted the hand she had been dealt she still could not shake him from her mind. It was infuriating. But her thoughts continued and she thought of him and Athena, it began to worry her at her leaders lack of presence among the Poisoned wolves. Not to mention the fact that little Aphrodite was missing, and Namara quite liked her. With another angry shake of her broad head she threw it back and howled, a summoning howl for the one called Jessie. Hoping that this would turn out to be pleasant. After all she owed her an apology.
Today was one of the few days that Jessie had decided to take a the little bit of time she had and relaxed outside of the den, letting the sun hit her salt-and-pepper colored pelt. She loved the feel of the sun covering her body and sometimes wished that she could lie there all down and soak in the sun. As a Hunter she had no such luxuries though. She had a job to do and even though that usually was spent finding new areas to hunt for during the winter or bringing back some prey for Corinna’s pups or other, she did not mind. Another thing had been bothering her as of late though, her sister had been a no show. There were no scent marks of her around the territory or near the border and Jessie was starting to fear for the worst. It also made her slightly, but only slightly, glad that she had distanced herself from her sibling. Cali had left her once, who was to put it past her to do it again? The fiasco definitely added to Jessie’s rage but she did not address it much, preferring to take her anger out with her duty instead of on the wolves around her like she had done in the past.
What she was not expecting was for someone to call from the borders…calling specifically for her. It was definitely female and the Swiftpaw knew that the voice was familiar, but she was not putting it to a face and that bothered her. Perhaps it was Narimé or some other friend that she had not spoken to in ages? None the less, she clambered to her paws, having the decency to lick her fur back so that she looked presentable. The thought crossed her mind to go find Ice or maybe Fenru to come with her to find out who this wolf was, but thought better of it, knowing they were probably doing something much more important than watching over her. So with a tired sigh, she started to make her ways towards the borders, but what she saw made her tense immediately. However, the woman that she saw did not look disrespectful in any ways, but Jessie did have the decency of lifting her tail high above her back and raising her chin high. Calmly she spoke to the girl, no emotion leaking into her voice, "Can I help you with something?"
The truth of Namara's apology shone in her eyes and she knew she was close to a breaking point. Though she kept her composure as well as she could which was a cracked smile. If one looked hard enough the sorrow she felt in her heart would show. "My brother, his name was Kamota, he died. Fell from the mountain. I know he would want me to make things right that I have wronged and so here I am." Her mouth opened for a second as if she was going to continue but she closed it. The words had nearly slipped from her tounge. You were right, I was a bad sister, and I will never know for sure if he had ever forgiven me. But she didn't she instead said, "I am truly sorry." Namara already started feeling a little better, hoping her apology would be accepted.
The multi-colored girl looked on in satisfaction at the sight before her. It was the girl that she had dominated months before, once again bowing before her. She made no act to move closer to the woman that was now rising. Namara made no move to come close to the Oak Tree Bend boundaries and Jessie was happy that she would not have to deal with snapping at another wolf today. As the woman spoke, Jessie’s head lifted slightly, ears perking forward as she listened to what was being said. Namara was apologizing for a fight that had almost ensued months ago and informed Jess of what had happened to her. Leaving her face blank, she continued to look on at this woman, listening to the rest of what she had to say. At the news of her loss she couldn’t help the bout of sympathy that came from her heart. She knew what it was like to lose a sibling, even if they weren’t close. It was hard and she had never wished anyone to go through the same pain as a wolf that had fallen down the mountain. Now that she was inspecting the woman more closely, she could smell hints of the mountain pack near lost lake that she had passed by a few times when she had been going over the mountains with Ice and Fenru. At the time there had been nothing wrong with them being there, but Jessie had not known that Namara had joined their ranks.
Soon realizing that she had not yet spoken, she took the time to take a deep breath and nod. It was good to know that the woman felt sorry for what she had done and Jess felt extremely bad as she recalled what she had said the first time that they had met. Briefly, she pondered as to if her words had a bigger effect on the woman that she would have originally thought. Opening her jaws, she spoke, her voice light and apologetic, "I’m sorry for you loss and what I had said. I’m sure his death has not been easy on you. If you ever need to have a chat with a woman or something…I’m here…in this pack. I know what it’s like first-paw to feel when you lose a loved one." She had been there when her father and mother had passed away and then again when Rissa had disappeared and the body that was found after so long. She had gone through her sister leaving…and hopefully would never have to encounter such a thing again. She had once again lost Brenton and she knew there was nothing she could do. She had lost enough in her lifetime and hoped for no more to come. Perhaps this could be a new beginning for the pair of females.
"Thank you, I'll remember you every time I pass this way. If I can I'll bring prey to you all as well. Times have gotten harder these days than they used to be so I think if we help each other maybe we can keep all of out tails out of a grave." Small talk was the game for a moment, after all Namara first wanted to establish that she was a very different wolf and then establish a connection to this pack. More or less so that if they ever needed help for some reason she would at least know that she hadn't alienated Jessie's pack. It wasn't strategical and she wasn't trying to use Jessie, but she decided halfway down the mountain that she could at least have something to come back with.
Even though the woman in front of her had once made a bad impression, Jessie could slowly start to feel herself relax around the other lady. It was not often that Jessie had any contact with wolves that weren’t within her pack or trying to gain entry into it. There was a slight relief there in knowing that she had someone to rely on outside of her pack other than Sloane and Hotei. Wagging her tail slightly, she sat down, her small hunter’s body easily noticeable compared to that of Namara’s form. Something was familiar about her, but yet Jessie had no clue what it was…She snapped out of her thoughts when she realized that Namara was talking to her again. She considered her words and nodded her head slightly. Of course, the final decision would rely on the choice of her lady and that was all, but she felt it would be a good idea considering that Jessie was still getting use to the area.
It was when there was silence again that it hit her. Namara scent was the one that she had passed over when she had been looking for Rissa. At the time, Jess hadn’t given the pack much thought, but she had been able to memorize the scent thoroughly when they had started their trip over to settle into their new lands and Jessie quickly realized even though the scent was faint on Namara, the journey here would have completely demolished the scent had she not been a part of that pack. Clearing her throat, she deliberately spoke clearly so she wouldn’t have to repeat herself, "You come from that pack on the mountain…I remember your scent even though it’s faint…what do you call yourselves?" She was being completely serious and much business-like now. Ice had always told her that she had a super nose, she hadn’t really realized until a few months ago and once again she was realizing why she was always picked as a tracker for events as such.
"Yes we live on the mountain, we're called Poison Path. What is your pack called? Actually we're not to terribly far from here, a few days travel for me." Namara made it seem as though she was merely taking her time, when in truth it was due to her paw still slightly crooked it proved to me much harder than she had thought to get used to and had to travel more more slowly to avoid misstepping. The last thing the grey she wolf wanted was to fall down the mountain again, especially without Ash around to save her. If that happened she would surely die. She gazed at Jessie in a friendly way, waiting for her response, after all, Ash would want to know the name of this pack as well.