You're all I had

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I CAN fight! Naia’s subconscious yelled out at Ubasti’s comment, taking even Naia herself by surprise. It was strange, how much of a wolf’s identity was wrapped up in her ability to fight.. it was as if her companion had accused her of not being able to hunt, or swim, or run. Despite the fact that they had just discussed their mutual distaste for combat, she felt an overwhelming compulsion to take it all back and insist that no, she didn’t need to practice—she could fight just fine. Now that it was all out in the open, Naia’s ears flattened in shame—shame that she couldn’t fight, but also shame that her inability affected her this way. She was a pack wolf for heaven’s sake, her family would understand. They all had different strengths and weaknesses, and that was the core reason that wolves banded together in the first place. Whatever skill she lacked , another wolf made up for it.

”We can fight,” Naia insisted, meeting Ubasti’s mismatched gaze with an uncharacteristically serious expression. ”We just don’t like to, but we can. Just like a flower opens up in the sunlight, or.. or a salmon swims upstream. Whether you know it or not, you already can.” It was true. Naia had taken on an invader at the border at the start of winter, and she had come away not only successful but unscathed. Perhaps her only saving grace was that the yearling she had battled was likely as unskilled as she was, but even so the experience served as a reminder to her that when worse came to worse, her instincts would take over. Her expression softened a little as Ubasti mentioned disappointing their leaders. Keeping a secret was never really Naia’s instinct—she was an open and honest wolf, straightforward in all her actions and words. However, she could understand how Ubasti might want to keep their training private, considering the magnitude of her own shame at having their mutual weakness spoken aloud.

”No, he wouldn’t be happy, of course..” Naia agreed tactfully, her words trailing as she tried to think of how to continue, ”But.. I think Maksim and Kisla would want to know the strengths and weaknesses of all their wolves.” Maksim was not only king, he was commander in chief. If something happened, shouldn’t he know like the back of his paw which wolves could defend the border, or which could run messages, or which could diplomatically work out an issue? Just like Naia herself, pack life wasn’t designed to be secretive. If they were all honest about where they could perform well and where they could improve, it would make them all stronger as a unit.

The trouble was, not all wolves were open books like Naia. If they had other family members covering up their own weaknesses and whispering about others’ then the Timber lady more than understood Ubasti’s argument. ”We don’t have to involve anyone else though.. at least not yet.” She smiled at her dark companion. What if Ubasti learned that she was a brilliant fighter—loads of instinct—during their first match? No sense in causing a stir yet; not until they affirmed that there was actually a problem.

Naia followed Ubasti as she slinked toward the rabbit clearing, breaking away as they neared their target location to circle around the perimeter. She heard Ubasti charge her prey straight into the clearing, and the agouti lady waited to see what the flurry of activity might scare out. This was the scout’s specialty. Waiting, watching… There! Naia sprang into action as several rabbits burst from the grass, darting wildly toward their calmly waiting predator. Within moments the nearest was deadweight in her jaws, warm fluid leaking down her chin and between her paws. There was nothing quite like the taste of a fresh kill. Naia trotted back toward the clearing, wondering how her hunting partner fared. She would have to have been fast indeed to overtake a running rabbit. As her friend came into view, Naia wagged her tail in congratulations, her mouth full with her own prize.

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This sucks but lets fade. I'll archive...another soon?

The woman thought little of her comment, having found truth in them from the moment they had admitted this fact to each other and Bastet was not ashamed, in fact she felt as if a tremendous weight had fallen off of her knowing that she was not the only one. It would do her good to find another who was nearly as helpless as her, although the dark girl was probably at a larger disadvantage then her counterpart, while Naia had fought a stranger at the border once, Bastet had done nothing of the sort. The thought of harming another was foreign to her, and yet she was fully aware that if it boiled down to her survival she would fight until the death, no matter how sloppy it would turn out to be.

"I'll take your word for it then," she assumed that the tawny woman knew their leaders better then she did, her latest encounter with Maksim had resolved itself awkwardly and she felt that she still did not completely know the burly male, his wife was a different story. She had only caught wind of her lead female in passing and even then it had been brief, so much so that she wondered if Kisla were fit for the job though that decision was not up to her, she was sure that Maksim had his reasons.

With pack politics forgotten and her interest on the topic of food, she smiled when her comrade came to her side with her own prize, another juicy rabbit to aid in their attempt to live out what remained of winter. After sighing deeply, and lying her rabbit at her feet, she studied the pack hunter with new found interest and smiled when Naia was finally at her side. In this short meeting, she had begun to feel that she could trust this female, "Should we add some of these to the caches?" she thought, knowing they were growing low from overuse. Without a word she began her trek back to the center of the land where she would bury this rabbit, after getting a little of her fill of course, and converse with her pack mate on how they would get this fighting down pact.