Umbra Copse Workin' To Get My Fill

In truth, Larkspur wasn't really feeling up to eating. But every moment with Kuwindwa was a little more of a distraction, and a little more reason to not leave just yet. Sahalie had pushed him to leave Quaking Vale, and now Kuwindwa was the reason he'd be leaving Umbra Copse. There were few wolves in Relic Lore that he knew beyond his small circle, which meant that he'd have to start pushing himself onward. He looked at the deer and his stomach gurgled a bit. Kuwindwa commented about not having a meal before her departure from wherever she'd come from, and he almost said the same. But that was heading into the territory of things Larkspur didn't want to ever talk about ever, so he simply grunted a response. He tore into the deer, but after a moment shifted to the side to allow Kuwindwa access, should she want it. 


The pale man paused when the woman spoke again. He ran his tongue over his maw and considered her words, thinking back on the months that had led him to become the beta of Quaking Vale. Sahalie had found him in this forest here, scared and injured. He had been a different version of himself then, eager to head north. He'd had nothing then, his lifelong status of alpha pulled from his grip. He was purposeless, and within Quaking Vale he didn't have much, but he did have something. 

"Sahalie had wanted to lead a pack, I guess before I'd met her," before she had wanted to rule Oak Tree Bend, but Larkspur decided that her story would be better told by the little leader herself. "I told her I'd help her," the girl cared for others before she cared for herself, he rarely saw her consider someone bad. Even though Larkspur had greeted her with snarls and teeth, she'd still wanted to help him. It would get her to trouble one of these days. 

Or it already had and she hadn't seen it just yet. 

"We -- Sahalie, Alastor, and I -- finally set off to find a place to make the pack she'd always wanted. Picked up some of the others along the way." Sahalie hadn't been entirely eager to bring Castel along, and even now he wondered how the two were getting along. Alastor's brother joined them, which was another wolf he hadn't really gotten to know just yet. In time he'd get to know all of his pack members... assuming he ended up returning. Larkspur took a moment to finish eating. "But Sahalie might be a better story teller than I," he suggested. Mentally, the man sighed. "I should head on," he glanced in the direction that he was supposed to be heading, and then in the direction he'd said he would be going. Looking back to Kuwindwa, Larkspur nodded. "Quaking Vale is in good hands." Paws? "I'm sure of it." 

And then he was gone. 


-- Exit Larkspur! 

Kuwindwa did eventually kneel to join Larkspur side-by-side. She wasn't particularly hungry either, but the idea of a parting meal was appealing enough. Her time alone still felt recent. She had been starving then, wasting slowly. The woman allowed herself few bites, a few quick swallows, then paid mind to Larkspur as he answered. So he'd advised the young alpha, guided her. Babysat, she chuckled internally at what might have been his words when they'd first met and he'd brought her to the Vale. She could almost see the grizzled old man and his over-eager charges, and... Castel, the one so full of abundant youth. It must have been something, the beginnings of a new pack traveling to their new home full of their own thoughts, ideas – hopes and dreams – did they find them here?

Now, Larkspur had done his part to help. Sahalie had founded the sanctuary she wanted, alongside wolves that would share her views. More so than Kuwindwa, perhaps. Larkspur was a gruff man, not quick to smile like some and easily disliked by others (at least Kuwindwa suspected that could be true). He had his own way of doing things, and for as little as she'd seen him since her arrival, she wondered how attached he really was to this little pack. Maybe that was why she felt he may not return from whatever he had to see to. To say Kuwindwa would miss Larkspur might be doing her too much credit, but she wouldn't soon forget the wolf who guided her here.

"I should head on. Quaking Vale is in good hands. I'm sure of it."

Kuwindwa sat upright, her eyes following Larkspur closely. "It is," she assured him, but otherwise remained silent as he slipped away into the copse. "Fare thee well, and may your path be true Larkspur," she whispered, knowing he was far beyond hearing the traditional farewell. She mused after him until she could no longer hear the sound of his pawsteps, then rose to continue her patrol.

Exit Kuwindwa