Thicket of Secrets Long Days, New Friends?

The cloudy sky overhead left the day cool and calm. The thickets around were thick and dark due to the clouds hanging in the sky. Bushes and trees were finally starting to bloom in the area and the fresh smell of dew held in the air due to the slight drizzle earlier in the day. Herbs were finally starting to grow and the smell of lavendar clung to the air as a medium sized golden brown wolf sat in the clearing, a few leaves in her mouth as she sorted them.

The female had expected to be alone today and so far she had been in luck. The golden brown wolf hadn't encountered another wolf for the whole day and she had been looking for herbs all day, in which she had been in luck. Her kind green slanted eyes studied the leaves in front of her and she quickly turned around and licked her back leg examining the large cut that stretched from her paw up to her middle back. She had recently gotten into a large fight, one that she knew she shouldn't have gotten into, but felt the need to protect other wolves.

With a small wince she turned back around and stored the herbs that she had gathered in her small pouch she had gotten out of elk skin. With a small shake of her head she went over to her bag a sniffed the bag quickly. These were probably enough herbs to teach her pupil at the moment and with an approbate nod she closed up her bag and sat down in silence her head tilted ever so slightly upwards.

((Sorry for the crappy post, I'm not having a good day for posts. :P))

It seems when you're around, my life is complete.

"Ooh yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m skipping through the trees. I’m erm... trying to avoid the bees! It’s a really lovely day, and everything is going my way!”

The peace was shattered by the tone deaf song of the chocolate male. He sang loudly with a smile on his face to no one in particular. Skipping, well, loping awkwardly, he had been making his way across the land day by day. Today’s wandering had taken him to a thicket, thick with brambles and other such bushes which try to snag his fur. He darted left to right, making it a game to avoid getting snared by the finger like branches which were all around him. Often he failed, and a trail of his dark fur fell behind him but he didn’t care.

His leather pads danced, or at least tried to but it was awkward to be agile when you weighed so much, across the floor, skipping and scuffing at the ground as he continued on his way. "Whoo! Yeah. It’s a really cloudy day. And... erm...I... that’s how it’s gonna stay! These twigs are tugging at me... So. Erm. Yipee!” he continued on, completely out of tune but he didn’t care. He enjoyed singing, whether he was any good at it or not, it was something he did often.

As he turned a corner, hidden by the dense thickets, he almost ran head first into another wolf who was sitting peacefully upon the floor. Skidding to a halt on his front paws, he grimaced at the near miss. "Oh no. Oh I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there. Are you OK? Did I hurt you? Ergh, I’m such a clutz!” he said as he danced backwards, but didn’t see the pouch on the floor and ended up squashing the skin beneath his giant paws. Panicking, he stepped backwards again but the item was stuck to his foot and wouldn’t shift. "Ack! Get off me!” he said to the bag as he lifted his front paw and shook it madly trying to get the item off him. With a final shake the pouch fell from his paw and landed with a dull, wet thud upon the floor. Clearly he had crushed whatever was inside it and with wide eyes, he glanced back to the female. Oh no. He’d done it now.

The female's pricked ears caught the tone-deaf voice of a deep voiced male, singing she supposed, or at least trying to sing. She couldn't help but feel slightly amusement toward the male but happy for him too. He was obviously a wolf that knew he would only live once and he was apparently taking that into consideration and just enjoying the day for what it was. The voice was obvious coming closer to her, though she wouldn't mind silence she wouldn't mind meeting another wolf. With a quick sniff of the air she could tell the male wasn't from her pack, maybe from another pack, or just a new lone wolf she would meet if the male happened to bump into her.


The golden brown furred female's thoughts were proven correct when out of the blue. He had almost ran into her but he had caught himself just in time to skid to a hault before quickly backing up again. The large brown brute almost yelled an apology, asking if the female was hurt. Before Nina could answer the male he danced back crushing her pouch with her herbs in it beneath his giant paws. With a small wince she watched as the male tried to get the pouch off of his paw and then with a giant shake the pouch fell on the floor, the juice from some of the herbs she had collected oozing out of the pouch.


With kind emerald eyes the female tilted her head up at the male, "I'm quite alright, please, don't worry about it." The female spoke in a soft voice, as smooth as honey, almost as if she weren't actually talking. The smaller wolf approached her small carass of a bag and sniffed through it picking out some of the herbs that wouldn't need to be washed out of the bag. Looks like she could just need to go herb shopping another day, she just hoped her alpha's wouldn't be upset with her. Looking over the large brown small she concluded that she had never seen him before and with a small voice she said, "I don't believe I have met you. I'm Nina, Nina Hervok."


The female didn't see a point in being mad at the larger wolf. It was obviously an accident that he had stepped on her things and there were more herbs out in the forest, but the female felt the small tug of disappointment, today she had found a rare herb, one that only grew for a short perios of time, but the female shook the feeling off, she would be kind to the stranger, as she always was, unless something was amiss she wouldn't do anything and she would be her kind self. Nina gave the other wolf a small smile, as if showing that she wasn't upset or mad.

It seems when you're around, my life is complete.

He didn’t even want to look at her. He felt so guilty, so ashamed. He had no idea what it was he had stepped on, but by the way she came over to it and hunted inside, it was clearly important to her. Oh no. Maybe he could get her a new one? Whatever it was. ”I’m so sorry. I really didn’t see you there and then I panicked, I didn’t realise it was on the floor and then it was on my foot and it wouldn’t come off. I can get you a new one, just tell me where to get one and I’ll go get...whatever it is, right now.” He said, still mortified with him.

She spoke then. Her tones calm, cool and sweet rather then angry like he had been expecting. In fairness, he would have been angry if someone had stepped on something of his. With his ears lowered to his skull, his head soon followed. He looked like a child who had been told off, even though her voice and words had been fair. ”I’m sorry Nina.” he then sighed as she told him not to worry about it. He still did of course, he couldn’t help but feel utterly guilty for his actions, but she was introducing herself and he supposed he should follow the same pattern. ”I’m Bear.” he then said before he lowered his nose to sniff at what was left of the bag. Instantly he recoiled, the smell was so strong it made him want to sneeze.

”Ergh! What is that?!” he said in disappear as a paw rose up to rub his nose as he tried to get the scent off it.

Though the male continued to ramble while she was speaking Nina remained calm and collected as the male lowered his head, pinning his ears back on his head. He acted like a pup that had been scowled at. His name rang clear in her ears, Bear. Not a common name but not a bad one either. Nodding her head as he spoke she continued again, "No, no, Bear it's quite alright. I can get some new herbs soon enough, there are plenty about, here and there." The female was definitely partially lying to herself, but the male wouldn't know that she had collected a rare herb, as he apparently didn't know what herbs smelt like.

"They are herbs, they help me when a wolf is injured, but I have plenty of herbs back at my packs denning place," Nina's soft, honey voice rang true, she did have plenty of herbs back at where she was denning, just not the ones that she was collecting currently. She watched the male patiently as he rubbed his nose and stuck her head in the bush she was just picking through, soon enough her golden brown head popped back out, a purple looking plant in her mouth. Nosing the plant towards Bear she said quietly, "For the smell."

It seems when you're around, my life is complete.

Slowly, surely. He raised his head and ears a little more. He looked at her then, trying to determine whether she was speaking the truth or whether she was lying to him, waiting to ambush him at a moments notice. He always had to be careful when it came to meeting new wolves; most of the time they would attack or run away, so far she had shown little signs of either but that didn’t mean she would eventually break into one of those stereotypes.

When she told him they were herbs, he wrinkled his nose. Why was she collecting herbs? That just sounded silly. They made his nose tingle and he didn’t like them much, so why would she want to gather up a bunch of them? ”You put these in your den? Ew. They stink.” he said bluntly as he felt. It seemed silly to him to surround yourself with such foul smelling plants and leaves. He obviously didn’t realise just how valuable and useful they were. When she slid one across the floor in his direction, he simply tilted his head at her. He wasn’t going to sniff it again, oh no, he learnt his lesson there. He might not be very clever but he learnt from his mistakes.

”What am I meant to do with that?” he said, confusion clear in his expression and face.

As the other wolf lifted his head to meet her gaze she smiled slightly at him, her slanted eyes making her seem slightly less threatening. As he wrinkled his nose she laughed slightly as he spoke of how the herbs stunk. She had the same experience when she was first learning herbs, she couldn't stand it, now they were just a natural smell to her nose. Answering his question in a soft voice she muttered, "Yes, I keep them in my den. I keep them with me at all times just in case a wolf is injured. Bear, I am a healer." When she slide the lavendar towards him he tilted her head, obviously not sniffing the herb. Lavendar was one of the few herbs that actually smelt pleasant, but he obviously wasn't going to beleieve her.


The male quickly asked what he should do with it. Confusion was obvious on the male's face as she spoke, "Sniff it, lavendar smells better than the herbs that were in the bag. See," Nina lowered her nose towards the plant and sniffed at it. The plant did smell good, but it was just a regular smell to Nina. Nothing special about it. She took her nose away from it so the medicine effects of the herb wouldn't effect her too much, "Don't sniff it too long though. That would be bad for your mind."

It seems when you're around, my life is complete.

With her declaration of her job, he simply looked at her. A healer? He never heard of one of those. His Nanna liked to play with flowers too, but she never called herself a name, just said she was doing her job and to mind his business. He supposed now he had a name for her position it made more sense, rather then him just calling her the 'boo-boo fixer', a healer sounded more grown up and proper.

"A healer huh? Sounds fancy. You healed a lot of wolves?" he said with a tilt of his head and a twitch of his nose, another sneeze was coming... he could feel the sensation building. Damn flowers. All they dad was make him sneeze. Not just the ones he had stepped on, but flowers in general. They were all evil.

When she slid another to him, no matter how pretty it was or how reassuring her words, he took a step back. Nah. He didn't care what fancy name she gave it, he wasn't going to sniff it. "Yeah, thanks but no thanks. I'm happy to sneeze it out of me!" he exclaimed and as if right on cue, he sneezed once more. With a shake of his head, which then stretched to his body, he was somewhat satisfied the smell had now gone.

"See?" he said as he wriggled his nose, going crossed eyed almost as he watched the tip of it move about. Nope, no more sneezes. For now at least.

(This post was last modified: Apr 18, 2012, 09:16 PM by Bear.)

She watched the male closely for his reaction and he instantly pushed the herbs away, she didn't blame him, when she first starting learning herbs she wouldn't sniff anything for awhile until she learned it was a major part in the education for healers. His words echoed in her ears and she laughed softly when his words about the herbs rewached her. I'm happy to sneeze it out of me. Nina watched Bear closely a small smile on her face.

"Yes, I have healed a good share of wolves, and that is fine, I'm glad you got the smell out of your nose." She figured the wolf's experience the first time with the herbs wasn't a good one so she figured he might reject it. Reaching for the herbs she took them back to her and turned towards her elk bag before quickly thinking better of it and placing it off to the side. "What brings you over to this area, Bear?" The brown female spoke softly, her eyes almost staring off into space.

It seems when you're around, my life is complete.

He felt the tell tale tickled up his nose again, but he refused to let it out. Instead, he took a deep breath and simply sat there listening as the lady hid her pouch away, and wisely so, and asked him a few questions. In truth, he had no answer. He just found the place, the same way he found every place he had ever been. He was never looking for somewhere in particular, but he was never really the type to think that far ahead.

Eventually, he felt a little lightheaded and had to release the breath he had been holding with a big puff. A horce cough followed... before he sneezed again. At once his paw shot up and rubbed the tip of his nose again as it wriggled; oh god, that smell was never going to go away?!

Realising what an idiot he must look, he dropped the paw and offered a sheepish smile as he finally answered her question."Erm... I dunno. This is where my paws took me, so this is where I am." he said with his cheerful tones. It seemed nothing would dampen this wolf's spirit, not even the feeling of yet another sneeze. "What're you doing here?" he said, repeating her question. The answer not being that clear obviously, despite the fact he found her collecting herbs... his memory wasn't the best. "And where do you come from? You smell funny." he said, not meaning anything nasty by it... but her scent, her marking of the Creek wolves wasn't known by him.

(This post was last modified: Apr 23, 2012, 04:28 PM by Bear.)