Whisper Caverns Chasing Foxes

Minka was new here, and seeing as she had only arrived late in the night had not had the opportunity to meet any of her pack members, and the thought made her slightly nervous. She had not fit into her birth pack, and yet she had already grown quite fond of Narime and Sloane seemed very kind as well, she could only hope the rest of the pack as accepting. She was pacing near the borders, wondering exactly how the rest of the pack would respond to her when a rustling in the trees brought her to a halt.

All of her senses focused upon the nearby bush that the sound had originated from, the sound repeated, it was obviously some kind of animal inside at the fae could see the bush moving. Taking a scent she found that it was a fox, probably a young one as it did not smell as musky at the adults do, pesky things, always stealing food and messing with pack borders by adding their own scents. Minka crouched down, her hackles rising, but keeping herself silent, she wanted to make sure the thing knew not to come, she wouldn't kill it, merely scare it enough not to come back. Slowly she shifted forward, inching along the ground as silently as she could until she was practically upon the bush.

Then she pounced, she body came crashing through the foliage and to her surprise she found two young fox kits, obviously siblings since their scent had been so similar. They looked at the she wolf with an expression of pure terror before taking off, chattering away at her as they ran. Minka followed closely, snapping at their heels as they went, letting growls that sounded more menacing than her intentions roll from her throat to be caught in their ears.

Suddenly they turned directions, and them being much smaller and therefore more agile were able to make the corner perfectly, while Minka carried by her weight slid. Her paws catching no friction from the soft wet ground she left great ruts in the ground as her momentum pushed her a couple feet past the kits turn. Finally her paws thudded against a large stone that had been buried by the muck, ignoring the slit sting of the impact the fae pushed with all her might against the stone and again she was off, sprinting through the undergrowth.

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Simaea had been living a fairly calm life as of late, adjusting slowly to being independent in her own way. Though mostly she was still terrified of everything the she wolf had gotten used to the rustlings within the forest outside the cave. Pack boundaries had become fairly clear to her and she was beginning to feel at ease. Today she was searching for no particular herb, but just hunting for them in general trying to remember some of their names there was something about Ergot, and something like Hellebore. But at the moment she could not remember their uses and was beginning to get quite frustrated with herself when all at once a great crashing came unbidden through the forest.

A moments pause and a fox appeared with some little ones, and a wolf chasing them, but the little red hellion with it's young in tow were doing a fairly good job of outrunning their foe. Simaea would have been content to let them go about their business if it weren't for the fact that they were going into the territory. So with a sigh to herself she too gave chase from one side eventually catching the the little devils. Once Simaea pounced her paws found the largest ones shoulders. Though they were a threat to her family she had no business with the little ones. "Leave my land. Noooooow!" She drug the last syllable out in the face of the fox, trying her very best to be menacing though the gravel in her voice should have been enough on it's own. She held down the fox for a moment growling at it before finally releasing it and watching it bolt in the opposite direction, little ones scampering in it's wake. She turned in the strangers direction. But she had pack scent on her,Must be my new pack mate! Simaea thought happily, perhaps they could stalk the foxes together and be sure they left the territory as they should.

she doesn't care how she gets there, as long as she gets somewhere she knows... And then there was another, a dark wolf came near her side and took down the adult vixen, Minka had not been planning on capturing them, but she would be grateful to accept any kind of help. Especially since this female carried the same scent that she had so recently acquired, making this fae part of her family even if Minka did not know her name. The voice that came from the dark body was shocking, and the tawny wolf's eyes widened slightly in response, but she continued her circling, keeping the young from running off without the mother. A couple times the kits came too close to leaving the perimeters and Minka nipped at them, keeping them in a fairly tight knit circle, she didn't want them in their territory, but she also did not want them to run off without their parent and starve to death, or worse come back looking for food. The younger fae released the mother and the trio went crashing through the brush as fast as they could, running from what they were sure to think was certain death. Minka turned to the raven wolf with a lopsided wolfy grin, though they were a nuisance they certainly were fun to chase, and could potentially provide meat if the pack got desperate. Then she spoke in her own voice, one that sounded like warm liquid honey, reminding many that heard it of being a cub snuggled against their mother's side in the den, "Hello there, my name is Minka, I'm the newest addition to your pack." The fae dipped her muzzle respectfully towards the other female, she knew that she had taken her rank as second and hoped that this would cause no confrontation between them.

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(This post was last modified: May 04, 2013, 01:11 PM by Minka.)

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The other she wolf kept the young in check, which Simaea was grateful for. She had to protect her pack but she was certainly no monster. As Minka made her approach Simaea bent down to give her fur a few strokes with her tongue. I can't believe I did that! Simaea thought to herself. She was not one to charge in and attack but for once she had felt ready, almost in the same way she had been ready for the hunt. She felt odd, as if there was a whole new wolf inside her that was beginning to emerge. It felt really good, and as Minka spoke Simaea's tail began to wag at level with her back and she took in a deep refreshing breath of air.

"Hello Minka, I'm Simaea Nite, I heard we had a new second, glad to finally meet you! I apologize, my voice can be a little frightening." If Sloane and Narime trusted this wolf so could she. Simaea made no mention of the fact that she was the previous second. It was not a yearlings place in Simaea's mind to hold such a high position. So naturally she made no move on the position when the news had passed to her. Without further idle conversation, she she wolf rose to her paws and began to nose the trail the small fox family had left and tilted her head to Minka. Let's follow them. Her gaze spoke the words that she did not need. Simaea used her nose to push the brush aside and offer space for the new second to pass through first.

(This post was last modified: May 05, 2013, 03:07 AM by Simaea.)

she doesn't care how she gets there, as long as she gets somewhere she knows... As the younger wolf groomed herself Minka gave her own fur a small shake, forcing the hairs back into place that had been misplaced in the chase. She could feel her own tail begin wagging in response to the others, it seemed that there would be no conflict between them about the change in rankings and for this the fae was grateful to this dark girl. She had been hoping not to step on any toes at all in this pack, especially not this early after arriving, seeing as she had only joined late last night. Minka smiled kindly to her pack mate, "Not frightening at all Simaea, though I will admit it was a little surprising," it was only now that the tawny she wolf noticed the scars alone the neck of the other girl, but she made no comment of these. Minka's eyes roved after what the young girl had gestured towards, the foxes were nowhere to be seen, though they had left quite a trail of debris and their scent still filled the fae's nose, they would not be hard to track. Smiling she proceeded first through the trees, giving a nod of thanks to the yearling and wordlessly she began down the trail that the pests had left behind in their wake. Turning to Simaea she mused, "I'm not sure how far we can follow them as they seem to be heading for the marsh, but we should at least make sure we get them as far from the caches as possible." It seemed fairly obvious, but Minka had wanted to fill the silence that was stretching between them, plus at least this way they were on the same page. The tawny fae picked up the place slightly, turning it into a fair paced trot, it wasn't hard to follow the path so there was no need to go slowly. She turned to the other, making sure that she had no problem with the change in pace before continuing. It felt good to be stretching her legs, even better to have a companion to do it with, it was an added bonus that this way she could get a better feel of her new territory. She did not want to slow the pack down if there ever came a time that they needed to move quickly throughout their land, and she made a decision to explore as much of the territory as possible over the next few days.

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The new second agreed to follow the foxes with Simaea and she was grateful. It was not often the she wolf thought of duties to her pack other than being a healer. She was not strong enough to be a guardian, nor did she know the finer points of hunting. She had merely stumbled into this situation so she was grateful the fae at least seemed to think she was handling itwell. As they emerged on the trail of young family Simaea listened to what Minka had to say. Her response brought a happy little 'hmm' noise out of her nose accompanied with a few kind words, "Thank you Miss Minka!" The young fae was happy that Minka was not afraid of her gravel voice.

After a short period longer in which Simaea found that she kept scenting herbs over the fox, she had a mouthful of Hellebore she had found under a bush with a rather damp base, which she buried a short distance away. Satisfied with her luck at finding such an herb so far away from the marshlands or water Simaea was set more at ease knowing her stock of herbs would soon grow. As they traveled neare the border Simaea stopped short. "Miss Minka would you like to keep following them or do you think we've come far enough?" Her voice tentative the yearling was unsure of just how far the truly needed to stalk the young family.

she doesn't care how she gets there, as long as she gets somewhere she knows... Simaea seemed pleased at her response and Minka gave her a shy smile, she had not met anyone but the alpha's in the pack yet and she was glad that this was going well. The younger fae seemed distracted though, stopping once to bury some kind of plant and the tawny girl tilted her head thoughtfully, she must be a healer, perhaps she is gathering herbs to help with Narimé's nausea. They continued on however and Minka decided that perhaps she would ask her about it once they had finished stalking the foxes, it was better to finish one job before starting another. They were nearing the border, perhaps another 5 minutes trot at most when the grey girl voiced her question, "I would like to follow them to the border, but there is no point in following them any further past there," she answered kindly. They continued on and when they reached the border Minka scented around the general vicinity, coming to the verdict that the family indeed had gone off towards the marsh and had not turned around. Turning to Simaea she smiled, "Well I don't think they will turn around and come back, though they aren't always the brightest of creatures," she chuckled, thinking of how much chatter they had foolishly been making. She decided to use the trip back to get to know this other fae better, they were family after all and family should know each other. The pace was slower than it had been when they had stalked the foxes, more of a slow lop now, like an afternoon stroll. When they neared the spot where Simaea had buried her findings Minka paused, allowing her to dig them back up if she so wished, "I take it that you're a healer, perhaps you could teach me some of the practice sometime?" The voice was kind, and the inquiry honest, she knew nothing of medicine though her aunt had been a healer. It had always fascinated her, though it was also confusing, the names and their purposes always got fogged in her mind and she couldn't keep them straight. She knew that Simaea's talent would become especially important once the pups came full term and the birth began, pups were prone to fall into unexpected illness and without a healer around they often times died.

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The yearling gazed at her new pack mate, happy that their was someone that knew what to do now, second was no place for Simaea's inexperience, and the further they followed the foxes the more it shone true to the she wolf. At last they made the border and Minka proclaimed they were gone and would not return. Relieved Simaea smiled broadly at Minka, "I guess we did the trick! Ya hear that foxes! We don't think you're very smart!" The she wolf had never chased anything off of any kind of territory so in her excitement it would seem the young female had forgotten entirely that she was no longer a pup. Still she was truly proud that they had done good for the pack and her tail began slowly waving behind her, all of her misgivings fading away into shadow the longer she talked to Minka.

As they neared Simaea's small stash of Hellebore, she twitched an ear at Minka's words. Her nose buried in the dirt however had no chance to answer immediately at least until she withdrew her prize. Simaea, carefully laid it across her own paws and looked up at Minka, "This," she motioned to the herb at her paws, "Is called Hellebore, I remembered earlier, when we were following the foxes. It's great for fevers, aches and pains. I'm not a healer yet, but I hope to be someday, I'd like to be helpful some way to you all, I have not hunted much larger game than mice and birds, and I've been told I'm afraid of my own shadow. Plus I like helping the sick and hurt." At her words a very faint trace of some long past memory drifted through her eyes, but was gone almost as soon as it had come.

she doesn't care how she gets there, as long as she gets somewhere she knows... Minka chuckled quietly at the young girl's abandon, it seemed like she had never done a patrol that had some kind of event take place. Perhaps she hadn't, the pack was still young and Simaea looked like she was only a yearling, maybe she had never been in a proper pack before becoming part of Whisper Caverns. The fae could feel her tail wag in response to the others, it did feel good to have accomplished something for the pack, even if it had only been chasing off a few foxes. It seemed that the younger female held no grudges to the rank changes, and for this the tawny femme was glad, she had not wanted to step on anyone's toes when she joined and she had been afraid moving so quickly up the ranks might do exactly that. The older woman waited while Simaea buried her nose in the dirt for her answer, and was given information about the plant that went in one ear and right out the other. She chuckled again shaking her head slightly, "I've always been terrible at this kind of thing, I can never keep the names and their uses straight, they all get jumbled up in my mind." It was true, Minka was not somebody you should go to for medical treatment, she would probably accidently kill you before she ever healed you, no she would stick to hunting. She gave the girl another shy smile an idea coming to her, she had always been an excellent huntress and she prided herself upon the fact, "Maybe I could help you out with hunting, I'm hoping I will eventually be proclaimed huntress, and I would love to practice before my first hunt with the pack." The words grew more excited as they continued, they seemed like an excellent idea to her and she hoped that Simaea would agree.

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Learn from necessity Simaea. The young female remembered the words her healer had told her when she lay bleeding in the den. I have never worked on a patient such as you, but I suppose there's a first time for everything, if those damn rouges would have just stayed away I wouldn't have to learn. Simaea smiled at the memory, It had been the start to her life as a healer, though she knew only a few herbs and techniques, She remembered the gruff yet delicate way she had been cared for. It was one of the many things that drove Simaea to want this way of living, herbs over food, healing over fighting. Since Simaea was just about as non-violent as a wolf could be she thought it was the very best thing for her to do.

Simaea gave a laugh, "The she wolf who healed me and inspired me to become a healer told me, you learn from necessity sometimes Simaea, and when that time comes you only hope it sticks, I guess it did!" She said lightly, once Minka started to talk of hunting Simaea shied away a little. "But I'm no good I barely managed the deer we took down once with Sloane, Miss Narime, and Keith, before you came. I've never been much good at hunting." The female was truly afraid that she would embarrass herself and scare all the food away as she often did, most times her hunts lasted all day and yielded very small amounts of food. Simaea usually just hunted as far from everyone else as possible.

(This post was last modified: May 13, 2013, 05:44 AM by Simaea.)