Whisper Caverns Blackbird singing in the dead of night

@Narimé

He had been eager to meet the female alpha for a while to the point where he could actually carry out a conversation with her. He was happy to report that he had been picking up on small things and what they meant to translate from Russian to English and it made him all happy inside. Perhaps he could talk to her about her son who had taught him some of the foundation words for the caverns like what each part of the cavern was called. It was then that he ran off to seek her out and talk to her. He had seen her beautiful silver fur from afar but had never dared approach her. He had heard that she had a bad accident when she fought with two traitors who ended up abandoning the packs, one of which had been leader.

It saddened him to know that such animals existed that they would harm the lady who, from a distance, seemed to be quite the nice fellow. A small sigh as he searched just outside the cavern and then within the cavern as well. He wanted to talk to her about the healing duty because he wondered if Ash had discussed it with her. They were mates after all. Weren’t they? All that mattered was to his knowledge they were. Other than that there was nothing really left to do. He scouted about, even calling out for her with a howl towards the end. It would seem that they had much to try to discuss.

She was just returning from a short expedition into the surrounding fields and meadows around their territory. With five rabbits all dangling from their back legs in her jaws, Nari was feeling a confidence boost. She hadn't caught that many on one hunt in a long while, not since her Willow Ridge days when she had been a faster yearling. Hopefully she could keep up her luck and score with another good catch tomorrow. For today though Narime was finished doing anything. She had already marked borders right before leaving to go hunting. Now the she wolf was hungry and tired.

The silver queen stepped forward into the shadows searching for the first of a few caches where food was placed. None of the caches were within the caverns because there was no wolf born who could dig through solid rock. Instead there were two caches right outside the caves entrance and a few nearby as well.

Once her rabbits were stashed Nari decided to fill herself on some of the older meat, and once she was comfortably full the woman started for the cave. She was met by the shape of another wolf, a pack mate, as the she wolf made it to the main room. She paused recognizing the sight of Kassander though she didn't know the male too well. He had done well on the pack hunt and was a valuable pack wolf. The smell of herbs hit her hard as Nari scented him. Again just like the day they hunted he was covered in the smell of plants. This made her hope and wonder if the male was a good healer. The pack needed one now that Simaea was gone.

"Hello there Kassander." She smiled though her posture remained that of a superiors stature.

@Narimé

The queen of the caverns soon graced him with her presence. His tail immediately ducked with respect and a small smile was caught on his muzzle. He had a few things to discuss with her... or try to anyways. He remembered some of the words Titan had taught him and he started to speak after she greeted him. "H... Hello." He couldn't pronounce her name or use any of the official titles that he might be able to address her by. The frustration over his lack of words was evident on the features of his face. Blackbird peniye v glukhuyu noch'; prinimat' eti slomannyye kryl'ya i nauchit'sya letat'. Vsyu svoyu zhizn' , vy tol'ko i zhdal etogo momenta , chtoby voznikli. He tried to calm himself with a song that his mother had sung to him when he was little.

He had been practicing what he was going to say for hours beforehand and so he tried to chop his way through it. "I teached Titan healing... healing pack role?" The sentence, if someone could call it that, was choppy and broken at best but he thought that he had gotten his point across to the best of his ability. He vaguely remembered Ash talking to him on the borders when he joined about getting knowledge from someone that Ash knew. It had never really happened and Kass felt he knew enough to request the pack role of healing and he also wanted to make sure that the queen was alright with him teaching her son about the fine art of herbs and poultices.

There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

Narime listened as Kassander spoke. She was intrigued by his thick accent. It was rough but highly interesting as he spoke a simple greeting. Lowering her posture to show friendliness Nari made an "Oh My" face as Kassander started speaking in his foreign tongue. Though she had to say it sounded almost like a tune. As if he were singing something. She loved to sing and had on a few occasions sung to her closest friends and family. Though it was rare for her to break out into song when she was usually very busy.

Then the male spoke once more in English about her son and a healing role. She smiled slightly surprised that her son had taken an interest in medicinal herbs and such. She had always pinned him as a hunter or guardian with his size and stamina. Then again I never thought Yuka would make as good a guardian as he already is with his watchful silent personality. I didn't think he would like hurting others, like when he was a pup, but he's doing well so far. Ash has been teaching him well in that regard. She thought quietly while letting a sweet smile grace her muzzle. If her children have already chosen what their interests are then she would allow them to continue their current training.

As she looked over Kassander, Nari sighed then nodded to the male.

"If you wish to be our lead healer then you may have that role, and you have my permission to continue training Titan if he wishes to learn." She hoped the male could understand her words. Even though she understood Titan was teaching this man some English he was still a long ways away from mastering the language it would seem. "Also... our pack is allied with two others who have master healers." She spoke pausing to let the information sink in. "Nina Reinier from the Secret Woodlands pack far to the north west of this land finished educating our previous healer,and may help you or Titan should you need to learn more." She sat down and got comfortable on the stone floor wondering if Kassander understood any of this. Can he understand our language but not speak it? Or is it hard for him to understand too? She wondered.

"A pack called Willow Ridge just east of us is home to Elettra Archer. She is probably the most masterful healer I know of and can teach you whatever herbs you do not know of. Though you must show respect to her and her pack as she is the lead female and my good friend. " Nari explained though she was unsure if ELettra would have the time to help train anyone not of her pack. Especially if the woman had new pups to take care of. "If you do visit her I hope you'll take Titan as he is more familiar with their pack than you are." She smiled warmly wondering if there was anything else the man wanted to speak to her about.

It was hard for him to hide the delight on his face when the woman spoke. He found it easier to understand the language rather then speak it as he listened and then converted it to Russian in his head. It was also helping with his learning if he could relate what was being said to a subject. She gave him the healer role AND permission to teach Titan! That much he understood at the very least as she started to talk about healers it seemed. She used names and pack names. It made him try and get more words out to express gratitude and then answer what she had said about a Willow Ridge and an Elettra Archer and a Nina Reiner and a Secret Woodlands.

Slowly he started to form his words into complete thoughts. He thought he could get a full sentence out and he did manage to! "Yes please! I go see Elettra with Titan? I sorry, my Engrish not good." He said, saying the statement as a question rather than a statement as if he was asking for permission to go and visit the healer right then. He'd have to find Titan first but that shouldn't be an issue. Kass had a feeling he knew where to find the boy and he was just excited to learn something new. If he didn't understand it then surely Titan would. Who knew, perhaps one day he could teach Titan how to speak Russian and it could be some kind of super secret healers code for the Caverns! The Xanilov boy was a little too optimistic sometimes.

(This post was last modified: Jul 06, 2014, 10:34 PM by Kassander.)

She could see the delight in the males body language and the fact that he was so happy kinda helped her mood a little too. The silver wolf let her tail begin to wag as she nodded once more in approval. Though when Kassander spoke again Nari tipped her head closer to listen. Her blue eyes drifted to the stalactites hidden among the shadows while she concentrated on the younger males voice.

"Yes you may." She answered while giving him a kind smile. "...and your english is very good Kassander... but.. May..May I call you Kass?" She lowered her muzzle to her fluffed out chest in a somewhat apologetic and shy manner. It wasn't often that Nari felt the need to nickname someone. However she hoped it would help get closer to her newer pack mate.

Her thoughts turned back to Titan and the role he was obviously pursuing. Healing was a hard to learn art for the healer in question would have to remember dozens of herbs by taste, smell, and sight alone. She wondered if Titan knew what he was getting himself into, and why he had chosen healing as a role to pursue.

"I hope Titan is being a good student. I know very little about herbs. I only remember the one herb I was taught about a long time ago named Hellebore." She shrugged wondering if Kassander knew of the herb she spoke of. Nari knew where to find hellebore, what it was used for, and how to use it. However that was about all she knew where plants were concerned.

The queen spoke once more and he was elated to find that he would be permitted to go with Titan to see this Lady Elettra as soon as the conversation between himself and the queen was finished. She asked if she could call him Kass and he shook his head in response to say yes. "Kass is my nickname. You can call me Kass." He said softly as he looked to her with a smile. She complimented his English and he felt the heat rise to his cheeks. She was surely just being modest about it! His English wasn't very good and he didn't believe her when she said that it was good either because her English was flawless. She was raised into the language whereas he was just learning it.

Maybe he could teach her Russian sometime. Perhaps he could teach them all. It was, after all, a very interesting language, at least to him. "Maybe I can teach you basic Russian sometime?" He managed another full and complete sentences. He wasn't sure how he was able to do it but it made him beam. It was important to him that he learn the language and with his love of knowledge, he would work at it until he perfected it. His head went writhen to the side as he caught the faint scent of deer. Oh boy! Perhaps they could hunt. If they could find a weaker deer then surely the two of them alone could take it down... right? "There deer. We can hunt one down?" He asked with the smile still holding on his muzzle.

With a slow nod the silver wolf thanked the male for allowing her to call him Kass. She was glad that he seemed happy. His smiling face warmed her as the man then proceeded to suggest teaching her Russian. Intrigued by the offer, Nari tilted her head to one side debating on what to say next. It would be cool to speak in another language sometimes. A language that few knew could come in handy when trying to be secretive about certain comments or plans during a hunt or attack. Kind of like a secret code.

"I think that would be great! Though I'm not sure I will pick up the Russian language as fast as you have done with English." She raised her tail and wagged it quickly from right to left as the she wolf thought of learning a second language. Unfortunately for her the she wolf would not end up talented in that area of learning. Learning a second language with Nari was like trying to teach a chicken to fly. You would have minimal success with the end result.

Hunting on the other paw was something the Lagina she wolf was very talented at. As soon as Kassander started speaking the she wolf had noticed the enticing scent on the wind. She winked at him after he mentioned trying to hunt. If there was a small enough weak deer there they might be able to take it down with just the two of them. Though the odds were stacked against the two wolves.

"Well let's go see what is out there to hunt now shall we?" Nari snapped her jaws shut with a cute expression on her silvered face then turned to lead outwards towards the fresh scent of deer. All she could note right now was that there were two doe's and four buck'samong the little herd. Quite unusual to have a larger number of bucks than doe's.

Kass listened and picked up on the fact she thought she couldn't learn it and he gave her a soft smile. He had a passion for learning things, always had and always would, so when he heard what she said he knew that if she had the right teacher then she'd pick it up in no time. "You would be good learner." He said with a surety in his tone. When he told her about the hunt, he let her examine the situation as he turned his soft smile into a determined glare at the prey. Nari aggregated to aiding in the hunt and he narrowed his eyes at the deer. He followed close behind her as they approached further and he looked to his fearless leader.

His words would be in a whisper in an attempt to not scare off the deer. "What is game plan?" The soft words found themselves rolling off his tongue as he gazed at the silver beauty next to him. He looked back at the deer as he waited for some sort of strategy to take down the beasts that would be their dinner or lunch or whatever time it was. He really needed to get out of the cave more often. He started to work out different ideas in his head but when he tried to put it into the scenario, he saw the end results as failures or one of them getting hurt. He was focused intently on the deer while listening for Narime to speak.