oh ms believer

Amisun settled down and furthered his relaxation, allowing his belly to settle upon the damp earth. One forelimb fold over the other and he reclined, as if he were sharing a few words with an old friend. She may be a stranger still, but the younger wolf wore her cards on her sleeve. There was no challenge in reading her, as if the words written upon her face, and he found he enjoyed the breath of fresh air. Constantly moving in feints and shadows became tiring after a time, and a friendly companion was akin to the warmth of the sun's rays after the long, stormy winter.

Allowing himself a comfortable yawn, Kjors permitted the botanist to speak. Ears remained forward as his single eye studied her face. It was rare he granted someone his full attention, and yet here they were. She was so gracious with her information, and careful enough still not to spill anything too vital to her pack's safety. The timber wolf tucked that away for future examination and offered her a pleased rumble, hoping to encourage the discussion.

When she posed a question instead, he found she deserved his honest answer. After all, she'd been most helpful (and most delightful thus far). "Ah dunno, t' be honest. Seemed like a fair place t' settle fer the time bein'. Ain't got anything keepin' me here…ain't got anything pullin' me away, either. Suppose time'll tell. An' if tha' lil' war a' yers spreads…ain't no interest in other wolves' problems. Got enough of me own." The male hummed again, tipping his head to one side. "Suppose Ah wouldn' much mind a botanist up in these parts, though. Ain't like Ah'm usin' th' plants anyhow." He offered her a wink (if one could even tell that apart from a proper blink.) "Ah imagine y' might warn me, if trouble's comin' me way, huh?"

Amisun twitched a whisker at his words, finding an uncanny truth in what he’d said. Nothing keeping, and nothing pulling away. She had joined her pack out of absolute necessity, coming off a months-long broken-hearted fever dream. Now that she was a regular member of reality again she found there was nothing wrong with her pack - though she hadn’t made many strong friends, either. It was something she would look upon herself for, later. Pressing her toes into the soft earth she murmured, “Roots require time to take,” a sentiment perhaps expressed for both sets of ears.

Shifting her weight to relieve the slouch in her back (she would forgo relaxation for the sake of better posture) she tilted her head toward him, an amused smile hanging on the edge of her maw. “Good thing that you don’t mind - I can’t promise I will be the only botanist wandering these parts,” Then she paused, long enough to answer him with absolute truth. “Yes, I would do you the kindness.” It would require her to leave her home, long enough to return to the Ghastly Woods and find the One-Eyed Dragon. Time in war was precious spent. The mission to return wouldn’t benefit the River wolves at all. But she would do it, perhaps for no bigger reason other than the fact that she found his company pleasant, and it had been so very long since Amisun had made a friend.

“I will do you one more as well,” she said, turning her cheek toward the green plant she had been investigating when Kjors discovered her. “This plant is called solomon’s seal. Eat the stalk when you have fractured your bone. Chew the root into a paste to heal bloody wounds. The leaves will cause you stomach ache, and the berries will serve you worse.” It was no crash course in healing, but it was a useful bit of information. No matter where the wolf goes, trouble will follow. It was a useful spit of information to recall for some purpose or another.

"So they do."

And damn his mutinous muzzle, but the smile in his eye actually mirrored upon his maw, lips curved upwards as he agreed with the sentiment whole-heartedly. How much did she really know, this natural historian? The more they exchanged, the more he was beginning her to be a truly enlightened individual. Perhaps – perhaps there was a dragon hiding underneath thick fur and amethyst eyes. It was a most puzzling thought, one that would certainly demand more intensive research on his behalf. Amisun might just be worth his time.

Quite pleased with this discovery, he bowed his head and allowed the she-wolf her piece, for not only did she agree to warn him, but offered him an additional supplement as well. What had he done, to earn such a generous bounty? Allowing his mind to wander, he turned his single orb to the plant she referenced. With an arched brow, he tipped his head. Silently he stood and closed the gap between them entirely, nosing the foliage with his snout. Remember the feel, the smell, the shape. He was no healer, not at all, and without a pack's resources at his paws, any self-care was much needed.

For a moment, his mind turned back to @Aleksei's offer, and he wondered if there wasn't some merit to the prince's offer. The lad himself was likeable enough, and Amisun here was very pleasant company. He was not much interested in following another's orders, but if there were plenty of good wolves among their numbers…

Well, he would have to weigh his options. He was still unaware what else lurked in these woods, and boon they might offer him. Turning his muzzle back to the wolf at his side, he gave her a gentle nudge. "Thanks, miss. 'm sure Ah'll use tha', sometime. Always seemin' t' get meself in scuffles. But now ye've done me not one kindess, bu' two – an' Ah do naw much like bein' indebted. So tell me, lass, how might Ah return this t' ya? A kill?" A paused, followed by a furrowed brow. "…plants?"

Her heart soared to see her advice did not go blindly listened to. She kept a keen eye on the male as he inspected the plant, perusing its features with care. Amisun had offered her expertise freely and it was of his own will that he could decide whether or not he intended to recall what she’d said. His effort was reward enough, if not the fact that might have armed him with some small scrap of knowledge that could prove useful some day.

With a simple smile she returned the pressure of his nudge, leaning ever slightly into his touch. A single word brought her smile to wane slightly, drooping at the corners while she tilted her head, confused. Indebted. It was not her intention. He asked her consider what sort of payment he could deliver, but after a pause the she-wolf could only roll her tawn-furred shoulders in a shrug. “Then don’t consider kindness a debt,” she teased, although truly she meant it. Ami would never aspire to make shackles of her advice, and was determined to be sure Kjors couldn’t fasten his own chains either.

“Truly, though, I have nothing to ask of you,” she responded with a wry smile. What could a wolf like her want, anyway? She had safety, and the potential to turn it into a home. She even had a friend, she thought remarkably, letting her gaze settle upon the dark-coated wolf’s singular eye. Her dark lips pulled back to reveal a toothy grin. ”Except, perhaps, that you do not make yourself a stranger.” Amisun could not dawdle long, not while the scent of the cedarwood sat so loosely in her guard hairs. She was too knew to be disappearing. Yet, she hoped dearly this wouldn’t be the last of their time together forever.

"Ain't it, though?"

When did a wolf do another a favor and expect nothing in return? It was one thing if the recipient was a packmate, or perhaps close in kin. It was entirely another if the beneficiary was a relative stranger. Comfortable as the interaction might have been, she was still a wolf who owed allegiance to an unknown alpha, and he was but a soul guided only by his own morals and ambitions. While he did not doubt she was a gentle soul with little interest in such things, it did not change the nature of the beast. A debt was a debt, no matter who collected it.

Despite this, Amisun would not ask him for anything. It was perplexing, if not a slightly peevish behavior. The timber wolf's cheeks billowed as he chuffed, a steady frown resting upon his brow as he waited for the female to come up with something, anything, that he might be rid of the shackles he allowed her to rest upon his wrists. Finally, finally, the she-wolf grinned at him, clearly quite pleased with her clever solution. The offer that came tumbling from her lips most agreeable, he had to admit (though not verbally, never that), and the swarthy male gave a quick bob of his head.

That, he could do, and these trammels would be quick to fall away. Mirroring her expression, he stepped closer. "Ah'll see tha' Ah come 'round, then. Where am Ah supposed t' find ya, Flower? Y' gonna come t' visit me again?" Or would he be forced to journey closer to the Cut River Rock pack's territory? He was gauche, yes, but Kjors was no fool and had little interest in warring packs.

But, if that was what Amisun requested of him—

Well, best see what she had in mind before he made any offers.

Despite herself, having often refused to find in another’s misfortune, a playful smile formed a crooked line on her muzzle as she frustrated the dragon. It did not compute, what she had said of debts, and it did not surprise her - that was the nature of, well, nature. But Ami stood firm about it, refusing to create chains of her own word. At the very least she could argue that they were self inflicted, if she wanted.

Luckily it turned out to be unnecessary. His nod was curt as she would expect from him, but her tawny tail gave a few sweeps across the grey forest floor in response. Kjors stepped closer and she tilted her cheek toward him in response, meeting his one-eyed gaze with a comfort she would’ve never expected even a short while ago. Flower, he called her, and a curious smile grew as she wondered why - perhaps because she often was stickin’ her nose in them to find an ailment’s cure?

“I’ll be around,” she said with a coy shrug, unable to help her humor. The matter of fact was that her appearance around these dim woods again was likely enough. Plants grew wherever they wanted, and it so happened that there were species of her liking lining the path to his den. That was fate, she decided, but she wasn’t calling on intervention. Of course, there was always the matter of her den, and the packland that surrounded it. What would happen if Kjors found her was a bigger question, but Ami wouldn’t stop him if he wanted to tempt the answer.

“We live in the Cedarwood,” she said, referring to herself and those unknown packmates she trusted herself to close her eyes around. ”Come by some time. You might like it.” The she-wolf accompanied her suggestion with an idle smile, though it was betrayed by the slightest twitch of her brow. Dragons were an authority of her own, she realized, but her home was as good as any, even if it was only temporary. Would she deny that the tension hung in the air like electricity before the lightning strike? Certainly not. But it was easy to ignore, and nothing had happened yet, and she could make nearly any excuse to find herself in his magnetic company again.

But she couldn’t make an excuse for her prolonged absence. Especially if she turned up empty handed. She was still too new, still a flight risk, still a beacon of possible betrayal if she didn’t pull her weight and remain present. At least, that was the guilt that had found its anchor in her heart finally, one that prompted her to shift her weight uneasily. A reluctant silence preluded the next words she murmured. ”I should return head back that way.”

(This post was last modified: Apr 23, 2015, 12:47 AM by Amisun.)

"Oh, Ah see," Kjors snorted, raising his single eyebrow at the kittenish response. Around. How vague. That was like saying the rain will fall somewhere, or the wind might blow. Still, one side of his mouth quirked upwards as he tipped his head to one side, refusing to argue the point. She was being cheeky, and if anything, the wolf felt he should encourage the healer's lip. She was so withdrawn at only the beginning of their encounter, and he would regret if he parted ways with Amisun on that bitter note.

It was, however, time for them to part ways. His tail swayed idly behind him as he took a step forward to nudge the female in a friendly gesture, cementing the ground on which they stood. He would consider them amicable, if not compatriots, and would extend that knowledge…simply not verbally. Once his point had been made, the dragon took two steps back and settled his haunches back on the forest floor. He had no where to go, after all, not far from his own den. The healer had to make her way all the way back to her pack. How strict her alphas were, he had no idea, but there was no point in asking Amisun to make such a choice.

Inclining his head, he offered a soft chuff as the other wolf began to shift her weight uneasily. What was waiting for her, he wondered, that the thought of return made her so anxious? Was it a wolf (a mate?) she could not bare to be separated from? Or was there someone she strictly wished to avoid? He kept all his wonderings to himself, and instead inclined his head. "Suppose y'should. Ah'll see ya around, Flower. Don't go wiltin' between now an' then, y'hear?"

Fade.

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