Shallows Edge your eyes are the size of the moon

@Reyes - backdated for March 30th, immediately following her attempted OOC join

She felt better now that she was actually speaking to Reyes. Part of her was worried he would be angry at her for even approaching the borders like she did, but he just suggested they talk a little bit more. Which she was fine with, because she really liked Reyes, and she hadn’t really seen him since they found the baby birds that were fledging.

”I c-can hunt or be a g-good scout,” she told him as they padded together, her moonstone eyes trying to seek out his. ”I-I’ve wanted t’come live with you for a l-long time, but I d-di’n’t wanna leave ‘til I kn-knew I had to,” she explained, her tail hanging around her hocks momentarily.

It didn’t take long for it to start up again, however. ”I th-think I’m good at bein’ in a pa-pack, so I’ll d-do my best if y’give me a chance,” she said, a nervous smile resting on her lips.

Reyes wasn’t sure how much a puppy knew about being a good pack member – honestly, outside of Lachesis, he didn’t really know any of the wolves in Driftwood Surge beyond a few names. He imagined the ghost had set a good example, but the others? Who knew? He huffed softly, ears falling flat out to the side as he let her talk (and had himself a short little think). She had, at least, known enough to respect a pack border and call for the alphas. A promising start.

“Let’s back up a few steps, chica. Why’d you leave Driftwood Surge? And how’d y’even know me an’ Askan were down here?”

Ris looked up again when he slowed her down, one ear falling to the side a bit. ”I-I left because there was n-no room left. The-there was one too many p-puppies, ‘n I ch-chose to go so nob-body else needed to.” She didn’t feel like she belonged there anyway.

”S-Sachiel told me a few m-months ago, ‘n I came t-to find you,” she explained, stepping over a fallen branch. ”Cancer t-took m’ after that, ‘n I wanted to see if m-maybe there was a p-place for me. She turned hopeful silver eyes to look back up at Reyes with a small smile.

”Did y-you have somethin’ to t-talk to m-me about? Like a t-test?” she asked gently, tipping her head to the side as she waited on him to decide what to do with her

(This post was last modified: Mar 31, 2018, 09:22 PM by Risaela.)

“Ah…”

He hadn’t realized Driftwood Surge had gotten that big. Never mind the season – he assumed Lachesis and his mate would be expecting pups again. Hopefully they didn’t have any other problem yearlings this year, but… Not his problem. At least the answers to his questions were much more tame than he imagined. Of course, if Ris had told him that Lachesis had kicked him out, well…

The dark wolf shook out his coat. “Maybe this is a test. Honesty, and all that. We met a while go, an’ kids change. Yer a lot bigger now.” Among other things. Besides, Reyes needed answers. He would not operate his pack blindly.

“You tell ‘em you were headin’ out?”

The last thing he needed was to be accused of stealing a friend’s pup. Strangers? Fuck ‘em. But Lachesis was a trusted ally, and that made things different.

Honesty. She could do honesty no problem. Ris didn’t fancy herself much of a liar, after all, so Reyes wouldn’t be disappointed in her there. Her tail swayed behind her when he mentioned she’d gotten bigger. The girl understood that she actually wasn’t very big at all, but... well, even getting this big was an accomplishment.

”Y-yeah ‘n Lach an’ Lil are h-having more pu-puppies, so it’ll be even m-more crowded. We c-can’t all fit,” she went on loquaciously, her gaze just a bit faraway. She was going to miss their birth, and while the idea hurt, she was almost glad that she wasn’t just there to take up space.

Tawny ears perked when he asked if she had told them where she was going. ”I t-told them,” she assured, a smile canting her muzzle to the side a bit. Mako had been... less than kind about it, and the memory almost brought tears to her eyes, but she was determined not to cry here. The Edge wolves were so tough, and she didn’t want them to think she was just a big baby.

”Am I g-getting good scores on the t-test?” she implored with a grin, tipping her head one way.

“Okay, well. That’s good. We don’t do that whole ‘come an’ go as you please’ thing, yeah? You leave and you’re out. ‘specially if you say nothin’.”

Just to be up front about it. Lenka’s scenario was still a bit strange to him…but Askan had accepted the pale female in the first place, and had been the one to run into her on her return. She should be glad, he supposed, because he wasn’t certain he would have been so generous about her circumstances.

He hummed softly at Ris’ question. So far, so good, he supposed. No blazing red flags. But he wasn’t eager to load up on yearlings, either – or soon-to-be yearlings. Six of them would be adults this year, but that would still make three yearlings. At least the pack was full. Ugh, he was doing way too much math.

“Got a few more questions, though. Everyone’s workin’ on earnin’ roles right about now. What would you, givin’ a choice? Got any practice?”

Yeah, she got that. She hadn’t left Hearthwood or Driftwood permanently - the longest she had been gone was a month when she was only eight weeks old. ”Yes sir,” she said, her tail swaying behind her with a slight smile. ”I-I’m loyal, so y-you don’t hafta worry ‘bout that.”

He had a few more questions. That was okay, even if she was a little bit stressed out about it, too. What if he didn’t like her? What if he sent her away? What would she do then, if anything at all...?

”I th-think I would like t’be a scout the m-most,” she said truthfully, silver eyes round as she looked up at him. ”I c-can walk for a r-really long time, ‘n I’m f-fast, and I l-like meeting new people,” Ris reasoned, then looked up at the sky for a moment. ”M-my second choice w-would be a h-hunter.”

Did she have any experience? ”N-not formal exp-experience,” she struggled to get out, her shoulders shrugging. ”But I-I caught the marmot for y-you, and I g-got all the w-way back here with-without a guide. ‘Cept for maybe the last bit - C-Cancer fo-found me.”

“Mm.”

Well, Lenka wanted to be a scout (though the jury was still out on that one) and Cancer had proven to be a pretty good hunter of small game. Pairs and small teams appealed to the man. So no, he wasn’t thrilled about more youngsters, but… Other than his general dislike of the lack of experience, he had no real reason to turn her away. (Well, as long as Lachesis didn’t come roaring down this way in a few weeks’ time and demand to know why his puppy was down here.)

“Fine. Scout, or hunter. We’ll talk about the details later. I’m serious about the rules thing, though, Risaela. I know there were…issues about insubordinate in Hearthwood last year. It won’t fly here. Comprende?”

He huffed. “Any questions?”

This was going so well! Ris wagged her tail slightly when Reyes spoke, though she was trying hard to contain her excitement at this small accomplishment. She really liked the other moon-eyed wolf’s voice, she thought. It was deep and gruff and pleasant, and she hadn’t heard anyone with an accent quite like his before.

Insubordinate? Did he mean Inna? Breeding without asking, or without being a leader? That must be it. As far as Ris knew, that hadn’t happened in Driftwood this year either. ”Yes, s-sir. I’ll be good,” she assured with a smile, her ears angling forward as she waited on his response.

Any questions?

With the tact of a bull moose trying to walk on eggshells, Ris blurted, ”Did I p-pass?”

‘Good.’

That meant a lot of different things. Reyes bit his tongue and resisted the urge to sigh – she was just a kid, after all. Probably didn’t totally understand everything that went on in Lachesis’ pack last year but….whatever. He’d deal with rules as they came up, and probably hold the same damn meeting next spring, and… He was really getting ahead of himself.

“…yeah, guess so. Next time, make it easier on yourself an’ just answer my questions the first time,” he sighed – but his expression was a bit gentler as he stepped forward, rubbing his scent across the younger wolf. She was theirs. For now, anyways. He always wondered how long the kids would stay, if they’d disperse. “C’mon. I’ll show you the pack den.”

Fade.