Whitestone Monadnock Skeleton's

@Lenae

Since Cyril had been born Cheedo hadn't wanted to go too far from the Monadnock but she knew she had to get back to training for her role as scout.  She didn't want to let Wraith and Piety down so she'd woken early in the morning and gone out traveling across the tundra.  She still didn't go too far but it was a couple of hours and she was gone long enough to go out, have a look around, and return to the Monadnock with a freshly killed rabbit that she'd managed to catch on her way back home.  Upon her return she dropped her catch off in the cache before heading for the communal den.

She didn't make it though as the scent of one of their newest members caught her attention, it had been a few days since she last talked to the female. Cheedo was still curious about what was going on with her and how she'd acted at the border. Wraith was suppose to be helping her but the small agouti didn't think it would hurt any to check on her and see how she was settling.  Following the scent she soon found the female and cleared her throat hoping it wouldn't scare her. “Hello there,” she said in a friendly voice.I hope your settling in well.”

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Slowly but surely Lenae was getting used to the Monadnock's heights. It wasn't so bad, as long as she stayed away from the edge. In fact, on clear days it was nice and scenic, she could see for miles and miles all across the tundra, like she was a bird soaring above the craggy land. The more she thought about it, the more this place was like her home. Perhaps not the imposing stone of the monadknock, but rather the wide open space of the tundra below.

If she was a braver soul she would have no doubt explored every nook and cranny of the Lowlands. She would have found secret pretty places that were hers and hers alone. But no, she didn't have the nerve to go on such adventures today. Maybe in time she would venture out once more, but for now this was where she was going to stay.

Lenae wasn't looking for company, but it found her nonetheless.

She had met the small agouti before but Lenae-try as she might- couldn't quite recall her name. She did, however, remember the blue of her eyes. How they were like the sky on a clear day.Sighing, Lenae pushed herself up into a sitting position to greet her fellow packmate. Surely it wouldn't be so bad to say hello. She seemed rather nice after all...

"Hello."She dipped her head in a polite, if not demure, nod and offered a faint smile in return. "I am, feel a lot better now. Thank you."

Now that was an exaggeration of course, because what was she supposed to say? She didn't feel all that different, nor any better? How rude would that be, how awful would it seem. They'd all just assume she was taking advantage of them, that she was a fraudster and a liar. The worst of the worst through and through.

A lynx has left behind the remains of a deer. +5 Health

It had been a few months since Cheedo had joined Whitestone but she remembered what it had been like. Being around the new wolves who were more like family to her now. It had put her completely out of her comfort zone and heightened her anxiety. Slowly she'd grown accustomed to her new life and the wolves that she lived with. Even more she was starting to feel like she could stand on her own paws instead of using others like Mittani as a crutch or buffer. She was proud of how well she was doing in Whitestone, better than she'd ever done in Ritter.

When she'd first seen the woman at the border she thought she'd recognized something in her that Cheedo too had felt. She of course hadn't brought it up to the woman mostly because of how she might have felt if someone had said something to her. Still it was partially what had sent her to visit with their newest pack member and the other reason, to be friendly and to push herself. Maybe there was some help to be offered though not directly of course but perhaps her own story could help.

She'd found the newest member by herself which made it a little easier since she did better with one-to-one anyway. After her greeting she'd inquired as to how the woman was settling in. “I'm glad to hear your doing better,” she stated keeping a cheerful note in her tone. Cheedo remembered having felt a little better once she wasn't on her own any longer and perhaps that was the case now.

“How are you liking Whitestone?” She inquired further, “I found it has been very good for me to be here and I hope the same is true for you.” Just as in her own experience it had taken some time for her to come as far as she had. So she expected it would be the same for her packmate.

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Lenae liked it here well enough. She enjoyed watching the sun rise from the Monadknock's peak, and the fact that everyone had been so welcoming and kind towards her. But was this home? In her mind, home was less of a place than a feeling. Like butterflies but warmer, and in her chest rather than her stomach. The thought of it was supposed to fill her with hope, love and relief. When she thought of the mountains and all the fond memories she formed there...She felt sad.

Miserable beyond description.

But what of this place? Maybe she didn't feel love or relief but...there was something akin to hope. It was faint, nothing more than a spark but it was there nonetheless. And no matter what she wouldn't let it go out, not as long as her heart beat in her chest.

"I like it." She told her. Whilst she hadn't been honest about her name, she was telling the truth or at least as much as she could tell anyway. "Everyone is nice. And I like it up here, it feels safe. I want...to try and be better, to help. I just, it's hard. I'm not very brave." She admitted with a limp shrug.

She would have to do something sooner or later, she just wasn't sure what. What did this pack need? How could she best help out, despite her small stature and cowardly disposition? Cheedo was small and she obviously didn't lay about all day, hiding in the depths of the communal den. She was busy, left the Monadknock for hours and rarely came back empty pawed.

During her time in Whitestone there had been many lessons to be learned and still many more to learn still. Cheedo had learned to take things day by day a long time ago and that was what she'd had to do on the Monadnock. Much of her time was spent trying to better herself from that scared little wolf that Craw had found and brought back to Ritter. She felt she'd only gotten worse there but with his first disappearance and supposed death the foundation had been set. From her ear to learning to survive on her own she had slowly been growing. It was only now that he was gone she realized that for the two years before coming to the lore she had allowed Mittani to hold her back.

Then coming to the lore and being mostly on her own again it had sparked something in her that made her want to better for herself. Joining Whitestone and being around wolves that we're so different from the ones she'd known had only fueled it. It also helped that she also had the prospect for a new life that was better than what she'd had.

It could he the same for their new member, Cheedo didn't know but she could do what she could to help. “I'm glad to hear that,” the small agouti said with a smile happy that the woman liked the Monadnock. “They are and very helpful and the view from up here is like no other,” Cheedo agreed. Then something was said that struck something inside the small woman as the thing that she recognized in the other had just come out. “I used to not be very brave either but I get braver every day,” she admitted quietly.

Perhaps hearing her admission would help the other have some hope that one day she too could be braver. “You can help the pack in many ways,” she added, “Is there something you're good at?” Scouting wasn't the skill that the small agouti had honed over time, it was hunting but she felt that being a hunter wouldn't be good for her. She had needed something that would bring her out of her she'll but she always caught something for the pack.

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Lenae didn't think that Cheedo was a liar but she didn't believe her, not one bit. Well maybe the braver everyday thing was true but Leane was adamant she had already been brave. Or at least in comparison to her.

"No! You're so brave, you go out hunting and scouting and do all sorts of things on your own. I can't imagine you being otherwise, really. And I'm trying too."

In comparison, Lenae was-no doubt- a lazy slob in comparison. But they were all so nice, Cheedo was so nice, kind and supportive. She really wanted to be like this blue eyed beauty, she was everything Leane was not. And it hurt. She didn't want to be the jealous sort, Cheedo was good, she didn't deserve this. And yet...Lenae swallowed and shoved such bitter thoughts aside. This wasn't who she was, she didn't think ill of others and yet it was hard to shake off the feeling that had sunk into her bones.

Maybe she wasn't good anymore, maybe they had all made her bad just like them.

As to what she was good at? Well, that was a good distraction, one she grabbed onto with all she had.

"Um...Uh...I like to tell stories? I do the voices as well! And Mother said I had a pretty voice...I feel like she was just being nice though." She pouted. "Oh and I'm fast, best at playing tag, though it's been a real long time since I played it last. I sometimes forget I'm not a pup anymore." She shrugged, sheepish.

What else? What else?

"I know a little about plants? Flowers mostly. Which ones smell best, what colours them come in. Stuff like that."

Sometimes Cheedo looked back at her time in Ritter and thought about how she used to be. Scared trembling little Cheedo, it had earned her her nickname, Craw had called her that, The Fragile. Then it hadn't bothered her but now she despised it and the scared little wolf she had once been. One day she would be as brave as Piety and Wraith and she would do her best for them.

The small agouti listened to Everly as she spoke of how brave she was doing things in her own. “You’re very kind Everly, it's taken me some time to get to where I am and mostly out of necessity but the point is you can become brave too. Be patient with yourself. It's been a hard lesson I've had to learn.”

Cheedo liked Everly, she found her to be a sweet girl who she wanted to see succeed in the pack. The small agouti was glad to see her doing better than she'd first seen her at the border. She tried to think of the best way to help the newest member. Trying to obtain a role as scout had helped her so Cheedo thought it might help Everly as well. That was when she asked the girl what she felt she was good at.

The beta listened as Everly told her all if the things that she thought she was good at. Of course Cheedo didn't know for sure if she was but that didn't matter, it was what her packmates felt she was good at, the things that made her confident.

The small agouti smiled as Everly said she forgot she wasn't a pup anymore, “That's quite alright it might be useful later especially with a pup like Cyril around. Maybe you can find your story telling to good use in the pack as well as your knowledge of flowers? I am sure Cyril would like a good game of tag.” It would get the child in shape for when he started hunting or whatever else he might do. “You can take the skills you already have and put them to use in the pack or maybe you could do something that's not quite so comfortable for you. It might help to build your confidence a little more each day like scouting has done for me.”

They were just some suggestions for her but maybe she would find them if something use. Cheedo used the hunting skills she'd gained while on her own as the thing she was most comfortable with to help the pack. Then she had chosen scouting for her role as that would pull her from her shell.

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Cheedo was right. But whilst it was easy to be kind to others, the same couldn't be said for herself. She wanted to be patient, to let things happen as they did, like the slow transitions between seasons. And yet, she had trouble taking pity on herself. It was never enough, she would never be enough. Her progress was too slow, all sorts of things still frightened her. Was it too much to ask, to want to be whole again?

Leane felt awfully selfish for feeling that way, Cheedo was good and kind and her words were meant to reassure her. But all the Selwyn felt was frustration, a perhaps flickering embers of anger.

"He's a good boy.I hope we can be friends."Lenae admitted, a slight smile tugging at her lips.

This was better, it was hard to feel...bad like that when she thought of the dark pup and her fellow packmates who were really trying to help her settle in. They didn't have to of course, despite Wraith's assurances she had half expected them to start cracking a whip at her. But they hadn't. Even now, all they did was offer a gentle nudge in the right direction. Just like Cheedo was doing right now.

"I wish I knew useful things about plants, honestly. Flowers are pretty and all but...I don't know how to heal, or anything special like that. I just know the names of the flowers I like the best. The meaning to some of them as well, the language of flowers, they call it."

There were days when Cheedo became frustrated with herself because she wasn't gaining her role as fast as she felt she should. Then there was her frustration when she felt still so intimidated by other wolves. She'd been on her own for so long and now with a pack where her alphas did their best to help her feel more confident. Still she had so many moments when she didn't feel like she was as strong or as confident as she should be. She wanted to he able to show Everly so that she could see and maybe it would help her but the girl before her couldn't know what was inside the small agouti. It just didn't work that way.

The best way she could try to help the girl in front of her was to give her suggestions on how to help herself. Cheedo had done it through helping the pack and felt that could help Everly as well. “He is a good boy,” she agreed, “I think in time you and he could be friends.” Cheedo just felt that Cyril would need to get to know Everly.

The best suggestion that Cheedo could offer was for Everly to use whatever strengths she had to help the pack. In this she thought the younger woman would feel confident in what she was doing and while she was doing it. Then she might gain the confidence she wanted. For Cheedo it was different, she had needed something to force her to do what she wouldn't normally do and she felt it was helping her to be better.

“That's pretty, the language of flowers. You may only know the names and the meaning but it's something. You can teach that and maybe it will help you to seek out more information about them. Just because you only know those things doesn't mean you can't learn more, you're a smart girl and I bet you learn quickly. If you set your mind to it you can do it.” She knew that well enough because she did everyday in her role as scout in training.

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