It seemed spring was here now, that’s what she thought. It was still slightly confusing for her to get a grasp of the whole switched seasons thing. So now it was autumn in Auster, which was sort of nice but also sort of not nice. It was getting cooler so there wasn’t going to be some unbearable heat, and hopefully, there would be a few rainstorms so the water sources would fill up again. Prey was still probably running about and maybe even breeding if it still technically spring time. Herbs though, they were not going to grow back anytime soon. No, the vegetation was probably going to stay dry and the trees would turn orange, red, and yellow. She sighed softly as she crossed the plains, trying to see if she could find a tiny amount of herbs for the pack. She knew that one brute by the name of Gryphon didn’t think it was a good idea to raid, but medicine was essential. ooc; anybody from Talis is free to enter to come and socialize with Faine <3 Walk, "Talk" Think

Fern had been trotting across the plains, scanning the grass for any sort of small game, when a flash of crimson caught her eye. She turned her head, charm gently smacking her  on the eyelid. The wolf was familiar, a member who had joined at about the same time as her. She blinked it away before calling out to-- Faine, was it?
"Hello. You are Faine, aren't you? I'm Fern."
This was something rather out of the ordinary for Fern to do. She wasn't much of an extrovert. However, she possessed a very analytical mind, and acquainting herself with pack members seemed like an important thing to do, especially when they outranked her. In order to climb her way up the social ladder, she had to be liked by those above her. Never mind those below her.
Fern kept her blazing gold eyes on Faine, her tail waving gently, awaiting a response.

Faine heard somebody approaching, and it was somebody who she wasn’t too familiar with. Nonetheless, still a Talis member though. Her carmine eyes looked up to gaze at the older woman, who was just barely shorter than her. She asked if she was Faine, and introduced herself as Fern. “Yes, that’s me.” she said and offered a small smile, the femme was now a Blue Mage. She was unsure if Fern was still a Zygon or not, but maybe she would figure that. She hadn’t seen the fae around much, but maybe that’s just because Faine had her own duties to do now and she had been traveling quite often as well. “How are you liking Talis so far?” she asked. Walk, "Talk" Think

Fern could nearly see the assessment in the female's eyes. She was examining Fern, as much as Fern was examining her. The female was a bit larger than her-- well, taller. Faine was thin, with long, stick-like appendages. Probably a fast runner. Her scent was also worth noting, as it was strong and, Fern thought, a bit sickly. She disliked the scent of roses. They felt... fake. Like they were covering something up. Fern doubted that this female was hiding anything, as her demeanor was fairly kind and truthful. Maybe it was just Fern's imagination, but she decided to keep her guard up.
When Faine asked how she was liking Talis, Fern replied. "I'm rather enjoying it, actually. I don't know many members, but I like the way it's run. There's not much I disagree with so far." By 'not many members', Fern meant none. She'd been briefly acquainted with Dragon and now Faine, but other than that, she was a stranger. It wasn't a bad thing exactly, but she wanted to be known, respected, and perhaps a tad feared by all. In order to accomplish that, she had to socialize.
"How about you? You're new here too, right? How have you been so far?"
Fern felt the feather in her ear wave a bit in the wind, and made sure to keep her eyes light, innocent, hiding her thoughts. She knew how wolves operated, particularity when they were against her. She wouldn't let Faine see anything until she knew her better.

OOC: Don't mind Fern lol, she's just always on her guard *eye roll*

Faine nodded when the woman said that she liked it so far, mostly because of the way Dragon ran. She also stated that she still didn’t know many of the members, which Faine could slightly relate to. Though she did find herself being close to Dragon and Kharnage, and she did speak with the younger girl Jade. And Dragon even said that he could send his younger siblings her way for some healing training, which was nice. She felt like she was getting closer to that family, which she actually really appreciated since she never really got to enjoy that sense of family and such. Fern noted that she was new, and Faine guessed she couldn’t disagree. She was sure that soon there would be newer members, and by now she had been sticking to Talis for about a season now. Then again, who knew how long this pack had been running. “I do enjoy living here so far, it’s nice,” she said, “I suppose I’m still fairly new, but I did gain my rank as Blue Mage recently,” she said, which was now an official rank and made her a full-fledged member of the pack. She had fully sworn her loyalty to Dragon and Talis and she couldn’t wait to help out when it came to the raid. “I’m starting to acquaint myself with the wolves within this pack as well, I can assure you that so far the ones I’ve spoken to are pretty friendly,” she said and offered a small smile, “Have you gotten an official rank yet?” she asked. Walk, "Talk" Think

Damn.
Fern had been listening along, and had a response to Faine's words ("... did gain my rank as Blue Mage recently") while not disclosing her lower rank, but then she had to ask the question outright. Fern was still getting a feel for the female, but figured, thank goodness, she wouldn't be an abuser of lower ranks. Instead of playing with words and their meanings, Faine had asked Fern's rank outright, depriving her of the chance to use wordplay to bypass the question. Yes, this wolf wore a mask of kindness and truth, but was that wolf the same below? Deep down?
Well, Fern decided, there wasn't much else to do but continue the conversation. It wasn't as if she disliked talking to Faine. It had just been so long since she'd had permanent residence with a wolf that she didn't quite know how to act, didn't know how to form a relationship that wouldn't dissolve within a matter of days or weeks.
"That's good to hear. I'm glad they're friendly. And no, I haven't gotten ranked yet, but I have been speaking to a dragon yet. I'm hoping for Knight or possibly Talon."
She hadn't explicitly stated her current rank, but hoped to turn Faine's attention to the possibility of Fern having a high rank. Hopefully it was enough to keep Faine on her toes, instead of looking down her muzzle at Fern.

Faine nodded as Fern stated that she still hadn’t gotten her official rank yet, but she did plan on speaking with Dragon about it. Which was good, because from what she had heard from Dragon it seemed like many of the other wolves had been sitting on their asses. When she had talked to him about her own rank, he seemed rather impressed that she was the one who sought him out instead of him. “That’s good, I’m sure Talis will be needing more fighters and such to protect the younger wolves.” she said, as she could tell there were in fact many younger wolves in the pack. Most of them rounding to about a year old, and still even training. But soon enough perhaps they would be gaining their ranks too. The ruby sylph had also remembered that she was the only one to not be a “normal” mage, so she was already on top of her duties to becoming a Crimson Mage. Which was all she really wished for so far, because Dragon had said multiple times that she had been a huge help so far. Which was nice, it validated her purpose around the place and it made her aware that she had been helping out so far. “I’m hoping to get to Crimson Mage, I’ve always wanted to be a healer when I was a pup so to be one of the most helpful for the pack is my main goal.” she explained, “And with the herb shortage, I really think we need to get on with the raid. Hopefully, it’ll go through smoothly, because as far as I know, I don’t think there are many mages in this pack. Or if there are, they don’t seem to be doing as much as I have.” she admitted, which just a bit slightly disappointing. Walk, "Talk" Think

Fern listened carefully for any sign of hostility as Faine spoke. None. Fern looked deep into her carmine eyes and saw nothing there, either. The wolf appeared to not really care. She didn't seem as though she'd disrespect the lower ranks. There was no arrogance, no hostility shown in her eyes. Fern's shoulders relaxed just a tad, her tail lowering a bit.
A flicker of pride ignited in her gut when Faine mentioned that she'd be needed to protect Pack members. "Yes, I agree. It seems as though the majority of Talis is of the Fledgeling rank or just barely out of it."
When Faine remarked on wanting to be Crimson Mage, and how the Pack seemed to be shirking its duties, Fern couldn't help but agree to that as well.
"I hope to be promoted to Crimson Knight in the near future, and possible the leader of them all later on. After that, I don't know. I'll see what happens. Do you want to do anything else besides make it to Crimson?"

The other female also expressed that she wanted to make Crimson Knight. Which was fine considering she wasn’t a mage too or else there would be competition. Yet, Faine was not really the aggressive type unless it was absolutely necessary. Like, if she had to fight during the raid she would because it would help out Talis, but on a normal day she wouldn’t be really looking to pick a fight just because. The female then asked if she wanted to anything besides make it to Crimson and Faine shrugged, “I don’t think so,” she said, “If Dragon ever needs help and decides to continue promoting me, I suppose I’d take it because I enjoy helping out,” she said, “But I think Crimson Mage is really what I’m set on right now,” she added. Walk, "Talk" Think

Fern nodded along as Faine spoke. Faine's ambitions did seem high, but not nearly as high as hers. Despite what Fern had said, she knew that Crimson Knight wouldn't be where she'd stop. It would please her, yes. It would be a major milestone, yes. But she wouldn't be able to stay there for the remainder of her life. She hoped deep down to be promoted somewhere in Tier 2!or perhaps succeed Dragon himself and become Drakaina. Dragon was younger than her, so chances were slim, but they remained, tempting as succulent fruits dropping off the vine.
"Understandable. If you don't mind answering, I have a couple questions for you. I'm curious about how you came to Talis. What brought you here?"
Fern didn't think that Faine was pack-born, so the question seemed worth asking. Hopefully Faine replied; Fern was eager to hear about Talis members' lives and families.

The female decided that she wanted to ask Faine a few questions, which she didn’t mind. How had she come to Talis? “Kharnage invited me,” she said simply and shrugged, “I was looking for a place to call home and he just sort of showed up, he said that his brother was the alpha and such and he seemed pretty nice. So he told me about Talis and I joined,” it wasn’t a very exciting story but she didn’t regret it. She was glad she had run into the brute and appreciated his friendship. So far they had gotten along and such so that was good. Walk, "Talk" Think

Fern nodded along. A simple story, but interesting nonetheless. How had Kharnage found her? What had she been doing previously? All these questions entered Fern's mind, and she selected a few to ask next. Ones that wouldn't be to pushy, ones that wouldn't seem like Fern was trying to pry open the doors to Faine's past and peek inside.
"That's fascinating. How did you meet Kharnage? He's the one who spoke up at the raid meeting, wasn't he?" Fern remembered him in vivid color and vibrancy. Every word that left his mouth, Fern felt her gut leap to. She and him seemed to share many views. She made a mental note to speak to him next time she saw him. Tail flicking, Fern waited for the crimson woman to answer.

Faine didn’t really find it too amazing or fascinating, and Fern asked how she met Kharnage. Hadn’t she already sort of that question just now? Maybe Fern wanted her to be more specific or something, “I had just entered Auster and he was the very first wolf I met, he’s been my friend ever since then,” she explained, there really wasn’t much too it. They were still planning on traveling around Auster soon so they could get closer and such because so far he had seemed distant, but she was looking forward to it so they could scout for the resources and have their own alone time. She was mainly excited because Faine didn’t actually have a lot of friends in this pack, so the more bonding the better. “He approached me while I was at The Shimmering Shore,” she noted. Walk, "Talk" Think

Shimmering Shore. Fern hadn't thought she'd been there in her travels. It sounded rather pretty. Faine had said previously that Kharnage showed up out of nowhere, but was that all there was to the story? Fern thought it odd that a wolf would just pop up and invite someone to take permanent residence in their home. There had to be more. Faine hadn't really elaborated, so Fern decided to try a different question.
"Why did you decide to become a healer? Who taught you how to heal?" She knew that if Faine had come to the pack, she probably wasn't mentored. She was a relatively new member it seemed, and had already attained the rank of Blue Mage, so she must have had outside training.
A sudden image of Moreng appeared into Fern's mind, those green eyes that were always so obscure, so guarded, boring into hers.
A quick flick of Fern's ear sent the image away, heart racing. Damn. She'd locked him up, locked him away, closed a door in her memory she never wanted to open again. Perhaps it was this one-on-one conversation that had brought it back. It had been so long since she'd had company. Fern blinked a couple times, hoping her composure had remained stable, her thoughts hidden. She once again gave her attention to Faine as she began to speak.

OOC: Oops I'm so sorry I overlooked the out of nowhere part. I just tried to play it cool, ahah

The female then asked why Faine had become a healer, and who taught her to heal. Well she certainly did like to ask questions, but it was whatever, if she was trying to somehow bond with Faine then she guessed she didn’t mind. “My father was a healer,” she said, she couldn’t remember how many times she had told this story. “And he taught my mother everything he knew, so she taught me everything she knew,” she said. Because at first, she didn’t realize that her mother had been doing it really to keep her father’s legacy and intelligence around. Because there was the possibility that he was dead and maybe her brother was dead, so her mother’s thought process was probably that Faine was the only Sonora who was going to make it. It was an intelligent plan, and Faine hadn’t realized it until this year. It suited her well luckily, and her mother was lucky that she was already interested in healing instead of wanting to be something else. “She taught me mainly for survival purposes,” she said, not adding in the continuance of her legacy part, “And all the knowledge stuck to me, and I enjoy helping out other wolves so it suits me,” she added. Walk, "Talk" Think

Fern watched the woman closely as she told her story. So she'd had a father, and may still have a mother. She liked healing, felt it helpful. All right. It was a brief answer, but an answer nonetheless.
"Interesting," Fern remarked.
The growling of her own stomach make Fern flick her ears upright. Hunger had been gnawing at it for a while now. It was definitely time to eat. "Ah," she said, "It seems as though I need to eat. If you don't mind, I think I'll leave now, hunt some field mice or something. I suppose you could come too, if you'd like." Though Fern didn't particularily want company, she invited Faine anyway to be polite.

Faine flicked her tail as the female said that she was about to go and hunt down some field mice, “Sure,”  she said and shrugged. “Mice are small don’t you think?”  she asked, “If you want to bring down something a bit larger I could help out, only if you want to though,”  she said. Faine had been trying to sharpen her hunting skills but had only been sticking to smaller animals like rabbits and such. But why not take the time to work together as a team? The dark female was trying to make more friends and such, so maybe Fern would agree. Walk, "Talk" Think

Fern had been about ready to bolt off, not suspecting the gentle healer to take part in her little hunt, but alas, typical to Fern's luck, the woman accepted her offer. She suppressed a sigh, and instead plastered a faint smile to her face. "Yeah, you're right about that. Rabbit would be far better. I'd love your help, if you're willing to give it!"
Fern angled her body so that she'd be able to run off with or without Faine in a moment. Well, maybe not run. That was too hard. She awaited her answer as her stomach gurgled and growled. The thought of rabbit nearly made her drool.

Faine nodded as Fern decided that at least rabbit would be far better than mice. She flicked her tail, taking it as mice was a food for pesky felines anyways. She watched the older woman move and run away, though the run was not entirely a sprint, more of an easy jog. .The ruby sylph ran after her and could see an area across the plains that seemed untouched, at least not necessarily a place where any wolves had walked around. Perfect, a place where there was probably plenty of prey and such. She made her way over to that area and slowed down her pace once she neared the plot of land. Walk, "Talk" Think

Fern saw the crimson woman turn slightly and head for a grassy area that hadn't been trodden on by canine paws in quite a while. She definitely had the right idea; this was a perfect place for prey to hide.
Fern turned with her, jogging to a stop in front of the grassy patch. So now they either romped around the grass to try to flush the rodents out, or they waited. Fern would much rather romp. "What sort of technique do you prefer? I was thinking the simple flush-n'-grab. Basically I'll jog through the grass and you, since you seem fast, wait for the creatures to dash out into the open," Fern said. She eyed Faine, gold eyes glittering with the knowledge of hunting for years by herself.