ooc: set before encounter with Esarosa

It was an average spring day - the sun glared down on her alabaster pelt whilst the sky appeared bluer than usual and the insects hiding within the blades of grass skittered and buzzed energetically. The openness felt strange; she was so used to the the eastern forest she had grown up in. Like today, the plains were where she mainly wandered, preferring to stick to the grasslands that grew more familiar with each passing day. If she wasn't around Miksa she found herself on her own, occasionally hunting to pass the time or lumbering through the lush grass. It wasn't like the treks she had taken back at in the east. She remembered awaking early when a cloak of ebony still covered the sky and creeping out to the bay where the sun rose. A smile crept to her features as she recalled those warm, happy memories, though a heavy feeling of homesickness pushed into her mind. Was it normal to still miss her old home and family? It was all so long ago; sometimes she wondered if it had all really happened. "Speech"

Zuriel sniffed at a small, budding Yarrow plant as a small smile touched her lips. It was a little young to be harvesting from still, but she made a mental note to keep checking back on it. She knew Reg's friend liked gardening. Perhaps she could ask her about some tips to help plants grow. It took so much time to hunt down individual plants. Maybe it would be better if she grew some of the more useful ones here... She hummed thoughtfully to herself as she lifted her head to glance around the plains again. The wind picked up a bit and ruffled her fur, but the breeze was warm and pleasant so she didn't mind. She smiled again and closed her two-toned eyes to enjoy it. A wolf's scent caught her attention and she opened her eyes again, glancing to her left slightly till her eyes landed on the pale woman that had been at the healing training Kavdaya held. Varda! That's right. Zuriel wondered sometimes how she could remember every herb she had ever come across and still have such a hard time with names. She chuckled softly to herself at her own thought. She looked down at the Yarrow again, making a note of where it was so she could come back to it later. She knew her mother would like for her to socialize more, especially since they were all officially part of a pack now. She made her way toward Varda, her pace not really a hurry of any kind. "Hello again!" she called cheerfully as she got closer. "Talk" "You" Think

A feminine form cloaked in monochromatic grey and ebony approached in the corner of her vision. She swivelled her head around to lay her bicoloured gaze on the younger female who greeted her with a welcoming smile. Zuriel, wasn't it? One of the Archangel's children? Wow, she knew so many of them already. There was Regulus as her fellow hunting mentor and Baine, their apprentice. At the thought, a wave of envy and depression flooded over her again. They had their large, happy family, and what did she have? No-one. Her family was gone. All she had left was a friend, and in way that friend was more loyal than any of her lost family. For a moment she wondered why the woman was approaching her, though she soon remembered that was what civilised canines did - they socialised with one another. It had been a while since she had conversed with an unfamiliar wolf, so it wasn't a surprise to find her social skills a bit rusty. She had been spending more time with Miksa, and to be honest she felt like she clung to him like a leech. That wasn't too creepy, was it? Spending a lot of time around her friend? Well, in her fantasies he was more than a friend, but there was no way that would ever become a reality. She could leave her thoughts a little secret. "Hello," she greeted with a smile and a dip of her head. "Zuriel, is it?" "Speech"

She was glad to see that the other woman's response was friendly and that she didn't seem bothered by her sudden greeting. She returned Varda's smile and dipped her head as well before nodding to confirm that her guess was right at her name. "That's right. And you're Varda, right? I've had such a hard time remembering everyone's name since the pack formed." she chuckled softly to herself as she tried to make conversation. She certainly wasn't the most social of wolves. The greatly preferred herbs to wolves. She wasn't sure how Baine did it, talking all day to anyone and everyone. But, she knew she was going to have to interact with others eventually if she was going to live in a pack like this, so why not try now? "You're a hunter right? I was wondering if you'd mind me hunting with you sometime to try picking up some tips from you. All I ever study is herbs and healing so my hunting skills have fallen to the way side a bit. Which can become a bit problematic as I'm sure you can imagine. I can't live off herbs." She chuckled again and smiled, looking to Varda curiously to see if she'd mind lending her a paw. Perhaps they could exchange information and training if Varda was interested in healing at all. "Talk" "You" Think

It was a relief to hear she had gotten the other woman's name right; her memory wasn't failing just yet. Her own name had been guessed correctly, and she was quite impressed by that. She was new to the pack and already most of her unfamiliar pack-mates knew her name! "Yes," she confirmed with a nod, forcing a smile onto her features when the female described the difficulty of learning everyone's names. Easy for her to say - half the pack was her family. Except for Miksa and Creed, everyone was a stranger for Varda, though she aimed to change that. "It's hard, isn't it?" she asked, hoping to keep the conversation going. "I think I know everyone's." Alabaster ears perked at the word 'hunter', for her interest was always piqued when the topic of hunting was brought up, and she listened intently to what the ebony and grey female had to say. It seemed she was a healer though as a result was rusty with her hunting. She already had Baine, her sister, to teach, but she supposed another apprentice wouldn't hurt. The Destruction wanted to make a good first impression on her new pack-mates to ensure she'd earn a respected reputation. "Sure, I'd love to teach you," she replied with a light, elegant chuckle. "As long as you teach me a bit about healing in return. I'm hopeless at it. Deal?" "Speech"

Zuriel smiled as Varda agreed to teach her some things in hunting, her tail wagging gently behind her. Varda seemingly read her thoughts and continued on to offer her a deal of hunting training in return for some training in healing. Zuriel grinned and nodded in agreement to the offer. "Of course! I actually enjoy teaching as long as whoever I'm teaching wants to learn so I'm more than happy to." It was funny to her that healing and hunting were two things that wolves needed to live healthy lives for the most part and yet it was very rare to find a wolf that excels in both those things. "I'm glad Celestial at least has one great hunter. It's definitely a skill I've neglected. I'm not sure why, since none of us would survive without food!" She chuckled softly, smiling pleasantly at her new acquaintance. "Talk" "You" Think

It seemed they both had the same plan in mind - teaching hunting in exchange for a healing lesson and vice versa. The Destruction woman was quite pleased, if not a little excited, over how well their encounter had turned out. She loved teaching others and learning from them, especially since her new pack-mates were bound to know things her family hadn't passed down to her. "Sounds like a plan!" she confirmed with a nod and soft giggle. With erect ears, she listened as the other woman continued to speak, seeming quite relieved that Celestial had one hunter. Pack hunts were mandatory, if she recalled correctly (and she organised them so she should know!), so everyone would have to participate. Many wolves knew how to hunt, though decided it wasn't their best interest and persuaded another field. "I'm glad Celestial has three healers," she stated with a chuckle. "Threar only had one." And he hadn't exactly been healer material either. "Speech"

Zuriel chuckled when Varda mentioned the unusually high number of healers that Celestial seemed to have. "If they were all my family members I'd say it runs in the family. My grandmother was a great healer. She's the one that inspired me to get into healing and she taught me most of the stuff I know now when I was really young." She smiled at the memories she had from when she was a pup, learning the basics of healing from Erani. They had been some of her best memories. "Did something in particular get you into hunting? Or is it what you enjoy the most?" she asked, genuinely curious about the other woman's background. It had been so long since she had interacted with anyone that wasn't her family so she was very interested to see how other wolves thought. Her family was very polarized to being either fighters or healers with just her little sister as an exception and even Báine didn't really aspire to be a hunter. "Talk" "You" Think

The Destruction listened with interest as the other woman explained how healing quite possibly ran in her family. She described her grandmother being an excellent healer, who had also taught her at a young age. A small smile blossomed to her alabaster features at the thought though melancholy momentarily arose. She hadn't ever met her grandparents and she couldn't remember much about them either. They had moved to Threar like her, though soon died of a sickness. She wished she could have known them; perhaps they knew old yet useful hunting techniques that she could have learnt. "I think it was a hunt I did as a pup with my brothers," she responded to the female's inquiry, trying to recall the fuzzy memories. "They eventually had to team up to find the prey. I did it all by myself." A chuckle left her lips. "My father also influenced me. He always helped me polish my hunting skills." He was gone too. In fact, everyone was gone. "Speech"