Kasdeya had returned to Auster, to the Empire for no more than a few days. She had chosen a den in the Garden, and while there were many herbs there for her to choose from, she did have many furs and dried medicines that she wanted to retrieve from her old den. The Goddess made her way to Risen's old hunting grounds, though she was careful in her approach. She had booby traps that had been left behind, so she figured she ought to check them before she went back. She kept her eyes peeled and followed the same path in that she used to get out. Nets and trip wires, snares and pits all lied in wait for unsuspecting prey, but she would not be the one captured, oh no. Her many traps were generally reserved for prey animals, to make it easier for her to obtain the necessary resources she needed. Furs, bones, food for the pack...it was all necessary both for her use and for the packs use. The furs she mainly used for her den, as well as to hold small bundles of herbs. Bones she liked to use for decoration, and, occasionally, she liked to crush and add to her many experiments. The femme made it to her den, and there she proceeded to check her old stores to see what could still be used, and what needed to be thrown away. speech action

Panic fluttered in Gavroche’s chest as he looked up from the pit that he had fallen into. There was some sort of weird vines over him too… and the more he thrashed about the more ensnared he became. Houdini squeaked worriedly as she looked over at Gav, her red eyes flashing.

“This is bad…” She had been trying to gnaw through the ropes to no avail. They were too thick… “What are we going to do Gav?” She asked.

The winged wolf didn’t know. He was scared… He’d never gotten into a situation like this before. “Let me think…” The multicolored boy tried to get up, only to step on some of the rope and come crashing back down. He tried to throw his wings out, to push the rope out, but that didn’t really work either…

He was trapped.

She grumbled under her breath in frustration. It seemed she had been gone a little too long, leaving her herb stores unattended for that long had left her stores vulnerable to rodents. Most of her herbs had been chewed and destroyed, so she salvaged what little she could and left the den. She supposed she would have to go collect everything again, and she hoped that she had time in the season to do it. Though Auster was drying up, and snow had hit Boreas in full force. She was glad she brought what she could with her during her trip there, so she wasn't totally empty handed at least. She used the same path as before, only this time... the sound of movement caught her attention. She pricked her ears and listened, catching the vague sounds of a struggle. What was this? Had an animal fallen victim to one of her traps? She grinned, following the sound that led her to one of her pit traps. She wasn't prepared for what she saw, however. The woman peered in, and what she saw was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Eyes grew wide as she stared at the creature, but she quickly composed herself as she watched him struggle. She dropped the herbs she had on the ground, a sickly sweet smile forming. "Well well well...look what we have here," She lowered herself to the ground and crossed her forepaws over one another as she watched him. "So tell me, who fucked the chicken to make you?" As strange as this sight was, she was quite fascinated with him. speech action

Gavroche heard something approach and his struggles grew quiet. Wide eyed he looked up at a a stranger, a woman much bigger than he was himself. The multi-colored youth lowered his ears to his skull, a soft whine escaping his lips. He hated being helpless… having to rely on others to save him. Just like when Keno attacked him and his sister. That day still pained him… even Melanthios, who had a chance to become Keno's heir, had defended them… and after that Gav hadn't seen his littermates again.

Her sickly sweet smile and how the woman watched him made the young man uncomfortable. He lowered himself as much as he physically could to the ground, green eyes never once leaving her. “Both of my parents were wolves, ma'am.” The boy squeaked out. He knew he was in a vulnerable position. Did this woman set this trap here? Or did she play to play with him as a cat played with a mouse before killing it?

“We could use a paw, if you wouldn't mind.” Houdini was bolder in asking for help. She glanced at Gavroche with ears twitching. “The lad is hopelessly tangled in these things. He won't be able to get out on his own.” Gav gave a soft whine in response to her words. What if this wolf was dangerous? Normally Houdini was the one considering such things… but in this situation it seemed she ignored the potential danger.

"Both of my parents were wolves, ma'am" Oh? She craned her head a little more to get a better look at him. Two wolves produced one magnificent specimen. Though he was tiny, his wings were something special. Never in her life had she seen or heard of such a thing save for in myths and fairytales. But this? She was looking at a winged beast with her very own eyes. Her head snapped towards the sound of a smaller voice, eyes finding a little rat requesting aid for the boy. She almost wanted to laugh at it, but she held back. Quietly, he attention returned to the winged runt and she narrowed her eyes with thought. She didn't want to miss out on studying this boy. In fact, she wanted to keep him around for longer than a few minutes after she freed him from her own trap. Would he flee the moment she got him out? Or would she be able to convince him to stay? She would be pretty upset if the lad up and flew off without her having gotten the chance to study him...and brag about her little pet. Of course, she supposed she could always fetch Malleus and see what he thought...but she wanted to strike a deal on her own. Finders keepers, right? "Hmm...Well, I could help you...but what do I get out of it?" She cooed, her expression looking somewhat innocent though she was sure the boy could guess that she wasn't completely. speech action

I've got a new disease in me
I've got a friend that's losing sleep

Gavroche’s frown remained as the woman spoke again. So this woman wanted something in return for her help… well he supposed that was fair, wasn’t it? It wasn’t her fault he got caught in this trip, right? Little did he know she was the exact reason for it. His green eyes flashed with worry for a moment, at least until he noticed Houdini looking at him. There was a look in the rat’s eyes that he hadn’t ever seen before…

“Well Gav? What are you going to offer her in exchange?” The rat asked.

Gavroche’s heart flew into a flurry of panic. Offer her? What did he even have!? “But… I don’t have anything Houdini… a-and I can’t really hunt anything that big…” He was wary too. There was something about this lady that didn’t sit right with him. But right now she was his only chance of getting out of this trap.

“Think kid. So you don’t have anything physical to offer. What else ya got?” Houdini scurred up onto Gav’s shoulder. “Use that head of yours now… what do you always talk about in time of trouble?”

Gavroche shifted uneasily. “I…” He furrowed his brow. Did Houdini know something he didn’t?

“Well the God, Goddess, and Divinities but…”

Houdini sighed, getting fed up.

“Knowledge, Gav. You’ve got knowledge you can offer her.”

Gavroche’s green gaze shifted back to the woman.

“W-would that interest you? I could teach you about Foi and Majofionism… and anything else you might wanna know about the land I hail from. From what I’ve seen thus far the beliefs of others are quite different.” Gavroche lifted his head a little.

“I know a tiny bit about herbs too… Surely we can make a deal?”

I take it hard, it's hard to take
I'm wide awake, I'm wide awake

She watched as the rat and the winged creature spoke amongst themselves, picking up bits of their conversation. It seemed the boy didn't have much to offer, and she was almost inclined to just leave him there. But as the boy and his pet seemed to finally decide on something to offer, her brows furrowed. "Foi and Majofionism? What on earth are those? The only god she knew was the Fallen God, and she didn't care for much else. Though she was somewhat curious about it if only to see what kind of deities these mortals believed in. She was skeptical, to say the least, but she also knew that whatever the boy said wouldn't sway her mind from the one that ruled them all. She quieted for a long moment as she thought, then promptly stood up. "I don't rightly care much about what you believe in, the Fallen God rules all things. However, if you know at least a little bit about herbs then perhaps you can help me." She gazed at him for a moment before disappearing from view. She headed to one of the nearby trees that she had tied one end of her trap net to, tugging at the knot she had and pulling away from the tree, which in turn, brought the net up to straighten out again as much as it could. Glancing at the net, she frowned when she realized she would probably have to replace the whole thing. Wandering back to him, she cut loose some of the vines that were wrapped around him, at least enough for him to scamper back to solid ground...or fly, whatever he preferred. She tsked as she worked on cutting some of the vines with her teeth, "Well, I guess I'm going to have to replace this whole thing. That's more work than I'd like to do," A dramatic sigh left her after she seemingly scolded the young boy. But alas, this encounter was definitely worth losing a net. speech action

Gavroche frowned as the woman responded. Fallen… God? He’d never heard tale of such a being, but he didn’t want to insult her by asking more about it. He stayed still, breath held as she disappeared. Then the net was brought up with him in it. Gav squeaked softly in surprise, glancing back down at the hole he’d been in a moment before. Houdini made sure to hold onto him too, her red eyes narrowed some.

It was only once he had been set free that Gavroche slipped onto solid ground and stretched his wings with relief. Thank goodness! His green gaze slid gratefully to the woman and the young man dipped his head respectfully. “Thank you ma’am.” He lowered his ears a little as she scolded him though. “Sorry… If you show me how I could help make a new one?” He suggested softly. “...among helping you with the herbs of course.” He added quickly.