he was still uncertain where he was going to put his den, but at least the water was chalked full of fish to catch for Abaven. Benedict liked the cool air coming from the water - even if the rapids were a bit low from the humidity. perhaps he'd put his den somewhere nearby with a nice view of the rushing water. but he knew he'd probably make it somewhere near the others' dens. a few had approached him so far, asking questions and things like that, but he didn't have any... deeper connection to the people of the pack. many were a family, and the young man felt awkward trying to move in on anything. Benedict would do his part and leave it at that. there was no need to get complicated and certainly no reason to stand out aside from hunting for the pack. he was a simple man with simple needs. yawning, he was curled up a few feet away from the rapids. the afternoon sun had turned to the evening dusk. it made the area more bearable. mindful if another approached him, he'd rest his head on his paws for now and try to relax. he still had not recovered from the journey to this place. it was just one thing after another, having no need to stop and rest until now. his eyes felt heavy as he lay there, though he fought to keep them open. he didn't want anyone in the pack to think he was free-loading.

Shaye Destruction Rhyme had told her about Benedict, and she gave him a chance to sleep before she would seek him out. She was pleased that another hunter had made their way to Abaven, it was a skill they needed at the moment. She would catch the strangers scent by the rapids, and would follow it to find the light-toned man with his head in his paws, looking out across the water. He was lying down, so it was hard to tell, but she figured she had a few inches on him in height. She moved up beside him, making noise with her paws long before she got there, so she would not startle him. “Like the view?” She asked of the man, a smile in her voice as she took a seat beside him, her own eyes cast out across the rapids. The water was still slow-moving compared to usual, and the bumpier places cast only a smattering of sprey. She missed the full-bodied rapids that ran through here in winter. Of course, it made it more dangerous for the pups, but at least when the rapids where full they had not had to fear fire. "Speech"

his eyes snapped open, more alert at the gentle tone. he could feel someone settling next to him, the scent female and unknown. he'd turn his head to look at yet another more exotic patterned wolf, similiar to Rhyme - though Benedict hadn't seen the alpha's patterns in the dead of night. he wasn't a feline. he couldn't see in the dark. his head would dip after realizing this woman meant him no harm. nor was she a trespasser; no, she looked quite content and relaxed in this area. perhaps a longtime member of Abaven. "ye" his deep tone replied to her, a slight nod given. he'd look back to the waters. "s' peaceful here" sometimes large crowds made him nervous, which is why he wasn't really where the dens and other Abavians were right now. Ben was still getting used to being around people again. he was fine with one or two at once, but like like the sheer members that this pack had. "m' Benedict" he'd add to the woman, realizing they hadn't met before. his head turned back to her, a friendly smile gracing his lips. "just joined, er, yesterday."

Shaye Destruction His strange accent interested her, and it took her a moment to hear the words beyond it. “We try, through we don’t always succeed” she mused at his comment on the serenity of Abaven. It might seen peaceful now, but that was because things were only just getting back into normality. Now, you could finally take a deep breath and not smell smoke in the air. It would be a long time before the thicket was regrown, but they had started the process. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Benedict, I’m Shaye Destruction” She introduced herself in turn. “You met my Alpha partner yesterday” [/color] she would go on to explain, pushing them gently into the subject of pack and ranks. That was after all why she was here, through just getting to know the members was part of it. “Rhyme said that you wished to be a hunter in Abaven” she said, giving him a welcoming smile, and indicating with her silence that he could full her in on anything he wished to add. "Speech"

he could only agree. sometimes life threw curveballs, and you were expected to swing regardless of the outcome. he'd murmur softly, nodding his head to her words. only when the woman formally introduced herself did his head lower to respect her station. "ye, Alpha Rhyme mentioned you" he'd say, his smile growing "s' good to meet ye, Alphaess Shaye." she went right to business, asking about the rank he had been given by Rhyme. it was a formality and he didn't expect anything else. "huntin' is what I'm good at" fighting less so, even if he could defend himself if push came to shove. it was easier than clashing fangs and claws. he knew what to do, what was expected of him. either he brought down the food and ate, or he didn't and starved. there was a clear outcome compared to battle. there was rarely any winners in a fight. "though I can patrol just fine" he'd chuckle. there was nothing wrong with his legs, after all. "if ye like, I can take a few Abavians huntin' sometime..." he was asking her permission to do a hunting patrol. Benedict couldn't hope to down a large animal by himself, and the pack needed food. regardless of his meager rank, he wanted to help.

Shaye Destruction He would explain that hunting was where his skills lay, but that he could patrol, and lead hunts. She gave a thoughtful head tilt, occasionally they had hunters running patrol, but mostly they left that to the warriors. “If you want in on the patrol roster Rhyme would be the one to talk to about that, he organises the patrols.” she explained to their newest wolf. ”As for leading hunts - we have two Drosera’s who often do this, however due to current circumstances, our stores are very low. You could perhaps prove yourself and find yourself working your way up the ladder faster than usual at the moment.” she explained. It still hurt that they had lost the majority of their stores in the fire, and that Brandr’s hard work building a cellar had been lost in damages. “So if you wanted to take out some hunters, I would allow it” she concluded. He was new, so it would be a lot of trust, but that was Shaye’s way. She believed in the good of people, and gave them room to prove themselves. "Speech"

"rank don't interest me if it ain't earned" the man would reply politely and honestly. he took Shaye's words to heart, that she trusted him to lead a patrol but wouldn't do such a thing yet. Benedict didn't know how these lands worked, that higher tier hunters lead patrols and not just who was available. he'd chuckle softly, shaking his head. "can hunt by m'self though, and bring in smaller prey until I can get on a patrol." he promised, having recalled the fish he had brought back earlier today. he wasn't going to overstep people who obviously worked very hard to gain their rank, and had more experience than he did. Ben had been ignorant, and now he knew. he shot the woman a grateful look. "but I'll talk t' Rhyme, ye" whenever he could, for alphas were always busy with routine and making them. "what're ye in charge of, Shaye? so I... don't make a mistake later" he'd chuckle, admitting his own shortcomings easily. "and who are the, uh, lead hunters?" he realized he was overflowing with novice questions but you had to start somewhere.

Shaye Destruction She tilted head to him in surprise, and then gave a slight chuckle as she realised he must be accustomed to a different way of things. “Patrols aren’t related to hunting” she explained when he spoke of getting onto a patrol like it would be a part of a larger hunt. “Patrol's run security on the borders, looking for anomolies or tresspasses” she explained to him. “We share most of the authority, but Rhyme specialises in fighting, so fills in some of the things we need until we get a lead warrior. I don’t specialise in anything persay, I am whatever the packs needs me to be in the moment. But I suppose if anything, its diplomacy” she said, concealing her smile. Rhyme could have a short temper, and didn’t always think, but charged head first into something. It was a shortcoming that had gotten her fellow leader into trouble more then once. “Brandr and Allegro are the hunters in charge” she would explain at his question. “They’ve both been very busy after the fire, and haven’t called a group hunting session yet.” she would have to follow up on that, Abaven needed the food. "Speech"

"ah, where I come from... it's called a hunting patrol and a border patrol" he'd explain, realizing she looked confused at his words. they had specific ranks but not so specific rules compared to Abaven. anyone could take a border patrol or a hunting patrol out that was able-bodied. nobody was above or below helping out the pack whenever they could. "I must look t' fool though haha." which he didn't want. he made a promise to hunt, and he wasn't going to do anything else or overstep during his time here. Benedict started, eyes flashing wide at the mention of a fire. "fire? pardon me?" he'd exclaim, looking around the area as if to expect to see hungry flames licking at the lush environment. "I... had no idea" how foolish he really was looking, to not have noticed or heard of this. granted, nobody had talked to him about the fire before Shaye. no wonder the alpha was willing to let a newcomer hunt for them; they must have lost quite a bit of cache. his eyes closed in sympathy. "is everyone okay?" he expressed concern in his new pack mates, and wondered if he could do anything to help recover.

“Ahh” she said in understanding as he would go on to explain himself. She liked to hear the different way other packs did things. “We call them a patrol for patrolling the borders, and a hunt is just a hunt” she explained with a smile. “I like your terminology however, and no, you don’t look the fool. Everyone has a different way of doing things.” she paused then, shuffling as she got comfortable beside him, feeling this conversation was going to be longer than intended, and enjoying his company. “I actually never anticipated becoming an Alpha, I never learned the ropes as a pup. I came back to my childhood home to find that the pack was about to be dissolved, so I took on the task of leading it. Since then, I've been making it up as I go.” she explained.

She shook her head in amusement at herself. “That, as well as different areas, lead to different terminology at the least, and a whole different way of life at the most.” so a little difference between their wordings was hardly going to phase her. “Yes.. if you head to the thicket you’ll see our charred land. We lost one of our herb gardens, and out main store of food” she explained, eyeing going bleack as she considered it. “But most of all, we lost a wolf. Storm. She was very, very old, and I had not known she had gone into the thicket. Losing her is my biggest regret in the fire. Everything else we can rebuild, but we can never undo the taking of a life.”

he was grateful for her words. "it was m' parents' pack" he added in with a soft sigh, having waited for Shaye to completely finish with her words before speaking up. the fire was difficult to process, especially the loss of an elder. "an'one could join one, regardless of what they specialized in. it showed initiative, n' fluid ranks" Benedict explained. his folks hadn't wanted to restrict anyone doing what they wanted to do in a fleeting moment. "suppose it didn't help in the end." he shook his head sadly, recalling the raid and the absence of the soldiers supposed to protect them. he had been too weak to protect his own parents, and they fell before him. "ye'll have to show me where she's buried" he went on to say, trying to take Shaye's mind off of the loss of their elder. "if ye bury wolves here, that is" Benedict didn't want to assume what they did with their customs. sometimes wolves even sent bodies out to sea in a more northern tradition. "so I can pay m' respects to her" he'd add in softly. he may not have known this wolf, but it didn't change anything. a life was to be celebrated, even after death. especially if the death was tragic. "in t' meantime, I'll do what I can to feed yer people, Shaye."

“I do still support learning multiple skills, I have fighters who take healing lessons, and I said that you as a hunt could join our warriors in patrol.” she said, not wanting him to think that Abaven’s ranks where rigid. She definitely support the idea of people learning other skills.
“I’m sorry” she said, hearing the loss in his voice, and guessing the pack of his parents did not have a happy ending. “I’ll have to find out where her family buried her” she looked old as she glanced over at Benedict again then. She realised she had no idea where Corentine would have put the grave. What with keeping everyone else alive, and then her frantic attempts to get food stores and herbs, she hadn’t stopped to ask that question until now. She felt ashamed at her inattention, she had not gone to Storm’s grave and placed flowers there to grow. She would have to rectify that.

“Thank you Benedict, and if you need anything just let me know” she said to their newest hunter, already feeling herself lost in her thoughts. She still had so much to do, and she knew that some of the pains was still to catch up with her. She was yet to cry over Storm, she just hadn’t had the time.

"I do know defensive fightin' " he'd say, realizing Rhyme probably already told her that before the two of them met properly. "I... I cannae harm others, is all" he probably sounded like a weakling, too scared to lift a paw to an aggressor "unless they deserve it" his voice carried on, firmly in resolve. "t' be honest, it'll take some time to learn all yer pack has to offer. I haven't walked with others in two years." he didn't think Abaven was rigid, just very exotic and there was so much to gain. or lose. "but thank ye" he'd say to her condolence, smiling slightly at the ground before them. the death and loss had been bloody, without a purpose behind it other than gaining more land and killing. "n' I'm sorry. about Storm" he wouldn't have thought her weak if she felt the need to weep for her packmate. "if ye need an' help, lemme know as well. I'll... try to do what I can fer Abaven." potentially for Shaye and Rhyme too. heck, for everyone who had welcomed him so far. he wondered if the fish he had caught had been eaten yet. maybe he should eat too, to keep his strength up.

She was a little surprised to hear how he did not wish to harm others, but only liked him more for it. He would fit in well to Abaven then, for his desire not to bring harm to others. Of course, she and Rhyme and their other fighters couldn’t afford such thinking, not when they had to defend what they loved. Despite that, she didn’t judge Benedict for his choices.

“Then entering a large pack like Abaven must be a shock” she mused thoughtfully, as he mentioned his solitude, she could only imagine it had to do with the way his parents pack had ended. Likely he had had a rough few years, and she was glad he had found his way to Abaven.

“Thank you Benedict. Perhaps you would like to go on a hunt with me? I haven’t had a two person hunt in a very long time, so i fear i’m a bit rusty” she would both offer, and edmit.

he'd chuckle softly at the shocking part. the sheer number would take some getting used to, true. "yes, but I'll manage" he assured her. he wasn't going to run off any time soon if Abaven had been so kind as to let him into their gate. "can always go to m' den if I feel overwhelmed." he doubted anyone would bother him while he was there. they still seemed a bit wary of him, the newcomer, and he didn't fault them for it. especially hearing about the fire and losing one in their ranks. Shaye did offer to hunt with him, causing a pleasing smile to spread across his lips. "sure, I'd be honored" he only hoped he didn't mess up when she was watching. that wouldn't exactly look good for him, would it? he pulled a thoughtful face, rising to sit on the back of his legs. "how about findin' some rabbit?" a nice, fat rabbit would be easy to catch between the two of them. they tended to be a bit slow if faced with multiple scents too.

“A rabbit sounds perfect” she would agree to his suggestion, watching as he pushed himself into a sitting position. She looked towards the slowly gurgling rapids once more, before pushing herself fully upwards with a sigh. She mentally categorised everything she needed to do, find Storms grave and leave flowers, and speak to Allegro and Brandr about starting group hunts to make up their stores.

An Alpha job never stopped, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy a hunt with her newest member. “Should we head over to the Plains? we’d probably have better luck there” she suggested, wondering if he had explored the other two Abaven terratories yet.

pushing himself fully to all fours, he'd turn and wait for Shaye to suggest a place. seeing as they had talked for a bit here, he figured they scared away all the prey. he would recommend fish, but he'd brought fish back before. Abaven may want a variety. the alpha was agreeable to his suggestion though, asking if he could move to the plains. he'd nod to her. "lead on" because she was his superior and also because she knew where she was going. he'd only ever be to the rapids the most. Abavenian territory was still foreign to him. prepared to walk with Shaye to the plains, he'd run over the best way to catch a rabbit with two hunting partners in his mind before they moved on. / EXIT, MOVING TO NEW THREAD