Sigleif had been reunited with her brothers, and all seemed right in the world. Of course, several were still missing, but she didn't think it was too much cause for alarm. Sig had faith that her sister had found them, perhaps, and she could hold her own. Sig spent long nights convincing herself that maybe Sin had gone home, back to Valeriya with Vaska and Demyan in tow. She was fine, because if the boys had been fine then certainly they all were too. She tried not to think to deeply on it, or for too long. Alarik and Dom were near enough that she could find them again, and Diar had shown up too. They were going to be okay. Well... As long as she didn't gorge herself on these fruits. Sigleif had never expected she'd love eating anything so much as meat, but lapping at the sweet fleshy insides of apples, peaches, and plums had made her second guess that. Their sticky juices had clumped up the fur of her snout and neck and forearms, but she was hardly bothered by it. Grooming later was just one more thing to look forward to now. She wondered where Al and Dom had gotten off to, because she had a sneaking suspicion that the young males would love to join her. This is it, she thought. I'm never going to get up again. "Talk" "You" Think

That Sea is just a Gambler at Heart

Dómari was happy than he'd been in quite some time after being reunited with his family.  He felt like he could do anything and of course there was the sense of peace at last that came from feeling like you had a place to belong to.  Dómari had taken less to wandering as a result.  Deep down he still couldn't shake the feeling that if he went off exploring again he was going to wind up separated from his family, maybe for good this time.  

The Orchard was providing plenty of distraction anyway.  The boy was getting back into herbs since his run in with a knowledgeable, if odd-tempered, fox.  He needed a teacher though, someone who could give him further instruction than the basics he'd managed to pick up though he had no clue how to go about finding one.  Well, all the same.  He knew about Lamb's Ear so that was what he was looking for.  A minor bandage and treatment for small wounds Dómari thought it might be good to have some on hand before asking Diarmuid if the man would train him more in fighting.

As he trotted through the Orchard he spied his sister.  "Siggy!  Siggy, what are you doing?  What are you eating?  Is it any good?"
   

After spending the day in the orchard with Dómari the other day, Alarik found himself itching to return. He may not have known much when it came to herbs and things, but that didn't make the place any less interesting. In fact, it may have been made more interesting by the fact that he didn't know the names of all the plant life that the area teemed with. But he wasn't foolish. He knew that if he had no knowledge of a particular herb, then he shouldn't go around eating them. Dómari had a better understanding of which herbs were safe and which could be harmful. But Alarik still felt that he could enjoy himself if he made the trip to the orchard alone today. After all, he didn't want his brother thinking he was clinging to him like some dependent pup. But as it happened, the Xanilov family ended up in the same place anyway. And when Alarik landed his eyes on his big sister, he knew exactly why she had come. Last fall, during his time alone, he had found a place with a grand apple tree. It had been overflowing with fruit at that time of year, and the grass had been littered with treats. He knew how sweet and delicious the fruits were, and when he saw the other kinds of fruit scattered around Sigleif, his tail wagged excitedly behind him. He wanted to try them all. Sigleif looked full enough to burst; surely she wouldn't mind sharing. Just as Alarik was increasing his pace, he heard the voice of his brother calling out, asking what she was eating and if it was any good. "I don't know about these things," Alarik called out as he approached his sister and nudged at a discarded peach and plum, but then he picked up a ripe apple in his jaws and playfully bowed toward his brother, rump swinging in the air. "Buh dese ahre delishuss!" he exclaimed, trying to talk around the fruit in his mouth. He laughed a bit at himself and plopped down in the grass near Sigleif, laying down and setting the apple between his paws to hold it steady as he took a generous bite. And oh, the taste was even better than he remembered. Perhaps these apples were a different kind. Juicier, and sweeter. Alarik smiled at his siblings, very happy with the turn today had taken. "Talk" "You" Think

Kassander and his companions had ventured out of the Crew pack lands with the intention of harvesting some of the necessary ingredients for their next batches of alcohol. Remy clung to the fur of his shoulders, but the constant rocking motion of a wolf's long-range lope had put the little lemur to sleep, and the primate only continued to cling by reflex. Rommel kept up well though foxes weren't made for the same long-ranging nature as a wolf. Long years together and more height than most foxes gave him something of an advantage there.

They arrived in the Orchard in good time, and he couldn't help but remember sadly of when this had all belonged to Valentine. How Katja had traded some of his alcohol for the right to collect a harvest from these trees from the handsome alpha. How strange to think that Chaos was Valentine's child, youngest child at that, yet old enough to hold a pack of his own. Goodness he was getting old. His sisters had probably settled down with families and kids of their own, wherever they were. Svetlana, and Val, and Sindri. Last he had heard Svet was in Fiori but she had never sought him out, and he thinking she didn't want to see him because of what happened to Sigmarr had left her alone. He didn't think she was sill there, though, there being no trace at all of her scent in Fiori's markers last he had been near. It bothered him that he didn't know her fate or that of his other sisters, or his adopted sisters and brothers. Was he the only one left alive from his family now?

Voices suddenly intruded on his morose thoughts, as he dropped another apple carefully into one of the baskets he pulled behind him on a primitive hide sled. He tried to edge away, not wanting to disturb the strangers, but the hide caught on a protruding root and nearly toppled the baskets, and the resulting racket of catching and righting them would have undoubtedly caught their attention anyway even if it hadn't woken Remy up so that the lemur squeaked indignantly at him.

He gave the three strangers a swift sidelong glance through the thin tree cover between them and him, but habitual anxiety kept his eyes from meeting theirs, wavering more at the level of chest and shoulder, so he didn't see or yet realize the familiar facial markings they each bore in their own way. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you," he stammered out a soft apology to the young wolves. "It wasn't my intention."