A trio of lemmings swung from Gwen's jaws as she trotted back through the plains towards the moor. She'd found them on her way back from patrol and was quick to snatch them up. She'd bring them to the pups, the first time they would have full carcasses to deal with. It wasn't much of a meal even for young pups, but she had other food for them as well. These would likely end up as much of a chew toy and a mess as anything else, but they had to start learning to deal with whole carcasses eventually, the sooner they got to practice the better. She stopped for a drink at a stream not far from the meeting rock. It was a long patrol, so she was more than happy to drop the lemmings beside the stream and lap at the warm trickle of water. It was beginning to get hot, heralding the upcoming summer, though luckily she didn't have as heavy a coat as many wolves and she'd grow used to patrolling in the again heat before long.

She lay beside the stream for a short rest, panting as she thought. It wasn't long now that the pups would be looking for more training than she could give them. Though the pack's official apprenticeship wasn't offered until they were yearlings, she hoped she could see if Paladin would be willing to teach Geoffrey and Viviane before then. Both were enthusiastic about the idea of healing, not particularly interested in learning to fight, and she didn't know much of anything about healing. She could teach them the very basics, but she had a feeling they would very quickly outpace anything she had to offer them, and grow bored. She was much better equipped to handle her other three's early training.

For part of the morning he'd been patrolling along the wall, keeping an eye out for whatever unusual things might signal a problem or a threat to the pack. Fortunately, nothing seemed to jump out. In fact, it was all dreadfully quiet. Unfortunately that left him looking for more ways to be productive as the sun climbed higher and the heat of the day approached to cook him in his dark pelt.

Usually he could go a good long while without ever accidentally running into anyone, a fact that made Amos a little sad at times since he really did prefer the company of others. That was why he was rather surprised when he spotted someone he recognized as Gwenevere up ahead. Mismatched eyes widened just a bit before the usual wide grin found it's way to his lips and Amos approached with his tail wagging gently. "Hello, Gwenevere," he called out before coming to sit nearby. He hadn't really thought of what else to say in his excitement to finally have a chance at properly meeting someone else he'd yet to get a one-on-one conversation with.

Thinking about the future would have to take second place to the present, as her reverie was interrupted by a voice calling out a greeting to her. Gwen blinked herself back to focus on the dark face and multicolor eyes of Amos. A welcoming smile came after recognition did. "Amos, hello," she returned with amusement. She studied the young wolf for a moment, remembering her recent resolve to get to know him better. He was one of the most recent additions to the pack, but since they hadn't had any new members in quite some time he'd been there for quite long enough that she should have sought him out long before this. Well, she wouldn't waste the opportunity now that it had been dropped into her lap. Mana from heaven. "How have you been, Amos? I apologize for not having made more time to meet you properly before now."

Shaking his head immediately he dismissed the apology with a quick and sympathetic reply, "Oh, don't worry about it. I'm sure you've been busy and I'm just as much at fault. I rather like good company but I still haven't gotten to know anyone all that well." His tone was sheepish but he made no excuses his own shortcomings. Not like he had important tasks like raising pups to keep him busy.

"In the interest of doing better though, would you be interested in sparring with me or observing a spar sometime in the near future?" The idea got him excited, no matter what option she picked he was always excited to get more experience in his chosen path. Canting his head, Amos added, "Though I would like to dabble in other things. Fighting is my favorite thing to learn about but I should probably work on other things too..."

Gwen nodded as he spoke about being social, but not having sought anyone out. "I know that feeling quite well," she said wryly. "Celestial is much quieter than I would like it to be, I'm afraid, though I can see no easy way for me to spark activity until Aurielle is able to be more involved." She sighed, then shook her head and smiled. "But I would absolutely love to spar with you. I will have to get Laisren and Justice and the two of us together and do some spars. We're all getting awfully rusty." She chuckled. "My pups are getting old enough that I'd like them to start getting some experience as well, and a few of them are interested in fighting so it would be a good chance for them to observe warriors in a real spar."

Amos shrugged, "I suppose there's only so much you can do if Aurielle's busy, but fight training does sound like a good start." He really wished he knew why Rielle was always busy. Yes, her family had only recently reconnected after being split apart, but it'd been a very long time and yet he felt like he could never find her anywhere. It was a little bit saddening to have the girl who he admittedly had probably joined the pack to get closer to just fade into the background.

The smile he hadn't noticed faded would return as he emerged from his own thoughts and looked back to Gwen. "That'll be cool for them. I always wanted to watch others spar when I was little," he mused, thinking back to his childhood. Sometimes he got a peek of his father and Feli training, but his mom never really participated since it was pretty clear she didn't much care for Ruthgar.

"Yes," she sighed simply. She wouldn't voice any concerns to the pack's members about the alpha - it was her job to support Aurielle, and that was what she would do, not make the pack doubt their leader. She summoned a smile for him, dismissing the worries with a faint shake of her head. "I'm sure the healers would agree that we're all getting too little exercise. It will be healthy." She chuckled. "Maybe I should have paid more attention to the adults sparring when I was a pup. It might have kept me out of trouble. Heh, well, it will be fun for everyone I suppose." Except Cairo, she thought wistfully. It seemed like every time he got better, he was ill again.

A wry smile tugged at his lips and Amos cast a glance at himself as though suddenly concerned. "I suppose it'd be better to be in shape than just a shape," he joked, grinning like a fool. His multi-colored eyes shimmered with amusement, though he supposed it was a somewhat serious issue. Not that he was slacking himself; Amos was diligent at least when it came to patrols and hunting occasionally to make up for any lack of prey they might occasionally experience.

His eyes drifted back to the lemmings briefly as Gwen went on. After a moment of thought he nodded and replied, "Well, trouble-making does seem to have been the best part of being a pup." How his parents survived having three unruly boys - well, two, since Torryn was never really in on it - he would never know. Kids seemed pretty overwhelming to try and keep track of, cute as they were he was still fairly certain he'd be in over his head trying to keep tabs on a litter. Hell, he admired Gwen for keeping up with her kids. "Well," he said, moving into a bow for a moment to stretch before righting himself and giving Gwen a few wags of his tail, "I know I'm not terribly busy at the moment, but if you need to deliver those I might go looking for something to eat myself soon," he said, glancing at the lemmings once more. Of course if she wasn't in a rush he was happy to continue chatting. Amos would never try to hide his love of a good conversation. Idle chatter or important talks, didn't really matter what the content was, he just liked to interact with others.

Gwen grinned back at Amos as he joked about being in shape, then cast a wry glance over her own, age-thinned form. "If I'm not careful I'm going to have trouble keeping muscle on, myself. Patrols probably aren't going to be enough to keep me in fighting shape anymore." She sighed and shook her head with a faint chuckle.

Her smile turned a big crooked, thinking back to her puphood and the trouble she'd caused her parents. It had gone beyond the usual rambunctiousness of her own pups - she'd caused a rift in her family that had never been healed, and now it was too late to fix.

She shook off the faint melancholy that the memory had clouded her with as Amos spoke up about the lemmings, and she glanced at them with surprise. She'd forgotten all about the hunting she'd done earlier. "Ah, I should get them to the kids," she said, surprised at the regret she felt to end the conversation. Celestial wasn't the most social pack she'd been in, and it was strange to not realize how much she missed just sitting and talking. Sure, they met up to set up patrols and such, but it wasn't the same at all. "We need to get the pack together more often," she added with a smile, "just to talk. I look forward to sparring with you soon. It was nice to see you, Amos." Picking up the lemmings, she trotted off towards her den and the pups.

-exit Gwen-