She had given the newest members some time to settle in. Acere had looked beat, and the pups had looked confused and uncertain. She balanced enough time to relax, with not enough time that they where left feeling confused and uncertain. She was leaving Acere's mentoring to her second, and passing on Ignis to him as a mentor. She had been eyeing up actaea herself, with the idea of building a diplomat out of the girl.

It was only an idea at the moment, but she had seen something in the girls eyes as she had looked up at Shaye. Some sort of wonder at seeing a female in charge, if she was to warrent a guess. She would speak to the young girl and see what she wanted with her future and suggest the idea. She had already spoken to the girls guardian, and had his approval going forward.

She went looking for the girl, using their den as a starting point. Acere had done a good job of digging out a space for himself and the growing young, but she wondered how much longer they would all be able to live together. she had a feeling Ignis was going to grow into rather a large wolf. As she reached the den, she let out a bark, calling for Actaea

Ooc: Basing this being the den is in the Thicket per Acere's thread with Shaye (For reference of the herb she has found)

She was nearby the den, like she would have been at home. She hadn't done much as far as exploring goes, but she was slowly getting herself used to things here in Abaven. The fact that neither of the trio spoke about Elias or Ruina had helped her. It at least kept her raw emotions from resurfacing and gave her the chance to refocus herself on other things. Uncle wasn't even keen on speaking about Ruina teachings anymore which left her vary confused at what to learn now. Healing was still a big thing in her life, but she hadn't really had a proper trainer for that either. Her learning had been taken upon herself learning from the herbs her mother used to store in the den. At least if she would speak about herbs her uncle didn't seem to mind that and it gave her something to study at least. Though she wasn't sure if that's what she wanted to really do and she didn't want to be some big time fighter anymore either. She wanted something different and often wondered if this new pack had teachings that she had never herd of before. It seemed her father had been keen on making them fighters, but she didn't want to continue that route. It reminded her to much of the raw emotions still buried under the surface. Today she had been exploring around the den mostly nosing around the different plants around. Her main goal was to try and figure out which herbs were around here and maybe if she could gather the ones she visually recognized she could find someone in this pack to explain them to her. So far she wasn't finding any that matched the ones back home. She wrinkled her nose thinking about home... Well it wasn't home anymore she just couldn't think of a what to call it now that she had a new home. Well that was one dead end, so she had to sit and think for a moment of the herbs her mother would have. Duel gaze looking around until they landed on a plant with several small white flowers on it. Instantly she brightened as she recognized the herb and quickly got up and went over to it. She carefully dug out the plant, careful not to ruin the roots in case they were useful as well. Then she gently picked it up in her mouth and headed back towards the den. Halfway there she paused when she heard the soft bark from Shaye. She sounded like she was by the den and she was calling for her. She moved forward again before the older women's form came into sight. When close enough she stopped and gently placed the Yarrow plant on the ground. Her gaze looked to the women, before she gently barked back to let her know where she was. "Actaea Talk", & 'Actaea Think"

A Wild Santa Paws Appears!

What's that? Is it Lil Ardy dressed up as Santa? No, silly, it's Santa Paws!

Already in the Christmas spirit, Lil Ardy - err, Santa Paws, can be seen dragging a large bag of gifts behind her. As she approaches Actaea, she rummages through her things and tosses a bundle of gemstones at her.

100 Gemstones have been added to your credits!

Actaea didn’t take long to answer her call, appearing not from the direction of the den as Shaye had expected, that and the Yarrow, indicated she had done at least a little exploring. She smiled warmly at the girl, and gave the Yarrow a curious glance. Hmm. perhaps the girl would prefer the healer route, but she would give her some options first. “Actaea, it’s good to see you again.” Shaye started, sitting down and studying the purple girl. She had large paws, and Shaye wondered if she would be bigger even then her one of these days.

“So, I was thinking about mentors for you, and i’ll share a few of my ideas. You can let me know what appeals to you the most, ok?” she would offer. “Abaven has the traditional ranks - warrior, like Ignis will take, Healer, and hunter. These ranks branch out into things like, a warrior can be a guard. But on top of these, I also have a diplomat rank that no one has filled yet. A rank like that would mean learning pack politics, how to make alliances, and so on. If a role like that interested you, I could mentor you in it.” she looked to the girl to see if she was following what Shaye was saying.

She wondered what Shaye was calling her for, not even realizing her brother had already been assigned. She had still been contemplating what she was meant to do. Shaye spoke saying it was nice to see her again and Actaea nodded quietly to the women. She was still a bit weary on who to fully trust outside of her uncle and brother, but she was willing to give this pack a chance and if it didn't work she still had her uncle and brother. Her ears perked forward as she listened to what Shaye had to offer. She started to perk when she heard about the diplomat rank, the learning of politics and alliances. This also meant she would learn from Shaye. Her eyes seemed to dance as she soaked in the options. It sounded a lot better then a hunter or a warrior. Grant it she didn't want to give up her interest in healing, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to make that her main goal in life. Diplomat, it sounded important and was the type of rank she never could achieve in Ruina. Her eyes looked to Shaye and a small smile cracked across the normally neutral face. "I do wanna continue learning healing, but I've always felt I was meant for more...... My birth pack would have never allowed a female such an important sounding rank and if your willing to teach me about this... Diplomat rank then I would really love to learn from you," she replied. Actaea didn't want to let herself admit that she looked up to Shaye, to hold such a high rank. It made Actaea focus more on what she could become versus dwelling on what had happened. "Actaea Talk", & 'Actaea Think"

Actaea showed an interest in the rank Shaye spoke of, and Shaye gave her a warm smile. This was going to be interesting, but she was sure the girl would be up to the challenge. It was just a matter of seeing if Shaye was. She needed to return to Branch and Ignatius and set more solid terms for their alliances, so perhaps those two gentle packs would be a good trial run for the girl - after she had learned a little about diplomacy first.

“You don’t have to give up on healing - I use to be a healer myself, and I would be happy to teach you both.” Shaye explained. It was interesting that the girl would taken an interest in healing, it was Shaye’s strong point, even if she had pushed it aside to learn how to fight and take care of her pack. Perhaps this would work out even better then Shaye had initially thought, she could teach the girl both of these skills.

“Walk with me?” Shaye asked softly, she always found she thought better when she was walking. She waited a moment for the girls answer, and chewed over what words of wisdom to give the other wolf. It was still so strange to her, to realise that her own childhood was so far behind her.

She looked up to Shaye, surprised to hear that she was once a healer herself. According to Shaye she wouldn't have to give up healing and could certainly learn both things, from Shaye herself. Her eyes brightened a dead give away to her joy in hearing that. Then the alpha asked Actaea to walk with her and she nodded, standing and moving closer. When Shaye began to walk, Actaea walked along side her, looking up to her and wondering what she was thinking about. She was curious if this pack had birth rite ranks like Ruina had. Did Shaye get her rank by rite, or had she created this pack? Actaea never left the pack borders of Ruina, so she really didn't know that this pack had been here for a while or that it has had several leaders before Shaye. Part of her also was worried, worried that if she got to close that Shaye would also abandon her like her father had. It made her gaze fall to the ground thinking about it. She wasn't good at truly displaying how she felt and she didn't know how to ease her worries about being abandoned again. She then looked back up to Shaye her gaze fixed on the features of the women. "This is a solid promise right? Meaning you will teach me and there is no going back on your word?" She was forward, but she had to know. She craved knowledge and she desperately wanted to learn, but she needed someone to stick with her, someone she could trust. So Far Shaye had proved worthy of her promise after they had joined Abaven, but so had her father for a long while too. "Actaea Talk", & 'Actaea Think"

She would watch the girls eyes light up as she realised Shaye knew healing. It was things like that, that made it all worth it. Actaea was another of the strays that she had taken into Abaven, a wolf in need of a home and a future. The kind of wolf that reminded Shaye what they were fighting for. She had taken a personal interest in the girl, taking her on as her first apprentice. It was a new idea for Shaye, and no doubt she would fumble through it as she learned herself.
But, looking at Actaea, she knew it was all worth it

When the younger wolf looked up at her, multi colored eyes blinking, earnest, her soft request one that came from the heart, Shaye just about died a little inside.

She lowered herself to the smaller wolfs height, looking Act in the eyes, her own gaze solemn, and serious. “You are a part of Abaven now. This is your family, and your home. It is my privilege and pleasure to ensure that you grow up into a future you can love. Yes, Actaea, this is a promise, a commitment that I can not and will not back out of. You are my pupil now, and I will teach you anything you want to know - so long as it’s within my power to do so.”

She expected honesty, so far Shaye had yet to show her there was any reason not to trust her. Neither did her father at the time either. Couldn't she just remain weary until the alpha actually showed the proof instead of just words? The girl wasn't sure what to do, her words did give her relief, but she still felt extremely guarded not wanting to get her hopes up for them to simply be crushed once more. Her eyes looked into Shaye's reading the seriousness in her eyes as she spoke. It seemed to be the absolute truth from the alphess. It looked like she wasn't going to go back on her promise and for now that would satisfy her. She nodded her head at Shaye still looking her within the eyes. She smiled a little hearing her say she would teach her anything in her power and knowledge. "Then I'm excited to get started with you being my teacher," she stated with a little wag of her tail. She would still struggle with fully trusting everything, but she was optimistic right now and was eager to learn. She was eager to get started and hoped that they could right now. Her mind needed to be fed, she had been very bored with the travel they had went through. Her uncle had been busy keeping them safe and fed and had very little time to properly teach them. "Actaea Talk", & 'Actaea Think"

“Perfect” Shaye said, offering the girl a warm smile. She would have to keep in mind that there were some underlying insecurities in her new apprentice. It was all perfectly understandable, considering what Ace had told her both about their previous pack, and this girl’s father.

She was Shaye’s responsibility now, and Shaye would see to it that the girl grew into a mature, and happy young woman. They would work on her trust as well as her future together. Shaye would prove her seriousness by action and reliability.

“Alright, let’s build some ground work” Shaye said, leading them through a loops of the pack lands as she spoke. “How many packs do you know of?”

Her mentor's warm smile was contagious and the young wolf found her own small smile appear on her lips. Her tail gently wagged, feeling a bit better to see how happy and enthusiastic Shaye was that she was willing to learn from her. Maybe things would be much better now and that they were meant to be here in Abaven. The girl focused on staying at Shaye's side as the moved through the pack territory. Her eyes were now roaming as she took in the sights as they moved, trying to familiarize herself while they moved. Only when Shaye asked her a question did her eyes move back to Shaye. She didn't get out of her old homelands until they left and she couldn't recall passing any packs during their short travel to here. She also was never spoken to about pack politics in Ruina, but she did remember that uncle said Ruina had a relationship with this pack. She gently shook her head 'no'. "I don't," she gave her an honest answer. "Is there a lot of other packs?" "Actaea Talk", & 'Actaea Think"

She would watch as Actaea’s eyes roamed the territory of Abaven. She seemed curious and interested as she looked at the landscape. This was home to Shaye, it always had been, and it gave her a warm feeling to share it now with her apprentice. She could only hope she did right by this girl, and knew she would do whatever she could to ensure she taught Actaea what she knew, protected her, and helped her feel like this was home.

“There are Seven packs in Boreas, and do you know about the smaller land mass known as Auster? There is one pack there.” she would go on to explain, uncertain how much Actaea knew about the actual world beyond Ruina and Abaven’s borders. She had a feeling a lot of this education had been neglected in the girls life.

She angled their path near the river and found a nice patch of soft earth. She grabbed a stick at got to drawing, do a careful, if very rough sketch of the both islands. She drew a few lines through the map. “These mark The North, East, South and West parts of the land. The bottom island is Auster.” so far she had a rough outline of the world as she had seen it through exploring, with lines between. None of the lands where filled in. “Abaven is about here” she drew a cross on the map where the pack approximately lay. “Here is Celestrial, Fyri, Kesali, Legion, Lirim and the Risen Empire” she explained to the girl. She knew that the wolf Ty who had spoken to Rhyme had put up a pack, but didn’t know enough detail about the pack yet to include it on the map. “Any questions?” she would ask, letting the girl take all this in before she piled more information onto her.

Her eyes looked up to Shaye as she replied, pupils slightly enlarged from surprise of her answer. Seven packs and another continent? She wasn't sure why that information hadn't been taught before. Papa had wanted a strong pack, wouldn't it makes sense to know all the other packs and where they resided? She blinked a few times as her pupils resized and fallowed swiftly as Shaye angled towards the river and stopped. Actaea was at her side and when Shaye picked up a stick, the girl's curiosity instantly made her completely focused on what her mentor was going to do. She watched as Shaye drew shapes that turned into Boreas and Auster, then inspected as she pointed to the approximate locations of each pack. Having a visual memory would help this girl to remember this exact lesson as she stared at the roughly drawn map to memorize it. Shaye asked if she had anymore questions and the girl had given herself plenty of time to memorize the map. She looked back up to Shaye. "Does Abaven had relations with.... all these packs?" she asked. It may be for another lesson, but Actaea wasn't missing a beat and she was eager to learn as much information as Shaye was willing to share. She was feeling so mentally stimulated for the first time in forever that it was making her more happier then she had been for a while. "Actaea Talk", & 'Actaea Think"

She had her pupils completed attention, and Shaye grinned to see her excitement. She had a lot to teach the girl, and was eager to get started. She didn’t see Actaea’s lack of knowledge as a downfall, she saw it as the perfect place to start her education. She was still waiting for the girl to realise that Shaye had only drawn Seven crosses in the map, despite mentioning Eight packs. But there was plenty of time for her apprentice to see that.

“We have the start of alliances with Celestrial, Fryi, and Kesali. We have a complete pact with the Risen Empire that I will go through with you shortly. We have talks with Legion and Lirim, but no promises made between us as of yet.” she would go on to explain, pointing at each cross as she spoke to help the girl remember where each one was. “Most of these alliances revolve around trade and knowledge, such as sharing members of a certain field that another is lacking, or food for pelts depending on who needs more warmth and who needs more food stores.” she would go on to explain the nature of an alliance.

“A deeper alliance promises aid, such as the one we have with the Risen Empire. If we are attacked, they will send warriors to fight for us, if myself and Rhyme get challenged, they would pose a threat to the challenger. In return, we house their members if they come this far into Boreas, will not oppose them politically and offer them material aid. The Risen Empire is a larger pack with a superior number of fighters, so this alliance in particular is important to us, because they had a higher ground in negotiations, they could have asked for more than they did”

She intently listened to her mentor as she began to go over the packs they had alliances with, had discussions with, and well she didn't mention those she didn't have anything with yet. She had only mentioned six packs and her eyes traveled down to the map again. There was only seven packs marked on the map, but Actaea recalled her talking about 8 total packs. Gears turned within her mind, but her attention turned back to Shaye as she continued on. The nature of the alliances seemed to be more on the grounds of trading. You give something to them in turn of something for your pack. It made a lot of sense because it was a win win type of deal, who in their right mind would turn that down? She then went on to explain the nature of alliance that they had with Risen. It was a different type of alliance that in the end both packs still gained things from it. So an alliance in her eyes were you give and you get something. It made sense at why packs made these alliances. She nodded understanding what she was being told. "What about the last pack," she asked. "Actaea Talk", & 'Actaea Think"