The sunny clearing with its riot of herbs, some of them still showing signs of their once carefully organized and contained beds but most simply sprawling where they wished. No doubt the garden was a major boon for healers and the like. He, however, didn't know much at all of herbalism. His interest in the land was the warmth of the sun soothing his new pains, and the pleasant scent of the few herbs that still managed to grow through the drought.

Even stretched out along the top of a crumbling rock dozing, he was only half-asleep, easily roused by the sound of a paw or a shadow of movement. Old habits died hard, and not even here in the confines of the pack could the old warrior completely let his guard down. Perhaps especially in the confines of the pack... not all those who had died at the jaws of their Abraxas kin had been culled as pups. He suspected more than one had been killed more to keep them quiet about the more psychotic practices of some of their kin than for any real weakness, and he could recall at least one suspicious incident of a cousin murdering a youngling on the justification of a conversation she had supposedly overheard the youth holding with herself, a conversation that no one had confirmed and the cousin had gone unpunished for her overly precocious decision. He was loyal to the Abraxas, but he was not interested in needing to kill or maim another of their wolves because they had decided on their own that he was too old now to be of use to them. When he died, and die he must, one day, it would be on his own terms, not some idiot thinking that they were the best qualified to decide his usefulness was at an end. Until that day, the old wolf knew he would be best served to be on his guard even in pack bounds.

He gave a growling sigh and shifted in his sleep, stretching one aching leg out behind him to ease the pain in his hip.

The dark corridors and various rooms of the castle had yielded treasures beyond the male’s imaginings; everything from an alchemic laboratory to tools for making fire could be found in the stone walls, and Rain made great use of all the resources at his disposal. He had crafted tinctures and oils to treat everything from bruises to bites and proudly carried his work in the bags on his back.  His companion of course couldn’t go unthanked for his contributions, teaching the boy the seemingly otherworldly knowledge he had obtained from gods knew where. He had noticed once a line of circular scars along the top of the primate’s skull but when Rain questioned the baboon as to their nature the golden monkey fell silent and had remained silent through the entirety of the day. Rain had left his companion behind that day while he made his rounds in the garden, checking on the plants he had collected throughout Auster and planted in the garden to be used whenever he pleased. Lately it seemed more and more wolves could be found in the garden and he was unable to help the cold finger of fear that touched his heart at the thought of his more toxic cultivations being discovered. He strode past the crumbling boulder and froze, catching the white wolf heavily contrasted against the dark of the stone. He was large in size but from where he stood Rain couldn’t tell if he had the streaked markings of an Abraxas. He knew at least that the man was not an intruder and he hesitantly offered a quiet “Good morning.” To the lounging phantom, his ears turning back slightly as he did. speaking Thinking   You

Apollo's eyes slid open as he heard the sound of soft pawsteps, the third eyelid sliding back slowly until he could focus on the face of the wolf who'd frozen at the sight of him. Good morning the slight, dark-furred mortal tentatively offered to him. Apollo remained silent a moment to study the younger male. He recognized him as the poisoner who had spoken up at the meeting, offering to teach their children. Apollo half-closed his eyes again. He'd been offended at the offer to teach Abraxas pups diplomacy and spying at the time - though not offended by the idea of diplomacy or information gathering, certainly he would be a fool not to see the logic in using those methods before resorting to a more dangerous violence, but rather by the idea of a mortal tainting the pups with their own ideals - but he didn't bear a grudge against the boy. You could hardly expect a mortal to understand that sort of thing. "Good morning, Rain," he rumbled in return, shifting his position to lift his head and cross his forepaws before him. "How goes the health of the pack, healer?" Despite his youth and relative inexperience, he was one of the pack's few healers and, as such, Apollo fully expected the young wolf to be capable of reporting at any time on the well-being of the pack. It was unfortunate that the pack's two most active healers were both more interested in poisons than in healing. Malleus was a trained healer, but he by necessity needed to concentrate his attention on his leadership, rather than concentrating on the health of the pack as a healer would. Apollo wondered if it was a lack he could remedy by seeking out another mortal who would serve them... though he admitted to himself that his own skill in healing was poor at best, and he would not be a good judge of a healer's abilities. It would be better to get trained a pup or two in the art, that they could concentrate on it from youth. Malleus was training Seiran, but he could not help but wonder if that particular pup would be as suited at the relatively selfless art as they could hope. He would talk it over with Malleus, perhaps.

Rain’s posture became ramrod straight as the male addressed him, he sat abruptly and abandoned his casual demeanor for one akin to a soldier reporting to a general. The man had that effect on people, he couldn’t deny that. “The overall health is well Lieutenant.” He said, attempting to force down the quaver he could feel creeping into his tone. “I found Mephistopheles with wounds from a fight with some coyotes that I treated, and Zinnia has sought me out to monitor her through her pregnancy.” He reported a small tremor climbing up his back. It occurred to him an instant too late that he had no idea if Zinnia or Typhon had announced their pregnancy. To himself he noted that the empire was becoming quite large and crowded, even with the vast space the castle provided. Overcrowding in a pack was usually the forerunner to a plague, or so he had been told, which reminded him of the precaution he had taken earlier in the season. “I collected a vegetable earlier in the season that is said to have medicinal properties.” He added. “They’re called bell peppers and they’re said to improve the health of whoever eats them.” Again he felt how feeble the reasoning of a farmer was against the might of a pack of gods and he cautioned a glance at the ghostly male in the hopes of reading his expression. "Talk"  "Thought"   "You"