Well, she was out of the desert... If there was a bright side there that would undoubtedly be it. Not that it was really all that impressive in reality, especially since she wasn't exactly in top condition. Samara cast her gaze up the height of the mountain that stood in her path and she just knew it wasn't going to be a possible trek right now. She looked right, she could just make out where the mountain started around the curve and she knew that wasn't a viable option either. So she was stuck.

Samara hobbled up the face of the mountain just a bit, then settled on her haunches, finally taking the weight off her injured ankle. Damn quicksand. She had perfectly fine if not a bit slow heading out of the desert, weaving between unfamiliar pack lands. Sure she couldn't move as fast as her long-legged counterparts but she was just as capable of handling herself. But when she'd found herself sinking into the ground she was up to her knees faster than most wolves would. The panic had flooded through her at first, only making it worse as she struggled to pull her limbs free. Then she'd made the effort to calm herself, slowing the descent, but that didn't mean she was free. It'd then been a long slow process of slowly removing one limb in order to free the next and subsequently losing the former into the sand again, still, she'd managed to pull herself out of the sand like that eventually, her limbs aching and swollen by that time and when she finally freed her right forepaw for the last time she'd hit it against a rock, or pulled it the wrong way, or twisted it. In truth, she wasn't entirely sure. But gods did it hurt!

But she hadn't been about to camp out next to the death trap she'd just escaped, so she'd hobbled away, not really caring where so long as it wasn't back towards the desert.

So now the woman was here, stuck with a mountain in front of her, her joints aching and swollen and a totally useless ankle. She silently cursed the fact she hadn't thought to try and gather any herbs during her recent travels, at least some pain medication would make it so she could get somewhere less terrible to try and sleep the pain off. Instead, she was left to try and curl up, wincing with each step and unsure if she'd even be able to walk tomorrow.

Speech

Rhyme didn’t often leave Abaven these days, but with the rain all but stopping he had been forced to venture out. He sought out herbs for his supply as well as alternative water sources in case the rapids thought to dry up. Though he had to doubt the possibility, he wanted to be prepared in case. His third reason for being out this far was to seek out Tana. He had no intention of returning her to Abaven, if she didn’t want to be there he would never force her. For his own selfish reasons he wanted to know she was alive.

He’d found here here almost a year ago now, and Rhyme thought he might find her here again on the volcano. Though he searched Rhyme never really found her trail, but did happen upon some comfrey he could take back to Abaven.

Imperia and Solitude flew above him and he wore his bracers just in case trouble came up. The day was growing old at this point, and Rhyme was debating about returning to packlands when he did catch a scent, though it was not Tana’s. The alluring scent of the woman’s season almost made him turn right then, but as Solitude caught sight of her he called out. Rhyme sighed heavily, reluctant to put himself into such temptation, but the alabaster raven thought he needed to head her direction. He hadn’t thought much about the last time he’d encountered a she wolf in such a state, mostly because he didn’t want to acknowledge he might have more offspring out there somewhere. Not that he’d ever be able to find them, he hadn’t even gotten the woman’s name.

He shook the memory from his mind as he scaled the mountain’s rough terrain with the herbs dangling from his jaws. He really should have made one of the ravens carry his find. The thought soon left him as the girl appeared. His blue and lavender gaze settled on her petite form, her features making him believe she was in some kind of pain. He knew she couldn’t be a pup, but she was tiny. Much like Verse or her mother.

He lowered his posture, unsure if he might scare her off with his hulking frame. He gave her space, but lowered his find to his paws before speaking. ”Are you alright, miss?”

Samara would normally have prided herself on her ability to avoid being snuck up on, but the pain and the frustration had put her off her game. In fact, the male was well within speaking distance before she saw him, and the woman tensed, startled by his sudden appearance. He was massive! Maybe only slightly shorter than Jekyll but for a wolf as small as she was those missing inches didn't mean much to her. He stopped still a decent ways away from her, dropping a bundle of herbs she couldn't identify from this distance at his paws before he spoke. "Peachy." She grumbled sarcastically, starting to shift her weight but stopping as she winced and felt her limbs protest again.

"Sorry." Samara said slipping into her more innocent tone. "It's been a rough few days." It wasn't a total lie and she recognized this man could be a life line to help get Samara out of her predicament. Though she still watched him carefully, allowing her eyes to show some fear, her ears twitching anxiously.

Speech

Rhyme was far enough away that he might not have noticed her tense up upon seeing him if he wasn’t looking for it. Tana couldn’t see.. so it was more sound that caused her to frighten. The woman had been a mess when he’d found her here on the mountain. So much had changed since then. He tried to shake her from his thoughts as blue and lavender gaze watched the young woman. ”Peachy.” Rhyme barely made out her mumble as she limped painfully forward.

He denied the urge to rush forward and offer himself as a brace, she was too much like Tana or Verse for him not to feel responsible for her discomfort. She’d obviously done something to her leg. She found her manners as the pain raced through her, and she apologized before giving a valid excuse. Not a lot hurt him, especially a sour attitude from someone who was injured.

The slate alpha shook his head forgivingly, ”I can take a look.” He offered, tilting his head as he peered at her limb. ”If it’s sprained, I just so happen to have something for it.” He leaned down to nose the plants at his paws. Rhyme also didn’t miss the uncertainty in her gaze. ”I’m Rhyme. Alpha of Abaven, the pack on the other side of the volcano.” He added, hoping a title might add to his credibility.

The man seemed... almost too concerned and Samara found herself struggling to keep her annoyance from her face. She hated feeling helpless and certainly didn't want anyone's pity, but she'd been given her lot in life... if she had to use helplessness as a shield she would, she'd use every tool at her disposal... after all she'd been dealt a rather bum hand.

The man spoke and Samara allowed a relieved smile to break across her lips, and she nodded, laying back onto her side. "Please." She said, nodding to her injured ankle. "Samara." She said in response to him giving her his name. She supposed it wouldn't hurt for him to have her true name, though she chose to keep her family name to herself unsure what they'd gotten up to around these parts. Knowing them... probably nothing that'd endear her to the locals, so for now she'd leave it off.
"You know it's funny," she said giggling, "I'm a healer myself. I can handle just about anything, except for when it comes to injuring myself." She glanced away for a moment. When she looked back the frustration that played across her face was genuine. "It's frustrating actually..." Her tone dropped slightly, no longer in the high false tone she wore when she was playing the part of an innocent. "I don't like to rely on anyone... I usually keep a store of herbs to dampen my joint pain but... I'm new to these lands and haven't had much chance to replenish my stores." Not that she'd have anywhere to store them... but something was better than nothing.

Speech

Endearing. A dangerous word, but exactly what this tiny she wolf was. Rhyme’s weakness. She was tiny, in pain, and she had a spunk that she was trying to hide. Rhyme took a deep breath and steeled himself as she spoke. Icy paws carried him carefully closer after he picked up his comfrey. He nodded slightly in acceptance of her title as she started to relax. He felt his heart beat a little faster in his chest as he kneeled beside her.

He tried to ignore the giggle that danced by his dark ears as he let the comfrey into the grass again and he focused on her injury. He manipulated the ankle gently as she opened up to him. Rhyme couldn’t help himself, despite how strong he wanted to boast himself being. He glanced up at her as she spoke, "It's frustrating actually..."” His work paused, blue and lavender gaze lingered on her porcelain marked features. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a glimpse at the real Samara.

She sounded independant, and offered voice to the fact as well. Rhyme tore himself away from her sapphire eyes and returned to the sprained ankle. ”Luckily and unluckily, it is a sprain so this comfrey will come in handy.” He told her as she trailed off. He started getting to work on a topical salve, finding a couple of rocks to crush the fresh plant. ”Do you have somewhere safe to stay while you heal? I could offer a dry den and a start to your stores in Abaven.” Really he spoke before he put thought into the idea, but he was captivated.

Samara extended her foreleg for him, allowing him to maneuver it however he needed too. In truth she didn't know what it was that allowed her to drop her walls around him, maybe she was simply tired, or maybe it was something about the way he looked at her. She didn't care much for those outside of her family but she wasn't excessively cruel, she wouldn't go out of her way to hurt anyone that hadn't given her reason to.

Samara could feel his gaze on her, and something about it unsettled her and she found she couldn't hold his gaze, her ears twitching uncomfortably. She could feel her face growing warm under his gaze and was almost relieved when he glanced away, though she herself found her gaze turning to observe him. She was drawn in by those strange eyes of his, feeling like she could drown in them. He was gentle with her ankle and gave her his diagnosis.

Samara chewed on his words, quietly mulling them over. She wasn't sure she wanted to commit to a pack so soon but then... she'd always been better as an infiltrator, someone who worked from the inside. Maybe it was easier if she integrated herself into the good graces of some locals... Finally she nodded, watching the man carefully to see how he'd react."If you're willing to wait a bit the swelling in my joints should go down." Even with him treating her ankle she wasn't going to be able to walk much for a while.

Speech

She obviously did not trust him fully, but just enough that she allowed him to get a better look at the wound. He wasn’t sure how she had done it, but it was sprained. She mentioned joint pain too, and he wondered if she suffered from some kind of arthritis. Rhyme knew his mother did much of the same, but he shoved the thoughts of her from his mind. It still hurt to be reminded she had turned her back on him.

He focused on his work, crushing his comfrey into a topical slave he carefully parted the short fur around her ankle so he might get coat the skin beneath. Rhyme was hardly in a hurry for her answer as he was careful to focus on making her feel better. A task made difficult by her close proximity, she was the ultimate test of his personal resolve. ”If you're willing to wait a bit the swelling in my joints should go down."

Waiting, alone, in the mountain with not another soul for miles did not sound like the kind of situation he should be putting himself in. Of course he wouldn’t have to babysit her, she was a fully grown woman. He could bring one raven and have another remain with her while he made search for any plants that might help her inflammation.

”I would be willing,” Rhyme muttered as he finished applying the salve. ”I might even be able to find something to speed along the process.” He didn’t want to make too many promises. ”Can I help you into some shelter?” His movements were slow as he retreated from her personal space. The sun was heavy on them, but a short distance away was a copse of shade trees.

Samara wondered if she ought to be trusting him as much as she was, it wasn't as if she was naive to what a male could seek to do to an unguarded woman, especially one who could so easily dominate her. But he seemed genuine, she'd spent so much time learning to affect natural expressions she'd learned how to tell a real moment from a forced one rather well, though she never deluded herself into believing she was totally infalible. Still in this moment she trusted her instincts. He seemed equal as unsure of her and that helped to put her at ease. Besides she wasn't qutie as helpless as she was allowing herself to seem.

She winced only slightly as he put a soft pressure on her sore ankle, but otherwise didn't try to retract her limb at all. He agreed to her plan and she wondered again if this was a good idea, but she didn't really see any other way... unless he wanted to carry her.

Rhyme pulled away and suggested helping her to some shelter. She could feel the heat of the sun heavy on her dark coat and followed his gaze to spot the trees. She nodded, then slowly, her muscles and joints protesting, Samara rose to her paws. Her face twisting into a grimace of pain. She kept her sprained ankle lifted in front of her chest, taking a moment to look at Rhyme's handiwork. He seemed at least to have some skill to back up his claims. "After you sir." She said, grinning up at him; a genuine attempt at humor. She idly wondered what sort of help he was going to offer her.

Speech

He expected a bit of a reaction as he applied the salve to her sprained ankle, and she flinched softly but didn’t retrieve her paw from him. He managed to cast her a quick reassuring glance like he might have if one of his pups had gotten hurt. He felt his face go a little flush when he found her eyes on him. Quickly he’d return to his work.

He didn’t have anything to wrap her foot in which would have been ideal. Though he would add items to his list when he went out to search for supplies. For now he reminded himself to focus on her injury and making it well. No good would come if he let his mind linger on her sweet herb scent. Her pain was obvious as she struggled to her feet, and the slate alpha once again refrained from rushing to her side.

She grinned as she joked with him, and he couldn’t help the relieved smile that played on his lips as he pulled himself to his full height. Now she had to go and be charming too? He sighed inwardly to himself and again renewed the walls around his emotions. ”Carrying you might be a bit undignified, I would suggest using my leg as a crutch. It’ll be slower but less.. infantilizing.” He managed with the hint of a chuckle. She could choose either or… unless she had a third idea.

Oh, it seemed her attention on him got a reaction, causing a small amused smile lift to her face as he glanced away. She could work with that.

Once she was standing he allowed his expression to turn from the concentrated frown of someone either focused on something or forcing himself to focus on something and she briefly felt her chest flutter. She gave him a good look for the first time, her gaze roving slowly over his form. He was handsome enough, she'd give him that, though she still found his eyes the most mesmerizing part of him, the unease she'd felt returned though as she met his gaze again, both unable to look away from those gorgeous orbs and not wanting to maintain contact for too long.

He offered up his advice on how to get the shelter of the trees, and though in truth Samara herself might have preferred to be carried she couldn't deny it would be a bit infantilizing, besides she'd rather stroke his ego, the longer she could make him feel needed the better, so she nodded; shuffling closer to him, pausing for a moment to look up at him again, a moment of uncertainty flickering across her face. She was allowing herself to be very vulnerable to a stranger, but then she'd give up over some of her weight, not all of it, though maybe a bit than she needed to. She wanted to make sure he was aware of her proximity but also wasn't about to let herself collapse to the side if he so much as stepped away from her.

Speech

Samara remained silent as her gaze washed over him, she had striking blue eyes that caused his face to flush yet again. Rhyme shook himself internally, he was getting to be an old man who shouldn’t be ogling pretty young women in distress like her. He remained still as she limped up to him and delicately placed herself at his side. A soft smile tugged at the corners of his lips as her light weight settled against him. He tore his gaze away from her and set his sights on the trees where he’d let her rest.

The going would indeed be slow, but the self-named man had no complaints to offer. She was no more a burden than a feather and her soft fur pressed against him more than pleasant. Attempting to get him mind off her proximity as they walked he’d attempt to get to know her. ”So, miss Independent.” He referenced her earlier words mentioning she preferred to be self-sufficient. ”What brought you to the East?” He assumed with her answer of having nowhere to go to speak of he wondered where she came from.

Samara wrinkled her nose playfully up at Rhyme as he smiled down at her, okay so maybe she couldn't really put that much weight on him. Then his attention was pushed towards their destination and Samara turned her gaze that way as well, knowing she'd need to focus on it at least a bit in while they slowly walked.

At first there was silence, just the sound of their breathes but it seemed Rhyme was eager to fill that silence and Samara wondered if he was just chatty or trying to cover for something. She flashed him a playful glare at his nickname for her and the woman pondered how to answer his question. It's the direction where I found an end to the desert." She responded plainly. "Figured I'd try a place with a little less sand." She joked. She considered for a moment if she thought he'd be satisfied with that answer, and she didn't... better to get him off her scent than let his curiosity fester. A pinch of the truth was all that was needed.

"I'm looking for a family member." She was looking for most of her siblings in fact but decided to stick with just one for now. The choice was obvious to her which to pick, her half-sister had always proven a smart girl, maybe a bit too haughty but she never struck Samara as being as rash as many of their brothers. "My sister Deathbelle." She cast a glance at Rhyme watching for his reaction to her more colorfully named sibling. "Our parents had quite a talent for naming." She joked, of course she didn't actually share a mother with the woman but that didn't matter to Rhyme.

Speech

Rhyme’s lip pulled back in a half smile as she gave him an amused glare in his choice of title. He wouldn’t press it though and listened to her words as they slowly made their way over the sparse mountainside. She came from over the desert? The fact made him respect her all the more, he had never mastered a desert. He gave her a bit of a chuckle with her joke, though he really wasn’t satisfied with her answer.

One of her family. He knew that feeling, though he’d always known where family was. Or former family. Thinking about them certainly distracted him from Samara, but it was painful in a different way. Deathbelle was an interesting name, but he had siblings named Epitaph and Eulogy, he wasn’t a stranger with names dealing in death. He hadn’t heard of the woman before though, and wouldn’t be able to help the young woman in that quest.

”I’ve not heard of your sister.” he told her honestly. ”My family has many naming traditions.” he chuckled, having fed into them himself. Icy paws continued to carry them towards the tree and relief from the sun.

Samara would score that another success, drawing even half a smile from the man. She'd always thought of herself as rather clever and prided herself on a decent sense of humor when among her family but she rarely got to flex those muscles away from them and it felt validating to know she could turn a frown even outside her siblings.

Rhyme said he hadn't seen her sister and Samara nodded, even allowing some of her real dejection into her expression. The woman hadn't expected much, it'd have given her good reason to pause if Jekyll or Hannibal hadn't made themselves at least somewhat known at this point, it would have meant they were either injured or worse yet, plotting something big and dramatic and likely to force her to make her allegiances known... it wouldn't have been the first time. But Deathbelle was a cut above, smart enough to know how to fly just under the radar.

Still Rhyme's comment summoned a peal of laughter from the woman. I'd never have guessed that Mr. Rhyme. Never in a million years. She emphasized his name, tone light with humor. Samara watched him as she spoke, aware of how much you could glean from someone when they were listening, when they weren't as focused on the image they projected. I have reason to believe she's here, or at least was, caught faint traces of her scent in the desert but it's hard enough to track over shifting dunes before the sand is all blown away, even more so when it can take all day for you to breach a single sandy hill. She could imagine the long limbs of her sister carrying her through the sand with ease, sinking only to her ankles if the sand tried to swallow her... Not Samara though.

That thought was allowed to drift however as they finally drew before the shade Rhyme had helped her hobble to. Samara lifted herself off him and awkwardly waddled to the base of one of the trees, keeping her treated ankle lifted to her chest. She slowly and carefully lowered herself onto her side, turning her gaze towards the man and gesturing for him to join her.

Speech

His ears swiveled to take in her sweet laughter as her amusement reached out to his features as well. His lips pulled up, and the smile even managed to reach his eyes as she teased him. If naming traditions hadn’t been so obvious in his own title he wasn’t sure if he would have been able to get such a laugh from her. ”I didn’t think you would,” he returned before she went on to describe her sister more thoroughly. ”I suppose that means she does not share your physique?” Rhyme had to stifle another attempt at flirtations when he made a comment about her endearing size.

The pair of them reached the shade tree as the conversation died and Rhyme stood still as she got to her feet and hobbled unaided to the moss covered floor of the tree. Blue and lavender gaze watched as she got comfortable and beckoned him join her. He promised himself he wouldn’t linger for long, he’d need to go search out better medicines before they made the journey back to Abaven, but he would make himself comfortable for now.

Keeping himself far enough away there would be no temptation to touch her Rhyme made himself comfortable in front of her tiny form. ”So, how did you get separated from your sister to begin with?”