Wandering, curious paws brought him further into Boreas than he had dared to travel on his own before now and he was beginning to wonder just how far Boreas stretched. It felt like he could keep walking forever and never reach the other side of it. He had made a brief trip to the north with his mother to visit her friend there, but that had been a very focused trip and there had been little to know time to sight see along the way. He had also had his mother to give him a bit of guidance for which way they should go. This time he was completely on his own and had just picked a direction to go. So far he had edged around to the borders of the desert, avoided the pack that resided to the east of Valhalla, passed through a prairie that seemed like it would be great for hunting, and had managed his way through a swamp. That ended up landing him in what seemed to be some kind of orchard with some very sore paws and tired legs. He flopped under one of the trees with a heavy sigh before actually beginning to take in his surroundings a bit. There were all kinds of different trees around here and if he wasn't mistaken they almost all seemed to be fruit trees. This would be an awesome place to visit once all the fruit started to grow! Maybe later in the year he could come back out here with Cairo and some of those bags that his friend had so they could collect some. After laying there for a moment he noticed a bee flying past his nose and it made him jerk his head back nervously in response. The little black and yellow insect flew around him for a bit and then that's when Nolan began to realize that there wasn't just one of them. This thing had friends and his ears folded back when he saw the three or four of them that were floating in the air in his vicinity. Slowly, he lifted his head and realized that the tree he had flopped down under just so happened to have a large bee hive right above his head. That made him jump up immediately and jump away from where he had been laying, but the sudden movement startled the bees that had been lingering in the air near him. One of them landed on his cheek and the first sharp poke of a bee sting made him yelp. He backed away quickly before any more could get him and he stood there glaring up at the hive. Stupid bees... He just wanted to lay under a tree and relax and they went and messed all that up. He was about to turn away and go lay somewhere with distinctly less bees, but now that he was looking at the hive and honey that was practically dripping out of it he suddenly was much more interested on getting a little revenge on the bees and maybe getting a taste of that honey too. Ideas started churning in his head, but he just couldn't decide which method to go with... WC: 537/1500 "Talk"

Location: The Orchid Every day was getting longer and it plagued Aranea with the growing brightness and the wolves of her pack seeing her out later and later, if they had even noticed. She was new to the pack and didn't know many of the wolves and in fact avoided them for the most part. She was a very kind spirit and of course if anyone called out to her or asked her for help she wouldn't hesitate to do so. But she had hurt so many people in her life, mainly herself, that her self esteem was at an all time low and it had been for quite some time. She wandered still close to the pack lands, she was sure Torin could have been paying attention to her distant scent. But she was a healer and she promised to keep the dens in stock of the most important herbs, even if she wasn't labeled as such a rank. Anything to make her feel useful she guessed. She had made her way to the Orchid, realizing how close she had come to a neighboring pack and decided she should head back before she ran into any trouble. But before she went to turn and scurry back home, she saw the movement of a large brute shift in between the trees, his color nearly blending in to the surroundings. She was about to ignore him but she found a strong familiar scent on him, she had recognized the pack scent from others in Lirim, including Torin. She saw that he was looking up and eyeing something in the trees, and she knew rather quickly what he had run into. A number of wolves babbled about their victories of the bees and the tasty snack or help of the sticky substance to help apply different herbs to wounds. So by then she wouldn't waste any time to venture over to him. She'd join him at a safe distance at first, not wanting to startle him. But he was much bigger than she was and he was sure to attack and hurt her easily compared to what she could do to him. She only hoped the familiar scent wasn't wrong and that the packs were in fact friendly with each other. "Did you get stung?" She'd ask, facing the side of his face where just a little swelling grew from his surprise attack. Honestly she could almost chuckle to it but she wouldn't. She was never in the spirits to laugh or feel joy any more. She'd look up to the large hive, a few hives resided in the area. "You know," her neck slowly turned to face him and would step in closer to him if he allowed, "They say the honey is worth the fight." If anything a small grin to the corner of her maw. "Are you up for the task?" Just a little joke, but she would go off to a nearby tree without the buzzing hives to grab a couple sticks before returning to him. She wasn't much of a crafter and she had only heard the stories of others and how they conquered the bees. Was she eavesdropping? Was that rude? No matter, they'd never know. She'd lay down both the sticks and pick up one with her mouth to put it in a cross fashion, both sticks were strong enough to withstand her weight but certainly not his. She pushed the top stick closer to the end of the bottom one before putting both her front paws on the stick and rolling slightly back and forth in order to make friction and eventually create enough to get the stick smoking and hot at the end. She'd look back up at the brute, "I'm not quite tall enough to reach." She stated, "Most of the bees will leave the hive from the smoke, then we can knock the hive down and deal with the rest." Surely the brute would run into some trouble in the process, and once they opened up the hive the queen and a few more of the bees would reside inside. They would just have to take each step as it came. Total WC: 1,234 Walk "Talk" Think

The sound of footsteps made his ears twitch and it pulled his pale pink gaze away from the subject of his irritation and curiosity so that he could look at the small woman that had approached him. He looked at her with surprise since he hadn't noticed her presence until she was practically right next to him. Of course she didn't seem like any sort of threat and he was pretty sure that the scent of the pack that lingered on her was one that was friends with Valhalla. He really didn't know much about pack politics or anything like that, but he did know that there was a pack nearby to his that they were friendly with and he was fairly certain it was the one she smelled like. When she questioned whether he had been stung or not he frowned as his ears folded back and gave a grumpy, "Yes," in response. His cheek felt a bit tender from it and he was sure it was going to be all swollen before it was all said and done. He pouted a bit about it until she mentioned that the honey would be worth the fight if he was up for it. He raised a brow at the stranger and looked back up at the hive that he had been so closely examining before. Well perhaps if she had some kind of plan... Yeah... Yeah, I'm up for it!" By the time he looked back at her she was already off collecting something for the task and he waited as he watched her collecting a few sticks from the surrounding trees. His head tipped to the side with curiosity as he watched her rubbing the sticks together, not quite understanding what she was up to until he saw the smoke beginning to form. The realization crossed his face as she explained that the smoke would make the bees leave the hive and a grin crossed his face. So that's how they would get to the honey! He was really glad this woman had happened to cross paths with him! He never would have guessed that in a million years. "You can leave the reaching to me," he joked with a chuckle, glad that his ridiculous hight would actually come in handy for once. Whenever she had the stick good and smokey with a small ember glowing at the end, he reached down and took the opposite end of it between his jaws, holding it a bit like a torch. Walking over to where he had originally been under the hive, he turned his head and pointed the smokey end of the stick up toward the hive, letting the smoke it was producing billow up around the hive. From the angle his head was at it was hard for him to see what was happening so he just did his best to point the stick directly at the hive and waited for further instructions. He could at least see some bees drifting off into the distance, but he couldn't tell how effective it was from his perspective. Total WC: 1751 "Talk"

She'd watch as he worked hard to keep the smoke rolling into the hole of the hive, and would quickly turn to attentively find another stick so she could knock it down. He could have just knocked it down with the stick he was holding but then that made her feel like he was doing all the dirty work. It took her a moment, but she'd find the longest stick she could to return and see she'd have to stand closer to the hive than was comfortable. The teamwork was important to her though. She'd watch the hole closely, checking to see if the bees were done evacuating. She'd give it a few more seconds before taking her stick sideways in her mouth and starting to poke at the hive to get it to fall down. Nolan could have seen her too and helped by poking himself. When the hive came down, she'd go cautiously to stand over it. It appeared that they were successful in evacuating the bees in the hive so she took her front paws to stomp on the outside of the hive in order to break it apart for the combs inside. That was until a small swarm of bees came barreling out at the two wolves. Luckily not enough to kill either one of them, but they were still rather angry and coming at them with no hesitation to their stinging. Walk "Talk" Think

After a short while he heard a thumping sound and when he glanced up toward the tree branch he noticed that she was starting to knock the hive down out of the tree. He assumed that meant that a good majority of the bees had abandoned their home so he lifted the stick he was holding and began working to knock it free as well. Soon enough it came tumbling down to the ground and when the thing didn't immediately start spewing angry bees at them he grinned a little with victory around his stick. He dropped the stick to the ground and took the extra second to make sure the smoldering end of it was put out so they wouldn't accidentally start a forest fire. Once he was done with that he turned back around to see about the hive and found the small woman stomping on it and breaking apart the hive to expose the honey comb within. Things seemed okay at first, but soon a small swarm that hadn't left the hive came out in an extremely angry cloud of bees. A portion of them targeted him before he could do anything about trying to escape, dotting stings around his legs and chest. He desperately tried swatting at them to get them away from him, yelping with each new sting he got. By the time the small swarm had either given up the fight or had killed themselves off in their efforts the front portion of his body had quite a few painful welts and his ears were folded back miserably. "That honey better be delicious," he grumbled with a frown. "Talk"

Perhaps she was just at the right angle or able to move away from the swarm but she would get away with just a few stings up her legs whereas her companion was much more attacked. She'd grab the hive by the stem while the bees were distracted and eventually buzzing off into the trees. She drug the hive away to under a safe tree welcoming Nolan. She'd break the hive a bit more before speaking, "You can enjoy some, I'll be right back." She was just going to the neighboring land to get some herbs for the boy, "Careful you don't take a bite of the queen, she might still be in there." She'd turn to leave but quickly swivel her head just a bit towards him, "Oh, and save me some." She almost joked with a small grin. -Exit Aranea for a brief time to Soulless Forest- Aranea would return with a bundle of marigold, the flowers filled with many bright petals. She'd join Nolan again, grabbing a piece of comb carefully and dragging it out beside him. "Now hold still." She'd speak almost motherly though it was more like instinct. She gently pulled the petals off the marigold, placing one on top of her paw at a time and dipping her claw into a comb circle in the honey, carefully drawing the honey onto the petal and then putting her paw honey-side toward Nolan and using the honey as a sticky substance to keep on his skin and fur. Some stings she would put two petals on just to be sure they would hold for the rest of the day. "Now you can wash this off by tonight, and a healer from your pack can help you with the rest." She assured. She'd lay down beside him, taking a bite of the comb now that she could relax. The honey was sweet and definitely enjoyable. Was it worth the battle? That was a matter of preference. Aranea probably wouldn't do this all herself considering she wasn't a fighter and had a bit of a lower tolerance for pain. But at least right in this moment she'd be happy. Or as happy as she could feel. She'd take another couple petals off the marigold she had left, place them on her tongue and then take a bite of the honey comb. The taste was a bit bitter and flowery at first since it was placed on her tongue but would fade quickly with the overpowering sweetness of the honey. "Not bad." She'd state with another quick smile and a glance towards Nolan. "My name's Aranea by the way." She'd expect him to return the favor but wasn't one to be rude either. Some wolves just weren't social or friendly, but of course she figured Nolan was way off from a jerk. Walk "Talk" Think

Nolan followed his bee hive hunting companion as she pulled the hive in question off to the side under a tree that didn't have a bee problem and he looked at the now broken apart honey combs curiously. He'd never seen the inside of a hive before so he wasn't really sure what to expect, but he was still surprised by just how much honey was packed inside of it. He glanced up at the smaller woman when she told him that she would be back and to save some for him, watching her trot off with a raised brow. "Okay!" he called after her and wondered where she could possibly be off to. Maybe to get something to carry her share of the honey in? Either way, he turned his attention back to their prize and picked out a piece for himself. Taking a couple steps away, he settled onto his stomach and began to snack on a bit of the honey, grinning to himself at how sweet and delicious it was. He also took her advice - eating very carefully so he didn't accidentally get a bee in one of his bites. He had just gotten up and was looking through the remains of the hive for another small piece when the woman appeared again, this time carrying a bundle of flowers he couldn't hope to name. His ears perked at her instructions and something about her tone made him follow her orders without question. "Okay," he replied with a chuckle, settling back onto his haunches and sitting very still while he watched her work. Whatever she was doing with the honey and the flower petals seemed incredibly intricate and he was very impressed with whatever it was she was doing. It wasn't really until she went to place the honey coated petals on his stings that he realized she had been making a treatment for them. Of course, he probably should have figured out that she was a healer after she suddenly showed up with flowers, but he couldn't pick one plant from another to save his life so they could have just been pretty flowers for all he knew. Nolan nodded in response at the direction she gave him to keep them on till night time and then let a healer look at them. He'd have to remember to go find his Aunt Daelos when he got back to the pack so she could do just that. "Thank you," he'd say with his signature grin before turning his attention back to the honey in front of them. He settled in with another piece of the honey comb, giving her another interested glance as she tried eating some of the flower she had gathered and added a bit of honey to the bite. He hadn't really considered how honey could be used for other stuff until he watched her use it for various healing things. He'd have to take a piece back to his mother so she could take some of the herbs Daelos made her take with it. The thought of that made him smile a little. His ears perked toward her as she introduced herself and he lifted his head to give her a friendly nod and another grin. "I'm Nolan! Nice to meet you." He probably should have introduced himself much earlier than this if he was following the manners he had been taught, but that was alright. They had bigger fish to fry, so to speak, then to go through pleasantries. "Talk"

Aranea was happy with the boy being respectful and following her direction as she poked at him. It made her think slightly of her children she had lost many years ago and she couldn't help but feel sad as she helped him medically even just for that moment. She wasn't sure if she felt more sad about Tyranis taking Rain from her or her negligence of watching Nuada afterwards in her pain. She was so young then and she needed the help of Tyranis and instead found herself in a hole. She'd try to ignore the feelings to avoid making her company uncomfortable, but it wouldn't be easy. After sharing a few more moments with him, she would quietly rise and look below to him, "It was nice to meet you too Nolan, I hope you at least enjoy the prize now." Of course that was true, the honey was very rewarding in itself but as she thought previously she wouldn't go out of her away unless she needed it to wash down some herbs for a cranky puppy or elder. She'd go over to the hive and grab a large curved piece of the outside, grabbing a couple combs and placing them inside like a basket. She left most of it for Nolan to take home, especially the more liquid-pool part of the honey boat. "I hope we will meet again soon." She gave an inviting smile through her glazed eyes. They were in neighboring packs and friendly at that. Besides, if they weren't she wouldn't mind either way. Nolan gave her no reason to believe he was a bad wolf. She'd pick up the curved part of the hive with her mouth including her share of honey and combs before walking off towards Lirim. Though inside she was stinging with pain, she didn't want to plague or even talk about her problems with Nolan, especially with him being so young. She was even robbed of being with her children at his age, but right now she wanted to to go home and try to bury her feelings. -Exit Aranea- Walk "Talk" Think