In the Dark
09-16-2016, 01:07 PM
His solitary vigil at the mouth of his den was interrupted by the approach of a much smaller white male up the treacherous path. Kass' eyes went blank a moment as he found himself tracing that path back and wondering if it would be possible to widen it somehow for bringing would-be patients up to his den... It should be big enough to two wolves side by side, maybe, so one wolf could support another while they carried them. Or maybe they should build travois of some sort to help carry anyone too injured or ill? It could be used for trade goods too... if this Karabela was as interested in trade as she seemed they might have a lot of goods to transport, and he didn't really fancy the idea of tying chunks of meat to himself like he'd done to transport the alcohol he'd made for Yfir. He refocused as it became clear that the other male was actually approaching him specifically rather than simply passing by along the trail. He dipped his head self-consciously in greeting. If he hadn't seen this pair at the Karabela's meeting, he might have been taken aback by the little rat speaking up in the wolf's place. As it was he didn't know which to look at as the rat hailed him, and his gaze shifted nervously from one face to the other and back. "I'm Kassander Xanilov," he gave his name softly in return. "And, ah, my friends Rommel and Remy are in the cave." Remy was asleep, but at the sound of his name the fox left off his poking around to join Kassander at the entrance, a silent presence beside the taller wolf. Kassander welcomed the unspoken support from his companion, since he had no idea how to respond to the rat's commentary on his choice of den. His ears dropped, and his chin tucked down uncertainly. "I'm afraid I don't know who Quelt is, but since all the healers I've known have enough herb stores to last all winter and into the next year, it makes sense to have storage room. And it really wouldn't be polite to intrude on someone's personal den to check on your patients, either, so most would prefer to have the room to keep them nearby instead of with another healer." He shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. He couldn't decide if the rat's comment had simply been an idle observation from someone unfamiliar with healers, or if he was missing some undercurrent of... political wrangling and jockeying for positions of power within the pack. There hadn't been much of that in Yfir so he wasn't sure he could recognize it in time to keep it from biting him in the nose, but Ebony had certainly had its fair share of that sort of court politics so he knew it was possible. Honestly he'd probably have made a much better king if he'd learned to play that game, but he never had, not even in childhood when his desperate need for perfection in himself had driven him to push his siblings away. He'd just wanted to do his best for everyone. He forced a shy, pained smile at both visitors as they welcomed him, though they'd been part of the pack no longer than he had been. "I hope not to see you too often in my capacity as a healer," he said in an awkward attempt at joking. "But I should have everything ready shortly to start making trade goods for the traders to take out, so I can be useful even if no one falls off a cliff or gets sick." "Kassander" "Rommel" |