One Person's Garbage, Is Another Packs Gain

Ricin lets out his call for Manea and then begins to pace, the excitement of finding what he hopes will get him promoted is too much to keep contained. As he moves, the boy works on kind of wording he will use when he starts describing the cellar. Should he start with the weird jars filled with liquid? Or the multitude of small prey animals that scamper around in there? Hmm. The only thing he knows for certain is that the back room will be kept for last. He becomes so involved in organizing his thoughts and walking that Ricin completely misses the dark form of Manea’s raven appearing on the horizon. It isn’t until the bird is swooping toward his head that the blue wolf realizes that he is not alone. Instinct kicks in and the boy tucks and rolls under the attacking animal, leaping back up onto his paws to turn and face the threat, Chade’s ingrained lessons quickly taking hold.

The caw of Temno has Ricin realizing, rather sheepishly, that it isn’t an attacking bird but one of Manea’s ravens. Crimson eyes turn to the dark form as Temno gracefully circles and lowers to land on Ricin, the boy relaxing his posture and mumbling out breathily, “Sorry Temno. I was a little lost in my thoughts.” The raven puffs out his feathers before announcing Manea would be along shortly. With a short nod, the blue boy continues to slowly move around in front of the cellar’s opening, the raven deciding to stay where he is. Heart still racing from the sudden adrenaline surge, Ricin resumes his pacing hopes of easing his jittery nerves. Temno picks at his fur as the pair move and the boy feels the unease quickly passing.

It feels like hours, but is only several minutes, before Ricin sees a purple dot on the horizon. The boy’s tail begins to wag happily, and as Manea approaches, a smile appears. His tail wagging faster with happiness at the prospect of having done something right. She greets him and Ricin says, “Hi Manea! I think I found just you wanted! Want to see?” His eyes are alight with joy and pride as he beckons the purple leader to the opening of the cellar. Temno leaves his perch upon Ricin to return to the sky and the boy’s crimson eyes follow the bird for moment, suddenly wishing he had a companion like Manea or Chade. Casting the thoughts from his mind, the blue boy returns to the task at hand and leads the way down into the hidden cellar, waiting until both of their eyes adjust before beginning his assessment.

Turning to look at his Alpha, Ricin begins by saying, “I had almost given up hope of finding a place like you wanted. Something that might have useful items and make a good hideout seemed like a tall order. But then I found this!” Using a paw to gesture to the many shelves lined with glass jars, the boy feels his chest puff out slightly from pride. Clearing his throat, he continues, “Many of the jars appear to have items in them. I don’t know what they are or if they are any good but you could task wolves with opening them and separating out things we might able to use. Now, in my opinion…” he moves over to a nearby jar filled with liquid that swirls when he taps the glass, as he says, “Anything with liquid might be bad. But we could empty out the contents and clean out the jars. They can be repurposed to hold dried herbs, salted meats, and other things. Even beeswax.”

Stopping a moment, Ricin turns to Manea allowing her room to give input before he continues the tour.


"Ricin Dauner"