Here to Serve

Venom was going to take him up on the offer of training others in her pack as the young man had hoped she would.  It was a proactive way to protect her instead of just hoping something would happen so he had a thing to do.  It was also true that once he was gone the armada truly was farther away and even if they wanted to see help it would take time to learn Ashen needed help and time to send it.  The idea solution wasn’t watching Venom for now and then washing his paws of it but to find ways to strengthen things.

Ashen was Armadas allies and strong in its own right of course.  Kotori made sure to remind himself that Ashen didn’t need him but simply took his help to strengthen them as other pack’s eyes might take notice of the two allies splitting up.  It was time for Ashen to show perfectly well for any onlookers and to keep a strong bond between two allies of course.

Kotori followed Venom, keeping to one side and just a stride behind so that she had the lead yet close enough for easy communication.  Stepping those first few strides officially in Ashen territory had Kotori’s mind looping back to Ikigai and the bitter memory that she wasn’t here.  He was tempted to ask about Iki but forced that to be a later question as business came first.  “My biggest question I’d have is how you prefer having my assistance.  Do you want me to spend a great deal of time close to you in case needed or prefer or have more concerns about the pack's border?  Funny to think how long I lived so close but really only seen a small part of Ashen’s land.”  He could have explored whenever he’d wanted but instead even when spending time with Iki it was generally on neutral ground.

"Kotori"