Hey There, Honey

Aryn's self-taught lessons in combat were coming along as well as she could have hoped and the difficulties fighting presented to her were made manageable by her newest friend, the dik-dik. It was disappointing that unlike other wolves companions, the small deer had yet to learn to speak her tongue. Without any form of shared communication she'd been forced to name the thing herself, eventually setting upon Jane (Doe). With Jane at her heels she grew more confident in and around Habari's territory, and although Recluse had yet to lift her from the rank of servant, she'd found opportunity to head out on short trips from the nook with permission to improve her middling skills in hunting. If she could begin to bring in food for her pack, perhaps that would be the trigger that led to Recluse's forgiveness.

Though it all, Aryn still had failed to shake her discomfort around blood. Injuring an animal pained her almost as much as it pained her victim, which she assumed would make both potential career packs difficult-bordering-on-stupid. It was something she had been trying to work on with Tyrian, but when that friendship fell apart, so did her desire to learn from another. Fireside had been an interesting case study in brutality (read: efficiently and ethically killing prey) and it had helped lead her toward alternative sources of food. Wolves couldn't live on herbs and grasses like Jane could, but they could find use in animal products without ever harming another living being. It was on this train of thought that she exited the redbud nook east, eager to take advantage of the new spring with her eyes set upon bees. As far as she was aware, they were easy to keep, peaceful to collect, and passively made honey to add flavor to Habari's meals. Befriending a hive couldn't be that hard, could it?

She heard the bees before she saw them, tiptoeing through the grasses with her nose in the air, though not fully knowing what she was supposed to be scenting. Aryn knew there was a trick to this, vaguely recollecting that she had to find the swarm before it could settle into a hive and convince it to come along with her instead. In practice this was much harder, and she nearly stepped on the monochromatic stranger in her intent search.

"Oh! I'm so sorry." She gasped, reeling back just before she could place a paw upon the basking wolf's tail. "I was listening so hard for the bees that I guess I zoned out." Aryn gave the stranger a warm smile of greeting, her ears flicking back nervously as she considered the sort of wolf this woman might be.