some peace of mind

"Oh! No, they were a gift from my parents... Azure and Hanako. When I was younger and where we lived before... well, I'm really allergic to most things. Grass, dust, all kinds of plants. It was a real mess. My eyes would water and get gummed up, so they had these fashioned up and it helps a lot - but also living up here makes a huge difference!" Makara grinned, sucking in a big, pleasant breath of chilly northern air. "I love it up here!" She noted the thick, insulating coat that Keahi wore and bit her tongue a bit. Plenty of other wolves did not like the north very much. Makara laughed a bit as Keahi described the sight she'd happened upon - a pale wolf talking nonsense was pretty weird, after all. Wait, had she said beautiful? A weird, hot sensation spread up from her neck and across her checks. Mak blushed and shifted from paw to paw, her bright laughter turning into a nervous, awkward chuckle. No one had ever really complimented her before. It kind of made her want to puke. But maybe in a good way? If puking could be at all good.

The wind that rustled through the air cut the tension and brought her attention back to their surroundings. It was easy to become lost in this forest, surely - so many of the trees were so large you couldn't look around them. Some of their roots were the size of her torso. Makara cast her gaze around, taking in the few paths that had evidence of recent use. It didn't seem to be a particularly popular area for prey animals, and she could see why. There was no easy way to navigate the territory. If something pursued you, you'd just as easily crash into the base of a massive tree than you would evade your captor. Plus, the plush ground covering of moss could give way to the slippery wet soil hiding underneath. Not a good combo. Makara couldn't imagine how much more difficult it would get when the heavy snowfall came and obscured those huge tree roots. It was a broken limb waiting to happen.

At Keahi's lavish bow, Makara tried to bow in return and tripped forward a bit, catching herself before she fell face-first into the dirt. "No, no, definitely a good introduction for that title! Did you practice that? I can barely..." she laughed, demonstrating again how she nearly tipped over. When Keahi spoke again, Makara was once more caught off guard. Help her with anything? She'd never been asked that. Makara scuffed her paw, kicking up a small bit of leaves as she did so. "Um... I'm not sure? I've been trying to figure out what I want to do. Because I do want to do something. For the pack," she stammered out, her sentence structure terrible and broken. It was so hard to give voice to her feelings - it was much easier to chat aimlessly about everything else. "But nothing I do seems to be enough." For my father, she thought wordlessly. Her eyes were glassy but she blinked furiously and regained her composure. "So... what do you think needs doing?"

Explored a new land 3/3