out there in the silence

The girl remarked that it would take one hell of a wolf to make it in this land, and Katja inclined her head in agreement. "Such a wolf as could survive here could change the world if they set their mind to it. I do not intend my wolves to languish about in luxury and stagnation." She went on to explain that she was a healer from Secretua - a pack Katja could remember from her previous days as alpha. The alpha had been as wary of alliances as she herself was, but had seemed far more concerned with keeping hidden and quiet than in gaining glory for himself and his family. "Perhaps if you are able to describe the plant I may assist you in finding some," Katja suggested. "I am no healer but I have eyes in my head with which to look."

As they moved to the heart of the oasis, Katja's sharp gaze continued to sweep the land around them. Many plants here were unfamiliar, and she made a note to bring Kassander on a few of these expeditions to identify if there were an abundance of useful or dangerous plants - an important thing to know if one were to use a land. She sent a sidelong glance at the girl as she offhandedly gave her name and asked about her pack. "Katja Finnvi," she told her gravely in return. "I am Dròttin, the alpha, of a pack in the east known as Yfir. I have only just come into possession of this pack, but my wolves are eager and loyal. We will be a force to be reckoned with in this lands - all will know the name Yfir. We will not hide in our dens while the world passes us by." The blunt nature of her words made the vague reference to Secretua less than subtle, but there was no maliciousness in her tone - just a matter of fact statement of what she saw as truth.

She paused at the edge of the clear spring that formed the heart of the oasis, noting that the desert sand had filtered the spring water that bubbled up through it, leaving a cleaner, clearer water source than the lake in Yfir's territory. An important feature of any territory, but a desert territory even more so. Hunters could travel away from the territory to hunt and bring food back to the pack, but the young, ill, and elderly could not survive long if they had to leave the territory constantly to seek good water sources. "Tell me, Warja," she mused, eyes focusing back on the gray toned girl, "If you were the alpha of your pack, how would you choose to lead them?" Perhaps a strange question to pose to a stranger, but Katja had never been one to allow tact to hold her back when she wanted to know something.