Kassander sat framed in the mouth of the cave he'd chosen as a den, at something of a loss. He'd chosen as large a cave as he could safely find, partly because he'd be housing himself and a fox on a permanent basis as well as any patients temporarily, but on top of that the need for storage and room for crafting - it was much larger than what he'd chosen in Yfir, and he felt like he was rattling around the empty place. He'd been able to take nothing from Yfir when he'd begun his wandering, so he had no stores to move here, no pots or furs or anything he could work on. His stores in Yfir had been wrecked not long before he finally left when a surly wolverine decided to claim the comfortable den as his own when Kassander was away. The evil-tempered beast had destroyed the clay pots, spilling the contents over Kassander's furs and herb stores. Nothing had been salvageable even if Kassander had bothered to challenge the creature's claim, so he'd been left with nothing. Luckily he had some time before summer was over to harvest herbs, and most of Remy's ingredients didn't ripen until autumn anyway so there was time to gather new supplies.

Until he was able to, though, he felt pretty useless, and to be honest, pretty alone. He didn't recognize anyone else who had joined Ivory Ridge, and being one of the oldest in the pack felt odd to say the least. When had he gotten old? He didn't feel like he'd even truly left puphood behind, let alone made it to five summers old. He still felt like he should be asking an adult for advice, yet supposedly he was supposed to be the adult. He needed... an adultier adult. Here he was hiding in an empty cave instead of going out to meet his new packmates. It was embarrassing. The auburn healer huffed out a slow sigh, staring out over the admittedly gorgeous views that his new mountain home afforded him. Maybe he should take Rommel out and get some clay, start over on his pots...

Nia had seen this boy at the meeting, well.... this man who happened to be the same age as him. It was quiet funny though, both the healers had picked huge dens. Nia always had an eye out for these things, considering his companion could relay information fast. However it meant - if there was ever an outbreak the two of them could work together. Nia smiled, he might as well get know the members. "Just don't mess it up Nia!" he heard one of the voices talk in his head. Probably the better of the two. Nia ignored it, he wouldn't let anyone know he heard voices. Only Tally knew that, after all being deaf made everything so he didn't have to hear others. Just them. "Hello!" Tally chirped the beige and white rat sitting on the top of his head as Nia looked over Kassander. "This is Nia, and I'm Tally. We're out and about to meet the members so it's a pleasure. Also... it seems all healers think alike, Qualm also picked a cave similiar to this." The rat giggled a little bit. As Nia would take a seat and look towards Kassander with a soft nod. "We wanted to welcome you to Ivory Ridge - and we look forward to working with you." after all it was exciting to be in a pack.

His solitary vigil at the mouth of his den was interrupted by the approach of a much smaller white male up the treacherous path. Kass' eyes went blank a moment as he found himself tracing that path back and wondering if it would be possible to widen it somehow for bringing would-be patients up to his den... It should be big enough to two wolves side by side, maybe, so one wolf could support another while they carried them. Or maybe they should build travois of some sort to help carry anyone too injured or ill? It could be used for trade goods too... if this Karabela was as interested in trade as she seemed they might have a lot of goods to transport, and he didn't really fancy the idea of tying chunks of meat to himself like he'd done to transport the alcohol he'd made for Yfir. He refocused as it became clear that the other male was actually approaching him specifically rather than simply passing by along the trail. He dipped his head self-consciously in greeting. If he hadn't seen this pair at the Karabela's meeting, he might have been taken aback by the little rat speaking up in the wolf's place. As it was he didn't know which to look at as the rat hailed him, and his gaze shifted nervously from one face to the other and back. "I'm Kassander Xanilov," he gave his name softly in return. "And, ah, my friends Rommel and Remy are in the cave." Remy was asleep, but at the sound of his name the fox left off his poking around to join Kassander at the entrance, a silent presence beside the taller wolf. Kassander welcomed the unspoken support from his companion, since he had no idea how to respond to the rat's commentary on his choice of den. His ears dropped, and his chin tucked down uncertainly. "I'm afraid I don't know who Quelt is, but since all the healers I've known have enough herb stores to last all winter and into the next year, it makes sense to have storage room. And it really wouldn't be polite to intrude on someone's personal den to check on your patients, either, so most would prefer to have the room to keep them nearby instead of with another healer." He shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. He couldn't decide if the rat's comment had simply been an idle observation from someone unfamiliar with healers, or if he was missing some undercurrent of... political wrangling and jockeying for positions of power within the pack. There hadn't been much of that in Yfir so he wasn't sure he could recognize it in time to keep it from biting him in the nose, but Ebony had certainly had its fair share of that sort of court politics so he knew it was possible. Honestly he'd probably have made a much better king if he'd learned to play that game, but he never had, not even in childhood when his desperate need for perfection in himself had driven him to push his siblings away. He'd just wanted to do his best for everyone. He forced a shy, pained smile at both visitors as they welcomed him, though they'd been part of the pack no longer than he had been. "I hope not to see you too often in my capacity as a healer," he said in an awkward attempt at joking. "But I should have everything ready shortly to start making trade goods for the traders to take out, so I can be useful even if no one falls off a cliff or gets sick." "Kassander" "Rommel"

What Tally had said wasn't meant as an insult, so the rat had felt a little badly about it. She wasn't used to pack life as it was. Spending majority of it looking after Nia considering his condition as the small male looked around the den. Now this was the den of a healer amongst a pack. It felt like forever ago when he was in these lands with his master. As he returned his attention to the other man, he watched and since he was good at watching the mannerisms Kassander gave off. Nia frowned subconsciously and lowered his head. Tally picking up on the gesture. "Ahhh, Nia says he didn't mean for him to offend you if he did. That goes for me too. Qualm's just another healer we met him while getting the lay of the land same as we've come across you." the rat shuffled on Nia's head for a bit of comfort to him. Tally would chuckle to his comment though about seeing them often. "I'll try to keep him out of trouble... Nia is deaf so there's only so much I can do for him - along with his mental health." Nia would let his ears flick at Tally spoke. Only feeling the sharp vibrations from her chest onto his body. The male lifted his head again and offered a kind smile to Kassander and a small wag of his tail. "We simply hope to build a nice relationship with everyone." and Kassander just happened to be his potential first friend.

Kassander shook his head as the rat apologized for offending him. "Oh no, I'm not offended at all," he answered earnestly. "I just..." he hesitated, not wanting to come across wrongly. "I just don't know anyone else here yet." Nor did he know the land he now inhabited, though he'd grown up right outside Ivory Ridge's current borders. It was unsettling, but perhaps that would pass as he grew more comfortable with the pack. It was just so much newness after losing Yfir and his former charges, he couldn't seem to find his footing again. Well, he wasn't going to make the same mistakes he'd made in Ebony and Yfir. He wasn't going to let his anxiety hold him back from being a proper healer and giving proper care to the wolves in his new home. He'd find some way to regain some measure of the confidence he'd had as a king, before Sigmarr's death. He took a deep breath and blew it out before offering Nia a more genuine, if shy, smile. "If you - either of you - need anything at all don't hesitate to ask. Not just as a healer, either. If you need someone to hunt for you, or if you need some furs for your den..." "Kassander" "Rommel"

Nia read the male's lips and smiled a little softly. Nodding his head towards him, he knew that feeling amazingly. Ever since his master died, Nia had never been the same. Probably for the better though since he had been so submissive. His life as a play thing before hand hadn't been too bad, his lover had raped and then gotten killed so that was the end of that. Living with mental illness was hard and difficult to explain to others though. "Then don't you idiot" a voice murmured in his head. Making Nia shake his head as if he had a flea in his ears that could not hear. Making Tally move to his shoulders so that she didn't get flung off. Worried for him as Nia shifted. "It's best to share everything to your pack mates Nia. What's the worse that could happen anyway?" the other voice had appeared, soothing him slightly. Nia would look towards Tally then, to give her permission to tell Kassander. "Nia is really thankful for that Kassander, he understands feeling so shy. You see he hears voices in his head two of them in which he tries not to tell others much because he feels they would reject him outright. The same to you, if you need a supply of some sort or anything at all. Let us know." The rat conveyed as Nia seemed happy enough. Feeling the vibration of her voice against his head as he smiled a little bit. Tail flicking behind the small wolf.