Walk | Talk | Think

Wind rustled the mid-tone grey wolf's thickening pelt as she stood upon the lip of the ravine, two-toned eyes staring deep into the leafy, green middle. Any other day she might have gone down into it to see what the base of it was like, curious and willing to sate that curiosity by finding out the answers to the questions her mind posed. But the trek down the side of it would have been tricky. Brambles and rocks and thick shrubs coated the whole thing, leaving thin, winding trails that would have been tricky enough to maneuver for any sound wolf. The sides were steep in more places than they were gentle, and there was always the matter of climbing back up the rising sides once Ashtoreth was done. Any other day it might have been no trouble at all.

But this day was different. This day was one of many that had followed an unexpected, unwarranted attack upon her nearby a river during a harrowing thunderstorm. She should have seen it coming. The wolf who had attacked her had appeared incredibly jumpy from the start, and rather than take any real note of it she had chalked it up to the storm. How wrong she had been. They had only wandered a short way before he turned on her, catching her off guard and pinning her to the ground, only to tear into her leg the same second she nearly escaped him. By sheer luck alone he had turned and fled, leaving her only with a battered leg. She still held it tenderly, a little more weight placed upon her toes as she stood, but it was still on the mend. Were it not for the surprisingly kind offer of another stranger to tend to the wound after she had made it back home it would have probably been in a worse state than it currently was. No doubt it needed more care from a trained healer, but Valhalla had been short of healers recently. For this reason, she was grateful her leg was healing at all.

Another strong gust of autumnal wind whipped past her, making her gold and purple eyes close momentarily until it had passed. Looking down into the ravine, Ash tried not to let her condition get the better of her. Her lip was becoming less pronounced, she could actually place weight on the leg now, and the scars were no longer as mangled and stomach turning as they had once been. There was plenty to be happy about, but still a good mood evaded her. Gaze lowering listlessly to the uneven ground, the lean little grey wolf turned away from the ravine and began walking carefully along its edge, still limping though her injured hind leg touched the ground and supported some of her weight with each step. Progress, she reminded herself, looking forward to the day she might have full use of her leg again. She would need to drag Thane on a hunt for something big and impressive to celebrate mobility again.

dark gray paws carefully brought the brute to the edge of a ravine. Thane's maw curved upwards as a smile appeared on his maw. Funny how this thing called a ravine had the same name as one of his sons. Thane's heart seemed to warm up as he thought of the small bundles of puppies back at home.With a sigh the brute continued. Even though he had only been away from his beloved and newborn children for a while, he missed them dearly already. But the new father knew he had another duty as well aside from his family, the pack. The male hadn't seen his fellow hunter Ashtoreth in a while; he only knew that she had received an injury recently.

White lined ears perked up as he heard a footfall ahead. The brute's aqua blue gaze then landed on a gray wolf ahead, Ashtoreth. Thane had been looking for the dame for a while now; he had been searching for her wondering if they should go on another hunt. Thane then let out a light chuff to tell his fellow hunter of his presence.

Thane didn't want to startle the femme since she was on the ledge of a ravine. Now wouldn't be the time to go up and give someone a good surprise. Surely he wouldn't like that either. And of course Thane couldn't fall down into the ravine and land a wrong way. Lest he leave the care of his and Ookami's children all to her. With a shake of his head the male cleared his head.

Aqua blue eyes then averted back to Ashtoreth before he decided to speak.

"Ashtoreth, how do you fare?" he asked casually as he made his way closer onto the ledge the dame was on.

Thane then steadily stood beside his fellow hunter awaiting a reaction or reply; but he patiently waited. He also hoped they could go on a hunt even is she was up for it. His aqua blue gaze then settled on her healing wound. Thane hoped she wouldn't mind a hunt even with her healing wound. Then again it would be good to push herself with it as well. But if it started to hurt he would see to it that she rest for a moment. No reason in hurting herself further he thought.

Walk | Talk | Think

To say Ashtoreth had only been affected by her encounter with the violent stranger in the form of her injured leg would have been an outright lie. He had left other scars, ones invisible to the eye, unseen but felt strongly at times by the she-wolf.

Now was one of those times. The sound of the gentle chuff, meant only as a greeting and announcement, nothing more, caused her to stop walking the second she heard it and to lift her head with a pointed, guarded stare at its source. She was tense, justifiably wary, at least until she recognized the wolf as a well known friend. Her body eased, her muscles relaxed, and she sighed inaudibly as she allowed her rigid tail to wag with a few gentle sways behind her. Thane. Immediately the sight of her superior left a feeling of guilt behind, knowing full well she should have come to him straight away about her injury and inform him of the time she would need to recover. Embarrassment had stopped her, however. The circumstances behind the injury were not ones that she was proud of, nor did she want to flaunt her poor judgment. But it was probably well overdue that she spoke with him, openly and honestly.

The course she wound upon the edge of the ravine brought her closer to the male, carefully picking a path while her ears perked and listened to his raised voice ask of her condition. Sheepishly, the she-wolf's ears fell back against her head, a thin, embarrassed smile stretching across her face. "I've been better," Ashtoreth answered, attempting at her usual good humor. It felt good to pretend, just for a moment, that she was her same old self, to ignore her injury and act as if nothing was wrong. But as she came close enough to speak casually with the Lead Hunter and her steps stilled to allow her to stand in his company she knew now was not the time for jokes.

It was time for an apology. "I'm sorry I didn't come to tell you about this sooner," she responded, her head and gaze lowered guiltily. "I was upset by my foolishness and let it draw me away from my responsibility. That's no excuse, but..." In no way did she enjoy having to admit to shortcomings, to anyone let alone someone that she was supposed to work very closely with on a regular basis, held such a respect for, and especially because she took such pride in her own work. Unsure of how else she might continue, Ashtoreth raised her head enough to peer upward at Thane wonderingly, hoping that his earlier friendly tone might hold promise that he didn't hold her actions against her too harshly.

Aqua blue eyes settled once more on Ashtoreth as she said she had been better in a friendly tone with a smile. Thane returned the smile but it quickly faded into his somewhat normal serious face as she spilled out an apology to the male. The brute sat there quietly and patiently as he perked up his white lined ears to take in every word.She was upset as the brute expected, but she also mentioned her responsibility, and she said it was no excuse; and said she should have told him earlier.

With a small nod Thane sat there with his gaze staring down at his dark gray feet as he contemplated his answer. As the wolf took in a breath he closed his eyes before opening them as he lifted up his head to then turn and look Ashtoreth in the eyes.

"I for one do not see this as a mistake but as a learning experience. Personally I do not think that you have done any wrong....you have two main responsibilities...your duty as a hunter and yourself. I appreciate your apology but we are all brought down aren't we? Foolishness should not be frowned upon. Without it...what sort of wolves would we all be? We wouldn't learn from our mistakes and prosper as we continue. I'm not saying that you made a mistake but,you weren't drawn too far astray from your second responsibility. you were drawn to your first and foremost one, yourself. And no, that isn't being selfish. Without having everyone care for themselves where would all the wolves be?" he said in a soft gentle tone as he finished with a smile

"I myself have been drawn from my duties because of my family. But that isn't bad. We take time to nurture ourselves, our young, our mates, then return to our daily responsibility. But we as a pack, Valhalla, we're a family. I'm sure you must have not felt all too well after your injury but I'll let you know that you can always come to me Ashtoreth. You aren't just a hunter, you're part of our family, and family has to stick together."

With a small chuckle Thane spoke up once more before ceasing his long but useful words of wisdom.

"Even I couldn't come out here to find you while I had three little rascals biting at my tail." he said with another smile.

The male's aqua blue gaze looked at Ashtoreth as he quieted down to let his words sink in. Hopefully she would understand what he meant. And hopefully she wouldn't feel so bad. Thane's tail dragged back and forth across the ground as he waited...patiently...content...and calm. The brute was all ears and was here to listen to anything else the dame had to say.

Walk | Talk | Think

Long winded Thane may have been, but Ashtoreth knew better than to contradict anything the wolf said. He was wise beyond his years, calm as only an elder could be when faced with situations that might have tried the patience of others with a shorter fuse. And he was strangely easy to talk to. She did not feel judged in his presence, did not feel as if she should have been remorseful or ashamed of what had happened to her. If anything, he made it sound as if she had reacted as expected, that nothing she had done had been out of line or deserving of a reprimand. He's too nice, she wondered with a grateful smile, her head turned downward to stare at the ground before her paws.

As he mentioned his family, the grey she-wolf's head rose in interest, her purple and gold eyes sparking curiously. She had heard very little about the pups that the Lead Hunter had had with his mate Ookami, though she knew they were close to entering their world. "Congratulations about your family, by the way," she interrupted, already having expressed her good wishes to his mate and glad to finally have an opportunity to do the same for him. With his patience and cool head, she was sure he would excel as a father. Both he and his wife seemed perfectly suited toward a life of parenthood, and she was excited to see them eventually for herself.

Ash chuckled, feeling relieved and comfortable knowing Thane accepted her absence and apology. It was a start on the road to mending, another sort of road that she needed to travel in conjunction with the one needed for her leg. Thinking of it, she carefully extended it backward slightly, testing the muscles and wincing only slightly. Not quite healed, but on the mend. It was the best she could have hoped for for the moment, and she was willing to take what she could. "I'm hoping to be able to hunt again soon. Having to take it easy is killing me," she admitted with a smile, another thought striking her at the same moment. "How are our food stores?" The hunters of the pack were only limited to herself and Thane and she was sure her absence was hurting their production. She could only hope Thane had been receiving help while she had been holed up inside her den recovering.

White lined ears perked up even more as Ashtoreth congratulated him on his family.That brought another smile to the male's maw. Even being out here the brute missed his children and mate but he knew they were safe. His ear twitched as he avoided a flashback and those gruesome thoughts. His PTSD was better than ever; with his family set as his main topic on his mind there was no more room for those depressing thoughts. It was over with and all he could do was look forward. The male had lost everything but had gained a loving mate and three beautiful children. What more could Thane want, nothing.

"Yes, thank you. Maybe one day you should stop by for a visit to see the little rascals. I'm sure they would be delighted to meet a new face and to have someone to admire and play with. Two boys and a girl, but I love them all." he said with a warm smile.

Then she said she hoped she could hunt again soon and how she exclaimed taking it easy was killing her. Then Ash asked about the food stores they had. He tilted his head a bit before answering, thinking of everything he was going to say before parting his lips to say it.

With a smile and a small chuckle Thane replied.

"I'm sure you're more than eager to hunt. No worries, first thing you're all better we'll go on a celebratory hunt, any prey of your choice to get for the pack. And as for our food stores they are fair. The deer from our first hunt has sustained the pack for a while. And as it has been withering away I've caught a few morsels on my own for the pack to throw on the pile. It's quite alright Ashtoreth. No worries be needed for I'm sure more than enough wolves also find themselves a snack among these plentiful lands. But we should plan a hunt for bigger game as soon as you're all patched up." he said with a never ceasing smile

Thane averted his aqua blue gaze to the ravine. With a flick of his tail he leaned forward a bit to get a good look at it. Interesting structure; with a shrug he then turned his gaze back to his fellow hunter.

Walk | Talk | Think

Ashtoreth answered Thane's generous invitation with a nervous laugh, flattered and grateful he should be so willing to allow her within the small circle that was his family. It was an honor, undoubtedly, but one she wasn't sure she was ready to accept. Pups were always a nervous subject for her. Even being a female with natural mothering instincts, she often wondered if she would do well as a mother, if she could raise a family to be conscientious of those around them and admirable to their peers. It was a tough job, and she openly admired Thane and Ookami for traveling down that path. She hoped, should the card of pups fall into her hand, that she be as well prepared and patient as they were, and at least left the idea of visiting their small brood later, just to observe and be polite.

It was a relief to her to know that the pack's stores of food were still holding. The worry that her inability to complete her job had caused her much worry as she had been recovering, fearful that those who depended on the cache she and Thane supplied would start to take notice of their limited stock and complain. Not to mention she felt guilty for placing the whole of that responsibility solely on Thane's shoulders, whether he accepted that extra weight or not. A celebratory hunt did sound wondering to the slim wolf, her smile widening as she nodded her head in agreement. "Can't wait for that," she admitted unabashedly, her tail even wagging a the thought. To stretch, to run, to hunt. It was exactly what she wished to do most.

Her gold and purple mixed eyes shifted as Thane's did to slip down the side of the ravine and stare into the deeper, denser sections, still somewhat curious though less so now that she had been reminded of her progress and the weight of guilt she had been carrying had been lightened. Eventually they wandered back up to settle on the male, noting him glancing her way as well, and she smiled companionably. "So what is it that brought you out here? You couldn't have been looking for me," she asked with a humorous chuckle. Certainly something much more important than a little conversation with her had drawn the male in this direction, though she could hardly fathom.