Balsam had recently returned to a much changed Boreas. Travelers told fanciful tales of bleeding eyeballs and crystal growths, and he didn't believe a single word of it. I mean come on. Mushrooms growing out ears? Crystals out of wounds? Please. It was all so silly. What he couldn't deny, however, was the feeling of 'healing' that permeated the land. Critters great and small spooked easily. He couldn't speak for anyone else but Balsam was finding hunting a bit difficult. So what did one do when the goings got tough? They let someone else do all the work.

He crossed the border in the trees. All these years later they were still home to him. Climbing in them was as natural and easy as running on the ground was for some.

Once over by a dozen yards or so, Balsam dropped to the ground. There he glanced around to catch his bearings. He'd come in for food but really, he'd take whatever caught his fancy. A meal was a priority, yes, but any item of value was liable to get plucked up if he thought he could get away with it. It really just depended on how far he got before someone caught wind of him.

Ah, speaking of. Someone was coming. He could hear them stepping through the foliage. Balsam was off quick as a whip into the thicket. He slipped into the shadows and crouched down. Would they walk on by or catch scent of him? He was up for the challenge either way.

Things in Abaven were beginning to change, and for the better. Corvus wholeheartedly believed in the direction Theory was taking things. They'd always been a haven for those who needed in, family in particular - but opening their borders even more completely seemed a natural course of direction to take. He just hoped her plan was ultimately successful, but he couldn't imagine why it might not be. There were always wolves who needed to learn, and Abaven had their fair share of willing teachers. Already he was beginning to go over the sorts of lessons he could teach, though he supposed it depended on the sort of wolves that ended up enrolling; his lessons would be quite different if the majority of the fighters were completely inexperienced.

The sound of someone sneaking around through the thicket caused his thoughts to derail. Head held high, he sniffed at the slight breeze that rustled through the underbrush and decided the scent was definitely not Abaven. A trespasser? But why? They were still recovering from the long night and the strange sickness that had ravaged Boreas. They had little worth plundering and certainly no enemies that would want to target them. Briefly his mind traveled to his former friend who had lived in the north, but he shook those thoughts away swiftly. "Hello? Who's there? Show yourself," he demanded, firmly but not unkindly, as he continued poking through the thicket.

Balsam huffed a small disappointed huff as the pack wolf called to him. He wasn't quite ready to give himself up yet so instead of replying right away he stretched out on the ground and slithered off through the underbrush. The little thief didn't go far. If he got his way he'd position himself somewhere he could catch a glimpse of the guy looking for him. He just wanted a little peek; a little preview of what he was getting himself into. Oh, and yeah, he wanted to see if the other was carrying anything worth running off with. That was key. A little nibble of some kind would be gold, but he'd take anything he could barter for food.

He settled down in a shadowy dip between two gnarled shrubs and was quiet for a beat as he tried to pinpoint the other wolf's location. Unfortunately Balsam found the urge to say something irresistible so while remaining quiet was his best bet, he simply couldn't. "You're supposed to say 'Marco'," he said just loud enough for the other to hear.

Unfortunately he didn't get the response he quite hoped. For a long moment silence followed, and Corvus tried to plan his reaction. He lifted a paw to swipe away a thick patch of vegetation as he pushed through it, trying to find the shortest route to the stranger. By the time he spoke up again Corvus thought he could catch a glimpse of him but he wasn't quite sure. Sighing at his response, he plodded on, finally managing to peek through an impressively thick shrub and catch sight of him. He was tiny, easily the smallest wolf he'd ever seen, though his voice seemed like an adult's rather than a child's. Strange indeed. "I don't know what that means, but I know you look pretty small - do you maybe need something from us? Some food, maybe?" He didn't want to be presumptuous but if Balsam was going to keep creeping around in the thicket, Corvus thought it best to be straight-forward. He had no issues chasing out an intruder but Abaven had always been receptive to those that needed a safe haven; he wouldn't stop that now.