Vanille had still been struggling to hold her own but that wasn't really anything new. She had been on her own for maybe about two seasons, and she had been in worse condition before. The prey numbers were building back up now that the long night was over, and she was getting a better fill just not enough to really tone her out.

She was crafty though and that's what got her most of her meals because she was relatively weak otherwise. Chasing prey was tiresome, and she needed more fuel to do that anyways. This was much easier. She had collected her own supplies that she kept around her den or in her travels, she tried to stay close to one area at least recently. Coming out to the Grande, she trudged a net along with some iron weights out towards the waters before laying out the net and patching up some of the ripped areas with more twine.

"Vanille"
Base By WatermelonCreature

Arcturus ventured out from where he and his family had been living without really having any kind of plan in mind. He didn't know exactly what he wanted to do or where he wanted to go, he only knew that he needed to get out and get some sort of movement under his paws. He had promised his sister that he would try to do better and to put the effort in effort and he refused to break his promise to her. He didn't always feel like he had a successful day or that he actually contributed anything to the wolves that he lived with, but he always at least left the den for a short period if nothing else. They were small steps that he hoped would eventually had up to something.

He neared the Rio Grande and as his sapphire gaze roamed over the landscape he spotted a familiar icy blue and white form up ahead that made his ears perk with recognition. He had thought about Vanille often since they parted ways. He worried about her a lot even though he tried not to since he really didn't know her other than her name. Even still, he couldn't quite get the memory of her struggling with trying to get down to where their prey was at the bottom of the pit out of his head. He smiled as he walked over to her, glancing curiously to the net she was mending. "Hey, Vanille. Good to see you again," he said as he came to stand by her. "Would you like some help with that?" He had been pretty good at crafting nets and taps with rope at least at one point from learning how to from his mother. Even if he hadn't done it in a while he felt like he could probably still manage.

"Arcturus Fatalis"

Vanille saw Arcturus just from the corner of her eye as he approached, but didn't move to look at him more until he was above her and greeting. She smiled a bit widely but also nonchalantly. She was happy to see him. "Same to you." She spoke with a glance up to him before continuing to work on the net's mending.

He aksed if she wanted some help and she didn't hesitate much. Looking over both of her shoulders like she could have misplaced something she gestured to the iron weights with a string tied around the loops, "Do you think you could tie those weights onto all the corners for me?" She would keep working on the ripped holes she was working on, it seemed more of a difficult task at least. Maybe he could help her with the rips if they still needed attention.

"Vanille"
Base By WatermelonCreature

Arcturus nodded with a grin when she asked if he could tie on the weights to the corners for her, giving her a little smile. "Sure, no problem." He walked over to the closest corner and settled down near it, picking up the weight to get it into place. While he used his claws to help feed the pieces of rope through the weight to tie it off he snuck little glances up at Vanille. He knew he wasn't exactly the most talkative or social wolf in the world, but he didn't mind just working in silence too much as long as she didn't mind either. He did at least feel like he needed to try and make some kind of conversation though. It was hard to get to know her better without actually talking to her and asking her questions.

As he got up to move to the next corner, he glanced up at her and asked, "So, um... How have you been?" That seemed like a safe enough starting place. She certainly didn't seem like she was in any worse a spot than she had been in when they hunted the deer together so at the very least she was maintaining things. He settled down at the next corner and gave it the same treatment, putting the weight in place and feeding the twine through with his claws before tying it off while she worked on patching up some holes.

"Arcturus Fatalis"

Vanille was just the same as Arcturus, not minding the silence and didn't even feel tension or an awkwardness from it. Working around others was definitely helping her emotional state some even if that wasn't evident.She continued to work on reweaving and tying the patches on the netting while Arcturus connected the weights.

Her eyes moved to him when he spoke, showing her quick interest in what he had to say, or well ask. She chuckled slightly in response, "Well, you know... uneventful." Her tone edged a more humorous note but serious all the same. She seemed rather comfortable around him even though he was mostly a stranger to her. "I don't suppose you have anything fun you'd like to share with me?" She flashed him another silly grin before moving on to more patches on the net, still listening to him if he spoke out.

Once they were done getting it all together, she stood and pointed to one long side of the net, "Can you pull that side? I just want to make sure the knots are sturdy enough." And she went to pull the side across from his to prove the strength before they would go to toss it into the river.

"Vanille"
Base By WatermelonCreature

Seeing her grin and hearing her chuckle made him smile and helped him shake any of that last lingering awkwardness that never failed to creep up on him when he was talking to someone else. The only wolves he had ever felt completely relaxed around were his family before now, but Vanille was proving to be very easy to talk to. He didn't really know why, but it just felt like she was easy to get along with and he was glad for that. It had been so long since he had actually tried to make friends or get to know anyone and at least Vanille made it easy. He chuckled with an understanding when she mentioned how there hadn't really been anything exciting for her to report, looking back down at his paws for a moment to make sure he was still tying on the weights properly. At least there wasn't anything bad to mention, unless she was just doing a good job of hiding it.

When she turned the question back toward him, he glanced up at her again with a little grin, giving her a small shrug before looking back down at his work. "Nah, not really... Hunting with you the other day was kind of the most fun I've had in a while. It's been pretty boring just hanging around with my mom and sister otherwise," he told her with a little moment of sincerity. He had thought about the afternoon he spent hunting with her a lot since that day partially because it was one of the best days he had since his father's death and partially because he had felt the most like himself that he had in quite awhile. Plus, Vanille was just nice to be around and good hunting partner.

With the weights anchored to each corner and her mending completed, she requested for him to pull on one side while she pulled on the other and he nodded dutifully, walking around to his assigned side to do just that. He was careful not to tear through the net with his saber teeth in the process, gripping it delicately until he was sure he had successfully fed the long teeth through a couple of the holes in the net. He liked all the things he inherited from his family like the these teeth that he shared with his grandfather and uncle, but it did sometimes feel like he was working around them more often than he was making use of them. He gave it a firm tug, letting her test out the knots for a bit to make sure they were good to go.

"Arcturus Fatalis"

Vanille flashed a gentle look at him as he explained how he had fun that last time they hunted together. "Me too." She commented back with a genuine grin before finishing up their work.

They went to pull the net a little tightly, Vanille's gaze originally went down at the parts she had twisted together but her eyes moved up to look across the net at Arcturus' and smiling almost in a blush whether they locked eyes or not. No meaning behind it, but it felt kind of weird looking at him straight on from this angle. A good weird.

Dropping the net now that it was held together alright, she pointed over to the other side gesturing for him to take that corner. "Alright, I think we're good to go." Picking up her side of the net, her paws found the shallow part of the water before she kicked the net behind her to put the weights in the bottom of the river. She stepped up onto the other bank, ready to start pulling the net upstream.

"Vanille"
Base By WatermelonCreature

He didn't know why, but something about Vanille agreeing that she had fun on their hunt made him really happy. It had been kind of hard to tell at the time if she had since she had gotten so worn out by the end of it, but it was nice to know that she had liked hunting with him at least. He was still so unsure of himself when it came to social situations—or really most things, if he was being honest—so it felt like a nice reassurance that he hadn't messed it all up. As they pulled on the net he glanced up just to make sure she had a good hold on it before he pulled back on his side as well and his sapphire gaze met with her pale pink one for a moment and it made this weird flutter in his stomach catch him off guard and he quickly looked down again, but the corners of his mouth pulled up into a smile all the same.

Once she gave the okay for the net they had been working on he nodded and moved around to his corner of the net, picking it up and walking with her to the edge of the river. Since he was taller, he waded through the water easily enough to the other side and helped toss the weighted corners down to the bottom of the river. Once she was in place on the other side he started walking in tandem with her, making sure he matched her pace as they combed through the water with the net to hopefully end up with some fish at the end of it.

"Arcturus Fatalis"

Arcturus fell into step with her which almost felt... easy. And pulling the net through the river was a lot less strenuous than the hunt they had last time so she wasn't struggling in getting the job done. She only glanced briefly to Arcturus before turning to see if they had grabbed anything on their way up the river bend.

The prey was flourishing a lot better now that the ooze had subsided and the lands had time to heal. So the amount of fish in the grande was plentiful and for the taking, and with Arcturus' help she could leave on another full belly again. She wasn't really suffering, just surviving. It wasn't easy on her own... she had known worse before the first time she and Arcturus had met. And she definitely wasn't a beggar, which may have been why she steered clear of packs for this long.

"Vanille"
Base By WatermelonCreature

Arcturus kept shifting his gaze from the net that stretched between them and Vanille, making sure that they remained in step with one another and that the net didn't get hung on anything while they swept up some of the fish that populated the river. It was relaxing to have a task to focus his mind on—even more so with having Vanille around to do it with. It didn't take long before the net started to feel the weight of the fish that had gotten caught in it, slowing them down a bit so that they wouldn't risk ripping the net in the process. Once he felt like they had probably gathered enough for the two of them he signaled for her to stop and he waded back into the water so he could go back across to where she was waiting. He ducked his head under the water for a moment to grab the bottom corners on the way so that the fish couldn't escape the net as they pulled them onto the shore. It meant his mane was going to get wet and waterlogged, but there wasn't really a good way to get the fish out of the water otherwise.

Climbing back onto the opposite shore, he dragged the net onto the grass of the bank, unfolding the net to reveal the flopping fish that they managed to catch. He gave Vanille a little grin, saying, "Looks like there's plenty for a good dinner here!" He took a couple of steps away from her to give himself a good shake so he wouldn't spray her with water even though he knew it would still take a long time for his mane to dry out again either way. He took a minute after that to pick out a few of the smaller fish that wouldn't be worth the effort of preparing them for what little meat they would yield, tossing them back into the river so they could keep growing like he had seen his mother do when he fished with her before. There was four good sized fish left for them and after considering them for a moment he looked up an Vanille and offered, "If you want I could cook these up for us... If you don't mind hanging around while I get a fire going that is."

"Arcturus Indarra"

Vanille too felt the tension of the net as they grabbed some of the fish upstream. She was quite used to hunting and fishing so it was easy for her to notice things like that. She wasn't used to having someone here with her though, but it may not have seemed that way with how comfortable she was becoming around Arcturus. It didn't take much at least, maybe she was a bit naive though Arcturus didn't seem to have any harsh intentions towards her.

He motioned for the pull in, and initially took the lead. Vanille stood her ground and moved with him opposed to finding their steps awkward and out of place. In a strange way she was very submissive, though those colors weren't really shining bright in these moments as she put herself mentally behind him. She wouldn't have noticed herself.

Vanille helped him by pushing a fish into the river that had missed the water by flopping midair from his throw, and after that she joined beside him to see what they had caught. She smiled gently as he offered, her voice in soft tones but honestly she was really eager to sit down and have a meal with him. It almost brought her back to when her mother was around, but she quickly pushed the thoughts out of her head. "Sure, I'd like that." Her paw pushed forward at the fish that were starting to slow in their flopping to keep them in line inside of the net. She didn't have anywhere to be at least.

"Vanille"
Base By WatermelonCreature

Arc grinned and nodded with a bit of nervous excitement that he tried to keep contained so he wouldn’t make himself look too silly when she agreed to his offer of cooking them dinner. "Okay! I’ll be right back.” He went over to the near by tree line and started gathering some sticks and wood for a fire. After a couple of trips he had enough firewood for a modest campfire. It certainly wouldn’t be anything that impressive, but it would get the job done. He did a little bit of searching around the river’s edge until he found a rock that was flat enough to cook on and after giving it a little rinse in the water brought it over to where everything was being set up.

He took the time to dig out a divot in the earth and to clear away some of the grass around it so the fire wouldn’t spread before he started stacking up the wood into the right shape. While he worked he glanced up at Vanille occasionally, the corners of his lips pulling up in a small smile when he did. He still kind of worried that he was going to mess this up somehow, like she might see though this charade of being likable and happy, but she almost made it easy to think that maybe it wasn’t a charade at all. Being around her made him feel like maybe things weren’t so bad and there was actually something worth trying for.

Once all the sticks and fuel for the fire were in place, he gave Vanille a little grin. "Alright, almost ready. We just need something to start the fire with.” He pushed the rock he had found up to the edge of what would become their camp fire and added, "We could either find a piece of metal or a smaller rock to strike against this one for some sparks or we can collect a pile of tinder and roll a stick against the rock real fast in it do get a spark going that way.” He pulled one of the fish over to him and started carefully cutting away the fillets from the bones with his claws. "Do you want to look for a fire starter while I prepare these guys?”

"Arcturus Indarra"

Vanille stood by as Arcturs collected supplies for the fire and meal, looking over his shoulder as he built the fire pit and stacked the wood maybe a little impressed by his own skills. She hadn't learned on her own, but things had certainly been harder since her mom died. Her gaze looked out at the river nearby as she was lost in her mind through the gentle breeze and sounds of the flowing water.

Arcturus' voice pulled her back to reality from her blank thoughts, explaining first but then asking her if she could find something to start the fire while he prepared the fish. "Yeah, sure. I have something at my den nearby. I'll be back." She crossed the river and moved north where the grande met the forest and her den wasn't far off from there.

She returned with a flint and steel, something that would make the fire start easy rather than searching around for something on the ground or testing their luck with stone on stone. Without asking or any direction, she moved over to the made pit that Arcturus had all set up before flicking her fire starters together and blowing on the flame until it was strong enough to spread on it's own. With Arcturus having prepared their meals, she leaned back on her haunches before laying down on the grasses near the fire with her paws crossing over one another while she waited for their meal to cook.

"Vanille"
Base By WatermelonCreature

Arcturus nodded and gave Vanille a little smile when she said that she had something in her den and that she'd be back. "Alright! Sounds good." He watched her go for a moment before he made himself look back down at the fish between his paws. His thoughts wandered while he worked at cutting away the scaled skin and slicing out long filets from the fish so that they could cook them once Vanille returned with their fire starter. He didn't really realize it until she was gone and he was left with his own thoughts, but this was the first time in a long time that he was smiling and actually working on a task that he was happy about. It wasn't like he was doing anything different than when he would occasionally hunt for his mom and sister, but working with Vanille and providing something for her made it feel different even though he couldn't explain why.

She reappeared just as he was cutting free the last of the fish filets and he looked up to watch her use a flint and steel to get the fire going. Within a few moments there was a small fire building and soon there was a strong campfire burning just waiting to cook their meal. "Nice!" he praised while he nudged the flat rock he intended on cooking on a bit closer to the fire so it could start heating up. He didn't cook food like this all that often, but hunting and meals had always been a big part of his childhood and his family so it was a comfortable thing for him to fall back on. Once the stone was warmed up some, at least enough that when he hovered his paw over it he could feel some heat coming from it, he laid out the filets on the surface, the cool meat sizzling a bit as it began to cook.

With dinner well on its way, he laid down near Vanille, giving her another smile before he looked down with a little shyness. "Hey, um... Are you... Do you just live on your own?" he asked curiously, glancing up at her. He never smelled anyone else's scent on her and the couple of times they crossed paths she had been hunting on her own so he kind of assumed that was the case, but he just wanted to be sure he wasn't stepping over some kind of boundary before he made his offer. "I only ask cause my mom and sister and I kind of live and travel together so if you wanted to travel with us then you could." He was shy, but a bit hopeful when he spoke, partially because he felt like he might actually have a friend beyond his sister for the first time in his life and partially because then at least he could help make sure she was getting enough to eat and was cared for.

"Arcturus Indarra"

They didn't sit quiet for long, but that wasn't bothersome to Vanille. She was pretty comfortable around Arcturus so whether they sat here in silence or chatted a little bit didn't make her nervous.

One ear flicked in his direction as he asked, It was a bit of a soft subject but also not, the tone in her voice may have shown him or maybe he didn't know her quite enough yet, "Uh, yeah, it's just me." She chuckled quietly as if hiding the darker feelings behind it. Though Arcturus could assume her being alone wasn't really a good thing. Whether she ran away or lost her parents or had some other sort of misfortunate events. She was still relatively young, but even then what wolf wanted to be alone at any age... she supposed.

She couldn't help the genuine, and still small and quiet grin that came across her maw when he invited her to travel with his family. It was a kind gesture but what were his intentions behind it? She liked him, but really didn't know him all that well. She wondered if he only asked in some sort of pity for her. She let the thoughts slide, but really she didn't want to feel like a burden on him. "I'd like to come around, that sounds nice." She responded such because she had never had someone ask her to before, or really even seen anyone as often as she had Arcturus even if only a couple times. She was taking her life one step at a time it seemed. Growing stronger everyday. But she also wasn't quite ready to leave her and her mother's den.

"Vanille"
Base By WatermelonCreature

Arcturus certainly wasn't surprised when Vanille confirmed that she did in fact live alone, but it did at least make him even more sure of his decision to invite her along with his family. It wasn't out of pity or a feeling of being sorry for her, but more just out of wanting to help and to give her somewhere to be. She could obviously get by on her own, but he didn't feel like it was right for her to have to work so hard just to feed herself when he was more than willing to help and he just knew his family wouldn't mind her spending time with them. When she agreed to come around and spend time with them a genuine grin pulled across his lips and his tail wagged against the ground behind him, giving away how glad he was for it. Yeah? Um... I mean, yeah, that'd be great," he replied, quickly realizing how over eager he sounded and reeling himself back in to try and keep himself from looking too silly.

He tried to hide some of his excitement as he looked back down at the fish he was cooking and started to flip them over to cook on the other side. He felt like a pup getting excited about a friend coming to stay the night or something like that, but considering he hadn't really had that for most of his childhood it was kind of nice to feel that again. The last time he really remembered feeling like this was when his dad took him for a sleep over in his den and they did all that training and patrols the day after. His expression sobered a little bit as he thought about his father, but a little smile still lingered on his lips while he worked on their meal and started to pull the filets off of the stone they were cooking on and splitting them between him and Vanille. "I hope they're good. It's always so hard to judge when fish is cooked enough," he said with a little chuckle before he started breaking off pieces of the fish in front of him and lifting them to his mouth with his paw so he wouldn't have to worry about catching his saber fangs on the ground while he ate.

"Arcturus Indarra"