Ricin has done as Manea had instructed him to, the nearby Stone Steppe and Firefly lake have been thoroughly scouted. In two days, he has only found one place that might be suitable for the pack and, as he makes his way down into the cellar, the boy finds is happy to find exactly what he has been looking for.

Blinking his crimson eyes several times to adjust to the darkness in the underground room, Ricin tentatively sniffs the air as he waits. Mold and mildew fill his nostrils and he wrinkles his nose in disgust before starting to look around. The sounds of rats, mice, and various other small animals skittering around on the stone floor does not go unnoticed by him nor do the small tufts of fur that disappear further into the room. At the very least, this is good place to hunt small animals. Eyes fall on a nearby wooden shelf, the weight of the glass jars resting on it causing the old rotten wood to bow. Paw reaches up to tap a glass and watches the strange colored liquid slosh inside before giving himself a shrug and moving on.

Hallways branch off the main chamber and Ricin begins to realize just how vast this underground network of rooms is. He moves through each one, taking note of useful materials and possible uses for items. Making his way toward a far back area, Ricin steps into a large stone room and sees that the shelves are made of clay. Curious, the boy moves over to inspect the glass jars, tinctures, and flasks that line the numerus shelves. As he peers into one, Ricin realizes that these might be useful to a healer. Stepping back, he casts his gaze around the large room and calculates that it could supply the pack’s healer for at least two years. Eagerly, Ricin races back through the hallways and out of the cellar.

Twilight has fallen by the time the boy makes it back above ground, the once high afternoon sun already starting to disappear below the horizon. Giving his coat a good shake, Ricin runs a paw over his head to smooth any rumbled fur before tilting his head back to release the call for Manea. Excitement zips along his nerves and the boy cannot sit still. Instead he paces and keeps his eyes toward where he expects Manea to appear from. He hopes this will allow him to become the first Rimor of the pack.


"Ricin Dauner"

Manea had put the task that she gave to Ricin to the back of her mind once the eager blue-hued boy set out on his quest. She had no doubt or worry that he would find something suitable and if he just so happened to find what she had in mind then she would be throughly impressed. A couple of days passed and one evening she heard a call from him which made a grin pull across her muzzle. She sent Temno on ahead of her since she needed to finish up something in the pack quickly before she could head out to meet him, the raven going to let Ricin know she was on her way. After she put the finishing touches on the animal she was skinning with Saracyn and they had hug up the skin to dry, she hurried out across the land bridge toward the mainland to see what her promising navigator had to show her.

She followed his scent to the Stone Steppe which already had her hopeful since this was the area she had hoped he would focus on. Not only was it one of the potential options if they were to able to expand their pack at any point, but she happened to know that there was a little treasure hidden away here for him to find. Sure enough, she found the talented explorer in front of the hidden cellar and she gave him a curious look and a grin as she approached him. She didn't want to give away the fact that she already knew what he was going to reveal just yet. She wanted to see his take on it and what he thought would be useful first before she swayed his opinion at all. "Hello, Ricin. Have something to show me?"

Manea | Temno | Ciemny

Ricin lets out his call for Manea and then begins to pace, the excitement of finding what he hopes will get him promoted is too much to keep contained. As he moves, the boy works on kind of wording he will use when he starts describing the cellar. Should he start with the weird jars filled with liquid? Or the multitude of small prey animals that scamper around in there? Hmm. The only thing he knows for certain is that the back room will be kept for last. He becomes so involved in organizing his thoughts and walking that Ricin completely misses the dark form of Manea’s raven appearing on the horizon. It isn’t until the bird is swooping toward his head that the blue wolf realizes that he is not alone. Instinct kicks in and the boy tucks and rolls under the attacking animal, leaping back up onto his paws to turn and face the threat, Chade’s ingrained lessons quickly taking hold.

The caw of Temno has Ricin realizing, rather sheepishly, that it isn’t an attacking bird but one of Manea’s ravens. Crimson eyes turn to the dark form as Temno gracefully circles and lowers to land on Ricin, the boy relaxing his posture and mumbling out breathily, “Sorry Temno. I was a little lost in my thoughts.” The raven puffs out his feathers before announcing Manea would be along shortly. With a short nod, the blue boy continues to slowly move around in front of the cellar’s opening, the raven deciding to stay where he is. Heart still racing from the sudden adrenaline surge, Ricin resumes his pacing hopes of easing his jittery nerves. Temno picks at his fur as the pair move and the boy feels the unease quickly passing.

It feels like hours, but is only several minutes, before Ricin sees a purple dot on the horizon. The boy’s tail begins to wag happily, and as Manea approaches, a smile appears. His tail wagging faster with happiness at the prospect of having done something right. She greets him and Ricin says, “Hi Manea! I think I found just you wanted! Want to see?” His eyes are alight with joy and pride as he beckons the purple leader to the opening of the cellar. Temno leaves his perch upon Ricin to return to the sky and the boy’s crimson eyes follow the bird for moment, suddenly wishing he had a companion like Manea or Chade. Casting the thoughts from his mind, the blue boy returns to the task at hand and leads the way down into the hidden cellar, waiting until both of their eyes adjust before beginning his assessment.

Turning to look at his Alpha, Ricin begins by saying, “I had almost given up hope of finding a place like you wanted. Something that might have useful items and make a good hideout seemed like a tall order. But then I found this!” Using a paw to gesture to the many shelves lined with glass jars, the boy feels his chest puff out slightly from pride. Clearing his throat, he continues, “Many of the jars appear to have items in them. I don’t know what they are or if they are any good but you could task wolves with opening them and separating out things we might able to use. Now, in my opinion…” he moves over to a nearby jar filled with liquid that swirls when he taps the glass, as he says, “Anything with liquid might be bad. But we could empty out the contents and clean out the jars. They can be repurposed to hold dried herbs, salted meats, and other things. Even beeswax.”

Stopping a moment, Ricin turns to Manea allowing her room to give input before he continues the tour.


"Ricin Dauner"

Manea grinned and chuckled at Ricin's enthusiasm, nodding in agreement when he asked if she wanted to see what he found. "Yes, of course. Lead the way," she told him with a motion of her paw. She waved Temno off as well, letting the raven take off and go on about his business while Ricin led her into an opening that opened into the cellar below. Her aqua gaze scanned the shelves as her vision adjusted to the shadowed space, letting Ricin set the scene as he described how it had been a difficult task to find something that fit what she was looking for. She had known how hard it would be to find something that specific, but that's why it had been perfect for such a test. She wouldn't have sent him out on a task that was impossible to fulfill, but she still wanted it to be a challenge to see if he was up to the task.

She listened curiously as he described the jars that lined the shelves and explained his thoughts on them—between assigning members to open them and examine the contents to emptying them and repurposing them for things like herbs, meats, or beeswax. Her brows lifted with interest, humming softly as she took another look at the mysterious jars. She had originally assumed that she simply didn't know what the jars contained since she wasn't well versed in things related to healing and things of that nature, but she hadn't thought about the possibility that the contents had gone bad with time and they could make use of the jars in other ways. "Good observations and ideas," she praised with a nod, giving him a smile. "I'll come back out here with Irilyth soon to see if she can identify any of these and if not then I think that's a good plan for them. Anything else?"

Manea | Temno | Ciemny

Manea’s praise is met with a huge smile and fast wag before Ricin can control himself. Ducking his head and giving a small cough, he regains his composure as she inquires if there is anything else. His head shoots up with a grin as he places a paw against his lips to signal for quiet. Soon, the sound of tiny paws scampering over the stone can be heard and he says, “There are a lot of small animals down here. If you plan to store food down here we might want to clear out the rodents. There are also rabbits down here! You could send Chade and some other hunters down here to corral them into one of the other rooms. Make it a sort of breeding area to raise them. Then the pack will always have a supply of meat and small pelts.” Ricin doesn’t know much about hunting but he is confident that his brother can take care of that stuff.

With that he waves his paw for Manea to follow him and Ricin begins to lead her through the corridors that branch off the main room. He points out the pages and books that lay scattered in the rooms, voicing his question as to what they could be. Eventually, he takes her to the large back rooms, a bounce in step as he crosses one of the thresholds. Happily, he says, “And in here it looks like tons of healing things. Might be enough to keep the pack healthy for years! Or… so I think.” He allows Manea to inspect the jars and tinctures a moment before he rounds out his tour with, “Now, as for a hideout, we could fashion door to the main cellar entrance. If there are attackers, we build things to slow them down and lead them to traps. We can also put a reinforced door here for those that need to hide.” He moves back to the entrance of the room and runs a paw over the stone, feeling the coolness that lays in them.

Finally, Ricin turns to face Manea, the strong façade of an adult he had been wearing slips away to reveal a child eager to please an adult. Crimson eyes widen as he asks, “Did I do okay?”


"Ricin Dauner"

Manea couldn't help but grin as Ricin's attempts at being serious slipped for a moment with an eager wag and smile at her praise before he could catch himself. He really was adorable and she hoped he never lost that sweet spark he had as he grew older. Her ears perked with interest as he signaled for her to be quiet and she listened intently as he brought her attention to the sounds of the small animals that were scampering, hidden around the catacombs of the cellar. She hummed at the idea of corralling some of them to create a breeding spot for the small creatures to create a constant supply of food. It wasn't something she would have ever considered, but it wasn't a bad idea at all. At the very least she did think he was right that they would need to clear this place out if they were going to use this as storage for anything edible.

At his beaconing, she followed him deeper into the underground cellar, looking around curiously at what he had found and nodding occasionally as he pointed out certain things. Eventually he reached a room that she actually hadn't found in her initial search of the place. Her brows lifted with interest as she walked around and inspected the various jars and curiosities. Now she would certainly need to bring Irilyth here for sure so that the little healer could make heads or tails out of all of this stuff. At the very least they looked helpful and like things she had seen Irilyth make before so surely she could make use of them. Manea turned back toward Ricin as he explained his ideas for how to make this place a viable hideout with a little grin.

When he turned to face her with that eager look in his eye she smiled, stepping closer so that she could gently ruffle the fur on his head with her paw. "You did very well. Congratulations, Rimor. You're hired." She grinned and chuckled, letting Ricin have a moment of celebration before she nodded back the way they came. "Come on, lets get back to the island. I think you've earned a good dinner and some celebration." She started leading the way out of the cellar to start heading back, already making plans to come back with some of the others so they could start taking advantage of this treasure trove of supplies sooner rather than later.

Manea | Temno | Ciemny