The wound stung slightly; she’d walked into that spar knowing fully well she’d end up getting minor injuries such as bruises and scrapes. She’d left marks of her own, and it had been a good refresher course for her. She was going to need it if she ever came across one of those slavers she’d heard so much about from Cai. She still couldn’t fathom how one wolf could even let the idea cross that they owned another. It was barbaric, and it disgusted her.

Carlys hovered by her shoulder where she’d taken the most damage, nothing her mild wincing. “Maybe you should get that looked at, Rhae.” The bird cooed as Rhae rolled her eyes. It would be fine, just a couple of scrapes. “It’s just a couple of sparring scrapes, that’s all. It didn’t even tear up fur. Besides, we've survived worse on our own.” She argued back as the bird let out a cry, rising higher in the air to look at their surroundings. Besides, she was a loner, who was she to go to? The pack healer? She scoffed at the idea. She knew Car meant well, but she could be dramatic sometimes.

She could hear the sound of water rushing up ahead, her curiosity piqued as she made her way down, finding a massive body of water falling down the side of a cliff, leaving a clear pool of ice cold water into a stone basin. Her maw parted just slightly, and she quickly made her way over to the pool, sitting down as she glanced at the water, feeing the floor of the basin clearly. These lands were strange, but they were certainly beautiful as well.

"Rhae"  "Carlys"

Octave was loath to leave Kite behind like this but he knew he'd been neglecting his duties as a healer for Abaven all winter and with the turn of the season, he hoped to be able to find some less common herbs. Maybe Agrimony, they'd worked through a decent amount of that herb before the winter and he was eager to let it regrow in the plains before he started pulling more of it up again. So he and Noko had started on their way, working northward and grabbing any herbs either of them spotted that seemed promising. Noko was holding onto them mostly. Huddled on his back. They'd made a detour to the mangroves to try and replenish the healer's small store of Trillium, that was always a useful herb to always have on hand, a few flowers clutched in Noko's more dexterous paws. They were moving northward when the sound of pounding water had drawn Octave's attention, that was a promising sign, plants needed fresh water and here that wasn't always easy to come by. So he adjusted his course towards the sound, as they drew closer Octave hesitated, he could make out the scent of a stranger even under the scent of the cascading water, but he also could make out the smell of fresh blood. Caution moved snowy paws slowly towards the falls. The man drawing to a pause as the peak rose up before them, the falls cascading down before them, and an unknown woman standing in their path, even if a little further up. "Octave" "Noko" & Hidden thoughts

Image by Risketch

Car was not in the air for long, having spotted Octave and touching down next to her friend, giving her friend a glance as their silent communication carried them through. Someone’s nearby. With that Rhaegara was glancing over her shoulder, a soft wince as she saw the man not too far from their location. Her head perked, eyes narrowing as she watched both closely and hesitantly. Something about him smelled familiar, as if the mix of wolves on his coat reminded her of someone else, though she could not place it. It was likely a pack smell she’d encountered before, and just could not place.

“Hello?” She was hesitant with her words; a loner could never be too cautious when it came to encounters with strangers. She could usually tell from the first couple turns of phrase how the interaction was going to go, and so she simply waited. “Are those herbs I saw while airborn?” Rhae let out a groan at her friend’s directness. “Are you a healer?” Of course her raven eyes had seen herbs on the man. “Carlys, it’s fine.” She drawled on, their small argument carrying on before she looked at the man. “I’m sorry about her; she has a tendency to overreact.” Rhae shot her friend a sharp glare. They knew nothing about this wolf; Carlys could not expose weakness.

"Rhae"  "Carlys"