Recluse would soon be testing her warriors and figuring out just how much she could trust them to protect her pack, but until then she wanted to make sure she was upkeeping the border, the moon lit the nook in a silvery light, bathing the fertile grounds with an eerie glow. Snow still covered the ground even as the weather was supposed to let up, seemingly eager to keep its icy claws sunk into Boreas. The light crunching of paws on the snow was the only indication of the path Recluse walked, her pale fur blending in with the snowy landscape, or at least if you were looking at her from within the pack, her silhouette substantially more obvious if she was framed in front of the volcano, who's dark stone form did not hold snow, at least not much. The base where the heat was significantly lesser still piled with the substance but the warm stone usually melted any snow that made it to the ground. Lilith was draped around the woman's shoulders, as usual. Up ahead of her Recluse stopped mid-stride as an unusual call broke the peace of the night. A deep throaty sound, one that hadn't been heard in these lands until very recently. Picking up her pace the woman approached one of the trees that sat near her border, cherry gaze narrowing as she desperately attempted to make out a shape among the still bare branches. "Galho?" She asked, a brief rustle of feathers and Recluse finally spotted movement in the tree, a pair of beady and unsettling black eyes roving to land on her. The great potoo that was perched in the tree was a new addition to her life, seemingly attaching himself to her with little reason as far as she could see. But his birds-eye view was more than welcome in her mind. "A roving group of wolves further up ahead mistress." He said in that strange croaking voice of his, and shuffled again, wings stretching slightly. Recluse nodded. "Show me." It was a simple command and the bird took to the air, the creak of wood and a whoosh of wind the only sound to indicate his flight. Galho took the lead, taking Recluse directly towards the part of the border that the small group had seemingly decided it was safe to loiter next to. The woman narrowed her eyes into a glare, the Potoo settling on a nearby tree. "May I help you?" She said summoning her best alpha voice. One of the wolves in the group, which seemed to be about 4 of them, flinched but the rest turned to look at her with a disaffected expression on their faces. One of them, she assumed the de facto leader, approached though he paid attention enough not to cross her scent line. Gods but he was big, standing several heads above her. "Apologise, we are not of this land, we seek only shelter and supplies." His accent was thick, even if he spoke well enough. She contemplated for a moment. "My pack is certainly not against trading," she began though she still clearly had her reservations. "though we primarly deal in information, I may have supplies you may find useful but I will expect fair compensation... in the currency we trade in." The man gave a reluctant nod and Recluse indicated for Galho to return to her. She quickly instructed her flying companion to return to her den, find some of the supplies she kept stashed, and as a quick addendum to bring her son Misery and aunt Shiba (and any herbs she felt she could spare) back with him... the former might gain something of use for his training from this, and the latter may be able to sweeten the deal. WC: 632 (632/1500) "Poisons" & Venoms

Image by Hagon

Misery hadn’t been far from the border as it was.  His mind had shifted from making traps in the snow to crossing branches together to try and weave them.  So far he hadn’t gotten very far as they quickly fall back into natural form, once even whacking him in the face when he’d failed to try and hold it where he wanted.  Misery couldn’t say what he was attempting to make either other than to see what they could do.  Maybe he should have started with smaller branches.   When the strange-looking bird flew up and told him they were going back to Recluse once he also got Shiba Misery nodded and as the bird aimed to fly deeper into the pack land Misery ran back the direction it had come from.  After a bit he spotted paw steps in the snow and assumed they were moms.  Tracking was easy in snow!  At least it was easy until it snowed more and hid the tracks completely.   Further ahead he spotted several wolves, too far off to get exact details at first but he knew his mom’s scent, the others had smells that didn’t belong to any he knew in the pack.  The closer he got the more he could confirm these were strangers.  He hadn’t exactly gone with the bird where he might have got more details ahead of time and wondered if he should have.  Nah, who knew what he might have missed if he’d wasted time.  Whatever there was to learn of what was going on he would know soon enough. Mom wasn’t showing any aggression so he came up easily enough his gaze looking cautiously at the newcomers.  Fake worry, trying to play it off as mostly he was just curious.  Practice practice!  He had to learn how to be the best actor he could be if he really wanted to be a great spy.  Pressing his head up against his mom’s shoulder a moment in affection before giving the strangers a more focused gaze.  “Who are they?” Asking his mom instead of directing it to the strangers.  The thought of asking if they were going to kill them came to his mind but he was aiming at innocence now, that might rather kill the mood. WC: 377  Total: 1009/1500 Speech:"Want to know Misery?"

SHIBA KLEIN

Shiba was surprised when the bird came to get her, but was pleased that her niece had thought of her for whatever it was that she needed. The request for unspecified herbs caught her interest though, and she moved to sort through her stores. There wasn’t a lot, admittedly. She’d gathered enough to get them through winter, and had hoped that spring would bring a nice bounty, but it seemed the cold weather was only getting worse. She frowned as she looked over her supplies, but there were a few things she felt she had enough of that she could spare a small amount.

Meadowsweet was used in threatening the flu, something she feared might become a problem if the cold didn’t let up soon. Marigold and horsetail were both good for treating cuts and scrapes, and were always helpful to have around. Lastly, she grabbed a few elderberries. They were less common, but helped with respiratory issues as well as giving the immune system a boost, both things that could be a great benefit in this extended winter.

She bundled the herbs up in a rabbit skin before exiting her den and moving to go find Recluse. Shiba had settled her den in the nook, a decision she somewhat regretted with how much warmer Mount Vulcan was, but she had hoped that the end of winter would have brought fresh plant life. She had wanted to be close to a good source of herbs, but it seemed it would be a while still before she would be able to see the place without a layer of snow. Her alpha was close, though, and she arrived quickly.

The sight of the four large strangers so close to the border made her feel uneasy, but she kept her expression neutral and moved to stand by Recluse and carefully set her herb bundle on the ground by her paws. "I brought the herbs you asked for." She glanced to Recluse when she spoke, but her gaze didn’t stray from the loners for long. She was curious about what they were doing here, and why Recluse had asked her to bring herbs, but trusted the woman would explain soon enough. None of them seemed injured, so she doubted she was here to heal them, and figured if she was she’d have been told in advance so she would know what to bring.

Word Count: 399 Total: 1,408/1,500

"Speech."

Recluse was joined soon enough, her son was first and was joined by her aunt. She'd explain to both of them to save time, hooking a paw around her son to pull him in closer and nose at his head playfully before speaking. "We have some visitors today." She said, looking at her aunt as she spoke but her tone was clearly aimed at her son. "They said they were looking for Shelter and supplies so I figured we might be able to trade with them. I figured this could be a good learning experience and that you may have items your willing to trade." She looked to her son and then her aunt in turn. Her own companion had returned, a black snakeskin dangling from its strange beak. She accepted it graciously and turned towards the dire who was looking at them all with both curiosity and distrust. "I myself can provide some excess snakeskin, in pretty good condition and could be used for any number of crafting projects, I myself have used it to cover leather for extra reinforcement." She pushed the skin slightly forward letting the male who had spoke for the group step forward and cautiously sniff at it. WC: 203 (1611/1500) "Poisons" & Venoms

Image by Hagon

Misery’s tail flagged happily at mom’s attention with no acting required.  One could be mean at times and still love attention from their mom after all!  Traders huh?  Looking back at the wolves the pup had to admit they were rather gigantic to attempt fighting, even as a joke.  Even mom was small in comparison to them!  “Trade? Oh, sure,” Misery answered, offering a bright-eyed look up at the closest of the beasts.  “I didn’t bring it with me but I’ve made some useful things but, I put a lot of work into making them,” Misery slowed his speech on the last word, “So, only if they got something I want on them.” Misery imagined what he actually had he could offer up as he was speaking  He had learned how to braid plant fibers to make a rope, and even from there make a snare.  He was impressed with it but who knew if these guys would find it special.  Did it really depend on what the object was or just how well he spoke of it to build up interests? “Oh, and snakeskin really is great.  Fun for a pup to play with also.” Misery cheerfully offered, he would know best on that, right?  The pet snakes in the den preferred it when he played with shed skin over them it seemed.   WC: 223 Total 1834 Speech:"Want to play? "

SHIBA KLEIN

As Recluse explained, Shiba nodded slowly. The need for unspecified herbs made more sense to her now, and she glanced to the group before them, waiting as her family produced their offerings before going on to present her own. She pushed the bundle of herbs forward, making the small assortment more visible. There wasn’t an abundance of herbs, but with the harsh cold of winter not letting up, it would be useful to a group of loners that might not have much. And it was all she could bare to part with, without knowing when she would be able to replenish her own stores. "Meadowsweet, marigold, horsetail, and elderberries, all things that I would image would be quite useful to a group of nomads in this unprecedented weather." If they had a healer amongst them they would surely know what each herb did, but if there were any questions about their uses or how exactly each plant was to be used, she would be willing to give them a quick lesson.

Word Count: 171 Total: 2,005

"Speech."