The bandages were off but the wound still looked nasty. Val would permanently lose the fur along her shoulder where the bear's claws had struck her, but it seemed as though her neck wouldn't suffer the same fate. Not as much, anyway. Daily exercise had left the fae able to bend and, though she had a long way to go, Val had regained a good bit of mobility. As such, she felt that it was time to contribute and replace the resources used to feed and house her.

Kiela was the first wolf that came to mind when Val wanted to hunt. The quiet fae was easy company and neither felt the need to speak much. When they did speak, it had been pleasant. They were of like minds, it seemed. Val had learned where the older woman kept her den and the gold marked fae approached, stepping into the doorway with a husky, "Kiela?"

"Valtiel"

Life continued on, most days filled with much of the same. Kiela had no complains about the monotony of daily life though. As time went on she found herself more and more accustomed to life here and its intricacies, no longer feeling strange in her life as it became more stagnant than it ever had before. It helped that she had a pawful of wolves she trusted, and had slowly grown to care for - companions had a way of making life more enjoyable, an admission that a younger version of herself would've been surprised to hear.

She'd been enjoying a rare but restful midday nap when a sound outside her den roused her from sleep. Even in her dazed, sleepy state she could tell it was a familiar wolf, so she was slow to pull herself upright and begin moving. After a beat she was up on all fours, moving out of the entrance to her den. Valtiel earned a friendly nod, eyes bright with inquiry. "Are you healing up well enough?" It seemed the bandages on her shoulder had been removed, though the other woman's shoulder had definitely seen better days.

It didn't take long for Kiela to come out of her den. There was a pleasant enough expression on the woman's face. Val didn't want to be a nuisance to anyone, so it was good to see that she wasn't bothering the earthen-hued fae.

Kiela asked how Val was healing up and the gold-marked woman gave her neck a stretch. "Not back to full strength yet, but I'll get there." Valtiel sighed and motioned out into the wilds with one paw. "I'm not used to sitting still for so long," she informed the other wolf. "I was hoping that maybe you'd have some time to go hunting with me." The barest, bashful little smile tugged at Valtiel's maw. "Aside from Tenshi and Vidarr... you're the only one that I know."

Valtiel gave the other woman a hopeful look. She didn't want to take away any time from Kiela's duties, but if she had the time, Val would really enjoy spending some more time with her. They seemed to be of a similar disposition and being around Kiela made Val feel good. She wondered if the feeling was reciprocated.
"Valtiel"

It'd take a lot more than that to bother Kiela. A hunt with a friend sounded like a fine idea, and in terms of company Valtiel had proven to be quite favorable. "You will," she agreed lightly to Val's response. Healing from an injury, especially one was grave as Valtiel had faced, was always difficult. It was a fine balance, of trying not to overdo it and also not wanting to grow completely complacent and lose strength in the process. It seemed like the other woman was doing a good job of rebuilding her strength while avoiding the latter.

A hunt sounded like a good idea to help her get back into the swing of things. Kiela nodded agreement. "Caught the scent of a few goats around here earlier today. I'm sure finding one won't be hard." Goats were tricky prey, but between the two of them surely they could bring one down. Valtiel would just have to be careful navigating the more treacherous terrain with her recovering shoulder, but she was confident they'd be able to handle things just fine.

Moving further out of the mouth of her den, she tested the air as a light breeze whisked past. "There. Not far off," she noted, sure Valtiel had realized the same thing, though leading came naturally to her - at least when it came to hunting. With that she'd begin to set off toward the source of the scent, scouring the terrain as they went.