It had been several days sense the ebonite femme had met the brute named Hadrian. And it had been uneventful, for the most part. After a bit of mental coaxing, the femme decided that she would wander through the mountains a bit to visit the brute. They had conversed about meeting again, and the fae really did not have much else to do. She had caught herself a meal not long before and found her aimless wandering to be rather boring. There were becoming fewer and fewer creatures that she would stumble upon, and although that did not bother lady Vega in the slightest; it proved to make her life significantly less exciting. Not that her only intentions about meeting Hadrian was for enjoyment. The brute had spoke of attempting to educate her on plants.
Originally the thought had come off as quite dull, nothing that she was interested in. Yet, the femme took him up on the offer for the opportunity to try something new. An opportunity such as this had never arose before, and she was not willing to let it pass her by. What would meeting up with Hadrian harm? The brute did not seem to be of much threat, then again she had not been within the boarders of his territory last time. 'This may be where the trap begins,' the fae rumbled to herself as her paws continued carrying her towards the mountain range. The temperature had been getting much more pleasing to her senses, and made her wonder why she had been so much more south before. It seemed to be quite foolish for her to be in the warmer climates with a pelt so thick. That was where wandering had brought her though, there was little she could do about it; especially not when the fae hardly remembered getting to the South.
Excitedly, a shiver ran over her spine; despite the lengthy travels the female was pleased at the concept of meeting up with Hadrian. Their conversation had been a bit more enjoyable than most she had held, and he seemed a bit interested in her. Although the femme was unsure of to what extent. 'How strange that it has taken until now for creatures to seem intrigued by our actions, not like we haven't been alive before!' She was free to laugh allowed, and that she was. There were sometimes only seconds between her spurts of laughter and quiet mumbling to herself. It had always been a bit more relaxing for the femme not to be around others, as it permitted her to act naturally without their judgment. Her head bobbed up and down, tongue lolling from her mouth, as she began to pass through the mountains. 'And this is where I get lost,' another cackle passed by her. Somehow her sense of direction had prevented her thus far from getting completely disoriented, although Vega was a bit unsure how she had managed to know her direction so well.
'Finally,' the female felt the scent of the pack lands swarming over her, 'This must be where Hadrian said he lived.' Her bushy tail actually wagged a bit, surprising her quite a great deal. The happy action was performed from her own confidence, since the femme was unsure if it would be possible to locate Hadrian's pack. His directions had been rather simple though, on the other side of the mountains. It was hardly within their pack territory, it barely separated it from the loner lands that she had been wandering upon before. 'Perhaps this is what makes it safer,' the thought still formed doubt in her mind. Paranoia was beginning to kick in once again, what if Hadrian had his entire pack attack her? Yet, why would he waste all of their time on a single femme? The thought was a bit laughable, but Vega was still not able to shake the feeling from her spine.
Finding an area away from the snow, and with a small indented cavern, the femme reclined to her haunches. The indent within the mountains provided her with a safe shelter, should the elements truly get worse, and an opportunity to avoid a creature from sneaking up on her. The last thing Vega needed at this moment was a surprise visit from another creature that would approach her from behind, if that had happened they most certainly would have received a snarl in the least. The loner was quite hesitant on what to do now, was she to howl and summon Hadrian? If she made no sound the brute would most certainly never find her up here within the mountains all alone, and then the whole trip would prove to be useless. Even if she learned nothing about plants, it would be interesting to see how their next meeting would go. Vega lightly tossed around the idea of having a friend, but quickly tossed it away. 'No creature would befriend a wolf who knows not who we are at a specific time! And why waste our times?' Interest had been sparked within her mind, and they began chattering around upstairs for quite some time.
The grey female hardly noticed her rather quiet call, requesting to meet with sir Hadrian. "I have met where we have decided upon, within the mountains Sir Hadrian," the call was simple, short; however, Vega believed it should do the job. After all, what was she supposed to say? If other creatures decided to join him in greeting her, hopefully they were boring like most other wolves. If they attempted to cause issues, Vega would most likely flee through the mountain passes. Pack land was not the female's favorite place to be, especially not when she realized that she was upon it. Now though, she must wait. If Hadrian did not appear shortly, then it would prove her short travels to be quite worthless.
The days since he had spent the night with a femme named Vega had been eventful. Hadrian had awake in the small den to find himself alone. Where the female had wandered off to he did not know, nor did he really have time to worry. His presence was needed at home. The trip back through the mountains had gone smoothly and in the days since he had slowly started building up a good supply of medicines. Amar would do well this winter. Better yet, his preparation had already come in handy.
It had been mere days since the pack went claw to claw with several nasty bears. Much blood had been shed in defense of their homeland, both of canine and ursid bodies. Hadrian himself had not escaped unscathed. A decent sized slash was still healing on his forelimb from where the mother bear had gotten him and his cracked ribs liked to protest the altitude. He still had his life though, which was more than could be said for the brute named Kyros. Though they had only just met, the younger male had shown such promise despite his arrogance. It was a shame his life had to end so soon. If only Hadrian had gotten to him sooner, maybe there was something more he could have done? Some way he could have saved him? But he had been too late, the light already faded from his pack mate's eyes.
The brute let out a heavy sigh as she scanned the mountainside for anything that might be of use. He had gone through his supply of Ilad Kambata flowers and needed more. The petals helped deal with the swelling around his tender ribs. The rest of his pack mates had been benefiting as well. Bears were worthy opponents and the battle had not gone lightly. In the end, however, those not killed had fled the territory and the Oriens were peaceful once again.
"Do you see it, Paisley?" The question was directed to the fair sized raccoon scampering across the rocks just in front of him. A shy creature, she had taken to following Hadrian around whenever he was out looking for herbs. At first it had always been from a distance, not wanting to get too near the predator. But as time wore on and he had become more aware of her presence, a sort of friendship had formed.
Paisley was a soft spoken creature, rather timid, and as of right now she wanted nothing to do with the pack that dwelled in her homeland. She had taken a shine to Hadrian though, curious about his work with the plants. She too held her own knowledge, not afraid to eat anything and enjoying an omnivorous diet. The two had formed a rather symbiotic relationship, sharing knowledge. And where Hadrian could offer the raccoon protection, she gave him the use of her thumbs in return, helping him collect some of the more troublesome plants.
Shaking her head, dark eyes met those of the wolf for a brief moment before she carried on again. Hadrian kept just behind her, movement slow. So long as he was injured the mountain paths held twice as much danger as they normally did. That's why he stopped completely at the sounds of a faint howl. Unsure if he was imagining it (after all, his hearing was no longer the best), he strained his good ear in an attempt to make out the words. It sounded like Vega, the femme he had met only once before. And she wasn't that far off? Tilting his head back, Hadrian let out a more powerful call, this one to alert the pack that the female meant no harm. "It seems I have a guest. If I should need assistance, I shall send up a call. The femme is here to learn about herbs."
Dropping his head back down, he stepped forward again, this time whining to get Paisley's attention. "Keep looking for the Ilad petals. I must meet with Vega." With a nod the raccoon scampered off, leaving the brute alone to finish his trek to whatever small nook Vega had wormed herself into. It wasn't long before he stumbled across her scent and, with a bit of careful tracking, found where the female had been hiding. A smile turned up the edges of his maw and he dipped his head in greeting, stepping within the mouth of the shallow cave. "Good day, Miss Vega. I trust you are doing well?"
