"...so you see, we believe that it is Toghelac whose spirit infuses living things - perhaps moreso the plants which are connected directly to him than even the animals who feed on them". Kalain, and the Aves in general, were not pushy about their beliefs. They would only accept those who came willingly, but would also only accept those into the pack who believed similarly. Still, if asked directly, they didn't hide anything and were forthright about it - if someone wanted to know, then they should be allowed to, even if that didn't mean they would believe in it after the telling.

Gaias had been curious about Toghelac after he'd heard Kalain mention it when they'd been speaking about growing things and had asked him about the mysterious spirit which the Aves believed governed and was responsible for all things relating to the earth. The shaman liked Gaias - he was quiet, studious and, once he got over his shyness, very friendly. Mu'sha had agreed that he might have his 'bit of land to grow things on' and since then, the younger male had spent most of his time working out where to site it. Once found, he'd spent a lot of time preparing it and today was to be the first day he planted something in it - something he had told Kalain would be ready to grow next spring.

Kalain surveyed the young male's handiwork and had to admire his tenacity. The ground up here was rocky, rough, but rich. Gaias had spent hours digging up rocks and re-siting them. Apparently this was a spot which he reckoned would be kept warm even through winter and Kalain had confirmed that, remembering that the snow on this slope had often melted quickly when they got a sunny day up here.

Gaias nodded, absorbing all that Kalain was teaching him. He'd never had any form of 'religiousness' whilst growing up, but the world Kalain described appealed to him. He had always felt plants had spirits, that the earth itself breathed in a deep, slow rythm, too vast to comprehend. He pondered for a moment, looking at the inaugural bulb before turning back to Kalain.

"You said... spirit-talkers" he stumbled a little over the unfamiliar words "and their acolytes can try to talk to the spirits and ask them for things?" The shaman nodded. "Do they ever... would they be able to ask for" he wasn't exactly sure how to phrase this and didn't want to offend "well, would they ever ask for plants to grow well?".

Gaias' thoughts showed through plainly as he spoke, Kalain thought. Another reason why he liked him. "Yes, they often ask Kalain to help their children grow strongly, or ask Toghelac to be generous in his bounty and send the herds this way... but I don't see why they couldn't ask Toghelac to help plants grow... would you like me to meditate on it, when I next go to the shrine?" the shaman asked, knowing what Gaias had been getting at and wanting to spare him the awkwardness.

"Oh, would you?!" Gaias asked, smiling widely. It might not be his beliefs entirely, not yet, but any help he could have was help he was willing to take. With a smile, he placed the bulb he had found - he thought it was a snowdrop, a pretty little drooping white plant - into the hole he had made earlier and covered it up, delighted at the 'official' start of his garden. He had mostly wanted to cultivate foodstuffs, but it was a bit late in the season for most of them, and he'd had to settle for getting his plot ready for next year. Spring bulbs, though, would be a good way to get the ground broken up in time for early summer planting. Besides, he liked flowers...

Cora loped across towards the gentle slope where she could see her father and Gaias. She had been out, looking to see if she could find the tracks of a snow-cat that one of the hunters had thought they spotted, but to no avail. Circling back, she had walked a little out of her way to make sure she'd pass by the new 'garden'. She still wasn't sure why a wolf would want to grow things - that was the job of Toghelac afterall, wasn't it? However, her father seemed to think there might be a use for it and Gaias had decided to stay...

"Hey!" she called out, when she got within earshot. "How's the...'garden'?" she was still unfamiliar with the word, though she was getting used to it.

"Funny, I thought I seen you heading out west, earlier" he said, dryly, knowing exactly why his daughter had chosen to come out of her way. He turned back to Gaias "If you had something I could take... some token, perhaps, to represent your garden? It would help, when I ask Toghelac to look favourably on it. It doesn't need to be anything big, or special".

Gaias' easy smile faltered when he saw Cora. She had been welcoming enough to him, for sure, and he thought she liked him well enough, but sometimes her comments to him were harsh or she stomped off suddenly when he was around. He wasn't sure sure what to make of her, yet, though when she asked about his garden he became all smiles again.

"I've just planted the first thing" he said, cheerful pride written proudly across his features. As he smiled at Cora, he almost missed Kalain's words, though. "Oh, sorry, something from the garden?" he wondered for a moment what he could give - it was mostly bare earth, though, at the moment. "Ah, what about this!" he said, diving into the pile of scree he'd dug out. Where was it? Aha, here! He brought out a small, opalescent stone, about the size of a claw. Putting it on the gorund in front of Kalain, he explained "I found it whilst digging, here - it came right out of the ground of the garden".

Gaias' easy enthusiasm was infectious and Kalain smiled along with him. "Yes, that'd do fine" he said, and looked between his daughter and Gaias. "Well, I think I'll go to the shrine now, then... and let you two talk about the garden by yourselves". He grinned at Cora as he picked up the small, brighly coloured stone in his teeth and headed off. Gaias was a bit older than her, and she was his baby girl, but he knew that girls would be girls and demanding she not have such an obvious crush on the blue-eyes male would have only set her stubbornly against his wishes. He didn't think it'd go too far, anyway, would it? Hmm. Despite his earlier grin, he looked back with the tiniest smidge of concern as his paws carried him shrineward. He wasn't sure whether he should be worried for his daughter, though, or the quiet male she had so obviously set her sights upon.

Cora was mortified at the suggestion in her father's tone, and his grin. He liked to tease but what in the world was he thinking, it was none of his business! Cora dragged her eyes up to Gaias, sure she'd see some understanding or condescending smile in them. He was a bit older than her, afterall, more experienced in this kind of thing... he probably thought of her as an uppity stubborn kid. She wasn't stubborn, though, goddamnit - why did everyone keep calling her that?

All she saw in return though, was his usual friendly smile with, perhaps, a note of worry about it. She realised her hostile thoughts had crept into her expression and relaxed them, or at least tried to.

"So uh... you asked my father to bless the garden?" she said, knowing that talking about gardening was a surefire way to distract Gaias.


Gaias was completely oblivious to any suggestions Kalain had made and only wondered, again, why Cora sometimes seemed to be ... irritated? around him. Whatever it was, her next question, as she had known, distracted him from her emotions entirely. "Oh, yes, he was explaining about your spirits and I thought since it was on your land that it would be nice... I've always thought the land felt as though it was living, and now I have a name for it" he smiled, hoping he wouldn't put his paw in his mouth.

"I won't be able to grow anything for a while yet, not properly" he hurried on "though I've found that your land has a lot of edible plants on it! I was surprised, given how far up you are, here".

"Really? I can't say I've noticed" she admitted guiltily, wishing she had noticed before now "I kinda only check plants for animal damage - to see if anything has gone by? I do love those little sweet ground-growing berries, though, I admit. I used to get my muzzle stained pink from eating them when I was a pup" she grinned, remembering.

"Strawberries?" he didn't mind much that she'd not really taken an interest in plants before, afterall most wolves did not. "I like them too... there's an easy way to make more of them that I figured out so I can always encourage more to grow, especially if you give them plenty of room" he smiled, glad that he might be able to contribute something which she liked. "Though, that'd be next year, they're mostly done growing by now... I was thinking of collecting some blueberries, though - the soft, blue berries which taste almost smoky?" he asked, not sure if she'd have come across them.

"It took me a while to find some, but I know they like the soil and conditions of the mountains, especially where they have plat areas, like there is around your cave. They also like it where there have been a lot of pines, so I checked near that stand north-west of your father's den. They're not quite ripe yet, but soon..."

Cora loved the idea of strawberries close to home - usually it was slim pickings and you had to go far to get them. She was bowled over, though, by his comments on fronding the blueberries. "It's kinda like... like you 'track' the plants" she smiled, finally finding a point of interest in common with his garden.

"Mmm yes! It's kind of like looking for animals, except that they don't... they don't" he paused, wondering if she'd laugh at him for his dislike of killing. He'd not really mentioned it - the pack had been kind enough to share their kills with him whilst he started his garden, but he knew it'd come up eventually. "The plants don't make me feel sad when I take from them. I know that if I don't take too much that they won't die..." his voice trailed off, as he waited for the expected laughter.

All that came, however, was an understanding nod. "I was never to keen on the chase, the kill... I've always liked to track, but I usually leave the rest of it to those who like it. When I was learning to hunt, I couldn't kill, not at first, but aunt Sati and my father said that I just had to remember that their spirits go to Jaitain and Kalain bring them back to live again" she smiled wryly. "I still don't like it much... but we kill and die in our turn" she said, repeating from rote what she had been taught as a young wolf "if we did not, the rabbits and deer and all of the other creatures would multiply and eat all of your plants!" this last bit said with a glint of humour.

"Hah, I suppose that's true... deer can sometimes do really bad damage to trees in winter and I've often been beaten to good harvests by rabbits and birds, small things as well - mice, squirrels". He was surprised at how easy it was getting to talk to her. Having something in common really helped and he was happy to finally have met another who understood that not all wolves loved the thrill of the kill.

"Your aunt said that you were a good tracker..." he said, harking back to their earlier words "maybe you could help me find some of the plants your father wants? I don't know the land well, yet, but I know the plants... you might have seen them before whilst looking for animals?"


"That sounds like a great idea" she smiled, fluttering back in her stomach again, as she contemplated an afternoon spent with Gaias. She found the fact that he was a little shorter and lighter-built than her cute. Those big, soft blue eyes, without a trace of guile half the time, and then his intense intelligence when he talked of his passion.

She moved around to sit beside him, and leaned a little over, as if trying to see past him. "It's still a long time until dark... if there's anything you think might be close by we could always go look..."

"Mmm that would be good! I think there might be some meadowsweet... uh... near..by". As she leaned close he became very aware that he was sitting next to a female wolf. Of course, he'd thought she was pretty when he first met her, but he'd never thought... not really.. and she always seemed to slightly dislike him so...

He gulped, trying not to let his body control his mind. Like her, he'd been somewhat sheltered in terms of meeting wolves outside of family in his younger life, but unlike her, he'd been exposed to others since. It wasn't that he didn't get male urges, simply that he naturally assumed that most females were not interested in him. He'd had two bigger, more confidant older brothers and his close friend, too, had found dealing with the opposite sex easier. He'd had a crush on Octavia when he was younger, but then the pack had all been split apart...

He felt embarrassed, like an old letch, given that she had to be at least a season younger than him, if not two. He shouldn't be thinking about her in this way, given that her family had taken him in and fed him, given him a place to rest, a place to grow things. She did smell nice, though. Argh...

Cora tried not to frown when Gaias stiffened as she pressed in close. She wasn't sure if she was doing it all wrong - all she had to go on were tips from her aunt (who was too shy to even find out if the male she liked liked her back!) and comments overheard from the male hunters. It wasn't like she was going to ask her mother! She moved back, a little disappointed when she saw Gaias trying not to look at her. Maybe she was doing it all wrong. She wasn't going to pine after him like Sati did Quin, though.

"Gaias?" she waited until he had moved his eyes back to hers, then forged ahead "I like you. A lot. I want to know if you like me or if I should stop... stop annoying you". Her mouth set into the usual stubborn, questioning almost-glare.

"I uh... uhm ah, that is" he wasn't sure what surprised him more - that she liked him, or that she'd demanded he tell her if he liked her. "I didn't really think about it I uh.. I always sorta thought you didn't like me much?" he answered truthfully. He didn't often lie and he certainly had no idea how to do so in the face of such outright questioning.

She nodded, almost angrily and turned away, trying to hide the slight disappointment in her eyes. "Well, I'll stop bothering you then, I'm sorry if you got the idea I disliked you".

"No, I uh.." he harrumphed, blowing air out of his nose in a long 'sigh'. "You're a good bit younger than me, Cora, and your family have been kind to me, I'm not sure they'd... approve or that it'd be right". He tilted his head "I do like you, Cora. I'm glad to know you like me, too, I just don't know if it's... appropriate?" Gaias wasn't used to being in this sort of situation and, though he was trying to be gentle and kind, he was a knot on the inside - he definitely did like the idea of her liking him a lot but... but... her voice cut through his thoughts.

"I don't care what my parents think of it, hell, my father left us here alone" she harrumphed, a look of steely determination in her eyes. "If I like you, and you like me, lets take it from there and not worry about if's buts and maybes, ok?" Stubborn though she was, she wasn't used to entirely wearing her emotions on her sleeve like that and was beginning to feel a touch of embarrassment as her burst of courage and righteous indignation worse off.

Gaias only managed to nod, quietly. He didn't wan tto hurt her feelings and, knowing what she was usually like, he figured it had been hard for her to tell him all of that, despite her brusque way of saying it. He allowed himself a smile. Unlike Cora, he was a bit more comfortable with his emotions, even if he was a bit shy, and he certainly wasn't going to pass up this opportunity if she insisted...

"How about we go for that walk, then...?"