Sati's delicate feet picked their way around the little bits of debris outside of Kalain's den. He often picked up interesting things he found and brought them back to study, as did she and even some of the other members of the pack - curiosity was prized, here, especially since they were still relatively new to this land. Things could oscillate within decades and they didn't have ancestors to warn and teach them about any natural disasters which the region might be prone to.

Quickly, her eyes adjusted to the slightly dim light of the cavernous structure which was known as the 'second den' or 'southern den' which Kalain called home for the most part. The shaman was not often alone, but his commonest companions were those who were just returning. He didn't usually meditate here, Sati thought, that was more usually done at the shrine, but just in case...

"Kaaaiiiiaannn" she called out, relatively softly, but loud enough that the walls picked it up and echoed it around, bouncing it back to her. She smiled - the dapple-bottomed she-wolf loved the echoing effect, it seemed magical and made the cave feel as though it was inhabited by mischievous spirits who liked to mock you by playing your own voice back!

Kalain was having the mother of all headaches and hadn't dragged his sorry rear into doing something yet. He had felt himself slipping, last night, into one of his fugues and had fought it off with every ounce of his being. It had been so long since he'd had one that it had both surprised and shaken him - he had almost begun to think he was past them. But no, they seemed to be his cross to bear, even now.

He wondered if the birth of Mu'sha's litter - his sons and daughters, had assuaged them for a while, driven away the doubts and worries which led to them. It was something to meditate on, to be sure. When he head Sati's voice, he dragged himself up, shaking his whole body top to tail and stretching his legs. With a yawn, he tottered forward, wondering what she was excited about. Whilst her youthful cheerfulness remained, even now, she was not usually quite so excited sounding unless there was something to be excited about.

"Sati, good morning, and Cora" he smiled at his daughter and 'sister in law' and then paused as he saw the male with them "Oh I see we have a visitor!". Kalain was as enthusiastic as Sati when it came to welcome new wolves to their land, though he thought she was a better judge of character than he was. She seemed to have an innate sense of who was 'good' inside, after about two minutes in their presence. Kalain, though, usually defaulted to a nonchalant assumption that whoever he was talking to meant him no harm and was decently friendly, which often worked well.

He had never let a standoffish nature or a pack boundary stop him from getting somewhere he wanted to go and his affable nature generally made sure that all but the most callous wolves usually let him pass freely - perhaps also sensing something slightly otherly about the small male.

"I am Kalain" he introduced himself to the visitor, pronouncing it 'Kai-Ann' "who might you be?" his accompanying smile showed that the question was out of sheer curiosity.

Gaias, barely over introductions to Cora and Sati, was feeling mother than a little overwhelmed. He never had been good at this chit-chat stuff. If the wolf in front of him had not spoken, and Cora not mentioned they were going to visit her father he might not have assumed this tiny male was... well... male. He wasn't a big wolf himself, and was fairly lightly built besides, but he'd never seen quite such a tiny male. It was even more noticeable when Cora walked over to give him an affectionate nudge - Kalain's daughter was a lot bigger than him, though both of them, and Sati, had a thick-furred look even in this summer warmth that Gaias was not used to. He liked it, he decided.

Realising he'd been staring, he stumbled his way through an answer. "I uh er am uh Gaias".


Kalain was not entirely unused to others being shy around him but often that was because of his role within the pack - outsiders usually equated his small stature and friendly nature with an easygoing wolf. He must be rather shy, the shaman figured, resting back down onto his haunches - they might be here a while.

"Well, Gaias, welcome to Second Den." he said, as Cora moved past him, back outside. He wondered where she was going, but didn't ask - she had the look she got when she was 'on a mission'. She always had been strong-willed, knew what she wanted, and he had always been happy to encourage her. She looked scarily like Cyana, with her black pelt, though their personalities could not have been more different. He was glad of that - if the spirit of his dead mate had come back in the guise of one of Mu'sha's daughters it would have devastated him with guilt.

Cora returned a little while later, carrying a rabbit. The young ones had grown fat, by now, but were less wary than their parents and easily caught - even though Cora was not a great hunter. She could find them ok, stalk them, but the thrill of the chase and the kill she left to others. Dropping it at Gaias' feet the simply said "eat" before going over to lay at her favourite spot in her father's den.

She didn't know what to make of Gaias. He wasn't small like her father, but not big either. About Sati's size, really. She felt slightly uncomfortable as she watched her aunt encourage him with her muzzle - nudging him gently, playfully, to eat and 'not worry about us all here, we're fine thanks'. Her aunt had always been better with others and more open and, right then, Cora wished she could be too.

He was scrawny, quiet, skittish, but he was also someone new! Up here in the mountains there weren't an awful lot of wolves who passed by. She'd never felt the thrill of gentle attraction, or the rush of a crush, and so she wasn't sure what these feelings were, welling up in her - only that she was feeling a little flustered because of Gaias. This, in turn, made her feel a little snappish towards him. A visitor was making her uncomfortable in her own home, hmph. And she really didn't like the way Sati was fawning over him, despite the fact she knew Sati fawned over everyone that way.

Warring with a newly-found inner turmoil, Cora sat quietly.

Sati, unlike her niece, was not unfamiliar with crushes, but she certainly wasn't interested in Gaias. To her, he was just another wolf whom she was sure she'd enjoy getting to know. Her unrequited affections lay with another 'foundling' - Quin. Her heart had leapt for him since they'd found him, but she'd always been to shy to bring it up, especially since he hadn't been anything more than friendly towards her. Would it be worse, she wondered, to find out he didn't like her back? Probably. Her heart had ached at the thought and she had closed it away, losing herself in romantic dreams.

Gaias was here now, though, and she wanted to make sure he was well. Her training under Kalain had given her some understanding of healing, though she was not nearly as skilled yet as he was, and she ministered to Gaias as he wolfed down the rabbit. He really just needed a little love and attention, she thought. A pack, really. She wondered why he wasn't part of one - he didn't seem the type to be a lone.

Kalain's words might have been picked out of Sati's mind as his next question was what she had wondered. "So, Gaias, how do you come to be on Aves lands... are you on a journey?" he assumed Cora and Sati had already asked him, but their curious looks accompanied by the male's pause and downcast eyes told him this was not so.

"You don't have to tell us, if it's painful for you, it's only my curiosity, though I'd like to know if you intend to stay a while here".

"Thank you!" Gaias said as Cora brought him the rabbit, a little embarrassed that he was being given food like a pup. He wasn't going to turn it down, though it was odd eating meat after all this time. He had never been a great hunter, in fact he'd been a terrible one given that he hated to kill things, but he was decent enough at sustaining himself off the land. Unfortunately, travelling made that more difficult, as he didn't know exactly where to look for the plants he liked and even those he found were sometimes a little different, prompting him to be more wary of them. Even very similar plants could have completely different tastes and some close relatives to edible plants could even be poisonous!

Gaias stripped the rabbit messily, unused to butchering small prey, but paused when Kalain questioned him. "No, I.." he swallowed his mouthful, then cleared his throat. "My family... I'm not sure if they..." his blue eyes squeezed shut. "I walked here, was going to pass through, because my pack is no longer..." No longer. He left it at that. He didn't really want to talk about it, but he wanted these kind wolves to know he was not some itinerant vagrant. "I don't want to be a bother to you, if I can pass through I'll be on my way" he said, earnest blue eyes opening to look at Kalain. He was tired, he wanted to rest, but he really didn't want to be a nuisance to them.

"I didn't want to suggest you needed to go!" Kalain quickly countered Gaias. He could see the unresolved hurt in the younger male and was instantly resolved not to see him go until that hurt was fixed, or at least eased. To help others, to make the world better for them was his overarching goal. "We would be glad if you wanted to stay a while, and if Sati and Cora have not " he looked around, raising an eyebrow at them "then I formally welcome you to our land, that you may rest and hunt here".

Social niceties observed, he added "I always enjoy others staying at my den, especially those of you from the south. There is so much to be learned about these lands" he had found it was often easier to get others to stay if they had an excuse other than "because we want you to". If someone had asked him to stay, and he wanted to, he would - but others, he had found, often felt obliged to say they did not want to put out their host and stay, even if that stay had been offered. Even more odd was those who offered a place to stay, when they did not in fact want someone to stay. Hmph.

Gaias was a little overwhelmed at the generous and forthright invitation, though he rushed to defend the two females who had brought him here "No, no, they did welcome me but I.. I.." he trailed off. What did he want? "I have been looking whilst I travel, to find a place where I could" baby-blue eyes scanned the current company, feeling slightly worried as to what their reaction might be "where I could have a garden. I just wanted to pass through your lands, I wondered if there was, maybe, a sea on the other side. Places near the sea, but not right at it are so good for gardening" he realised that he was babbling "but uhm... I would be very glad to stay a little while, especially if I can help you. I don't know a lot about the land beyond here, except what I saw travelling through it, though".

his truthful nature came out in his fast splurge of words. He didn't like to lie and he didn't want to stay under false pretences. It would be nice to have a few nights rest, even, or a few weeks, maybe, if they'd allow that.

"Oooh Gaias, there is no way through here" Sati said, unhappily. "The mountains are not passable - our hunters have tried" to have come so far and not be able to go through was such a shame, she thought. "What is a garden, though?"

"Ah uh.. garden is where you grow plants?" he said, not sure how to describe it. No other wolves he knew cultivated a particular piece of land and even he only did it for special plants which grew well that way. Mostly he maintained the natural resources - weeding around berry bushes, for instance, or making sure last years growth was broken off. Experimentation had told him that these things gave the plants higher yields and, despite being rather scatterbrained when it came to socialising, Gaias had a cool, methodical outlook on plants. They were his passion.

That he couldn't get through here, though, was a little devastating. He'd have to backtrack, try to go around, and that'd take weeks more travelling. He was so tired of travelling.

Kalain was familiar with the idea - and he was intrigued that the young male was interested in them - his ferverent tone bespoke more than a casual hobby and his journey to find a place to 'garden' showed his dedication to his idea. Most wolves were not and usually it was acolytes if they were. Even so, their main interest was not in growing plants, but in the benefits said plants provided. Most just scavenged for the plants, but that meant in some areas those plants would not be available.

"I know the kind of thing you mean. But Sati is right, there is no way through here". Sensing Gaias' mood, he continued "the Aves pack, which is what we call ourselves, have always been open to newcomers. We are happy to have those not of the pack live on our land and we have plenty of it, here. We are not near the sea, true, but we get warm winds in summer and plenty of water. Toghelac, the earth spirit, has been kind to us, our lands are rich, if cool, and if you wanted you might be able to start and grow a garden here. I know something of plants myself and I would be happy to help you begin". His offer was generous, even for the Aves, but he could see some promise in the shy, brown male and an expertise, or at least enthusiasm for, something which the Aves as a pack might find useful.

"Plus, there are some plants I would not mind being cultivated a bit closer to home".

He would talk to Mu'sha about it, of course, as she had the final word, but she rarely disagreed with him on this sort of thing. She knew their pack had to grow and perhaps, if he settled here, Gaias would become interested in learning their ways and fully joining the pack.

Cora tingled with the idea that Gaias might join them, though she wasn't sure why her father had made such a generous offer. He must see something in him, she thought, or he wouldn't have. Still... plants? That seemed a little dull - after all, they didn't move or make noises and it wasn't exactly hard to chase a plant. She snorted to herself. She was becoming a good tracker, perhaps an uncannily good one, but she had let to learn that expertise in ones own area could blind one to the expertise needed in another.

"I'd best go tell mother you've adopted another stray" she said, perhaps a little more meanly than her usual self she didn't know why, only that something inside her wanted to 'punish' Gaias for making her feel all fluttery and disconcerted. The young, black, female wolf headed out once more, but this time towards the main den, without a backwards glance.

Stay here? Start a garden here? It sounded a bit like a dream. Sure, he would technically not be 'one of them', but to be allowed to stay on a packland, to start his garden, to stop travelling would be wonderful.

"I think... I think I'd like that" he smiled at Kalain, a little of the nervous tension draining out of him. He'd be useful, if Kalain needed certain things grown, but he wondered about that. Having not known any medicinal uses, he figured there might be a plant which Kalain liked to eat. Maybe raspberries? Who didn't like raspberries!

when Cora got up, though, Gaias watched her go, his ears flattening a little. Kalain and Sati's welcome had been effusive, but Cora didn't seem to like him much. "I... I..."

Kalain smiled a bit, wondering if his little girl was acting a little more harshly than usual due to the 'handsome stranger'. She really was growing up, he mused, though Gaias seemed a little old for her, in his opinion. "Don't worry, Gaias, she's only teasing" he assured the young male.

"Since you've decided to stay" he said, not allowing the young male time to retract that wish after Cora's words "do you know feverfew? It has pale green leaves which are usually ragged edged and flowers with bright white flowers, with yellow centres, about this tall?" he indicated with his nose.

Gaias was easily captivated by the talk of plants, quickly answering and distracted from his usual shy disposition "Oh yes, I think I know the one you mean, though I call it something else!"

Sati was satisfied that Gaias would be ok. He had eaten, he would rest and he would stay. Whilst she was interested in the healing arts as part of her duty, she had always been a little more interested in the esoteric side and did not have the interest in plants that Kalain did. Before they'd left their homeland, she'd seen him talk for hours about them and their possible effects with the spirit-talker of a nearby pack.

Thus, she knew when it was time to take her leave. "I think I'll catch up with Cora" she grinned, seeing Kalain's amused look and knowing that he knew why she was heading after her niece. She turned tail and started off at a brisk pace to catch up with the other escapee, leaving the two males happily discussing the fruits of the earth.