Secrets in the Dark

Happening the same day as finding the dog pup. Mostly for Err, but Ven can join if wanted ^^

The woman had came back to the den with @Err  to grab some supplies, walking slowly as she thought about what all was happening. She was likely going to get in a lot of trouble for housing the nonwolf pup, but she didn't care. Determination and motherly instincts kept her from throwing the small child to the wolves... literately. She just prayed that @Vengeance kept his nose out of her business. 

Climbing into the den, she would sniff the air, catching the scent of the rat but not finding him. Hopefully he was out gathering herbs or preforming tasks and wouldn't be back by the time she left. That would mean less questions to answer. Pulling out one of the baskets that had been made for her, she would gather the needed items. First was bedding, using that to line the basket before gathering the herbs. For the most part, the herbs she gathered were for young pups, to help give them nutrients without the mother's milk. She didn't have to worry about anyone knowing what those herbs were except for her rat counterpart. However, if he didn't show up yet, she didn't have to worry about that either. 

The basket was left near the edge of the opening and she had been gathering items in the back, moving carefully not to crush any herbs, but quickly and effectively nonetheless.

the staff team luvs u

 He was out by himself. The Rat Pack was off doing their own thing, probably hovering around Ven which he could not do today. He'd seen a particularly lovely set of goat horns at the cache and he just had to have them. He tried finding Mystery initially but couldn't find her in her usual spots so he decided to take one of the horns himself and then find Mystery later to help him get the other, just in case another member of Nightwalkers had the same idea as he did. At least he'd have one, in that case. 

 Being such a tiny creature, dragging the horn all the way back to his den was no easy feat. It took a better part of the day as he slowly dragged it back to his densite. Or rather, their, densite. He was quite happy to share it with the lovely she-wolf as she was a delight to have around. 

 You know what wasn't a delight? Dragging the horn. 

 He managed to get near his den, sweating and huffing as he pulled and-- Oh! There she was! She could easily help him get his the last of the way in and she could help him with the other horn in record time! He let go of his item and bounded closer. "Myst! Myst! Can you... uh..." Hello... what was all of this? He stepped closer to the basket, standing up on tip-paw to look into it. He knew exactly what all of this stuff was for... Was there something he didn't know? 

 "Um, what's all this for? There aren't any pups needing these herbs that I know of, is there someone new?" He dropped down onto his haunches before looking towards her. He just seemed confused, wondering if there were some pups that had slipped by unnoticed by the healer-rat. Surely it could only be that. 

the staff team luvs u

The woman had gotten the items she needed, pulling the last of the herbs out and making her way back to grab the last of it. However, with all the herbs and scents in the shared den, she didn't realized that Err had come back, not until the rat has spoken up. She yelped slightly as she turned towards him, watching him for a moment before speaking. "Yeah, no it's just uh..." She was never the best at lying so this was going to be rather interesting. With a sigh, she finally shook her head, not wanting to lie to her close friend. 

"I'm not going to lie to you Err, it's for something you probably don't want to know about. I know how close you are with Vengeance and I don't want you stuck in the middle of what I'm doing." She would put the last of the herbs in the basket, also adding some fresh meat from her cache that she shared with Err most nights, being the better hunter out of the both of them for obvious size reasons.

"If you want to know more, I will tell you, but I'm giving you a chance to not be involved." She knew she needed to get back quickly, but this was also very important, she just hoped he knew that she would never do anything against the pack unless she thought it was important.

the staff team luvs u

 A yelp and then an uncertain tone made this sound far more nefarious than what he hoped it was. His ears twitched upwards at her, eyes narrowing suspiciously as she fumbled with her words in what he could already tell was about to be an excuse. What was this? What was happening? 

 He stepped closer and then rose up onto his hind paws while he listened to her speak. This had to have some logical explanation... right? From the sounds of it... it didn't sound good. He sat back on his haunches and sighed. "My dear Mystery, everything that goes on is my business because it's Vengeance's business." If he heard of anything dubious, he was to report it. That was one of his duties. He wore many little hats in this pack. 

 He watched as she added more items to the basket, feeling a growing pit in his gut. Oh no... he wasn't going to like this at all. Why Mystery... why his friend? Why did she have to put him in a bad spot? Choosing between his duty to Vengeance and his friendship with her? He sighed and held his head in his little hands. "Tell me... what's happened?" Maybe it wasn't that bad. Maybe they'd adopted some promising little pup and Vengeance would be happy with it so long as it was large and held potential. That's what it was, right? She didn't know that there had been adoptions before... RIGHT? He was just preparing for the worst and that's not what would happen.

the staff team luvs u

She sighed slightly, nodding her head to his words. She knew that he was going to tell Ven what was happening and in all honesty, she wasn't going to be mad at him either. "I found a dog puppy, a very small breed one, though I'm not sure particulars as I haven't worked with many dogs before. However, its only a few weeks old and I am taking it in. It's safe in another den of my on the outskirts of the land where I keep my herbs when traveling." She would move to pick up her basket, her eyes soft as she looked at the small creature, someone that she had quickly started to care about. None of that would change though, regardless of what happened. "I'm not going to be mad at you for telling Vengeance. I care about you a lot, more than I probably should." She had slowly started falling for the small rodent, something she wasn't really sure about. After all the size difference and the species difference was something extremely major. But, now certainly wasn't the time to bring any of that up. 

"All I ask is that you make sure you don't get in the way of his anger, I'm not scared of him and he will have to go through me to get to that pup." She would lean down to give the rat a small kiss, careful not to push him over or smother him with her tongue. With that, she would begin to walk past, knowing that she needed to get back to the pup soon.

the staff team luvs u

 A dog. Vengeance had a rule about dogs... it was to kill and eat them. He stared at her, lifting his face from his paws in disbelief. He was stunned into silence as he watched her move to pick the basket up, he did nothing except hear more of what she had to say while he gathered together his thoughts and his words. His heart thudded in his chest, a rushing in his ears that almost drowned out her words as he stared up at her. 

 Vengeance would kill her. Even if he didn't kill her, he'd make her life a living hell. 

 He could hardly focus on the "caring" part... which, yes, he understood. He cared about her too, a lot, a whole a lot to not immediately run off and tattle. He didn't have any want to see her limbs scattered across the seven winds... something he didn't usually care about. It was a lot to unpack but not at this moment because they had other shit to get through. 

 It was the slobbery kiss that snapped him out of his stupor as he twitched to attention and then yelled with surprising anger, "Cut the selfless bullshit!" At his last word, he hopped into the air and came back down on all four paws as he glared up at her. Angry. So very angry. How could she do this?! How could she throw her life and reliability away like this?! Over a pup that she didn't even know? "Are you insane, Mystery!?" He would run forward and attempt to grab two fistfuls of her paw fur, in a --only for show-- attempt to stop her. "I know you're not so clearly you're letting a pup get into your heart when your head should be leading!" He squeaked, practically beside himself as he bared his tiny little teeth at her. "You know he's killed plenty of wolves, right? You know he could kill you if he was nice. He'll probably torture you for bringing that pup here!" And then he'd probably try to feed the pieces to him and the Rat Pack... the thought... made his appetite disappear. 

 He... he didn't want that for her. He didn't want her to get in trouble... but he had to tell Ven or else he'd be on the hook. He couldn't jeopardize his position. "How could you be so selfish!?"  He couldn't jeopardize what he had for her. He had to tell.

 And it was eating him up from the inside.

the staff team luvs u

She hadn't been expecting the outburst so when it came, she pinned her ears back, lifting her lip in a warning growl. However, she would never attack him, they both knew that. Before she could do anything though, he ran up to her and grabbed two small fistfulls of her fur, which she allowed him to do. She kept her ears pinned back as he yelled at her, bottling up her anger but waiting for him to finish his rant. After he finished his though, it was her turn.

"You think I don't fucking know what I'm doing? Vengeance isn't going to kill me, torturer me? Sure, but you think I haven't had that done to me before? Where the fuck do you think I got all these scars from? It sure as shit wasn't from being protected in packs." Her silver eyes sparked with fire, her lip curled up as she bared her fangs at him but made no move to pull away or harm  him in any way. She was just pissed. "You want me to turn my back on a pup that is in the same situation that I was? You asked me about my past before, well let me tell you the whole story. Most of my pack was slaughtered when I was a pup, the only reason I lived was because I was small and young enough to hide in the bushes and escape. I ran off, but a pup only a couple months old can't survive on it's own. A pack picked me up, and I thought they were going to protect me, and save me. But no, they abused me and attacked me every day for anything they could think of. My ear got torn off when I was eight months old because I looked the Alpha in the eye by accident. My tail was bitten off around a year and a half of age because I tried to leave and was caught. My life up until this point has been shit, and you expect me to let the same thing if not worse happen to this child?"

She was furious, panting and out of breath as she spoke, eyes still burning. "I will attack and kill anyone and everyone to protect a child because I never knew what it was like to be protected. I could care less if Vengeance attacks me, I will not be the only one leaving that fight wounded. However, I will not let the man that I love tell me that what I'm doing is wrong. What is wrong is sitting around and letting this happen. I don't know how you've ever slept at night, and you call yourself a healer?"

She would finally pull away from the small creature, not caring if his small hands pulled out fur or not as she went to pick up her basket again. Her hackles were raised and she kept her ears pinned against her head. Before she left though, she would give him one last look over her shoulder.

the staff team luvs u

 She turned to him, her fangs being exposed but he was not afraid. He knew she wouldn't hurt him. Not even from the pain of punishment, but because they were too close for that. They could show anger at each other but he knew there was no real threat there, so the tiny man didn't back down. "There are worse fates than death..." He hissed at her quietly and then she was launching into her rant. Spilling her entire backstory instead of just snippets as she had done before. He felt for her... he did, and to hear it yelled at him in such a tone....

 His pink eyes still glared as the words belted into him, he understood her want to help but he still felt it would do no good. Kindness only went so far when you had an entire pack bearing down on you. Did she not get that?! Did she not get the magnitude of what going against a wolf like Vengeance was like? He held all of the power here. She was insane! She was a healer for sure but with so much more empathy than himself. Such empathy would get her killed. He was prepared to tell her as much but she threw a curveball at him. 

 The man I love. He blinked, anger fading into confusion. 

 Him? He was a rat. Surely she hadn't meant... no, no, of course not! She loved him because they were friends. Very close friends and she had such a big heart. A big heart that would one day be ripped from her chest and eaten if she wasn't careful. 

 He winced at the thought and realized that she was walking away as he snapped back to reality. 

 "Hey! Hey! We're not done here!" He finally said, running to try to get in front of her. It was his turn again. "Stop letting your feelings blind you to logic!" He waved his tiny hands in the air, infuriated but now mixed with something else. Desperation. She was going to throw her life away. "You can holler and scream about fighting all you want but it doesn't matter! What are you going to do if Vengeance sicks the whole pack on you, huh? You gonna fight them all off?" The answer to that was a clear no. "They'll hold you down and rip that pup away and eat it! And there's not a damn thing you'll be able to do about it! Everything you're doing will mean nothing! Stop and think!" He hissed at her. Use that brilliant bain, he knew she was smart. 

 "You can't protect that child here! You'll be found out, the pup will be killed, and he'll probably rip your legs off and use you for the trouble you've caused!" And at that, that nearly choked him. He seemed to wilt as he lowered onto all four paws to sit. He didn't want that... he didn't want that at all... Not her. Not his friend. "You can't hide this pup. If you hide it and he finds out, you'll make it worse. You need to get rid of it, take it to another pack so that they'll take care of it. If you care about making sure it lives. There are other packs out there, kind ones, I'm sure." Why did she have to do this... Normally he wouldn't care about some pup unless it was one of their own but if she wanted to help it so bad. There were options that didn't involve biting the hand that fed them.

the staff team luvs u

She hadn't realized what she had said to him, and she was so angry and hurt that she didn't even think about it. As she began to walk away, she paused with a sigh, looking down at the small creature that stood in her way. He had so much trust in her not to hurt him when she could easily push past him. They both knew that his attempts to stop her only worked because she allowed it and, same as before, she did, pausing in front of him instead of barreling past. She watched him with narrowed eyes as he spoke, finally setting down the basked once again so she could speak. She knew he had a point, but at the same time, she couldn't just let the pup die. Besides, she wasn't the only one willing to protect this pup so it wasn't entirely up to her. But, she wasn't going to let Err know that. She would rather the whole thing be on him than adding Anai into the fray as well. 

"I could very easily take that child and leave." She spoke up, though even through the growl on her lips, the fire was quickly fading from her eyes as she looked down at him. They would most certainly need to have a conversation about them later, but this wasn't the time for it. It was clear in how she spoke that she didn't want to leave. It wasn't the pack that she was attached to, it was the tiny creature that was currently stopping her from leaving. 

"Fine.. I'll take them to another pack." She had no conviction in her words as she spoke, not even looking at him anymore. Instead, she stared down at the basket in front of her. This was tearing her apart from the inside out and it was something she wasn't used to. In all honesty, she wasn't sure if she would actually take them away or not, but at least for now, it was better to say she would and figure it out later. 

Part of her wanted Err to trust her, to come with her to meet the pup and fall for it the same way she did. But she knew that was nothing but a pipe dream. For now though, she would pick up the basket for the last time, though instead of walking past him, she would speak up softly. "I need to get back to them, they're hungry and cold." She started to say something else but kept quiet, still not looking at the man in front of her.

the staff team luvs u

 ”You could.” That was one of the solutions available to them. Although living outside of Nightwalkers was not something that he really wanted. This pack was large, it was feared, it was the perfect place to be. Have the big bad wolf protecting your back rather than at it. No other packs would dare harm them. It was safe so long as you stuck to the rules. Why was that so hard to do?

 She said she’d take the pup to another pack… but he didn’t believe her. She’d tell him such to mollify him and then keep hiding it which eventually would result in her punishment. He glared but then the expression faded, and he just sighed wearily. What was even the use of anger? It would solve nothing.

 She stated that she needed to get back to the whelp and Err said nothing, didn’t even look at her. Even if she would make the move to go, he would say nothing… until finally at length he would squeak. ”There is another way… although it’s extremely risky.” Risky and likely to fail… but possible.

 ”Tell Vengeance and make him see the usefulness in the pup. Heck, if you can convince him that it’s not even canine, all the better.” He wasn’t beyond allowing other creatures in his pack. Just not those that weren’t truly wolven. He didn’t know how the pup looked but if it was far enough away from wolven looks… then it might work.

 ”Tell him you’ll train that pup to be the best damn healer in the south. That it’ll be useful and keep out of the way. An asset.” It was better to bring the boss into the loop than sneaking around. What better way to do that than a promise that this creature would not be a resource drain… but something they needed.

the staff team luvs u

The woman fell silent and began to walk away, making a note to walk around the man in front of her instead of over him. Even when having an argument, she still would always treat him like he was much bigger than he actually was. It just was her way of respecting him regardless of their size difference. However, as she got to the cave entrance, his words stopped her, her ears the only thing showing she was actually listening to him. 

His words gave her hope, though she really didn't trust Vengeance with anything. Setting down her basket, hopefully for the last time, she turned towards him. Her eyes showed hope and hurt, a swirling mixture in the silver orbs. "Raise the boy with me." She didn't know if he would accept that or not, but she could hope. "Come meet him, we both know Vengeance is going to ask you for your thoughts on that anyway. If you help me raise the boy, he will be the best healer in the land. And we both know I will never let Vengeance hurt you." As she said that, her voice lowered, the care for this man clear. If she was willing to take on the pack for a child she hardly knew, she would take on the world for the man she was falling for.

the staff team luvs u

 Raise the boy with her? As tempting a thought as that was... he was realistic. Her voice was passionate, sweet, covered and sweet words and promises that she could not keep. It would be nice to imagine that things would turn out okay, but he knew that was not the case in the least. "I will promise you nothing... that boy may already have his death certificate signed." And it would do no good to get attached. "If Vengeance allows him to live... then I will help you teach him." Why did she have to get attached to the kid? Nothing was certain here. "But I will meet him." Because he needed to see that much, to make sure that there was some potential for a good healer. 

 With that, he would skitter towards Mystery and climb up the darkened fur. He sighed as he made it atop her and settled at the base of her neck. He hoped they weren't all about to be labeled as traitors and die.

the staff team luvs u