Naniko could be nice when she wanted to, but she'd always have her little jokes and comments. It's what kept things interesting - she enjoyed berating others a bit if they didn't get too upset over it...she didn't mean to offend, just to point out a person's flaw and put a little bit of humor into the situation. She didn't see Amy's pregnancy as a flaw, just as a personal choice...and she didn't hold such things against people. In this situation, the pregnancy was something that could be used to her own advantage...so she was very happy about it.
She hoped that it would be enough to offer the dog...she looked to be near the end of it, by Naniko's own standard of measure. She'd had five litters of her own in her nearly six years of life, so she knew quite a bit about the gestation and the birthing process. Each canine looked different while pregnant, though, and the number of pups could affect the size of the canine's belly as well, she knew. The female answered her first question evenly and without the same sarcasm that Naniko normally used. Good. She thought for a moment before replying. "Are they nearby, though? You appear to be almost bursting - I assume that you're near the end of your pregnancy. Do you think you could get to them in time?" It was a simple enough question, her tone losing its mocking nature.
She wished to explain more about the pack, and continued. "My pack loses members like any other...but we have the Howling Caverns. Not many outside of the pack know about them...they are a complex cave system that we've taken as our own. We have a village and other above-ground structures as well, but most prefer the calm and cool environment that the caves provide. There are several escape tunnels and routes that lead to various areas that only the pack have knowledge of." She said. "Around our borders we've dug many pits to trap trespassers, as well as having crows and owls that are trained to watch the borders for us in a sort of partnership." Her own owl companion was sleeping at this time, back in the Howling Caverns.
It seemed that the thing that mattered most to Amy was her privacy. There were many dens to choose from, but none that were in a particularly private area. She thought to herself for a moment - perhaps they would have to do a little more exploring to find something suitable...or Amy could choose to live somewhere outside of the cave system if she wished. "It's not a requirement to live in the caves - if there is another area that pleases you that is farther away from the central pack denning area...then that's more than fine. I know of a small stone cottage in the eastern part of Anathema, by the sea. Would that be acceptable? I would be happy to fix the cabin up for your arrival...In the spring, we could build a fence or wall around it for more privacy. The current fence is rotten and falling apart." There was one last thing that she had to ask, a requirement for all who sought to join Anathema. "There would be one final trial, - a blood sharing ceremony between you and I. It would be a small cut that I would make on both of our paws. We'd join them together and become blood family."
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