Blind confirmed that AniWaya was the pack at war with Crimson Dreams, and Vesper frowned thoughtfully. It was unusual to think the dark girl in front of her would be participating in war. She had a real stock in what was going on, while Ves was merely a loner avoiding some trouble. Pack conflicts often had an effect on the surrounding wolves and prey sources, especially as they gathered the resources they needed. The coywolf had been lucky in her youth to be far from packs, but it was hard to tread in Nova Scotia without meeting an aligned wolf, it seemed.
The she-wolf explained that a leader and children had been kidnapped from the tribe, and the coywolf nodded. That was a serious enough catalyst for war; the motives of AniWaya weren’t as clear, however. She would investigate this matter more thoroughly when it became important to her, but for now, she only listened to the heterochromatic girl.
Blind mentioned that she wouldn’t be of much use in battle, her ears lowering rather unhappily. The hybrid’s blue eyes meanwhile darted to her leg in confusion. She’d known that something was off when they met at Halifax, but now that she knew to look for something, she could see that one was shorter than the others, which would make movement difficult. She did not have balance, and balance was essential—something that Vesper worshipped on the level with speed in fights.
The coywolf suddenly became aware of her own injured hind paw, and her blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
The cheery girl giggled at her apology and poked under her chin, which made Vesper smirk again. She suddenly remembered Blind’s search for knowledge as the dark wolf settled down on the forest floor, and she wondered if she’d gotten anywhere on her quest—or if she would even like what she found. Somewhat distracted, she nodded at her explanation, blinking when she mentioned the female was a great-grandmother. It wasn’t altogether strange, considering how wolves matured and bred, but Vesper hadn’t had the chance to meet a lot of old-timers in her travels.
“Well, I’m glad you have someone to help you out in the pack. You’ll meet more wolves later.” She smirked. “Hell, you’ll probably get tired of it and want to move back out again,” she joked before standing suddenly. Her ears stood at attention, and she flashed her teeth at the younger canine. “Now… I want you to see something.”
She turned then, lifting her right hind paw slightly off the ground. The furthest two toes had been bitten off, leaving a scarred area. It wasn’t entirely gruesome, and the wound was minor compared to an entirely missing paw, but Vesper hoped that it might make something click in the dark wolf.
“I don’t walk like I have an injury, but normal movement was hell right after I got this. I had to limp around, and limping did not work well with fighting.” And hell, had she been pissed after the incident; she’d had to learn pretty quick how to deal with her new injury after stupidly aiming to attack anyone who looked at her cross-eyed. In her defense, her heart had been broken, and the taste of blood was in her mouth already, but looking back on it, she knew how foolish she’d been. She gave her head a shake then smirked again. “It’s all about balance and compromise. I might be able to show you how to defend yourself even with that bum leg of yours.”
