She had spent the night in the cave after her visit to the city and was just heading toward the herb shack now, bringing in the last few of the books from the border. Naniko had a secret hiding spot that she would put half of the books in once she got inside of the packlands, returning for them later on. She kept a few of the books in the cave, some in the library in the mansion, and a couple inside the herb shack. There were a couple of books that she had more than one copy of, the more useful medical books, and she kept one in each place for emergencies.

She yawned as she unlocked the shed, putting the books inside, grabbing a few bags from inside, then closed it back up. She didn't have much to do today, so she would probably mix a few herbs and make a couple of new medicines and then call it a day. Tomorrow she would look for patients, maybe.

Naniko headed inside the house, still carrying the bags. The kitchen would be a good place to work, with the big flat counters.

No, that's fine


She'd spent a lot of time in this mansion, many hours, and thought that she knew every inch of the place. However, there were times when she would enter the place and not remember where something was for a moment, or how to get to a certain part of it. There were some places inside that she didn't visit that often; that was probably why she forgot where they were at...but it still worried her a little bit that she couldn't remember. Maybe it was the fact that she didn't really live inside the mansion any more, but in the cave a mile or so away.

Naniko frowned as she thought about this, travelling from one room to the next. When she saw her friend in the kitchen she smiled widely, hefting her bag up onto the counter. "Mornin' to you too! I'm doing good. I think I might take a nap later, though--it's strange to say that out loud. Me taking a nap. But with the pups all over the place now, I actually have some time to myself for stuff like naps." She began to dig through the bag, pulling out a few bottles and jars and setting them aside. "What about you? Sleep okay?"

Savina was her friend and fellow-leader, and Naniko wanted to see her happy. Something like this would have happened eventually anyway, Kansas would have hooked up with someone. But she had never thought that it would be Savina. Naniko was with Anu, and she loved Anu with every bit of herself. But at the same time, she couldn't help what she was feeling. She couldn't be angry with Savina about it--you couldn't help who you fell in love with--but a pulse of annoyance washed through her. They were best friends and leaders. They shared the pack duties, educated the pups, accepted new wolves into the pack. But she had never thought that Kansas would be something else that she would have to share.

She'd tried to ignore whatever Savina and Kansas had been doing, tried to block it out for as long as she could. But now she had to face it. It was real, what they had, not something that she had made up in her head. The word "mate" settled heavily on her, and Naniko nodded absently. And sister, too. She did want Savina as a sister.

But she had known Kansas since he was a pup, barely able to follow her around. He'd even saved her once from a badger when they had been young. Now they were older, though, and each had to go off and live their own lives. Maybe she was getting mad over nothing. "Well...I'm adopted. So we wouldn't really be related." She said first. Best to state the facts, right?"But it would be nice to think of it that way. Congratulations" She began grinding her medicine, going a little rougher on the plants than was intended. "And good luck. The Sadira family isn't an easy one to be a part of"

She didn't look up from her bowl. Naniko couldn't know how much Savina wanted her approval--why did it matter if the leader thought that she and Kansas were a good match, anyway?--or how much it meant to her. But she could have guessed. It felt like she and the dark wolf had been at odds for so long...maybe she wasn't used to the feeling of friendship. So unused to it that she didn't even realize that she was hurting her with her lack of reaction.

She definitely didn't expect to see tears when she did look up, though. What was wrong with Savina? Wasn't she happy that she was mates with Kansas? It was what she'd wanted, apparently. "What the heck is wrong with you? You've been acting really weird...is something up?" Of course, she would put this on Savina. Not on herself....never on herself. Naniko had nothing wrong with her. She was happy for her friend and brother and for whatever little family they would bring into the world. She was fine with it!

"You're just getting emotional over nothing, Savina." She said back. "Kansas is my brother...and you're my best friend. Of course I'm happy for you." Her tone of voice said otherwise. She didn't enjoy things like this, foolish arguments over nothing. That's what he was to her now--nothing. So what if she had named their children in her head before the misscarriage? Imagined leaving Conri? It didn't mean anything. Back then she had thought about getting rid of their pups herself, so that no one would ever know about she and the Sadira's night, but she'd been unable to. They were her babies.

"I...I don't know. Not everything comes easy." She continued. "I want to be happy for you. But it's not easy to be. Kansas and I grew up together. We spent a lot of time together." She hadn't meant to admit that, even, but as she did more began to spill out. "I don't want to let him go. And I know how busy having these pups made me...and you're my friend. I don't want you to get busy, too, and forget about me. So if you wanted the truth, there it is. You can be pissed off about it, or sad...or whatever. But it's how I feel."

Kansas reads this and is like "o_o" hehe xD we R dramatic.


"I'm sorry. I should have talked to you in the beginning..but I didn't know if you and him were really serious about each other, or what was going on." She bit her lip. She had really made a mess out of everything...and just by not talking to Savina about it. She had always heard that members of a relationship needed to communicate...maybe it was the same for a friendship.

"I am really glad that you found somebody. And I think that we were sisters before you and Kansas found each other. I think we became sisters when we formed Crimson Dreams" She felt like she didn't know what to do with her hands...or whether she should step forward toward Savina or back away.

She didn't know why she kept everything bottled up inside. Normally Naniko led a semi-happy life...she didn't have many worries, and hadn't since Crimson Dreams had started up. This pack was like a dream to her, a very happy dream, where nothing could go wrong. So when things did go wrong, she didn't know how to handle them. She didn't enjoy confontation if she could help it, especially with Savina of all wolves. She wanted to keep their relationship clean and nice.

She reached out for the hug, embracing her friend tightly. She hadn't thought that it would feel this good just to hug Savina...but they hadn't even touched or anything for so long. "Nothing will pull us apart again. We will both make sure of it. If I'm ever acting weird...call me on it. And I'll do the same to you"