........The Cadet of Crimson Dreams was outside of her packlands again, and for her this was quite the surprising thing. The other day she had gone to AniWaya, originally to see her friend Noir, but on the way she had found a dove with a broken wing and she had taken it to the the tribe's medic and he had set the injury. Cambria was now devoted to take care of the bird, whom she had named Enzo. He filled the gap that Leafy had left and it made her feel useful again. Not only had Dawali helped her new friend, but he had shown her some of the basics of healing and she was keen to continue in that study. She liked helping people and other, smaller animals, so such a thing was something that she would enjoy. Also, her home didn't have a healer anymore and that wasn't good. What if someone got hurt? Who would take care of them? The girl didn't know if she would be a good healer, but she wanted to try. So she had set out today with a basket in hopes of collecting some medicine plants and herbs.


........Her feet had carried her deep into the Trenches and she hadn't really thought anyone else would be out here. It really wasn't that nice of a day after all, but when her ears picked up the sounds of the ocean she looked forward and found a figure standing near the edge of the cliffs. There was something familiar about the person and slowly and cautiously she crept forward, her nose sniffing to catch any hints of an identity. She caught a whiff of the Dahlian scent and then that and the fur color clicked in her head. It was Alexey! Conor's caretaker! Cambi hadn't seen the woman since that first day she had brought Conor to the mansion and things had gone all wrong. Hopefully she was doing alright, she was a long ways from home. "Alexey?" she called out curiously, hoping she wouldn't startle the older fey.

........Cambria understood the mesmerizing power of the ocean; it flowed within her, a part of her Marino heritage. So she was not surprised that the older female was at first unwilling to be interrupted from her reverie. In the interim the girl was content to also lose herself in the sound of the waves as they beat against the world above. It was a comforting a lulling sound, for all the violence that could potentially seen in the powerful forces of water. When Alexey finally turned to face her it was clear that she was not being recognized. It was hardly surprising, the last time they had seen each other Cambria had been a very small pup and now she was on the cusp of adolescence and shifted into her bipedal form. Quite the different picture.


........Still, finally the dots connected for the older fey and Cambria's face broke into a small smile, her tail wagging as the other called out her name. When Alexey said "Look at you!" she couldn't help but obey it as if it had been some sort of order. She looked at her slender arms and hands, the still new body that she still felt awkward in from time to time. Her sights were directed back towards Alexey though as she walked over to her. The compliment was unexpected and Cambria felt her cheeks turn a bright red beneath her dark fur. "Th-thank you, that's very nice of you to say." Mostly she still felt more the ugly duckling than the swan. The hug made that wall of uncertainty and nervousness melt away though and she hugged back.


........"I'm doing alright, was out looking for some plants for healing. I want to learn how to because Crimson Dreams doesn't have one anymore." Those sea green eyes looked curiously at the tan woman. "How are you? Why are you all the way out here?" Being such a homebody it was hard for her to think of a reason as to why someone would stray so far.

........She was still every part novice when it came to medicine and healing. It had only just become an interest of her's from her conversation with Dawali. Cambria would never be a fighter or a leader, they were not qualities that she had. Since she was coming closer and closer to adulthood she wanted to make sure that she was able to contribute something to the pack. Having someone around who could heal seemed very important to her and it seemed like something she could actually do. She enjoyed helping others and keeping all her loved ones healthy was something she would feel good about. "Ummm, well there's some plants that stay alive in the winter. They're called...perennials I think? One of them is ginseng, it's supposed to be good for medicine." Cambria really wanted to go find a book that had a bunch of the medicinal plants in it and told her how to use them. Maybe her daddy would know where she could find such a book. "That would be nice! I'm just kind of picking up whatever I can find and will figure out if I can use it later." She wasn't certain what was useful and what was not yet.


........She was surprised to see Alexey's ears fall back at her questions. Was something wrong? That worried her, because it made her think that something bad might have happened to Conor. The tender hearted girl had to stifle a whine at the thought that something could have happened to her cousin. The older female's response did some to qualm those fears though, as they seemed to be fairly innocuous answers. "Oh, I see," she replied. "Nothing's wrong with Conor, is there?" Cambria couldn't keep the worry from her voice and her own ears dipped back. It would be just absolutely horrible if something had happened to him. Even though they didn't see each other often, she had become quite close with her cousin and she wanted him to be happy and okay.

........Puppy sitting, like Alexey and Mati did, was probably another path that the girl would enjoy. However, unlike a healer, Crimson Dreams already had its Nanny and Mati was a very good one too. The earthen colored wolf had done a very good job looking after herself and her siblings when her parents weren’t able to do it. Having a completely competent caretaker made her want to pursue the healing arts even more. While she couldn’t really remember anyone ever getting hurt or sick (aside from herself) what would happen if someone did and there was no one around that knew how to help them? It was a very scary scenario to the young wolf and if she could do something to avoid it happening then she would. Of course it would take a long time for her to learn everything she needed to know, but at least she was started on the track now. That was what was important for the moment.


........It didn’t surprise her really that Alexey didn’t know what ginseng was. She had never heard about it until recently either. Though that was about as far as her knowledge went on the plant. She knew it existed and was apparently helpful, but what exactly it could be used for and how was something she didn’t know for certain. “I’m not entirely sure. I think it can be used for a lot of things. I only started learning about this stuff the other day, so I don’t really know much yet,” she said, somewhat embarrassed. “I want to find some books that could help me though. I need to ask my daddy if he knows where I could find some. I want to go back and learn more from Dawali too.” The AniWayan chief was a very nice man and she knew more lessons from him would be the most beneficial thing for her learning.


........Cambria’s heart raised up as Alexey said that there was nothing wrong with Conor but quickly plummeted back down as it appeared that wasn’t true. The girl whined softly, knowing that it must hurt her cousin a lot for things to not be good between him and Alexey. He never mentioned his mother or his father and she had a sinking feeling that neither was around for him. That left the woman before her as the only one that really loved him and looked after him. For him to have that placed in doubt…oh, how awful. The last words the older fey spoke confused her. What would be wrong about how they felt for each other? The intricacies of what was looked down upon in mature relationships were a complete mystery for her, she was still mostly a child. “What happened? Why isn’t it okay?” She was completely lost and she hoped that Alexey would be able to explain it to her. More than that though, she hoped that she and Conor could work things out. He needed Alexey, this much she knew to be true. If he lost her then she would fear constantly for his well being.

........Cambria really didn’t try to be modest; she honestly thought she wasn’t really good at anything or extraordinary in any way. She was smaller than a lot of wolves and more fragile both physically and psychologically. What you saw was what you got with her and she wasn’t entirely sure that it was a good thing. Constantly she worried about strangers taking advantage of her and picking on her for her weaker body and personality. All that and an almost complete lack of confidence was what lead to her downplaying of her ability to be a healer and be knowledgeable about said art. The words the caretaker spoke were things she was used to hearing from her parents, but hearing it from someone who was not family somehow made them even stronger. “Thank you Alexey. I’ll try my best not to.” Try was all she could really do, but try she would.


........The offer made the girl perk excitedly and a large, genuine smile came to her. “Oh wow, really? That’d be wonderful! Thank you!” Gosh, Alexey was so nice and thoughtful. She was glad that her cousin had the woman to look after him. Conor was a very sweet boy and she couldn’t help but worry about his wellbeing when they were always so far apart. She wished sometimes that he lived in Crimson Dreams so she could always see him and know how he was doing. Still, with Alexey there to take care of him and look after him she wouldn’t worry so much. Honestly her cousin couldn’t be in better hands.


........All of that made the reason for the rift that had apparently grown between them all the more worrisome. If Alexey wasn’t there to look after Conor, who would? It was a good thing that Cambria didn’t know what an awful father he had and that he was in fact in charge of the very pack that the two wolves resided in. The girl would have been wracked with constant worry for them both. In this case, ignorance was bliss. Though she wished she weren’t so ignorant as to why there was a problem with Conor and Alexey’s relationship. With the example her only reply was, “Oh…” She understood how her mother and father loved each other, but she didn’t know why it was bad for the Koios female and her cousin to feel that way. “But…why isn’t that right?” She felt a bit bad, like she were prying into secrets, but she just wasn’t understanding the issue.

........Cambria had no idea how truly awful Conor's childhood had been. She didn't know that he had more or less been abandoned by his mother and his father was a monster that wouldn't ever love him. Despite not knowing all the facts though, she could tell that his life had been rough. She had faced her own trials, but in the fact of what he had faced they would seem minuscule. She did know that Alexey had been there for him though, and that she took good care of him. The fact that she had basically been his mother though escaped her. It was hard for her to think of anyone other than his real mother being like his mother, for she had her real mother. While she knew not everyone had such a great family as she did, it was hard for her to imagine other kind of familial situations.


........What made this conundrum all the more puzzling was that even the older and more experienced female was having a hard time explaining it. Cambria was to a large extent sheltered, living in her little microcosm. She didn't have many outside experiences to draw upon for she had not made an effort to have any outside experiences. Still, she figured that adults who did have that experience would have no trouble explaining why something that was not okay was not okay. She assumed that the mysteries of romantic relationships were revealed to you at such and such age and so Alexey certainly must know those as well. This all must be incredibly complicated for even the Koios woman to be stumped.


........Hmmm, maybe if Alexey was like Conor's mother then it wasn't okay. But still, she wasn't actually Conor's mother. This was all so confusing and her mind was just running in circles it felt like. "I don't know, it is just very confusing, and I don't know much about...these kinds of things." Well, she didn't know much about anything, but especially not this. "But, maybe if you both feel that way, then it'd be wrong to act like you didn't? Like you'd be lying to each other. Or something." Now Cambria was the one who wasn't making much sense, or at least that's how she felt.