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Oooh :o Also, I love your writing style! Makes me wanna write better posts XD And damn, I really like Frodo XD Why does he have to go back to AniWaya again? lol.
If there was one thing that the female was extraordinarily good at, it was cutting a good deal. This was what she planned to do with the moose, should she find any; give them a good reason why they ought to give her and her pack their services, and then strike some kind of a deal with them. She wasn't sure what she could offer yet or what moose found "valuable" that she could offer...but she would think of something. She didn't plan to do this right away, but over the course of a couple of months. Find a herd, send Grace out to track and observe their behavior. She had been schooling the young charismatic female in the ways of the pack and in low-speech, having taken the golden D'Angelo in under her wing when Sirius had left to form Salsola. Naniko did not understand why she hadn't wanted to follow her long lost brother, but didn't concern herself too much with such things. She had other things to worry about.
Grace would do for the tracking and observing part. Then Naniko herself would attempt to make friends with the leaders of the herd and tell them all of the glories of her home and why a few of them should break off from their herd to join her. She wasn't certain how much of her words would get across to the moose, as they were a lower species than the canines...but she wanted to try. Through lowspeech, she expected to have a slight advantage over another canine who might approach the moose or try to capture them. She wished for a few to come of their own free will. She didn't need many, and would treat them lavishly if they did choose to come and join her in the pack and serve her. This was what she wished. She had a lot of experience with bending other creatures to her will, like rabbits and squirrels...but hadn't attempted such things on larger ones.
He spoke a few words about the idea that he should have brought a gift, and she shook her head. It wasn't that he should have brought a gift, because gifts were always welcomed...but the type of gift that he mentioned didn't sound too appealing. Well..maybe the dead mouse, because that she could give to her three sons to play with. She was surprised that she hadn't been followed out of the packlands by one of them, with the amount of time that they spent tracking her down. It was a game that they occasionally played; she would leave early in the morning to the borders and she would leave a small token on the bed that would point to a certain pups' sleeping place. That pup, if they wished, could come after her and track her down. If she alluded them, which she often did, then nothing would happen. But if they managed to track her, then they would be rewarded with something special. It was a good tracking lesson for the growing children.
"The dead mouse, perhaps...but a blade, tool, or fresh meat are always a good gift, in my opinion" She said. There were several bits in his pattern of speech that she did not quite understand, like "skipper", but she assumed that such things were said in good faith. Naniko was not one to ever completely trust a stranger, but she relaxed her posture slightly and took her hand away from the area it had previously rested, along her weapons-belt, as they continued to speak. "Ah. Well good to meet you, too, Strider." She gave the equine a short nod. He seemed distressed to find that his home was so far away, but that was to be expected. Naniko didn't know what she would do if caught so far away from home; she had only left the territory once, to go over to New Brunswick, but had returned a few months later to form Anathema with a few close friends and family members. His being from AniWaya did not bother her. In fact, she found it all the more intriguing - perhaps there was something that she could give to him that he could take back to the pack as a show of good faith. She wanted to send something after what Alaki had gone and done at their borders. Anathema probably wasn't looking too friendly toward AniWaya at this moment.
Frodo seemed like a very sensible fellow indeed, continuing her banter and shooting some back at her. She chuckled in return, motioning for him to follow her toward the food source. She'd buried two deer legs around a half-mile away, so the walk wouldn't be too long. "You've not heard of Anathema? I suppose we are pretty far away from your own pack. We're a pack made up of canines who might not belong elsewhere. I formed the pack on the idea that family is everything - any canine who joins is family for life, unless they betray that trust. And should they leave...they are welcomed back without needing any approval from me. Just a message that they have returned. To join, one must receive a cut on their paw, which is then joined to a cut on my own paw. They join in blood." It was perhaps a gruesome idea to some...but a way of life to the female. She held up her hand to show him the many scars that ran across the pads there as they walked together.