500+
“The waste?” Merilin thought to herself. What was there? It did not sound too pleasant to her. Her nose scrunched up a bit. For once, though, she decided to remain silent and continue to listen to everything that Kaena had to say. After all, some of her questions were bound to be answered at one point, right? Thus, uncharacteristically, the russet coyote remained still, obedient, watching the other female finish the fishy meal and listening to her explanations all the while. She was eager to know as much as she could about this place. That way, perhaps she could more easily fit in with the others. She hoped so. She was extremely pleased to hear that the forest was a part of their lands. She would want to go see it sometime, especially since Kaena had said that there was food in there. Food was good. Yes. Apparently there was also something called a ‘mansion’ in this forest, and apparently, you lived in it. She had never heard of it. The only things she knew that you could sleep on or in were things like dens, holes, caves, the ground, and ditches. Another new word. But she refrained from saying in it. It was enough, she decided, that she understood the function of this ‘mansion’ thing. She could always go see it later.
She was glad to find out that she would easily know where the borders were, even from afar. The post that she had seen yesterday night before she fainted was part of the border it seemed. She wondered why they put skulls on the tops, and also wondered to whom the skulls belonged. She found out that the posts were there to warn off the other intruders who did not respect their borderlines. So far, it was all making sense to her. It was a bit of a scary thing, these poles topped with skulls, but she realized their function. Merilin wondered if trespassing occurred often. She hoped not. That was rude. Even she knew that. They were always protecting their territory back home from other coyotes. She hoped that she could help the Inferni protect their borders, not realizing that her small structure might not be the best for such a task.
“Thirteen!” she breathed almost inaudibly. That was a lot to her. She had never heard of so many coyotes coming together in a single area. And these ones were doing it for long periods of time. Perhaps is was even more the big family that she had thought. This made her excited once more, and her serious expression began to transform into her normal bright and silly one. Kaena also mentioned no monsters. She was so relieved. No more terrible incidents, she hoped. And she also said that she could rely on the other Inferni to help her if she needed it, for instance from unwelcome, hostile intruders. She sighed gently. What a relief.
“Everything seems so wonderful already!” she exclaimed, jumping to her feet and jumping about. “I can’t wait to see it all. Will you show me around, now? I very much want to see everything!” She was being somewhat redundant, but this was due to her excitement. The sun seemed a little less bright as the rain clouds threatened to continue to bring the wet weather, but the earth remained dry still. Merilin’s blue eyes gazed up at Kaena, hoping that since the morning meal was eaten, they could go and observe and explore. She even trotted a bit ahead as if to get the motions started, looking back at the one eyed, scarred female.