Drek kept looking back at the cave where his precious Rhubarb was a little more frequent than needed.

"I'm still good, Sky. Thanks though. This isn't the first time I've gone out into the woods to chop something other than lumber." Cliver said. "Back home the boys would place bets on whether or not I came back. Pissed pops off something fierce, but it was all in good fun."

He turns to Lilith as she speaks, confused, "Well, yeah, but surely there's somebody..." he trailed off there, her words yesterday about only getting enough members that day to take requests echoing in his memories. What had she said, that only she'd have been around to help? He remembered the look in the girls eyes as she'd begged Drek not to throw his life away last night. So she'd had to have met him, what, that morning? That afternoon?

He looked around the clearing again and it truly struck him, for the first time, that he was looking at the extent of this guild. This was all there was. This was all she had.

He coughed. "Yeah, it would make pops pretty mad but mostly because he kept betting against me. Terrible gambler, never could resist a long shot."

After several minutes, Clover returned. She had a look of mixed emotion on her face.

"The whereabouts of the pups' pack is unknown...they fled when threatened by the large wolf, and have since left this forest behind. They are likely alive, but it is doubtable that they would accept their pups back...the poor dears..."

Sky tilts her head curiously at Cliver. She couldn't imagine why he wouldn't want to just be healed. She didn't feel very comfortable leaving him in such a state, but she is soon distracted by Clover. "Pups? What pups?"

Lilith pressed her lips together in a thin line. Well, technically there was someone, but Artorius wasn't really the type to worry...especially since he would know if any of them died.

She then watched Lilith return and heard her unfortunate news.

"Well, it seems like we have no choice then...we're going to have to keep them."

Drek already has Rhubarb in his arms, and brings her brother out as well.

"I can only carry one of these guys, who would like to escort the other?"

Lilith held out her arms expectantly in response.

Clover gasped, the sadness she had been feeling for the poor unfortunate pups disappearing.

"We will be raising them?? Oh, joyous day!!"

*Sarrai'a smiles at the pups, before walking over to get their scent so she would be able to find them easier if they happened to wander off* "They are cute little things, they'll grow big and strong under the care of this guild for sure."

Drek plops a pup into Lilith's outstretched arms.

"Those pups." Cliver answers Sky, pointing to the wiggling messes of fur clutched in Dreks arms. "We found them in the cave, abandoned. We're lucky they're old enough to not need milk."

That's what he said, but uneasiness churned in his guts. He respected the woods, but he also firmly believed the woods should stay in the woods. Men that went amongst the woods for too long were liable to go funny, and he knew that the opposite must also be true. Bring the woods amougst man and it was bound to go funny too.

Maybe he was worried for nothing. Sarrai'a and Clover were around, so perhaps it wouldn't go bad. He'd feel a lot more comfortable, though, if Clover wasn't also a being of the woods.

"If you guys have got a good hold on those little goofballs I say we head out. If we start now might be able to catch the tail end of breakfast."

"That sounds great." *Sarrai'a send as she took up a position to follow Cliver*

Clover smiled as she looked at the wriggley little pups. What innocent little souls. She gave a soft, comforting whimper, sounding as a wolf to the untrained ear.

Sky's eyes widen at the pups. She didn't really know what to make of them. But she falls in line beside Sarrai'a. It felt good to be free of the cloak, but since she didn't know the way back she didn't fly.

Lilith cradled what appeared to the younger pup in her arms; she would try not to coddle him too much so he could return to the forest one day if he so pleased...and if that day came, she would try her very best not to cry.

"We're heading to your camp now, yes?" she asked, Cliver, attempting to match his stride with her short legs. Breakfast sounded absolutely divine right now, and she would need to arrange their reward of wood for helping out with the ice wolf.

*Elras groggily gets up and rolls on his stomach before pushing himself up. He looks at the party about to leave* "You guys weren't going to leave me again were you?" *He grabs his pack and gets ready to go*

"Yeah." He said, slowing his stride so as not to outpace the others. "It's a ways to the south here, on the river. Small operation, a couple dozen guys at most. They supply lumber as needed to the local towns, but that's a side job. What they're really here for is to search for an old Firestalk rumored to be somewhere in the area. Adrian Mundy, the owner, is a miserly old scab but he won't try to cheat ya' so long as I'm there."

Sky suddenly remembers Caelus and goes to pick him up again quickly. She struggles but has an easier time then the previous day due to her wings being out.

Clover easily matched the speed of the woodsman, which would be surprising for someone of her stature were she not of the forest. She walked beside Lilith, smiling at the wolf and ever so gently batting at him with her hands, mock playing with him as another pup would.

*Seeing Sky Struggling with Caelus walks over* "Place him on my back." *Sarrai'a then shifts into her full Wolf form, she is rather large for a wolf, sitting closer to a dire wolf in size then a normal wolf*