"Rita! Where are you, you big dumb dog?"

The Starreaver walked through these woods a thousand times before without issue, but today his step had a wobbly, meandering quality to it. He braced himself on trees and he carried a sickly sweet scent on his tongue; Rita, of all wolves, would recognize his inebriation upon contact, but maybe she wouldn't smell the sugars in his breath over the stench of the poultice his injured hand marinaded in. It was a well-deserved drunk. He had dealt with too much lately, more than he wanted to in his retirement, and a previously well-hidden misery surfaced once it had eaten through his defenses like acid. This wasn't supposed to be Gaven. Gaven was supposed to be able to deal with anything...but, well, sometimes he couldn't. Like then.

At least he was still doing his work, like making sure Gemini's prisoner wasn't dead.

"Heh, at least you're not in a pit, right? What is-what is that smell?"

He crinkled his nose at the stinging scent of canine manure. The closer he got to the den the worst the smell, to the point where even in his drunken state he could easily follow it to his destination. When he came upon the site of piles and piles of feces he choked, spat on the ground, and held his breath for a moment. Was this from all those puppies? Hadn't she taught her children to not empty their bowls in camp?

"Fenedhis lasa," he choked. "Rita, where in the Void are you? This is disgusting."

He stumbled back a few steps to the point where he could breath well enough to spit on the ground without feeling like the rank air was assaulting the insides of his mouth. Even in his brain fog he surmised that the wolf must not have felt comfortable leaving the den, especially when she viewed herself as surrounded by enemies. Fair enough. He knew from experience the wolves liked their own smell, but somehow this had to be unpleasant even for her. Maybe he should suggest she bury it? At least the air quality would be better.

"Anyway! Just came to check in on you!" Gaven shouted. He didn't particularly care that an angry Shark was nearby. "Also apparently to tell you that you can stop hiding behind your shit wall any time you'd like.'