"Here, let me carry that for you." Shuu tried once again, so use to helping during feasts and other events at Highcliff City. But the female ignored him and one of her mates even gave him a growl. He was sure he was distantly related to at least a few of the males in Rock Mountain Village, but the relation seemed to mean little when it came to helping Shuu find his way in the village.

Langzhu sighed as he watched the young wolf male flounder once again. A small village was much different from a huge city, as were it's people. "You might as well give it a rest, before someones mate takes it out of your hide, boy."

Shuu made his way over to where the elder healer was standing. He slumped. "Wha-"

"You're being too pushy." Langzhu interrupted before the young wolf could ask his questions. "People don't know you here, don't care who ya are either. When I said you were healed enough to make yourself useful- I meant helping the village watch for dangers, hunt maybe. Your arm may not be back to one hundred percent, but the break has healed well. Why are you hounding people?"

"I-I... it's what I did in the city. I was a guard for the Kings and I ran errands."

Langzhu nodded. "Well, then I suggest talking to the village leader Frost Cloud and getting on the guard rotations, because you are just going to make yourself disliked if you keep trying to help like you have been all morning."

Shuu looked even more put out by the healers words but finally nodded. He was going to have to adapt to the village life now. "Yes healer Langzhu." He said like a misbehaving pup.

Finding the village leader had been harder than expected, but Shuu finally found him at the foot of the mountain in the newly added gardens. Frost Cloud was digging up the soil that Huanhuan had already used to grow vegetables, mixing in the rest of the plants to let the area regain it's nutrients. This is what Huanhuan had said to him, though he wasn't sure he understood what she meant.

"You can help Fire Fang and Li Shun until you learn the rounds." The young leader said as he hefted the last harvest over his shoulder, a bundle of giant carrots. "You can begin tomorrow."

Shuu nodded quickly, thankful the leader here didn't seem to think less of a male who had been hurt enough that it took time to heal. Males were known for bouncing back from most injuries in only a day or two. The near fatal wounds of the male still healing in healer Langzhu's home being one of the few things that took time to heal. Most males who were hurt that bad tended to disappear into the wild and never returned, sure that they would never gain a mate.

The leader had walked off after his simple reply, leaving Shuu standing there in thought. He almost didn't notice the female who walked up to him. The jolt of recognition pulled him from his thoughts though. "Need any help?" He asked automatically.

The female paused. "I-" Chiaki hadn't been aiming for his attention, he'd simply been almost right in the middle of the path and she had plans to simply go around the male who seemed lost in thought. "I was going to check on the fish baskets."

Shuu smiled. A female who responded in this village was a rarity, then again this female had fled from Highcliff City, so... "I can carry them for you if you like?" He asked hopefully.

Chiaki wasn't surprised by the offer, several of the males of Rock Mountain Village had taken notice of her. Being pregnant had that effect on many young males. She remembered this one though. "Shuu, right?"

Shuu felt his tail begin to wag and his ears perked up. "Yes, you remember me?!"

"I'm sorry, only a little?" Chiaki admitted. "But, yes I think I could use a bit of help if the fish traps have caught anything." Her mates were working on several projects of their own, namely making storage containers, drying meat, and tanning hides. They had very little in the way of food left, with nearly all the pemmican they had brought with them now being gone. So the day before all her mates had gone out in a hunting party to learn the new area and prey. The fish traps had also been set the day before, so she didn't know if they would have caught much of anything by now. That was why she hadn't asked any of her mates to come with her.

"Of course!" Shuu replied, feeling happy he had finally been allowed to help. He knew now that it would take more time, and perhaps others seeing him help this female would help integrate him into the village. Of course, helping the female was wonderful all on it's own. Even in the city only the females of his family or those of the other leaders had directly asked of his help, with most of the females often agreeing to his help because he was well known as one of the Wolf Kings sons. None of them though ever gave him much hope that they were actually considering him for a mate, he was just a free set of hands.

"Chiaki smiled. "Thank you."

Shuu's heart skipped a beat and his face reddened. The female smiled at him! He followed her to the river where several odd woven basket like items had been left in the water. These were the fish traps she had spoken of? He hauled one out, finding a few small fish and cray fish had gotten trapped inside. He studied the item. It was just odd shaped basket, but the top had been inverted leaving the points that were normally woven into the edge sticking out towards the bottom of the basket. It was such a new item to him.

"Nice! It worked!" The female said happily. Shuu nodded. It wasn't very much, the fish caught only a bit longer than his hand. "Even some crawdads."

Shuu retrieved the rest of the baskets, their content much the same as the first. Given there was nothing else to carry them in, he'd simply added them all into the first basket trap. When he'd placed the traps back at the females directions, Shuu was feeling much more like himself. He was useful, something he hadn't felt like in many days. This brightened his mood.

"You wouldn't mind carrying these to my home?" Chiaki asked, knowing that the reality was that no male would refuse the request, not even ones who already had mates. Helping females was just ingrained in their culture. She still asked though, it was only polite, something ingrained in her from her own culture.

Shuu readily agreed and hefted the now mostly full fish trap off the ground. He would admit, the basket traps had seemed a little underwhelming individually, but when the whole haul was together it was equal to having hunted a small deer. And it required much less energy than hunting did. Plus setting the traps took only a bit of time, a male could set them and go hunting in the same day. Then check the traps the next day. He eyed the female wondering if she had such a smart mate to had made these new items for their family. He could see several mate marks, so he knew she had more than one mate already. Plus she was showing the signs of being pregnant, the swollen belly telling him that she was rather a good ways along already. He sighed internally, if only he could find a female like this who was looking for more mates.

Chiaki had been surprised by how controlled Shuu was, he'd not yet asked her to be his mate. She'd even accepted his help and only been greeted with excitement and surprise, but no sudden declarations of love. Maybe he was already set on a different female in the village, but then he probably would have been a little less readily helpful. Helpful yes, but looking to impress another with his show. Maybe he'd already been turned down and was just trying to distract himself with busy work? Possibly.

Still she found herself feeling a bit of affection towards him. She was surprised, because she'd never really thought about pursuing another mate on her own. They had all shown their desire to be her mate first. She couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her. Oh this was going to surprise the family.