Niabi, I am Done

[avalikia]

Characters:
Niabi - Female Elk
Roscoe - Male Whitetail Deer

Setting:
Maple Glade

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It's early afternoon and Aylen is taking a nap, so Niabi is just finishing off a lunch of assorted shrub bits. Her desire to talk to Roscoe has only grown since she last saw him, but her close tie to Aylen makes it difficult to seek him out. Still, she figures that if she hangs out in the maple glade she'll eventually get her chance to talk to him, either because he finds the time to spare or because he'd like to get this over with so that she'll leave.

Roscoe is of course in the glade. When he's not out scoring the habitat for any traces of predators or other deer, he's always here. Wandering having winded down a bit, the buck enters the dim light of the main 'hall' of the area, and takes in a breath. What scent would be on that breath but that of the newly returned cow, Niabi, and her new calf. On the one hand, he is glad that she's here.. he knows that they need to talk. The other? Not so happy. Having just awoken from a very brief nap, the first in days, the Prince is still groggy, and it shows in his steps that aren't quite as graceful as usual, though he figured the others would be off.. somewhere. Searching the area, he sees the figure of the cow in the distance, and lets out a huff of breath, before he picks up the pace, toward her and her daughter.

The movement of the buck isn't difficult for Niabi to spot, and when she sees him coming she finishes one last mouthful before turning to meet him halfway. Her gaze lingers on Aylen for a moment but, reassuring herself that the calf will be safe for however long this takes, her eyes refocus on Roscoe. Her manner is different than he'd be used to seeing; it's distant and businesslike. Truthfully on the inside she's boiling hot with anger towards him, but she knows that isn't a helpful thing to be feeling right now so she suppresses it. With so much being carefully hidden, what is left on the surface seems strangely empty. "If you're ready to talk, now is a good time," Niabi says.

Figures. He should've known better, and done all to avoid the lead cow, but he did not. Instead, he'd done the morally right thing, and wandered down toward her. Though obviously not intimidated by her in any way, he still flicks his ears back at what she says, and takes in a breath. "I suppose it would be." He murmurs, and lifts his head, ready to hear what she has to say, whether he likes it or not.

Nodding her head, Niabi pauses for just a moment as she decides how she wants to begin. But finally she says, "You already know how I feel about what happened while I was gone. And I heard what you had to say about it," and the way she looks away while she says this indicates how she feels about what he said. Turning her eyes back to the buck, she says, "Is there anything else you want to add?"

Roscoe scoffs, and throws his head back a bit when she asks if he has anything else to add. Well, of course he does! "I do.. but I imagine it'd fall upon deaf ears." Though he was hardly the one to complain, Niabi seemed to be rather set in his ways, just as Roscoe was. They were two very different deer, and this sort of conflict was only bound to happen. Regardless, he speaks his bit anyway. "You are just as guilty of the state of those two as well. You abandoned them, without even the courtesy of letting them know where you went." He said, his voice taking on a bit of bitterness, since he didn't like being blamed for something that didn't even go wrong. "The elk belonging to your herd are fully grown adults.. if they really needed protection by something smaller than them.." He trailed off, and then waited for her to speak up.

Speak up she does, but not immediately. Instead she listens, thinks carefully over what Roscoe said, and her voice is calm when she replies, "Perhaps I am. I won't lie and say that I'm not partly responsible. But I also have the responsibilities of a mother for her daughter - not Aylen, but my eldest daughter, my third born." She pauses, but she doesn't let that hang in the air for too long before she adds, "And please, can we not turn this into a discussion about who needs what. Obviously the past year has proven that the elk don't /need/ the whitetails and vice versa, since both seem to be surviving just fine." Her voice stays remarkably calm throughout all of this, her expression blank but her eyes watching Roscoe's every reaction carefully.

At least the conversation was staying calm and civil. The last thing the buck wanted to get into was a loud argument over who did what and what was who's fault. In fact, he didn't want to argue at all. He had half a mind to just agree with whatever she said and be done with it. At least that way he could just wander back into the deep glade and rest some more. It was obvious that he wasn't in good shape. There was even a bit of paleness to his fur that seemed sickly.. but he would never admit anything being wrong, and it wasn't even close to being brought up. Instead, he doesn't even bother to speak up this time, and simply nods.

Niabi waits in silence for a few moments to see if Roscoe will add anything else, and when he doesn't her lips purse in mild disappointment. Figures that's all he'd have to say. "Well, if that's it, then I have a few questions," she says abruptly, "And the first one is: When I disappeared, did you look for me? Not 'did you hope to run across my scent during your regular patrols' but did you try specifically to find me?" Her careful observation of the buck only intensifies at the conclusion of the question, as she doesn't just want to know the answer but also how Roscoe feels about answering it.

"No." He answers bluntly, with the accompaniment of a shake of his head. Ears tilt downward, and he lets out a breath. "You have to understand, Niabi.. you disappeared during an important time for all of us. I hadn't assumed you were gone for good until well into the colder months, and I was worried, but I had responsibilities here." Instead of sounding defensive, he sounds.. apologetic. Strange for Roscoe, but perhaps he really has changed, as Aspen and Chanson had said. Or, maybe it was just his sickness talking.

The only reaction Niabi gives to the answer is a nod. That's all. On the inside she has a brief debate over exactly how much of that is an acceptable excuse or not, only to conclude that it largely isn't. "Did you ever ask any of the other elk if they knew where I was?" comes the second question, and this time her voice shows the faintest hint of curiosity because she can only guess at what the answer will be.

"The only time I saw either of the elk was when I happened to be traveling that way. I made an effort to at least check to see if they were still around, and they were.. but I hadn't ever spoken to any of them." He says, and sounds a bit regretful at this as well. Though most of him still believes that the Whitetails were his only priority, another part also feels like he failed the larger herd; which indeed, he had.

Nodding again, Niabi hesitates before her last question. Though she's frankly a little impressed by how Roscoe's reacting to her questions compared to how he would if she'd asked something similar before, that means that now she doesn't know how far he can be pushed safely. "When I disappeared there were three leaders of this herd: you, Tix, and myself. When I was out of the picture, which of you was responsible for the safety of the elk portion of the herd? Since they are, after all, just as much members of the herd as the whitetails." When she finishes a flicker of something crosses her face, but whatever it was she manages to suppress after only an instant.

Standing there with a dull look upon his face, Roscoe takes another deep breath as if to stabilize himself, and lets his eyes fall to the ground. "No one, I assume." He said, speaking quietly and solemnly. Though he still believed he was more innocent than guilty, he wouldn't hesitate in admitting to the wrongs he had committed against the elk members of the herd. Shaking his head, he grew quieter at the mention of Tix. "Since our fawns were born, Tix and Hotah have been missing as well." The buck said, straying from the conversation a bit. Though, he'd figured that she'd proved her point, and he'd respectfully listened and accepted blame. "After you had gone, Tix was only around semi-frequently. I was the only one left, in a sense. Though.. I should have paid more attention to them, and I apologize."

He apologizes? Well, that makes everything all better, doesn't it? Of course it doesn't! But Niabi decides that she's done poking Roscoe's conscience; what, if anything, comes of it will be up to him now. "I see," she lies, "Well, I've run out of questions and if you don't have anything more to say, then that's that. I won't bring up what happened while I was gone again unless you do." Even as she's saying it she can't quite believe that's really want she wants to say. A large part of her never wants to drop it, ever. But there are more important things to her than making Roscoe feel miserable.

After Niabi dropped the topic, Roscoe didn't say much afterward. In fact, he didn't say anything afterward. He just turned on his hooves and began to walk away. Something wasn't right with him, and it was growing into a concern. Not only could he not sleep even if he felt tired, but his appetite wasn't that great lately, either. Perhaps an infected bug had bitten him? Either way, he was feeling quite ill at the moment, and the talk had only left him in a lesser state as well. Walking slowly and rather clumsily through the maze of trees, twigs, and bushes, Roscoe soon made it to the spot that he had napped in very briefly before, and laid himself down pretty quickly, his eyes closing almost immediately.

When Roscoe turns, apparently having assumed that they're finished, the elk follows him. She is hardly blind to Roscoe's physical state, and in fact that's a small part of what she had in mind of talking about next. When the buck lays down, Niabi comments, "We aren't done. Or did you think that the past is all I wanted to talk to you about?" Perhaps it's a bit heartless of her to want to continue to talk when he's looking like this, but not only does she feel that the rest of what she has to say is important, she's also not very inclined to be nice to him at the moment.

"Niabi, I am done." He says gruffly, keeping his eyes closed throughout. There was no way he was going to sit there and talk to her about other things when he was feeling like this. And if it came down to the point where he had to just ignore her completely, then he would do just that. The buck was in no condition to talk about things that upset him, anyway.

Sighing heavily, Niabi comments, "You are exhausted and possibly sick. But I suppose talking about how the work of running the herd might be better divided so that you have time to take care of yourself is out of the question? After all, that's a luxury that a prince like you doesn't need." Though her words are clearly sarcastic, her tone is completely level as if she believes what she's saying.

As if to make matters worse, now that he did want to sleep, and he did feel tired, and he felt as if he could get some sleep.. he couldn't. Not with Niabi here, still talking to him after he'd said that he was finished. Opening his eyes, he furrowed his brow and shook his head. "The Whitetails are my responsibility." He said seriously, and scoffed a bit. "Their needs come before mine, and if I have to keep watch of this forest until it kills me, then I will." Though, the odds of taking strolls around the forest and losing a few hours of sleep here and there weren't likely to kill him at all.

"Of course the whitetails are your responsibility," Niabi quickly agrees, "Just as the elk are now Ojalo's responsibility. But just because you have the responsibility doesn't mean you have to do it all yourself. You're not expected to sacrifice yourself for the group. One of the prerogatives of a leader is to delegate some of their work onto others; an exhausted leader is useless to everyone. Or can you honestly say that you're in good enough shape to defend the herd if you needed to right now?" Yes, it definitely appears that the elk won't stop talking and the whitetail won't be getting much sleep any time soon.

Over the course of her reply, Roscoe's eyelids had become heavier and heavier, but he couldn't quite fall asleep just yet. Not with her there, talking. But, giving up his reign of the forest wasn't something that he was going to agree to. With his eyes all the way closed, the obviously tired and sickly Prince gave a response that was a lie, but hopefully it would get her to just leave him alone so he could get his rest. "I will have a talk with Chanson soon, then.. later." For a buck who wouldn't even stand to lower his head in the presence of Niabi due to his height, to now laying down and resting his head on the soft bed of leaves that he was curled up neatly on.. well, it as odd.

It's just as well that Roscoe's eyes are closed, because Niabi's control over her temper is slipping and her passive face is suddenly replaced by an angry scowl. She knows just how empty his words are, and can hardly stomach his foolish pride anymore. "Perhaps I ought to do that for you," she says, somehow managing to keep the venom from her voice. If he's even paying any attention, he'd hear her hoofsteps heading out of the glade.

Luckily, Roscoe wasn't paying any attention anymore. He'd dozed off into a weird state of mind that wasn't sleeping but wasn't awake either. It was the limbo-land inbetween, where he thought about how much he needed to sleep. A strong ache in his head was all that was needed to really push him into that sleep, and not long after her hoofsteps faded out of the area, Roscoe was catching up on some much needed Z's.

It isn't more than a handful of minutes before the same set of hoofsteps return. Nudging Roscoe none to gently, Niabi drops a thick, freshly unburied root in front of his nose and says, "Eat this, whatever's ailing you, it will help. Unless, of course, you're above such things." This time her voice is tainted with just the barest trace of her anger, but having said that she walks off again, this time in the direction of the napping Aylen. She doesn't bother to see what Roscoe does about her offering, having just about had it with the buck at this point. Though she still has much to talk to him about, she knows she needs to calm herself first, even if Roscoe were up to talking back.

Concernedly or not, Roscoe doesn't wake at the harsh nudge from Niabi. It would seem that the sleep he fell into was quite deep, and so it should have been. Over the course of the week, it wouldn't have been surprising if he got merely a few hours of sleep, most likely less than five. Scouring the land for any traces of Tix and his son, no doubt. So though the root was placed by him, it would have to wait until the Prince woke from his deep sleep. Which unfortunately, wouldn't be too soon.

It doesn't take Niabi very long to notice that Roscoe didn't wake. What does take a very long time is for her to care. Naturally inclined to be kind to anyone, with the exception of anyone trying to eat her, that is evidence enough of how far Roscoe's slipped in her opinion. And when she finally does care it's not out of concern for him that she lingers nearby, but because of how important he is to the herd itself. But whether the buck is dying or just needs his rest, she can't do anything but keep watch while he's unconscious. But keep watch she does, even though she finds herself asking why nearly the entire time.

[avalikia]

After waiting for there to be any change in Roscoe for so long, Niabi's boiling anger has cooled down. Not that she's any less angry, but taking care of someone and being actively angry with them aren't very compatible feelings. In fact, after spending the afternoon, night, and now the early morning looking after him her mood is more soured by the fact that she hasn't slept or eaten much during her vigil than anything else. That and the fact that she keeps questioning why she's doing it in the first place. And yet, though she's moved around a bit, she's still nearby, making sure that nothing dangerous gets near Roscoe.

It'd been a long sleep. A very long sleep that lasted throughout the entire day previous, and now well into the morning. Well rested, the buck's eyes open and his vision is blurry at first, doubling, tripling, then going right back to normal. A shake of his head is given to wake himself up further, followed by an irritated groan. He knows a day has passed by the way things look around him, though it could've been mistaken for just a few hours. His stomach is growling, but his head feels better. All is pretty much well, aside from the strong urge to feed on some grasses or something. That would be done later. Of course, his first action would be to follow the routine route. As he stands however, he spots the oddly shaped root, and tilts his head much as a fawn would do when presented with a strange object. Niabi's scent is still nearby, and he takes in a deep breath, letting it out with an annoyed sound as he ignores the root, and begins to follow the trail that he and the other Whitetails have plowed by their presence here.

When she hears the buck stir, Niabi turns towards him with an annoyed look as if bothered by the fact that it looks like he's going to be okay. The reality is that now that it appears that he's in no immediate danger of dying, she can feel free to be angry at him again. Seeing that he plans to just get up and leave, Niabi is quick to bar the way by standing directly in his path. "You're not going anywhere," she says in her 'don't you dare argue with me' voice, "You're going to eat that root, and then your going to get more rest." Yes, she knows he's going object to that, but she can't imagine that he'd be able to argue with her for long when she's in the mood she's in right now.

As his hooves took motion once again, the Prince was surprised when Niabi appeared right in front of his path, and rather angry looking too. A surprised look was the first that crossed the buck, but then it formed into his usual apathetic expression, not intimidated by her anger. "Niabi. Nice to see you, as usual." He says in a sarcastic tone, looking back at the root and picking it up between his jaws in order to satisfy at least one portion of her orders. Hey, if it would make him feel better.. then he was for it. It wasn't as if he would be bed-ridden anymore, though. So, after the root was ingested, Roscoe looked to the cow and raised his head proudly. "Thank you for the root. But if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of ground to cover today." With that, he took a step forward, more than ready to walk around her if she wouldn't just move.

"No, you have exactly no ground to cover today," Niabi corrects, "Based on the state you were in, one day's rest is not enough. Whatever else you need to do, it will keep." She doesn't try to stand directly in front of him again, but she keeps herself within a few paces of Roscoe, clearly meaning to hound him until she is obeyed. When she's finished talking she can still be heard muttering quietly to herself, but whatever she's saying is too quiet for the buck to hear.

"One entire day of rest is plenty. Along with the root you've provided, I feel much better already. Thank you again." He said, turning the argument into some weird kind of .. whatever it was. Now that he was in front of her, he keeps his pace slow and steady, knowing better than to over-do it. Roscoe wasn't 100% better yet, but he could at least push himself to get through the few territories that he claimed. Perhaps if he voiced this to Niabi she wouldn't hound him as much as she was right now, but he wouldn't. Instead, he claimed the arrogance that made him pretty much who he was, and continued on without another word.

Keeping herself uncomfortably close on his tail, Niabi's quick to respond, "You must think I'm very stupid if you think I'm going to believe that! If you didn't need it, then I wouldn't be here. Do you think I actually enjoy this? That I take some pleasure in taking care of you? I can't believe that you would do this to yourself! You are the most selfish creature I have ever met! Now do us both a favor and get some more rest." Her words snap like a pile of dry twigs under hoof, and when they finally end the quiet muttering can be heard again. Niabi debates with herself whether or not she should stand in the way again; that could turn this argument physical and, though she doesn't fear what Roscoe could do to her, it would be far better if she can somehow talk him into compliance.

Roscoe says, "Oh, yeah.. real selfish.." He mutters to himself, and sends a glare back in her direction, though he keeps on walking the trail. "Since when does keeping an eye on the herd for days on end make one selfish, Niabi? Selfish is taking off and abandoning a tiny herd without any notice, and then expecting someone else to do the job for you." There! There's the fight in Roscoe that had since been untapped. Turning his head forward, he picked up his pace, and continued on. He didn't have to listen to her. He wasn't afraid of her, and nor did he respect her very much.

"It's selfish to claim all the responsibility of running an entire herd as if you were some deer god that can do everything better than everyone else," Niabi practically spits back, "One deer can't do everything you're asking of yourself, and its selfish of you to try because you can't keep it up and the herd is left vulnerable when you weaken yourself like that. And what is so selfish about a mother trying to find a daughter who she had every reason to believe was killed? At best it's half selfish, and it's probably the most selfish thing I've ever done. You, on the other hoof, are expecting everyone to depend completely on your for their security even though they could be much safer if you were only willing to accept some help every once in awhile." If Roscoe wants that fight, then Niabi's apparently ready and willing to fight back.

Roscoe says, "I /can/ do everything, and have done very well to keep the herd safe throughout many seasons, without any help." He spat right back. He was their leader, he wouldn't be accepting any help from anyone else. Not Whitetail, not Elk, nothing. The Whitetail portion of the Umber was /his/ to lead, an no one else's. That was his take on it, and perhaps it was vain and selfish, not to mention arrogant to claim the living beings that way.. but Roscoe wasn't about to change. The herd was small and he could do it. There must've been something he ingested to make him feel so tired all the sudden. Or, his age. Though he certainly wasn't old, he wasn't getting any younger. Finally, he stopped himself and turned to face Niabi. "I am getting tired of you thinking that you have some kind of authority over me. You do not, and I do not have to honor anything of what you say. You take care of your elk, and be happy with that." Not much of a fight at all, but, as mentioned before, he wasn't completely better just yet. What he said was true, though. He did a fine job of taking care of the Whitetails the entire year previous. He was just in a slump, that was all. A slump that was almost over with.

Well, at least she's gotten him to stop, finally. Niabi takes a deep breath and forces herself to calm down a little. Though there's still some strain in her voice, when she next speaks it's with some level of calmness to it, "Look, I know I have no authority over you, but you just so happen to be the leader of others that I care about. Therefore the whitetails /are/ my concern, and I will not sit by and let you continue such a dangerous course. Just because you haven't reached disaster yet doesn't mean you won't. Or do you really believe that passing out for a day such that any passing fox could have killed you counts as 'doing very well'?" Then she mutters something else quietly to herself that probably would do more harm than good. This would be so much easier if she wasn't trying so hard to limit herself to what Roscoe might eventually forgive her for saying.

Snorting a bit at what she said, he raised his voice and stared up at her aggressively, his ears pinned back by now. "Taking care of a handful of Whitetails isn't some unreal task. I can handle it just fine.. it was my daily wandering of the entire forest that's worn me out. With keeping to our area, I'll have much more time to rest, if /that's/ what's bothering you so much." He spat out at her, knowing that he was in the right. "My father took care of a herd much larger than ours with no help from the other bucks beside myself when I was able to help, and he passed that knowledge on to me. I can handle the Whitetail's numbers. I just.." he stopped, and exhaled harshly. "I won't keep straining myself to this point, but I don't need help to take care of less than ten individuals."

"Oh, is that so?" Niabi says, but shakes her head, "Don't talk to me about how many deer you can take care of. I know this area as well as you do. I know how much food there is and I know how many predators there are, so I know how big of an area the whitetails need. And I also know that either the area is too small, your patrols aren't frequent enough, or you're not being thorough. The elk part of the herd is much smaller, and yet Ojalo's patrols leave him exhausted when he does them by himself. So if your story is true, it was another forest, and if you're going by those numbers your patrols are inadequate." She stops herself there, hoping that at least a few of her words are getting into that thick skull of his.

"Apparently, you don't." He said with a roll of his eyes. "The Whitetail have lived and thrived in this area for a long while, without any complications. My routes are thorough, and I know what paths the predators take. Thankfully they've stayed away, but if and when they do arrive, we'll be fine. Without influence from the elk." He spat at her, and turned on his hooves again, ready to flee from the area. Being smaller, Roscoe was more agile and could run away from Niabi easily. Not that he probably would, but he knew he was wrong. The herd was fine. It was /him/ who wasn't fine. Seeing as that she didn't really care for him, he had to wonder why she was still pestering them. Everyone else was safe. He saw to that on a daily basis, especially now with the fawns. One slow day didn't put them in great danger. Even now, he was on his way to check on the young, after breaking out into a full sprint to get himself away from the persistence of the cow.

"How is it that me and my daughter made it /into/ the glade without you knowing I was coming?" Niabi yells after him. She sighs and slowly retraces her steps back the way they came, knowing that the buck would likely think on what she said and be more reasonable later. But she'd had high hopes of doing this faster and easier. Her talk with Chanson and Aspen had planted the idea in her head that he just might be different enough to avoid this ridiculous game they always seemed to play. But no, same old Roscoe. Well, it seems that she'll just have to spend some more time in the glade, waiting for him to come back so that they can finish what she needs to talk to him about. Ugh.

[avalikia]

It took Niabi a couple of hours to calm herself after Roscoe ran off. Much of her anger boiled back to the surface as she reflected on what was said, but she had to admit that she'd handled it badly. Normally her temper doesn't get the better of her like that, but there's just something about Roscoe. But after resting, eating, caring for Aylen, and taking some time to think, her anger is under control again. So now she's patiently waiting for the buck to return to the glade, knowing that he will eventually, browsing on what little forage there is this close to the hub of so much deer activity.

Just as it took Niabi a few hours to calm down, so too did it take that long for the buck to regain all of his senses, and he didn't have all of them from the time he woke up. After checking on the main areas that the whitetail inhabited though, he came back to the glade for another short rest. Perhaps the cow was right after all, in that he needed some more resting time. He felt so tired.. his muscles were rather sore, and his eyes were heavy. Coming back to the very same bedding pile that he'd been in before, the Prince notices the smell of Niabi still lingering, and rolls his eyes. A part of him wants to call out her name and just be /done/ with whatever it was that she wanted.. but a larger part just wanted to see if he could skip out on the conversation and sleep instead. So, kneeling his front legs down, his hind end followed, and soon he was curled up comfortably once more.

The buck's return hardly escapes Niabi's notice, but she easily fights off her first impulse to march right over and do something... unkind. Instead she walks leisurely over to where she can hear him laying down among the leaves, a smirk coming to her face as she notes that she's been proven right about his condition. But even this observation is set aside and instead her words are, "Would you like to talk now, or do you want to get some more rest first?" Her tone sounds tired, though she isn't. She's just tired of the conflict that seems to arise whenever she tries to say something to him that ought to be so much simpler.

The buck's head remained up even as he slept, a trait exhibited during most normal rests for him, when he wasn't sickly or overexerted. Thus, his eyes open and he looks right up at her, his ears pushing forward and his nose twitching a bit. "What is there to talk about?" He poses the question with little to no tone at all, not even really .. sounding tired. Just apathetic, as usual.

It takes a moment or two for Niabi to respond to that, because the first few answers that pop into her head can't even be phrased nicely. "Everything we haven't settled yet," Niabi starts, then forces herself to be more specific, "The safety of the herd, which is unacceptable at the moment. You obviously need help." Which probably puts this conversation right back to where it was when Roscoe ran off, but that's the issue that's foremost in Niabi's mind at the moment. Beating around the bush to get there would just make a long conversation even longer.

A roll of his eyes was given, as well as a heavy sigh. His weight shifted a little, his hooves underneath his chest a bit uncomfortable at the moment, but a quick nudge remedied that. Closing his eyes, he thought over the situation calmly, and nodded his head. "..What exactly gives you the impression that I need help so badly, Niabi?" Was he really that inadequate as a leader? Really, he thought he'd done pretty well. No predators had been in the area, no one was sick, and everyone was checked up on, on a daily basis. All of the /whitetails/, that is.

Niabi's ear quirks at the question. She'd have thought that the answer to that was obvious, but she'll indulge him anyway. "Because you're obviously overworked," she says with a sigh, "It's not normal to collapse for hours, unable to be woken up, and while you were out of it nobody was looking to the borders. That is not safe. And I've heard that this isn't the first time that you've been overly tired, though they didn't say it was to that degree. That plus the fact that there's another buck around you could be sharing the workload with tells me that something needs to be fixed here." See, nothing that isn't completely obvious. And having finished stating the obvious, Niabi glances at Roscoe to see what he makes of it.

Roscoe lifts a brow, and stares at her inquisitively. "Lately.. I have been feeling more tired than I usually do, but.. the herd is always safe. I've seen Chanson wandering around the territories, without me telling him to do so. It's not as if they'd just /let/ themselves be vulnerable." He says, and thinks about it for a minute. "Chanson is a responsible buck with fawns of his own. He wouldn't let my sleepiness risk his, his fawns, or any of the whitetails' safety." A smirk is given, and he rolls his eyes once more. "I think that twerp would look out for me if I was ill again."

Again? Niabi's frown shows that she doesn't like that, but she brushes it aside. "That seems awfully... haphazard to me," she comments, "If you'd at least let him know when it's his turn, that would close a lot of gaps. Also, I've been without rest myself for long periods of time - it makes you less alert, and, sufficeth to say, you want whoever's patrolling to be alert." Which is exactly why Niabi was so against Roscoe leaving earlier, for all the good her opinion did.

"I.. could talk with him about it.. if it would make you feel better." He says with a exhale of breath, not quite a sigh. If that was all she wanted, if it would get her off his case, then yeah, he could do that. Though, Chanson had taken to wandering around the lands almost as often as he did. In a way, he felt the talk not needed, but sure. In order to save himself further lectures, he would do that. Stifling a yawn, the tired, aging buck looks from Niabi up to the sky, and blinks. "I haven't pushed myself /that/ hard lately. I .. don't quite know why I'm so tired."

"It would," Niabi responds automatically, and there's even a hint of relief in her tone that proves it. Of course, she partly distrusts that Roscoe will follow through with it, but she can always ask Chanson later and find out. That done, she tilts her head and eyes Roscoe for a careful moment before she adds, "You do look like you might be sick. Of course, that root I gave you cures everything. Almost anything, anyway, my mother said 'it will at least help with any illness effecting the whole body'." Finding that she's been distracted into healer mode, Niabi pulls herself back out of it and gets back to what she really wants to talk about, "While you're coordinating things with Chanson, I want you to do the same with Ojalo. Arrange for regular meetings, that sort of thing. You may patrol different areas, but it would be good for both of you to keep eachother up to date, even if there's not much to report."

Well, none of that seemed to hard to agree with. In fact, it was all relatively simple, if Roscoe did say so himself. Nodding his head, the still-tired buck shifted his weight once again, the same uncomfortable feeling he got before, of his cloven hooves threatening to pinch a bit of skin under his chest, made him snort in irritation, though it was clear that it wasn't aimed at Niabi. Flicking his ears forward, the Prince glanced about and paid special attention to the eastern field of view. "I will talk to Chanson as soon as I see him, and Ojalo as well."

Niabi can't help but think this is all going too easy now. Not after how much arguing there was last time. The thought crosses her mind that Roscoe may be agreeing with everything she's saying just to get rid of her. Not that she thinks that she's saying anything but what she believes the herd needs, but she's gotten used to the struggle. But since she says none of this, her sigh may seem to have no real meaning. Still, she forges on, "There's another thing; I'm planning on asking Aspen and the other does to visit the elk occasionally, similar to how I already come here sometimes. Is that okay with you?"

It may have seemed that way, but Roscoe was sincere in his agreements. In fact, he was a bit suspicious that these requests were all that she wanted. They seemed so .. simple, and yet, they were being done anyway, aside from meeting Ojalo. Except, they weren't carried out officially. But, fine. If Niabi wanted official, spoken rules, then he'd agree. There was little point in not agreeing. Her next request confuses him slightly, as he didn't really think that he had to give permission for the does to leave. Tilting his head to one side very faintly, he rose a brow at the elk, and blinked. "..Of course? They're not bound to the glade.. they have the ability to roam wherever, so long as they keep safe."

The look Niabi gives back is hard to read, just a little narrowing of the eyes, but she quickly moves on to the last thing she wanted to talk about. Though the details of what happened between Aspen and Roscoe before were denied to her, she'd promised herself to do what she could to help. Anything direct would be out of the question, of course, but perhaps she might nudge things here and there? "Well, now that that's settled, I have a question," Niabi starts, "A theoretical question about leadership - you should find it interesting."

Ahh, so there /was/ a catch! He knew it! And obviously, he wouldn't be getting any more rest any time soon, so, the buck stood up with a certain grace that was inherent in his species. Standing tall and holding his head up as usual, he looked up at the cow with a look that wasn't aggressive, but wasn't submissive either. It was just.. stern? "Oh?" He asked, and flicked his ears irritably, sneering a bit at the thought. "What would that be?"

As Niabi suspected, Roscoe seems to be guessing that she's up to something. And indeed she is! "What do you suppose is the proper response of a leader, a /good/ leader, when one of their followers says something that is 'out of line' or if they question orders?" she asks, a curious tilt to her head. She knows how she would answer that question, but she has no idea what Roscoe's would be. And she's also guessing that the problem Aspen had with Roscoe was something along those lines, from the buck's point of view at least.

Ugh, and her question was nothing short of insulting, to boot. Oh well, no matter. He had to act as if it didn't bother him. Perhaps his temper was his problem? Though he came here with a relatively cool head, circumstances had shortened his temper throughout the past year. Now however, especially due to the incident with Aspen, he was slowly regaining control of his anger level. "The proper response.." He muttered, thinking about it for a moment, his eyes lowering to the ground in thought, but his head still kept high. "I suppose it would be to talk to them, privately. To let them know that they've crossed a line, but to handle it.. diplomatically."

Niabi quietly takes note of Roscoe's reaction to the question, deciding that she's probably hit a nerve. Good! But not too hard, she hopes. Her intention here is not to argue, but to hopefully pass along a few ideas. "Exactly," she says with a nod, "Because if you simply insist that they do what you say without talking to them - well, only the weak would follow you then. And if you get angry, then they may follow you but it would be out of fear and they'd see you as a dictator. Some would say that a strong leader should never have to explain what they do, but I see it as a strength - an opportunity for them to show their follower that they are wise and just. And the follower is more likely to just follow you after that, because they trust you."

Yeah, she hit a nerve alright. However, Roscoe had decided /not/ to follow his gut instinct and yell about it, and instead, just answer the question honestly. Even if he hadn't acted that way in the past, it was still the right answer, and it was still the right thing to do. Grinning a bit at her reaction to his answer, he nods his head in agreement, and keeps his eyes upward, on Niabi. "I agree," he started, wanting to continue on with something, but hesitating, he stammered over his next few words and shook his head with a chuckle. "Forget it. I agree."

"You do?" Niabi says with feigned surprise that turns into a smile, "I'm glad to hear that. Well, now, I suppose I'd better let you rest then, mmm?" Nodding to herself she starts to turn but pauses to see if he has anything else to say. As far as she's concerned everything that needed to be said has now been said, but she doesn't doubt that there's more the buck would like to say. The question is really whether or not Roscoe will actually say it, given how reluctant he's been about talking to her from the beginning.

Well, one couldn't expect the buck to change completely overnight. Of course, he just nods to her, and shakes his pelt out roughly before he kneels his front legs down, and lays back in the bed of leaves once again. He has nothing further to say; er, he does, but he won't say it. His thoughts weren't even shared with the does closest to him, let alone the cow who he'd had a rocky sort of 'friendship' with from the start. Keeping his head up, a good sign as to the depth of his condition, the buck's eyes closed, and he fell back into a light sleep.