Lone Black Wolf (Open!)

[Silver]

The sun was burning up the western horizon as Rienna emerged from the underbrush of forest. In front of her lay an open field. Beyond that were trees and more forest, and beyond that, mountains. The wind blew her scent downwind, and it sent a squabble of rock doves frantically upward. Her black fur blended in against the shadows of the forest until she stepped out from its shelter. She gazed around, knowing this place was delightful. There was food everywhere, and inevitably the only problem was catching it.
It was hard not to work in a pack formation to catch her food. Before she had left her pack she had grown accustomed to hunting alongside her brothers and sisters as a team to take down large feasts worth of prey. Now alone, the largest thing she had taken down so far was a sickly, stray fawn of a white-tailed deer. It had been her luck, and she had feasted for a day before the carcass was taken over by scavengers.
Now here, and alone; she really didn't know what to do. There was no one to growl at, no one to play with, no elders to take care of or pups to look after. Her work was less as a lone wolf for she only had herself to look after. She could lounge about all day if she wanted.
But she didn't want that, she wanted to find someone else, someone like her for companionship, someone to look after or to have her back. To sniff or quarrel with or lick.
She began to move through the grasses with the steady lope of a wolf, and if you could not see her paws you would think as if she was gliding rather than trotting. The setting sun stole light from her world as she sank into the grasses. The evening waned as night began and the wildlife around her began to forget that there was a wreckless young black wolf hidden in the grass.

[Squire]

As night finally settled across the land and the stars came into full view in the sky a small gray wolf emerged from the small cave in which she had been napping during the largest part of the day. This young female stopped at the mouth of the cave and looked up at the night sky to admire the stars for a moment. The sky was the only familiar view to her at this present time. She and her brother had only just arrived in the area about a week prior and the journey from their old territory had been long and hard. They had passed through numerous territories owned by other packs. The territories had been heavily patrolled and guarded, but thankfully two young wolves posed little threat to a massive pack so for the most part their journey had been uneventful except for being chased out of the various territories after being discovered on occasion.

Looking down at eye level now, Lyra slowly took in her surroundings. Nothing had changed since her small nap. The dirt near the entrance to the cave was undisturbed and the air smelled crisp and clean. After a moment Lyra padded quietly down the steep hill upon which the cave entrance was perched. Her destination was a small creek which flowed through the area here, twisting and winding all over the place before finally heading down the mountain into the valley.

The night was calm as she finally approached the stream. The only thing stirring other than herself was the wind lightly rustling the leaves of the numerous trees around her. Glancing about she saw no one and dipped her head down to lap at the cold mountain stream water. The cold water felt good on her throat as the day had been hot and humid.

As she finished her drink she looked around her and sniffed at the air. There was no sign of her brother still. He had said he would return at nightfall, but that was three days ago. She was growing concerned. Her brother was the only family she had left, or at least so far as she knew. Without him she was alone which made hunting harder, and she reckoned that few packs in this area would be willing to take her in. A lot of the packs in the area were red wolves, and a red wolf she was not. There had been signs of other wolves in the area though, and these other wolves as far as she could tell from what few tracks she had seen, were not red wolves either and a few had even been that of a gray wolf though she had yet to meet any of the locals or other drifters. For now, Lyra's best option was to head back toward the cave to wait for her brother, but not before catching something to eat.

[Silver]

It seemed to Rienna that the trees whispered to each other in this place. The wind blew, sending chills into her small hiding spot within the grass. She had been crouching and waiting for something edible to cross her path. This was the method she had diverted to in her time of loneliness. Her hunting methods were slightly cat-like. She stalked her prey, snuck upon it and pounced.
The wind brought to her the scent of deer from the west. No, this game might be too big for her to capture alone. Not until she was an older, more experienced hunter would she attempt a kill such as that.
But the fertility of this new land came to prove itself. Before her came wandering a fully grown raccoon. The animal was shuffling around in the dirt, totally unaware of Rienna lying flat in the grass. Her green eyes went round and large with the thought of such a catch. She started to feel the emptiness in her stomache as she lay there waiting for the right time to pounce.
The raccoon was fat and too slow for the young black wolf. Rienna jumped upon it and flattened it with a paw, then slashed the throat and let the life pour out. Totally elated with herself, she picked up her kill and began to trot towards the trees on the other side of the clearing. The deer upwind saw her and jumped away hurriedly, flashing their white tails in the moonlight.
Rienna loped into the forest quite a ways and found a creek. She found a boulder rising over the surface of the water and chose that as a perch to finish her meal. Moonlight stole in through the treetops and reflected off of her fur, making her look like a blue coloured wolf.
As she was gnawing on a bone, the last of her meal, she thought she might have heard the sound of someone else nearby. She suddenly felt foolish about her perch on top of the rock in plain view, but pushed it out of her mind just as fast. She was stronger than she used to be, and perhaps she shouldn't run from things anymore...

[Squire]

The best thing about water sources is that they serve a dual purpose and any good hunter would know that where there's water there will be prey nearby, so not only does it quench Lyra's thirst but the stream also provides her with an excellent ambush site. Without delay she lowers herself and gets into position downwind so that her scent blows away from any potential prey.

The wind was blowing the scents of everything upwind directly to her now. Yes. There was a family of rabbits, several squirrels, and a skunk. She wouldn't go after the skunk though. She learned her lesson about those when she was just a young pup. No, the rabbits would do just fine. With a family out she could probably catch at least one of them, but one was all she needed. Very carefully she begins to stalk in the direction of the rabbit family. With it being night and with a grove of trees skirting the area she shouldn't have too much trouble.

Taking to the grove of trees Lyra keeps herself downwind. Slowly she stalks along the treeline and after only a minute she locates the rabbits. They're sitting, munching on cloves in the small meadow about twenty-five yards from her position. Poising herself she takes a few seconds to get ready before launching. The rabbits immediately scatter, some of them, as she expected, are young and not quite as fast as the adults. She targets one of the young ones that broke off and veered to the left. She almost has it as the young rabbit veers to the right, heading back toward the others and presumably the burrow. If it reaches the burrow she has no chance of getting it. It's now or never. Kicking it into high gear she turns sharply to the right and makes a small jump. Her jaws clamping down hard on the rabbits back. It has no chance of escaping now. She has already broken it's left front shoulder with her initial bite. Throwing the young rabbit down and quickly pinning it with her paw she bites down on the neck, crushing the bones easily. The hunt has been successful.

She picks the rabbit back up by the neck and glances around. Her eyes slowly scanning the area. She doesn't see anything. Sniffing at the air only rewards her with the lingering scent of the other rabbits and the scent of fresh blood from her own kill. She doesn't trust her senses though. Not at night. Anything can lurk in the darkness. No, it's best to return to the stream and walk along it to disguise her scent and make her way back to the cave from there. Silently she trots back off in the direction of the stream, her kill, danging by it's neck, clutched firmly in her jaws.

[Silver]

Rienna's belly ached being stretched out full of raccoon. She rolled over onto her side to relieve the pressure as she felt energy - or was that gas? - channel through her body. Nevertheless she laid there with happiness. She could take care of herself. This lone wolf business isn't so bad, she tried to convince herself. She tossed around the thought that maybe she could use some self control next time, and leave some for the crows. They would surely thank her.
It began to get darker as night encompassed the land and clouds stole the moon away. Ri dozed a little, feeling like the top predator. As far as she knew, she was the worst threat to the flora and fauna of the area. She thought to herself, she could be the alpha of her own domain here, alone with no one to challenge her.
The trees danced around her with the wind as its partner and the scent of the mountains filled her nose. She was so comfortable with her supposed dominance of her surroundings that she stayed on top of that rock exposed to the stream and the rest of the forest and fell asleep.
((OOC: Shall they meet?))

[Squire]

((OOC: Sure, why not.))

Lyra would head back along the river making her way back to the cave where she last saw her brother. The breeze was blowing lightly now, carrying more scents her direction. There were more prey animals -rabbits, a deer, opossums, a lingering racoon - as well as, wait...blood? There was something else too, another wolf.

Her thoughts began to race as her body stilled. This was the first fresh scent of wolf she'd caught since being in this part of the mountain range. The only signs up till this point had been territory markers, scat and the like, but all of it had been decently old and it had been of many, but this...this was different. A single solitary wolf. Sneaking up from downwind was one option, but if she were to want a possible hunting partner she should probably try not to startle or surprise the other wolf.

No, she would give a warning howl to alert the wolf. Hopefully the wolf would respond favorably. If not then at least she could still run away and disguise her scent by way of the river. Without any further hesitation she raised her head and let forth a howl, shattering and piercing through the still and quiet air of the night.

[Silver]

The close howl startled Rienna out of her daze. She jumped up onto all fours and sniffed the wind. The breeze had carried the other wolf's scent in the opposite direction, therefore she had no idea he or she had been coming.
She paused and wondered to herself, if the scent had even been carried towards her would she have been too much in a happy daze to even notice? Thoughts of ambush and territorial disputes flashed through her mind. She was lucky that this stranger was friendly, a possible ally.
A moment passed and she became excited. Finally there would be someone to converse with, and maybe possibly even rely upon as a friend. Rienna threw back her snout and howled back with a howl that was both timid and excited. She set off trotting in the direction of the howl. She went gliding through the trees like a breeze in search of the stranger.

[Squire]

As the reply howl rang out Lyra's mood changed from weary and hesitant to an odd sense of joy. The reply had been favorable. It was what she had been hoping for. Now all she had to do was wait and make sure the other wolf found her. She waited a few moments and then howled again to give the other wolf a new point of direction. With how howls echoed and traveled it was hard to say where this other wolf was coming from and exactly how close or far away they were.

Soon she could hear rustling through the brush just on the other side of the hill in front of her. As soon as the wolf made its appearance at the top of the hill she would greet it with a friendly bark. In just a few seconds she would meet the stranger she'd smelled just moments previous.

[Silver]

The night had many more hours to offer. There were too many possibilities. Ri's body went rigid at the thought of it all, good and bad. Too many thoughts went through her lupine skull to take in at once, so she hopped forward joyfully to traverse the landscape.
The stranger's friendly bark let Rienna's guard down, and she trotted down the slope with tongue lolling and ears perked. She whined a little and reached out to sniff the stranger, keeping her tail in a neutral position to show courtesy. She didn't want to anger a potential friend.
Rienna took in the stranger's scent, making a mental note of it.
"Hello, are you from around here? I'm not trespassing on your territory, am I?" She realized what this would mean if she had. "I honestly hadn't noticed any markers... not saying that they weren't strong enough, that is, if there is any..." She trailed off and shut herself up. She hoped the stranger didn't see her as too careless or pushy.

[Squire]

Lyra stood still as Rienna sniffed her. As she listened to her speak she also walked around Rienna, sniffing and giving her a once over. The female was young, and posture suggested non-hostile and perhaps somewhat naive. As far as a companion goes, the female before her would not be bad company, she thought, but only time would truly tell.

Keeping her tail low as she spoke and her ears back she responded to Rienna. "No. The land 'round here is not mine." her accent was different than someone from the south. It wasn't northern, but it was quite unique unto itself. "As for who, if any one, this land belongs to, I don't know. I have yet to scent any markers or see other evidence of such. For all I know it is unclaimed, which would be good considering I've been in the vicinity for several days now." She paused for a moment, stopping in front of Rienna finally to address her normally. "Name's Lyra. Who might you be?"

[Silver]

Excitement quivered through the young female. She liked Lyra already. Hoping that she would stick around to be friends, Rienna threw her head back and yipped, "My name's Rienna. I'm not from around here either, but I love what I see of the land so far. There's so much water and food, and shelter to hide in." She fluttered off, poking around the bushes with her nose and twitching her tail at Lyra. "Wherever I go I smell traces of possible meals, and they're fresh scents, too."
Her mouth opened with a happy wolf smile that was half pant, half silent laugh. If she wanted she could grow fat off of this land, alongside her new friend ...that is, if Lyra wanted to join her.

[Squire]

Lyra watched Rienna for a moment. Silently she listened as Rienna spoke of the land and its bountifulness. What the young female said was true. Indeed the land had plenty to offer those that cared enough to stop and smell the breeze. Another thing was also true, one that went unspoken. Both she and Rienna had no one at this point. The plot of land upon which they stood at this moment was unclaimed, and although one could live off of small meals such as mice, voles, rabbits, and raccoons it is always a constant struggle as the meat on such creatures is but little and one must almost constantly search, hunt, and actually make the kills in order to keep a full stomach when it came to such small portions. With a companion, however, things would be much easier and although Rienna was young Lyra doubted that Rienna would be as fit as she was if she could not take care of herself. No, another independent soul is what she had found, and this presented just the opportunity that Lyra and her brother had been hoping for since their travels had begun. Perhaps a new home had been found after all.

As she thought of her brother though her expression momentarily turned sour. She did miss her brother and she was growing rather concerned at his long absence. With a slight shake of her head she banished these sad thoughts from her mind for the moment. She would have time to ponder where her brother might be later. For now she needed to speak of an alliance.

"Judging by everything you have said thus far, Rienna, I assume you too are alone at present. She paused for a second before continuing, watching Rienna's reaction carefully. "It seems to me that we both may benefit from an alliance. Small game is hard to live off of when you have to constantly be in search of it and not all excursions are successful and have the satisfying end of a kill, but with two working together less energy may be used in the hunt, and larger game may be attempted which would keep us fuller for longer." She stopped again, taking two steps forward toward Rienna where she stood at the bushes. "What say you? Shall we stick together, or does this night find us parting ways with only an agreement of peaceful non-intermingling cohabitation within the same unclaimed territory?" She stops a mere yard from where Rienna stands, awaiting her response.

[Silver]

Ri's eyes lit up at the thought. "Yes, I would love to join together. It wouldn't hurt to have a companion in this place. I've gotten lonely already. Perhaps we can help each other hunt."

[Squire]

And with an agreement reached Lyra smiled and led Rienna back to where she had been staying, telling the young female of her brother and how they both had come to this place and that she hadn't seen or heard any news from her brother in some time.


Meanwhile....


Elsewhere, down in the valley and over fifty miles away there was another wolf who lurked in the darkness of the night. Down in the valley, away from his sister, Russel cursed himself for his stupidity and rashness once more. He had been utterly convinced that he and Lyra needed to find another pack to join because he felt that that was what their father would have wanted.

Although they were away from the humans that had killed the rest of the pack now, Russel had been hearing rumors of possible settlement coming to these mountains as well, but rumors can always be deceiving. Regardless of whether the rumors were true or not though, just two lone wolves traveling together, although stronger than a loner, were still vulnerable. Strength, true strength, or so he felt, came from the pack working together, but two could not be called a pack. For Lyra's sake he had to keep trying, but he could not sustain another injury like he had in the last encounter. His front right leg had a small fracture, and it hurt to use it, but he had no choice. He'd been living off scraps left behind by the two neighboring packs in this area, and although the first of the two packs had met him with hostility, he had high hopes for the other one, or so he kept telling himself.

With that in mind, Russel set out in the direction of the second of the two packs he'd been monitoring. He just hoped that Lyra was alright.

[Silver]

As Lyra's story unfolds she listened with interest. They picked their way through the forest leaving nothing but a scent trail. Rienna kept her ears perked, memorizing her new friend's voice. She walked next to her friend as an equal. She wondered if they would get along in the long run, but then pushed away the fear. She always got along with everyone in her home pack, so why would it be different now?
Lyra lead Rienna to the spot. Ri's nose tickled with the scent of heavy flora around her, and she looked around and breathed a sigh of relief. She liked this place. Especially she liked the bed of soft leaves on the ground. Really, she liked everything about this valley.
She brought herself to focus. She sat down facing Lyra, with her paws square on the ground. "What are the types of places your brother is attracted to? Should we go looking for him?" She tilted her head. "What if he found more wolves? Or what if he found easy prey?"