Haunted Wood curious and curiouser

Thestrel's upper body was concealed by the den she worked so furiously to widen, the amount of excavated dirt becoming unruly and difficult to manage between her hindlegs. Still, the coywolf kept at it. There was little point— if it held a wolf in recent past, it would hold her, and she didn't plan on staying in it anyway— but it felt good to dig for the sake of it. Because it was fun, and she wanted to.

She started when a muffled voice called to her, and she hit her head on the earthen ceiling as she reared up. There were a few moments of awkward silence as she clumsily backed out of the den, hindlegs stumbling over the piled dirt. When she was nearly out, a foreleg slipped and she knocked her chin squarely upon the threshold. But finally, she regained her legs and she was out— shaking dirt from her guardhairs.

"Hello," she said brightly, taking the other in. It didn't occur to her that this might be the owner of the den, nor did she think of asking the other female to repeat herself. Thestrel had never met a wolf before, let alone one of the Teekon Wilds, and she was a bit at loss for words.