Sequoia Coast Fall behind me

someone from AS perhaps? I am gonna set this before Tyrr's return :)

It had taken her a while, but finally the Huntress had found herself back in the region where last that girl had spoken of Amazons. She did not recall her name, having pulled no importance from it, but she did recall her words. Those she had marked with intent to follow up, and now here she was.

She knew not who these Amazons were, but she doubted them to be true sisters of her own order. It was doubtful even that they held the true practices. Why they would claim to be such without having come from her own home, Manauia did not know, but she intended to find out.

Stalking along the coast, she kept her sights inland, searching for signs of another who could be useful in tracking down her chosen goal.

o hello

Caiaphas made her way along the desolate shore, her pelt matted with salt and rime. She carried with her the scent of salt and fish, having spent the entire of her morning close to the Bay's borders harvesting pike before the sea claimed them. She carried with her two cleaved pike, who flopped rather limply from her jaw with each jaunty step.

Her intent was to make it straight back to the Sound, however, a blaze-red wolf soon stopped that ambition. Caiaphas regarded the creature carefully, the potent scent of the fish clutched between her jaw obstructing any chance of recognizing the wolf's denomination. She slowed to a stop near the earthen hued wolf innocuously, unsure if she should accost the female or continue on her way without risking her quarry.

Her searching eyes did not have long to wait before another crossed her sights. Initially she did not notice the silent approach, but casting about as she was, soon the presence was made known. Immediately her pace halted, eyes narrowing slightly as she took in the leggy creature. From the catch hanging from her jaws, she judged her a coastal local, and her hopes that this woman could answer her question kindled.

"I seek those who would call themselves Amazonian," Manauia stated, expression neutral and tone flat. If she had nothing to offer the huntress would move on, for she was not one to bandy pointless words.

Her stomach growled as she slowed -- yet it was too late now to pass by without detection. The red female had spied her, and turning her flat muzzle towards Caiaphas, spoke without flair to her intoned words.

Caiaphas instantly shifted in demeanor, delighted to practice her most favored lie upon this newly unsuspecting wolf. The angular wretch's expression looked vaguely earnest -- as if helpful -- and carefully she lowered her muzzle to deposit her quarry into the cold sand. "The Amazons live northward, flanked by the cliffs." She offered a beguiling smile -- pleased by how smoothly her deception was sailing. "I don't see them often, but at the Bay they haven't bothered us."

Caiaphas placed a slender paw on her butchered fish, her smile fading into an expression of seemingly genuine inquiry. "You a friend of theirs?"

The other woman seemed genuine, so Manauia had no reason to believe deception was her aim. Perhaps Nochtli would have seen through the witch, but her silver-tongues sister was likely leagues away. Still the Amazon did not turn friendly, despite the other's seemingly open nature. She had no desire to make friends.

"No." She looked westward, eyes narrowed. "I am simply... curious." To give up her true alignment, even to a stranger, might be enough to put them on guard against her. All she wanted at this juncture was information.

Caiaphas had her reasons for deceiving the Duskfire wolf -- one of which revolved around Larus. She harbored a great deal of disdain for the Duskfire's faction, and though her despisal was wrongly placed, it was fervent in its principle.

Thinly the smile vanished, though with great excellency Caiaphas seemed to summon an unwavering and deceitful amity which pressed her tenuous features. She noted quite clearly that the red-hewn wolf seemed to lack the effusive tongue of a compatriot -- and this made her regard the wolf with inward suspicion. "What do you want to know? Maybe I can help." The coywolf issued a rogue wink and slid upon her wiry belly, her acicular limbs outspread on the sand as she resumed a even less disarming pose.

All in all, she was fiendishly delighted by how well her masquerade seemed to be faring -- and it was with alarming and growing skill that the wicked coywolf donned her personas of many different hats.

At this, Manauia did flash a look of annoyance at Caiaphas. She did not like to be asked questions, but as she had come with an inquiry, the offer of help was only natural. She would proceed with caution, but perhaps she could get some of the answers she sought.

"I would know where they come from." She began with, ever colloquial. Chatter was a waste of breath that she had no time nor capacity for.

Like Manuaia, Caiaphas disliked it when the female asked questions -- it was often her duty to inquire, to uproot -- and sometimes, to unsettle. She blinked and considered the female's question, composing an answer assuredly on her sharp little tongue.

"From the sea and the moon, they say." She said with a shrug, as if she truly had no affiliation with the Amazons that dominated the coast. With that she peered down upon her paws, inspecting the two pike that looked blankly up at her. "I better go though. Been stocking Stavanger's caches. Forgive me, it was good to meet you." With one last ingenuine smile the petite thing rose, scooped up her wares, and trotted down the shoreline as if making directly for the Bay.

She departed with apology, and Manauia watched her go wordlessly. She wasn't in the habit of making farewells here. She had only gotten to ask a single question, but was not unhappy to be left alone with only one answer. The truth would come out eventually, and this was enough of a clue to begin to confirm what she had already thought she knew.

These Amazons were not her sisters.

Narrowed gaze was directed to the west, and she would make a pass of some of the coastal ground before returning to the glacier. She would find nothing, but her mind was churning with that single answer recieved. She would need to consult Eztli as soon as her guard mates returned.