Stone Circle Sweater weather

There was one thing most evident about this specific day; it was cold. Very cold, yes everyday during this especially frigid winter was freezing, but today seemed to exceed its own expectations. Now, Mara was built well for the gelid of the season, but she couldn't keep from shivering every now and then when a breeze breathed down on her. The pads on her paws were numb, and her nose would feel like it was about to fall off if she had any working nerves in it. This was a rare case where she was thankful for the grizzly that took away any feeling in her nose. 

Today seemed to be an especially lonely day, no one was in sight, or sound, and she admittedly wished someone to pop by. Maybe one of the other pups she had yet to meet, she never felt awkward around the yearlings. She had yet to formally meet the mother of Keoni either, who was raising him alongside Steady. She wondered what the woman would be like. 

Now, she wished she had created a den for herself earlier. The wolfess had yet to find a bed to sleep in, but the colder it got, the more snow hid from potential sleeping ground. She would deal though, it was not too big of an issue. Hopefully tomorrow would be a warmer day.

Valette trotted through the territory. She liked to keep an eye on the bison they found, and to see how their markings were keeping up around the border. She was not really one to mark the borders that actively but she could tell Steady about weak marks on the borders. The cold made her constantly on the move. She didn't want to stay in one place for too long.

The main hunter of the pack made sure to check on the larger herds and to see if they lost even more to this horrible weather. She was glad they were all together in the big den. It could lead to frustrations but they were all warm. Valette took come chunks of meat from the bison carcasses for Keoni and Nikai. She wanted to keep them well fed, especially with this cold weather.

As she was making her way back to the general meeting point she ran into the new female Steady accepted. She did hear something about her being at Silvertip too but Valette had never seen her there. Or couldn't remember her. She let out a muffled chuff when she saw the other. Valette placed the meat down and swayed her tail. "You must be Mara," she greeted on a friendly tone.

Mara had no indication of Valette being remotely close until she heard a stiffled chuff, she instantly turned her attention to the woman before her. It was Valette, the Beta of Easthollow. She knew a little bit about the wolfess before her, as much as Steady said anyway. They were raising Keoni and another pup she had yet to meet, the fae sent a friendly smile to the brunette leader. "I am, and you are Valette." 

She knew who she was from their time denning together as a pack, though the two had yet to speak. It was nice to have a distraction from the freezing winter, and even better to formally meet a member she had yet too. "How are you?" Mara asked, holding her amiable expression. 

It was always a little unnerving knowing that her name was spoken amongst the mouths of Easthollow without her presence. She knew that Day had heard of her before they had even met, and know Valette. Mara knew well they likely didn't talk badly of her, but she was always on edge, especially with her unloyal past to Silvertip.

Valette gently bobbed her head in response when the other returned that she was in fact Valette. It was nice to know that she knew her already. She wasn't aware that Steady had told Mara about her, nor that this girl had a crush on Steady in the past. Currently Valette rather wanted to have Steady for herself. "Nice to meet you!," she smiled. Little did she know that Mara was insecure about wolves talking bad about her. Easthollow was not that kind of pack.

"I am well. I just took some meat of the three bison we found earlier. You can have some meat from it too so it doesn't go to waste," she offered kindly. "Though it is great to have all this extra meat right now I am worried what happened to our bison herd. Hopefully the part that survived will come back to our territory," she explained to the other female.

She was relieved that Valette knew how to keep a conversation going, instead of simply replying, "Good" and forcing Mara to grow awkward and come up with a forced way to continue talking. No, instead the Beta added on to the topic of conversation, making it so much easier to follow up. 

"Thank you for the offer, when I get hungry I'm sure to go after that." She nodded her head, listening as the female continued to talk. "I wouldn't worry, I'm sure they'll come back. Besides, there's plenty of dead game lying about, chances of starvation are rather low." She tried her best to comfort the coffee pelted woman.

Valette slowly nodded. "Though I did feel like the bisons really helped with our little territory. The deer would come out more feeling safe around the bison. It would give me opportunities to study the herds in the open," she explained. Valette was the main hunter and she liked to get her tracker speciality. "If the bison would leave then the herd might not be out on the plains as often," she returned.

"A worry for later, as you said now we have plentiful of food," she hummed and wagged her tail. "Are you settling in well? I know it can be quite the adjustment with us all in close quarters. I hope for all our sake the weather will warm up soon," Valette continued to chat on. She was a very friendly female, and often had lots to talk about.

Her question forced the agouti wolf to think, she was getting to know the wolves of Easthollow easier than back at Silvertip, but her social skills were even weaker then than they are now. Perhaps the smaller amount of wolves aided her with her transition from being a lone wolf. She much favored the Hollow than trudging in the harsh snow alone. "It's not too difficult." Mara was bound to feel awkward entering a new home, there was no way she couldn't be - that's just who she was. Luckily, she usually hid it well during conversation. Niether Day or Valette seemed confused by her actions, so she must have been concealing it. 

"Me too, I'm just excited for the spring, my favorite time of year." A quick sense of deja vu hit her, reliving a conversation she and Chaska had back on the mountain when they first met. He told his melancholy story of losing his family, and she couldn't quite remembered if she shared hers. But, they both mentioned they're love for spring, and how they wanted the icey days to end soon. It was strange to think that around a year ago.

Valette perked up her ears when the other didn't return anything about the bison and herd talk. Perhaps she was not a hunter at heart. Instead she gave a short comment about settling in which wasn't too difficult. The only thing Valette could say about it was; "I'm glad." There wasn't more about the topic of moving in to talk about.

The female did comment about spring. Valette was excited about spring too. She couldn't wait to study the herds and watch the snow fade away. The female also hoped that something more would come between Steady and her. Perhaps even so much that there would be babies of her own, if her heat would settle in. "I like winter, but this is rather intense. Spring is always pretty good too."

It was true, Mara was not a hunter a heart - for larger prey that is. The study of deer and bison herds were farther from her interest as she focused mainly on fishes whereabouts instead. Her home pack had relied largely on a rushing river that cleared through their territory. Salmon were by far the most interesting fish to observe, they're lifecycle was so strange. This, along with birds were a hobby of hers, though less for hunting and more for watching. 

Similar to Valette's excitment for Spring, Mara was ready to watch the rivers thaw and tons of newly born fish to swim about. "Have you always been so interested in herds?" She asked, wondering what it was that sparked her.

Valette smiled when the topic changed to wildlife once more. She nodded. "Yes. As a pup I showed interest in hunting. I was mostly hungry the whole time," she chuckled. "So I wanted to learn how to hunt, when I learned more about hunting I started to see how important big prey is for us wolves," she quirked up her lips. The infestation of locusts had explained that to her. Now she was very keen on preserving most of those herds.

"I just find them really interesting. And by monitoring them I know which deer to hunt, or even which herd to attack. Sometimes it might be better to let a certain doe live because she can bring new life to us later," Valette explained, going into lecture mode.

Mara didn't mind as Valette continued to talk of her hobby, she knew well the excitment that builds up when talking about something you love. It was always fun to see the light in someone elses eyes, knowing how important it was to them. She could listen to anyone talk for hours about what they were passionate about, so she decided to lower her haunches onto the cold ground, too distracted by her leader to realize how cold it was. "Hunting has always been an interest of mine too," She admitted.

The female then shrugged slightly. "Deer are a bit hard for me to find though," She didn't dwell on the fact that she couldn't smell. If Valette question why she would answer openly, but occasionally it was an embaressing thing to admit aloud.

Valette smiled at the other. "Really? You should have told me! We could hunt together," she offered. She always liked how hunting worked as such a good bonding moment. Her tail wagged behind her, though it stopped when the female commented that it was hard for her to find... deer? They were big, smelly and their tracks and poop was everywhere.

Valette looked confused and tipped her head to one side. "Why would they be?," she asked curiously. Not knowing what could be a factor of not being able to find deer? "I could show or teach you if you want," she offered. She wanted to be a tracker and a deerstalker after all.

The suggestion made Mara smile, she would love to go hunting with Valette. "Anytime, I'd be happy too." She exclaimed, her tail moving back and forth as they continued to talk about their hobbies. Her ears flattened to her head when the question was asked, it was always a little uncomfortable to admit aloud. 

"I can't smell them, or well anything at all." It was a disadvantage to have, especially as a wolf. Her offer caused Mara to tilt her head to the side. "I don't want to waste any of your time." She admitted, though desperatley wished to know how to an easier way to hunt large game.

Valette's tail wagged when she wanted to go hunting with her. Though she realized that her question might have been a little forward. She was about the apologize when the female explained. Valette was surprised to hear she couldn't smell. It was a big thing. "You are not! Grayday can't see very well and I helped him with perfecting his hunting technique! I will just show you how to track without scent!," she spoke encouragingly.

She was not judgmental at all and Valette liked to help. "Don't ever talk about yourself like that. You are not wasting my time," she assured her assertively.

Her ears lifted at the unknown fact of Day's eyesight, she quickly stored that away finding it rather interesting. Maybe she could aid him in some way, though it was likely uncurable - just as her nose. Valette's words were comforting and she smiled a little wider, and instinctly stood somewhat straighter with the supportive message. "Of course, my bad." She insisted. 

"I'd be happy to start anytime you can." It wasn't like she had much on her schedule lately, or really ever. Though Valette was a leader, she would likely have plenty on her plate than to spend all day teaching her a different way to hunt.

Valette was happy to see that she straightened out Mara's confidence, and made her feel better about herself. Valette decided that was what she really liked doing as a leader. She had been a beta before and after she helped out Grayday their bond had strengthened. She liked to be a leader that would motivate her fellow packmembers and not talk them down or tell them they couldn't do anything.

"I will let you know! The snow is often nice since it shows tracks well," she spoke. "We will meet up soon," she assured. "It was lovely talking to you, but now I am going to check on our carcasses," she returned and nodded the other goodbye.

"Bye!" Mara exclaimed, excited to learn something new. She deemed Valette a good leader, and realized she was proud to have her as one. With that, the agouti wolf began to fade off into the wintry land of Easthollow. 

Short post is short