Shy Deer Steppes that the wind came out of the cloud by night

and so he had left, and with him the hope of something more. she wondered, sometimes, if he would return, but since the girl, she had not seen, nor scented the brute. Vengeance was one who could not easily be killed, and she doubted that this be the case. she could hold out the mildest hope, the thought, that he might return, but she would hardly count on it. couldn't. no longer would she let the actions of other affect her life as they always had. 

the wind buffeted her fur, the clouds above streaming by. it wasn't particularly overcast, but darker clouds lay on the horizon, and she knew that sleeping in the open tonight was a bad idea. this was a dry place, and a warm place, but the temperature had steadily dropped throughout the day. still, she was in no mood nor rush to move from her seat, recently gorged upon some hapless hare, and if nothing else, content, at this moment. stretched out, sphinx-like, atop her sun-warmed boulder, she stared into the verdant forest in the distance, mind turning aimlessly. and she was, at least for now, once again aimless.

The air was cool, and the breeze was relaxing. If Howl hadn't been traveling so much the cold air may have bothered him but the air cooled him off and his panting ceased. But as he came to the Steepes something made his stop. The area seemed barren, but only for a moment. There were numerious faded tracks from what seemed like deer and something that put Howl on edge slightly. The paw prints of a mountain lion, more recent then all the rest. Howl slowed his pace and kept his head on a swivvle. 

The air was beginning to get to him as he moved around the Steepes. While doing to he came across a white female laying on a rock and he soon learned why. As he stood on a near by rock he felt the heat seep into the pads of his paws. He spoke to the female a few yards away from him, "Afternoon miss. How has your evening been?"

paws on earth alerted her to the presence of another, her ears flickered, her attention focused on the sound. and yet, she did not rise, did not shift her gaze from what was before her. only when the paws halted, when voice came from the maw of the male that had neared, did her distant gaze alight atop the male that approached. she was silent a beat, gaze inspecting him as if it might just look through him. he wasn't bad looking, and perhaps that was why she refrained from picking a quick, dirty fight, as she had in the past. 

"empty, and fruitless. an evening amongst many." she answered, a hint of dark mirth tinting her words. it had been dull, truthfully, and solitary. "and why do you ask? do you seek to improve upon it, perhaps?" the words slipped from her maw smoothly, thoughtlessly. perhaps the flirtiest she had been, though it was likely that her idea of an improved evening was different from this male's.

The female was still until he approached. The way and diration of how long she looked at him made him think she was judging him. Looking for his character by the way he looked. But she stayed on subject and answered his question, saying the day was rather dull. She then asked him a question about why he cared and if he planned on doing anything about it. This made him smile. Her voice made him think she was being playful. Howl was one for letting females lead his activities mostly and so he replied, "I was just curious. Though I wouldn't mind helping to brighten your afternoon. Did you have something in mind?" he asked. A part of him was still cautious about his surrounding not sure if the mountain lion had decided to move on or stick around.