Dragoncrest Cliffs smile because you're the deer in the headlights.

He's looking for Rose, but all welcome! :D I would apologize for him, but it makes me laugh.

He was curious about her.

He'd seen the girl only briefly when Thuringwethil and company had returned, but that apparently had been all he'd needed to begin wondering. Who was she? Where had she come from? Artaax did not like outsiders, but his distaste for them was apparently lessening from what it had once been. Evidence had begun to build up that was making a case for those born outside of Drageda's borders. Little as he actually respected Eljay, the manchild had actually ended up showing more loyalty to Drageda than their so-called allies from Seageda and Trigeda. He gave the Blackthorn more credit than he actually showed for leaving his own family behind to return to Drageda as he'd promised. There was Furi as well who had remained by their side for many weeks now. They gave him some semblence of hope for the worth of wolves not born in Drageda.

And that's why he told himself he wanted to find @Rose. Truthfully, his intention was only to watch her from afar for a little while to learn what he could of her merely through observation. Of course, that particular method was one that others (90% of society in general) would think of as creepy or stalker-ish. But Artaax was a hunter, and he couldn't help but apply the same tactics he employed for getting to know his prey to getting to know random young ladies.

Hopefully someone would catch him at it and set him straight soon.

But until that day, this was just his way of attempting to learn more before he committed to an actual conversation. So, the young wolf trotted in a zig-zagging line through the trees, searching for her scent so he could begin stalking ahh... getting to know her.

Eljay had no idea that Artaax was looking / hunting / stalking for Rose. He'd returned back to Drageda recently, and was still trying to get back to the swing of things and settling in here. It was all so new and strange and especially after being in Redhawk Caldera — home — he really missed home again and felt homesick every waking moment. But he had to be strong.

When he ran into Artaax he put a smile on his face and approached, determined to get to know the youth a bit better. He knew Blixen and Bobbin bits and pieces but not so much Artaax, who'd been very impartial throughout the entire journey to Redhawk too. He felt mostly like Artaax wanted to be an adult and taken seriously, as youths often wanted to be, especially now that he was an adult. "Hiya," Eljay said as he approached, then asked curiously, "What's up?"

She had awoken early that morning, fur a tangled mess while she slipped from the warmth of her den. Frost had found itself cloaked over the ground, a crunch following each step the yearling took. The idea of sleeping in Hougeda was starting to sound more appealing to the kru, especially when she woke to find a cold chill crawling up her back. Her teeth chattered together as an involuntary shudder swept along her frame, fur puffing slightly after the shivering was over with. She let out a huff, a cloud of fog forming before her while she stretched out her stiff joints. Rose figured a light jog would warm her up a bit, so after loosening up her muscles and fully waking herself, the girl began her run through the red groves. 

She had done various things during her jog, such as hunting small game or marking shrubbery she knew would grow throughout winter. A patch of winterberries she had found would make for a popular stop among birds while an old abandoned fox den she had come across could make for a decent herb cache. Overall it had been a rather fortunate trip, and having tired herself out quite a bit, Rose decided it best to make a pit stop in a small field within the forest. She plopped herself on the ground and took a moment to catch her breath while glancing up at the sun. Her eyes squeezed shut while she soaked up the sunlight, the warm rays of light rejuvenating her while she relaxed, completely oblivious to anything or anyone around her.

Was that it?

Artaax froze in his meandering, hunkering low to the ground as a scent that may have been hers slipped into his nostrils. He stood, poised like that for only a few seconds before the sound of pawsteps distracted him, and he turned to see Eljay approaching. His ears flattened as he saw the sitter's face, but only because he didn't want the manchild disrupting his hunt. Once upon a time, he had regarded the opkepa with distrust and scorn that had eventually had evolved into nonchalant disregard, which was actually quite the upgrade. These days, Eljay had some small shred of something akin to respect from the extremely difficult-to-please Drakru. It spoke volumes to Artaax that he had returned to Drageda after his stay at the Caldera, though he would never speak a word of just what it had meant to him.

All that being said, he still didn't want his hunt disrupted. "Shhh..." Artaax growled gently, gesturing with his muzzle to get Eljay to lower his body as well as his voice. Another sound stole his attention and he snapped his head forward to peer through the foliage. There was a glimmer of red in the distance, and a slight raise of his head and tilt to the left revealed a snippet of Rose's frame now sprawled out upon the forest floor just ahead. His breath caught in his throat upon the sight of her - as it did any other prey, I swear - and he had to breathe deep to steady the anxious throb of his heart.

Artaax remembered Eljay then and glanced back at the other male, giving him a look that said DUDE, be cool, okay before glancing about and beginning to prowl very silently towards a better vantage point where he could... ah... study her. For legit pack security reasons. Or something. He had forgotten what his excuse was.

When Artaax shh'd Eljay assumed that it was because he was hunting. Not wanting to ruin the hunt Eljay too lowered his body and remained quiet. He followed Artaax' gaze, hoping that he could find the target of the hunt. His heart pounded in his chest, as Eljay was afraid that he might ruin this hunt and be forever in Artaax' bad books while he wanted so desperately for the youth's approval (as he did everyone's approval).

Breathlessly Eljay peered through the foliage in front of them. He saw the glimmer of red and thought it might be a deer they were after, or a fox. Eljay was too afraid to mess up to take a proper look, and especially after the look Artaax gave him he didn't want to be the idiot who messed the hunt up, so he didn't put effort into getting a good look. Instead he followed as Artaax moved to get a better view, hoping to also get a better view so he knew what they were hunting.

The fiery girl was content bathing in the sunlight, her attention fully taken up when she shifted her focus towards her rather horrible bed head. She had left the tangles of fur alone for now but, seeing as how she had a minute or two to spare, the yearling decided it best to clean herself up. She twisted herself around so that she could work at her thigh, teeth carefully running through the twisted knot of rust.

With her attention fully taken up by the task at hand, Rose didn’t notice her onlookers in the distance and when a gust of wind finally did blow by, it offered nothing but the stale scent of a hare. The uncomfortable tingles that suddenly shot down her spine did cause an uneasy feeling to stir in her stomach, but Rose ignored the subtle warnings and continued to tidy herself as if nothing was wrong.

She didn't notice them. Artaax would have breathed a sigh of relief, but he was too good a hunter to do anything that might grab her attention - including breathing too loud. Eljay shifted behind him, following along with decent enough care. They didn't need to go too far - the brush thinned just a few paces ahead and Artaax found a point where he could peer through the spindly branches at her. He narrowed his eyes to shield some of the brilliance of his irises, which he knew would stick out like a sore thumb against the muted backdrop that he otherwise blended well into. He forgot about Eljay for the moment as he watched her preening her fur, wondering what her true purpose could be in doing such a thing.

It wasn't far until they would be able to see what prey they were hunting. Eljay's eyes widened in surprise as he saw that it was a wolf they were following with such care, and not prey. He looked at Artaax with puzzled eyes, but Artaax didn't seem to look at him at all, just focussed on the 'hunt', so no answers came. Elja figured then that Artaax was just trying to practise his hunting and he didn't want to get in the way, so Eljay remained silent and watched the girl, waiting 'til Artaax had practised enough and would leave or would pounce her.

The unsettling feeling within the pit of her stomach grew to the point that she could ignore it no longer. The russet girl momentarily paused her grooming and began scanning the scenery around her, blue eyes sweeping across the shrubbery as well as the hompleia’s mismatched eyes. For a moment her brain thought nothing of it, but when she did a double take Rose realized the splash of color against the white background was in fact a pair of eyes watching her. Well that wasn’t creepy or anything. 

The fur along her spine stood on end while she rose from the frozen earth, nose wiggling in the direction of her stalker. Except instead of being greeted with one scent, the kru was greeted with two. Her eyes narrowed in the direction of the creeps, tail sticking stiffly outwards while she took a step towards them, curious to find out exactly who her pursuers were.

last post for me lololol this has been fun!

Artaax was silent as he watched her. She was older than him, but not by a whole lot. At least, not to his not-at-all experienced eyes. Her fur reminded him of Wildfire and Blixen, though it seemed somehow more vibrant. She was thin, and tall, and fit, with eyes like cut sapphires. She was rather pretty, though what did he care about that? He narrowed his eyes, re-focusing on the real intent here: her trustworthiness. He shifted his head slightly, trying to get a better look at her face to see if he could find any deviousness upon it. And that's when she stood suddenly and he realized, she was looking right at him.

The boy's eyes widened as she began to stalk towards where he and Eljay were "hidden". Panic gripped him - he hadn't been prepared for this. What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do? The usually calm, collected young wolf snapped his head towards Eljay, confusion and anxiety written plainly on his face. She was coming closer. He should confront her, treat her like the untrustworthy interloper she was and get to the bottom of whether or not she was here with ill intentions. 

Instead, he turned and bolted.

It looked like their 'prey' found out that she was being watched. Eljay looked at Artaax, not sure what he wanted to do now. The most logical and normal thing to do, to Eljay, seemed to be to just step out of the shrubbery and explain that they were practising Artaax' hunting. But before he knew it, Artaax turned around and bolted away, leaving Eljay all alone. He blinked in confusion but before he could do much of anything the girl was already quite close away.

".. Uh.. hi.." Eljay said awkwardly as she neared, figuring he'd not wait for her to actually find him, since he imagined she might find this a bit weird, not knowing the context. "Sorry, I mean, we were just trying to practise Artaax' hunting," he said, grinning sheepishly and hoping that she'd be forgiving (and totally unaware that he might better not've mentioned his partner in crime's name).

Before she even had a chance to get close enough to see the distinct features of her stalkers, one was bolting away like a criminal that had just committed a crime. She paused momentarily and watched as the pale boy sped off without explaining why he had been watching her like a creep. Her eyes remained on the hompleia until he was out of sight and only then did she turn to approach the weirdo that remained.

He greeted her with an excuse that she had no interest in hearing and Rose let her brow furrow as she tried to make sense of his reasoning. “But why was I the target?” she asked with sincere curiosity, trying to understand why this Artaax decided it was ok to target her when there are literally plenty of other things to hunt.

Eljay felt incredibly awkward having to tie the loose ends here because he didn't even know the girl. Super awkward. She also looked disappointed which made him feel even more awkward, because he felt she didn't understand the real reason they were watching her... Probably because he didn't know it too sure either.

"Uh," Eljay said and he blinked. "I don't... I don't really know, I — Sorry, Artaax was already — I mean, when I arrived he was already doing it, so I thought he was practising and... I guess he just, uh, ran into you coincidentally..?" Eljay clearly didn't know much about what went on in the head of Artaax. He looked very apologetic by now, not knowing how to explain, because he didn't really know.

Rose wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the explanation, but the poor guy seemed like he was being sincere enough so she took the reasoning and left it at that. “Ok, ok, it’s fine, I forgive you for being all weird and creepy” she said with a hint of playfulness rolling off the last couple of words. Her features softened and she shifted on her heels, not really sure what to say or do next. Was there anything else to even say?

“Well uhh, I guess I should get going” she let out, trying her best to ease out of the awkward situation they had been placed in. She turned and took a few steps away, head glancing back to meet her stalker’s face one last time. “Tell your friend that if I catch him watching me like a creep again, I’m gonna poke his pretty little eyes out.” She left little room for any response and immediately took off in the direction of her den, offering a final “cya around” as her parting words.

Eljay felt incredibly awkward and even though what she said was meant playfully it was clear from the look on his face he felt very ashamed of this whole situation. She said it was fine but he knew it really wasn't; it seemed he had really misjudged the situation.

She then said she would leave and gave him a message for Artaax -- not one that he actually intended to deliver, though. Eljay grimaced and said, "Uhm, okay. See you later." Then, realising it sounded weird, he quickly corrected: "I mean — Not like — Well, you know what I mean. Have a nice day!"

She then made to leave and he turned around, feeling utterly ashamed. He wouldn't tell Artaax about this, would just pretend that it'd never happened maybe. Hopefully next time he and Rose would meet it'd be in better shape.