Two Rivers Isle somewhere new

 @Ich'aak   @Knife-Ear  I got bored and decided to make the first post! This thread is AW, though, for anyone else to join!

Daggerjaw had lost her siblings at some point on their way to move somewhere new, but it didn’t matter. By “lost”, she meant that they had wandered off at some point and were probably somewhere sort of nearby, near enough to track her if they wished. She guessed that they would show up soon. She had made it to a place she thought seemed nice and now intended to settle down and maybe go hunting. It was springtime and there were small animals about, but she would have to rely on her nose mostly, as it was so foggy right now.

She’d followed the same river for a long time, and found at some point that it split, and surrounded an… island of sorts. Being the curious type, she’d crossed the distance to the isle and shook herself off now. The water was very cold. She’d have to go running to warm up, maybe find a rabbit or two. She’d approached from the right and stood in a forest, and began to wander more inland, wondering if this island was all forest, or if it broke somewhere along the way…

ich'aak had only discovered the riverbound inlet by chance, having trailed a wounded deer down from the taiga and deep into forested territory. the trail had grown cold - or perhaps ich'aak was too inexperienced to track it - either way he set down at the split of a river and took weary laps at the pool's edge. parts of the river were glazed over by encrusted ice -- some places looked too transparent to hazard, but ich'aak was light and nimble and skirted across the icy barrier without harm.

a forest rose before him, studded with douglas fir and pine -- he passed along their solemn rows quietly until he heard the tread of another. curious but not willing to expose himself to harm, ich'aak halted as the figure came into view. a female -- his jaguar green eyes apprised her dusky-clad figure, the prominence of her ears and the thinness of her limbs. that she was like him -- or at least closer than their wolven brethren -- evinced no warmth from the male, who simply elected to study her until told otherwise.

This sucks, sorry. I didn't know what else to say since Dagger doesn't know he's there yet

Dagger did not hear the coyote approaching, as she was too busy focusing on her goal of breaching the trees. She could see a break ahead and was getting nearer to whatever was outside the forest. Had she seen the coyote, she would have stopped and greeted them, but as it was, she simply continued moving. The fog did not let up and gave the forest a spooky air, but Daggerjaw was not one to become spooked easily. It was only fog, and she rather enjoyed the creepy vibe it gave off. Grinning to herself, she sped up her pace a bit, still completely unaware of the other canid nearby…

*barges in slightly late*

Ever since her fateful encounter with the small group of coywolf siblings, Knife-Ear had been attached at the hip to the troupe. She even went so far as to rename herself, having taken a liking to their naming conventions - it was just so cool - before abandoning her roots just like that. One night she was a part of her nomadic birth pack, the next, she was gone. She was particularly fond of the one who called herself Daggerjaw, and was often shadowing the other female as she wandered. The pale coywolf led them along a river that snaked its way inland before parting ways to form an  isle of sorts. While often distracted, the girl always found herself quickly racing to catch up to her newfound friend. In no time at all, Knife-Ear had crossed the river and was dancing her way up the slopes towards the forest in the middle of the island.

"DAGGERRR!" she cried cheerfully in greeting as she neared her, before stopping short as she caught a glint of green in the darkness. She squinted as a dark figure materialised, her own bright eyes immediately honing in on the tell-tale silhouette of his ears. A smile spread across her toothy jaws, and Knife-Ear sidled up beside her companion with a gleeful giggle and jerk of her head towards the creature. "We have a little shadow!"

his surveillance was cut short by the intrusion of another; ich'aak shrunk back like a startled spider, ears splayed to his small skull. she was loud -- and boisterous -- and had totally betrayed his location. for that, he was wary, though he did part from the tree he hid behind so that he was presently in plain view.

he said nothing -- for what could he say that they would understand? instead, a slow, ever-so-cautious wag of his tail was given, his muscles tensed and ready to run if either showed the slightest hint of aggression.

Daggerjaw jumped at the loud noise of Knife-Ear behind her. She cringed and turned around. “Hey, sister,” she called in greeting. Knife-Ear was not really her sister, but she called all coywolves ‘sister’ or ‘brother.’ She called all coyotes that, too. And speaking of coyotes, her gaze followed Knife’s and she saw the gleam of green eyes in the shadows. Then out stepped a dark brown coyote — a full one from the looks of him — and Daggerjaw couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. “Hey there, brother coyote!” she called to him. “Come to join us? Were you followin’ us?” She turned to Knife-Ear and gave her a side-long grin. “Maybe he thought he’d get lucky — two girls, yeah?” She threw her head back and laughed and then remembered that Knife wasn’t as old as she was. “Well, at least he’ll get me.”

Despite startling Dagger, the fellow coywolf greeted her in her fond, almost familial way and Knife-Ear touched her nose to the other girl's shoulder briefly in return. They then turned their focus on the apparently rather shy little thing they had intruded on (or had he intruded on them?). Shy as he was, however, he still came out of the shadows to reveal himself, and Knife-Ear sized up the other with a beaming smile. She turned to Dagger to meet her electric yellow gaze with a soft cackle. He seemed like the stalking type, not that she minded at all. He had such a dark coat...he must be very good at it!

She laughed along with her companion, though quirked a single radar-like ear sideways questioningly at her remark. The younger girl was still a naive teenager, recognising the other sex but not quite noticing them in that way just yet. She lowered her head and gave a flick of her muzzle towards the shadow. "Come closer," she coaxed with a grin before tilting head head at Daggerjaw. ”She won’t bite.”

A lie, but he didn’t need to know that.

the melanistic coyote regarded his company warily, his feral jaguar gaze hooded with slight distrust. the two females entered an exchange with each other, their cackles rising among the bare winter trees.

his tail quit its pendulum beating, and his long ears seemed to lightly fold. their language meant nothing to him, though he thought he spotted an invitation in one of the female's expressions.

ich'aak had not lived to his age by entrusting strangers. he hung there a moment, as if to stay -- but then bolted off to the right in a quickly paced gallop.

Closing this up.

Daggerjaw grinned encouragingly at the coyote in the distance, wagging her tail. “C’mere,” she said, motioning towards herself with her head. But then the coyote ran off! “Wha— hey!” she called, feeling incredibly disappointed. “Wait! We’re friendly!” Feeling stupid and reckless, she took off after the coyote, not realizing in the slightest that she’d probably just make him more afraid by chasing him. “Waaaaiiiit!” she called into the distance. But it was no use... She couldn't keep up with the coyote and eventually, dejectedly, stopped running after him. Huffing, she went back to Knife-ear.