Shadewood wasted with the rhythm, angry at the melody

The soft snap of a twig alerted him to another's presence, and Redshank paused with a foreleg left cautiously dangling mid-step. His gaze swept the area, narrowed warily as he searched for the perpetrator. He hadn't expected to come upon another stranger so soon, but hoped they were just that — a stranger. Someone he could shake as easily as sand from fur, just so he could continue his trek towards the coast. He felt like the Plateau — even at this distance — was watching his every move and he wanted to get away.

She had slunk into view just as the boy finally spotted her, and he took an almost involuntary step back as he faced the unnerving creature. She came towards him with a demeanour not unlike a mountain lion, electric yellow eyes glinting and her question punctuated with a flash of teeth, which Redshank mirrored as he collected himself and sought to meet her gaze. Now, if this wasn't a telling omen about how shitty the Hinterlands were he didn't know what was. In fact, most of his encounters here had been pretty shit.

Her words were intriguing, though if she had any sort of claim to these lands it was a weak one. "I guess not," he shrugged somewhat indignantly. It was evident by her bristling that he was an unwelcome guest in the woods. "I'd pick another spot t'settle if I were you, though," he added as a hurried afterthought, in a just-my-two-cents sort of way.