Firefly Glen So you found another way

@Hydra :D

Maia wasn't doing a whole lot of scouting outside of whatever trips with Wraen, but she was still ranging.  She'd slimmed down alarmingly since the food shortage started, and hunting tended to end up more like scouting whether she liked it or not.  

Today she'd gone farther than usual and still hadn't had any luck, frustratingly.  What she wouldn't give for a nice fat duck, or rabbit, or even maybe a frog.  Sure they looked slimy, but they weren't so bad once you got past the feel.  

Maia started across the field before her, daydreaming about food more than actively looking, which was probably part of her problem.  Pheasant.  Or even pig, unlikely as it was she'd catch it alone.  As she exited the shade, she glanced back, making sure she could still see the faint outline of the mountains at her back.  It was habit by now, thankfully.  Hopefully wherever they went next was as distinguishable, or she'd have to be way more careful about where she went.

The Glen was another place Hydra frequented. Now that her siblings were older and liked to test the boundaries put in place, her presence there had increased, and with it her possessiveness. And so when she noted the presence of another, Hydra moved toward them at a swift pace. Her body language was not hostile in the slightest, as the other was not so terribly close to the mountain to inspire such a reaction.

The meadow too was frustratingly empty, and after a few strides Maia sat, staring distractedly at the grass as it waved in the light breeze.  Ugh.

She didn't notice Hydra until the other wolf was close, and she shot back to her feet, startled.  "Hey, wait! It's you! How..." oh.  Nope, it wasn't her.  Maia had at first mistaken Hydra for her mother, who she'd enjoyed meeting last time she happened by their mountain.  But quickly she realized this girl was way too young.  

Awkward....

The others familiarity with her ended swiftly; it was this that caused Hydra to discern it had been neither of her sisters that she had met, as one would not falter in their greeting. Her blue eyes traced the others thin frame before they snapped back to her face. When the gap was bridged, Hydra caught a whiff of Sunspire, and her imaginings were confirmed.

Their pack was facing some sort of food shortage. It was not self-pity that starved Terance, but lack of food. Good. Rannoch had failed due to his weakness as a wolf and a leader not once, but twice, now, it looked like. Soft and sweet, she knew that he had Terance's children to feed... surely he had his own. Maybe there was another litter, too.

Had any of the children perished? She hoped not—not by starvation, anyway. She wanted Rannoch, too, to understand what it was she had endured. And to never feel the satisfaction of bringing justice to that same wolf.

I would not hunt here. My youngest siblings roam where they are not meant to, and we do not take kindly to anyone that is too near to them, she advised coolly. Or are you searching for a packmate of yours? She inquired with a tilt of her head, wondering if Terance had returned yet.

Completely unaware of the vengeful thoughts in Hydra's mind, Maia paused awkwardly, somewhat wanting to sink into the ground now.  They did look alike, and it wasn't a huge deal, but wow was it embarrassing to greet someone you don't actually know.

"What? Oh."  It took her a minute, with her distraction, to figure out what she had even said.  That was... weird?    Why would kids be out here, and what did that have to do with her hunting?  "Uhh, no.  I was hunting, but there isn't anything even around.  Sorry, siblings?  Do you live here?"  

This girl was frosty, and it put Maia off a bit.  She had the same regal air as the other, but Amekaze had been... nicer?

Hydra shifted her weight while the other spoke. If the other did not note the sort of prey that typically passed through, Hydra would not bring it up to her again; ideally, it meant that she simply would heed her words and think the return a waste of time. She gestured at the mountain behind her, and said, there. They like to push boundaries and think they are ready to see the world without supervision, came her explanation. They had yet to get away with it, but it made the Glen a territory they kept their close eye on. And if a cub had been near, Maia would not be received so kindly. As it were, that wasn't the case, and Hydra settled. I thought it fair to warn you, as I would any other in a territory bordering ours. Does Sunspire not have their own set of escape artists? She grinned, then—she meant cubs and found humor in her own words. 

And it also sounded as though Terance had returned. Likely due to her words, more that affected his ego more than his own will or desire to. Rannoch owed her far more than his life, by her count.

Maia shook her head, still not understanding, but smiling.  "Nah.  I guess I always figured it was our job to keep them under watch, not random strangers' job to look out for them."  Her tone had a teasing edge to it, but she was deciding not to take offense to the generally unfriendly vibes she got from the other girl.  Maybe she was just kinda like that?  Maia didn't know her life.

"I came by here when I was first lookin for my brother and sister."  She looked up at where she'd indicated.  Must have been someone from her pack she'd run into.

Oh, no, she corrected smoothly, sensing she had been misunderstood and finishing in an even, unbothered tone: we look out for them. she forewarned, her expression then shifting to match the others grin. And they were under their watch, as best as could be; she presumed Maia had yet to witness the capabilities of a young cub with the motive of escaping... but did not doubt that if there were more children than just Terance's, they would experience firsthand her words. 

Or maybe they had died of starvation already. 

Who knew? Who cared? 

The other admitted once she had sought her family here. It sounded as though she was not searching anymore, but she could not know for certain. She nodded, not really invested enough in Maia to ask for more of her story... It sounds as though they were not there, she responded, deadpan, unless you were looking to avoid them? An interesting thought, but one she could not see for the stranger. It would be telling, however, if she had been.

Mhmm.  Maia wasn't exactly the sort to argue a point, though.  That took a) too much work and b) way too much serious tone.  Two things she wasn't big into on any day.  "Avoid? No way.  They weren't anymore, though there was this really great other wolf who told me they left.  She looked kinda like you."  Older, but still gorgeous, she thought.  There was only a little envy to it; Maia would never be svelte, but she didn't much mind how she was.  Only sometimes when Cass had teased her about it as a kid.

"I ended up finding them later."  She'd taken a few turns to get there, yeah, but shrugged now as if it had been nbd.  None at all.

Who told me they left... a great many wolves had left Moonspear. But a brother and sister pair? Hydra had known only one such duo. The stranger looked nothing like either of them... well, her stature did seem similar perhaps... and she was as much skin and bones as who Hydra imagined her brother to be. Not much else processed from what was said... by the scent, Hydra had known this stranger had inevitably found her traitorous (to her) kin. 

Good, Hydra said simply, nodding her head. Hydra was happy the other had not lingered near Moonspear to elect to stay, only to leave once she did find her brother and sister. She did not want any more wolves to waste their resources. It looked as though Sunspire had none themselves; it was what they deserved, as far as Hydra was concerned. Whatever powers might be believed such a thing, too, clearly. She need not lift a paw to do them any harm... they did it to themselves. The Moonspear woman had little else she desired to say; it was clear her interest in conversation was at a minimum. No longer did Hydra care to make new friends... and, not only this, she had no personal interest in Sunspire at all. It was enough to see the skin hanging from their bones. Winter would starve them to death. It occurred to her then that she may have seen Terance for the last time, the other day—and he had not apologized to her. What a shame his last words to her had been, she thought to herself. She might have pitied him and thrown him more than a thin olive branch.

Yeahhhhhhh.  She could maybe see why her siblings hadn't stuck around.

"Well, you seem suuuper friendly," she  started, "and much as I'm totally sure you wanna talk more, I gotta go hunt.  You wouldn't happen to know a good spot for that?"  She doubted it, but she was definitely hungry enough to ask anyway.

More likely than not whoever this was would just send her on her way, which was fine, Maia wasn't about to beg for besties.  The other wolf she'd met here had been cool, but she'd met a whole lot of not cool wolves too.

Her lack of interest in socializing with the Sunspire wolf was self-explanatory, she felt. But Hydra did not think to act against them, even though one was here. The others verbal observation caused Hydra to grin, unable to withhold her amusement. Friendliness does not keep me fed, she explained, her tail lashing behind her. In fact, friendliness has done nothing for me. she finished, curt. Maia's siblings, who Hydra had been nothing but friendly toward, turned their backs on her; Rannoch closed his eyes to it when his wife wove lies; Gannet chose his fickle brother over her, she, who had never left—

Hydra's muzzle shifted toward the land the Redhawks once occupied as she considered whether or not to aid the hungry girl or not. Herds moved through the Wilderness regularly, often heading to Moonspear by way of this Glen—they might come from several different directions, the times that this happened. Now that the Redhawks had moved, Moonspear wanted for nothing. Hydra could afford to be kind, and yet she could not find the desire to in her. After all, Sunspire had left of its own accord for baseless reasons against her. 

Why should she show them kindness, now, when they showed her none at all? Not even once? She had done for them time and time again, risked her life for what had been loyalty to a fledgling friendship... well, it had been made clear that Rannoch shared no such kinship or loyalty to her. 

I would, she admitted, but your leaders have taken more than enough of our resources as it is. And Rannoch and Liffey had starved those same resources. Truth be told, though, I think wherever you go, you will find more luck than you do on your own territory. I would advise you look away from here, though, her ears leaned forward. She had not forgotten what her father had experienced with Wraen, and if Sunspire did seek to hunt here they played a dangerous game.

Okay.  Her brow lifted but she shook her head, not too bothered.  "Whatever you say.  That's dark though.  Having no friends seems kinda ugh."  Another grin.  "I guess whatever floats your boat?"

Friendliness was kinda the rock Maia died on... she loved it. Strangers or not, if she saw a new face, first instinct was to make nice.  Sometimes it worked out; sometimes, like now, it didn't.

She only grew miffed when Hydra accused her siblings of theft, and her ears tilted back.  She knew they had once belonged to this pack - was that what she was talking about?  "Starting to figure out why they might have left," she muttered, then turned.  "I'll figure it out.  Have a nice, unfriendly life." This was said with decidedly less amusement than the first bit, but she was already beginning to walk away.

Hydra was further amused by the others words. She suffered not at all, though Maia seemed to think her choice meant this. It was not, actually, Terance and Wraen she accused, but Rannoch and Liffey—she had not known her siblings to be leaders, and Liffey not to be one. 

The others next words only caused Hydra's ears to flick, and her weight to shift. Hydra did not give a damn what this wolf thought of her, given the fact that she cared not at all for her or any of her fellows. She had been wronged by Rannoch, by Terance, by Wraen. They formed a pack with her name as its backbone, to make up for their utter lack of such a bone. Were it an amicable departure, she would not have let Maia walk away only to starve for another night. As it was, Rannoch had ensured that each of these wolves would never be a friend to her, and she would not trust a single one of them. She had been wronged by three, and it would not happen ever again.