Wolf RPG

There’s a fresh blanket of snow on the ground when Root wakes this particular morning, as well as a fresh blanket along her coat.  She stands, bowing the front end of her body to stretch out her taut muscles from her slumber, then shakes off the snow that remains.  Flakes fly off in different directions and there’s a mess from where she’d been standing, a mix of white, brown, and dying green beneath her paws.  She hadn’t found a den yet and the ground has been much too hard and frozen to dig her own but she had no intentions of carrying children any time soon so the need for one doesn’t yet sound appealing.  Except it would provide her extra warmth and her relationships with her pack mates didn’t yet exist so she couldn’t bunk with anyone for a while until the ground thaws.

Root puts her legs into motion, warming up her muscles by movement, until she reaches the stream she first met Mordecai a few days prior.  It’s quiet and frozen over again but it doesn’t stop her, stepping down on the ice to try and break it.  This time it takes a little more effort but she pushes with effort and it breaks beneath her weight so she can drink freely.  It’s cold against her throat but refreshing all the same, giving her a nice wake up for her to begin her day.

Up bright and early as always, Ilya had already been wandering the territory in search of small game. So far, she'd only found one squirrel and it was nothing but skin and bones and had escaped up a tree despite her best efforts to catch it. The fae let out an annoyed huff of breath as she walked, soon coming across a new wolf. When she spotted her, she had only seen her padding through the wooded area, and decided, to her own personal excitement, to follow her. Truth be told she wasn't sure who the wolf was, but she was close to the heart of their territory and Mordecai had told them of a new pack member the other day. Using her best judgement, the black wolf only assumed that this was her. 

There was little wind that day(basing this off the weather from Dec. 10th, 3 MPH winds), and Ilya remained upwind either way, keeping her scent away from the nose of the mysterious female. She followed curiously but from a distance, tail wagging with a growing excitement for meeting the new wolf. She didn't follow for long though, soon the wolf began to break at a stream that ran through their territory, soon drinking the water. By this point, Ilya found it appropriate to introduce herself. 

She padded over after the wolf raised her head from the stream, tail wagging politely. She did her best to seem slightly professional, although by now she was far more excited to meet a new pack member. "Hi there!" she woofed lightly, as to not frighten to wolf via jumpscare. She smiled as she looked the female opposite over. "My name is Ilya, I'm the Hollow's gamma," she introduced vaguely, allowing plenty of room for questions if the wolf had anyway. "I take it you're our newest member?" 

As it turns out, Root isn’t alone for long.  A voice behind her catches her attention and she quickly terms, almost jerks in fact, her head to look at another that approaches.  The other female doesn’t ease into the surprise, doesn’t beat around the bush, and quickly introduces herself and acknowledges Root as the newest member of the pack.  It doesn’t settle well with her that she sticks out like a sore thumb, knowing well enough that eventually she’ll meld into the mix and the others won’t acknowledge her as the new kid in town but for now she has to suck it up and let it sort itself out.

“I am,” Root finally replies, glancing behind Ilya to see if anyone else happens to be on their trail.  When it’s just the two of them, she settles enough to relax.  “I’m Root.”

"Root," she repeated, her tail wagging as she studied the females face, memorizing the two together. "It's nice to meet you, Root," she woofed, ears perked as she too kept a steady watch over where they were. In truth, it was early, and perhaps Ilya hadn't expected anyone to come by the hollow so early, but she could tell that the larger female was a bit on guard. The wolfs slight caution reminded Ilya of the cougar, and she made sure she would have one eye open through their conversation.

"Is there anything you meant to do this morning?" Ilya asked, her head cocking to one side. "I don't mind accompanying you, if you'll have me."

The older female repeats her name, and then again, and Root simply nods to return the gesture.  She’s hesitant to speak for the other looks like there is words on the tip of her tongue, ready to spill over, and within a matter of seconds it proves to be true. Her ears cup forward when she’s inquired about her morning.  Root hadn’t really had time to think about it, glancing away from the other and to the water. She doesn’t have much of a routine yet in her new home but it doesn’t stop her from keeping herself busy.  She’s varied her tasks between patrols, back and forth to the opening of their home, and getting a lay of the land rather easily.  It would take time to get the map committed to memory but eventually it would turn around easily.

“I don’t know,” she tells her, glancing back to the woman as she considers the options.  “I’ve never had to start over before so it’s all new to me.”

Root may be just over a year old, coming upon two, but she’d been awfully set in her ways before her world had been turned upside down and she’d been left alone.  She doesn’t know exactly who might have survived the attack but her parents hadn’t and she’s convinced her sister hadn’t come out alive. When she’d left for a hunting trip, the last time she’d seen @Jazz had been with them.  Her head shakes the thought away as she takes a few steps away from the bank of the stream, turning to the clearing Ilya had come from.  

“What are your jobs here?” she asks, licking her lips now that they’ve dried from her drink.  “I had been a hunter before and I plan to gain it again here, once they know I’m worth it.”

Tail wagging, the black female nodded, remembering her own first day back in a pack. "I understand," she responded. Ilya remained silent, for once, when she realized the wolf was thinking. She let her perhaps reminisce, free of interruption, thinking upon her past herself. She was only thinking over her first day, however, when Root asked her a question.

"Jobs?" Ilya repeated, a bit caught off guard from her short space out. "I suppose I do a little of everything," she dipped her head a bit. "I hunt with the pack and check borders," she explained, tail wagging a bit as she thought of her part of the pack. "Although I am studying the trade of a Naturalist, I'm mostly following weather patterns," she explained, her tail still wagging. 

"Hunter is good, and much needed," especially in the winter seasons, Ilya noted mentally. "We could do some hunting now, if you'd like!" she then said, tail wagging. "It's morning anyway, we could work up an appetite and then cool off with a bite to eat," she winked. She chuckled a bit at her 'cool off' joke, considering it was freezing outside anyway, but she hoped the other female would find it somewhat amusing.

The girl hums quietly to herself, thinking about weather patterns and their relation to hunting, or using the best of your situation.  The day is fairly clear with a light snowfall earlier in the day that dusted the ground.  Neither of their coats could blend into the snow so other tactics would be requires to adhere to their surroundings.  Root nods her head, though once she suggests hunting.  Perhaps Root would get a chance to get her advice.  Root turns from the water, letting the other lead.  

“Are there any significant weather patterns that affect herd-prey travel?” she asks.  If she were to go out in a few days to try and find the herd she told Mordecai about, she would need to know where to start.  If heavy snow fall altered their route and she couldn’t find their trail, she might never find them.

"Well..." Ilya began quietly, thinking about it. Truthfully, the wolf had barely even gotten her paws wet when it came to the subject. Of course, she had studied a bit of the rain patterns in the valley and the river flow. Mostly, this had only led her to find a beaver dam. "They definitely don't like the cold," she woofed, jokingly. Of course herds did tend to head towards warmer areas, she thought she remembered. "And they like water. They'll usually move along rivers and streams, and if it's dry they'll probably move away so they don't die of dehydration..." she trailed off, out of advice. "I apologize.. I'm still learning myself,"

Ilya raised her head, sniffing a bit. "I prefer fishing, and the last herd we tracked we haven't seen in a while. But some small game would do us good, I would like to think," she offered, wondering what Root thought of the subject. Wolves usually didn't chase small game, but during the winter season Ilya didn't ever argue.

Root listens carefully as Ilya begins to explain, giving her a little insight on the matter.  She isn’t sure how the weather would alter her tracking the herd she’d caught wind of just before joining but she can’t let Mordecai down so she takes note easily.  The smaller bodies of water are surely freezing over and perhaps they’d move to something with a faster current or bigger body to keep hydrated, even in the winter.  For a moment, she tucks it away, and offers a thankful smile. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever fished,” Root tells her, thinking back to when she was younger.  She played around in the water but never caught anything.  In the warmer months, perhaps she’d come back around for a lesson.  “Big game all the way, though,” she adds with a lopsided smile and wag of her tail.

Tail wagging, the black female stuck her tongue out a little. "I'd show you if everything wasn't frozen over," she muttered, her head tilting a bit. "I caught a fish for Mordecai not too long ago but I practically had to jump onto the frozen creek to clear it. And that scared all the fish off so I had to wait even longer." She chuckled a little bit with herself, but was now craving fish and was disappointed in herself for doing so. There were no fish to be caught and she shouldn't tempt herself was dangerous schemes just to catch one.

Her tail wagged, and Ilya looked to the side. She scanned in that direction, wondering if any sort of large game was nearby. She raised her head a little bit to scent, but was truthfully unsure if she could scent anything. She glanced back towards Root. "Big game is better with more wolves," she shrugged. She did think that she and Root could catch a deer or two together, but she'd never hunted anything bigger without the whole pack by her self. 

Root nods her head but she doesn’t brush off the chance to learn to fish.  It’s apart of what she does, isn’t it?  Even if it isn’t something she does often, she should know how to anyway.  She stores it away for later, in the spring when the creek thaws and everything’s warm again and she won’t catch hypothermia from trying to eat.  “Perhaps another time?” she asks, hopeful the woman would be able to teach her another point in the future.

“I know,” Root tells her with a raised brow, turning her attention to something ahead of her.  Nothing in particular catches her attention and she thinks about the herd of deer she’s to track in soon, once she’s able to get her things together to leave the pack. “It’s what I’m best at,” she clarifies.  She’d trained since she was young.  Different tactics and patterns, organizing wolves to bring down a larger kill.  If her home hadn’t been destroyed, she’d be comfortable for the winter, but starting all over in easy mode hasn’t been ideal.

The older wolf let out a sigh as her lips pursed. Thinking about it, she really did wish that she could fish right now. It was much easier to her, but mimicking the others thoughts, she knew that it was too cold to do so. She'd only done so once to bring to Mordecai as a gift, and it took ages just to break the ice; she felt lucky not to have gotten too wet. She looked back to Root, giving her a soft smile. "When the water thaws," she confirmed, her tail wagging happily. 

When Root commented back about the big game, Ilya felt that her statement was misinterpreted, but was unsure how to correct herself without blabbering on for too long about what she meant, so she dropped it. "I understand," she woofed, offering a kind smile. She followed the bracken colored wolf's gaze, looking off into the forest, but somehow at nothing. "You'll have to give me some pointers," she commented, tail wagging again. "I'm kind of small," she winked, figuring the girl had noticed already, "Perhaps that's my biggest fault, but I'm sure I still have plenty to learn about it."

Root offers a smile and a shake of her tail. Teaching someone else about hunting is something she enjoyed, getting the chance to perfect her own talents and use them in practice. It would also help her connect with her pack mates. “I’d love to,” she tells her. “That doesn’t mean anything,” she says and gives the other woman a once over for the sake of evaluation. “You can still be good at it.” 

Her smile widens and her rump even wiggles with the shake of her tail. “If we can find something big, I’ll show you the areas you’d be good for.”

The girl jerks her nose and trots along, hoping the other might follow. Perhaps they’d find something, but either way they could get a chance to learn a thing or two.

"Sounds good!" Ilya woofed excitedly, her ears perking. She was eager to maybe improve her hunting skills, and learn something new even. The woman's tail wagged, and she stood up after her younger packmate. She nodded, hoping that perhaps they would find something bigger, and trotted after her.