The journey from a barren Silver Creek through the equally barren adjoining forest was normally a quick one, as any fit beast would know, but it took a toll on the petite wolf who emerged from the edge of it lightly panting. With only small game and fish to go around, the Alpha of Silver Creek couldn't keep her strength up to optimal levels. Wolves were made for feast and famine, so Saena wasn't in terrible shape yet and wouldn't be for some time, but there was nevertheless an urgency in the gnaw of her belly and she felt readily winded when making treks such as this.
She paused only long enough to catch her breath and let her aching limbs settle before the distant glimmer of an unassuming lake drew her attention. As she approached it with lank strides, she noted a structure around the edge of it, and only when she had drawn near did she realize what it was. An immense beaver dam, larger than any she'd ever seen, lined a large portion of the lakeside. It could easily house many beavers, and yet as Saena drew up to the point where water met earth, she saw not one water rat and her hope fell into her gut like a rock.
maybe im stalking all your threads
Having swooped down from the plateau, Dovev was entering a wide basin criss-crossed with snowmelt streams. His usually muscular form was langly and patched with tufts of fur: a product of mange, which was finally being beaten back. He had covered quite a distance since reentering Teekon, and found
just enough to eat. The carcasses, meager rodents, and fingerlings always left him salivating for more. Hopefully this year would take a turn when things grew again- Dovev was fed up.
The water body glimmered in the late sky, its mud banks hinting at reedy shoots. He stopped to scan the area, only to see a wolf rifling through unpromising branches stacked against the lakeshore. Immediately Dovev's mouth curled. The thought of another of his kind, competiting against him for any available resources set him blazing. During his wanderings, he was more than happy to acquise to packs and other loners, but he had grown ever hungrier. This small creature was a challenge to his hunt for food around the lake, no matter how empty it was. Dovev wouldn't be opposed to even killing this stranger- he wasn't one to balk at cannibalism.
The water was silent. Ordinarily, the Alpha female would've expected the slap of beaver tails against the surface or the sound of wood cracking and splitting under their teeth, but Tuktu Weir was eerily quiet, as if the locusts had stolen away all the inhabitants as well. In truth, many of them were holed up in their dam, finding their own way to cope with the famine by conserving their energy, but Saena was no beaver whisperer. She didn't know where they were, and even if she did, the dam was impenetrable.
She searched the shore for several moments more, but even the prospect of fish was grim. They were no doubt deep in the lake, and she wasn't about to try to go out there to catch one. She suddenly remembered a wolf who had attempted to float out onto a lake on a log, but which lake and which wolf were long gone from her memory, and even if she was desperate she wasn't about to attempt that.
As she turned about, she came across Dovev suddenly. Her paws stilled and she canted her head to study him with upturned ears. She was near enough to the forest that she need fear nothing, and yet time alone plus a constant threat of conflict were common themes for Saena and it was second nature for her to tense her muscles in anticipation, even if Dovev's intentions were not yet known to her.
If he didn't make himself clear before, perhaps the rumbling growl in his throat would be. Half starved and further pushed south, the male was feeling quite trapped and desperate in his new surroundings. The midlands and valleys to the north, yet still below Swiftcurrent Creek, had been a challenge enough, so the wolf had swept his patchy-furred body down and ended up here. Regardless of what this female was hunting for, Dovev was in the mood for anything.
His mind briefly drifted to more fruitful times, where he had been able to share a kill along the shores of a lake. Now he was stalking closer with all the intent to strike. Perhaps it was desperateness in his greyed eyes, hidden behind the hard crinkle of his snarling face. Water always drew prey, for it was a necessity of all creatures, and a commodity to be taken and defended.
From a distance, Saena couldn't hear Dovev's growl, though as he drew nearer the rumble became unmistakable. She was right to anticipate an attack, though she could think of no reason for it. Some wolves were simply volatile, others foolishly brazen. Saena was a little of both, and yet she was neither in its entirety, not the way the approaching male was. The woman thought she was something great at times, thought that her power afforded her respect and recognition, but the world was determined to hold Saena down, it seemed, in spite of all she'd achieved. Dovev showed her no respect, not the respect afforded an alpha nor the respect between fellow wolves. His approach was predatory and his snarl was hungry, and momentarily she was offended.
No matter, she thought at length. Dovev was nobody for her to get offended by, and she wasn't about to get into a scuffle with a lone wolf over something she didn't know he wanted. Only imbeciles fought without a pack to back them anyway, and she was certain she could cinch a victory against a straggler who wanted to pick a fight against a stronger and healthier pack wolf, but Saena had children to think about now, and there was the possibility still that she could lose. It wasn't a chance worth taking for someone of no note like him. So she sidestepped, putting distance between herself and Dovev, and then spun on her heel and loped away.