@Goldhawk maybe? If you have time. AW for anyone else too.
With little show for it and a stomach full of saltwater, Wynonna decides—on her way back—to travel inland. The first time in weeks, if she is remembering correctly, but the effort is there. If the sea is providing her little (minuscule fish she isn't even sure she's actually ingested), land might offer her more. She comes back the way she'd originally traveled and when Donnelaith is in the distance, she turns eastward into a world unfamiliar to her.
The field is open, what she imagines might have been a beautiful expanse of greenery, left in a wake of budding life. It has been week since the locust swarm took what they wanted and left but now the peeking of new life comes from the ground. The grasses are barely an inch or two in growth but it leaves little hidden from her eyesight. It is when she spots a rat scurrying from one place to another, that she springs into action. Her movements are slow and unsteady and, ultimately, the rodent gets away from her and Wynonna is left in tired desperation and failure.
Oh hallo. ^__^
Primed and strengthened by a set of new responsibilities, Neverwinter's spun-gold bard set out to traverse the fields and find himself a nibble. Well, not
himself. He'd had a nibble a few days ago. The one before that had been for Kaskara's whelping den, but this next catch would be for Eshe, pregnant with their kingdom's little heirs.
Goldhawk was confident in this endeavour, and not picky. He had picked up the scent of a rat, and followed it with his body low... only to discover quite quickly that someone else was already on its trail. He watched from the undergrowth as the tawny female moved ahead of him but then sprung back, defeated. This made him feel strangely sad, despite the fact that it meant he himself was in with a better chance of catching that little rat.
Throw me a challenge, pretty lassie
, Goldhawk made himself seen, standing tall — and then with good nature in his eyes he put forth a proposition.
Fight me for the right to grab that there vermin.
The male startles her when he speaks, seemingly coming out of nowhere once she's registered her surroundings. The rodent had slipped between her paws and now her energy had been wasted with no reward. Green eyes turn and focus on the male as he speaks though for some reason she finds she can't take him seriously. She blinks a few times to pass the time, to figure out if there's something missing that he hasn't told her but she shakes her head before putting a step or two between them.
"No," she says plainly, "it's already long gone and dealing with you would only slow me down."
The woman has little interest in fighting anyway, her body slim and wasting away. Even if the male mirrors her own appearance, she has better use for her energy. Namely, getting back to her home.
He shrugged a shoulder and decided to respect the female's decision. She spoke logically, whereas Goldhawk's thoughts at present were more about keeping up good spirits.
Still, he disagreed that the creature was long gone, though there was a fair chance of it. One could not afford to give up when there were young babes to feed. And so, with that, Goldhawk set out on the prowl, moving quietly towards the tree where last he'd seen it.