No need to match length, all welcome <3
With each passing day, prey had seemed to grow more scarce and the conflict in their little group became more heated. Unable to tolerate the conflict, Remmy snuck away late one night to find somewhere quiet and dark, maybe find something to ease everyone's nerves and take their minds off the taxing journey and uncertain future. However, the lands were still foreign, and so the boy quickly became lost and travelled further and further from the rest of the Ferrettis.
Thinking he was heading west, roughly to where his family was, Remmy trekked for what seemed like an age. Instead, he had wandered even deeper into the Wilds.
That was days ago, perhaps even weeks, he wasn't sure. Now, he was a small, starved and haggard lost cause that could be easily mistaken for a coyote if it weren't for his dark fur — fur that was no longer soft and clung to a pronounced ribcage. His shoulder bones, too, jutted from beneath skin as he wandered with a tired, loping gait.
He ended up in a dark glen that, in the late afternoon light, was beginning to glow from the light of fireflies. There weren't many, but it was enough to make the coming darkness a little more bearable. Remmy sat by the edge of a thin stream, staring at the trees that bore no greenery, just like the ones back at the forest they had first come across. What if Giancarlo wasn't right? Maybe they had doomed themselves, their family name, by coming here? He felt his lip tremble at the thought, missing his family dearly, and leant to take a drink from the stream to distract himself.
The fireflys danced in the cooling air, disapearing and reappearing at random. For a moment, the coyote watched them dance with her piercing yellow orbs, standing completely still. Artemis was a creature of the night, sleeping through the day, and evening was her favorite time. The first creatures emerged from hiding, the sun set behind a symphany of colour, and the time of the hunt was upon the creatures of night. Skeletal trees waved their branches in response to a breeze pushing it's way through the forest.
Night had a smell- it smelt mysterious and vivid, something tangible. The sound of a creek moved her forward, she sought to sate her thrist before she searched for a meal in these woods. While she was thin, as were all creatures now, she was not overly so. Being an adept hunter and not needing much to sustain her small frame, she was doing fairly well in these hard times. Not to mention, of course, the slow return of the green buds across the land.
She came across the male shortly, and wrinkled her nose in disdain. Wolf. She stepped quickly to the stream a few meters away from him, lapping at the water but keeping an eye on the male should he try anything. She was not going to be anyones meal, lest of all this ones. He was thin, looking almost coyote-like herself, and Artemis doubted that he had the strength to pursue her. She felt no pity, for only the strong would survive this challenge.
Soft footfalls caused him to pause, nose hovering above the lazily flowing water as his orange eyes danced across the scene before him. The area was cast in a thick shadow, broken only by the soft lights of the fireflies, and the eerie, spindly branches waved above him. Faintly, he could make out a movement from between the trees.
Suddenly the coyote appeared, spilling from the darkness with her muddy-coloured coat and slim figure. She kept her bright eyes on him just as he did her, though his gaze was a mixture of uncertainty and interest. The creature took a drink from the stream as well, but Remmy made no move to resume doing the same, unsure what to do in the presence of another, even if they were just a coyote.
The male seemed uncomfortable, as expected. How else would one act in the presence of one superior, as a coyote? She was sympathetic to this one's uncomfortableness, and spared him another glance. Perhaps this one would make conversation? She could try. "Your name?" she asked, simply. Better to start with simple word, the ones she had come to learn. She hated, however, the accent that clung to her words like a heavy perfumed veil. She would struggle for many months, but would never rid herself completely of the accent.
He noticeably jumped as she suddenly spoke, nerves apparent. A simple yet unexpected question, one which Remmy took a minute or two to process. He blinked before looking away awkwardly with a soft, "R-Remmy." He shifted in position, glancing at the creature again. He had never encountered a coyote before — they were smaller than he thought. This one had a strange, foreign accent, too, making the boy wonder if all coyotes had such peculiar speech.