Her stomach rumbled for the thousandth time. She shot a glare at the ground, as though somehow her frowny face would imprint itself on the soil and stare back up at her belly. She mentally berated herself for being hungry, if only because it made her feel better to berate herself than to admit she needed help. She was inefficient hunting by herself... At least, she had been lately.
Wandering by the side of a creek, the black Endore shot the silvery water a reproachful look. If only she could hunt as effortlessly as Kodokuna had in the mountains, she would be fuller than a queen. Unfortunately, she wasn't very successful at finding fresh food.
Her walk along the creekside was halted suddenly as the smell of rotting meat reached her. Salivating wildly, the Endore rushed forward, finding a half-eaten, maggoty otter corpse. Ignoring the possible disgust that might result from eating something so outdated, the Endore swept forward and fell upon it, devouring strips of sour flesh like it was the sweetest meat she had ever had.
Fireblaze was trekking through the neutral territory, trying to bring back good memories of BDP. Amnesia had taken them all, even the bad ones. She sat down and saw a lone wolf eating a rotten otter carcass that had been there for weeks. Walking over, she cocked her head at the loner. "Why are you eating a rotten carcass?" Sitting down, she made herself comfortable, expecting a long story. She pulled the carcass away, not wanting this wolf to get sick and die. "Don't eat this," she said sternly, motherly even. "You will get sick."
She was heading towards the flatlands, the only place she had not explored in Teekon Wilds. So far she had been north, south, west, and a little ways east, but not in the center. To be honest she was glad to get away from Jinx and her sickness. The priestess had an inkling on what her alpha was afflicted with, and she wanted to be as far away as possible from her. So she passed through the old borders of Silvertip and made her way to the grasslands in the valley.
Soon she was approaching a little creek, the soft ripples she could hear from a distance, and the smell of water from a lot farther. Though a stronger smell pervaded her nostrils, that of rotting meat. Her nose wrinkled in disgust, but that was how nature worked. If a carcass wasn't found by a scavenger, than it was left to the decomposers.
However, this carcass was found, by a wolf. Two wolves? The pair came into view then. She could not hear their words, but only saw their actions. One wolf was chewing at the carcass, when another came and pulled it away. A fight? She walked closer, wondering why they were fighting over a long-dead carcass when it wasn't even the hungry months.
I'm powerplaying Fireblaze out of this thread because she is currently suspended.
Ptarmigan didn't really know anything about rotting meat. She knew after some time, meat would begin to smell weird and bugs would take it over, but she didn't know anything about bacteria or food poisoning. After all, she was a wolf, and therefore pretty much immune to that sort of thing when it came to red meat. Fresh meat tasted the best, but a hungry lone wolf such as her had to eat, even if it meant eating garbage.
The taste didn't bother her, nor did the smell, but it apparently bothered
someone. She was approached by a bold black bitch with bright blue eyes, who proceeded to sit herself down as though she wasn't intruding. Ptarmigan peeled back her lips, revealing festering otter flesh between her teeth as she chewed her current mouthful. It was a clear sign that the other wolf wasn't welcome, yet Fireblaze reached out a paw, chiding her for eating it.
Immediately, the Endore lashed out at the intruding wolf, snapping her jaws dangerously close to the other female's foot and hunching over the rotting otter possessively. Apparently, Fireblaze came to her senses and chose to disappear back in the direction she'd come from, leaving Ptarmigan alone with her food... Or so she thought until glanced to the left and spotted another dark wolf. Meldresi wasn't close yet, but Ptarmigan was ruffled by Fireblaze's intrusion. She placed both forepaws on either side of the otter and rose, snarling her intent to guard this unsavoury meal from the priestess.
As she got closer she realized what was really going on between the two females. Meldresi watched calmly as the second black female was chased off by the first for getting to close to her meal. What kind of fool would do such a thing? If she didn't want the kill, then why did she get close to it? Ah well, fools will be fools.
With the other female gone, the green-eyed one snarled at her, thinking that she was going to eat her otter. Meldresi only strode to the water's edge. "Relax." she said, lapping the water gently. "I have no interest in your carrion."
Meldresi drew nearer, prompting Ptarmigan to curl over the rotted otter with her hackles bristling. Perhaps it was a foolish endeavour to covet this one piece of filth, but it was the only food she had, for now. But the second blue eyed female paused at the water's edge, and then confirmed she had no interest in Ptarmigan's fare.
The Endore relaxed a little then, but kept one foreleg thrown haphazardly over the maggoty otter. “That other wolf told me not to eat it, like it was a bad thing,” she snorted, thinking it was some kind of silly little joke. “Must have the weakest stomach going.” She thought that Meldresi would share her opinion on the matter, and didn't question that thought.
The wolf snorted in amusement about the misguided female. Meldresi only responded with a little chuckle, but was amused nonetheless. Who on earth told her that carrion was bad for wolves? Their stomachs were built to digest such things. Though Meldresi preferred cleaner meat, she had eaten crowfood when she was desperate. "A weak stomach, and perhaps a weak mind." she joked.
“Clearly a moron,” she said through a mouthful of rotted otter flesh. The taste was beginning to wear on her tongue and, although she wasn't entirely sated, she pushed the carcass into the water. It bobbed for only a second on the swift current before sinking like a stone.
Turning her attention fully on her “guest”, Ptarmigan began with the most eloquently stated question she had ever uttered: “who're you?” It seemed like a natural place to begin a conversation, at least to the tactless Endore.
Bobber was treading through the creek, when an otter carcass-of all things-washed up at her feet. Hungrily, she took a bite, then immediately spit it out. Maggots had gotten inside of it, and by the looks of it, a wolf had just eaten some. Jumping lightly over the old otter, she barely made a splash, then padded on, working her way upstream. Two wolves were sitting, talking. She heard one say "Clearly a moron." (Offensive, by the way) Padding forward, the yearling forgot she was a bob-cat. "Hello," she offered. "Want to be friends with me, and my other friend, Flit? She is over there." Bobber pointed to a tree overhang, where her imaginary friend was. Staring hopefully up at the two wolves, the yearling suddenly felt afraid. Don't hurt me." She said sternly, trying her best to act like her mother.
The black female pushed the otter carcass into the water, letting it sink into the stream before asking who she was. "I am Meldresi Melonii from Ouroboros Spine. May I ask who you are?" From the smell of her, she looked to be a loner.
Then, of all things, a bobcat approached them. A young one, too, asking to be friends with them. Meldresi bit back a laugh. "Did your mother ever warn you about talking to strangers? Especially those who could hurt or kill you?"
Don't take offence to things that characters do or say ICly. None of it is personal.
Meldresi Melonii from Ouroboros Spine was the other wolf's name. This earned something of a grimace from Ptarmigan, who responded with,
“that's a weird pack name.” Meldresi's name itself was elegant and rolled on the tongue, not that she repeated it to appreciate its fullness.
“I'm Ptarmigan Endore of Nowhere,” was her own introduction, but before she could say much more about this "nowhere" pack, they were interrupted by an unusual visitor.
Ptarmigan's ears peeled back on her head as a
bobcat approached the two wolves, talking about a supposed "Flit" which appeared from the cat's gesture to be a tree. Ptarmigan made a disgusted sound in her throat, standing at her full height and casting a stern glare down on the smaller animal.
“If you don't want to get hurt, don't approach higher predators,” she said with a snap of her teeth in the feline's general direction.
Glancing sidelong at Meldresi, Ptarmigan squared her silver speckled shoulders and began to sidestep away from the bobcat.
“It was great to meet you and stuff, but clearly, crazies hang out here, so I think I'm going to take myself elsewhere. You probably should too.” Did the water make animals sick here, or something? In her experience, bobcats avoided wolves, and the behaviour of that first wolf was questionable as well... Whatever the case, the Endore was suddenly sketched out about staying there any longer. She aimed one last pointed stare at Bobber as though he was some kind of anomaly of nature, and then began to lope away.
Bobber padded up to a tree, leaping onto the lowest branch. "But I am all alone," she wailed. "I don't have a mommy to tae care of me!" She stared at the wolves, tears falling down her cheeks. "I didn't have the childhood you did!"