@Tytonidae (Near Blacktail Deer Plateau by the river).
In the gloom of dusk, Cthulhu could just barely distinguish the outline of a jutting plateau from the dark backdrop of the sky. It rose into the heavens and atop it she spied the tips of spindly, half-barren trees poking into the heavens like little spears. At the foot of the plateau, leaving only a thin section of dirt and grass between the sudden wall and its edge, was a rushing river. It foamed in the centre, suggesting rapids hid beneath the surface.
Cthulhu was much too nervous to cross the river. She remembered a time when Mordiggian had tried to cross a river and ended up nearly dead from the cold and ferocity of it. She paced uneasily mere feet from its edge, stretching out her neck to collect the scent of wolves off the breeze. Her attempt to coerce Dagger into feeding her with the glacier's reserves had failed, and she was beginning to feel the hollow gnawing in her gut again.
It was very possible that this pack was more gullible than Dagger's, if only Cthulhu could reach it without trying to swim...
Maroon 5 -- In Your Pocket
After Tytonidae's recent visit to The Sunspire, seeking her mother, she traveled back home. Along the way, she thought of the dark, yellow-eyed boy she had met while she had been there. He had been kind to her, and although he knew nothing of her friends, somehow she had it in her head that he would accept such a thing without so much as a single question mark. There was really no reason for her to think this was true, but she did anyway. He had actually wanted to help her, and he'd even gone so far as to have her infiltrate the pack in a less than honest way. She was not sure that her father would approve of such a thing, so she had no intention of telling him that bit of the story.
Instead of going straight home, Tytonidae had crossed the river so that she was opposite Sheepeater Cliff and only then began following it toward the plateau. She was in no hurry. She had made sure to eat a large meal before leaving home, and she'd managed to catch a few small rodents between The Sunspire and where she was now to tide her over. When she awoke this morning, next to the hot springs, she continued along the river until the plateau was in sight. Once it was, she quickened her pace, eager to get back home.
Before she reached it, though, she spotted a stranger lingering on her side, the side opposite of her home, and she cocked her head. “Hi,” she said quietly, once she was within earshot. Although, with the rushing of the river and the softness of her voice, it was quite possible that her greeting would not be heard. In any case, she knew that wolves had more than one sense to detect the world around them, and surely this spidery creature would realize there was another body nearby.
She paced at the edge of the river for some time, undecided on her next action, before Tytonidae found her. The soft voice was barely discernible over the rush of the river, yet the hybrid turned all the same. Whether she was beckoned by the girl's soft-spoken greeting or by instinct was unsure, but she stared openly when she did turn. The wolf was either young or very thin—Cthulhu herself boasted a near-skeletal appearance—but seemed somehow at ease. She wished she could be so composed.
Unfortunately she wasn't. A shiver wracked her thin frame as she extended her head toward the newcomer, sniffing quickly in order to catch her scent. The smell on the breeze and the smell coming from the female was similar, but because she wasn't acquainted with any Blacktail Deer Plateau wolves, she could only speculate a relation. "D-does that one have any food?" she wondered aloud, for once getting straight to the point.
Ty strained to hear over the river, but she managed to hear "have any food?" and that was enough for her. As an aspiring gamekeeper, she was now actively seeking opportunities to prove herself. “I can get food!” Ty shouted across the river, suddenly full of confidence. Perhaps all she needed was purpose. Without a moment's hesitation, the girl flung herself into the river.
Looking back on it, it was probably not the wisest idea. When Ty finally made it to the other side, she was sputtering and coughing water out of her lungs. But the prospect of practicing her hunting skills were not lost on the girl, and she shook her fur free of the water that clung to it. “I think there’s some good rabbits over here,” she said to the spidery wolf, coughing afterward to clear her airways of the last few bits of water. Beckoning the other wolf to follow, Ty began toward what she thought was a rabbit warren to the west.
Cthulhu didn't make a move to help the girl when she threw herself into the river and struggled across it. Cthulhu was fundamentally selfish, so getting her coat wet and risking herself for the other wolf was, in her mind, far beneath her. Still, she did a mental cheer when Tytonidae pulled herself ashore and indicated rabbits. Any creature willing to help Cthulhu was a creature she very much liked.
"Thank you!" she chuffed happily as she began to follow the younger wolf, "oh, this one thanks you! This one has been so long without proper food, yes, this one was beginning to worry... that the monsters were denying this one food so they could take this one's soul..." She continued to blather on this way as if Tytonidae cared about her imaginary monsters or fears for her soul. Sometimes, it was like Cthulhu spoke for the sake of speaking, and the misguided animal often thought those who were sympathetic toward her actually did care.
So, to the warren they would go. Ty urged her new friend along once more, trotting at an even pace so they could get there. At least, Tytonidae thought she was going in the right direction. She could have sworn they were much closer than this.
Unlike her (wicked) step-mother, Tytonidae listened carefully to every word that was said, even the mumbled ones. So when her new companion went on about monsters and soul-takers, Ty stopped short and her face filled with concern. “What monsters?” she asked, her voice a tremor. “Why would they take your soul?” Tytonidae had many friends (although they had become more scarce lately), though she had never seen any monsters. Her friends were all nice to her, and she did not think they would ever try and take her soul or keep food from her.
Cthulhu followed along in her jittery fashion, quietly consumed in her thoughts, until Tytonidae suddenly stopped. Cthulhu nearly walked right into the juvenile, but managed to put on the brakes just shy of touching the girl's dusky hide with her thin nose. She sniffed curiously but scented no rabbits.
Before she could ask, Tytonidae expressed concern about the monsters. Cthulhu shuddered when the youth uttered that word, "monster", as though it was a curse. "Th-the monsters come from this one's homeland," Cthulhu said in a rushed whisper, "they come on many legs with many jaws and many eyes to eat and seek and they hunt the little wolves." The monsters did other things too according to Dygra, things like cutting deals, stealing souls from bodies, spreading pandemonium... but Cthulhu remembered them most for hunting wolves and cursing them.
"This one knows to keep away the monsters this one must never not fear them," Cthulhu finished, "and must always keep running and running and running..."
Ty shuddered as Cthulhu described the monsters. She wanted no part of them, and she was beginning to wonder if she should stick around the strange wolf. If the monsters were tailing her, they could pop up at any moment and... Well, Tytonidae didn't want to think about that. “B—but I don’t want monsters,” Ty stammered, feeling unsteady on her feet. “And I d—don’t wanna run.” This was her home, she shouldn't have to run away from it, no matter what kind of terrible creatures were coming to get her.
Panic was beginning to overwhelm her, and Tytonidae began shaking visibly at the thought of such terrible things. “Make them leave!” she demanded, sure that she was going to see one lurking behind a tree. She glanced around nervously, completely forgetting about her mission to find food for the stranger. At some point, the spindly creature had disappeared, leaving Ty all alone with the monsters. Even more terrified now, she bolted toward home, taking Cthulhu's advice about running.