that scent! val had smelled it before, last spring -- and even caught secretive wisps of it here and there in ursus a few weeks before. he had known, darkly, that to pursue it would put his life on the line.
but now it was here, plain in the snow. the tracks more than a day old, preserved by the calm wind and gentle cloudy weather.
he knew following it was a fool's errand, but he found himself carried away. it frustrated him, it awoke something in him, and for the first time in his life val was seized by an undeniable biological imperative which had him in a stranglehold.
yakone, too, was following a trail in the wetlands. her own pursuit was no less carnal than that of the other wolf roaming nearby, but of a decidedly different nature. the scent of a hare drove her forward, her eyes trained on the unmistakable tracks it left behind.
at least, until she noticed the other wolf in the wetlands. she froze when she saw the dark figure, head lifting to survey him with alert ears and curious eyes. after a moment, she decided to test the waters with a cautious chuff in his direction. he seemed to be tracking something, too, but not the same trail kona was following, so she hung back, wary of aggression from the stranger in defense of his own prospective meal.
a wolf across the floodplains. she saw him first, her chuff alerting him he was not alone.
val's ears shot forward abruptly, his senses scrambling to place the location of the noise. a pale, slight figured interloper with a bloodmark upon her chest.
val's attention was fraught; the waft of scent pulled elsewhere, but here was a wolf in the flesh commanding his attention.
he thought of aves, and how he might handle such a situation. his voice turned from gravelly to wary, his eyes hooded in the way he had often seen aventus carry himself.
for a brief time val considered speaking -- but something in the back of his mind cautioned him against it. quickly, the boy slipped off into the woods.