Siv liked to consider herself a good fisher, but really she had stolen her technique from another form of wildlife. When she had been younger, she’d wandered off to find a grizzly bear fishing for her cubs. While it was not smart for a wolf to peer so closely at a mother bear, Siv had found the means witch which the bear seemed to catch her prey to be quite productive. After several failed attempts, the Savoy girl had come to find that she too could catch the salmon as it leapt from the river upstream. Now, the only difficulty in that was wading out into the water. The time of year meant that there was a nasty chill to the liquid; it stung against her skin, causing the coywolf to hiss in surprise. Tip-toeing carefully, the she-wolf padded to the center of the river and glanced down at the falling water with wide baby blue eyes. “Alright, you little fuckers, come on up,” she grumbled at the water that only continued to splash downstream without a single sign of fish. A heavy frown seemed to crease the girl’s narrow muzzle and she lifted a single paw out of the water to shake it off. The cold was already getting to her; Siv wondered how she would be catching fish during the winter months. Just then, from the base of the small drop in the river, a large salmon sprung up to where Siv stood. She shrieked in surprise and darted her mouth forward, clamping down on the fish with as much force as she could muster. With fish in muzzle, the honey-colored wolf darted back to the bank where she dropped the fish on a nearby stone and beamed down at it with wide eyes.
There plenty of things Juno considered herself 'good at', though at least half of them didn't really require any particular skill. For example sleeping or gulping down a small cache in less that three minutes: those were just of the things she considered herself skilled at -- but really when would this skills come handy in the real-adult world?
Yup, that's right. Never.
Unless Juno pulled her head from outer-space and began to focus on developing real skills (that didn't include pissing off animals twice her size) she would not be able to reach her full potential. If she didn't change her 'play first, work second' mindset she would be condemned to live a life of constant failure (not to mention injury). Painful injuries that would end up killing her one day or another.Luckily, this time had not been the case. Though she had not been able to say she had escaped the goat's push unharmed, she was at least able to walk. Even if it hurt horribly, it was something.
Ouch. Ouch.
She groaned under her breath as she approached the edge of a small river. After quenching her thirst, a near-by splashing brought the pained girl to investigate. "Dang, that was really impressive!" she hollered after seeing the fish practically fly into the other female's mouth as if it were a rehersed act.
There was a God! Siv’s slender muzzle split into a wide grin the moment she heard the other wolf call out in praise at the catch that she had made. Flicking her bright gaze upwards, she locked her baby blue eyes on the stranger who was watching from a short distance down the river. “You bet your sweet ass it was,” Siv hollered back in response, her tail flagging behind her. It was something she was only mildly proud of. It very well may have been the fact that she hadn’t hunted in a month or more, and she had expected to be rusty… like bad rusty. Siv had anticipated that she would have fallen into the river at least three times before she was able to make a catch. Somehow, she’d landed it on the first go. “Come have a bite,” she called out to the stranger with a wave of her muzzle for the other wolf to come closer. The Savoy girl was in a superb mood after having landed her catch, so there was nothing wrong with sharing with a loner. The coywolf female had yet to notice the injuries that her praising companion had sustained, so she waited with a slightly impatient wag of her tail, tongue lolling out of the corner of her mouth.
Even if the victory wasn't her own, she still rejoiced at the other's success. Though Juno was not a bad fisher herself, she had to admit her look-alike's moves were sick. With her tongue hanging limply down the side of her muzzle Juno allowed her a joyful yap to escape from her chest.
Then, fueled by the emotion of the moement she began to buck her legs up and down like a mad bull, nly to recieve an invite from the other girl to share their victory together. The russet daredevil stopped trashing her paws, only to glance at the smiling female with a strange twinkle in her eye.
She trotted towards her, holding a happy smile on her face the whole time. "My! That looks good, thanks for the invite" she barked, while giving the female a quick dip of her head.
There was a strange similarity between them, which made Juno feel even more comfortable next to her..
It didn’t seem to take long for the other female to take Siv up on her offer to share the catch that she had so humbly snatched from the air. The coywolf female peered at this other curiously as she closed the distance between them. They were somewhat similar in appearance, save for the fact that Siv was quite thin and wiry in comparison to this stranger. On top of that, the Savoy girl sported very colorful ears, painted in a handsome rusted cinnamon. It very well could have been the coyote in her that so easily distinguished her figure from the wanderer’s. At any rate, the approaching wolf was still quite pretty to look at, and drew a strange sort of interest from the Savoy girl. Nudging the fish towards the agouti-patterned female, Siv flipped her tongue across her tapered muzzle with a careless sort of charm. Her blue gaze followed the lines of the newcomer with an expression that could only truly be described as lazy interest. “Well, gee, you’re welcome,” she responded with a lopsided smile. “I’m Siv Savoy,” the coywolf girl then introduced with a small dip of her muzzle towards the dirt. Without really realizing it, the girl began to notice that this stranger did not carry the scent of a pack on her pelt. This was intriguing to Siv only because of her recent commitment to the caldera and their leaders. A thought passed through the back of her mind, wondering if it would be wise to mention to the loner that there was a good chance the caldera could be a fitting home for her as well, but decided against it for the time being. Perhaps it would have been wiser for her to see where their conversation was carried before mentioning a pack to a complete stranger.
With a sudden movement her look-alike nudged the fish forward, inviting Juno to have the first bite. Another wolf might've argued that it wasn't right to have the honor of eating first when all she had done was watch, but Juno obviously didn't stop to even say a word. With a choked chuff that meant to be a thank-you she sinked her teeth into the soft flesh of the fish and ripped out a good chunk.
After chewing down the piece she raised her eyes to the girl, who was now making an introduction. The russet female nodded while she swallowed, not wanting to speak with her mouth full -- though she was capable of it. "Siv Savoy it's a real pleasure" she barked with a graceful dip of her muzzle. Then with a quick lash of her tongue to gather all remaining pieces off her snout she presented herself too,"I'm Juno, but you can call me whatever" she barked. Names weren't really that important to Juno, they didn't define or label an individual more than their actions did.
"Where are ye from Siv?" she asked suddenly, not waiting for her companion to even finish chewing or swallowing.
I'm the worst for making you wait so long! Forgiiiiiive meeeeee?
Still jazzed from her catch – and the fact that she had a witness for the epic feat – Siv’s tail flagged wildly behind her as she watched the female take a bite from the fish. She had traveled a good portion of her life, but she had never found herself around so many wolves before. The Teekon Wilds seemed to be a good housing for several large packs and more loners than Siv cared to even think about. It did not matter the day, if the coywolf female rose from her den and set out into the unclaimed territories, she was certain that she would bump into someone that she had never seen before. Being a social creature, this fact was more promise than it was a threat to the blue-eyed female. She knew that she would never find boredom there.
The female introduced herself as Juno, to which Siv smiled wildly at. “Juno! What a killer name,” she exclaimed with a goofy expression on her thin features. “What’s it mean? Do you know? I’ve always been interested in what people’s names mean ‘cause, I mean, it says a lot about ‘em, right?” the girl then chattered incessantly. Names were something that would always be interesting to the coywolf. She had been perplexed and inspired by them since she had been little, and she had always inquired to her mother about why names were so important for wolves. Siv felt as though her own calling was the most precious treasure that she carried with her. It was something that could never be taken away.
A question was posed as to where Siv was from. The girl tossed her rusty-colored ears forward and her dark lips curled upwards in a smile. “I belong to Redhawk Caldera,” she responded with a proud puffing of her small chest. “But before that, I was just a loner… born on the beach a couple of years ago and took to that land loping lifestyle.” In truth, she had set out in search of her father and had only managed to settle down due to the persuasion of Fox. It was not something that she was sorry for. Siv loved the caldera and the wolves who belonged there, but there were still times when she wondered if she would ever meet the legend that her mother had spoken so fondly of in Siv’s youth.
The saltyness from the fish's flesh was like heaven in her mouth, she could feel her tongue rejoicing as she finally swallow the last bits of fish she had recently collected from her snout. Though they were gone -- just like a good half of the fish -- she could still feel the flavour of it lingering in her tongue and the roof of her mouth. It wasn't a banquet but it sure felt like it for the starved female. Tonight her belly wouldn't growl louder than her snores -- or not as loud.
It was in that moment when her rusty-look-alike answered again, after being accidentally cut off by Juno's own mumblings. "Siv is pretty nice too -- short and sweet" she giggle, returning the female's compliment with a broad smile of her own, not aware that now it Siv hhad taken the chance to sputter questions of her own.
Whether or not her previous response had been heard, Juno did not wait to cram in another answer, "I don't know, it's probably just a mash up of syllables my crazy mother came up with -- her name is Nova after all." she joked, feeling a mixture of nostalgia, outshined by joy when the topic of her dear mother came up. She loved her mother -- no, her mothers.
Juno had been so lucky she had had two of them.
Siv was a curious creature. She spent her days eagerly waiting for new knowledge and findings – things that she was not aware of before. The wolves of the Teekon Wilds, she had found, were incredibly resourceful beasts. She had never witnessed some of the things that had taken place in her time there. The coywolf was certain that she would learn much more as she went along. New wolves seemed to wander in and out of their lands each day, and she had noticed that there were fresh scents on the caldera. It would be no surprise to her if some of the wayward souls sought shelter for the coming months so that they could press on in the spring. Of course, Siv was not entirely sure how well Fox or Peregrine would appreciate that. She assumed that they preferred life-long pack members. Wolves who were willing to commit.
“Nova,” Siv exclaimed after a few moments of pondering on Juno’s mother’s name. “That’s like a star that’s super bright!” She could recall this, only briefly having heard stories of stars from her own mother when she had been no more than an ankle-biter. It did force her to think that the tales she had been raised on, and the things that Finna had taught her, very well could have led the coywolf girl to be something of a good naturalist for her pack. She did not think that the lives of stars would be all too important for the wolves of the caldera, but she did think that it could transpire into something more.
Deciding that it would be wiser to change the subject so that Juno was not forced to sit and listen to Siv prattle on for hours, she flicked her ears forward and blinked once or twice. “Do you belong to a nearby pack?” the girl asked politely. She had lived the life of a lone wolf herself, and so she would not condemn this woman for doing the same. However, she would be quick to list the benefits of her own home to Juno in hopes that it might lure her there. The caldera was a wonderful place to live.
Juno could not blame Siv for being curious -- especially since Juno herself was one of the biggest, nosiest and most intrusive creatures alive. (and then she wondered why it was that no one told her any juicy secrets)
Oh, but that was some juicy information! "Really? Where'd you get that?" she pryed, fixing her round eyes onto the coywolf's face to ensure she did not miss any detail of the explanation. Imagine what her mother would say if she knew her name meant 'bright star' -- oh she would definitely tell her; that if she ever decided to haul herself back home someday. "What about Cian? That's my other mother's name" she asked, wanting to include both of her mothers into the conversation.
The more the merrier right?
However, before Juno could ask for yet another name (her sister's) Siv intercepted her with a question of her own. To be honest, the idea of joining a pack had not yet crossed the female's mind. The majority of wolves that had crossed her path had been loners, who in the same way as her struggled to bring dinner to their tables every night. Besides, having grown up in a family unit different than a pack, she had simply learned to assume that the struggle was part of life itself, and that by seeking her independence she had to accept it, like any other wolf "Nope. Just me, myself and I -- oh, and my fleas" she joked in a sing-song voice. So far, life as a loner had been good to her. Even with the hunger, the cold and the obvious loneliness, the glory of feeling free made it all worthy.
