Nermina had been sleeping in a cold cave for weeks now, which is no place a cat should sleep. She had her eyes on the mountain and waited a few days to claim it as her own. A few days to long. Some wolves moved onto the mountain and claimed it as their home. Now where was a mountain lion suppose to live if not on a mountain. She wouldn't have it.
Nermina knew the way of wolves and how they are so protective of their home, but she didn't care. She walked through their boarders, and caught scent of some food. She walked over to where the smell was coming from, only to notice it was put underground.
How disgusting she thought to herself. A queen like herself would store her food high up in a tree, nothing but those nasty little birds and squirrels could get her valuable food up there. She stood tall and noticed some movement in the distance, and immediately became alert. A wolf's scent filled her nose, and she said and waited for them to approach, surely they wouldn't be happy about a stranger being on their land.
It was time to be cautious. FitzDutiful was on the defensive as he stalked the mountain lion that had so brazenly ignored their borders and wandered through their lands. He normally had no problem with the rest of the wildlife but big cats were another thorn altogether. Not only were they cats (and FitzDutiful detested cats) they were also prone to eat the same food and competition was not something to be toyed with lightly.
Spring may be on its way but, especially on the mountainside, the snow was still fairly prominent and had yet to water down completely. The cat appeared to be waiting for him as he approached, still cautious. Defence was priority but, ever dutiful, he would try to do the right thing.
"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked, loathe to be an accuser before he knew the female in front of him and what she wanted.
A pale wolf approached her and she wanted to rip his face off. However that was no way for a queen to act, besides she didn't want to deal with the rest of the wolves on the mountain. "My apologies sir" she said politely. If she was nice enough, even though it would be unlikely, she wondered if she could live with these wolves. If they wanted she could stay away from them, but a mountain lion belongs on a mountian, not in a cave like a bat.
"I wanted to see who claimed the mountain" she admitted truthfully. She couldn't just drive them off, after all she didn't claim the mountian as her home. She watched to make sure he wouldn't attack her, or call for any of his little doggy friends. Nermina didn't see dogs as her rivals, she only saw them as another creature below the great and powerful feline.
Was this her home, FitzDutiful wondered as she spoke. He hadn't known of any mountain lions when they scoped out the area, nor when they claimed or even when they had howled. It had almost been a month since they had founded and no one, other than the dogs, had bothered them.
"I'm sorry if we've claimed something you wanted for your own." He was tempted to offer her some sort of agreement but he wasn't sure that she wanted to stay. If she did then he would ask her the same questions that he would ask any pack member. He didn't really want a mountain lion on their territory and if there was the option of them sharing the mountain then that would be ideal. Maybe she would be willing to stick to their outer territory? That could work. Wildlife walked through those all the time and, as long as they didn't venture too close to their inner border, he didn't mind that much.
Regardless, he wasn't going to offer that unless he had no choice. He'd rather she left completely.