The small pack hunt this morning had ended in failure. After taking a break at the rendezvous site for a few hours, Peregrine set out again on his own. He struck a scent trail near the borders and followed it due north toward Big Salmon Lake. Although quite protective of his home, particularly these days, he didn't mind leaving it on occasion, especially not in pursuit of game. And he no longer dreaded running into someone he knew. He almost wanted to be approached out here now, if it meant he could deter these outsiders from coming to his doorstep.

He discovered a small band of mule deer browsing near the shoreline and settled down to observe them for a little while. Peregrine didn't think he would be able to take this kind of risk, yet he would keep an eye out in case an opportunity presented itself. There were a few calves in the little herd. Perhaps an adventurous one would straggle away from the group. Tender calf meat would be the perfect sustenance for the nursing Finley.

By now, Tonravik was hungry. A pack hunt would occur when they returned. In the meantime? She and her mate followed the trail of mule deer. She gestured to her mate. The two of them were large enough to take down a smaller one, if they could work together to separate one. Peregrine, downwind, was missed by the mother-to-be, who as of now was two weeks along. The leader could still hunt, and there was no sign of the life that brewed within her womb.

The mule deer were aware of their presence, given their lack of cover. Still, she waited for a cue from her mate that he was ready to harass with her, and to separate the animals from one another so they could weed out the weak.

They hadn't taken the time to hunt. Not completely. Sure, they'd tided themselves over with smaller game and snacks here and there, but in their travels there hadn't been much of an opportunity to go after anything more sustaining. Until the mule deer. As always, Tonravik had picked up on them first and Kerosene clued into her endeavors shortly there after. They stalked, approaching the lake where the deer settled to quench their thirst and rest for the afternoon.

The deer spotted them. Kerosene shifted, flicking his ears aside in his brief annoyance of their lack of cover and lost element of surprise. All the same, he hunkered down and hyper-focused upon the herd, watching and waiting for some deer to take a risk they could take advantage of. Upwind, he was also oblivious to the wolf looming further in the breeze.

There it was. That one. He nudged her, turning his nose in the direction of the fawn that slipped a little too far away from the herd.

Suddenly, the wolf to mule deer ratio jumped. Peregrine watched apprehensively as a pair of large wolves entered the scene, causing the herd to spook but not flee, at least not yet. He was downwind, so their scents veritably poured into his nose. It was a male and female, possibly a mated pair. They were relatively young and healthy, prime examples of their species. They appeared to be hunting. Their scents were not familiar to him, yet Peregrine guessed he was looking at an Alpha pair, judging by the half a dozen other individual scents woven into their own.

He did not deign to disrupt them, as they had easily twice as good a chance at felling something. Peregrine did not intend to ask them to share, either. He just wanted to observe. Perhaps they would feed and then abandon their kill, so he could scavenge some fresh meat to take home. The Gamekeeper certainly wasn't above a free meal, especially not with little Elwood Jr in mind. He maintained his position, lying low, jade eyes sharp and all other senses tuned to the outsiders' hunt.

Tonravik, when Iqniq caught on, circled the herd, nipping at the heels of those that would dart away to instigate terror. It was working. As it turned out, most of the herd began to head to the Caldera; but she and her mate had by now separated one that her mate gestured to. Tonravik was swift in her approach, moving head-on toward the startled creature who then bolted to the side.

She had expected this, and she expected Iqniq to herd it toward her. She would not go hungry this evening, and neither would he. It was the very beginning of her necessity to eat for more than one. Her tail waved as she altered her own path, anticipating both of their next movements.

Dinner was decided upon and they moved for the kill, working together as a team to drive away the rest of the herd and simultaneously trap the fawn in the process. For this, lakes were wonderful things. The herd darted, taking off towards the southeast while Tonravik goaded them further. Kero moved with her, lingering a few paces behind if only to turn his focus more on their supper and trap the young deer against the lake.

Thing about deer? They were excellent swimmers. Lucky for him, Kerosene actually liked the water, perhaps a little bit too much to the point where he chased that fawn into the shallows and caught it right about the same time the deer remembered it was still a novice at swimming. Not to mention, they'd done this a time or two before with larger deer. This one? This one would be a snap.

He went for a hind flank. Teeth sunk into its flesh as he got a good hold. He shook his head, sinking his teeth in further as he pawed backwards in the water. If he could reign it in just a little bit more, Tonravik could join him and go in for the easy kill. Now if the deer would stop screaming they'd all be able to enjoy this just a little bit more.

They closed in on the herd, spooking them into flight. The pair of wolves swiftly singled out a growing fawn and chased it toward the water. Peregrine sat up a little higher to get a better view, his muscles quivering in anticipation. He was so focused on their distant endeavor that he didn't notice the pair of does running right toward him until the very last moment.

They were nearly upon him when he jumped up with a snarl of surprise and dove out of the way. Body crouched and ears pinned, he stared after them... and realized that the chase had caused one of the two to begin delivering a late fawn. Peregrine blinked, then recognized the rare opportunity and gave chase, forgetting about the pair of hunters behind him.

It took all of his strength to catch up to the two does. When he came nearer, one of them made a sharp and rapid turn. He ignored her, letting her escape, and continued to pursue the birthing doe. She was slightly slower for the pain of giving birth on the run, yet no less feisty for it; she aimed a hoof at him which clipped his ear painfully.

With a growling grunt, the Alpha wolf threw himself at her hindquarters, closing his jaws around one of the two legs dangling there. With absolutely feral savagery, he yanked, literally tearing the newborn from its mother. He closed his eyes as blood and other fluids drenched him, clinging to the tiny deer as it hit the ground with a loud thwack! The mother bleated loudly but kept running, leaving a trail of bright red blood as she went.

He could see her slowing and stopping in the distance, whether because she was exhausted or reluctant to give up on her baby. Peregrine kept a jade eye on her as he wiped the warm liquid from his face, then quickly dispatched the squirming fawn.

This was not the first time they had taken down a creature in the water. This would be the second mule deer the romantic couple drowned together before eating. But it did not drown; her mate pulled it backward, and Tonravik was aware of a commotion in the background. Whatever it was, her mind was honed in on the hunt. She too grabbed hold of a leg of the animal and it snapped as the full force of her jaws displayed their power, the bone breaking in her mouth. She was able to pull it with her mate too land and it fell.

Even as it lived and breathed they could tear into it. It bleated exhaustedly, and Tonravik took quick stock of her surroundings. There was another wolf in the distance... but he seemed content with his own meal the animal watching had delivered prematurely. So she did not waste time watching him any longer but instead, dug into the twitching animal, ravenous, hunting for her favored part of it, its liver.

Tonravik joined him. With her teeth crushing and successfully disabling one leg, Kero took the opportunity to reposition his teeth on the fawn's opposite leg. Jaws met and he crushed it, right at the bend in its knee, successfully crippling the deer further. Both hind legs? Gone. The deer's powerful hindquarters were out of commission which aided in allowing them to drag it back to the shore.

It still fought. Still kicked with its front limbs. They felled it and Kerosene hovered over the animal. He lifted his head, dodging a blow when his nose caught foreign scent of copper and something else. A little distracted at the moment, he ignored it and lowered his head, moving in to steal this fawn's windpipe and rob it both air and the ability to keep screaming.

There. Silence. And stillness. He stepped around the carcass and ravaged the corpse with his own teeth.

The Alpha did not take one bite, aside from the killing one. He stood panting over the wet newborn fawn, then turned when he heard the telltale sound of feeding wolves. He arched his head to afford himself a view of the pair gorging themselves on an older fawn. He smiled wanly, happy for their success despite the fact that they were natural rivals. As he watched them, he found himself uncharacteristically curious about their identities. What if they weren't from a pack? What if he could recruit two incredibly promising hunters into his ranks today?

Unable to resist finding out for sure, the Alpha snatched up the limp fawn and began trotting back toward the two strange wolves. He maintained a distance of perhaps one hundred yards, keeping his body language entirely neutral to make it crystal clear he posed no threat. He had a meal of his own, which he dropped at his paws. He didn't need to steal their food.

"That was quite a take-down. Thank you for the unexpected opportunity, by the way. I couldn't have done it without you," he called out to them, indicating the slain infant at his feet. "I'm Peregrine, from the caldera," he also offered, giving them room to either introduce themselves in turn or tell him to mind his own business.

Silence fell after the flame made quick work of its windpipe. She continued to eat, digging her snout deeper into the creatures belly and foraging her way through her bites to obtain the things with plenty nutritional value, leaving a good amount for her mate as well. Her lobes were perked forward and her vision noted the movement of the other wolf, who for one reason or another came nearer. Tonravik initially loosed a low growl while she fed. Tonravik had learned by now not to trust that other wolves were smart and would keep to themselves. Even if he had food, some wolves simply wanted to have it all. Truth be told, Tonravik could be incredibly possessive like that, given she was a leader and sometimes was inclined to be a bit of a bully... but not on neutral territory. And they were certainly on that.

But he kept his distance and his stance was neutral, and Tonravik trusted body language. That had yet to fail her. She kept eating in the meantime, even as he spoke. Their trip had been a long one. But at the least, she had listened.

Peregrine, of the Caldera. She stored the information in her mind. Tonravik paused long enough to inform him where they were from, "The Spine," came her gruff response, and the stoic woman neglected to tell him of her name. She was distracted by her meal, and again, was horrific with talking to others in general... it had been a thoughtless thing on her part, more focused on filling her belly than talking to another from another pack, no less. More than a quarter of her snout was covered in blood, and she looked to her mate briefly before returning to her task at hand, hunkering over the fallen creature but leaving Iqniq plenty of room for a great share himself. Her eyes remained upon this Caldera wolf, wondering if they were as dumb as the plains wolves and wanted to try their hand at Russian roulette as well.

There was nothing quite like the flavor of the young. Soft. Tender. It was not nearly as filling nor as thick as older varieties, but it held a uniqueness that was well worth sampling here and there. Plus, it was an easy kill. After traveling for as long as they had, he'd eat just about anything and he was not about to complain about this one. Not when, between the two of them, there was plenty to go around. Tonravik had her fill and he enjoyed the rest. He wasn't particular over what he ate. He didn't have favorite parts of pieces so long as he ate and felt full. That was enough.

A wolf lingered in the distance. A new one. His silhouette was of no significance to him so long as that wolf was mindful of their kill. Their claim. Kerosene's head lifted as his tongue rolled lazily around his muzzle and licked the blood from his maw. His nose scented, but found little more to find as his senses were currently drowned in the fresh crimson of their prize.

Nevertheless, he rose, moving to stand somewhat protectively over mate and their supper as he allowed his pregnant mate to have her lion's share. With distance between himself and the carcass, he could smell the air more clearly. The wind shifted, drawing the stranger's, no... he'd called himself Peregrine so, Peregrine's scent upon his nose. Whatever it was it was nasty. He looked wet, but there was no way that slickness was from the lake. The scents would have been different.

His eyes flicked, noting the equally as slick creature this wolf dragged. It looked– Oh. Well now. That was just nasty. "Lake's that way," he pointed with his nose. Some wolf needed to clean that shit up.

The she-wolf spoke first, her voice gruff as she declared her allegiance. Peregrine felt a pang of disappointment. His eyes then shifted to her mate (presumably). He met the stranger's words with a blink. He didn't follow. Did he think Peregrine should wash off the tiny corpse? But the fluids would provide extra nourishment to Finley and her own suckling young. Then he realized. Oh, he thought, looking down at himself. He was covered in a sticky grime that would dry into an awful crust if he didn't rinse himself off and soon.

He licked his chops, then picked up the dead fawn and trotted to the bank, keeping a comfortable distance between himself, the other two wolves and their kill. He set the carcass down nearby and then waded quickly into the water. He went deep enough to plunge his head under the surface, then came back up with a loud snort and several shakes of his head. Peregrine then retraced his steps back to dry land, though not without stopping in the ankle-deep water, then suddenly lowering himself and rolling in the shallows to remove the crud from his neck and shoulders.

He stood, dripping, then exited the water and placed a paw over the slain newborn. "Are you the Alpha pair of the spine?" he guessed, trying to remember if he had ever met anyone else from the pack. He vaguely recollected a black wolf identifying himself as the spine's Beta coming to visit back in the caldera's earliest days. He could not remember his name. He did remember warning him to leave them alone and he would return the favor. He had evidently passed along the message because Peregrine could not recall having any trouble with the Ouroboros pack, despite its proximity.

"I met your Beta once, a long time ago. I told him to mind his own business and we would do the same. He is perhaps the only wolf in the world who actually paid my words any attention. I want you to know it's appreciated, in this day and age of entitlement and dumbfuckery," Peregrine found himself saying.

Tonravik was too immersed in devouring their dead calf to pay much heed to the others scent. Even then, Tonravik was not all that mindful to the way horrific things smelled; that was life. If it was too putrid, like skunk, it could sting and be obnoxious but other than that, the scents of nature were well-known to Tonravik. She gobbled down more of the animals innards before pausing to pay heed to the wolf before them, who, like most wolves, wanted to talk.

She listened for the most part, a stiff nod to his first question. That was the extent of the knowledge she would deign to give him of their home, and she licked her bloodied chops. He spoke of a male beta, and Tonravik flared her nostrils. It must have been a man beneath the woman who led once; not a one remained of them but for the timid Loreley, although Tonravik still wondered of Sitri and his return.

He continued talking, speaking of his gladness that they did not come to his borders any. They were close; truly, the Caldera were their closest neighbors. But they had seen no trouble from any of their subordinates, so she was not troubled by them yet.

What he meant she was not sure. Tonravik was not so verbose, so surely her mate knew what he meant by his slew of words. But his thanks did leave her wondering. "Have you dealt with any of the wolves of the plains," she gestured in the general direction of the river. Across from it was Hoshor. The scarred she-wolf wondered if perhaps they had a preference for these wilds when trespassing.

The wolf took his advice and moved to clean. Kerosene watched out of the corner of his eyes, moving to continue his feast while he paused every so often to glance at the wolf who was cleaning himself of the muck. Smart of the wolf. Better to get that off before it dried. Considering he'd also killed the new born that was with him, it wasn't likely to run off. Sometimes hygiene was a little more important than food. This was one of those few rare instances.

He wolfed down a few more bites before the caldron wolf emerged from the water with a question. Talkative this one was. It gave reason for Kero to smirk. His mate was the least chatty wolf he knew so if either of them were to bridge that gap between question and answer it was him. Unfortunately, he wasn't feeling particularly talkative, nor did he run around announcing his freshly earned title.

He was saved from answering when the wolf continued, speaking of a beta beneath them. Kroc was only recently prompted. Before that? Before that was before Tonravik. The spine held history, but whatever this wolf spoke of was not any history of theres. "We have no male beta beneath us," was all he said. In his own way, he answered both questions. Yes. They were above beta and therefore the alpha pair. In the same stroke, whatever wolf this one had spoken to was no longer relevant. Fortunately, the spine cared little for the territories of others. They weren't about to knock on another's door without reason.

Tonravik spoke then. Kerosene silenced. Her question was the very reason as to why they traveled and it was really all they cared to know. The rest didn't much matter. Thus far, only their newest of neighbors were shaking up the neighborhood.

The fiery male informed Peregrine that there was no Beta male in their ranks, a bit of information he received in silence. It did not surprise him that the ranks in the spine had changed over the past half a year, nor did it really interest him. The point was still the same. The Ouroboros Spine pack had never caused trouble at Redhawk Caldera and vice versa. In a world with no respect for boundaries, they were an exception. It was ironic that their invisibility should make them stand out to him.

The she-wolf asked about the plains, which Peregrine took to mean Kintla Flatlands. "We have a history with Blacktail Deer Plateau and Silvertip Mountain," he shared. "We've had a variety of wolves at our doorstep lately, demanding this or that. Some of them, I don't even know their allegiances. They are all unwelcome," he finished flatly.

He sensed that neither was much for conversation, which suited him just fine. He didn't normally chat with nor befriend wolves outside his pack. The three of them were far from befriending one another. But there was an existing mutual respect with Peregrine hoped to maintain. It would be in their best interests to continue keeping their distances. They also had a mutual interest: keeping impudent outsiders away from their neck of the wilderness, known colloquially as Great Bear Wilderness.

"Have you had troubles with wolves? From the plains?" he queried, nostrils flaring as he gave his soaked pelt a belated and vigorous shake.

Tonravik listened to his words. Neither of those names were of any consequence to her, Silvertip included despite their most recent visit. Perhaps her mate would be intrigued by this, but not her. It did not matter. These were not the packs she had meant. But she could identify with the situations, looking to her wait. It was a Great Bear Wilderness phenomena, then. When he asked his question, she looked back to him.

"A newer pack. We dragged a member back to them," she said tonelessly, ear flicking, thinking, maybe she is dead, now, before finishing with, "We hope they do not return. Others, too, we have dealt with." That Blackfeather wolf, and perhaps there was an other... but all pack names evaded her. Only their scent was familiar. She snorts, thinking of how dim the others are. "We keep to the Spine; we will be returning no more bodies." In it was a warning in itself, and also, a simple promise that she and hers would stay in their lands and not bother him, as they had no reason to. Her wolves had all the food they could want, and shelter, and safety.

Tonravik looked thoughtful. "One wolf of that pack left a poisoned rabbit." She thought it fit for the other to know, as her mate had done. Not because they were friends, or because she owed them anything, or because she was kind, but because of that protective urge she felt for... for what? Cubs. If he had any, it would be good for him to know.

Of course, if any cub in the world trespassed on her land, she'd sooner kill them than let them live and rear them to be another of her competitors internally.

What a good, compassionate, woman she could be.

It was nice to know they weren't exclusively being sought out by wolves here and there. It seemed his place was also frequented by unwelcome visitors and their policies were similar when it came to respecting their bounds. Nice to know there were other wolves who lived by a similar moral code when it came to trespassing and other such nonsense that really shouldn't have been an issue in the first place.

All the same, this border business was a tedious one. It seemed he had few clues as to where the wolves infiltrating their territory came from, while they at least had the semblance of a hint. No. They knew. Their wolves practically boasted of their origins. Tonravik filled this wolf in. Oh right. He'd married a cavewoman. Time for him to fill in the gaps.

"They do not speak the common tongue and use coyotes for translators." He still didn't get that. Every time the Spine encountered a coyote they ended up dead and their bones decorated their borders. "There is no conversing with them." Not truly. He was still convinced the coyote had twisted their words. "They also consider themselves above common pack law." They held no regard for borders whatsoever and couldn't take a hint no matter how many times they'd bloodied them. "We reminded them such things are not to be true."

As for their witchcraft? Tonravik spoke enough of that. Poisons of any kind were not something the Spine took lightly, but it did speak to what lengths these plains wolves would stoop to if their own strength was not enough. New to the neighborhood and already not painting themselves in good light. A shame, but a truth they'd made very clear the Spine could not ignore. How fitting, that, should the plains wolves taunt them again, their bodies would join the bones of coyotes and server further warning of those who drew near.

The burly female mentioned a newer pack, which caused Peregrine's jaw to tense. He listened as she explained how they'd dealt with a prior trespasser, then told him they would no longer take prisoners. He nodded to show he understood. Then she mentioned poisoned rabbits and he froze, jade eyes narrowing. Funnily enough, a wolf from the former incarnation of the spine had done something similar back at the plateau, though Peregrine hardly remembered the details. Although he thought his wolves would be smart enough not to take the bait, he would pass on the warning to his family.

His attention swapped back to the male as he embellished on his mate's information. This foreign pack sounded weird as fuck and also like trouble. He growled under his breath, though quelled the noise. He didn't want these two thinking he was growling at them. He just resented the spread of wolves who seemed to obey no natural laws (using coyotes as translators?!) and, furthermore, seemed to think that the natives here had no right to defend their lands from entitled, nosy outsiders.

"Our borders are similarly sealed and carefully guarded, with trespassers killed on sight. Of course, most of them are as slippery as they are shameless," Peregrine grumbled with a twitch of his damp tail. "Thank you for this information. May I have your names? I am Peregrine," he repeated, "Alpha of Redhawk Caldera. We'll of course continue to keep to ourselves, posing no threat to you. I ask the same." He paused, considering a moment. "Perhaps if the problem continues to get worse, we should consider taking action to banish outsiders from coming to this corner of the wilds at all. We wouldn't need to join forces, necessarily. It could be a largely independent endeavor that just happens to benefit all who call the Great Bear Wilderness home. I don't just want them to respect this neighborhood, I want them to fear for their lives should they come this way."

Tonravik listened to the male. They had shared plenty of information, and this was as neighborly as Tonravik would ever be. It seemed the Caldera operated similarly to them, killing their trespassers if they could be killed. Slippery she understood. Those plains wolves managed to be slippery. But Tonravik would not let them slip out from her jaws again. No, next time she saw them, she would truly kill the bitch. She knew their numbers, their leader, and enough of their culture to know what she was up against.

The leader waited until Peregrine finished. The male was wordier than her mate, which she thought impossible, but at least she approved of his words. It meant she was more patient and tolerant of his speaking, when normally she'd simply have left. "Tonravik," she introduces, waiting for Iqniq to give his name before looking to him... and back to the dark male.

They did not do alliances. But in keeping the wolves on their side of the River? In keeping the prey here, and in keeping the outside wolves out? Tonravik could not help but enjoy the sound of this. So she nods, as though to say, I could consider this. Because she certainly could. Tonravik could hardly differentiate one wolf from the next. Why wolves needed to leave their territory and bombard on their own, in any case, she did not understand. 

Judging by the male's growls, it appeared as though he was very much on the same page they were. It was appreciated. He made no acknowledgement of his approval, but noted it for later. His borders were secure. Their borders were secure. Trespassers were to be killed on sight. Same for them. They shared the same natural instincts and showed no mercy. That was the proper way of things. So, apparently was introducing one's self.

Tonravik was quick to utter her name. Kerosene... not so much. He suffered from a minor identity crisis as he was torn between uttering the name he wore within the Spine and his natural given name which everyone outside those lands knew him by. "Kerosene," he offered, deciding it didn't matter in the long run what he decided to call himself so long as he remembered to answer when the name was called.

"We'll handle our side," he uttered, speaking no more on the suggestions of alliances. He knew Tonravik's opinion on them was a firm "No" and he was inclined to agree with her. What they could do, was protect their realm and hope these wolves would do the same in their part of the 'hood. They had similar goals. Similar ideals on what was meant by "too close". With this lake in the middle they were already creating a solitary statement, each in their own way.

He smirked. "If they come this way there will be no life for them to fear. They've already lost it." That was the beginning and end of it. "Enjoy your newborn."

They didn't have much to say in response to Peregrine's speech, yet that didn't bother him. It was clear by their reactions that they felt much the same way. They offered their names, which he committed to memory. He hoped they would rule for a long time to come, if only so he knew that he had a comrade in arms as far as ideals went. It really was frustrating, these troublesome trends in the Teekon Wilds. He knew he had contributed to this problem in the past. Well, he wouldn't add to it, nor stand for it anymore. It seemed Redhawk Caldera and Ouroboros Spine would pioneer the movement to return this stretch of wilderness to its feral roots.

"And you enjoy your meal," the black Alpha wolf replied, nodding his head to the twosome before plucking up the fawn. They were done here and nothing else needed to be said. He woofed around the meat in his jaws, then turned and trotted back toward the caldera and, specifically, the Beta pair's den.

Kerosene, her mate called himself. Tonravik did not care what he called himself; he would, to her, be Iqniq. Since the day they had met, that had been her name for him. What he called himself to Peregrine changed nothing. And as for her mates words, he was right in his entire. Those that came too close had already forfeited their life to them.

The meeting decidedly over, Tonravik continued to eat the food they had beneath them, still warm. She and her mate would consume nearly all of it, so famished their toil had left them, but once they had their fill they could be on their way again. It was good to see another echoed their sentiment, and better to hear that they'd push to reinforce them.

To the male's departure Kerosene merely nodded and watched as the wolf dragged the fawn back in the direction of his home. He lingered, letting the subtle breeze of this place linger in his fur until the wolf disappeared beyond the horizon. Only then did his eyes shift and fall upon his mate who decided it was time to eat again. He chuffed lightly, releasing a sigh as he scanned the area once more before turning back to pick off the rest of their meal.

There was plenty left to eat. He ate all that he could consume in this time and called it good. Ears flicking, he moved aside and dozed while Tonravik picked at it's nimble bones. It was nice to know there were still packs that upheld the old traditions. Nicer still to know they were close by. It meant whatever message the Spine put out would be reinforced by their neighbors. This wilderness was theirs. They'd each protect it in their own way.

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