Things had been difficult for the cat in recent days. She had travelled across the flatlands and tried her best to stay away from wolf packs, who seemed to have attempted to claim nearly every part of the heartlands. Her side had a nasty scratch on it that was just starting to scab over: the result of a lucky escape from a male cougar who had pushed her toward the mountains.

Prey here was harder for her, as she was more used to being closer to sea level and using trees along sloping coastal lines to find food. Still, she had begun to find her footing at the base and middle of the mountain range. Umi wasn't sure if this banished place was where she wanted to create a permanent home, however.

The mountain goat that she had been stalking from a higher rock for half an hour had caught her scent as a draft blew down to it. The white hooven animal bleated and leapt away, running straight for the odd-coated wolf before it spotted him, and flew downhill.

Heaving a great sigh, Umi slipped down from her rock toward where the beast had run, and found what looked like a very strange wolf in front of her. Her tail flickered curiously. Oh, sorry. Heh, you almost got it, she smiled. The darkness lit her eyes like lamps. They were on dangerous ground, the sheer drop where he had been looking was beyond far. The lioness, however, showed her naivete being entirely unconcerned for her safety.

Umi noticed the wolf fluff up, but it only made her aware that he might feel startled by her presence. She had, after all, thrown a goat at him. He was a strange animal, one with a colouration she had never seen or heard of in a wolf, or any animal for that matter save perhaps a broken skunk. He looked...forboding, like a creature of death or simply a bad omen. She felt herself wanting to judge him as this, and caught it immediately.

Though Umi was not an animal most would consider wise or even intelligent in almost any respect, there was one area that she had picked up very quickly from her mother's teachings. Always assume positive intent. Though Mother had also warned that wolves and other predators could be unpredictable, it was wrong to judge a person based on their appearance alone. And so, against her initial gut feeling, Umi forced an assumption that this oddball of a wolf was a friend to her.

You're a bit friendly. She beamed, not understanding that he didn't exactly mean the statement as a compliment. Her tail twitched again with interest and amusement. I like to meet new people, she said, more as a fact than an explanation. The lioness respected his space, but sat down a distance away. I'm Umi. I don't live here, but I've been looking for new hunting grounds, she told him; it was a very brief version of why she was here.