With shortened breaths and mighty heaves of her shoulders, Caiaphas penetrated the small heap of dirt that had caved in the tunnel's egress. Last time she had resurfaced from the chamber of underground paths, she had come across a fair and dark witch-wolf named Meldresi. As she sniffed the damp clay about her, there were no recent markings or scents -- likely because the tunnel had collapsed due to the well of recent rain.

Shaking herself, she boldly pulled from the tunnel. The borders were still a way off, but she had no intention of trespassing. Curious and somewhat fueled by the foreboding nature of the place, Caiaphas pressed into the vine-ridden bosk and made her way towards the outer edges of the swamps.

The reedy marsh before Caiaphas was dark, and rife with black puddles of depths unfathomable. Virulent green moss sprung forth from flat wells of water and the entire swamp, however healthy, reeked of decay.

She could traverse the span of wetland if she kept close to the slippery rocks that poked from the marsh -- underfoot the muck was treacherous and she wondered if any of the seemingly sleepy waters were in fact bogs unnavigable. She was just about to gingerly hop from her first stone when a low voice ominous and somewhat defensive sounded from behind her.

Caught quite in the open (yet having no intention of trespassing) Caiaphas turned to peer awkwardly at the male who hailed her -- her expression bland at best. "Am I?" She queried airily, as if some vapid animal incapable of possessing any semblance of common sense.

Openly, Caiaphas scrutinized the male before her -- he was much different than the last stranger to intercept her here. He was pale, a most winsome touch to his figure -- and Caiaphas did not miss the faint smile that briefly placed its bid for existence before fluttering off into a more serious expression. She did not return the warm gesture -- as usual, her narrow muzzle remained untouched by any sort of warmth in character. Her eyes, a sharp yellow, frigid in their embrace.

She did not play coy -- this male deserved much better than that. "I just come to the swamp." She explained, her voice low as she swept a paw towards the sweeping expanse of sullied marshland. "Is that all claimed by Blackfeather?"

While Caiaphas did not relish the idea of company, it seemed Kove was reluctant to leave her to her own devices. Understandable -- she was, in truth, alarmingly close to his home. She stood frozen, her stance splay-legged as she regarded the swamp. Even her tail seemed to twitch indecisively as she weighed her various options.

She didn't detect much threat in his voice as he suggested she advance no further, though her eyes slid to him briefly to assure herself he was not being aggressive. He seemed benign, if not slightly reluctant in his resolve, and with her aspersions soothed she looked once more across the ugly expanse of swamp. "Is it dangerous?" She asked of him carefully, lifting one paw from the damp soil to shake the blackened gout of marsh that had already accumulated between her paw-pads.

The white male's reply made it woefully obvious he had never considered venturing into the marsh's heartland -- and while Caiaphas concealed this revelation, she could not help but snigger inwardly at his lack of presumed bravery in this regard. He was likely simply a wolf of intelligence and self-preservation, but these attributes were not cognizant to the wispy female.

"Really?" She chimed with interest, turning her narrow face to the pale wolf. "There's a first time for everything, right chump?" Her voice was perky -- and with a sly glint to her eyes she suddenly lunged forwards in the hopes to shove the man aside with her shoulders. If successful she would bob and bounce from tussock to tussock, her steps assured as she lept from moss-covered rock to rock without care.

Her initial shove did not go as planned -- sulkily she braced herself, thin and tapered limbs wide-splayed. Her tail lashed in the agitated manner of a cat -- with a dark expression to her countenance she looked upon Kove with scarcely sheathed insolence.

No reason did she utter -- regretfully, it appeared he was too large a barricade to push aside -- if she was smart, she would have to come another time. She rolled her shoulders in a dismissive manner and with a flick of her svelte muzzle she saucily strode past him back to the tunnel. "Ciao." Caiaphas tossed behind her a farewell that was most haughty -- and with all the graceful insouciance of a coyote Caiaphas slunk back into the tunnel and was seen no more.