Chimera Fields will it leave us anything to show

She'd only left the mountain with the intention to return soon, but she still felt compelled forward more and more into the wilds. Already one of her pups had expressed an interest in scouting and although not in this particular direction yet, it couldn't hurt to freshen up her own grasp on the lands beyond her immediate doorstep before the girls could range too far. Plus, that smoke on the horizon (so near the Bay, too) had been unmistakably curious. Packs had been there last she'd known, but this could easily be outdated information by now. She had some nosing about to do, and would be back among her packmates soon enough, though.

In an effort to cover ground quickly, she'd dodged delving into the tangles of the weald with a shortcut edging the quarry. Now with open spaces around her again in the form of these open, trail-littered pastures beyond the depths, she flattened out for top speed. This kept her travels effective, and her a dark streak over the landscape's afternoon as she distantly followed the outline of the deepwoods, angling towards the coastline -- although Silvertip certainly threatened to pull her interest as a pleasant peak looming ahead. She veered away just enough.

she's heading towards honeyed pasture, so is in that quadrant of the fields formally lmao

Dingo had been minding his own business, wandering the wilds (and beyond, then back again), and doing his best to stave off winter's more difficult aspects, when he saw her. A big black beauty of a wolf! His jaw hung open for a few moments after he spotted her zipping about the lowlands.

The boy had been hunkering down in some nondescript cave for the bulk of the season (only coming out to grab a bite to eat or to piss, and even in those instances he much prefered finding a corner and — well). His dense but short coat was ill-suited to the dropping temperatures and as soon as he'd seen the first snowflake, he high-tailed it out of the wilds; but the world as a whole was drifting towards the chill and, therefore, he couldn't ultimately avoid it. Thus, the cave.

And that was why — when Amekaze broke in to her run towards the distant fields — he was able to catch a glimpse of her, and with his tongue lolling out, he doggedly followed. She was faster. Fitter. But she was also distracted by the mountain peaks gleaming under their fresh layers of snow. Dingo was lonely enough (read: pervy enough) that the sight of the dark woman trumped his desire to stay warm and dry.

Except as he followed her he inevitably found himself exposed within the field, and only clued in after she'd stopped running this latest time. With a dull, Uhh, passing through his abruptly-closed mouth, he stared with a bewildered expression at the field of snowy grass around him.

Such lowlands, and their open spaces, may have had their charm -- in which she indulged, letting her gait open up fully in a way that wasn't always sustainable on a mountainside, but she always knew she kept the peaks in the back of her mind. Even now, when there was so much else to take in (the ash from the old forest, the width of the meadows, the wolfscents crosshatched over the snow itself..), something could always easily veer her thoughts right back up to the nearest peak, be it of her own claim or otherwise. Maybe, the mountain habit was so very ingrained in her that it could be no other way. Or maybe she ought to get out more.

When she vaguely began to realize she was not alone, and perhaps even being watched before that, she simply went with it for a while since he maintained a distance. yet made it clear his path was aligning with hers remarkably well for it to be mere coincidence. A looming company wouldn't cut her gallop short, lest he kick it up into the gear of pursuit. When she finally decided she was in need of an earnest breath, she slowed up and angled back broadside towards her stranger.

She panted softly as she eased down from the run, and mere sight of him, bizarre markings and all else, pricked her ears before she lifted her head to scrutinize him better. He was not exactly the sort of look she was used to seeing, especially in the cold dead of winter. His short, warm-toned coat seemed awfully misplaced in this winterscape.

After he failed to form words, her tail flagged a bit more than before. "Why do you follow?" she asked, a little coarser than intended, but with equal curiosity behind her question. She toed a half step closer to him after she spoke, and kept the expectations open -- prepared for the worst and hoping for better at once.

Sorry for the wait!!

She whipped her head back and watched him, and that only steeled the boy further; he felt rooted to the spot. When she spoke a heartbeat later, Dingo could barely fumble over his own thoughts let alone put his tongue to good use — he'd wanted to be suave, but came off looking foolish.

Uhh -- bwuhh, well, y'see, If not foolish, then tongue-tied and young. He wasn't making a good impression but one had to wonder - if he could form a coherent thought or phrase - if any impression at all would be better than this. Seeing as it was young Dingo, the boy who ran his mouth more often than not (and who had been essentially stalking the dark woman for a while), this was as good as things got.

You're pretty and you surprised me so I followed you and I didn't mean to be so weird about it but like, dang gurl. Following this explanation the boy sucked in a breath and gave Amekaze a big cheesy grin, all squint-eyed and everything.

s'all good i'm a slow piece of crap trying to recover lately so i <3

He made noise and not explanation, during which she took the time to stare dead-on at him gratuitously. Eventually he did pull together words and managed to make it compliment her, almost to the point of eye-roll. She'd heard a lot of it before, so was hard to phase in that manner and she just squinted back. Vaguely amused, but still a little wary of the roving male type's attention, she chuffed then licked her lips thoughtfully.

She stepped a little closer to him. "Is that all it takes to lure you out in the open?" she smirked, although let that undertone of vicious mischief hang there with a flash of her teethtips. But in truth, he smelled of no others distinctly upon these closer inspections, which came with another step nearer that swung towards his one side. A loner, most likely, so he probably didn't have anything else to busy himself with besides his own basic needs for suvival. "You stay nearby?" Her tail switched with the rhythm of her words.