Emberflame Ridge i say it hurts to exist like this and the world says stop existing like that

forward dated to 12/27

after the party, things started to get quiet again. the new wolves from another pack got a lot of the attention so she could shrink back into the background. she doesn’t go out of her way to find anyone in particular but she’s bored and finds herself in the southern portion, rounding the tall rocky terrain out into the wild. a small rabbit dangles from her mouth that she picked up from a cache along the way. hunger has a way of snaking its way in and though she does not want it, she often forces herself to eat when she feels badly enough. The inevitable happens, nine times out of ten, but maybe this will be different.

under the cover of the ridge, brilliance hides away in some nook, picking away at the older kill one small bite at a time.

He is drawn to a towering ridge, the sight of which enamors. A precipitous drop off lavished with winter-bare trees. Natjuk stares at the formation for a while until his stomach gets the better of him. Hunger guides him, as it usually does. Meat perfumes the wind and he aims to collect. There is another scent but it is no cause for alarm, deciding then and there that it will be dealt with one way or another.

The smell has grown stronger here at the base of the ridge. Knowing he will be upon it in no time short, he slows down. He comes upon her with a stooped head and stiff tail, fully intending to get that leporid. All that stands in his way is - what the heck is that?

There's several feet between them and the whelp is fully visible, but Natjuk thinks blinking his skeptical eyes will correct this optical anomaly. Is that - no, that is definitely. A wolf.

she was more or less picking apart the meal. anything connected to fat is discarded, searching for the basic of meat to help prevent her stomach from getting upset. she hardly has energy anymore, sleeping more than she’s awake, and she looks forward to when she can turn in after this.

quickly, she glances up when another starts to get close. brilliance hovers over the mess of the rabbit she’s made. she hasn’t met a lot of wolves outside of her pack so she doesn’t know what to expect with this man but she feels weirdly protective over her food.

She radiates protectiveness, hovering over her kill as soon as she spots him. Natjuk shuffles forward still, halting at intervals to appear apathetic. Sniffing the ground and pawing at it, or jerking his head in the direction of a distinct sound. He does not want her darting off with her quarry. Not if he can snatch it.

Indication of starvation starts to show with each step he takes. Her rib cage jabs firmly at the skin. The slope of her abdomen teeters on the edge of death. Her fur has lost its gloss, now dull and frayed. Natjuk may not be the pinnacle of health at the moment but he does look leagues better than her. 

Sinking onto his right side, the warrior slumps over in a non-threatening display. He's not sure what he'll accomplish in doing so, having spent no time with pups himself. He does what comes naturally in hopes the girl will relax around him.

since she spots him, brilliance doesn’t take her hollowed gaze off him. he seems disinterested in her now that he’s spotted her but still he comes closer. a few steps here, a few steps there. if it weren’t for the occasional flick of a gaze in her direction, she might think he was really passing through but she doesn’t relax. 

fur bristles around her nape the closer he gets but she doesn’t show her teeth, keeping her threat to a minimal level. she’s not a stupid girl, even with her lack of experience; she knows well enough what she’s not capable of. 

he’s too close for comfort but if she runs, he might chase after her. her heart thuds heavily in her chest as she centers her body over the kill and as he slinks to the ground, so does she. brilliance covers most of the frayed rabbit, aside from the bits and pieces she’s torn off and discarded, and watches him lounge nearby.

She's stressed though she does a good job at hiding it. How old even is she? He breathes soulfully deep searching for an answer. What greets his nose is a jumble of fragrances, none more prominent than the other. So she runs with a pack, then. They're not doing their best, it seems, with one of their young unattended and emaciated. There is another scent but he is not familiar with it all that much, so it is overlooked.

She stops eating. When her focus fixes upon him, he softly awoos at her. An appeal to play or whatever. She does not look the spirited sort what with how gaunt she is. Maybe a nap would be better? Should he leave her alone?

he sings across the way and she doesn’t waver in her stare. brilliance hardly likes wolves within her own pack. what’s a stranger going to garner from her? awkwardly, she shifts a bit and tucks a leg beneath her chest.

without a response to give, she looks away, focusing on something else in the distance. his shadow remains in her periphery, ears cupped and at attention while her soft blue gaze closes. like a bored cat, waiting until the annoyance is gone.

She is unresponsive to his invite. Natjuk has come to the conclusion that this was no ordinary puppy but an Incredibly Big Brat, or IBB for short. If IBB doesn't want to play, that is fine. He answers her lukewarm reception with some of his own, sitting upright to look around. He does not move much aside from the casual flick of his ears, meant to show investment in the world around him rather than the whelp before him.

'Tis a ploy, of course.

Before long, he lunges without warning, hellbent on grabbing that rabbit and eating it right in front of her. Should have played nice, IBB!

brilliance vaguely wonders how long they’ll do this. she’s secured her catch from the cache well enough and he hasn’t made a move. every so often she opens her eyes by a fraction, straining to look in his direction without seeming like she’s remotely interested. her ear twitches and she shifts. 

before she realizes it, he’s lunging for her. ears pin back instantly, shifting so her legs move up and she’s on her side. she forgets the rabbit she’s above and angrily (and fearfully) snaps at his face, his shoulder... whatever is closest to keep him from hurting her.

Panic! She grovels. Good, he thinks. Too bad he doesn't realize that fear is the causation for plenty of imprudence, including the teeth sinking into his left cheek. It is a few centimeters from the scabbed over wound inflicted by Rakk. A surprised yelp followed by an incensed snarl escapes his throat. He flails free of her grip. It is then he turns his glower upon her, fangs at the ready with a sonorous growl.

He should kill her. She will grow to be a competitor and Teekon definitely needs less of those. And yet...she is inexorably tied. To a pack, to her parents, to those she has encountered. They would notice she was gone and they would look for her corpse. They would find her bones, shattered and half buried within the iced topsoil. He can see the events unfold with striking clarity, can see the foxes and coyotes and maggots take from her what he could not.

As his aggression dissolves and exposes his subdued core, his piercing eyes land on her once more. He lurches again, teeth finding the thick of her ruff and throws her. She will likely land on her feet. Not without a painful reminder.

blood surprises her but her mouth is metallic and she hates it, reeling back and just using her legs to her advantage. she rolls around on the dead rabbit, no longer thinking about it until a bone stabs her in the back. she tells in surprise as he pulls back, shifting a little now that he’s given her space. 

she doesn’t have time to gather herself and get out of there before she’s forcibly removed. hardly any weight at all for her age, it doesn’t take much effort. in the midst of her flight, she sees the mess of a rabbit she’s left behind and realizes what he’s after. with her neck tattered from teeth, she lands in a heap, stumbling back and slamming into the ground so hard the wind leaves her lungs with a wheeze.

Natjuk watches her fall like some clumsy comet, gasping from the collision. She'll live. He picks up where she left off, doing away with the fleece to partake of the flesh below. There's plenty to whet his appetite but not enough to fill him. Finishing with a swipe of his tongue, he sends a glare her way before stalking off. East first, then north.

by the time she sits up, she sees him picking apart the rabbit. she hadn’t gotten a single bite out of it and her stomach churns at the thought (uncertain if it is the hunger or anger that drives her), but she stays in place while her lungs reinflate. clearly, she doesn’t stand a chance against a wolf that literally picked her up and chucked her several feet away. her eyes do no leave him, staring hard as he commits such crimes against her and she grows, lowly, as he departs.