Grouse Thicket 'cause i'm a dragonslayer, girl

OOC: Scout thread, would love any one of @Masquerade or @Riley or @Ines!

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If Stingray was to set his sights on ambassadorship, then he would need to become more familiar with not only the lands beyond Sun Mote Copse, but their inhabitants as well. His time traveling was a boon for this; he was no stranger to long distances and found he could navigate far across the heavily forested Tuktu region with relative ease.

Today saw him loping north and west from Orca's Forest with a quick detour to avoid the swamp, his nose angled up into the breeze to catch any hint of nearby wolf-folk. The mid-afternoon sun was warm on his golden back and there were more puddles than snow piles in the open expanses between the trees. The young woods he arrived in were suffused with birdsong, a sure sign that migratory species were returning to the area and winter was near its end. It brought a smile to Stingray's face.

Which slid right off it when a grouse broke cover in a flurry of feathers and wingbeats right under his paws. Stingray stumbled back, heart leaping into his throat, and gaped with naked surprised at it as it winged away.

She woke up with a fierce appetite this morning. Masquerade made a beeline toward one of their stockpiles but frowned at the meager pickings of aged meat. She craved something fresh. She wasn’t sure if Riley was in earshot but sent up a few yips to let him know she was heading out to hunt. He was always welcome to join, of course.

She sniffed her way into the neighboring thicket, the thought of bird eggs causing her mouth to water. They weren’t much of a meal but Masque was suddenly incredibly keen on finding some. Grouse kept their nests in shallow scrapes on the ground, she knew, and though they were often odorless and difficult to locate, she was determined.

More by accident than anything else, she frightened a brooding hen into the air. Masque barely paid the adult any attention as she quickly seized the pale yellow, spotted eggs. They were gone with seconds. She licked yolk from her chops and glanced around, curious where the mother had gone.

She didn’t see her, though she cut through some dense undergrowth only for another bird to abruptly flush from the ground. Masquerade startled a little, then jumped a second time when she found herself only a few yards away from a golden-furred stranger.

Stingray's heart beat a rapid tattoo as the bird disappeared into the trees, leaving in its wake not only a nest, but a canine face peering back at him across the way with the same alarm written all over it. If he was the type to swear, he would have cursed loudly when he spotted her bright yellow eyes. He was so caught off guard that he took little notice of any of her other features.

Instead, he sucked in air with a little whoop of surprise and took several quick steps back. Sorry, sorry! he stammered, ducking his head in a series of frantic little bows in hopes of appeasing this stranger. He could smell the egg yolk on her breath even from a short distance and assumed he had somehow ruined her hunt, as if eggs could get up and fly away like the adult grouse did. I didnae even see it there! Or you! Are you alright?

What was wrong with him? He had been so focused on his picture perfect surroundings and pretty bird calls that he hadn't even registered the smell of a fellow wolf in the vicinity.

As soon as she recovered from the initial shock, Masque backpedaled. The stranger did the very same thing, putting a small but comforting distance between them. She planted her feet where she now stood, long tail held rigidly at a parallel angle with the rest of her body and shoulders slightly hunched. She kept her eyes on him, ears pricking to catch his words of frantic apology.

I’m fine, she reported, relaxing ever so slightly and standing up straighter for it. Just caught me off guard a bit, Masquerade admitted, pausing for a beat before rejoining, Are you alright?

Further cowed by Masquerade's alert stance, Stingray took two more steps back before giving his tail a low wiggle. Aye, he replied, peeking up at the sky once more. The offending grouse was nowhere to be seen.

Stingray stood there awkwardly a moment, the picture of a nervously fidgeting school boy who didn't how to act around another wolf his age. His nostrils twitched as he took in what scent information he could from a distance. He could tell that Masquerade was not alone, but it didn't smell like she had many comrades. Maybe just one? A lonely life, if so.

He thought about what Meerkat had said about recruiting another wolf. It's about offering someone a home and a new lease on life. He wasn't going to get any better at this not shooting his shot.

D'you live around here? he asked. My pack is that way, if... I mean, if you have nowhere better to go. He clapped his mouth shut, realizing he wasn't doing a very good job selling Sun Mote Copse. Certainly not a good enough job to convince a complete stranger to come home with him. My ma and da and lead it, they're real nice, he tacked on, feeling ever more lame by the second.

Her head tilted ever so slightly at his, “Aye.” In the beat of awkward silence that ensued, Masque realized that he’d said another curious word (“didnae”). She caught herself wondering if he came from some faraway land, where they spoke in unfamiliar tongues.

But, no, he lived nearby. When he indicated the direction of his pack, she glanced in that direction and fought the scowl that wanted to overtake her expression. Her marigold gaze flicked back to his flaxen face, wondering if the she-wolf she’d caught was one and the same as his ma.

Instead of answering any of his questions, she posed one of her own: Is your mother black with orange and white markings? I might actually know her.