Hideaway Strath another round of all the things I've heard before

he thought of the little robin when he pressed beyond the heights. how fall colors and coldness collected along the lands.

he had informed those of la muerte of his desire to stretch their presence slightly. he had headed out to patrol and perhaps hunt through the thick woodlands below them. it would be good to keep eyes on all things around them.

even when his mind dared to teeter elsewhere.

he pressed a paw down into a deer track, then forged onward.

Nanou slunk through thicket and undergrowth, shadowed as her drapery would allow her to be. Looked for opportunity to stretch her legs and exercise her jaws, even if it wasn't on the sort of beast she was accustomed to, she needed to eat all the same. She too, tracked deer, unaware of a second scent on the breeze until the wind shifted, and cast it her way.

Hopefully there was more than one. She wasn't intent on giving up her quarry if there wasn't.

The sword crept onward, unguided by the hand, for the first time in her life. 

Gratifying, exhilarating, even...but...

Purposeless. She would not let her mind linger too long. There was deer to catch.

a winter’s shadow.

he thinks it is too early still to feel such a dark cold. yet it is only winter’s night given a wolf’s shape. they followed the same trail.

he became a wider circle, to give this one room. however he did not abandon entirely for the extra body would be good when the hunting came time.

the only question was if this stranger might try to shoo him off instead.

She caught a glimpse of the other a few moments after his scent drifted her way, sturdy and stygian, scars that told her of history, even in the most simple of terms. He was quick to place space between them, a respectful gesture, but futile. Like that could last for long, trailing the same prey.

She slowed her pace, fell in behind. She was not starving, she didn't need all of it. It would be wiser to work together. 

She was solitary, if only to punish herself. But it had been long enough. Wallowing got her few places, and it certainly didn't get her dinner. It was time to start living again, even if all that meant was speaking to others again. 

Still, it felt wrong. She'd like to say she'd served her penance, but that would never be true. There were no enforcers but herself, and she didn't wish to go mad in her own silence. Seemed counterproductive, even if it was deserved.

Dark woman quickened her gait, rustled some leaves to alert him of her presence. Kept her ears perked and her tail as it was. 

Do you want company? She asked in a whisper, careful, in case the prey they trailed was near.

she did not shoo him off at all!

something within her question tickled him. assumed he simply said no? what might she do then? it was good for both of them that he did not wish to test such a theory.

it will make the work easier, his own voice a low whisper, husked and deep. he allowed his eyes to settle warmly across her face. a lean figure would be good for the chase where his muscle could bring anything down. two working bodies would always be better than one.

we will split it, if we bring it down.

he wished there to be no illusion of him robbing her of her own piece.

Good, then. They were in agreement. Part of her approach was her own confidence in the fact that a stranger could make a smart decision. Scales weighed, balanced, everything just as it was meant to be. Or perhaps she was simply prone to expecting too much. 

Regardless, now this hunt would be easier. More energy conserved for later endeavours. She gave a silent nod and a flick of one ink-tipped ear before slinking off, amber eyes the only piece that shone through the cloak of darkness in the woods. 

Ultimate test now— trust that she would co-ordinate her chase with his own. She'd go around one side, pick a good one to menace away from the rest, chase it right into waiting jaws and then offer her own in turn. Anticipation hung on bated breath as she crept through the forest, slipped through bracken with ease, long limbs aware of their own stride and senstive to any element they might've disturbed.

Her steps were quiet, always quiet. A necessary skill for one such as her. 

Deer in the distance, grazing. She knew what it felt like to be the one grazing, unaware of hot water as it boiled. But she was no deer, she had prevailed.

One of them wouldn't.