Phoenix Maplewood Lost in skies of powdered gold

Just two hares left, noted Saena as she rooted through one of the pack's outermost caches. Dirt smudged her whole figure as she backed out of the hole, having finished with examining the two carcasses remaining. She'd pulled a third out that was covered in maggots with the intent of disposing of it, but these other two were fresher. Still edible.

The gamekeeper turned and shoveled dirt back over the hole until it was sufficiently covered. She tamped the earth down with a few purposeful stamps of her feet, turned to survey her work and, satisfied, made a beeline for the rotting hare. It nearly fell apart when she lifted it from the ground, and small wriggly white worms dropped out of it. Enough to make any human gag, but she was a wolf and had a strong stomach aside.

She carried it only a short distance to where a thin river ran through the maple forest. Stooping low, the alpha deposited the decayed body into the water and watched it whisk away downstream, away from the heart of their territory. She stood there a while longer, looking after it, but then with a shake and snort she decided it was time to restock that cache and headed deeper into the woods in search of prey, and maybe a hunting buddy or two.

Upon returning to the Maplewood from his long journey south below the Sunspire Mountains, Reek was exhausted.  While accustomed to traveling long distances, the two day trek left him road-weary— but most of all, he hungered. Without a full meal since he departed, Reek needed something.  Instead of collapsing as soon as he passed the scent markers as he had previously intended, he hobbled his way to the cache closest to the border to find the dirt freshly turned and the slight smell of rot lingering in the air.  

But upon catching the scent of his mate nearby, Reek shoved his rumbling stomach under the rug.  The rotting rabbits would remain (it wasn't like they could hop away), but if Reek was to catch up with his moving mate, he would need to make haste.  Pressing his nose to the ground, he followed her trail as fast as his tired body could take him.  

"You have any idea how much I missed you?" he asked, emerging from the brush to find Saena stalking though the woods.  "Whatcha doin?"  Falling into lockstep behind her, Reek would go wherever.

Nostrils flaring, Saena lifted her head to survey the air, then dropped it again to the earth at her paws. The forest was so alive with scents that at times, even the skilled gamekeeper couldn't pick out a promising meal. Now was one of those times. It had rained recently and the forest was thick with the smell of loam and leaf and wood rot. Coupled with the myraid wolf scents and the dozens of other animal smells criss-crossing the trails, it was extremely difficult to sift through them all.

Feeling overwhelmed, the alpha female straightened up just in time to hear her mate's voice behind her. Grinning and letting her tail wave excitedly, the white-haired bitch whirled around to meet him with a soft whine of greeting. He'd intended to follow her but she stopped him with her abrupt turn and bumped her snout against his warmly, re-familiarizing herself with not only his scent, but the coarse feel of his fur as well.

"Hunting," she purred, "but not anymore. Tell me about your trip!" Reek so rarely left that his wife felt it must've been exciting for him, and she wanted to vicariously experience it too. She missed her days of taking very frequent trips outside the territory, but getting to relive her mate's trip was good enough for now!

Careening headlong into his mate with a clumsy bump from his face, Reek's gangly legs finally skidded to an abrupt halt before the rest of him could crash into her in an overeager tumble of limbs.  He paused and straightened himself out but, he let his head linger beside her as he inhaled deeply as to take in her scent—it was good to be home.  Traveling was fine and good, in fact, it was a dear part of what made Reek, Reek.  But, all pining for the road met a swift end when he was by Saena's side.  Priorities.

"We can still hunt together if you want," he offered affectionately. On one hand, he was exhausted and wouldn't be much of a help when it came down to it, but the prospect of fresh food was enticing— especially after such a long journey.  "Things went pretty well," he chirped.  Well, exceedingly well, seeing as he had ventured into and out of the heart of enemy territory unscathed.  "Pants got his message— at least, I think he did," continued Reek as he recalled the events that transpired below the mountains that served as their buffer. "I mean, I don't have any reason not to trust my messenger." When it came to children, honesty was to be expected.  The way Reek saw it, the act of lying was not innate.

"Which reminds me!" he chimed abruptly. "The messenger! Get this... remember that pup that I helped a few months back, Wildfire. You know, back when the whole mess started? She's the one who's relaying info to Pants for me!" Reek shook his head and chortled lightly. Something about the situation was just cosmically hilarious in it's own little way.

She took an extended moment to rub the side of her face against Reek's neck in an effort to seed him with her scent once more. Only when he agreed to hunt did she set off from his side, travelling along the same path she'd been on when he found her. While one ear remained perpetually forward-cocked, the other was trained on her mate, along with one eye. It seemed his journey south had gone smoothly, judging from both his response and his state. That was good, because if Reek had returned blooded in any way, southron heads would roll.

"Oh, really?" she mused with a start when Reek mentioned Wildfire. Having met Pantaleimon, Saena was admittedly uninterestes in affairs concerning him—she'd judged him an inept imbecile and while she would never begrudge Reek his relationships, she secretly thought associating with Pantaleimon was a good way to lower your IQ—but she had no such ill thoughts about Wildfire. She'd made the girl uncomfortable on their last meeting. She hadn't meant to and regretted it, but she would remember that Wildfire had not immediately decided she was evil (or so she thought) and had some hope for being unlike her parents.

"I met her once," Saena revealed, pausing to sniff at the base of a tree for a moment, "when I went on my last trip. I made a total ass of myself, ended up coming home not long after instead of what I'd gone to do." She licked her chops and glanced at Reek, then sighed. "Did she say anything about it? I couldn't help the word vomit. Her parents..." Saena didn't think she needed to say anything else on that subject. Reek knew how she felt about Fox and Peregrine very well, as well as her reasons for it. "I don't doubt she thinks I'm a piece of shit."

The warmth of her face against his— that was something he dearly missed.  Reek stood motionless and happy as his mate practically covered him in her scent, but unfortunately the contact was brief.  A simple tease after his long trip. She pulled away and Reek had to stop himself from mumbling, don't stop, but the hunger pangs in his stomach directed him otherwise. Food was the eminent priority, so Reek set off beside his mate down the trail in the search of something edible.

Further down the trail, she stopped and in turn, so did Reek. Wildfire had previously filled him in on the deets of their previous encounter, and in doing so, dropped the bomb that she had gone there instead of the Plateau. But with Saena's explanation that she had been shaken up by their encounter and that she returned straight from their caused Reek to drop the subject from his mind. It wasn't really a big deal after all.

"Really, really," he confirmed, smiling as Saena searched for a scent trail. "She mentioned you— nothing bad, I promise!" He paused for a moment before adding, "But, uh, nothing good either. She asked about you though! So I filled her in on all the positives!"

Nothing bad and nothing good. That was just as well, but unexpected. Saena anticipated more negativity than neutrality from the mouths of her half-siblings, but it seemed that Wildfire continued to blaze her own path by forming her own opinions. Saena herself was rarely that mature, and easily allowed others' thoughts to sway her own. That Wildfire's neutrality and interest surprised her was no surprise to any wiser wolf, but the alpha was pleased to hear it.

"I'm shocked she'd care to know," Saena mused aloud, waving her tail as she caught the scents of both a porcupine and a rabbit. "Do you want a challenge?" she asked her husband as an aside, wavering on the spot to allow him the opportunity to choose what they would hunt. A porcupine was dangerous, but larger and meatier than a jack rabbit if they could secure it.

"Thanks for talking me up," she told him with a grin and a quick stolen kiss to the side of his face. "But seriously, I'll be surprised if it makes an impact. I kind of ranted about her parents at her. It was wrong and childish, I know, but I couldn't help it and I doubt she appreciated it."

"Don't be so surprised," he shot back, quietly accepting her kiss on his cheek. To Reek, it was a no brainer as to why anyone would be interested in knowing about Saena— She was awesome, and anyone who had spent any modicum of time in her presence would know that. "You're like, interesting and stuff. That's why you got me all hook, line, and sinker."  Reek flashed her a wide and loving grin before getting back to business with an attempt to find a scent trail.

After his travels, Reek's already meager physicality suffered. The lack of food and absence of energy would surely slow him down, but rejecting a challenge wasn't on the menu.  Whatever it was Saena had planned for him, he was ready to chase it down with reckless abandon (poorly of course, but it's the thought that counts).  Lifting his nose from the ground, he looked to his mate and beamed, "Up to you babe. Just make sure it's big!"

She snorted a giggle in response. Reek's words were flattering and for a second she let herself believe them. That she was interesting outwardly as undeniable, but she didn't find much interesting about herself on the inside. Eventually that was likely to change, since everything did in time, but now she felt ordinary. Drab, even. If she thought about it for more than a second, she would equate their number of followers to just how interesting she was, and would feel discouraged, but she didn't give herself more than a second to think about it. She was busy selecting the trail of the porcupine and heading down it.

She didn't doubt Reek would know what they were going after and would have doubts, but a porcupine was larger than a hare and that was his only criteria. "You sure it isn't 'cause I got you hot and bothered?" she teased him, reminiscing for a moment on that time they'd stolen away to the Emberwood. It had been spontaneous and sudden and she wouldn't have had it any other way.

She laughed; the usual response. But, despite how humdrum and normal such a reaction was, the nuance was never lost on Reek. Knowing that he had brought a smile to his mate's face, he soon reciprocated in the same fashion: with a large, childish grin.  The giggles were infectious, and his smile soon morphed into a wheezing laugh. The reason for which, Reek didn't know— it just felt natural at the time.

Composing himself, he pressed his nose to the trail Saena had found and inhaled deeply.  The scent was vaguely unfamiliar and Reek had to rack his brain to discern exactly what their prey was.  Instead of asking, he was determined to piece the puzzle together itself. After some thought, it eventually clicked that it was porcupine.  Reek's eyes went wide.  "Porcupine?" he asked incredulously. "Are you trying to kill me woman?" It would be a challenge no doubt, but his wife's next words nearly made him forget about the hunt entirely.

hot and bothered.

That was one way to describe it. She drove him mad, (but, in the good way, of course). Briefly, he closed his eyes and thought back to their latest rendezvous, as it was the most recent in his mind. Fresh and easily replayed in detail. He froze, stared at his mate, and lifted a brow. "Fuck the porcupine," he said with a cockeyed grin. "I mean, you know... not fuck the porcupine, that— Ow. I've missed you, let's have some fun"

"Maybe," she shot back with a wry grin. Porcupines were prickly creatures, but Saena didn't think they were capable of actually killing someone. She was probably wrong about that but she assumed that their spines were for defense, not for mass murder. Besides, if Reek got himself stuck with fifteen porcupine quills, it was kind of his fault anyway. His gamekeeper wife would be doing everything in her power to avoid them.

When Reek stopped and declared that he wanted to fuck the porcupine, Saena snorted out a laugh and replied, "whatever makes you happy, man. Don't come crying to me when you get a bellyful of quills." She grinned at him, inviting him to come back with something. He did quickly explain that he didn't mean literally, but she'd know that, of course. Any wolf that seriously considered sticking it in a porcupine was, well... they probably deserved to be dead.

Her only response to his proposition was a coy flick of her tail and a playful, interested smirk before she turned and galloped away from him. He could have his fun, if he could catch her and lock her down.