Phantom Hollow Sneaky Sneak

I just realized how long this was

Judas counted to himself the same time limit he had given her. While the semi-camouflaged wolf continued walking on he thought about how this would go down. Would she find him, or go in an absolute different direction? Only time would tell. He strode along with his body slinking down close to the forest floor, the mud picking up leaves as he went along. 

Soon, his twenty seconds were up. Judas ducked down into some underbrush. With spring on the way, none of the leaves were exactly brown. He wondered if he should roll in the leaves to perfect the disguise, though he wasn't going to be some cheat. He kept himself still, eyes watching carefully. 

It took him a while, but he saw a glimpse of movement. He wasn't exactly sure what it was until the movement was long gone. It had been her. The camouflage had been working perfectly, since he hadn't noticed it was her slinking to the ground until she was long past. Yet she hadn't gone along the same path he did, going along some other trail. He grinned to himself. He did only teach her about stealth. Next time if he were to ever teach her again, he would work on that. In fact, thinking about it gave him an idea of how he would help around here. Judas would become a hunter. Or at least something along those lines.

Judas slinked out of his cover, following on where he believed she went with a small grin. He knew exactly what he was going to do when he found her. Just give her a bit of a fright. What else would he do? It took a while, but he finally thought he saw her, though knowing exactly it was her or not would require him to get closer. He neared where he thought he saw movement, then jumped at it, planning to land short of it.

It turned out that she had a hard time dividing her attention between being stealthy and actively searching for someone at the same time. While she excelled at keeping her mud coated body unseen and quiet as she moved, the scent she followed was the wrong one, and it led her astray. It was most definitely Judas--she wasn't so dense as to follow a scent that wasn't his--but it wasn't leading her toward him. 

Instead it led her toward the river, where they had originally come through when she'd brought them here. Mitanni didn't realize it quite yet, and before she could a silent, muddied figure that followed her made himself known.

Judas leaped out at her, and though he didn't hit her at all she still managed to flinch back as if he might and gasped in fright. In her chest, her heart beat rapidly, evidence to her scare, and realizing very quickly that there wasn't any actual danger she chuckled. "Jeez, sure know how to scare a wolf," Mitanni remarked a little breathlessly, trying to relax after being spooked nearly out of her skin.

This has to be my longest thread I've done. And possibly one of the best

Judas let off a coy grin at the female, not hiding it in time when he turned his head away. When he finished with his grin, he glanced back at her. Inside he enjoyed the fear she showed. And if he didn't have the composure to do so he would have worn a malicious grin. But he didn't.

"I knew I saw you go by. The camouflage helped you very well, since it took time for me to realize" he commented. Though like any teacher in his mind, he gave the good points first. "But your tracking was off. You passed right by. If you used your eyes more, you would have seen some prints to help you." That indeed was true, as he had disturbed some leaves along the forest floor. He paused before going on.

"Over all, you did good...It made me a little proud." He gave a light smile, then blinked in surprise at himself. Had he really just said that? The smile wiped away. He had to take a breather away from here. Before leaving, he made a promise, something he rarely did with the subject at hand. "Next time, if you want to, we will walk on trailing." With that, he turned to leave, pausing as if to hear a thank you or something like that.

As much as he tried to hide it, Mitanni still saw part of that little grin Judas wore, even as he turned it out of her direct sight. Of course he would laugh. He'd very successfully startled her, to the point she'd actually jumped, and with the scare she'd been given starting to abate even she could see the humor in it. Got me this time, the black and brown wolf conceded, though she hoped to be readier if he tried it again later.

Overall, she thought the review she received was helpful. She'd felt awfully sneaky with the mud coating her fur to further hide her within the forest, but he'd proven without a doubt that her tracking still needed work. "Yeah, probably," the lithe little wolf agreed with a nod of her head. Her amber eyes lowered and stared thoughtfully at the ground, giving thought to the advice she'd been given and how better she could incorporate it into her sneaking routine.

Rolling her shoulders, feeling the mud on her frame shift with the motion, Mitanni smiled at her unexpected compliment. She'd done well enough to make Judas proud? That was definitely encouraging! Even as his smile slid quickly away, hers remained in place, and as he excused himself she hooked onto his offer of further lessons. That was just what she needed now that she was making progress. "Okay," Mitanni agreed, and hastily added, "Thanks, Judas." She waited around for a second as he continued to walk, and then with a shake of her mud-coated frame headed back toward the river to rinse off.

Yeah, this was a fun thread. Mitanni's looking forward to running into Judas again in the future.

I'll archive. And it makes me sad that he will one day betray them...unless I somehow make him turn. hmmm...

Judas couldn't help it. He was starting to develop a friendship, and it tugged at his wolf side. He felt regret from that side of him, tugging at his heart-strings. He could already hear that little voice; "How could you do this to them?" His other side blanked that out, reminding him of what his purpose was. Without any more words, he strode off. Ignoring that one, little tear that dropped out of his eye after her thanking him.