Fox's Glade brand new shoes, walking blues

She'd made it to the border before stopping, mud and greenery clinging to the pelt she'd only just cleaned in an effort to rid herself of the mold-feeling. She paused well within the line, glancing down at the mud staining her white pelt but not wanting to crack the scabs around her neck again, and thus held her neck oddly ridged as she peered through the trees. She saw a cannibal in every shadow, heard him in the creek of every bough. Her heart beat a little quicker, before she took a few clipped steps forward and abruptly rushed past the border. 

For a moment, she wavered. But hadn't she traveled by herself for so long, without encountering any like the man with the head? And hadn't her mother, though normally filled with terrible advice, once told her to face her fears before pushing her into a pond? Takeing a breath, she stepped carefully a little further into the glade, eyes peeled and ears pressing forward atop her head.

hope you don't mind me!

As peaceful and cool as the cave was, staying there all the time soon grew tiresome. Hadn't she struck out from home for some adventure? And now she found herself caught in the same-old rhythm, passing her days away with idle chit-chat and play, singing songs to herself. Shaking out the dust from her pelt, Lily made her way slowly down the slope of the mountains, eventually ending up in the valley in which she had arrived.

After a couple hours, in which she faced her fears by fording a dangerous-looking stream and meandered idly through a beautiful meadow, Lily entered a glade, chilly and cloaked in dim light. Her lips puckered in awe, the dark-pelted girl padded through, her pawsteps soft and steady on the cold ground below.

She knew she was drawing close to not one but two packs' borders and kept wary of that fact, keeping toward the middle of the glade. Her tail wagged as she caught the smell of foxes; perhaps she could trick one into a chase. Lily never had killed a fox--didn't really want to--but she enjoyed the pursuit, while it lasted. They had a way of scurrying back into their holes when they tired of the "game."

Movement caught her eye, and she grew excited, thinking that her game had began almost immediately after the thought had come to her mind. Peering into the trees, though, she was disappointed to see that the "fox" was not a fox. . .and not a wolf? What was that thing?

"Hallo?" Lily called a bit nervously, craning her neck as she tried to see better. "Who're you?"

There was movement in the trees, and Poppy fell completely motionless. Immediately she scolded herself for doing so; for hadn't succumbing to surprise last time gotten her injured? But before she could make any move towards or away from the movement, it moved out of the cover of the barren underbrush and revealed itself to be a rather pretty she-wolf. Her tail wagged in appeasement when she noted the nervousness in the girl's voice, for surely if the stranger was as uncertain as she was, she would cause Poppy no harm. "hello,"  She echoed, chestnut gaze tracing the woman a moment. "I'm poppy," she offered, adding,  "who're you?" 

hngggg sorry for the wait

Whatever it was--she, Lily amended, it was clearly a she--she could talk! Even more taken aback, her head tilted to one side, regarding the girl with puzzlement.

"Poppy," she repeated. "Charmed. I'm Lily." She drew closer to her newfound acquaintance, black nose twitching as she tried to pick up her scent. She was no wolf, but she clearly lived with wolves; she smelled many of them on her pelt. But she was soft! And cute! She belonged in a fairy tale, not in these woods!

"I'm terribly sorry if this comes out wrong--I mean, I don't want to be rude, but--what are you?" Lily burst out, immediately flushing with embarrassment and regret. Bloody hell, you sound like a moron! she cursed herself silently, shaking her head. "I mean, I'm sorry. . .you just look different. Like a wolf. . .but. . .not," she finished lamely.

The sheepdog's ears flicked forward as she caught the girl's name, blurting without thought, "we're both flowers, then," Small grin curved her muzzle, and already she decided that she liked the company of Lily. She asked too the question that many seemed to ask of her, and her tail wagged in appeasement at the girl's nervousness. She was different in the way that she seemed to feel bad about asking ,and Poppy's muzzle canted a fraction. "it's alright - everyone asks," She was quick to assure the girl, adding a moment later, "I'm a dog - a border collie. we're herding dogs." 

Her eyes widened a fraction as the girl spoke, and she nodded idly, humming almost to herself, "I suppose we are. Yeah. That's interesting." She had never really thought of her name as a flower; it had been her great-grandmother's name, or something like that, periodically passed down in the family for generations.

Lily's shoulders fell in relief as Poppy explained, and a smile returned to her face once more, though the puzzlement didn't quite fade. "I'm not sure what a 'dog' is, but you seem nice enough, so I don't think I really need to know, then," she reasoned, shrugging. "You look like a wolf, and you live with them--right?" Lily asked, trying to confirm her earlier assessment.

The girl seemed relieved to her explanation, and Poppy's oversized ears flicked forward before she plopped into the snow. She was certainly more at ease now, that the supposed threat had turned out to be a friendly stranger. She admitted to not knowing what a dog was, and though Poppy gathered herself to explain it turned out none was needed. The girl continued to ask a question of her, and Poppy dipped her head enthusiastically. "yes - I live in Easthollow, back there," She gestured with her muzzle in the direction she'd come, and after a beat asked curiously, "do you have a pack?" 

She mouthed Easthollow, eyes lighting in curiosity. She was almost certain her band of wolves weren't an official pack as of yet; therefore, she hadn't stumbled across any established groups in her time in Teekon. In fact, this was the first wolf--dog, she amended--she was meeting outside of the ones she lived with.

"Erm, sort of," Lily said awkwardly, glancing back toward the mountains. "We live in a cave up there. But they say we're going to move soon, try to find a bigger territory."

Her ears canted forward, and she looked at Poppy, an intrigued smile starting to spread over her face. "So what's it like in Easthollow? I'm new here," she explained. "Before this, I've never lived anywhere else but home, with my family."

so surprised was she to learn that this girl's group lived in a cave that she almost interrupted, maw opening to project a "you live in -"  before snapping closed with an apologetic look. waiting patiently until the girl finished, and a beat after that, she finally asked her burning question.  "so you're cave-wolves?" her head cocked to the side, suddenly immensely curious in the girl. 

she brightened after the girl's question, dipping her head excitedly.  "I'm new here, too! I lived in the prairie, before here." she paused a moment before replying to the girl's original question, tail wafting behind her. "Easthollow is great! Valette, the alpha, is a little scary but also nice. no one has eaten me, or even wants to." 

Her face split in a grin at Poppy's suggestion. "Yeah, I suppose we are," she murmured, thinking of their crowded but cozy dwellings. "It's quite fun, actually. I'll miss it up there." She gave a low hum of appreciation at Poppy's background; she, too, had grown up on the prairie, and sometimes she missed it so much she felt her heart would break.

"Why would they want to eat you?" Lily asked, her brow furrowing in puzzlement. "You seem nice enough to me. Too nice to eat!" She cocked her head, giving the dog a gimlet stare. "Is there something I should know about you?" she queried, voice wry.

It was incredibly weird to even contemplate eating something that looked like Poppy. Deer? Oh, yes! Rabbits? Sign her up. Buffalo? She could die happy, if an entire buffalo were here before her. But Poppy looked so much like a wolf that whatever she was, Lily was sure she wasn't appetizing.