Mudminnow River It's a good thing I like fish

@Grezig

Mud coated his fur. His muscles, a rather unpleasant melody of both soreness and hot white fire. Thorleif laboriously clambered up the embankment of the river, a half eaten fish in his mouth. He had been chasing the fox with the fish for almost... gods, he couldn't even remember. All he could recall was the crazed hunger that had overtaken his senses when he saw the fish on the gravel, never mind the fox that had already begun to tear into it.

"Stupid fox", wheezed Thorleif, his saliva glands already pumping.  The fox had, in the end, given up the fish and had dashed into the tall grass, pausing momentarily to snap at the air towards Thorleif.  Thorleif had ignored it.  Fixated on his new prize, he had started to devour it in such a ravenous manner that one could make the argument that most of the fish was ending up on Thorleif, rather than in him.

It was over in a matter of seconds.  Covered now in a coat of mud and fish, Thorleif put his nose to the ground to sniff the remains, hoping for a stray scrap of fish.  The heat and humidity was going to do wonders for his new scent, but he didn't mind.  Once his skin started to itch, he's simply roll around on some grass or rub up against a tree with thick coarse bark.  Stomach semi sated, Thorleif now took in his new surroundings.  Spotting a thicket in the distance, he meandered towards it seeking shade.

Grezig was coming towards the river in the opposite direction. She had been growing restless for the last few days, stuck in this part of the Wilds longer than she would have liked. To relieve her boredom, she’d been doing patrols farther and farther away from the rest of the group, coming back to the places surrounding Overture Downs. She had decided on a whim that day to make a trip to Mudminnow River, the place where Liri had recruited her. Were she a nostalgic type, she might have thought this place had sentimental value, the place where she’d met all of her current… friends (yes, she supposed they were friends), but she was not sentimental. To her, this was just another river, with a memory attached.

A fox suddenly ran past her, breaking her out of her thoughts. She cursed at the jump it gave her, and growled at it, but it didn’t stop. It looked as if it was running away from something. Brows drawn, Grezig moved in the direction that that fox had come from, wondering if another predator was about. She smelled the air, but all she got was the mud from the river. And… blood. She picked up her pace and up ahead, saw a wolf sniffing the ground around a fish carcass. Maybe he had scared the fox. 

Grezig chuffed in greeting. He looked soaked, as if he had just crossed the river. Well, that would explain the lack of scent.

Thorleif heard a noise and paused.  He raised his head and looked at a nearby tree.  Surely the tree didn't just chuff at him?  He stepped towards the tree warily and gave a chuff.  He cocked his head to the side, unsure of himself.  In that moment, some fish chunks feel off his head and splattered on the ground, momentarily stealing his attention.  

Thorleif started to lower his head to eat the fish when he remembered the tree.  "I'm watching you, tree...", he said in a slightly wavering voice.  He resumed eating the remains, despite the sickly taste that warned him that the fish had long since turned.  Thorleif sensed the tree watching and so raised his eyes to meet it, distrust in his eyes. 

All of a sudden there was another chuff, and Thorleif's heart stopped momentarily.  He froze,  wide eyed and stared at the tree.  It was at this unfortunate time in which his stomach began to protest its latest meal of putrid fish.  Too afraid to make any sudden movements, Thorleif only lowered his head ever so slightly, opened his mouth, and expelled the contents in his stomach.  As he felt the warm liquid soak into the fur under his jaw, he noticed movement beside the tree.  He stared again, this time of shock, at the wolf sitting at the base of the tree, staring back at him with wide eyes of what can only be described as disgust to Thorleif.

Well… the wolf seemed to notice her, or, at least he noticed… something? Why was he looking at the tree over there? Grezig followed his gaze, thinking she’d see or smell something interesting, but there was nothing. It was just a tree. She opened her mouth to ask him about it, but he’d already gone back to the fish. Maybe he was just ignoring her? Well, that was fine. Grezig often ignored others, so she knew she had no room to complain if others ignored her. She shrugged and almost turned to leave when the wolf said something that made her halt in her tracks.

’I’m watching you, tree…’

Grezig slowly turned around to stare in open bewilderment at the male. Did… did he think the tree was talking to him? What— Oh, and now he was throwing up. “What is wrong with you?” she asked, pulling her head back as if afraid of catching his lunacy like a disease. Instinct was telling her to stay away from this waste of nature, but there was something strangely mesmerizing about him, like watching an accident as it happened. 

Finally, at those words, he seemed to notice her, staring at her in what seemed to be shock. Her lip curled in disgust as she stared back, as if challenging him to do anything else disturbing.

Thorleif eyed the wolf suspicisouly before lowering his head to inspect the contents of his stomach.  Selecting the largest morsel, he quickily picked it back up and swallowed it.  Again.  Feeling a sense of satisfaction from eating twice in a day, Thorleif stretched lazily and yawned.  He had to let the other wolf know that he wasn't a threat.  In fact, Thorleif couldn't fathom why anyone would want to start fights.  It was much more satisfying stealing food from lesser carnivores.  Maybe this new wolf would want to join him in his adventures of harrassing river birds in the hopes of one of them dropping some fish.  There was plenty of birds to bother, plus it was always fun to watch them all fly away. 

Thorleif called to the other wolf, "Do you like fish?"

Grezig watched impassively as the male proceeded to eat a part of his own vomit. Some part of her was disgusted, but dogs and wolves often consumed their vomit, so it wasn’t a sight that bothered her too much. The fact that he’d thrown up in the first place bothered her more. Perhaps it was nothing, but he could be sick, and she could not afford to catch whatever physical illness he might have. And, again, he’d thought that a tree was talking to him, so there was that.

He spoke to her after a leisurely stretch, asking if she liked fish. “I suppose so,” she replied. Grezig did not often eat fish. She was used to mammals, mostly, small or large. She was not very good at fishing, so she didn’t try very often. She watched him for a moment, coming to a decision in her head. He seemed a bit daft, but harmless enough, and they needed the numbers more than anything. If he could fish, he was at least good for something. (She did not know that he had taken the fish from the fox she had passed earlier, and assumed that he had caught it himself).

“Are you part of a pack?” she asked, in her usual semi-demanding tone. After a second, she realized she hadn’t even introduced herself yet and backed up a bit. “My name is Grezig. I'm helping to make a pack. You should join us if you're looking." It wasn't the best introduction, but that was how Grezig normally was -- pretty much monosyllabic.

"A pack...", Thorleif wondered out loud.  He paused, tasting the words in his mouth as if were a morsel.  As if he would turn down any sort of object he found in his mouth, regardless of origin.  It had been ages since he had last seen any wolf, much less a pack.

Thorleif remembered the last time he saw a pack.  He was young.  So innocent and full of life.  His family, his entire pack had been slaughtered by a deer.  It was such a fearsome deer, unlike any deer that he had ever seen before.  It was huge, brown, and had huge fangs, but bore no antlers.  It had a thick shaggy coat of fur, unlike the other deer that he was familiar with.  It had huge paws with giant claws instead of hooves.  Had Thorleif been born first of his litter and strong, he probably would have realized it was a bear, not a deer.  But he was born a runt and oft found himself digging through mud and eating mushrooms rather than fighting for scraps of meat at the kill.

The thought of the deer from his nightmares brought him a shiver and jolted him back to reality.  "Yes," he thought out loud. "A pack would suit me fine... With that deer still out there...".  Thorleif knew the benefits of being in a pack.  It brought a sense stability and community.  Things Thorleif had long since thought that he would never experience again.

"Yes", replied Thorleif.  "I accept your invitation.  I will join your pack."

Grezig gave the male time to think as he seemed to space out for a moment. She knew that this could be a big decision for some and didn’t want to pressure him into joining. Putting pressure on others was sometimes necessary if they were prone to fits of indecision, but since she did not know this wolf, she did not know if pressuring him might just cause him to walk away from her. He did not take too long, but he said another thing that gave her pause, causing her brows to scrunch in confusion. What was this about a deer…? She wondered, for the third time since their meeting, if maybe this wolf was a bit… slow. Stupid, even. Some part of her regretted giving out the invitation, but with every member, they were growing close to their goal and she was becoming impatient to settle down. She supposed if he ended up being more trouble than he was worth later, then they could always chase him off.

“Our pack is not a real pack yet," she said. "We are searching for a home that will suit us. We are growing in numbers quickly and soon we will have enough to protect whatever territory we choose.” She stood and turned towards the direction of where she knew Kavik, Liri, and the others were. “Come,” she said. “I will take you to the others.”

[Exit with your next post?]

Thorleif nodded.  He didn't want to stay in one spot in the open for too long.  It had been a long time since Demon Deer, but he had to be careful.  He had to keep moving.  It was high noon, but the sun had a habit of slipping away when you didn't pay attention.  Thorleif had a good spell of luck on his own, but it was time for a change.  He chuffed and started to follow behind.