Panther Park sound & color

@Rannoch

the child before had left no real impression on him - save for the remnants of annoyance that clung to his mentality. buck was swift to have gotten rid of him, and he had set himself out to trek his way across the map. nothing had caught his eye quite as much as the forests of pines and junipers. now, if he'd been able to find himself a bog in those lands... well, he'd be living in high heaven. as much as he made his way across the stretch of their terrain, the most that he'd found were mountains and forests that reached up in front of him. boy, was he sick of mountains and forests. 

when he happened upon the stretch of flatter terrain, buckshot breathed a sigh of relief. lord be willing, he could catch his breath and maybe find a bite to eat. stretching his neck out and drawing in the scent of what was around him, buckshot searched for signs of a lake or river that might provide him with a means of a fishing hole. the wind carried the scent of a lake not too far from him and he lingered for only a moment before pointing himself in that direction and moving in a lackadaisical manner toward it. 

The first frost had appeared this morning, making Wraen realize that summer and the mild weeks of autumn were finally over and that her so far smooth long-distance run was entering a rocky and difficult terrain. Figuratively speaking. On the brighter side - she had been doing pretty well during these two weeks and was optimistic about her future prospects. Things were going to work out.

She had tracked down some water rats right up to the banks of the lake and was working on unearthing the tunnels in search for the underground dens that would provide her with the necessary food. She had not been lucky the day before and her stomach was growling. And while being fully immersed in the job that she was doing, she did not pay attention to the wolf scent that the wind brought or the approaching form of the owner himself.

the cajun was moseying along without much of a care in the world – as he lived most of his life – when he caught sight of the flash of slate that passed across his vision. the thick brute furrowed his brow with interest and picked up his pace to a half-jog that carried him closer to where she was. it seemed that she was occupied with digging holes in the ground. buckshot wasn't too sure why she would aim to do something like that until he saw a large water rat scurry from a tunnel's entrance.

“phew-eee you got a runaway dere, cher,” he barked to her, motioning with a point of his muzzle to where the water rat seemed to have found a way to escape. with a swish of his tail, he trotted forward and aimed to snatch the creature in a surprise attack. surely, the little critter would have been more occupied with the grey-furred woman who seemed to be seeking it out.

Wraen jumped and snapped around to see, who was talking to her, and the rat used that one precious second to dart out and away from it's tunnel in other direction. Feeling disappointed by the failure she followed the man with her gaze, as he went to pick her hard-earned prize. Were it Maia instead of him, she would ask to share. But she was not going to take anything from the stranger. What was his, was his.

"You scared me," she told him, when the moment was right to spark the conversation again. "Who are you?"

boy, he had been right! her desired catch sprung up like his rear had been doused in gasoline, and she had the match in her jaws. fortunately for buck, that meant he was about to claim his slice of the meal. with a few fumbled steps and a miscalculation of his burly frame, the cajun only just latched his teeth on the thin flesh of the prey animal and bit down hard. the satisfying crunch that followed was enough to cause him to grin from ear to ear. he turned his broad muzzle toward the female and wagged his tail hard enough that he seemed to throw himself off balance; it was probably a shocking site to see someone so large catch something so small.

the slate female stated that he had frightened her, and his expression fell away. that hadn't been his intention, of course, but it was hard to get folks to see things how he saw things. with a sigh through his nostrils, the thick male tossed the critter toward her. he motioned with his muzzle for her to take it. really, buck probably didn't need much more meat on his bones. “ah didn' mean tah scare ya,” he assured her after a second or two.

“name's buckshot.”

"Well, you did," Wraen said and lunged forward to snatch the critter, before Buckshot had changed his mind about it. She put it down right next to her forepaws and then gave a more favourable look in the big wolf's direction and smiled: "Apology accepted."

"Name's Wraen and I come from the nearby mountains," she introduced herself as Sunspire wolf out of habit. "How did you materialize in this corner of the wilds? Your face does not ring familiarity," she asked.

if she could have seen it, his cheeks would have turned a bright shade of rosy red when she confirmed that he had spooked her. buckshot was a loud fellow and he really didn't understand the need to adjust his volume based on the scenario he had entered. of course, when there was a prospect of snatching up some food and helping out a girl who was in the midst of a hunt, he had simply let his flag fly. the cajun had been fortunate that she still looked kindly on him after having spoiled her attempt. he hoped that sharing the morsel with her was enough to win some good favors for a minute or two.

“pleasure, miss, it's a pleasure tuh meetcha,” he offered with a daft smile and a bow of his large upper half. the girl then went on to say that she was from the mountains that were nearby and that she didn't recognize his face in those parts. the cajun turned his head toward the jagged stone formation before nodding it and then fixing her with a pleasant smile. “ah ain't from 'round these paht's. was born on duh swamp,” he offered her with a proud puffing of his chest and a wry wink.

"Oh, a swamp monster! Born and bred!" Wraen exclaimed in a giddy cheerfulness that sounded both genuine and also gave away the fact that she was playing with the guy a bit. "You are the first for me, but I have heard so much about the swamp witches of, how they cook up hoodoos, and the bitey, sharp-toothed water dragons that live in the water and pretend to be logs," she shared bits and pieces of folklore she had picked up in her life as particular lovely and colourful gems. 

"You will be forgiven forever, if you tell me everything there is to know about your home," she struck a deal. "Or if you do not, I might decide to turn you in a frog," she threatened him playfully and winked. He did not know it yet, but he had crossed paths with one of the witch kind. And it did not matter that the title was self-proclaimed.

They spent a little more time together exchanging pleasant nonsenses and then parted never to see each other again.