The Tangle Blame it all on yourself

First stop on her tour!

The tangle was probably a bad direction to start with, as the going was very slow. The ground was mostly rock, covered by a thin layer of snow which made footing treacherous, and if she did slip, she'd end up stuck in a very prickly bush and would have to spend the next ten minutes tugging the brambles from her pelt. She couldn't believe that Reki's Mom trudged through this territory every time she wanted to come see her son. 

That is, until she began finding deerpaths. 

Here and there, slender paths wound their way through the tangle of thorn bushes, a gap just wide enough for a slim wolf like Lilia to pass through. Rabbits made use of these areas, and their tracks were everywhere. It was likely a haven from them- it would have been tricky for a wolf who didn't know the area to hunt them there without knowing which way the deerpaths went. 

Well, she wouldn't be unknowing- she would learn it. This could potentially be hew newest hunting grounds, if she managed to figure the labyrinth out.

Im just chucking Metis at every puppy in the taiga it seems

When she woke up, she immediately exited the den shed created in the snow with a sudden upwards explosion. It still clung to her even now, as she moved with sinewy grace through the tangled brambles.

She was lucky she was short. Had Metis been any taller, she would have probably run face first into the brambles above her head as she used the narrow paths.

Even now, they raked through her tundran coat.

Didnt stop her though! She carried on with her nose to the floor.

love it <3 AND LOVE THE XENA REFERENCES

The girl continued to wander, able to track where the path looped around pretty easily as she left behind a clean set of pawprints. She had a decent sense of direction, but followed the paths nonetheless just to see where they went and eventually ended up trailing along a deerpath that did not loop back. It appeared to be a bit more frequently used, by both deer and rabbits alike. 

Moving slowly, she didn't make much noise- so when she began to hear the crackling and crashing of branches she froze and lifted her head. She was too short to see very far, in the thicket- so she swiveled her ears around to get a bead on where the sound was coming from- and with the amplification, she assumed that whatever it was, it was headed her way. 

She hastily made her way back along her trail to a place where two paths intersected- and tucked herself in along a row of bushes- hoping that whoever it was might blunder right by her, so she might get eyes on them first.

There was more hunters than just the children in the wood that day.

Lucky for Metis, who blundered through life with the grace of an elephant outrunning its past, the biggest thing among the Tangle was a quick weasel. And, it seemed, that was what she was after.

First came the quick brown figure, followed by the whirling dervish of a winter storm. They tangled there, in the footpath, saliva strings connecting Metis’s fangs for only a second, the weasel desperate in its last stand. The dueling pair caught in a picturesque moment for the length of a butterfly’s wingbeat.

For that is all you will know,- Came the unbidden voice in the back of her head, a screaming Greek chorus as they tried to avert her tragedy.

Her teeth wrapped around the weasel’s head.

-a life led by violence.

The chains of death wrapped in ivory around the weasel, and the white youth proceeded to crush its skull between her fangs, left proudly holding the weasel between her teeth.

And immediately, the chorus faded.

The girl hidden amongst the thorns shuddered as first the weasel flashed past, followed by a blur of silver. As soon as they appeared, they disappeared- but she heard the skid of paws and the gnashing of jaws, the sounds of the weasel's bones crunching in the telltale, percussive sound of defeat. She didn't see weasels often- they were fast, and had a nasty temper. She wasn't sure what to think of a wolf who became a weasel-hunter. 

Because she didn't know, she was intrigued. She inched forward so she might peer around the edge of the deerpath, to see what the silver flash had planned for her victim. She sniffed the air, assessing her scent, and through gaps in the brambles she could just make out that the other wolf was small, like her- but perhaps longer in body. Weasel-like, herself. 

Holding her breath, she watched- wondering if the weasel was killed for amusement, food, or some other purpose.

Metis blasted a breath out of her nose like a stallion, feeling it curl over her muzzle and into the cold fur around her eyes. Adrenaline still pounded in her veins, heart thundering with the force of a millennium of her bloodline.

She threw her head to the side, the weasel snapping with it, as if she was ensuring it was dead. But..well. It was crushed to bits in her mouth, she’d be picking pieces of skull from her gums later she was sure. But it didn’t matter.

She dropped the weasel after a moment, blood and saliva drooling from her mouth in a pink slime, before she savagely rent a leg from the body of the animal, chewing at its meat. Never once did she guess someone watched her do such a thing. The girl was entirely wrapped in her own world.

A shock of sound made her flinch; and she realized that she was nervous, waiting like a peeping tom and watching the other girl with her prey. Perhaps it was because her trip to the Tangle had been overshadowed by a warning about a bear- which she had not heeded. Or perhaps it was because she did not want to be noticed, in case the same treatment was inflicted upon her. 

Regardless, she couldn't tear her eyes away. She tucked herself down silently into a crouch, mindful of the branches that combed through her fur. The pale girl fed from the weasel, and when she turned her head to the side, Lilia caught a glimpse of her heather gaze. It was icy, like her own, and devoid of any shame as she tore the weasel into bits.

It was a lean winter for all lone, young things.

The weasel was gone before she knew it, and her tongue smeared more blood over her muzzle as she flicked out out to lick the last remnants of meat from her whiskers. It was stark on her white coat, a splash of color on an otherwise monochrome form.

It was then that she finally returned to the present, and caught the barest hint of a scent. It was enough for the gangly girl to go on her guard, hackles raising in silvery relief to the rest of her.

Ποιος είναι εκεί? Her voice cracked from between her jaws, posture curved as her eyes sought the dark, curled snarls of the brambles around her.

She only had a few moments to observe, before she saw the pale girl stiffen and draw her head up sharply. She'd thought the scent of the weasel's blood might obscure her own scent, but she'd guessed wrong. Here in the Tangle, the air was close and still; it didn't shift in such a way that might favour her position. She would have to keep that in mind the next time she came to the place. 

Something was snarled, but she didn't understand the words. The meaning, however, was fairly clear. It was a demand, and with narrowed pupils, the wild look spread through the lilac of her irises. 

Lilia stood, and moved from her cover. She kept her posture neutral, though her gaze was watchful. She'd memorized some of the pathways through the Tangle- maybe, if she had to make a run for it...She might not be able to outpace the lean wolf, but she might be able to out-maneuver her. 

"I don't mean no hawm," She said. "Wath just here, before you. Din' mean to dithturb you."

It wasn’t something sinister haunting the bushes, watching with venom eyes. It wasn’t even a rabbit that she scared away with her snarl.

It was just another wolf. Young, like her, about the same height. Bit more muscle. Pretty, in all the ways Metis had once envied. But she had become a rawboned, whipcord thing, who didn’t care for aesthetics.

Her hackles fell and she picked her head back up, but she remained watchful and wary. The girl let out a tense, short sigh, breath curling visibly from her maw.

It’s fine. Didn’t mean to be an aggressive shithead. She could feel the shift of her bones beneath her skin.

Been a rough time of it recently, that’s all. Hey, are you from around here? Getting a lay of the land had always been first on the docket in new places, and Metis was nothing without the lessons she had learned.

She hadn't expected the other wolf to chill out so easily; she'd been prepared for a snarl, a bluff charge, or to be chased away from her bloodied turf. Instead, she was met with humility, and a wry sense of humour, which she didn't quite know how to handle. She'd forgotten how to be instantly cool, in the past few weeks of having been on edge all of the time. But she'd done it before- she could do it again. She could blend in with her environment. It was all a part of becoming a ranger and a rogue. 

She shrugged, albeit somewhat stiffly. "Th'alright." She said, squinting lightly. Apologies were often harder to earn than that, but she could be gracious with forgiveness when she felt it was earned. No harm, no foul. 

To her question, she nodded, and gestured to the East. "Yeah. I live in a pack jutht that way, called Redtail uRithe." She said, trying to correct her stubborn rhotacism while speaking. "You a loner, yeah?" She asked. It'd been implied- living a life out in the wilderness was tough. It would explain her jumpy reaction.

The inevitable question that she didn’t want to answer.

Was she a loner? In most senses, yes. She was alone, she acted as a lone child would do. But also not.

It was complicated. She was complicated. So she went with the least complex route.

Yeah. She said, carefully noting everything in her head.

I’m Metis. Metis O Pyrosvéstis. She introduced after a moment of awkwardly staring.

And I..uh. I guess I just roam now.

For a wolf who wasn’t terribly empathetic, she picked up on the other girl’s discomfort as soon as it became present. Lilia was too befuddled momentarily by all the syllables in the girl’s name to do much other than stare back- until she too snapped out of it. If she hadn’t introduced her first name twice, Lilia wouldn’t have caught it. 

”I’m Lilia.” she said. She shrugged and pawed at the ground with one foot, dragging her claws idly through the snow. ”I uthed to roam too.” Her tone implied that she hadn’t enjoyed it. She wasn’t sure if Metis had been orphaned as well- though she suspected as much. ”But that wath in the thummer. I dunno how you’re doin’ thith in the winter,” It was as close to an honest compliment as she’d ever come.

Pretty badly.

At least that was easy. Brutal honesty was always in her favor.

Its nice to meet you Lilia. A beat of awkward silence, a little side to side shuffle.

You’re in a pack, you said? What’s that like? Her heart hummed in her chest, pounding at a high speed with every word she said. She was doing it, damn what everyone said! She was a good information gatherer, no matter how much she blabbed!

She huffed; not exactly laughter, but half of an agreement. Metis could probably look and feel better if she wasn't out on her own. Having been in a similar situation- albeit in the summer- she'd been even younger, and she knew what struggling felt like. She knew what starvation felt like. And because of that, she thought she might know how Metis felt. 

She sat down so she could get comfortable. She trusted Metis not to trounce her, now that they seemed to have reached a kind of truce. "It'th much bettah than living alone an' thtarvin," She admitted, "But it ain't all thunthine an' rotheth either." She said with a shrug. "We juth-t got back from huntin' down a wolf that attacked one of our own on the bordeuth. Took about a month." She said, figuring that that was an impressive task. "But when it'th not like that, yeah, it'th pwetty good. We're a pack of huntuth an' warrioth, tho we live kind of ready for both." She said, and she paused. "Lookth like you're no thlouch at huntin' at leatht," She said, by way of testing the waters to see if Metis was at all intersted.

Metis’s teeth were still stained red up around her gums. It was visible when she grinned, even if you were to look past the carcass cooling in the snow.

Oh no, I’m no slouch. At hunting, or at fighting. She gave a quick wag of her tail, tipping her head to the side to look over the lanky body of the girl in front of her, before looking at her face.

And you look like you could do some serious damage too, hunting or fighting. My tutors would have loved you. Metis knew that the small size of the girl would have given her all the more advantage, speed wise, around the hulking giants that had been her “ever so wise” tutors.

There was confidence in the girl's cool, lavender gaze. Lilia looked her over again- while she did look hungry, she didn't look frail. And when her eyes drifted back to the girl's features, she found something familiar about them. It clicked when Metis mentioned that she had had a tutor. Even the compliment went over her head. 

"A tutor?" She asked, surprised. Not that the concept of having a tutor was strange- but it was remarkable considering the fact that Lilia had met another wolf just days ago who had also had a tutor...And a similar bone structure to his face. He also appeared to be about the same age. "Huh. Funny- I met a wolf a couple-a dayth ago, who altho had a tutor, he'd lotht," She said. "You don't know a guy named Lycabath, do you?"

Lycabeth?

Lycabas?

Metis stared, for a moment, before she bayed a laugh, a sound half like that of a hound.

Ha! She finished, eyes alight. Well, hot damn.

Lycabas is my brother. And he’s with your pack? The sibling who had resembled her most, though with more color than she had. With Lycabas, Metis hadn’t felt so out of place.

Her smile wobbled.

Well. That had certainly changed, hadn’t it.

She knew him- quite well, apparently. Her laughter seemed to come more from surprise than from joy, though. Lycabas had been....Hard to take. He'd been following her pack as they'd ranged, eating the leftovers from their meals which she thought was pretty low. But like his sister, he was just trying to make the best of it on his own. 

"He'th not with uth, but he want-th to join. We thent him out to hunt an' prove himthelf to the pack." She said. A faint smile pulled at the corner of her lips. "Y'know...If you wanted to join uth...An' you showed up with a kill ath an offering...You might have an even better chanthe of joining up with uth," She said, before she added "If you wanted to."

Lilia’s words struck a cord in the empty belly of the young woman, and she stared for a moment, before falling into contemplation. It would be the smartest thing to do, especially if this pack was focused on the warrior aspect of things. 

A place to stay for the winter, even with the idea of brothers, sat well in her chest. And hey, when spring came around and the food started flowing, she could fake her death and leave like a normal person.

The girl flashed a little grin.

Ya know? I think I may take you up on that offer Lilia.

She would have to range and find something she could take on, but she could manage that.

She felt satisfied that Metis considered her offer. She grinned, blinking her eyes in an affectionate, feline way. "I think you should." She said, with a playful shrug of her shoulder. She could always use an ally; she still felt that the other youths of the pack felt like competition, but if she began bringing new blood to the pack, she might be able to improve her own reputation. Metis seemed like a good bet; she was fierce, but reasonable. Exactly the sort of wolf Lilia wanted to have on her side. 

"Well, I gotta get movin'," She said. She had a long trek ahead of her, if she wanted to complete her scouting mission in a week. Her gaze lingered on Metis for a moment, allured. "Thtop by thometime. I dare ya," She grinned.