Lake Bismuth velociraptor

1/5 for base hunter

Minsang moved as a cobra, her nose to the ground. The scorpion had followed wolf scent from the ravine out into the dunes, but in the middle of the day, she was unwilling to follow it to its source.

Instead, she snorted, drove her paws through the sand enough to leave a line of her scent in the grooves that she knew would be quickly crossed by those overlarge creatures, but it made her feel better, and carried on. She wandered through the oasis, taking a dip in the water to wash herself and cool her fur, before sloughing off the water minutes later beneath the bane of the sun.

Her nose tracked something. Her ears could track it better, she could hear the crack of the bighorns from a great deal of distance. But that was not what she tracked.

Her nose followed the meandering path of a jackrabbit, out for a drink then back to its burrow, she guessed. It would be good food none the less, food she could eat and bring remainders of back to the Tribe. Even if she was a little more bemused than usual about being in such a group.

Candle was no longer certain she wanted to follow S'ari.

But the thought of being alone again scared her, almost more than the thought of facing another wolf. So she kept to herself, giving no indication of her thoughts but making little attempt to integrate herself with the rest of The Tribe. Only occasionally did her loneliness get the best of her, and now was one such occasion.

She joined the woman in silence, becoming her shadow. Her nose dipped to take in the scent of their prey. Candle did not often hunt things larger than rats, but with a partner she felt less unsure — and this woman looked quite capable, she thought.

Another joined her, smelling of the desert and the ravine. Minsang cast her a look from the corner of an eye, judging her with supreme scrutiny. A small creature, pale, thin.

The rabbit would feed them both. She greeted the small woman with a dip of her sharp featured face, before her head went back to the ground. Survival meant nothing wasted, and a partner would be good to share what remained. Things rankled quick in the heat.