Two Rivers Isle Chopping down with hatchets

After some much-needed time within the bounds of her claim, the leading female of the Creek pack took her leave once more. She strode through the mist of morning with a determined expression upon her face, with red ears erect and stance squared and proud. Though she was lacking in strength, Saena made up for it in fire. No longer could she sit idly by and hope the subordinates were able to find food, and no longer could she spend her time guarding the forest next to her borders. Silver Creek was doomed should its lead wolf remain idle, and it was high time that Saena began outriding once more.

Yet it was not in pursuit of knowledge that she followed the river northward, but food. She channeled every ounce of her attention into pinpointed focus, and her eyes missed nothing as she scanned the horizon that she marched toward. They had exhausted the supply of fish in Silver Creek within a matter of weeks and even further up the river there was nothing to be had, but there were shoots of green and buds forming in the woods she struck past. Prey would return, and if she was lucky, some already had.

Saena's luck was ever a well running dry, however, and by the time afternoon rolled around, she had crossed a river to stand upon a sprawling river isle with nothing to show for it but the frustration bright in her eyes.

Hello! <3

Laika meandered quietly through the naked landscape, letting her mind slip away from her. She had so many things to think about, to process and decide. Sometimes they overwhelmed the young girl and she had to take time by herself just to think as she is doing now. Her blue eyes were slightly narrowed in thought, but her nose remained awake, picking up the faint scent of her alpha. The pale woman had not spent much time with Saena at all despite the time she's been serving her. She yearned to get to know her better, to become a friend. Many times she'd had the chance and chickened out. She regretted every single one. 

Without a second thought, she turned her tracks to followed the scent trail, head down to make sure she was going the right way. She pushed aside the remaining thoughts, saving them for later. Now, she was on a mission. She slithered around rocks and the scarce tree trunks, determined to find the other pale female. Eventually, Saena came into view and a delicate smile spread across Laika's features. She could see the burning frustration in her leader's eyes, and she thought she had a good idea why. She approached and pricked her ears toward Saena. "Have you been having a hard time hunting? I know I have." She said with a slight sigh.

A fork like this should be a perfect place for prey, thought Saena, but the truth was that the prey was gone. There were rabbit droppings and the occasional vole nest, but nothing more substantial, and the accessibility to these gaunt and wary pickings was lacking. The rabbits were driven by hunger to be more alert than ever, such that even the slightest of noises sent them skittering away. The voles were far more cautious than usual; the birds were just as hungry, and unwitting voles were an easy catch for any raptor. No, thought Saena with a grimace, there's not much more here than ghosts.

When the sound of a larger animal's approach drew her attention, the alpha flung herself low and crept forward. Her jaws were slick with saliva as the anticipation of something larger than a hare mounted in her breast. Yet she could see Laika long before her approach was complete, and even a starving Saena could tell a wolf from a deer. Straightening, the woman shook her mantle as if to sooth the fur upon it, then strode to meet Laika head-on.

The woman's question was met with a brisk shake of the lead wolf's head. "There's nothing left," she said through lightly gritted teeth. What she wouldn't give for a bone to chew on. Even marrow would serve a good substitute for meat right now. "The herds are gone. What are we to do?" The pack was now too weak and tired from the famine to travel any further, and uprooting them again was not an option. For their brief time there, Saena was fond of the creek.

"I may range further ahead and see if there's anything left closer to the coast," she said, as though to answer her own inquiry, though her blue eyes lingered on Laika and the hope for a suggestion on how to secure food still hung between them.

The fork in the river that spread wide apart to form and island like piece of land seemed to be the perfect spot to find prey, but Saena was right. The herds had long since moved on and the small prey that lingered here were either barely holding on to life or too alert and on edge to catch. Laika's blue eyes raked around the landscape with sadness. She wished those damned locusts never came to curse this land with their devilish eyes and clicking mandibles. She spotted one of the last locusts crawling along the ground in search of any more food, and Laika padded over and squished it with a paw -- as if that would calm her anger. 

White ears pricked as her leader mention travelling to the coast to see what prey it boasted. She tilted her head in thought. That would be quite a good idea. Less wolves inhabited these parts, and she doubted it would be any different near the ocean. Maybe the prey wouldn't be as alert because they didn't have to worry about hungry wolves. But that idea was quickly crushed as she remembered there was an abundance of lone wolves and other predators that lived by the sea. Still, it was good to at least try. "I could come with you." She offered. "Or maybe I could travel elsewere -- further away from the creek and report back to you. Maybe there will be more prey where packs don't live." It was a very possible opportunity, but the chances where still slim. However, it was the most logical decision at the moment. With the Silver Creek wolves hunting in and around the territory, it was more likely for the prey population to decrease. But where the wolves didn't travel... there was no telling how much meat they could find. The very thought of fresh, juicy meat made the pale Gamma's mouth water and she licked her lips.

Laika's offer was met with a gentle shake of the lead female's head, though she quickly added, "we can cover more ground if we split up," so as to dissuade any notion that she didn't want the company. Company would be grand, but finding food would be grander, and it was on that task that Saena's mind remained. How could it not? Her stomach was so empty it felt like it was turning itself inside out, and the fear that her children might be feeling the same thing was never far from her thoughts. She wouldn't wish a hunger like that on anyone, least of all innocent cubs who knew no better.

"I intend to loop around the northern end of these lands, at least," and perhaps further if there was nothing to be found. "You could try striking through the very heart of them, see if the inner territories have anything worthwhile." Saena rather doubted it, as she doubted her own expedition, but she would never admit that aloud. Her confidence couldn't be allowed to waver, even if all she really wanted to do was lie down and sob.

"Maybe we'll meet up on the other side of the valley," she suggested, though in no way was it spoken as a promise. Their timing could be off, or one of them could return home before ever reaching there, but it was nonetheless a comforting thought. Unbeknownst to either of them, Saena would not meet up with Laika on the far side of the hinterlands, but would climb higher in search of food only to fall and wipe clean her whole existence.

Laika nodded in agreement with her alpha. Her plan made sense, and they would definitely cover more ground that way. "Perfect." The pale girl said, mind whirling with ideas and plans. She had no idea what would be out there, but she sure hoped that one of them could at least find some source of food. She glanced around them, her once bright blue eyes a little dull. All the stress that had been put upon her was wearing the young girl down. It was her own fault though. She took it upon herself to make sure she could take care of her pack as best she could, and sometimes she pushed herself too much. Traveling away for a while -- even if it was only for a day or two -- would help her relieve some of the weight she carried on her shoulders and focus on finding food. 

Laika did not know of the terrible fate that was ahead of her leader, and if she knew, she would do everything in her power to stop it. But she didn't, and at the moment, she thought she would see Saena back at the Creek in a matter of days, happy and healthy and content. She glanced a her alpha uttering a few more words. "When shall I leave?"

Saena's attention zipped rapidly from an agreeing Laika to the river when a splash sounded, but the fish's tail disappeared in the very center of the current, too far out for the wolf to hope to get it. She was unable to stop the hitch in her heart nor the sudden strides she took toward the bank, but the fish were too wary to come close to shore. They'd been over-hunted in the wake of the locust plague, and even fish had brains that told them to avoid danger when they could.

"Damn," muttered Saena just in time for Laika to ask when she should leave. She seated herself beside the running water in the futile hope that a fish would re-appear, and then addressed her subordinate: "I'll be leaving soon, but we can take some time." There was no better opportunity to get to know the gamma.

"Did you know I was born just over the mountains there?" She gestured over her shoulder to where she knew there to be a monstrous mountain range, surely much too treacherous to cross. "On a little plateau overlooking a river, not unlike this one. That's where I grew up." Memories of the plateau were always sweeter in retrospect, but there had been a lot of things about that pack and family that were dysfunctional. Saena's imagined memories often painted them in an even darker light. "Where are you from, if you don't mind my asking?"

Laika nodded without saying a word, padding up beside Saena as they gazed down the river. The fish were swimming about in the water, but they were still far to cautious to catch without trying for hours. Laika simply didn't have the energy at the moment, and she sat down with a huff. She dragged her eyes from the bubbling liquid to her leader's face as she began speaking. She spoke of where she was born, and the pale Gamma couldn't help but glance in the direction she refrenced to. 

In the far distance, she could barely see the tiny tips of the monsterous mountain range that lay there. From here, it looked so tiny, that she could have sworn that if she walked a little further she would be able to squish it with her paw. She stopped her squinting when Saena inquired about Laika's past and it made her pause. She hadn't really thought about it for a while. The only person who really knew all the details was Spring, but it wouldn't hurt if Saena new. Of course, she wasn't going to rattle everything off right this moment, for the alpha only asked for where she grew up. That is what she would tell her. "A place a very long ways away," She told her. "North East of here I think." She remembered that great lake she lived by that she, Raynar, Osprey, Zaavier, Lainey and Mirabell would go play in. "I grew up next to a very large lake that me, my siblings and my cousins would play in." A smile was brought to her face as she thought of it.