Cedar Sweep a love only good for lighting fires and starting wars

One of the Tartok wolves since they are in the area? :) Tag for visibility: @Kuasak @Kavrak @Anuniaq @Kaertok

After following @Arturo to the borders a few times prior to Roarke’s disappearance, and a few times after, she’s become familiar with the travel worn path. Her exploration of the Strath around the rendezvous site has grown exponentially each day to the point that only most of the extremities and outside territories are unknown to her. Having never crossed the invisible barrier filled with the scent of the Family, Mallaidh isn’t entirely sure what she’s supposed to find. Where the scent becomes less and less of what she’s familiar, diluting out close to the river, is when uncertainty fuels a new sense of anxiety.

She wonders if this is where Roarke had gone initially and if the same will happen to her.

Mallaidh’s jaws tighten as she finds the narrowest point of the water before she crosses and her small, petite form still struggles as it zips quickly by her. Every so often the current is strong enough to knock her off her feet and her head submerges, sputtering water when she resurfaces, and ultimately the last bit of energy to get across is used to throw herself over onto the opposite bank. With the encouragement that she is still alive when she crosses keeps her going, a reluctant look over her shoulder to see if anyone is following her, she shakes out her water laden coat into a rainbow mist of what little sunlight is offered through the thickening cedars.

One tree turns into another and eventually she can’t tell them apart. How she is going to get home hasn’t yet crossed her mind but the unfamiliar territory has settled enough anxiety in her mind to become hyper-aware of her surroundings. Every movement sends her ears a’swiveling and her head turning in each direction when it happens and at this rate, she’s sure nothing can sneak up on her. The only daylight to fill her surroundings are just because the sun is up, sending a few rays from the tree tops when the barrier of the canopy is broken. Mallaidh comes to a stop when an small open expanse is before her, though she is still cloaked in shadows, she can see the few rabbits that have taken up residence and eating at their leisure.

The rest of her family rested on the mountain but Kavrak delved down into the lowlands, where she thought she might find them some manageable fare. With the help of Anuniaq and Kaertok, taking down the sick doe from the herd would be child's play. Nevertheless, the wolves were not ready for a hunt, but Kavrak hungered, so she waited no longer for them to wrap up their investigation of the mountain.

So she went down into the woods, where smaller critters hid, in search of acceptable sustenance. For a big wolf like her, it would take several hares. More than that to feed the others of her caravan, but she was focused on herself foremost. She pressed into the thickest part of the woods, where the heat was oppressive and her black coat clung to her warm flesh, and there she found cub-scent.

It was unmistakable. The fresh, young scent of a child was unlike anything in the world. She lowered her head and sniffed at the leaves and loam, searching for traces of that smell. A child meant there was a pack somewhere nearby. If Anuniaq was intending to settle this mountain—she didn't know yet whether that was his plan or not—then he would need to be told of this. First, though, Kavrak needed to find the cub itself and confirm her suspicions. She wanted to keep hunting and fulfill her hunger, but she could multitask. She began to prowl through the woods, ears pricked and jaws parted in a silent pant, in search of Mallaidh.

With several trees between her and the rabbits, Mallaidh stands there in wonder. Her breathing slows to a minimum, her feet a firmly planted on the ground so they do not move, she’d be mistaken for a statue if it wasn’t for the slight ruffle of her fur in the wind. She’s seen rabbits before when her parents or Hemlock brought them as gifts or for meals and they always came dead. In the back of her mind, she always knew there had once been life behind them but seeing them for herself—in such an untouched surrounding—is an entirely different feeling. As much as she loves to eat, it is much easier for someone to bring them to her than for her to put forth the effort.
 
The concept of hunting is buried deep in instinct. If Mallaidh listens closely, she’d know what to do, but she’s far more mesmerized watching them interact with one another, nibble at the grasses, or simply enjoying living quietly. One of them, however, seems a little jitterier than the others but she doesn’t know what to chock that up to without previous knowledge of how rabbits really interact with one another.
 
One of them moves too quickly, causing her to flinch, and she cringes in hopes she has not scared them away. Something is amiss between them and her ears swivel on her head, one pointed in another direction that a sound has infiltrated her mind. Unable to recover what it was outside the rabbits’ reaction, her knees bend a little and lower her petite frame to the ground. Her chest suddenly swells with more anxiety, becoming much more aware of her situation and the fact she had not left a single hint that she disappeared from Teaghlaigh. Mallaidh swallows a thick lump in the back of her throat, turning her head back to the clearing to see it free of a single hare.
 
Slowly, she picks one foot up and back tracks the way she came but in her turn around, her eyes widen in surprise and her breath hitches in her throat at the sight of another dark, unfamiliar wolf through the trees.

The scent of rabbit wafted through the trees, a combination of their scat and fur, but Kavrak filtered it out. She was interested only in the cub. She dropped her head and passed her snout over tangled roots and foliage, working her way effortlessly in Mallaidh's direction. Here, tracking and hunting, she was entirely in her element. Her gait was that of a stalking cat's. It was one she employed when she wanted to go unheard.

The pup was lucky. Even as Kavrak spotted her dark figure through the trees, the child turned and spotted her. Where another wolf might have drawn upright and tried to think their way out of their new predicament, Kavrak didn't hesitate. When the element of surprise was gone, then one had to rely on the rest of their skills. She had many. The Anneriwok lunged through the undergrowth, pressing momentum into her previous rolling gait to send her flying headlong for the pup.

She was hungry. The flesh of a rival pack's cub would suffice and would eliminate a future threat at the same time.

I wrote this from my phone so I hope it is coherent, I just had to post! Should I PM you about the course of this thread? I don't mind if she gets any injuries (though a preference against anything life threatening, if possible ^^;).

Everything slows to a stop the moment she locks eyes with the predator and her reaction time is a little too late. When the assailant charges forward, a mess of underbrush with her, Mallaidh attempts to spin on her heels and run the opposite direction. A haphazard choice that sends her further from the strath is the furtherest thing from her mind. Without time to make the right decision, she makes the best choice possible to get away. Inexperienced and underdeveloped legs fling her opposite of her attacker and she scrambles for purchase on unknown terrain.

Except she isn't fast enough not to meet tooth and nail when she feels the collision. It does not slow her down or stop every attempt to get away, forces now to dig into the dirt to get away. An unnatural sound escapes her lungs, a mix of losing all the air in her chest and a cry of help, but never does she give in. Roarke had to of fought to the very end, knowing the strength in her younger brother, but the terror she may meet the same end pushes her forward. Her back bends with the weight of another and her rear legs give out beneath her, struggling only to use the strength of her front end to weasel out from below the monster.

*barges in*

The mountain they had come upon was tall and formidable, even from a distance, but it was not completely to Anuniaq's liking. It wasn't right. His heart was still set on his family's former claim, wherever that was in these lands, and so they would continue their search. They might even come across somewhere better. The man hadn't informed the others of his decision, though he did have an inkling that they already knew. Kaertok would, at least.

The decision didn't keep him from scouting the surrounding territories, however. He was determined to learn as much as he could of the Wilds; he had known only of Sawtooth Spire as a child before they left. When he picked up on the scent of Kavrak, his paws lazily made their way to her, quickening only when her own musk mixed with that of a younger, foreign wolf.

His bulk hampered his speed, but Anuniaq arrived just in time to see the female lunge for the small child. He burst from the foliage with an enraged snarl, directed entirely at Kavrak. He didn't get the impression that she was some sort of wildcard who would attack without reason — especially a mere cub. So the man was confused by the scene. Still, he wouldn't allow his fellow Anneriwok to injure a child without good reason. He rushed towards her with ears and tail thrust high in the air.

"Stop!" he growled loudly in their native tongue, though stopped just before she and the pinned pup. While he didn't approve of her attacking it, he also knew that there could be circumstances that warranted it, and so would let her keep the young wolf in place. He glanced down at the struggling thing. It looked like a fighter.

Had she not lost the element of surprise, the child would already be dead in her jaws. Mallaidh turned on a dime, however, and fled from her wrathful charge. Kavrak pursued with the prowess of a skilled huntress. It was no contest. She caught up with the cub, who struggled valiantly as the Anneriwok fell upon her. She got a good kick to the snout and felt the scrape of young wolf claws on her skin as Mallaidh tried to escape her grasp. Kavrak shoved her chest down, pinning the pup's hind legs beneath her bulk, and struck out for the silvered nape with the intent of sinking her teeth deep.

Only the snarled command stopped her from ending the girl's life. Kavrak's muzzle wrinkled as she whipped around to face Anuniaq. "Why?" she returned in their tongue with a snarl of her own. She deferred to him, naturally, in the backward splay of her ears and the aversion of her eyes although she saw in him now a sudden stroke of weakness. The cub was from a rival pack. She shared no bond with Tartok and served them no purpose. To eliminate the future of another pack would only serve to weaken that pack.

And anyway, they probably weren't staying in this area. The pack itself was of no consequence, but Kavrak was a conqueror who would do anything she could to weaken others and strengthen Tartok, and she was hungry.

She does not go down easily when she feels the weight of another. It is not the same way when an adult knocks her down and settles her on the ground. It is much heavier than one trying to correct and discipline her for something and the intent is cold and calculated. She squirms, thrashing about enough to get a good whack in but it is not enough as she is crushed beneath the adult’s weight a moment longer. She growls, grinds her teeth, and lashes out with as much of a snarl she can manage. She stiffens when the other is close enough to her flesh and stopped short by another that has flooded the scene.
 
Pale blue eyes close tight, unable to do much more than squirm, as she attempts to block it out. The deep seed of terror settles low in her chest and she wonders if this is how Roarke felt too, when these wolves came for him too. The few short words between those around her are lost on her and she shivers, opening her eyes and focusing on something in the distance to distract her.

Sorry to skip, just pulling Kavrak out so you two can continue without her.

Rather than waiting for the answer, she snorted disdainfully in his direction. Milik, she mentally named him. They were Tartok. They were war and destruction. They were conquerors, and they hadn't won that name by being passive and kind to those they came across. Kavrak saw an opportunity to weaken an opponent and saw it snatched from her. Perhaps it was in the name of honor, but Tartok hadn't won their name by being honorable either. For Kavrak, Anuniaq had just proven he was not the type of Tartok she was devoted to.

So she spared the cub less than a glance as she turned and left them. She would inform only Kuasak of her decision. She would return to Kannernak Kingark until a wolf truly worthy of her devotions rose, and then she would follow them to form a branch worthy of the name. This Milik would get nowhere with his soft head and softer heart.

Mallaidh does not wait when the pressure is released. The moment the monster is off her, she flings herself forward. She does not wait to see if the other still pursue, despite the prevention of her being eaten, because all she wants to do is get home. In addition, she doesn’t exactly know where she’s going and she runs in what—at the time—seems to be the proper path.