Blacktail Deer Plateau baby, can you focus on me?

@Shale

Something smelled foul. Forrest couldn't quite place the source of such an offensive odor but because it had been strong enough to wake her from her morning rest, she figured that she ought to give it a try. She stood and stretched out her old, aching bones, then looked around the rendezvous site for a potential source. There were no obvious culprits, but still, the smell lingered!

Forrest started sniffing around with her snout pinned to the ground, hoping to find and eliminate the enemy.

He had been chasing small game all morning, and he was tired. The pursuit of a hare exercised different muscles than those exerted on a deer hunt, muscles he wasn't quite used to using. Thus, a small nap was in order, and Shale dozed in a quiet corner of the rendezvous site, eyelids fluttering slightly as he dreamed fitfully.

The sound of pawsteps nearby woke him, and he opened his eyes, finding a pale woman meandering about, nose low to the ground in search. Raising an eyebrow, he clambered to his feet, stretching with a half-audible yawn, and watched her for a silent moment.

"Something wrong, ma'am?" he asked, flicking an ear curiously. She was slim and pretty, good-looking for someone around his age, which he was guessing she was. Her eyes held the secrets of maturity and a life well-lived, something found in the depths of his brothers' gaze but of few others he had encountered in Teekon.

Forrest's mahogany eyes flickered to the amber gaze of the strange male, a smile slowly writing itself across her maw. I, well, she began, Why, I woke up to the strangest smell! You didn't notice? It was so pungent that she wondered how it could have slipped past anyone! Now that she'd moved around a bit, it seemed to have faded, though she could still detect it in the distance.

Perhaps it was the smell of illness; both Grayday and Sorrel had seen her on different occasions for similar symptoms. It was possible that this odor was emanating from the two of them and she just hadn't gotten a whiff of it initially. Whatever the cause, Forrest didn't appreciate it. Forgive me. My name is Forrest. And yourself?

He shook his head, a smile coming to his face. "Not at all, but I came here so tired, a herd of moose wouldn't have caught my eye," Shale chuckled. He drew in a long, steady breath, trying to smell what she referenced. Perhaps. . . "You could be on to something," he admitted, lifting his shoulders in a shrug. There was a certain faint, pungent odor in the air he couldn't place.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Shale," he responded, giving up on the pursuit of the smell. He wasn't invested enough to care much; it was probably carrion nearby, anyway. The vultures would see to it, if they hadn't began already.

"You're new," Shale continued, cocking his head, his phrase more a statement than a question. "How long have you been here?"

Forrest shrugged her own shoulders in silent agreement. With no real trail to follow after, there was no use in focusing on the already fading scent. The pleasure is mine, she cooed with a slight dip of her head, I couldn't place the time, exactly. A few weeks, maybe? And yourself?

There was something curious about this Shale that Forrest enjoyed being bathed in. It was refreshing to be around such a varied community, in regards to age above all else; there were pups here, yearlings there. Some wolves were in their prime while others, like the two of them and Grayday had reached their time of rest.

Why haven't we crossed paths before? I don't believe I've ever spotted you, as a matter of fact.

Shale hummed quietly, thinking. "It's been a little while, for me," he murmured. "Sometime around the beginning of winter." Time had simultaneously flown and dragged; he felt as if he'd been on the plateau for a few moments and yet, at the same time, the majority of his life.

He smiled at her question. "I could ask the same of you. I stay on the edges of the territory: hunting, mostly, though sometimes on the border." His tail wagged as he added, "And I suppose I'm not the most social guy around."

This Forrest was kind and easy to talk to. Strangely enough, it gave him a pang of longing for his own sister; though they weren't very much alike in looks, there was a way about her that reminded him of Spot. Then again, he hadn't ever found his own sister attractive, and this woman, well. . .

I see, she whispered, I can relate to that. Forrest had become more content with her own solitude as she aged, though, during her younger years, she loved the limelight. Ah, see! I like to stay here, near everyone else. Otherwise, I'm at the hot springs, but rarely hanging near the border. She wondered for a moment if Shale had ever seen the springs. She even had half a mind to invite him on one of her visits!

Forrest sat silently after that, unsure of how to carry on the conversation. Hopefully Shale was more of a conversationalist than she was, as she quite liked speaking to him.

His heart stopped momentarily as she mentioned the hot springs, remembering the last time he had strayed there. The girl. . .her fear. . .that scent. . .and poppies. Involuntarily, he took a step backward, before giving her a nervous smile. "It is nice there," Shale murmured.

Moving well away from that subject, he let his body language relax once more as he said, "Do you have any hobbies or skills?" It was a ridiculously basic question, to say the least, but his smile grew wider still as he remembered his and Pema's banter regarding hobbies and skills.

That girl had a way of crawling back into his mind, always.

There was a lapse in conversation, barely noticeable, but Forrest couldn't help but wonder if she'd caused it for a moment. Oh well, she thought; they had already seemed to recover. I've always loved kids, she admitted.

I'm a midwife by trade, but I've got a knack for counseling. I like to tell stories, 'specially to the youngsters. And uhm...I guess, well, I like stargazing. It's something that's grown on me with age. Forrest laughed her hearty rumble of a laugh, then continued with, A lot has grown on me with time.

And what about yourself? Shale seemed like an interesting young man, one who she wanted to know more about.

The positive interactions he'd had with Easy, Dauntless, and Lav had covered over his memories of his own dead children, like a blanket of snow over dead grass, so the word 'kids' didn't have nearly the negative connotation it had held even a moon or two ago. Without a beat, he responded, "I like kids, too. I like being an uncle to Day's children."

And then he thought for a moment, trying to remember what he'd told Pema. He rarely knew how to talk about himself; he was a man of action, not of words. After flailing silently for a moment, he said, "I'm a hunter, a deerstalker. I like to think I'm good at sparring, too." As for stars? "Stars, I think are pretty, but I can't tell one from the other," Shale admitted. "I don't know how astronomers keep them all straight."

The word midwife had caught his ear, and he chased the sudden thought that had come to his mind. "Midwife, eh? Have you spoken to Day and Cat--er, Grayday and Catori--yet?" Shale surmised the alpha and his wife would have a litter this season; why would they not? And if so, this woman would be instrumental in bringing his new nieces and nephews into the world.

Forrest gave a breathy laugh and thought about her own nieces and nephews. I guess being an aunt does have its perks. For one, the kids always seemed to like her more than they liked their parents; the jealousy that it stirred up eventually simmered out, though some of her brothers seemed particularly bent. I'll teach you, Forrest offered. There was no room for debate, which Forrest didn't think Shale would have offered, anyway. 

I have, she admitted with a sigh, I think I might have rubbed Grayday the wrong way, though.

One ear flicked in acceptance of her offer; she could try all she liked, but behind the guiding star and a few assorted others, Shale truly was clueless when it came to the sky. Perhaps, though, she would prove a better teachers than others who had taken the same educational challenge--getting through to his admittedly thick skull.

That skull cocked to the side slightly as she remarked on his brother, and he gazed at her in puzzlement. "What gives you that idea?" he asked softly. He knew his brother was prone to irascibility--a trait that surely hadn't diminished with age, and with loss of vision--but Day was a natural leader. He didn't think the alpha would hold a grudge against this woman for long.

"He can be quite grumpy sometimes," he admitted, with a small chuckle. "Probably nothing to do with you."

Oh, I don't know, Forrest sighed, I sure hope not. One thing was for sure; if Forrest was expecting children again (God forbid) and her own midwife had given her even just a hint of a reason for distrust, that girl would be out of a job. That's what scared her so much about Grayday, was that even though he wasn't the mother, he was the alpha, and power had a way of getting to the heads of men. 

They both had things to do, so thought Forrest; this interaction was coming to a close. I think I should be going, then, she announced with a smile, Can I look forward to seeing you around?

oh no i'm sorry i forgot about this one :(

He dipped his muzzle in a nod. "Of course," he rumbled, smiling. "Like I said, you'll most likely find me hunting, or at the borders. Feel free to say hello anytime."

With a grin flashed toward the older woman, Shale wagged his tail with a murmured goodbye and paced off, still smiling when he left. Perhaps he would do some more hunting; after all, he had barely caught anything of substance today, and the caches could always use filling.

The interaction with Forrest had invigorated him; he didn't even feel tired anymore.