Jade Fern Grove After the raven has had his say

Trade thread ~ for ranger or hunter (#1)

Rumor had it there was a wolf wandering the valley that his new family did not particularly trust. Something about feathers. It was a bit nonsensical to Larus but, given he hadn't spent much time getting to know the Teekon Wilds despite being born and raised within, he supposed it did not matter. So he kept this in the back of his mind when he departed from Easthollow, heading due north with Valette's blessing.

If he couldn't find out more about this possible threat then, well, he'd find something else to track. It had been about a week since Larus' inception to the pack of the standing stones and he was itching for a little adventure. Again he found himself thankful of Valette's leeway when it came to his roaming—he would come back, he'd vowed, every time. It was home now.

Of course, due north meant he would eventually encounter the fringes of the forest that was once his old pack; one of them, anyway. He felt indifferent to the sight of it on the horizon now. He crept along through the thinner sections of forest and would pause frequently, tasting the air or listening intently, curious to know if anyone called the place home.

Usually, when everything was peaceful and not extraordinary in the pack-life, one should have felt happy and content. And for the most part Birk did not mind - he patrolled the borders during the night (half-heartedly though, but a promise to the alpha still was a promise) and hunted during dusk and dawn, slept his 8 - 10 hours of nap during the day. He was not deaf, of course, he had heard about a wolf that had attacked a member of the neighbouring pack and kept a keen lookout for it, but other than that... he was becoming bored.

The little affair with the unnamed girl had been a welcome change, but, once the magic was all gone, he had had no interest in remaining with her and it had seemed to her that she shared his views. Two strangers, who had happened to collide and then walk their ways. But - with a promise of an adventure or at least something interesting, he had followed Larus's pawprints all the way from Easthollow to the forest that lied North from it. Though the guy had not impressed him with a sense of humor the last time, he must have been up to something, when he left the pack's borders.

And Birk was very curious to find out, what the other man had in mind.

Eventually, as he moved slowly through the forest, he did hear something. There was movement coming from his flank or thereabouts, and the sound of something in the underbrush made him turn and stare intently. When Birk emerged they locked gazes for a second and Larus frowned, feeling both surprised and concerned upon realizing he had been followed; it was a fluke that he should have found the pale wolf so quickly, but it was unsettling.

Nothing else seemed to be present within the grove. If there was something worth chasing down, it was entirely likely that either wolf had scared it off. He huffed softly, knowing it wasn't Birk's fault, and went to join him. A few strides was all it took; Larus ducked around some reaching branches that served as an obstacle and re-emerged from the tangled trees before the pale wolf, his frown having vanished.

Birk, he greeted glumly, I didn't expect to see you out here.

"Greetings to you as well," Birk did not let the other's apparent lack of enthusiasm for meeting his dashing packmate get to him. He was bold, he was shameless and at this moment he would force his company, even if the other did not want to have it. After all - he had to make a bit more effort in socializing with other people.

"You look as chipper as a sunny day during the Polar night," he noted, arching an eyebrow. "Where's the fun?"

It took Birk's response to clue Larus in to how rude he had sounded. It wasn't that he didn't like having company, and it wasn't even that he had any issue with Birk specifically. He hadn't expected to see anyone from Easthollow so far from home.

Er, sorry, he murmured apologetically with a turn of his ears, I wasn't expecting anyone to follow me out here. I was going to hunt. Are you um -- do you want to join me? It would be easier to take down something large and worthwhile with the two of them. Maybe that wasn't why Birk had followed him though...?

That's a good boy. Birk thought to himself, when Larus apologized and attempted to excuse his behaviour. Out loud he said it not - as cheeky as he was - he did not want to pull the guy's leg too much. After all - good impressions were the ones that counted and had to be collected from all around.

There were no other sinister reasons for the northerner to follow his packmate, other than pure curiosity of, why he was so far away from the group and - if that reason was a good one - could Birk join in the fun. And it was a jackpot - he was always up for some adrenaline rush and promise for full belly. His eyes lit up at the mention of hunting and with an excitedly swaying tail he asked: "What have you found so far?"

Oh. He hadn't expected to enlist the other wolf so easily. Well! That was a good sign. They could find something together then. Birk queried him in regards to his progress and Larus lamented, Actually, not much. I expected to run in to the herds sometime along the way, but I haven't had any luck yet. That was evident by the defeatist posture of his body and the tone in his voice. But now that there's two of us -- well, we're bound to find something! Yeah! This was good! This was... Probably... A good thing!

"Nine hunts out of ten end in failure," Birk was not exactly trying to cheer Larus up, but was not mocking him either. Just experience, though the statistics changed along the seasons. In late spring and summer that number of successful hunts tended to go up. In the winter, in the very, very worst case - zero out of ten for a week or so.

"Let's go and kill something," he and took a step to the side to see, if any possible victim volunteered itself for the two hungry wolves.