Silverlight Terrace and we keep trying

Wraen had not traveled North to the Moonspear ever since she had met Burke, for the fear of getting lost again. Now and then she wondered, what the old grumpy, but witty man was doing and whether he was still alive (given the fact that he had been so keen on dying the time the had met), and today not because she intended to go and visit him, but rather because of getting lost in her own thoughts, she wandered into the small stretch of territory located between two mountain ranges.

Whatever had kept her mind occupied, was tucked away and forgotten, when she caught sight of a flock of small gray birds, she had never seen before. More curious than hungry at this point, she carefully walked towards the little animals, hoping that her presence would not scare them right away.

After setting off, she had gone north from Tindómë's forest in favor of just heading straight east first and chancing easy passage through the mountains. With all the recent heavy snowfall, and her only vaguely familiar with the routes through the range anyway, she wasn't going to bet on it right now.. so, had decided to go wide around first. This longer route had led her through the empty expanse of the Tuktu, and encountering nothing of absolute note, she eventually veered eastward again once she started to get the faintest hint of coastal flair on the breeze. Wanting to avoid that, she adjusted to a new heading and got moving again after another short rest and small meal of little rodents--her staples on trips like these.

The hours had spun together into each other, and one after the next, she kept going across the lands. It hadn't been long since she had left yet and she was feeling pretty fresh-faced about it despite the weather, but the snows did make it take longer than it would if this were any other season. She, newly appointed Ambar, was determined to keep the pace hot and cover as much ground as she could each day.

When she had found the edge of the mountain range, she curved around it and delved into the cover of its valleys. Knowing that soon she would need to find a spot to rest a spell slowed up her pace considerably and set her sights towards a bit more detail-oriented, not only taking in the bigger picture and instead the smaller matters like gametrails and cozy dugouts to borrow for the eve. As she jogged slowly along, Jomyo soon pulled into sight of another grayscale wolf up ahead. From her current distance, she could only tell they looked busy.. and once she went closer still, she was able to make out the birds being stalked.

A little interested in the outcome that could follow, the blue-eyed scout hung back so not to interfere yet, but tipped her ears curiously towards the stranger to watch her intentions play out. Was she hunting them? And if so, could she nab one?

Wraen managed to stalk close enough to have a detailed image of the birds and lied down as well, withdrawing energy from her presence and pretending to be as disinterested as a rock might be. Except from the green eyes, which were carefully following every single bird of the small flock, observing their doings. 

They were small and pudgy, moving their heads in quick jerking like movements and pecking at the ground, which was visible, where the layer of snow was thinner than elsewhere. Now and then they would lift their heads, look around and the scurry away in that odd and funny way bird dwelling on the ground do. But, what stood out was their gurgling voices - the sound of flowing water came as the closest comparison.

Would now be a good time to catch one and have a closer look? Wraen slowly got to her feet and stalked sideways from the flock in that half-crouched manner a border collie herding sheep would do. The birds took notice of this change and gurgling in a choir, fled further. The aspiring hunter stopped, deep in thoughts, without noticing that there was a spectator to her show.

She really didn't want to come out here all this way to interrupt a hunter's focus, so she crept a careful route that swung wide around the lurking silver wolf but she still caught herself attempting to close in--gradually, of course. She was watching every step of the way, ears pressed forward as far as they would go and eyes locked on the other wolf and her quarry. What were the odds of success, the scout had to wonder.. mainly because she didn't have good luck with birds most times, so she didn't make a habit of chasing them unless she was really needy. Maybe the sterling huntress new a good technique to go about it with, who knew?

So invested in her observing, she gave a little start when the flock of little gray birds took to the wing enough to move a bit. They didn't seem overly perturbed by the presence of another, though, and seemed to settle down just further away. Maybe they were more suspicious now--Jomyo couldn't say, again, citing knowing only the minimum about birds, but she was happy to watch.

With the immediate threat of terrible disruption at hand, the Ambar called out with a small chirp of her own--her wolfish take on an almost-whistle-like note: hey?

Or maybe, in greater detail: looking for backup? She wasn't sure what good it could be, but she was here and interested. Hopefully, she wouldn't spook the birds off the rest of the way. She was still trying to be careful.

Wraen was unaware of the other's presence until she made herself known, by calling barely audibly to her. The hunter snapped out of her focus and cast a quick, discontent glance over at the person, who had interrupted, but seeing a friendly face and a useful mass of bones, flesh and fur, changed her demeanor. She beckoned the wolf to come closer. 

There was no set plan yet, therefore her now-hunting partner didn't get any other directions. She could do as she pleased unless told otherwise. And with the obvious notion of not scaring the birds away. Wraen crept forwards again, this time trying a different angle of approach to see, if this flock was herdable at all.

Jomyo waved her ears outwards, aiming for something supposing to look halfway apologetic, mainly because she was grateful the stranger didn't greet her with hostility. She nodded back, and began a wary step closer when invited. Since she was used to soloing it out here on her travels, she was also used to sometimes needing to make temporary acquaintances if the situation called for it. This, she suspected, could be one of those if she played her cards just right.

The agouti ambar moved on light, quiet steps. The silver wolf already settled into a stalk, so she mirrored this when close enough, but started to angle a different vantage to the birds. She watched carefully where the other went, and tried to place herself where it could help--so she could creep slowly closer from a different angle, potentially corralling the birds up closer, and maybe making an opportunity there. But, she was not typically a bird hunter.. although it never hurt to try a bit and see what they could do. Maybe it would be luckier than her usual.

She really had little to lose but time here, so lurked in a few body lengths closer to see if the birds would get nervous about her yet. They pecked about the ground and fluttered about among themselves. Jomyo had no idea what those blank stares of theirs were thinking.

The featherd buggers were quick and, where nature had given less than a correct amount of intelligence to an individual bird, the collective weight of their brains equalled Wraen's own set. Having several pairs of eyes instead of just one, it was almost impossible to creep up on them without at least one bead-like globular organ (that's the synonym to an eye in google) taking notice of her approach. With each step she took towards them, they retreated just as much and kept the distance the same as it had been before.

Wraen was a patient wolf by nature, but now the lack of progress began to annoy her. She shot a glance in the stranger's direction to see, if she had any luck in the field, and then without a warning, the gray she-wolf made a sudden, fast move and dashed into the flock of the birds. They scattered in ever direction, voicing their protest at this kind of treatment loudly, and fluttering around, but settling on the ground once more. At least she had found one thing out - these guys were not much of a flying kind. She looked at her companion, wondering, if she had got any other conclusions on the matter.

She creeped up, and she watched some more, then edged a little more forward.. then crawled along so she could watch now from here. Birds were birds and she only had so many adjectives she cared to use to describe them, especially when one for her was, slowly, increasingly, hungry.

When the stranger made a sudden earnest dash at them, Jomyo perked herself all up to watch this unfold. She gave a small start forward, encouraged by the commotion of the birds to want to give chase, but she held back when there was no room for such here. The birds scattered in too many directions, she couldn't pick just one way to go yet. Instead she willed success onto the stranger, and tried to plan for what was to come next.

"You got pretty close..." she nodded, when the pair ended up within reasonable speaking distance. Plus, Jomyo didn't think the birds would hate it too much but she still aimed a look at them just to be sure. "What if one of us hides out all low in a spot, then the other tries to make them go towards there, then springs back up at them too?" she suggested, with a measure of hesitation because she wasn't good at coordinating group efforts, especially not with strangers who's strengths she didn't know. "Worth a shot, right? I wanna have a run at 'em at least, if I could?" she smirked, because she wanted to test out how maneuverable the flocks could be--how much she could steer them just by rushing them, if at all, but this was her little project here.. so Jomyo wouldn't trample unwanted all over it without asking.

The fact that the stranger could talk came as a bit of a surprise to Wraen, who had been so focused on the task at hand, that had entirely forgotten the verbal communication. She listened, while the other explained her plan, which did not sound so much different from, what she had attempted to do earlier. Except she had not cared to explain, what she awaited from the partner. 

"Might as well try that," she agreed, casting a glance around to look for a hiding spot and not finding anything suitable for the matter. Except for the snow on the ground. "Or we can attempt to split and herd a smaller portion of the flock away and then barge in and attack again?"

The sterling hunter seemed open enough to her suggestion, and the scout's tail waved slowly accordingly. But not only that--she seemed to take the direction Jomyo hinted at and made it better, more feasible.. now that she thought about it for a quick beat. Dealing with a smaller handful of birds could be easier. Jomyo was just shooting in the whole mess of them with her tactic. The newer plan took a greater sort of care and still ended with an attack (what she was getting interested in). It just also added herding them.. and frankly, she did not have a lot of experience with corralling birds herself. "Alright, sounds fair. You know 'em better than I do," she returned with, nodding her agreement before she could take off. "I'll try to split them, alright? Then head it your way," she said, lingering long enough to find any last minute objections before she turned to find her best angle of approach, then got ready to go darting; as soon as she knew the grayscale hunter was ready to deal, she was off. Whether or not they were successful in the end, she would loiter long enough before hitting the road once more. Either way, she'd liked bouncing through a little distraction such as this one, and would not soon forget.

"Aye, captain," Wraen replied and, while watching the other at work, chose the best place accordingly to fulfill her part of the bargain. Some time later the she-wolf had managed to separate a small group and begun to drive them slowly away from the rest. Wraen moved towards, little by little closing the distance between herself and the birds and, when the moment seemed right, she attacked again. There was a panicked flutter of wings and sounds around here, therefore she was not able to see, what the other was doing, but she had been lucky. One unlucky fellow met it's end in her jaws.

Slight PP - PM me, if you want me to edit something.