Cedar Sweep An Offer

For @Issun

   Aeliana lounged outside in her makeshift den, the bones of her last meal were scattered about - it was from a mink. Fiesty and quick little things but this one was a bit slow to react to one hundred pounds of muscle, fur, and fangs plowing through the snow towards it. Aeliana looked at the small bones and sighs. A wolf her size needed bigger meals, but she didn't feel particularly comfortable asking some random wolf if they would hunt some elk with her and she didn't feel confident in her abilities to hunt to try and take one on her own even while starving. For now, she stuck to the small game, Aeliana couldn't help but reminisce about her days in the Zoo, back when they would get these huge chunks of raw meat that would fill her belly. 

   She sits up from her spot with a sigh, "I always say that I'm 'never looking back'.... but I always look back...."  She brushes the pile of bones to the side with a paw and stands up, ready to move out until she heard the crack of a small twig underfoot. Her head perked up as he looked around, ears swiveling, listening carefully for any other sound. Her ears lay back, legs itching to run, she hated feeling like she was being hunted, but this was her spot and if this was her spot then she had to prove it, "...W-Who's there?! Show yourself!" She demanded with a slight growl, her teeth bared.

there was an unfamiliar face in the woods. issun hadn’t seen her himself, but her presence was strong. with prey’s blood lingering with that scent, she’d better be one of them. it was possible that one of his companions had bought her in, otherwise there’d be trouble. they hadn’t the resources to share with anyone outside the group.

issun kept an alert stance as he followed the scent to a den. he heard some mumbling before she came into view. a snapping twig gave him away and the woman’s head darted around. “calm down. i’m not here to hurt you.” he looked at her with a questioning gaze. what exactly was she doing here?

Her head turned to see the charcoal black wolf, hearing that he means no harm, and breathes out a small sigh of relief, "Oh, good... Sorry if I seem a bit jumpy...Can't be too careful, you know?" She said as she relaxed but only a tab as she looked at the stranger silently eyeing him up and down in a weary way before standing straight in a bit more of a confident way. She was quiet for a brief moment as if thinking what else to say before speaking once more, "So...who are you? And why are you here?" She then asked.

This was her den if not just one of many temporary ones until she found a permanent one she could call home, "This is, kind of, my home..." She stated as she gestured the small space with that big paw of hers, bones and all.

the fur on his nape settled once she composed herself. she seemed harmless, but when she proclaimed the space as hers it made him wary. it was either she was invited by someone else or she was oblivious of the current inhabitants. the latter seemed unlikely. their presence wasn’t as strong as a fully fledged pack sure, but it was still undoubtedly there. “me and my group reside here,” he informed calmly, “did someone invite you here?”

She knew her nose wasn't broken, she had been smelling the lingering scents of other wolves over the past couple of days, she thought they were just a small group of loners only passing by the area but they were prominent, overlapping one another. She should have known - that or she didn't want to believe that she might be forced out of her den, "I see... ... No, none from your group invited me here... I've been here." 

She looks away slightly, "I guess ...you want me to leave, huh..?" She spoke as she looked back at her den. She wasn't sad exactly after all this wasn't a permanent home, but it was a pretty good spot, the water hole wasn't far. There was a good amount of prey both big and small around to hunt, it was perfect. But she didn't want to fight for such a small area, it wasn't worth the wounds she would get -  that and she didn't know how to fight, at least, not properly... She could just move back up North again towards the lake, there was a patch of forest where she could dig out a new den.

nobody had invited her in, so he wondered how long she’d been here. her trail was only noticeable today, but she could’ve been here long before them. he’d hate to evict her from here, but if she wasn’t one of them there wasn’t really a choice. “if you want to leave i won’t stop you.” he started,”but we could always use more members. you can stay if you can provide. if not, well, i’m afraid you’ll have to go.”

She perked up at that, if she provided, she could have protection, possibly a pack, home and she wouldn't have a scavenge, where her next meal would be anymore. And ... it would be nice to make some friends, "Provide...? I can provide! I'm not the best hunter... In fact, I'm still kind of ... new to hunting but, point me to a deer and I'll chase it down!" She said, confidently with a raised head and a tail held high, wagging. She wasn't an expert at hunting but she knew the essentials - track, stalk, chase, and kill. She could do the track part pretty well...the 'stalk, chase and kill' part however she was still trying to work on... Most of her kills came from catching her prey off guard completely. It would be nice to watch and learn from some actual good hunters and help catch some big prey.

new to hunting? what kind of wolf was new to hunting? he’d expect a pup not to know everything sure, but she definitely wasn’t some whelp. the confusion was clear on his face. “well, we can always help you with that i suppose. do you have any other talents?”

She saw the confusion on his face and didn't know whether he should tell him about humans or Zoos. If she did try to explain it, it would sound like a prison for animals... and more or less it, kind of, was...

"Well, hm,..." She ponders for a moment before remembering, "I'm good with pups if this group ever have pups in the future. In the old pack, I use to be in, I would play and watch over the pups." She said. She remembered back when she was in the zoo, she plays with the pups and let them clamor all over her like a furry mountain and tugged on her ears and tail.

no matter how much he wanted to believe it was true, he wasn’t the best when it came to children. he was just inexperienced. even still he wished that one day he could raise kids of his own with minori. when the time comes, aeliana could be a big help.

“well then, i don’t see why you can’t stay. welcome to kamiki” he turned around and flicked his tail. “common, i’ll show you around. i mean, i’ll show you whatever you haven’t seen.”