Sun Mote Copse driving alone in my car

The field was the perfect fit for Samantha. It was large and habitable, but apparently unclaimed. She thought that it would make for a decent winter home and if she didn't like it anymore come spring, she'd just move. 

There was a pack just south of her first claim. The prominent scent of their border implied that they were an established group, so she thought that checking with them would be smart before she got too comfortable.

She set out after breakfast and made it to her destination faster than expected. Once there, she sounded several short calls and looked around for anyone potentially on patrol.

Long gone were the days when a handy hawk would alert Towhee of callers at the borders. So she didn't show up immediately, though it was only a matter of time before her swarthy paws carried her toward the stretch of borders where the caller stood in wait. As soon as the mercenary spotted her, she hastened her step to close the gap. When she reached the unfamiliar she-wolf, her demesne was coolly confident.

"State your name and business," she commanded in a tone that would've been businesslike, if Towhee did tones.

Broncor was vaguely aware of the fact that something had happened to cause his mother grief, as she'd handed over her morning patrol to him- and he set out soon thereafter. Without asking any questions, the young male made his way to the borders, hoping to find a snack along the way so that he could knock two tasks off his list at once- but found his attention directed toward the edge of the packlands that bordered an open meadow, as he was summoned by a few breathy calls. 


Though he'd hoped to intercept the stranger on his own, Towhee had beat him to the chase, and was already approaching the female by the time Bronco caught sight of her. He caught up swiftly, in time to hear her greeting, but Bronco- ever the jester, when he wanted to be- was quick to join in and ease any tension that Towhee's authoritative presence might have created. "'Specially your name," He said, his tone much more inviting. "Just so I don't ever forget it," He said, with a wink.

The first thing that Samantha noticed was the odd way in which the first wolf spoke. It didn't sound normal but before she could ask what was wrong, there was another wolf stepping forward. His voice was okay, immediately earning him a few more brownie points. 

She wiped the involuntary frown from her face, replacing it with an objectively undiplomatic smirk. Samantha, she told them, nose scrunching as she tried to widen the smile, I live in that field up there, but I noticed that you guys live here, so...

So, what? Well, she hadn't exactly thought this far ahead. Just coming to introduce myself, for the sake of, like, neighbor-li-ness? Was that a word? Sammy doubted that the second wolf would know, but expected the first one to correct her if she was wrong.

Someone sidled up beside her and Towhee glanced sideways if only to make an identification. She didn't catch Bronco's comment to the stranger as she turned back to the she-wolf. She'd missed the first couple of words, primarily the other woman's name.

The mercenary waited for her to finish, her orange eyes squinted. "What field?" Towhee demanded curtly, trying not to let her hackles prickle at the word "neighbor." Was there another pack nearby? She had been wandering a lot lately and hadn't come across them.

Bronco was foolish to think that all pretty young wolves were as naive as he thought they might be. Rather than being given an innocent smile- which was what the young fellow expected- he was given a smirk, which ruffled his feathers a bit as he was fairly certain that that was what he was supposed to do. But he glanced at Towhee for a reaction and she didn't seem too worried about Samantha's smile. Bronco heaved a small sigh. Women were supposed to be sweeter than they actually were. 

She gestured toward a field and claimed that she lived there, which confused both Firebirds. Towhee demanded which field, so Bronco leapt to the assumption that she was living in the plains across the swamp, so while she was living close, at least they weren't sharing borders. He glanced at Samantha's forepaws, which was just enough of an indication- a wolf would generally have to cross the two small streams leading away from the alpine lake near their northern border in order to get to them, and this time of year, they would be frozen. 

-Think she means plains north of swamp- Bronco spoke and signed, moving forward so Towhee could see his movements. His Ptero was still clunky and rust at best, but he knew just enough to communicate most messages he would need. He turned to Samantha. "You living there alone?"

Samantha tilted her head in momentary confusion. There's a field, she said, turning to face back the way she'd come, basically, straight north from here. How long had they been settled? She began to wonder if they were newer than once assumed. 

The boy's question seemed redundant. Yeah, I'm alone — do you see anyone with me? Samantha held back an eyeroll as she sighed in the momentary silence. What's this place called? she asked, shifting a gaze to sneak a peek of the landscape behind them.

Bronco signed a clarification at her, which the stranger corroborated. She didn't give it a name, though Towhee thought she knew the place. Her nostrils flared as her orange eyes bored into the woman's face. She looked incredulous and the mercenary wondered if she was reacting to the youth's signing.

"This is Sun Mote Copse and we're called the Firebirds," Towhee answered flatly. "I'm pretty sure he meant, are you the only one living in this field or is there a pack there?"

"I know there's a field," He groaned ironically, and immaturely, at Samantha, before he gestured to Towhee. Half of what she'd spoke had been said as she'd looked over her shoulder, which he knew wouldn't work for Towhee. "She's deaf. You gotta speak clearly an' look at her when you talk." He instructed patiently, his whiskey-aflame eyes watching for her reaction, daring for her to show any sort of disdain or judgement just so that he could employ the skills he'd learned from his mother and Towhee to use to teach her a lesson for being judgemental. 

Towhee went on to further clarify what he'd said, and he nodded. Yeah, that's right- here they were, him and Towhee, making the best patrol team ever. This Samantha one really needed to learn how to be a bit more clear and concise with her questions and answers when parading straight to the borders of a pack, especially after claiming that she lived nearby. "Y'know, we tend to hunt as a pack in the areas that surround our claimed lands," He said. "So s'not always the best idea to set up camp- as a loner or with a starting pack- so close to one that's already been established for a while," He said smugly.

Yeah, I know what he meant. Samantha looked to the man, telling him, She asked which field. That's why I said it. Did they think that she was dumb? She was young and inexperienced, but she surely was not dumb. 

Well, not when it came to most things. She would never admit it herself, but it was evident that Sammy didn't know much about issues of diplomacy. I'm not really interested in your hunts, she said, but I've already got a den dug out, so... She didn't plan to move, if that's what he was getting at.

She knew Bronco was talking quite a bit, though the angle was wrong and Towhee's eyes continued boring into the strange she-wolf. Nothing she said was particularly rude, though it rubbed the mercenary the wrong way. She had approached them under the guise of "neighborliness," yet she was acting quite flippantly. Why had she bothered...?

Towhee could only assume what Niamh's son had said based on the context of the loner's reply. "Okay, good for you. We're not really interested in your field or your den," Towhee said cattily. Her gaze shifted to Bronco as she added in ptero, -Don't worry, it's not like she's a threat.- She winked and faced the other she-wolf again, stone-faced and motionless.

Explaining herself made Samantha seem either defensive or a bit obtuse, and Bronco was quick to judge her. She seemed pretty harmless, and though he didn't like the idea of her making a den near their packlands (even though honestly, it was a good distance away), as long as Towhee allowed her to do so, he supposed he had to as well. It wasn't like she was a threat. Apparently she was just coming to tell them she'd settled there because it was the good neighbour thing to do- but he couldn't help but wonder if there was anything more she wanted. 

He smirked when Towhee spoke, and flicked his ears forward as he studied her signs. Not being adept whatsoever at playing it cool, he sniggered and signed back to her. -She's probably a dick-breath anyway,- He replied in ptero before he too turned his enlightened, but still somewhat serious expression back to Samantha. "Anything else you want here, Samantha?" He asked.

Samantha was confused but did not want to argue. She gave another apathetic sigh and turned to prepare for her imminent departure. Not really, she replied. Tilting her head in mock thought, she hummed a short note — Hm... — before sounding a short, sardonic laugh. 

The field would be awaiting her return. As time went on, she found her hunger growing exponentially. Sammy knew that this rendezvous would have to come to an end if she wanted to hunt before night. Bye, Firebirds. She shot each wolf another snide smirk and exited the scene.

Her face remained impassive despite Bronco's amusing remarks, watching for the stranger to say something else or make a move. She eventually turned to go, not without a snide smirk. Towhee quirked a brow but otherwise did not react, eyes following as the she-wolf eventually disappeared into the distance.

"What a twat," Towhee drawled, turning to face Bronco properly. "Did she say what her name was?"

Bronco's warm, but suspicious gaze followed the young female wolf as she left, noting the expression on her face, and catching the fact that it seemed like she'd had a realization- or an idea- but had kept it to herself. Bronco grumbled to himself, and nodded in agreement with Towhee, but looked over his shoulder as the female walked away. "Samantha," He said clearly, so that Towhee could read his lips. He shrugged, and cast another look over his shoulders, before he shrugged, and pulled a distasteful face. "I don't like the look of her. Kinda feel like she's gonna be sneaky," He admitted. "I c'n letchu know if I see her around the borders again?" He asked, volunterring, basically to be Towhee's top informant.

A name was a name, except when it was Samantha, apparently. "Samantha?" she repeated incredulously, sure she hadn't "heard" right. But he was serious. "Samantha," Towhee said loudly and slowly before literally falling to the ground in a fit of absurd and seriously stentorian laughter. She entirely missed Bronco's subsequent comments.

"Uhhhhhh....Yeah," Bronco confirmed, but his words fell on (literally) deaf ears as Towhee repeated the name slowly, and then burst into a laughing fit that spooked him slightly. He attempted a small chuckle, cracking an awkward, confused smile, as Towhee milled about on the ground still laughing. She'd ignored what he'd said, so he gave her a moment to laugh, as he gazed down at the scruff at the nape of her neck which ruffled with each breath she drew and subsequently exhaled. 

And, well, boys will be boys. And what he'd learned from his mother and Towhee in training was that the element of surprise was the best way to launch an attack. So he did. 

It meant a more awkward positioning than anything else, but he pounced Towhee with a playful growl, hollering something along the lines of "SNEAKATACKGOTCHABITCH!!" (something inevitably gleaned from his mother) before he attempted to pounce directly on top of one of his best mentors and grab her by the dark fur around the nape of her neck.

Bronco's attack was so unexpected that it knocked the wind out of Towhee. She made a loud oof! and attempted to fling him away even as she bellowed, "Get off me, you fucking... Samantha," which just made her laugh all the harder until she was paralyzed with it and fell back to the ground, crying and twitching.

As Towhee suddenly reared back and roared at him, Bronco was flung off her, and stumbled away, laughing, but given the fact that she'd seen fit to insult him using that snide visitor's name, he found that to be all the more reason to re-engage and bounded back toward her, more in a puppy-like way than anything, and promptly pounced her again, this time making a more earnest attempt to scruff her. Even though he knew she couldn't hear what he was saying, he couldn't stop himself from huffing a reply as he did so. "I'mma teach you to call me a SAMANTHA, SAMANTHA!"

She was too caught up in paroxysms to defend herself, so when Bronco made another attempt to spring at her, Towhee could only writhe in response. She felt his teeth latch onto her scruff, which triggered an instinctive impulse to buck him off like, well, a bronco. But she was still too weak with laughter, so all Towhee did was attempt to roll over and squash him, all while whispering, "Samantha..."

He'd caught her, which he figured was a win for him. Of course, the other times when he'd trained or sparred, his companion hadn't been breathless with laughter, and it had been acknowledged as a spar before beginning. He found this to be more fun than instructive, though as soon as Towhee began to roll to the side, he learned the lesson that one should never allow oneself to get trapped underneath a wolf who was older and larger than oneself. Especially not when he already found it difficult to breathe, due to laughter. And so, with tears streaming down his face as Towhee's weight pressed down across his tender belly, he could do naught but wheeze and cry uncle- except, of course, the password was now a different code-

"Sa-man-tha!!! Saa-mannn-thaa!"

The fit ended with one last long bray of laughter, then a deep breath, and Towhee rolled off Bronco. After sucking in another breath to steady herself, she heaved onto all fours and gave herself a shake. Some chortles still eked from her mouth as she settled and peered down at Bronco, who looked a little like a well done pancake at the moment.

"Okay, Samantha, now that I'm not laughing my ass off, why don't you try to bring it again?" Towhee playfully challenged, seizing this opportunity for some impromptu mercenary training.

Bronco continued to wheeze and laugh as he too stood, shaking a bit of snow from his pelt. Every time Towhee chuckled, though, his laughter was renewed, and it took him longer to recover and completely drop the giggle-fits than she did, as she then dropped a real challenge on him. He cleared his throat- chuckled again- and then drew in a breath, trying to steady himself. He had to hold his breath in order to keep himself from breaking out into a giggle again, and couldn't look directly at Towhee for a few moments, until he became light-headed enough that he had to snap out of it and get more serious, sucking in a breath of air out of necessity. He let the dizziness pass, and with it, went the giggle bug. 

He squared up his stance but kept himself loose, and leaned his weight from one side to the other, so that he didn't end up locking his knees- just in case she threw a surprising attack his way. He was more used to being tackled out of the blue by his mother who threw spars at him by surprise, rather than being asked to initiate, so he paused for a few moments, trying to remember what he'd been told, and consider his opponent. Towhee was intimidating- but he knew that she did have a weak hind leg, so his eyes were drawn to her haunches, before leading back to her face. Probably a dead giveaway of his plan- so he acted as swiftly as he could. 

He pounced one way- rebounded in another direction, making it look like he might make a leap for her hindquarters, before he changed his mind in a split-second decision, and aimed for her shoulder instead. He wasn't totally collected as he did so- but he hoped at least it would end up being a better decision than being predictable.

Bronco sized her up for a moment and Towhee waited, face carefully blank. Always on the lookout for a feint, Towhee clenched her muscles when he sprang but did not move, waiting to see if there would be a switchback. As soon as he maneuvered in a new direction, she dropped into a partial crouch and thrust out her shoulder to take the brunt of the hit. Just as soon as he impacted with his intended target, she used that same shoulder to shove at him, then shifted a few paces backward.

"Not bad, Samatha," Towhee commented. "You've definitely got the feint down pat. But how are you with..." She paused teasingly before her whole body tensed, "a moving target?" As soon as the words left her mouth, Towhee spun and loped away from the borders, back into the copse.

Bronco stretched his jaw out, having hit Towhee's shoulder hard enough to drive him back a couple steps, but he tried to make it look like he was just doing that for show, and rolled his shoulders, proud that she'd acknowledged his move. He probably could have taken more credit for it, had he intended to make that move all along- but in truth, that decision had been one made in action...But obviously it'd worked. He hadn't been able to do much damage, but...At least his speed and agility were catching her notice. 

As soon as she tensed, though, he too crouched, ready for her to launch at him, when instead she bolted away. He was surprised- and he bounded first to the side, as though to dodge her- before he poured on the speed and dashed off after her, a couple paces behind due to his blunder at the beginning of the chase. Still- it was all good practice for him, even though he did chase Towhee while leering at her in a low, but loud voice: Suh-maaaaaaaaan-thuh!" As he went.