Tormented Tarns All for the cost

He drifted.
It was doing him good to drift, it seemed.
He met more interesting characters along the way.
It seemed they weren't attracted by the woodland's foreboding outlook.

He wanted to see @Skoll Almir again.
The man didn't have much to say about this Ursus, but it seemed that they may be misunderstood. Or Skoll just wasn't good with words.
Or both.
So he wanted to see him again, to see Ursus.

he was scratchy, itchy all over. it was a reoccurring thing, every year around this time he'd get scratchy, then really fluffy, and lose it all again in the spring. it wasn't until now that he was glad for it, glad for the warmth that his floof gave him. but it was annoying to grow, and every few minutes he'd launch a scratching attack on one part of his body or another. he plopped down in the grass between the tarns, scratching vigorously at his chin. he looked up, seeing a wolf passing through. hey man, he called, before going at his chin again with his back paw.

A strange voice drifted to him.
Oh?
His head turned to look for the source. It took him a few moments to realise that the thing he thought was a strange rack was actually an animal. A cat at that. Rowan had never met a feline before, so had no idea that they should be dangerous of any sort. 

"Oh, hey. Sorry I didn't see you there!"
He grinned, an expression that met his eyes, then wandered over to the funny animal.
It couldn't be dangerous, like, it didn't even have claws!
"So uh, what are you?"
The only creatures he's really met was the coyotes, raccoons, and prey animals. And none of them spoke -- at least not in his language. So what made this guy special? And where was the snout? 

now this was a question he hadn't gotten before. what was he? mountain lion? cooougarrr? he could throw out a hundred names, as there were many, but he was just confused at the idea. it seemed wolves knew more about him than he knew of them. you ain't, uhh, seen one? he tilted his head. fricken...ev'ry time i...i talk to a wolf they either scared a'me or angy. he pouted.

His head tilted, tail wagging slowly with uncertainty.
A mountain lion?
Rowan shrugged. He had no clue.
"No."

Then his brows furrowed. Why would he be hated?
"Why? You seem cool," he squinted, trying to see how he was even remotely more dangerous than himself.
What had he done wrong?

his face twisted in confusion. this was new. he'd never been unrecognized(?) before. well, he couldn't complain. it was much easier than being threatened by a wolf. sum'n bouttaauhhh....natural? enemies? he shrugged. i dunno. i dun'care? like...uhhh....i dunneed to fight wit'a...uhhh...wolves. there was plenty of land, and plenty of food for both wolves and cougars. and bears! and...everything else. he didn't see a reason to be so angy at everyone for being born one species or another.

Natural enemies? Eh?
He knew that some creatures tried to steal from them, or hurt them. That made them enemies. But for any other reason? Was that a thing?

"Sounds like an excuse to be honest mate."
He grinned, yeah nah, this dude was no enemy.
Rowan moved forward sniffing at the cat more closely. 
He smelt a bit rancid -- but to be honest, Rowan probably did too and just didn't notice. 

He withdrew a moment later, tilting his head.
"So, uh, what you doin' now?"

benry laughed — well, cackled, because that's what his laugh sounds like — yeaahh...i, i think so, maybe a cougar used it as an excuse to be mean to a lone wolf, or a wolf pack to cougar. either way, it just seemed strange. he'd never felt the natural pull to attack any wolf he saw.

'm scratchin', he says before raising a back paw to scratch at his neck. most of the fur seemed to grow there. you...you get fluffy in winter? he asked, curious. was it just a cat thing? or even just a mountain lion thing? he didn't see too much of a difference in the way that the wolves had looked from when he first came here to now, but maybe he wasn't looking close enough.

Ok, this guy was starting to sound like he'd spent too much time hanging around Phantom Grove.
A smirk flicked onto his expression. Wondering if this guy was for real. If that was just how cougars were or not.

He shrugged.
He didn't remember his first winter really. Not if he got fluffy at least.
"This is my first proper winter," he grinned.
A year had felt so long. Well, just over a year but he was still just one. So yeah, he'd have to find out.
"Does getting fluffy make you itchy?"

ooooooh, what're you, baby? little...uhh...little babyman? he grinned, his tone going singsong like as he teased. he moved his paw to scratch behind his ear. yeah man. the uh...uh fur, it keeps growing. he put his paw down, satisfied, then shook the front half of his body, his paws leaving the ground as he did. it should go 'way...after a while.

Pfft. Babyman? What even was that?
The lad shook his head with a chuckle. "Nah I'm like..." What? You're gonna tell him you're one Rowan?
"Yeah ok maybe I am a bit," he chuckled again with a grin.

But fur seemed to grow and get pulled out. Nice, good do know.
The itch will go away, apparently. He hoped he didn't itch too much it didn't look fun.
"So, uh, what do you do?  Do you have a pack?"
He had no idea how cougars worked.

benry laughed softly, pleased that the wolf had gotten the joke, and also that his teasing hadn't hurt. he wasn't malicious in his teasing, after all. yeahhh, knew it. little...uhh, little baby ain't lived through a winter. not that he was any different, really. he was, in his words, just as much of a babyman as this wolf.

wassa pack? he asked. as for what he did, well, uh...he just hung around.

Rowan smirked back.
"Not by myself."
He would be alone this year. No one to curl up close to. Probably.

But he didn't know what a pack was.
Strange.
"Do you not have them? It's where you live with each other. I used to live with my Mother and sister and their friends. Now I live with my new friends. My packmates. We all work together to survive and stuff." He smiled.
If he had no pack, maybe Rowan should ask him to join him.

i dun...don't think we do, he felt unsure about this. there was so much he was supposed to know, that his mother or owner was supposed to tell him that...never was. Umi hadn't said anything of the sort. if anything, their meetings seemed strange for their kind. novel. he, the outsider, the one with no knowledge, broke the unspoken rules. least cats don't. uh. be in packs.

Rowan tilted his head.
He didn't like living alone. On the road was ok, but being alone felt cold. In the woods was ok, the birds were company. But not a pack.

"You're always welcome to come by my pack." He smiled, tail wagging.
"It's in the big woods in the flatlands in the south."
Rowan wondered if the cat would even want to see a pack of wolves.