Under the Trees

@Sidewinder

Mara had been exploring the spine for a couple days now, but she had only officially met one of her pack members. She shook her head, trying to figure out what she had been doing for the past few days if she hadn't been making friends. Mara was a very social wolf, she needed to be around others 24/7, and this was not working for her. She had to find something to do before she drove herself insane.

The crisp autumn air filled the shadowed forest and the fallen pine needles felt springy beneath her paws. If she really wanted to raise higher in the ranks and become a warden, then she would have to practice. After walking for some time, she came across a small, sandy hollow. She dragged a large branch to the middle of it and backed away. Crouching, she growled at the stick. She was sure that to any by-passers she would look crazy, but there weren't any by-passers that she had seen. Mara sprung and grabbed the stick between her teeth, giving it a sharp twist that snapped it in half. She dropped the stick and sad down on the soft sand. She needed someone real to spar with, someone who would respond to her attacks.

Unlike Mara, Sidewinder was making no effort to meet his pack-mates. He had met and spoken with Mordecai, had brief interactions with a couple of others, but beyond that, the Numitor male had kept to himself. He ate from their caches, but did not refill them. So far, nobody had said a word about it to him. While others patrolled the borders and honed in their skills, he lazed about, occasionally trying to pry information out of those who lived here about his white-eyed "brother."

Curiosity got the better of him when he heard a rustling nearby, though, and Winder jogged toward the noise with a smidge of interest. When he broke from the trees into the sandy hollow, he noted the petite girl who had so graciously greeted him upon his arrival in Ouroboros Spine. Reclining, he sat back to watch her antics, a faint smile lifting the corners of his mouth. He figured she would see him sooner or later, but for now, he would simply enjoy the view.

Mara dropped the broken stick and glared at it, scuffing some sand at it with a russet paw. She huffed and picked it up again before flinging it out into the trees as hard as she could. She heard a satisfying crack and went to pick up the other half when she noticed a pure white wolf sitting in the trees on the outskirts of the hollow. He observed her with piercing gold eyes, a small smirk on his lips. Mara's cheeks grew instantly hot at the thought of him seeing what she had just done. She looked at her paws then back up at him, studying him. She remembered him. He was the one she had found at the borders. Mara had left before Kaname decided his fate but it looked like he was part of the pack now.

"You're Sidewinder, right? I met you at the border but I never told you my name." She said, padding up to him.

"I'm Mara." she greeted, flicking her ears.

Winder's eyes are gold, but no big deal. Maybe Mara just didn't see them well! :P

“Lovely to see you again, Mara,” Sidewinder replied, smooth as silk. “What were you doing with that stick?” he asked, glancing to the aforementioned object casually. She was certainly a young thing, no more than a year or two old, though perhaps some of that had to do with her petite size. Still, she was clearly filled out, a woman grown, and had a certain innocence about her that pleased Sidewinder. Perhaps she would make a good ally... or tool, depending on the circumstances.

Haha whoops, idek how I missed that lol

Mara looked at her paws, embarrassment heating her cheeks. She wished he hadn't seen her little stick incident, but then again, Mara always seemed to do the dumbest things at the worst times possible.

Glancing back up at the white furred wolf she tried to figure out a good way to explain that.

"Oh, that..." she trailed off, still trying to come up with a reasonable explanation.

"Well you see, I was practicing. Yeah that's it, practicing for being warden. But sticks can't really fight back too well so I chucked it." she said finally, satisfied with her explanation.

“A warden?” he echoed, his voice raising to intone the question. “Isn’t that duty normally better suited to the larger wolves?” Sidewinder was not trying to be offensive, of course. He merely thought Mara would be better suited to something a smaller wolf might do. They were often the smarter ones, or so he assumed, since they did not have brute force built in. Sidewinder might have made a good warden if he'd given half a damn about the safety of the pack. He was better suited to other things. Things which did not really have a place in this society.

Mara, feeling slightly offended by Sidewinders suggestion that she was not good enough to be a warden, unconsciously straitened up and lifted her russet tail.

"The position of warden is suited to anyone who can fight enough to protect her pack. And trust, me, I can fight." she assured, her memory of her old pack coming to mind. The constant drills, contests and spars making her a skilled fighter that would do anything to protect her territory.

“I never implied that you couldn’t,” he replied smoothly. “Only that somebody bigger is usually more difficult to intimidate. Being as small as you are, you’re more likely to run into wolves larger than yourself.” He hadn't meant it as an insult, merely an observation. If she wished to take it as an insult, that was her problem. Wardens were meant to scare off intruders more than fight them, or so was Sidewinder's impression. They were meant to be the brawn of the team, allowing the pack wolves to protect their borders without needing to fight.

“If you like to fight, you might make a better warrior,” he said casually. Not that he knew all too much about who would make a better what. Winder was merely passing the time, and if she wanted her feathers to be ruffled, he would gladly ruffle them.

Mara sighed and shook her petite russet head. This wolf sure didn't understand what it was like to want to serve a pack. Sure Mara was small, but she was a good negotiator and was sure she would be able to get a wolf to leave their borders alone if she really wanted to.

"I don't like to fight, I'm just good at it. Plus I have some tricks that I can use to get wolves to leave me alone." she admitted, a smirk slipping onto her lips somewhat hesitantly.

“You say tomāto, I say tomato,” Sidewinder replied, when Mara insisted she didn't like to fight (only that she was good at it). Why would somebody work so hard on getting good at something they didn't even like to do? Fighting, as far as Sidewinder could tell, was the number one way to get a wolf to leave whatever it was alone, though Winder often preferred to remove himself from the situation. If he was met with a trespasser, he'd likely show them the caches and laugh on his way out.

“Alright, then. Just try and get me to leave,” he taunted, eyes keen not to leave her. Whatever tricks she had, he wanted to know what they were. She sure did like to "talk big," and Sidewinder just loved tormenting her.

I am getting really busy with the new pack Mara is forming, so is it ok if we wrap this up?

Mara eyed him suspiciously as he insisted that she show him her tricks. Huffing she turned on her heals and walked further into the hollow. Taking a seat, she turned and faced him again, her grey eyes sharp.

"A magician never reveals her secrets." she hummed, her chin tilted towards the sky in defiance, her fluffy red tail obscuring her small paws from view.

This one definitely enjoyed pushing her buttons. It seemed all he wanted to do was bug her. What a waste of time she thought, a small frown shaping her dainty features.

Sure, though Winder's not leaving 'til she does. (He's a butt.) :P

“Then I guess I’ll wait,” Winder said defiantly, sitting across from her and, well... waiting. If she had such good ways to make others go away, then certainly she'd be able to get him to go away. Otherwise, she was no better than a dirty liar. And Sidewinder was convinced he wasn't the only dirty liar in the world, so the chance that she was one was rising higher and higher with each passing minute that she did not push him away somehow.

Idly, Sidewinder began to scratch at his ear, pausing to lick the foot that was doing the scratching. He would continue to wait until she eventually had to leave, humming to himself on occasion just to add an extra dose of annoyance.