Firestone Hot Springs summer

It wasn't a rare thing for the magpie to venture out from the safety of the Heartwood, though she tended to stick close to her home during the winter months. It had everything she really needed — berries, shelter, the occasional company. It got boring sometimes, though, and she liked to catch sight of the other inhabitants of the Wilds. If she was lucky, she even got to see the wolves out on hunts! If her luck was double, sometimes they were successful and Shiv would manage to make a meal out of whatever the pack had left behind. Today didn't seem to bring her such an opportunity, however, and the little bird instead flew in a random direction, her travels eventually bringing her to a strangely warm place.

With curious chatterings, Shiv landed on one of the rocks that surrounded the many small lakes. It was oddly warm underfoot and the steam rising from the waters made her head tilt to the side with interest. How had she not learned of this place before! Protected from the harsh winter surrounding the area, there seemed to be near no evidence of snow on the rocks. Even the pools were untouched by frost. Humming with delight, the bird bounced a few boulders towards the waters, half-opening her wings as she bathed in the warmth.

Theseus was too far away from Redhawk Caldera for his own comfort, freaking wanderlust he growled to himself. What would Peregrine to do him when he realized he was so damn far from home, maybe he could just conjure up the excuse of him wanting to be an outrider. Yeah, that'll do. The Dragonblood did not wish to leave the Caldera anytime soon, he'd grown close to his packmate and though he did not want to admit it, he needed packmates to survive this winter. There was not much heavy snow, but what could a loner do alone? They couldn't take down big prey or anything like that, chances of survival alone were slim, and the Chinese planned to live a long and dangerous life.

Theseus soon came to a halt in front of a hot spring, the warmth it emitted was soothing and comforting and it drew him nearer to the springs. When he was close enough, he noticed a bird, a magpie to be exact, on the boulders surrounding the spring. Then he remembered he was hungry and was half deciding to eat her when the heat rising from the waters distracted him once more. Aqua eyes following the magpie's movement, he spoke, not even sure if the bird could understand. Are you here for the heat or here to be eaten? The Dragonblood's tone was amused.

Uncharacteristically still, the bird let herself fall into a sort of trance, wings half unfurled as the steam rose and soothed her muscles that were still slightly sore from her flight that morning. She looked as if she were about to summon some otherworldly demon from the springs with her half-lidded eyes and an almost sacrificial stance. That was until another made himself known and she snapped back to reality with a surprised squawk. With a click of her beak, Shiv spun around, ready to reprimand whoever had disturbed her.

Instead, the little bird was faced with the sight of a large golden and grey-furred wolf, a beast of a creature who was a stark contrast of the petite Prima Shiv had met a few days prior. Forgetting her anger, Shiv eyed off the male with fascination, fluttering onto a rock to closer inspect him. His words then registered and she gave another shrill call, shaking out her feathers. "No eat!" she scolded, quickly bending down to sharpen her beak on the rocks as if in demonstration of the weapon she held — albeit, a rather meagre form of defence should the male decide he would, in fact, make a meal of the magpie.

It was funny when the magpie spun around, looked at him and flew to a nearer rock to probably inspect him. Theseus had this kind of effect on all kinds of animals, they couldn't help but come closer and check him out, especially females. They lived on his beauty. Okay, maybe that was a bit too much, but he did have this kind of effect on everyone. And it was not because the Chinese was ugly, it was impossible for anyone to say he was 'ugly' or 'fat'. It just ain't possible.

Theseus raised an eyebrow when she let out a shrill call and pointedly began sharpening her beak on the rock, accompanied by a "No eat!". The situation was just too hilarious for the bi colored male, he burst into laughter. A smooth melodic sound that drifted into the air. When he finally got his breath back and collected himself, the gray and golden wolf smiled at the magpie. Sorry, do you have a name? Wait, that wasn't what he was going to ask. Its just too hilarious.

His responding laughter caused Shiv to tilt her head to one side and then the other, curiously studying the male and why he was so humoured. Surely he wasn't laughing at her? Unless her demand that he not eat her was in vain and he really did want to eat her! Suddenly wary of him, the bird then quickly hopped back a few steps, puffing out her feathers slightly to make herself seem bigger in hopes the wolf wouldn't dare come closer. If he was hungry he chose the wrong bird to make for a tasty snack.

Oh, he just wanted her name? Despite his smile and laughter, Shiv regarded him with guarded eyes, making soft warbling sounds. "Shiv," she replied curtly, before turning and hopping onto another rock, beginning to inspect the springs. "No need wolf's name," she announced, glancing back at him with a nod. "Rude man."

The magpie hopped backwards, puffing her feathers out in a pathetic attempt to make herself look bigger. He managed to suppress the laughter that threatened to spill, collecting himself and making sure he was calm before he spoke again. "Shiv," the bird introduced herself, turning around and hopping onto another rock. "No need wolf's name," she added a moment later, "Rude man." It was only by luck that he managed to keep his laughter in check.

"Hey, Shiv. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to actually eat you and stuff, was just teasing. And I didn't mean to laugh too. That was very rude of me." Theseus paused, wondering how the hell was he apologizing to a fucking bird. "I'm Theseus, looks like we got off the wrong paw. Wanna start over again?"

Dude, you just didn't meet such a bird everyday.

Slight PP to add an ending!

Shiv half-turned and gazed at him with one judgemental eye as the wolf apologised, introducing himself afterwards as Theseus. Unusual as it was for an apex predator to be asking for forgiveness from a lowly scavenger, Shiv was delighted he had seen the error of his ways. Never one to really hold a grudge, the bird then fully turned, leaning forward as she gave him a short bow and a cheerful chirp. "Yes, yes, good," she said, accepting his apology.

Retracing her steps and bouncing back over to where she was standing before, Shiv looked up to the golden wolf once again, admiring his fur. "Theeeee-seus..." she began, stumbling on his foreign name. "...is made of sunlight?" Referring, of course, to his coat. Being a magpie, she was jealous of how shiny and colourful it was. The only streak of brilliance on her otherwise dull feathers were the glimmer of blue and green on her tail. "Can trade?" she added, ruffling her feathers in an attempt to entice the man, not really acknowledging the logistics of such a deal.

When he declined with another laugh, the bird's temper flared. For such a tiny creature, she had monstrous tantrums. With a shriek of annoyance, she spun on her heel, offended that he had the gall to laugh at her a second time. Not wanting to deal with such rude wolves (though to any other, more rational creature, it was obvious Theseus was just joking around), the magpie kicked off from the ground and took to the air, soaring into the thermals above the hot springs to get as far away from the brute as possible.