Redhawk Caldera I made a deal with the man on the moon

Fin rolled her eyes at her co-beta's statement. Though she'd admitted Rodney wasn't real, he was doing his best to follow Fin's orders and pretend that he was. His determination made her smile, but only for a moment as suddenly, something stole her attention away from their amusing conversation.

"Oh my goodness..." she said slowly, mischief sparkling in her coffee bean eyes, "You smell that?" Not even waiting for an answer, Fin took off at a steady canter, her nose almost glued to the ground as she went. She raced along for a few minutes, periodically sneezing and snorting as she inadvertently bumped her nose against little lumps of snow. Finally, she slowed and began to spin in winding circle, sniffling like crazy at the scent she'd caught ahold of earlier.

She perked up and he did the same, watching her with curiosity as she indicated that she smelled something interesting. Before Elwood could give her a proper reaction, Finley had taken off, leaving nothing but pawprints in her wake. Quickly, he began to follow her, wondering what she had found. It couldn't be a real bear...could it?

Eventually she slowed down, and when he caught up to her she was pacing in wide circles, her snout grazing the surface of the snow. "What is it?" he asked, giving the air a gentle sniff.

"I don't know yet," she admitted as Elwood closed the gap between them and questioned what it was she was following. It was a scent that was different from what she was used to smelling around those parts. Whether it was the scent of predator or prey, she wasn't completely certain. Whatever it was, it made her feel uneasy.

"Sniff here, right here," Fin instructed, nodding her head towards a thick tree branch that laid strewn across the ground. There was a scent upon it, as though something had stepped across it and accidentally kicked it doing so. She stepped back to give Elwood some room, her brows furrowed in concern as she watched and waited to see what he would make of it.

Suddenly, their fun little bear hunt became more serious. Finley couldn't identify what the scent belonged to, so she asked Elwood for his input. She motioned towards a tree branch that was strewn haphazardly across the snow; he approached it and lowered his head.

He skimmed his nose across the rough bark, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled and examined the scent with his olfactory sensors. It certainly was different, but he couldn't quite put a finger on its origin, either. With a frown, he gave another sniff, then tentatively placed his paw on the limb, visually scanning it to see if there were any other signs that would indicate what sort of creature had passed by here.

"I smell it too, but I don't know what it is," he said, his brow furrowed as he turned to look at Finley.

"It doesn't smell much like bear," Fin replied after a moment of snuffling at the limb. She looked up at her co-beta to share with him a curious gaze. "Smells more feline if you ask me..." she said after another moment, her lips curling up into a grin, "How awesome would it be if we ran into a mountain lion? Or a lynx? Or the terrible winged, horned, massive-fanged Sabre-toothed tiger cat!" Fin wagged her tail eagerly at the prospect. She knew such a creature didn't actually exist - it was a fabrication of the imagination, plain and simple. Definitely not an exaggeration based on a creature that once existed in history.

Elwood didn't share Finley's enthusiasm once she identified the potential source of the smell. Hunting for an imaginary bear was one thing -- but coming across the scent of a real-life, big-toothed, mean cat was another. He was a warden and an aspiring warrior, so he knew that he was equipped to deal with a rogue feline, but it wasn't necessarily on his to-do list for that day.

He knew that it would be difficult to persuade Finley to give up their search, though, so he continued to play along -- though his lack of excitement was evident. "Maybe it's a bear-cat hybrid," he suggested weakly. Whatever it was, they now had a duty to investigate. The Beta pair couldn't walk away from evidence of a cat on their property, especially with Fox's pregnancy weighing on their minds.

"Should we track it?" he asked, leaning down to give a sniff and then looking back at Finley. Yep, definitely smelled like a feline.

Elwood was not nearly as excited at the prospect of tangling with some demon monster cat as Finley. She very nearly noticed it too, but he suddenly made the mistake of lighting her imagination afire again by suggesting the idea of a bear-cat hybrid. "Oh my gosh, that would be so AMAZING!" she grinned broadly as she pictured it - big as a bear with its stout muzzle and round ears with a long tail and thin slivers for pupils like a cat.

"Hell yeah we should track it!" she barked enthusiastically. Again, she completely overlooked any hesitation in Elwood, despite the fact that it was quite blatantly written upon his features. With a happy little flourish of her tail, she began to bound off across the snow, following the scent drawn across the terrain.

Oh dear God. What had he done? Elwood's heart sank as Finley latched onto his idea of the bear-cat, then bounded off with every intention to track it down herself. All he could do was hope that their search would be fruitless, but he knew that Finley would try her damnedest (this word is weird!) to make sure they were successful.

"Woo hoo..." he replied softly, his voice flat as he shuffled after her. He really didn't want to get into any trouble today, but he supposed he should have thought of that sooner. If he wanted a routine and monotonous life, that wouldn't happen as long as Finley was around.

Eventually, he accelerated into a brisk trot in order to keep up with her, following her footprints in the snow (and the trampled underbrush she had left behind in her reckless hurry). He skimmed his nose along the ground, coming across the scent of a hidden rabbit warren. That would have been much more his speed, but he didn't even mention it to Finley; she would have no interest in something so mundane! "Any luck up there?" he called out, resuming his faster pace.

Fin was nearly prancing as they tracked the bear-cat. She had always loved hunting ever since she was a little puppy, even though she had never really hunted the things she was supposed to. Even as a child, while her parents were showing her brothers and sisters how to hunt rabbits and squirrels, she was off tracking foxes and weasels - animals that would have gladly made a meal out of the runty little baby Blackthorn. After the stress she'd put her parents through, it was a wonder they ever even touched each other again for fear of making another mini hellion like Finley.

The pair of betas spent a good chunk of time hunting before Finley finally felt as though they were coming very close to locating their quarry. Her ears swiveled backwards as Elwood called out to her, which she decided to answer with a sly grin that she shot over her shoulder at him. She cantered forward, continuing along the path the bear-cat had left ('cause there was now no doubt in her mind that they really were on the trail of this fabled creature), finally coming to a tall ridge and stopping upon the edge to look down.

"Aww.. crap..." Fin moaned as she looked down at the pile of animal crumbled upon the ground below. It wasn't a bear-cat, but it looked like it had been some type of cat. Too small for a mountain lion, so likely a bobcat or a lynx. Whatever the case, its broken, old body was half covered in snow with chunks of flesh torn out of it by some other, larger carnivore. Fin's shoulders slumped as she plopped down onto her haunches and looked over at Elwood mournfully. "Looks like someone got to it first..." she commented bitterly.

Elwood was not far behind Finley as she came to the edge of a miniature cliff and peered over. His breath caught in his throat as he wondered what she would see below -- but her reaction was not what he had anticipated. She sounded defeated. Quizzically, he slowed his pace and crept up next to her, angling his head so that he could look down at the rocky crevice below.

Her disappointment was validated as his eyes landed on the form of a deceased cat. Elwood released a sigh of relief, glad that their hunt had come to an end that didn't involve danger or either of them getting injured. Part of him did feel bad, though, that Finley's wishes hadn't been fulfilled, so he didn't admit his pleasure with the situation.

"What a bummer," he murmured as he looked down at the half-eaten carcass. Something else had obviously snacked on it, and he wondered if it had been one of their packmates or some other entity.

Elwood deemed the scenario a bummer, which Fin agreed whole-heartedly with, if it was a little too not-nearly-dramatic-enough for her to echo. "This completely sucks," Fin whined, "I wanted to do that to it." She tilted her head with a heavy sigh as she looked down at it. How cool would it have been to be the one who pushed the cat down to its death after a ferocious battle upon the precipice?

Well, it looked like that wouldn't be happening. With another sigh, she decided it was time to move on from this heartbreak to the next adventure. Without even thinking much about it, Fin suddenly lunged at Elwood, latched her teeth onto his scruff and tugged him towards the edge. "Giff me a reathon!" she growled playfully, her tail wagging, "Giff me a reathon an I thwear I'll do it!"

Soooo let me just reply to this like nothing happened yesterday. *whistles innocently*

"I know you did," Elwood said, with the reassuring tone of a parent speaking to their child. He didn't doubt that Finley would have been able to wreck the cat in such a way -- she was fierce and fiesty and while she may not have always thought things through, she certainly seemed to have luck on her side.

He was still peering over the edge, examining the damaged carcass when suddenly he felt Finley's teeth sinking into his scruff and the weight of her body against his. He yelped in surprise, his legs immediately going stiff to prevent himself from teetering off the ledge and plunging to an untimely death. "What the--!" he cried, though as his ears twisted on his head he heard Finley's muffled threat and realized that she was playing with him.

"Nooooo," he moaned in the next instant, going limp so that it would be more difficult for Finley to manhandle him. "I never did anything wrong!" he howled plaintively.

this feels so wrong now D:

Finley giggled at his surprise, but kept her grip tight upon the loose fur at the back of his neck. What he said rang true (at least for the time being >:|) - Elwood had never done anything wrong, except for reacting poorly to being told not to love her. She really didn't have any reason to punish him, nor to threaten his life. Except for the fact that it was fun.

Fin rolled her eyes and let him go, taking a few bouncing steps back away. "Geesh, it's no fun if you don't fight back," she growled playfully with narrowed eyes. She pranced forward again and crouched, batting harmlessly at his tail in an attempt at antagonizing him.

C-can we make this thread last forever?

In the weeks to come, Elwood would likely look back on this situation with irony. Perhaps Finley should have just thrown him over the edge -- that would have saved them both from heartache. But unfortunately, neither wolf could predict the future; they were both trapped in that very moment, simply enjoying each other's company innocently.

She released him and he stood, quickly pivoting to face her as she pawed at his tail. He stuck his tongue out and said, "I wasn't really giving up. I just knew that you wouldn't be able to resist letting me go! Poor innocent Elwood!" With that, he sprang forward, intending to tackle her and begin one of their familiar wrestling matches.

I'm game ;_;

Fin rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at him. Poor innocent Elwood indeed. It was actually a little irritating how perfect he seemed to be all the time. Despite that one mishap, she'd never met a wolf so wonderfully polite and kind and friendly in all her life. Golden boy, that's what he was. She gazed at him fondly in spite of herself.

Before she could make a quip about how she only let him go so that she could come up with a far worse way to murder him, he was leaping at her. Fin braced herself for impact, but not quickly enough that she was able to keep herself from falling backwards under his weight. She laughed as she tumbled, scrabbling her paws against him and nipping at his muzzle. It was an unusual move for him - she was the one that usually started the wrestling matches after all. She wasn't complaining, though. She was always up for a good spar, and he was by far her favorite partner.

He landed so that he could roll swiftly off of her, though he wasn't able to deflect the snapping of her teeth at his snout. He laughed as he tumbled to the ground opposite her, quickly righting himself and assuming a play-bow position.

His tail lashed the air behind him as he eyed her. "Your move," he encouraged, daring her to give him her best shot.

Fin glared playfully at Elwood as he rolled off of her. She leaped onto her four paws almost simultaneously, reeling to face him as he looked at her and dared her to make her move. She growled softly as she began to stalk around to his side, sizing him up (even though she knew perfectly well all of his strengths and weaknesses from the countless times they'd done this).

"You know, Twig," Fin began to tease with a growl, "You've gotten awful cocky after all of these little tussles of ours. TOO COCKY!" The final two words she barked suddenly as her head shot up high along with her tail. She smirked down at him as she took one more step before stopping. "I feel like you're forgetting who the superior beta here really is," she accused with a cant of her head and a shrewd stare.

She began to prowl around him, and his yellow gaze followed her every move. His ears rotated on his head, taking in the playful jabs that she directed at him. Too cocky? Maybe -- but he wasn't going to let her get the upper hand. Not yet! Elwood laughed as she insinuated that she was the higher-ranking Beta, throwing his head back emphatically.

"Ha! I've forgotten no such thing. How could I, when the fact is that I'm the superior Beta?" he rejoined, tilting his chin up to look her in the face. Then he pounced, darting forward with a shove from his hindquarters. He feinted towards her, landing deftly on his paws and veering away to start a chase.

It was almost like an intricate and well-known dance; each maneuver had been completed many times before, but it still felt new and exciting. The cold air stung Elwood's cheeks as he raced away, turning his head to look over his shoulder and see if she was following as he thundered away from the ledge.

It's probably safe to fade this now that we can have happy threads again :D

Elwood laughed at her taunt, causing Finley to smile in exchange. He challenged her words with those of his own - declaring himself the superior beta with an overly haughty pose. She gave him an exaggerated roll of his eyes, preparing to quip back at him when suddenly, he made a quick move towards her. She hesitated mere seconds out of surprise before attempting to land an attack upon his ruff, only to miss as he was suddenly darting away.

Fin was quick to follow with a playful snarl, wondering how he could possibly have managed to throw her with such an obvious move. After all the time they'd spent sparring with each other, she probably should have known his every move. Elwood was fairly good at always surprising her, though. Likely he'd been practicing it in an effort to keep up with the queen of WTF-just-happened?? moments herself. In either case, Fin tore after the peppered beta male with jubilant fervor, completely unaware that the next time she saw him after this, he'd be ripping her heart out. Ah, young love <3