Larksong Grotto taken away to the dark side

apparently i am verbose in the morning

Whether or not he was close in his guess, Pasha couldn't have said. But he assumed he was right, because his father mentioned something about catching them and most importantly, soon. Was that the real reason they had come out there? His heart leapt at the thought. The wave of his tail propelled itself just a little more, so eager.

And as a different combination of scents rose to them on the ever-changing winds of the day, Pasha did take notice. Not enough to perhaps respond the same way as his father did. Scimitar tensed and Pasha pulled himself in closer to his father out of instinct, though the happy demeanor of the son did not change in the slightest. Rightly so, for there was a lesson to be taken out of his too — Pasha once more tested the air at the trailing end of his father's question.

Whatever it was, at first he thought it familiar. It had that air of canine to it, but wasn't distinguishable as anyone he knew. Wasn't his father (obviously), definitely wasn't his mother. Not even his siblings or aunt. No, there was something more rugged and wild about this. There was no natural medley of cohabitation with others. Pasha's brow knitted, uncertain of how to describe what it was that he smelled. Were those faint hints of pine? Or snow? Or rain?

Of course, he had been told of the dangers that lied outside of the territory. That had been a fair bit of material that was gone over well as they had ventured out there. It was still fresh in his mind. So he concluded his own investigation pointedly: "Someone else?" Okay, that wasn't so sure, but close enough.