Porcupine Ridge Life goes on

The sound of an pursuit,  stirred him from his slumber. Ears and eyes alert, his head resting on his paws as he watched a tawny wolf gallop across the ground. Not a mere eight or so inches, was a snowshoe hare, flitting in front of the tawny beast. The wolf was gaining on the hare and before long, the wolf made his move. A half-leap,  half-tumble sort of thing that made Kieran shake his head and snugger slightly. Yet, the wolf caught the hare. As the tale-tell scream of a dying creature could be heard throughout the valley before it was silenced by the teeth of the wolf. 

It was then,  the wolf dropped the hare and scanned the horizon. It was obvious that the wolf had spotted him. And seeing as the wolf was within the pack territory, Kieran would assume that the wolf was a pack member. The wolf began to approach him at an easy lope. That is until, he hesitated in his steps. The wolf froze and assumed a dominant stance;  head held high, eyes narrowed into slits,  ears laying flat against the skull,  chest out, and his tail up. Fear shone clearly in the wolfs' features as his lips pulled back to reveal his teeth; the hackles clearly raised upon his neck,  shoulders,  and along the back. A snarl erupted from his maw. One meant to frighten and intimidate.

Kieran had no reason to fear him. Kieran knew he was outside of the borders of the pack territory. He had no reason to enter them, unless provoked to do so or unless he was invited. He was not one to back down from a challenge, when the challenge was legitimate. However,  this was no challenge.  This was a wolf who was fearful. Kieran did nothing in response to the wolfs behaviour. It would do him no good to confront the wolf. So, instead he ignored him. Or so it would seem to an observer and hopefully the wolf as well.  In truth,  it was not in his blood to ignore anything. He was an observer by nature. So,  he took in the wolf. The physical weaknesses of the tawny male. The male,  for it was a male,  that much was discovered with the aid of the gentle breeze that blew towards Kieran at that moment. 

He was tall,  perhaps even too tall.  It would make him unbalanced, if he were to receive a lower blow; say to his sternum or anything below it.   His chest was narrow.  He was lean. He probably lacked in raw strength due to his sparse muscle mass. In accordance with that, he would probably have a tendency to have more bone injuries in the event of an fight or with an injury that would occur with large game. [size=x-large]Fortunatly,  there were some plus sides to being an ectomorph. The male would have great endurance and stamina across distances.  He would be able to reach higher speeds and would have an greater advantage of increased agility and maneuverability.[/size]

Kieran was already imagining ways to kill the tawny male. It would have been easy and if the tawny male would have pressed the issue farther, Kieran would have taken the opportunity that was given to take out the male. Thankfully, he did not, as Kieran was sure this would have caused the pack to retaliate against him if, perchance he did kill the male. And he was not on to bargain with his life very often. He was a strategic planner.  He was always prepared, pitting pros and cons with the cause and effects. He would never make a decision that would hurt him or cause his untimely death. This made him seem aloof, despondent even.  He has a hard time making friends or even forming relations with anyone because if this. And to the few that do manage to gain his trust, he will stay loyal to them as long as they stay loyal to him.