Hunger

As Red waded farther into the water, trying to ignore the chill, a Wolf’s howl sounded much too close to her for her liking. She jumped, causing the water around her to splash and ripple, and frightening away all of the fish. Part of her was irritated, as her hunger had so recently hit her and now her food was gone. But mostly, she was frightened. She looked up and around, and pinpointed the culprit of the fish-scarer in but a second. In moments, she took the female in with her eyes, noting the odd coloration of her fur. Had she been able to see the she-wolf’s eyes, she would have noted that they were odd, too, though not as odd as the genetically-induced black-and-white split down the middle of her body, so that she looked like a living Yin/Yang symbol.

Red was now done with her inspection. She was sorely tempted to bolt in that moment, but then her Wolf blood decided to make itself known, and she suddenly felt braver than she had in days. Although she made no move to get closer to her half-cousin, she did wag her tail back and forth and let her tongue loll out of her mouth, which were ways of telling the she-wolf, “Hello. I am Red. I’m friendly and would like to talk.”

Curiously, she stood and waited, though she would not do so for long. If her half-cousin had nothing interesting to say, she would much rather get back to hunting. Her stomach growled angrily at her, and she unintentionally made an “I’m starving” face right afterwards, and lowered her body slightly in embarrassment.