Shadewood a setting sun, or rolling waves at sea

@Glitch - Sorry for the wait! And for how long this is lol. I got rambly.

The woman continued to look spooked despite Maiira’s explanation, so the coywolf decided she must keep a close eye on her. Frightened people could do incredibly stupid things.

’Am I… a ghost?’ the woman asked, and then reached for one of the rabbits. It was a gentle grab of the rabbit’s foot, as if she were afraid to hurt it, despite it being dead. 

“Hmm,” said Maiira, studying the woman for some time as she ate. Maiira herself was not hungry. She often spent so much time in her own head that she forgot to maintain her physical body. As such, she no longer felt hunger pangs unless she was truly starving. It was a blessing… and a curse. On one hand, if it was the dead of winter and most wolves were complaining about the ache in their bellies, Maiira made no such complaints. On the other, because she often went so long without food, she’d wake up one morning and find herself weak and unable to think straight, which made hunting much harder.

But Maiira was not like most wolves. She didn’t even consider herself a wolf—she had never known her father. So to see a wolf pick so gently at a dead rabbit was… strange. What could cause this woman to be so gentle with her food. Maiira did not believe the woman was a ghost, not after having spoken to her for this long. But the woman was different. Odd. And not the same way Maiira was odd. A different kind of odd. One that concerned her. Maiira had made up her mind.

“Maiira has thought of something. It is Autumn now and the weather is cooling. Soon, prey will be harder to come by and snow will cover the ground. One wolf alone in the cold would not do so well… but two together have a better chance of survival.” She paused to let her meaning sink in. “Why don’t we stick together, yes? This way we can… help one another.” She raised her brows at the woman, waiting for a response. In truth, what Maiira really wanted was to keep an eye on this wolf, to make sure she was safe. To get her, perhaps, into a pack. And then, once that was done, Maiira would leave with the next wind.

But the nameless woman did not agree to such things. It was with some sadness that Maiira left her behind, after wishing her a fond farewell.