Silver Creek hand-me-down dreams

Tehama's slate-hued ears swivelled and caught the rushing noise of the creek as she slowly descended the slope leading down to the waterway.  Perhaps it was a gentle and relaxing babble, when the unending rain had not raised the water level far past its banks, but the current was now swift and the creek was loud.  Te squinted to search for the shape of fish beneath the surface, but quickly decided that only a foolish fish would do anything but hide away in the refuge of nooks and crannies in the creekbank with such a brisk and cold flow of water.  The petite female sighed, feeling her stomach twist in hunger.  Yesterday's breakfast of several chipmunks seemed now both inadequate and remote.

Te fought the urge to shake once more as heavy water droplets cascaded down from the canopy of leaves.  Instead she slid her body low to the ground, crouching in wait.  The hour was still early, and perhaps larger game might emerge from the wood to drink.  Tehama was a fair hunter, and a young cervidae would be a fortuitous catch that could feed her for more than just the one meal.  The lady surveyed her surroundings patiently, gazing through the silver haze of rain; it startled her to notice the dark figure watching her from a distance.  Tehama supressed a visible motion of surprise and instead chose simply to look back at the stranger.  A flare of dark nostrils, a long drawn-in breath, revealed no new information to the female, any scent that wasn't doused by the rain and damp was being carried away on a faint and contrary bit of wind.

She might have taken him for a bear at first glance, so vast was his size, and there was nothing particularly inviting nor welcoming about his countenance.  At this middling distance, it was impossible to say whether he was truly looking at her or simply past her.  It was still credible that her dark melange of tawny fur granted concealment among the underbrush and fallen detritus of the forest.  Tehama steeled herself to immobility, not unlike a doe ensnared in the gaze of the hunter.  If he didn't already know she was here, Te wasn't naive enough to go betraying her petite self to a much larger and more imposing wolf whose motivations were as yet unknown.  A woman alone could be prey enough for some, Tehama thought.