Silver Creek anyway

At first, Talis couldn’t possibly make sense of what he was seeing with his own two eyes. Since when did wolves and raccoons fraternize like this? The scene had a dreamlike quality, though the coyote resisted the silly impulse to pinch himself. He was definitely wide awake, so perhaps he just didn’t understand what was going on here. Surely the raccoon wasn’t actually following the wolf…

The wolf scolded the raccoon, calling it by name: Prowler. Talisman’s jaw dropped as the wayward bandit scuttled to heel. His pale eyes blinked rapidly for several seconds before he withdrew behind the tree, the trunk blocking his view of the strange pair for a moment.

What the, he mumbled under his breath, raising a paw to rub a single claw ponderously against his cream-colored chin.

He dropped it and peered around the tree again. They were moving further away along the streambed now. Talis was entirely too intrigued to let them slip away without further study. He paused, debating between trying to stealthily tail them or popping out and announcing himself. Wolves were completely unpredictable in their behavior toward a coyote, though if she was friends with a raccoon…

Stepping out into plain sight, Talisman cleared his throat and called out in a friendly voice, Prowler: is that a boy’s name or a girl’s name?