Wapun Meadow botchlings

yeah, it's supposed to do something like that! the same thing happens with DA's forum header too :) also since i've let this get wildly out-of-date, we'll call this an ending and hope for a future thread <3

the brooding male looked her up and down, silently contemplative as his tail swayed idly and his tarnished gaze raked her with naked scrutiny. "there are mouths to feed, herds to maintain and follow, threats to uproot... endless needs, and even more wants. you seem hale enough, but my pursuits are not for the small-minded." wanting to settle down in a single place and raise pups 'til death? that was small-minded to stigmata. he did not think lesser of those wolves - because nurturing a family was an honorable reason to exist, in his opinion -  but the wolf also understood that he and wolves of that mindset lived intrinsically different lives. so if it was her intent to find a permanent station in familiar woods, of the like, then they could not cohabit.

"the mountains - that entire range," stigmata drawled, gesturing towards the near-distant sunspires; "is never short of work. certainly enough of it to keep generations of us busy, and so i intend to spend my life there, hopefully with wolves who find value in a life that does not come easy."

he turned to aim his forehalf in that direction, though kept his peripheral on sarah, particularly on her scars. "i have detoured long enough, and though i am not keen on visitors, if you were so inclined: catch a fox and bring it to me as a sign of good faith. your troubles will be rewarded, and i would a pledge myself to offering you more than a provincial life. i can be found at the lake, this side of the mountains, for a time; my offer has no expiration, but i cannot say for how long we, the diaspora, will occupy that claim."

he began a steady lope in the direction of home then, not pausing to hear a response or regard her expression for genuine interest. she would either find him too offensive and pushy, or she would be enticed - he had already let himself become distracted, and he found no reason to linger any longer on all the what ifs of today. he would either see sarah again or he wouldn't, and it would be under the terms provided... or something else entirely. honestly, he'd be surprised if he ever saw the fire-touched she-wolf again, but that wasn't to say he didn't look forward to its possibility.