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He'd been tracking the caribou for over a week now, and just when he thought the beast's demise was mere hours away, it went into "enemy" territory. Well, Ovaltine couldn't rightly say that this pack was his enemy, considering he'd never even met them. Unlike some wolves of the world, he believed that everybody was his friend until proven otherwise. He was the mellow sort, not one to cause trouble when it was easily avoidable. Being a loner, he had to remain that way. Causing havoc would only get him killed, and Ovaltine liked his life, thankyouverymuch.

The male watched as what was meant to be his great feast slowly disappeared from view. Ovaltine sighed, then figured he might as well linger around for a little while to see if the hoofed beast would circle back. He doubted it would live much longer, but it was worth a shot, right? Dropping his haunches to the ground, he curled his tail neatly around his front legs, golden eyes watching the distance to see if his prey would return to him.

His stomach burned and howled. He had not eaten for some time now. He was content in his independence, but did not relish the continual effort it required to keep himself fed and cared for as he travelled around. Though he bore the stress of lone wolf life well for he had an assortment of skills suited to it, it was nonetheless a stress. In a pack, with many paws at work, food was seldom scarce, and each wolf had each other's back. It was an easier life in many respects, and allowed him the freedom to indulge in life's pleasures more frequently. That much he did miss.

He crossed the path of another wolf laid over the fresh scent of caribou, and turned from his line to follow it. Perhaps there was a chance for a meal at the end of it, but what he found was the pungent odor of a marked pack border, and a male sitting some distance from it, watching intently. He quickly deduced that the man had been tracking the ungulate, but that it had crossed that invisible line that only fools dared to cross. Rhett expelled a deep breath.

"Lunch got away from you?" he commented as he drew nearer.

Ovaltine swiveled his head to look at the speaker, and huffed. "Not just lunch," he replied, "That beast could have fed a whole pack for at least a week." Lunch was a rabbit, a mouse, some scrap of scavenged, rotting meat that would fill one's belly for an afternoon. The caribou Ovaltine had been tracking was a massive beast. If he was being realistic, that beast would now feed a whole pack for a week. The thing was on its last leg of life, and Ovaltine had a pretty good feeling this pack wouldn't let it go to waste.

"I'm Ovaltine Driftwood, by the way. You wouldn't happen to know anything about these parts, would you?" he asked. Oval was always eager to hear more about the Teekon Wilds and what they held. He wasn't even sure if he would be here much longer, but it seemed imperative to get to know the locals. It was the way he had always done it.

He chuffed gruffly. Like the wolf before him, he also thought on how it was indeed likely that the caribou would feed a pack for the week, leaving the two loners forsaken and hungry at their borders. He was about to turn and leave, to look elsewhere  for his meal, when the man introduced himself and queried as to his knowledge of the area. "Rhett," he replied. "New here myself."

He implied he did not know much, and truly he did not, but he had been caught in the middle of some conflict which he felt another traveller might appreciate being made aware of. He shared this with Ovaltine. "There was some trouble in the north. The leader of one Blackfeather Woods pack was attacked by one of the locals. There were sympathizers from other packs, but they did not join in."

Want to speed through this one? It's my last thread with Ovaltine, and I'm not sure where he's going after this.

The other wolf introduced himself, and although it could have been a fake name, Ovaltine always gave others the benefit of the doubt. What reason did somebody have to lie about a simple thing like a name, anyway? There were so many wolves on this earth, it would be difficult to track one down with only a name. But that was beside the point, and Oval was getting sidetracked with his thoughts.

"Oh dear," the drifter replied when Rhett explained a bit about this pack in relation to another. In fact, Blackfeather Woods was the forest where he had encountered the one-eyed girl. He wondered if perhaps it all had something to do with that. Tensions certainly ran high in these parts if something like that was going down. "I met a young lady from Blackfeather Woods," Ovaltine said, wondering if it might help to piece things together, "She was missing an eye; she said she'd been attacked." It was such a sorry sight to see somebody so young with such a handicap. Ovaltine could not imagine himself (or anybody, for that matter) doing such a cruel thing to a child.

Yeah sure, this is one of my last for Rhett too :)

"Hmm," he chuffed, upon hearing that this male had also met a wolf from Blackfeather, and that they too had been attacked. Whether it was related to the incident in the north was beyond him, and truthfully, he did not entirely care. It was pertinent for him to know there were hostilities, but the exact details mattered not. "The attack in the north was retribution for an attack and attempted rape made by her wolves, or so I gathered."

Ovaltine frowned. This place seemed rather hostile, and he was beginning to second-guess staying here. It made him all the more confident in his decision not to cross over into this pack's territory. Not that he would have done that normally, but he had been rather hungry today. No empty stomach was worth risking his life, though, and so he had decided against it. "That’s terrible," Ovaltine replied, at a loss for any other words. He hoped that the one-eyed girl had not somehow been involved. Although, perhaps her injury had been brought on as retribution for another's folly.

Like Ovaltine, Rhett did not fancy the idea of settling down in area rife with conflict. He had seen his share, participated in more than enough, and now he wished for a quiet, easier life. But he was no full, a place of consistent peace was close to a fantasy. No matter where he went, there would be tension sometime, somewhere. He shook his head. "It is," he agreed. His stomach growled, and turned. "Well, standing around here ain't going to feed to us. Come on," surely there was another deer or something around, a couple of rabbits at least. He headed off in search.

Feel free to pp them to move this forward!

Last one for me! :)

Ovaltine nodded. He was hungry, and Rhett was right. The deer was lost to them now, and the wolves who lived upon the plateau would surely make good use of it. Turning, the drifter began to make his way south, the darker wolf accompanying him. He had little to say, even though he was normally a rather chatty fellow. Perhaps this just wasn't the time for it. In any case, they would likely find something to hunt down together soon enough. It would be one of Ovaltine's last meals here, though he did not know it yet.

The other loner did not require much convincing, and so the pair set off. Eventually, they found themselves a rabbit warren, and worked together to flush and capture enough rabbits that each could eat their fill and then some. Like Ovaltine, it would be one of Rhett's last meals in this area. The wolves parted ways, unlikely to ever encounter each other again.