Great Bear Wilderness Ruby

@Sawyer <3 set a little ways out from Neverwinter Forest. (:

She had just fished, and was quite pleased with herself. While Portia had never been the greatest hunter, she prided herself on her quick reflexes when it came to fishing. She was not the biggest fan of the taste, but could usually rely on the water for food. Before her lays a fish-- of sorts-- that she'd just snatched from the small river before her. Water drips from her muzzle, and she licks her lips hungrily before dipping her head to sniff the creature. It smells fishy, but nothing out of the ordinary, and so she digs in.

Daintily-- as she does everything-- the freckled face begins to gnaw at the side of the fish, crunching through scales and into flakey meat. She scrunches up her nose as she pauses, always hating the taste of fish but-- God bless her-- desperate times call for desperate measures. Comfort is nothing but a privellege.

The golden boy had enjoyed his time so far in the forest. He had not met many of his fellow pack members but that was largely due to the fact that he'd been enjoying the gorgeous surrounding territory and the company that he found there. The Alpha of Neverwinter was genial and easy to get along with. Sawyer didn't much see how it would be a problem for him to adhere to their rules. His intentions could be fulfilled there without difficulty. The familiarity of the woods coupled with the strange new stretch of land would prove a good area to build a new life for himself. 

As the handsome beast strolled along the stretch of land, he caught sight of an unfamiliar shape. The woman seemed to be enjoying a fresh catch. Sawyer smiled fondly as he approached and let out a friendly chuff. "Afternoon, darlin'. How are the waters faring?" he inquired in a pleasant tone. Always genial, of course, the southern lad could not refrain from a good fishing story.

She swallows slowly, refraining from making a face at the taste. A pity, really, that she was good at something she hated. She stares at the limp, partially eaten creature with ears at half-mast before she senses the presense of the male. Portia looks up, her green eyes focusing on the orange stranger. His voice is soothing, an accent she's very accustumed to, and she smiles kindly. at him.

"Oh, hun, cold as all get out. Damn nice in this heat though," she replies, her gaze never leaving him. "Care to join me?" she asks, motioning to the fish with a petite, white paw.

omg I love this already so much  

Once the green eyes of the woman looked up to meet him, the golden male found a captivation there. It reminded him fondly of his home. When she spoke, the boy's ears darted forward and his smile widened significantly so. Always a rugged charm about the man, he closed the remaining distance on them to catch all that she had to say. The accent that had reached him was so welcome. It spoke fondly to the love in his heart that belonged to his family and his home. 

Her words on the water roused a chuckle from within his chest. It resonated inside of him. "Oh I'll bet. Ought to feel it in your bones," he ventured with a sure nod. When the woman prompted for him to join beside her, the man ruffled his fur a bit and softened the grin on his face. "Well, I'd be delighted," he answered and settled himself beside her, though he did not think it right to even glance toward her catch. It wasn't polite. "What is it that brings you out to this neck of the woods on such a lovely day?" For it was quite a delightful afternoon to wander the wilds. 

!! <3

"Oh it's wonderful," she replies, smiling at him still. He doesn't look at the fish, but joins her in sitting. With a stubborn 'mmm', she bends down and noses the fish towards him. Selfishly to get out of eating it herself, and also because she couldn't bare the thought of inviting him to sit without being able to offer him anything to eat. "Eat, suga', there ain't no sense in sittin' if you can't at least enjoy it with a bite to eat," she says sternly, raising an eyebrow at him. After shifting into a more comfortable position, she answers him. "Nothin' important, really. I go where my feet take me. How about you? What brings you here?" she asks.

“Well that ain’t true at all, darlin’ – that southern hospitality is good enough for me any day,” he returned with a teasing wink. Though the lands still suffered from the locust attack, and prey was still difficult to come by, the southern gentleman did not need to eat in order to simply enjoy the company of another. However, the woman had been kind enough to offer her meal, and he was not a man to let a fine catch go to waste. Carefully, he clasped the fish in his teeth and found himself swallowing the scaly bits with ease. As always, he was as polite as could be, and once he had finished all that he could eat, he turned to her with a charming half-smile and bowed his head a bit. “I thank you, missus. That was a fine fish.”
 
Once she had returned the inquiry that he had presented to her, the gold-cloaked man frowned thoughtfully and narrowed the brows on his skull a bit; they cast a shadow over his pale gaze. “I s’pose I got too big for my britches and decided that I needed to get out there on my own… make a name for m’self and this is where that trail led me,” he answered.  

She perks her ears for a moment before turning to look at the river. "Mhm? Well, have you made yourself a name then?" she asks, staring at the rushing water before glancing up to him with a raised eyebrow. She wonders how long he's been here, and what exactly he's been doing to make a name for himself. Perhaps it's none of her damn business, sure, but she's curious all the same.

The question was blunt, but he could not allow himself to be all that surprised; the wolves of the south were often blunt creatures and asked questions merely out of habit. It did put him in something of a spot, though. Carefully, the boy thought about how best to answer her inquiry, but could not come up with the appropriate words. His mouth hung open like a fish and after he realized that he must have appeared a gawking fool, he closed it and chuckled quietly.
 
“Well shoot, I’ve got m’self in a nice pack right now. Don’t know many of the folks in there, but that’ll take some time,” he finally said after another moment of pause. “That’s somethin’ ain’t it?” He could not be expected to conquer Rome in a single day, but it was something new and very different for the boy who had grown so close to home and family. Sawyer had to be proud of himself for that, at the very least.

Portia grins a bit, but disagreed completely. "I'd say so," she says with a light dip of her head. "And where might that place be?" she then asks, her eyes glinting in the sun as she looked upon him. 

eek, sorry this is obnoxiously short

In hindsight, the mouthful that had been uttered had not truly made much sense, but the golden-cloaked man was willing to stick by it. As he observed the coal-dabbled woman at his side, Sawyer was beginning to see something peculiar about her nature. While she was not unkind, the responses that he had received were almost out of place. Though the woman had inquired about where he’d managed to settle, and the southern lad pointed with the ink of his nose toward the direction of Neverwinter. “There’s a forest no more than a hop skip and a jump in that direction. That’s home, at least for the time bein’,” he answered her request. A soft thump of his tail followed the response and he turned his gaze back toward her curiously.