Northstar Vale Zoism

As the days grew colder, Warbone became more active. He sparred with any who would let him, and hunted with those who wouldn't. Most of his time was spent eating or trying to eat, eager to keep his weight up lest any of their assembled males got any ideas about usurping him. It was only instinctive paranoia, really, as he didn't honestly expect anything like that from this lot. No one seemed malcontent in the vale, with the leadership or otherwise -- but even as he thought this, his mind turned to Saena's daughter.

She had avoided him since arriving, and though at first he had not sought to pressure her with his looming presence, after some time he had grown tired of her flightiness... and her infectious moping. He thought he might help her out of it. In his own manly way.

He returned to the group, midday, under clouds that promised more snow and with a dead opossum dangling from his jaws. But he did not join them. He hung back a few yards, and dropped the strangely fat marsupial at his feet before reclining. His scarred face peered through the throng of both active and inactive bodies, until his eyes spotted just the lean bit of red he was looking for. "@Indra," he chuffed, tail sweeping on the ground in invitation.

<3

when a voice pealed overhead like the eruption of thunder, indra sunk to the ground immediately. her gut seared with cold. slowly she turned around to face the tower of a wolf; his form as unmistakable as his voice.

her eyes dared not meet his own, though they trailed along his lumbering paws - he was a mountain, his face an avalanche of savagery and clout. every aspect of him was menacing to the child from the flare of sundered skin to the chilled olive of his half-gaze.

her ears were clamped tight to her skull in submission and she felt her tail prick her soft stomach as she awaited the reason for his advance.

Warbone watched in mild bemusement as the girl was visibly cowed by the mere sound of his voice; she cringed in place as if he had struck her, and had there not been such a distance between them, it would have appeared so. Despite this, his tail did not cease wagging and he didn't get to his feet to approach the submissive child. Instead, he called Little Bo Peep to him. "I have a gift for you," he called to her, lifting a forepaw to place it on top of the dead opossum. Strangely enough, it's belly seemed to churn, even though the creature was entirely dead. "Please do accept it."

indra was fearful for some reasons beyond warbone's impressive stature: for instance, had they found out? had reek told saena the horrible thing she had tried to do to tapat and astik? did warbone know?

her eyes widened and she gasped quietly, too terrified to even explore the possible consequences. how could anyone want her in their pack after that? was this it? was warbone her 'second coming', come to throw her out of saena's paradise?

she closed her eyes as he lifted a massive paw, half expecting him to box her over the ears for her heinous act. instead, he pushed something small and broken towards her. indra pried one eye open slowly, then the other, observing first the possum and then eventually, the massive stone of a man before her.

"w-why? what did i do?" she asked perplexed, unsure what she had done to deserve such a gift.