Phoenix Maplewood What's the time, Mr Wolf

preferrably an agressor to skirmish with :)

Morning dawned in silence. Not even the faint tweet of a bird could be heard; it seemed as though the falling of snow had quelled the once thriving valley into a land of ghosts. The golden figure was restless, the dulled silence an unnerving atmosphere to her chilled frame. She'd left Israel's side to venture farther into the wilds, mainly to feed her growing curiosity, but, so far, was not impressed.

She slipped into the shadows of a towering maple, green eyes scanning distainfully the dank forest underbrush. The snow was yet to fully coat the groundcover and grey light filtered down through the bare branches in suspicious patterns. Sinatra shiverred, nose to the ground to detect a riddling of scents that criss crossed this way and that. She followed them, pelt pricking, and pictured the scene in her minds eye; the struggling doe and the wolves' snarling power, an overwhelming force. The deer wouldn't have stood a chance.

The former Dezba found her prize nestled in the rotting flesh of the carcass; the thigh of the slain beast. Perhaps she could give it to Israel.

She couldn't take the anxiousness any longer. After waiting two days for Thuringwethil to reappear, Wildfire could no longer sit still. She set out from the empty den, making a beeline toward the nearest borderline before abruptly stopping halfway there. Which direction should she go? There was no way to pick up a distinctive scent trail from anywhere inside or even just outside the territory, what with the concentration of markers there. The Bandrona would have to rely on logic and reason, which weren't exactly her strong points in her current disquieted state.

Where might the Heda go without telling her own mate? The maple forest! Wildfire's mind screamed at her. Without thinking, the yearling began to lope south and west, splashing through the river without a care. Maybe Thur went to hunt down the bear, she thought crazily as she hoisted her wet and shivering body onto the opposite bank and resumed her swift gallop. She ignored the occasional twinge in her thigh, just as she disregarded the threat of danger here. There was no bear for Thuringwethil to find, yet Saena could still be loitering here to finish what she'd started.

When she smelled blood, Wildfire's heart flew into her throat. Maybe the Heda had come here and fought with her mate's disenfranchised sister. After frantically following the smell, the Bandrona arrived to find a strange wolf feeding on a deer carcass. Relief swept over her when she realized there were no dead wolves in the vicinity, though she couldn't hold back from barking rather brusquely at the stranger, "Have you seen a big black she-wolf around here?"

Her jaws clamped dutifully round the outside of the bone and she tugged in hopes that she could drag it free from the stagnant remains without much of a struggle. Yet this was proving to be a rather challenging task, for the ribcage of the deer was positioned in such a way that made her prize impossible wedged. A low growl rumbled in Simatra's throat and she decided to resort to digging, one paw raised to enter the mess when a loud bark caught her attention.

For a moment she thought it was Israel come to seek her out, or that's what she hoped for. But the fiery female that met her gaze was most certainly not her graceful accomplice. She shook her head as the rough question met her ears and turned back to her task. "Only seen you and me round here." Her voice was gruff as claws met bone with a disconcerting scrape and her brow furrowed in annoyance.

She didn't know whether to feel relief or disappointment at the stranger's curt reply. Instead of choosing either of those options, Wildfire chose to tap into that wellspring of anger that seemed to be bubbling just under the surface more frequently these days. There was really no rhyme or reason for it. But she had already been hormonal and now her mate had vanished into thin air, so why not let her wrath bubble over?

"Are you sure you haven't seen anyone else?" the Bandrona snapped. "How can you be sure if you're stuffing your face like that?"

Her newest companie's reply was curt and beheld an air of bewildered aggression. Not something the golden furred Kali would prefer to tamper with, yet the stranger seemed to have no intention of leaving any time soon. A disgusted snort signalled a pause in her frustrated movements and she turned to face her counterpart, tongue appearing to swipe lazily round her lips.

"Those words are utter ridicule. Tell me, I have eyes. I know what I see," she scoffed. Normally she would've been fairly neutral to those she wasn't familiar with, yet with the fiery devil before her was really testing her limits. "I wasn't eating, I was retrieving a bone. And if you have no intention of helping me, then I suggest you leave." Annoyance drove her to blurt a bold threat; she knew this was unclaimed turf. But this was not Israel, and so a mere interruption to her procedure.

"Why would I help you? You're not helping me," Wildfire retorted childishly. "Do you live here?" she added, knowing full well that no one claimed this forest. Someone had made that mistake once and Sleeping Dragon had personally seen to that. "No, you don't," she answered herself, planting her feet just to be obstinate. "So who're you to tell me to leave?"

Of course, the stranger could try to make her leave. But Wildfire really didn't think that far ahead. She was too stressed and sleep-deprived for rational thought at the moment.

It was like watching a kid fail at an attempt to stick up for themselves.

Simatra tossed her head in a dignified manner, lips peeling back in an annoyed snarl as her cranium came to rest mere whiskers away from her aggressors own snout. Rationality was all but forgotten, replaced by an itch to attack as frustration sliced holes in her mind. "I did help you," she hissed, "Or are you just too ignorant to realise that?" Her retort was harsh, and she ignored the demon's claim. This was a waste of time.

short posts be short B)

When the other wolf snarled right in her face, Wildfire knew she should back down and go. Normally, she would have tucked tail and run. She wasn't any good at fighting, after all. But here she was, picking a fight and standing her ground in the face of danger. She wasn't sure what had gotten into her but she wasn't really thinking of any of that just now.

Refusing to look away, she grated out, "How do you figure you're helping me? By breathing in my face?"

The defiance in what she dared to call her enemy's eyes only spurred the gold furred Kali onwards. The urge to subdue her pest drew one dirtied foreleg up and over the shoulders of the flaming wretch in one fluid motion, her jaws snapping shut mere breaths away from her ear. "I'm helping you to realise that to leave me alone right now would be a good idea," her throat cracked, fury and listless impatience fuelling her need of display. To Simatra, her words needed no further explaining. If Wildfire so wanted to lose a chunk of her auds, she was going about in the right way.

In another, clear-headed world, the tribal woman might've deemed her response an act of injust belligerence. Yet with a sight riddled with fuming irritation, it was all she could do to resist the temptation to beat the kid senseless.

All of a sudden, there was much more than just bad breath in her face. There was a leg thrown over her shoulder and sharp teeth just inches from her ear. Something about the actual, physical contact got through to Wildfire. She blinked rapidly, as if waking from a stupor, and then went rigid in fear. Seeing as she wasn't being actively gripped or bitten, she slowly walked backward out of the threatening embrace, lowering herself to the ground in the process.

"I'm—I have no idea what's gotten into me," she muttered to herself, then a little louder she added, "I'm sorry. My mate's been missing for days and I think I'm going a little crazy." Plus there was the hormonal roller coaster to consider, though Wildfire wasn't going to mention that to a perfect stranger going on enemy.

As tempted as she was, Simatra made no move more to further build her offence and instead watched through cold seafoam eyes as the wretch finally sank to the ground. Slowly, slowly, the ember quelled and gave way to her shaking frame, riffling and ruffled as she turned her back on Wildfire. Enough was enough, and as clear conscience began to return, so did her awareness of the situation.

"No excuse," the muttered, not bothering to excuse her own actions. The Kali wasn't about to reveal whatever remorse she had, if any at all, to a stranger in the wrong. "Your black wolf; I'm sure he'd be more appreciative of your yammering than I." She was unaware of Wildfire's circumstances and so based her dulled reply on assumptions. Silently, though perhaps her posture would betray it, she refrained from adding: if he ever returns.

Wildfire didn't bother pointing out that she was looking for a big black she-wolf. She said nothing at all, just nodded minutely to acknowledge the stranger's words. She then inched backward a few more feet, clearly getting ready to turn and make herself scarce. She did mutter one last, "Really, I'm sorry," before spinning and scooting back in the direction of Sleeping Dragon. Maybe Thuringwethil would be back by now and Wildfire could put this whole fiasco behind her.

Thanks for the thread!