Deepwood Weald Stealthy Steps

As the sun began its descent towards the horizon for the day, Shisen breathed in that crisp air. Every scent told a story, and today heralded the coming of Spring, despite the leftover tang of winter. He could smell the melting ice, the plants waking from their months-long slumber, the decomposing leaves beneath his feet, and the sky's ponderous thought of future rain. The sounds of the forest were soothing, and he picked his way silently amongst the roughage, most creatures barely able to hear his approach.

That was just as he preffered it. He'd already eaten for the day anyway, he wasn't looking for any meals, but honing his skill was something he did constantly. He couldn't afford to let his guard down or take any missteps. Practice kept one ready for anything at a moment's notice. His deep red eyes scanned the area, figuring it best to find a good hole to call home for the evening before moving on at sunrise. His senses told him that, while he was nearish to pack territories, he was far enough that he'd seldom come into contact with any of his kind, at least today. 

But one never knew what would drop into their lap at any moment...

Eeee heee heee...

---

The sun had begun to set, the encroaching evening bringing with it the slight chill of the receding winter. Reykr shivered a bit as he plodded grumpily along beneath the hulking boughs of the Deepwood, a territory still unfamiliar to the newly arrived coywolf. The dark figure's hackles still bristled with incredulousness at the nerve of his baby sister for going off on him the way she did. What the hell did she expect him to do when she finally ran away, just let her go and get herself killed? Their father was sure to track her down at some point, for one thing, and for another Myri had never been the best at defending herself against...well, anything really. Reykr had always been there to get himself between his little runt of a sister and whatever trouble she'd attracted, which more often than not had been their father's temper. The various scars littering the male's smoky coat were a testament to how often he'd been the whipping boy for the bastard's rage instead of Myrkr.

To say the young male's pride was hurt by his sister's insistence that she didn't need him now would be an understatement. There was no way in hell he was going to leave her to face the insurmountable unknowns of a new land on her own. If the wilds didn't eat her alive, the packs would. After all, Reykr and his sister were filthy halfbreeds: the unintended offspring of a less-than-ideal relationship between their wolf father and coyote mother. It had been drilled into their heads from birth that no self-respecting pack would ever accept them as equals, which was why they were raised on the outskirts of their father's birth pack's territory. If a pack ever were to take them in, it would most assuredly only be as the omegas: the lowest of the low, the whipping boys and girls, scapegoats, targets of endless bullying and disdain. No, there was no way in hell Reykr would ever abandon Myrkr to a fate like that.

A soft, persistent growl rumbled in the coywolf's throat as he walked farther into the Weald. He would give Myri her space for now, let her cool off a bit. Eventually something would spook her and she'd come running back to find her brother and he could go back to being the overprotective asshole he always was. Reykr sighed heavily as his paws came to a stop, his hackles calming a bit as he came to the conclusion that it was only a matter of time. He would be patient and keep watch from the smoky shadows around his sister, let her think she was on her own for a bit until she realized her mistake.

He was only still for a moment before he realized he wasn't as alone as he thought he'd been. His long ear twitched and he drew in a deep breath, trying to find evidence that supported the undeniable tingling between his shoulderblades that hinted there was someone close by, somewhere. His nose told him nothing, and he cursed under his breath at his carelessness for letting SOMETHING get downwind of him. A snarl tugged at his upper lip as his ruby eyes darted around the landscape, the deep wood dark in shadow and the coming nightfall only making it worse. "Look bud, I know you're out there. Just come the hell out and stop skulking around like a damned coward!!" Reykr could feel his rage bubbling at the thought of being stalked and watched, even if that wasn't truly what was going on. What mattered was that he believed it was.

Shit. He thought to himself as a brashly loud voice shouted through the woods to shatter the former peacefulness. And he'd been SO careful, too. If he deigned to reply to whomever this idiot was, giving away their position and scaring any prey within a 20 mile radius, it was for one thing alone. He was impressed. 

Shisen was way too careful to have given himself away, and with the direction the voice was originating from, there was no way this fellow creature had scented him. Yet the stranger had known he was there. Very impressive. He hadn't been too concerned with this one because he wasn't a wolf...well, not entirely. Any other wolf was cause for concern since he didn't need any tangles with a pack. He preferred to stay out of that business altogether.

His curiosity won out. He stretched out his tired muscles with a yawn and lazily made his way through the shadows towards the sound of the voice. He paused and his ears perked forward as the coywolf came into view between some of the taller pines. The first thing he noticed, other than the mixed white and grey pelt of the young male, was that he was facing away from him. Ah, so he didn't know where Shisen was. Note number one. His fur was also bristled and clearly he had an attitude, probably already having a shitty day. Note number two. Best not to scare this one, though part of him longed to...the sadistic part. 

Instead, he walked from the shadows as if he'd been part of them, detaching quietly from the cover of the trees only feet away from the loudmouth. He flopped audibly to the ground with a pronounced yawn. "Looking for someone? You're loud enough to wake the whole forest yelling like that." He said, twitching an ear in annoyance and giving a side-eyed glance.

Reykr spun as the mysterious watcher finally emerged from the shadows nearby. Impressively, the stranger materialized from them as though he'd been part of them. The coywolf's hackles bristled as a low growl rumbled lowly in his throat. Truth be told, the way the new male moved as though made of darkness unsettled Reykr, and he kept his wary glare on the bigger wolf. Reykr narrowed his eyes at the other male's words, his lips pulling into a smile full of youthful cockyness. The way he readied his stance however, his lithe muscles tensing to spring this way or that at a moment's notice, gave away a hint that he might have the skills to back his attitude up.

"So what if I want to wake the whole forest? Serves the lazy ones right for sleeping the day away. Besides, I at least stopped you from being a weird old creep and doing...whatever the hell you were doing while you were sneaking around." Reykr didn't let the stranger's nonchalant attitude fool him. This male's mannerisms bespoke a subdued intensity to his nature. The black wolf may not appear to be the first to pick a fight, but the coywolf was willing to bet he was nearly always the one to finish one. "So, what exactly were you doing, slinking around out there and watching me? I'm not exactly that interesting, and I'm NOT an easy target."