Fox's Glade Touch my soul with yours

Days passed as she traveled far from where she had originally entered Teekon, being new here was amazing. All the sights, sounds and smells it was all wonderful. It seemed though that many didn’t know what she was, it didn’t hurt her feelings, too much, but others looked at her weird like she didn’t belong. Elixir wondered if she’d ever find a place she could feel at home, in place with others. 

She came upon what looked like a valley that had flowers and a small stream, it was beautiful. She slowed herself to a walk and let her head fall to sniff a small wildflower. Mmm, her muscles relaxed a bit as she kept walking down to the stream. I’m the distance she could see a fox jumping through the grass, probably after some prey. Once at the stream she rolled out her tongue to pierce the top of the water, rolling back into her mouth. The water was cold and refreshing after the trek here. After just a few small sips the water stopped rippling and she seen her reflection, why am I so different?, was all that could go through her mind.

just let me know if this isn't AW!

she burst through the underbrush after the fire-furred hunter, muzzle twisted into a snarl as she made up ground that had been lost after her delayed lunge. she normally left fellow hunter be, but with the current state of the pack, she no longer made exclusions from their dinner plate. 

fangs latched onto a hind leg and the fox whipped around. she already knew her mistake, and was not surprised when desperate fangs latched beneath her eye. the whipped the small body up, back, and her hunt ended messily as finally the creature's grip was broken and hers made. fangs tore at the creature's lifeblood, and it so did it die. 

she glanced up from her kill and made direct eye contact with - whatever that was. it surely had seen that messy hunt, but her she was more interested in what, exactly, drank from the stream before her than her own shame.

its AW! Sorry for the late reply!

Elixir watched as a wolf emerged from the brush just across from her, she watched as it chased a fox. Her ears perked up as she watched the hunt. At first it looked like the wolf might be the one who had the upper hand but before Elixir knew it the wolf had grabbed the fox wrong and then it whipped around. Her face squinted a bit at the seen of the fox’s pearly whites puncturing the skin of the unknown wolf. 

Elixir kept watching through her squinted eyes, and the stranger had finally killed it. It was a sight, it was bleeding from below its eye. She felt as though she needed to help the stranger but that would mean she would have to introduce herself, something she hated doing. Not many knew what a dog was and that’s what she was half of, a dog.

Before she could take a deep breath and calm herself she caught the glance of the wolf. She could tell that the wolf had no idea what she was looking at, and that’s what she was afraid of. Taking that deep breath she had thought about Elixir made her way over to the wolf that had gave her a show with her drink. “I’m not harmful” she said in case the wolf would be protective over it’s kill, or just because she was different. A few feet away she stopped, alert in case she had to run.

"you don't look it" the thing was interested in her, or the kill, and made it's way closer. Dawn watched impassively, fox dropping at her feet to rest below a paw, a subtle sign of her claim on it. the dog - that's what it was, she realized with a start, like the thing Murdock had had, but different - looked at least part wolf; but she didn't particularly care about a canid's ancestry.

I'm Dawn. pausing once, surveying, before continuing. "do you have a name, wolf-dog?" she included the latter only as a means of confirming her thoughts, knowing that if it was met with confusion or anger she was, very likely, wrong in her assumption.

Elixir nodded as she watched Dawn drop the fox at her feet. She stepped one step closer and then sat on her rump. Her tail flicked as she listened to the stranger, well she’s not one now,Since she introduced herself. Elixir took a little breath before she introduced herself, it was of relief, this wolf seemed to know what she was and didn’t seem to mind too much. 

She smiled led a bit before she spoke, “I’m Elixir. I saw what happened, are you okay?” It was probably a stupid question as she saw where the fox had made its mark on her face. Though she didn’t know how this wolf got here, she wanted to know more about her. Where did she come from?

in response to the question, her gaze rolled downward a moment, as if she could see the damage beneath her eye. "fine," she answered, noncommitally. blood swelled and trickled through sterling fur, slowly, yet she worried little for the wound; likely less than she should.

"are you? it's been a long time since I've seen a dog out here." she'd gotten the gist that the collie was from far away; a completely alien world she put little energy into trying to understand.

Elixir nodded at her response. If she was okay than the wolf-dog wouldn’t worry about it. Her tail flicked as she watched the blood trickle down. She looked away for a moment before returning her eyes to Dawn. She asked the question that Elixir dreaded, of course that was her bloodline but it made her different. She only wished to be as big and to fit in like full blooded wolves. 

“Yes I am. Partly anyway. You’ve seen others like me?” Her voice was excited at the end, at least this wolf had met others like her. She calmed herself and then looked up at Dawn again waiting her reply.

the wolf-dog seemed excited at the mention of another of it's kind, and Dawn wondered what took dominance in the girl's bloodline. the dog was more apparent, it seemed, but did that mean it was a pet, as Poppy was? that brought up the whole question of if the dog had been her uncle's pet or companion or something entirely different, but it hardly mattered now that he was dead. she hadn't thought much of the dog, she realized, and part of her was sharply curious.

"a long time ago. the end of winter. I haven't heard news of her since then. she'd seemed so small and ill-prepared for life in Teekon, she wasn't particularly confident in whatever her outcome had been.

Elixir listened to the wolf, she had met another of her kind. It was exciting for her but she didn’t know where the other was. That was fine though, she was content with just knowing another of her was out there.. somewhere. She felt a warm smile come across her lips and then waited to speak.

”That’s amazing, I haven’t met another of my kind yet.” She said her voice was full of disappointment but she knew in her heart one day she’d find another. “So who are you, a hunter?” She asked curious about who stood in front of her because all she knew right now was the strangers name.

the wolf-dog would be infinitely disappointed to learn, then, the the dog had starved for three months before dying in childhood, a bloody and ugly end. but the huntress, of course, knew little about Poppy, cared too little to venture out in search of the truth, not now, when a hundred more pressing concerns pressed against her spine. 

"yes, partly" she began, pausing before continuing. "Dawn; one of the leaders of Morningside. and you?" she wondered if dogs were any much good at hunting, or if something about their odd-shaped body and tail and ears got in the way.

Thoughts waved through her mind, She kept them to herself for now though. She let out a bit of a breath and relaxed. “It seems like you’re tough enough to be a leader, to me anyway for what I’ve seen in the past couple minutes.” She wondered if that made any sense, sometimes her mouth open and whatever comes out just comes out without her thinking about it. This makes her words sometimes jumbled.

 Elixir thought about who exactly she was, she hadn’t yet found herself to feel at home here in the wild. She wondered if it could be because of where she had grown up. After furrowing her brow for a minute and letting her eyes focus on anything but the wolf who stood in front of her, she spoke, “I am Elixir, I’m new to the wild and I’m not sure what exactly I am yet, a loner I guess. I haven’t been able to explore my talents if I have any.”. Elixir was shifting her weight as she looked at Dawn again.

she let the first comment slide without much input of her own; she was more interested in the conundrum of the wolf-dog than the prey (though by a very narrow margin). she was also disinterested in the dog's self-deflating comments; had she been a packmate, she might have spoken out, but as such the girl was not the therapist her father had been. 

"where were you, before?" she pressed, curious gaze settling on the dog even as the other's drifted away from her.

Elixir looked around uncomfortably for a moment as Dawn asked her where she was before the wilds. It was such a touchy subject for her, and she wasn’t sure if she could share it with just anyone. So far the one she had shared it with didn’t even know what a human was, so maybe humans aren’t out here or maybe it could get her in trouble either way. A small sigh escaped her before she could catch it.

Minutes after the question she was going to speak. “I’m not sure I can trust you with that information, it seems wolves out here don’t know much about things that are in my past. That might get me in trouble.” Her confidence faded throughout what she said, her head fell to look at the ground the last sentence. Her eyes only shot up once she was done to see Dawns reaction.

---

the woman went from self-deprecating to close-lipped, two traits that irked the sterling huntress especially. she was silent for a long time before speaking - somehow, Dawn couldn't exactly believe what the woman claimed to be a secretive and lucrative past. she shrugged, as if to say suit yourself, shifting her weight as she did so.  "the other dog came from a place with no trees and no mountains, somewhere flat." perhaps that was were dogs came from, yet she found attempting to pry information out of the woman to be a chore she didn't quite have the heart for.

pausing once, she surveyed the woman. she ought to recruit, she knew, yet the woman's disbelief that she had any notable talents had her bite her tongue. she'd rather a hole in their ranks than a deadweight. "I should bring this back. it was nice meeting you, Elixir." she offered a grin, quick and cursory, before dipping to pull the prey between her jaws, lingering for only a moment longer before moving past the woman and to the north.