Boartusk Heights Robots need love too

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It had been a few days since Niamh had noticed @Ikkuma's scent, so after letting @Raven know where she was going, she set out to track the female down- as she'd said she would do. If nothing else, she wanted to see if the female had gone off to visit someone else, or if she was injured, or to see if she had actually broken her promise and left after she'd been healed. Either way, Niamh simply wanted to see where Ikkuma had gone- and she sincerely hoped she didn't have to go on yet another wolf hunt. Ikkuma was a tough one- but at least if Niamh did have to track her down and punish her for leaving, she was still tending a healing wound, which would give Niamh the advantage. 

The skies boiled with dark and ominous clouds, and there was a closeness and density to the hot, humid air that brought with it the threat of approaching thunderstorms. Niamh didn't mind- nor was she terribly aware that a thunderstorm could really harm her, as he didn't quite believe lightning would ever deign to strike a wolf, rather than simply striking a tree, or the ground, or something along those lines. She remembered getting yelled at for being in a river as a pup during a thunder storm, which was another rule Niamh didn't really believe in. Then again, it was all a part of Niamh's budding invincibility complex, which had been nurtured the past few months by successes in hunting and fighting. 

She could hear the thunder in the distance, but the headwind had not yet hit her. She followed what she belived to be Ikkuma's scent trail, but the rain from that morning's shower had washed it away, partially. Still, she pressed forward, darkness from the clouds overhead casting shadows across her fine, golden back as she continued to track down her ex-packmate.

the storm rode along his back, heavy purple and moving at an ostensible clip. to the south a mournful wind stirred, hot and oppressing as it tongued along the hinterland at a languished prowl. gloom had settled into the trees, and stilled their whispering -- and a quiet hung overhead fragile and as calamitous as the impending strike of a hammer.

iliksis moved with the storm, noticing little of the terrain save for the lack of food it provided. ahead he caught a golden flash against the already sky-darkened rocks - his ears swept forward and he drifted towards the naiad's form, as if pulled along some unseen current. he made no introduction as he curiously eyed her figure, though as the distance between them dispersed, he stepped with a heavy tread that appeared to earnestly entreat her attention.

It hadn't slipped Niamh's mind that perhaps it wasn't wise to pursue another wolf on her own- especially when Ikkuma knew that Niamh would hunt her down if she'd left. Still, she'd tried to convince herself that more than anything else, she was simply searching- not hunting. That was how she'd defined it to Raven, though with a not so subtle hint that if she found Ikkuma and the female confessed that she was abandoning them, that she would punish the female just as she'd threatened to do the day Ikkuma had joined the pack. They had a reputation to maintain. 

The headwind of the storm ruffled the beige fur along her spine, bringing with it the scent of another wolf trailing along behind her. She eyed the dark male, with his trim, fit build, noting perhaps that he might have had coyote in his heritage somewhere. There was something about the curvature of his spine and the lean, narrow features he sported that hinted at a mixed lineage. As he was obviously not 100% coyote, though, she didn't hold it against him. She bristled as he continued to move toward her, but the prickling of fur along her spine would have been lsot amongst the ruffle of fur that was pushed forward, regardless, by the wind. 

"You lookin' for something?" She asked, tone reasonable. She'd halted in her pursuit and had done a half-turn to face him.

the wolf's gold-crowned head lifted from her rumination, and focused on iliksis with what he believed might have been a passing yet scrutinizing glance. he stopped; the leaves rustled about him, and the storm moved ominously forward.

he had already seen enough of the brass-hued she-wolf to know he liked her type; she seemed woven by some limber handwork, with soft honey eyes that he did not believe for a second were naive. drawn to her leggish physique, iliksis curbed the hunger that grew not in his belly, but elsewhere.

"not looking for anything. you are, though." the answer came with a twinge of bemusement; if he could present himself as disarming, perhaps he could get the better of her and take her down before she had much a chance to contest his advances.

There was something in the way the male looked at her that Niamh didn't quite understand. No one had ever really looked at her like that- nor had she given anyone else that look, either. It made her feel a bit funny inside, to be regarded with such focus and...Something else. Something akin to hunger- but that didn't exactly make sense. It made her cheeks warm to be regarded in such a way, but she certainly didn't have to remind herself that if he was looking at her for the reason she figured he was- it didn't matter. She was taken, and she only had eyes for Colt. 

Still, despite the silky tone of his voice and the fact that he obviously liked the look of her, she was willing, to a certain degree, to allow his company. She nodded, jaw set as she glanced back in the direction she'd been heading in. "Former packmate. She's a deserter; I'm hunting her down." She said, with gruff certainty. Of course, she didn't know that Ikkuma had actually deserted them- for all she knew, the female had simply gone off scouting, or had been injured- but it seemed like a better idea to make herself appear more tough in front of the stranger- especially with the way he was eyeing her.

holy polar bears you are fast at posting

iliksis took that brief moment, in which niamh looked back on her progress, to study her more fully. he considered the soft creaminess of her subdued-brass pelt a rarity; he had not seen such a blonde vision in the wilds, and immediately the man was conspiring ways in which he might feel the soft plush of her golden fur against his cheek and stomach.

he dropped his thin snout and roused the dirt between his paws. "hunting?" he could not hide the sheen of cruel delight to hear such a word. he scraped the earth between his claws and looked at her with newfound interest. "show me her scent."

There was an unmistakeable glint of intrigue in the dark male's eery gaze when she spoke. While there had once been a day when Niamh would have shuddered to think about having to hunt a wolf down, she would deny now that it gave her some satisfaction to see that the male looked as though he appreciated her errand. She nodded, and stood aside, allowing him closer access to the turf where a vague trace of what might have been Ikkuma's scent lingered. However, due to the morning's rain, and the oncoming scent of another rainfall to come, the scent was tired and obscure. 

"Yeh. I don't like deserters." She comfirmed, watching him for reaction to those words. The headwind picked up, and ruffled the fur along the back of her neck again, causing her to scowl slightly. "Though with this storm coming in, it looks like I'm screwed." She said flatly. It would be a fool's errand to continue searching for Ikkuma once the rain started to fall, and she was fairly certain she wouldn't be able to find Ikkuma before then.

for a moment, the fell beast was conflicted: carry on with his plot, and possibly vie for survival with this clearly fit, seasoned warrior -- alternatively, he might be given a free pass in ravaging, so long as he did it besides this revenge-driven nymph. it might be the perfect guise to earn her trust - something the man could use to his favor later if he was so inclined.

he took his time inspecting the scent niamh had stepped back and exposed for him; to a sharp eye, it would have looked if the grim creature was gravely studying every crossed note of this missing person's scent -- yet it was not so, iliksis was carefully biding his time, and weighing his decisions.

after a time, he glanced upwards and his gaze trailed along the heavy stormclouds, which moved in close on dour faces. in fields afar they rested ominous and heavy against the obscured mountain ranges: rain was falling in the distance.

"it is not good." he concluded, turning back to the golden sylph with a frown. "it is easier to track when there is moisture in the air, but the rain will present a problem." he canted his muzzle in the direction the trail meandered, as if suggesting niamh pursue it. "there is time yet, if you are quick."

He moved forward to check the scent and he came to the same conclusion as her, which made her scowl slightly. There was no way she was going to have any luck in hunting Ikkuma down. She growled slightly in agreement when he suggested that she should hurry, and she nodded. "Yeh. Second frickin' time I've been sent out on a manhunt and it's rained both times." She said. It didn't even occur to her that it might be unusual for a wolf to be sent on more than one hunt for another wolf- it was simply a part of her life now, or so she supposed, and she wasn't exactly aware of how the male might see her, after finding out that tidbit of information. 

"I'm gonna book it. Nice to meet you though, uh,?" She said, realizing then that she hadn't exactly been told his name. Not that she'd told him hers, either. She didn't think to invite him along- lest he slow her down, or ask too many questions. She'd rather simply pursue Ikkuma and try to punish the female for abandoning them.

grey formless shapes moved along the arms of the mountains; clouds, their faces down-turned and a heavy steam rising from under them. iliksis traced their travel thoughtfully, masterfully hiding the true object of his attention: niamh.

and so it appeared their meeting would come to an end. the honeywheat female made polite yet pointed conversation, and he could tell from the shift in her body she was preparing to depart well before she spoke of it. "iliksis." he offered, a cant of his muzzle given as if to say well met.

he decided then he would not squander this opportunity -- if and when niamh returned her name and then turned from him, the male would launch upon her -- hoping to use his advantage of surprise and overpower her before she realized his malevolent will.

Iliksis. He gave her a sort of nod, which was returned courteously. "Niamh," She spoke in reply. He didn't seem too bad a guy- sort of similar to her, or so she thought. He hadn't freaked out when she said she was hunting down another wolf, but Niamh- her foresight too clouded by ambition and ego- did not realize that this was likely a sign that her companion was not the most favourable company. Niamh felt there was nothing wrong with going to hunt a wolf down and punish them- and neither did this stranger. To her, it came across as a sort of like-mindedness...Even though she had no way to sense his true motivation and intentions. 

"Peace out," She quipped, then, assuming he would excuse her- as she'd gathered from his curt nod- she turned and with a determined flick of her tail, she began to trot along, following the faint and fading trail left behind her former packmate, though the chances of her finding the female were growing slimmer and slimmer.

the male waited for her name, passive and silent. niamh. a strange name to him, in a tongue that his own had little business uttering. hungering after fine form, he watched as she flicked her lithe tail and turned -- moving along at a quick trot.

he would have followed her then, were it not for the speed in which she departed. it was quick enough that efforts to conceal footfalls would be futile; he would be heard.

he sighed, a tattered ear flicked in the gesture of a wolfish shrug. and then, set after the trail she had left with a lolling, casual stride.