Wapun Meadow all the sea captains

for @Nunataq ;; other tags for reference.

She refused to give up. She had intended to keep her word and keep looking. Nebula had stayed in the area, retraced the steps she had made with @Indra. Her nose scoured every nook she could find. Yet she came up empty. Again and again. It was disheartening but she kept looking.

Granted she needed her own breaks too. Nebula knew she would be useless if she wore herself down to nothing. She hummed a soft tune as she laid down in the open meadow. Her eyes closing as she breathed in the scents around her.

It was a relaxing moment to be enjoyed despite the disappointment she felt with herself.

Thank you for starting.

By now Nunataq had quite forgotten, why was she in the habit of returning to the Wapun Meadow again and again. She hadn't had any luck for a long time and soon her busy mind sought other things to do. Like hunting practices. Now that she had been taught the basics, she was very eager to employ them, whenever it was possible.

However, today her usual hunting place had prepared a surprise. Instead of mice and rabbits the girl spotted a piebaldish creature lying in the yellowing grass. Her heart skipped a beat and she wasted no time - she ran full speed towards the lying wolf and pounced at it in joy. A second later she would realize her mistake.

Suddenly something was on her. Everything had been bliss one moment and the next the sky was quite literally falling on her. Except it wasn't the sky. A glance over her shoulder told her it was a swarthy little thing.

A child.

Just not the one she had been looking for. A soft sigh escaped her and a light chuckle soon followed. He smelled the same as the autumn female. Which was no surprise mentioning she had stuck close to their lands after offering her help. You're quite the hunter.

Though similar from afar, one look at the older wolf and it was clear to Nuna that she was not Lucas. Disappointment and confusion were emotions the young girl hated the most, because they made her feel uncertain and doubt things. She back-pedalled away from the she-wolf, without making another eye-contact and plopped down on her bum few yards away.

Well, wasn't this stupid?

The other spoke, Nuna looked up absent-mindedly and said nothing. She had still not got over the awkwardness of their first encounter.

A soft frown broke her features as the other moved away. Nebula quickly shifted upwards into a sitting position. Hey...it's okay I really don't mind. It was not the first time it had happened. Not even the first time for this specific pack.

Suddenly she felt bad. Like really bad. Was she giving them all false hope by hanging out in the area? How many more of those Bearclaw wolves would mistake her for the missing Lucas? She awkwardly looked down at the ground. If it makes you feel any better...one of your packmates - Mother? Older sister? did the same thing. I'm helping them out actually.

Poor Nebula - either she would have to seek a different location to hang around, because there was still a handful of Bearclaw wolves, who would mistake her for missing Lucas, or she would have to end up and join the group. And become a substitute. Joking, of course.

The fact that the piebald female radiated vibe of guilty conscience (or a general - I feel bad), mad Nunataq feel a teeny tiny bit better. She listened carefully to, what the other had to say, with a wistful expression and eyes alight with curiousity, flawlessly hiding the fact that she had not the slightest idea, what the other was saying. And when she was finished, the mute girl mustered up a small smile and wagged her tail.

The smile and wagging tail made Nebula feel leagues better. At least she hadn't totally messed up, right? What are you doing out here? Adventuring? She asked with a gentle tilt of her head. It seemed...wrong to let the young female adventure when Nebula knew the pack to already be missing another child. Perhaps she could supervise the girl before rounding her back home. She had been informed of the pack's location after all. Even if it was a little vague but enough to get there.

Maybe it was wrong for a young pup like Nuna (she was six months old already, but still) to wander on her own, but it seemed that ever since Lucas had disappeared, the discipline and supervision measures had slacked somehow. Indra was often away scouting, Laurel was brooding and ignoring both her and Marten, and Xan was doing his guardian duties. So - technically - the older children were unintentionally left to their own devices.

Nuna did not mind, even if they had taken measures to restrict her route outside the boundaries of the pack, they would have hard time keeping the strong-willed teenager from doing, what she wanted. One way or another she would still do as she pleased. But the girl had no idea, what thoughts were riddling Nebula's mind - all that mattered was that she was acting in a friendly manner. Therefore in response to her question, Nuna stretched in a leisurely cat-like manner, shook her coat (and thus forgot all about her earlier moment awkwardness) and lifted her muzzle to sniff the air. Perhaps, something tasty was coming their way.

She followed the child's lead, sniffing at the air. Nothing got her attention. There was nothing particularly knew. Then again perhaps everything had just blurred together for Nebula. She had been sniffing the same trails over and over for a few days now. It would be nice to have a new nose to help her sniff about.

Oh. Had this been how the autumn toned wolf felt?

Anything good? She asked with a small smile, glancing over to the masked child.

Nunataq wagged her tail a bit, but said nothing, still focusing on the stream of scents that a gust of wind was bringing her way. And quite suddenly after many non-specific and blank smell molecules, something did "hit" her nostrils. Her ears went up and she turned her head here and there to pick the scattered particles up in order to get the right visual association together.

She side-glanced to the piebald she-wolf and then with the nose held high, she began to carefully follow the scent trail in the air.

You can decide, what is the animal or thing Nuna has caught scent of.

Oh, she finally caught it. The scent of rabbits (plural? How exciting!) filled her nostrils and made a small rumble in her stomach.

Food, right. She did need that. Nebula had to guess she had forgotten all about that right next to sleep. Searching for a lost child was not easy and she had only just begun. Sigh. She would save those negative thoughts for another time.

Nebula followed after the child easily. The grasses rustling up ahead was sure to be hiding the fluffy-tailed creatures. She doubted there would be an overly abundant number of them but perhaps there would at least be one for each of them. If they were real lucky, there would be one to deliver to the Bearclaw wolves too.

The scent of rabbits was a tricky thing, because with them being prey animals, they did not have the luxury of having a complex and well-defining odour. And yet, if you were careful and had had your share of rabbits for lunch, as well as been able to play with the remnants of their pelts as a kid, you could decode it among others that were oh, so keen to intrude and take over.

The piebald she-wolf seemed to have got the vibe as well, and the fact that she as an adult was following the younger counterpart's lead, filled the girl with amount of cheerful self-importance. Therefore she put extra effort to prove that she was just as good as the other. Once they came closser to the rabbits the rustling sound they had made in the grass ceased and everything went silent. Nuna stopped, began to scan the area for the tell-tale signs of the little creatures and then - with nose to the ground this time - she veered off to one side, sniffing out the footprints they had left.

Nebula didn't say much, staying silent and following along. The child wasn't really a toddler or baby. She trusted the Bearclaw girl to be able to follow the scents.

Look. She halted and motioned with her muzzle towards the part of the meadow that seemed to rustle with life. The piebald female tilted her head, looking at the child with an almost questioning gaze. Well, what do you think? Her eyes silently asked.

Nunataq had chosen the wrong direction to prowl, because the rustling sound came from a different point, once she had moved away. The teenager stopped mid-stride, turned carefully and looked in the direction Nebula had pointed to. She flicked an ear once and twice and having come to no good conclusion, returned the quiet question back to the one, who had asked it.

Follow. She spoke softly with a flick of her tail behind her. Nebula crouched close to the earth, trying to spot exactly where the rabbits were located. With a quick lunge, she pounced on one of the rabbits. Although another two ran off in two different directions. Nebula couldn't blame them and she quickly tried to deal with the squirming rabbit she had trapped.

Only once she had dealt with it would she look to see if the girl was still nearby or if she took off after one of the other rabbits.

Her companion chose action and attacked straight away, causing two rabbits to run off. Nunataq did not see Nebula catching one of them, because she - after a moment of hesiation - took after the fleeing party. However, those precious seconds of waiting cost her the victory in the hunt, by the time she caught up with the little lagomorphs, they had already disappeared underground.

Slightly disappointed, she returned to the piebald she-wolf to see, how she had fared.

Going off-line. Thank you! :)

Her tail waved behind her. Despite the lack of rabbit the child had, Nebula was still glad to see she had given it a go. A soft boof - a non-worded take it - escaped her as she nudged her own catch towards the masked girl. She wanted her to take it home. Not out of pity but so she would have something to remember from this adventure away from home.

Something good.

So, the piebald wolf had had more luck in the hunt than Nunataq had, but the cub - rather than being envious of the other's success - was genuinely curious on, how she had done it. Because, when the flight had begun, she had not seen the third rabbit and now it seemed to her that Nebula had somehow managed to conjure it out of thin air.

But the rabbit was perfectly real and solid, and what was more - the lucky victor forfeited it's rights to the kill and left it for Nuna. Really? Her slightly tilted head and arched eyebrows seemed to ask. Because this was not always the thing - the rules of private property were pretty strict among the wolf-kind.

Nunataq spent the next hour in Nebula's company and after that, feeling happy that she had made a new friend, left for home.

Narrowing down the thread count. Thank you for this thread!