Heron Lake Plateau that attitude is gonna lose you that toy.

Poe was in no way a guardian. She could certainly hold her own in a fight, but she was more of the resolve-things-with-words type. Her presence on the borders that day actually had little to do with any guarding of them and far more to do with exploring. She'd caught the scent of a fox and followed it here and now was continuing to follow it in a path that seemed to weave back and forth across the invisible borderline that split the Redhawk's claim from the rest of the world.

The Ostrega followed the creature's trail down to the base of the Plateau where she followed it for another twenty minutes before she finally saw the first flash of red in the distance. Poe dropped into a crouch as she pressed forward, keeping her eyes peeled ahead of her. The fox popped in and out of view every few minutes, and eventually, she realized it was because the little thing was actually jumping up into the air and then nose diving straight into the ground. Poe, who had very little prior experience with foxes, found this fascinating, and soon enough had settled into a spot where she was able to fully view its silly antics with a wagging tail and a smile.

She woke that morning feeling properly rested. Bat yawned, stretched and looked around for Tegan. He must've gone off to fetch breakfast or something. She intended to wait for his return, though she started feeling rather fidgety after only a few minutes. For the first time in a while, she felt like she had energy to burn. She could always catch up with her pal later, Bat decided before darting off across the plateau.

Bat didn't get very far before slowing down and maintaining an easygoing pace. She didn't want to overdo it, after all. She meandered rather aimlessly, simply enjoying the familiar sights and smells of home. It did feel a little sparser than she remembered, though Bat didn't think much of it. As long as she had Tegan, she didn't really care who else lived here.

It would be a while before Bat dared going scouting again. It wasn't just her exhaustion that held her back, nor her attachment to the plateau. Bat was a little scared of venturing out and possibly getting hurt again. She would avoid icy rivers for as long as she lived. But there were other dangers, especially in winter, and Bat was now entirely too aware of her own mortality.

The plateau ended abruptly in a sheer cliff. Bat approached it, then slung her belly to the ground so that her forepaws dangled over the ledge. All she expected was a good view of the territories to the east (including the distant treetops of her mother's copse). But there was a bonus feature: her silver eyes tracked an unfamiliar figure darting after a fox immediately below her high-rise perch.

This thing was so silly! Poe stifled a laugh as the fox launched itself up into the air and plopped into the snow with its bum up and wriggling in the air. What on earth was it doing? She wished that she and the creature shared a language so she could go and ask it what the goal here was. But then again, that would probably interrupt its shenanigans, and Poe very much wanted to see how this game ended.

After a few minutes, Poe's spidey sense began to twitch. Someone else was here. Curious, the girl cast her gaze along the landscape, trying to find the someone. It wasn't until she lifted her eyes up towards the ledge of the plateau, however, that she spied that someone. It was a girl - probably a packmate, though the Ostrega had yet to meet this one. She smiled brightly up at her and gave a wag of her tail as a wave hello, but otherwise she didn't move. The fox was pulling its head back out of the snow, giving itself a shake, and looking around again, which to Poe meant the sillyness was about to go for another round.

Excitedly, she looked up at Bat and then gestured with her muzzle at the fox - trying to silently encourage the girl to check this out!

The would-be spy within her recoiled when she was spotted, though Bat remembered a beat later that she hadn't been attempting to hide. She returned the stranger's smile and even lifted one paw in a sort of casual salute. She opened her mouth to holler something when the other wolf directed her attention to the fox. She clapped her mouth shut, not wanting to frighten away the object of the other female's fascination.

From her unique vantage point, Bat observed the fox too. It was bouncing around in the snow, sometimes with its bottom thrust upward and its bottle brush of a tail flicking wildly to and fro. The yearling quirked a brow, gaze wandering back to her lupine comrade as if to say, Da fuq?

Poe kept her eye on the fox, not wanting to miss its next leap, but glanced up every now and then to make sure her packmate was watching too. She stifled a laugh at the look of confusion on the girl's face and responded by gesturing towards the fox again as if to say just keep watching, it'll do something cool, I promise! But the seconds began to tick on and on with the little canine doing nothing more than creep slowly around on the surface of the snow.

Frowning, Poe gave a sigh and stood to make her way back up the Plateau to join her packmate. It was steeper here than where she'd come down, but she managed it alright and was soon enough trotting up to Bat's side to say hello. "Sorry, it was totally being super silly a bit ago. I was hoping he'd keep doing it so you could see," she said, peering down the ledge at where the fox continued to poke around, "Maybe he still will. But anway, I'm Poe. What's your name?"

Only when the other she-wolf climbed up to join her did Bat abruptly remember she couldn't make a sound, thus she couldn't exactly carry on a conversation. The knowledge washed over her like a wave of dirty water, souring her mood. She missed some of the other girl's words, though she at least caught her name, plus the request for her own introduction.

"I can't speak," she mouthed slowly, then tried, "but can you tell what I'm saying? I'm Bat."

The girl didn't respond, though she did move her mouth as though words were supposed to come out. Poe blinked at her, politely confused by what she'd just done. Had she short-circuited? Or did she not even realize she hadn't actually spoken out loud?

In any event, Poe had no skill at lip-reading and hadn't realized she needed to try to in the moment anyway. "I'm sorry?" she said, trying to prompt Bat to try again - hopefully using her voice this time. But she knew now at least to watch her lips, though it likely wouldn't do her much good in the end.

Well, that didn't work... at all. Bat shook her head, then though to lift a paw and tap it against her throat. "I can't talk," she mouthed, aware of the futility of it but really unable to stop herself in her desperate attempt to communicate.

-Ptero?- she tried, with the sinking feeling it was a totally lost cause. She was hardly an expert in the sign language herself anyway.

Poe paid very close attention this time as her packmate tried again to explain. Her eyes widened slightly as recognition miraculously hit her, but just as soon as she figured it out, she was confused again. What had she just done? The little arm wave? She canted her head with interest, but didn't even know how to begin to ask about that.

"You can't talk?" she asked, focusing on the part she had understood (or at least, she thought she had), "Oh gosh, I'm sorry! That's a shame. Must be frustrating. Is it a temporary thing, or has it always been this way?" She paused, as her thoughts caught up again, "Hm... Maybe I ought to stick with yes or no questions. Would that make it easier on you?"

Poe cottoned on from there. Bat couldn't decide whether to nod or shake her head at the question, "You can't talk?" After a second's deliberation, she shook her head and deliberately frowned. Hopefully that would convey her sentiments on the matter.

"Yes," Bat mouthed in response to Poe's comment about leading questions, bobbing her head enthusiastically. Her mercurial eyes shone brightly as she anticipated the next one.

Success! Poe brightened as Bat nodded to her proposal. She liked getting to speak to others and get to know them, so it pleased her to find a way to do so even with someone who was unable to talk back. She was immediately swallowed whole by all the questions she wanted to ask, though it took her a moment to pick just one and then find a way to phrase it properly so Bat would be able to answere.

"Have you always been unable to speak?" Poe asked, deciding to repeat her early question first.

Bat shook her head slowly, hoping the "no" was clear enough. It was easy enough to answer, though there was so much more to the story. She wished she could tell it. It was so frustrating being unable to communicate. She had so much more respect for Towhee these days.

Bat shook her head, leading Poe to believe that this was a recent development. I mean, the girl didn't appear to be even a year old yet, so however long ago it was could be considered "recent". "That must take some real adjusting, I bet," Poe commented, then remembered she was going for yes/no questions, "Was it due to an illness?" She'd heard of that happening before, so it stood to reason.

At least Poe seemed to commiserate. And she was definitely patient. She asked another question and Bat once more wished she could tell the story. Although she appreciated her new acquaintance's patience, she was definitely running out of it.

She shook her head to answer the question, then made an apologetic face and mouthed, "I'm gonna go." She tried to enunciate each word very dramatically in the hopes Poe would understand. Otherwise, she was going to come across like a giant dick if she just, well, left without a word.

Bat shook her head to say no to the question Poe had asked, but before she could form a new one, the girl was mouthing something to her again. Poe watched closely to discern the farewell that was "spoken", and though she felt a brief pang of guilt and disappointment she nodded and gave her a smile.

"Take care," she called as her packmate turned and left. She knew having a conversation the way they'd been trying had to be frustrating, so she didn't blame the girl for wanting to go. She was sad, however, that her friend ended up missing just what Poe had wanted her to see. Not thirty seconds after Bat had disappeared did Poe look back down the ledge and see the fox leap into the snow once more. She frowned, exasperated at it for its poor timing, but eventually had to smile. It was just so silly.