Mudminnow River Made plans with me and all your friends, I'm late again, I hate to keep you waiting

When the sun was just beginning to set fire to the sky, a rawboned golden wolf arrived from the east. Her ribs cut lines plainly through her dull coat and her hip bones were sharp angles set above a limp and threadbare tail. She moved on thin, bony legs down a hill toward a winking river with slick jaws. Turquoise eyes, brilliant in hue but not in expression, were fixed on the water.

Wisteria Frostfur had disappeared mysteriously when she was almost 6 months old and hadn't been seen since. Not by any Teekon natives, anyway. She could no longer remember exactly how it happened. Hunger had long since chased her sensibilities away from her and she knew only that she got lost one day, couldn't find her way back, and spent most of the winter on her own.

Spring brought better fortune, or at least that's what she told herself every day as she forced herself to walk until she collapsed. That distance was less and less every day. She jogged to the river and dunked her snout down, drinking deeply until the chill of it set into her bones. Then she rose and began to prowl tiredly along the bank, hungry eyes combing for an unsuspecting fish.

here, let me just steal all of yo threads

he was falling woefully short of the duty kavik had placed on his shoulders, and he knew it. he'd had few trips out to do ambassador work, and of those scant journeys, none had been successful. there was barely a soul out here, most days. it seemed even more barren than midwinter. . .what was up with that?

so aditya was, naturally, overjoyed to see a lupine figure in the distance, strolling along the riverbank. a golden-hued female with a dorsal stripe that instantly set her apart from the other gilded folk he'd seen. he was loath to call out and break her concentration, but he also didn't want to startle her into the water. a classic conundrum he had on his paws.

he gave a low, soft bark, tail flagging in friendly manner behind him as he trotted closer. his body language was calm and easy as he drew to a halt, hawkish gaze inquisitively taking her in. how's the fishing? he asked, smiling.

She ought to have noticed Aditya sooner, but Wisteria kept her eyes trained on the water and her other senses buzzed with fatigue. Her ears didn't so much as turn at the sound of his approach. Despite his scent on the breeze, she paid no mind to her nose. She remained unaware of him until he barked, sending her flinching toward the treeline as though the bank had scorched her paws.

Her turquoise eyes narrowed to slits as she raked them over Aditya's agouti brown pelt. It took her seconds to analyze him. Pack wolf. Strong. She was all leering mistrust and bristling defense as she asked, voice hoarse and rasping, what d'you want? Plump, comfy pack wolves never approached starving loners without wanting something. Most of them, in her experience, were entitled pricks too high and mighty for the likes of scavenging vagabonds.

well, the interaction was off to a great start. she was right to be wary, though; she was young and alone and he clearly had the scent of pack on him. for all she knew, this was an elaborate ruse to lure her away, into danger. aditya was well aware of the perils of being on the road by oneself.

just making conversation, adi responded lightly, shrugging. i'm bad with the fishing myself; wanted to see if anyone around here was any better. is it going well for you?

he mostly expected her to snap at him again, which was fine. should that happen, he'd extend an invitation to come feed herself in an actual group of wolves rather than try and make it out here. and he expected that to go unanswered, too. . .but he had to try, at least. not just for his sake, but for hers.

Poor Aditya. It wasn't that Wisteria was normally a hostile creature—on the contrary, she had once been a downright milquetoast. Solitude and hunger did a number on any wolf, and the last canine faces she saw were unfriendly ones. There was a warmth to Adi that could draw a soul in, but hers was firmly shut behind the miserable iron bars of survival instincts. Conversation couldn't fill her belly.

No, she said simply. It may have been the truth or may have been a lie. Her eyes didn't betray either way as they scanned over Aditya, looking for some indication that the other wolf was playing games with her. They liked to do that, pack wolves. The last few had been overly bold. Perhaps Aditya was overly bold too. Perhaps he would take his chances. Perhaps he would find that fighting for survival was something Wisteria was very good at despite appearances.

Find your own fishing place, she implored him with an edge of anxious aggression biting the tail end of her words.

it seemed less an honest answer and more a way to get him away from her—and that was made clear by the statement that followed. he let his displeasure show only through a stiffening of his shoulders, and then he shrugged once more, less friendly than the previous expression, but still not hostile. naturally, he was getting nowhere.

sure, adi responded, nodding. he began to back away, eyes darting to his peripherals to make sure he wasn't about to snap his ankle in a gopher hole. but, ah, if you want a place for a decent meal, he continued, pausing his steps, there's a pack near a swift-flowing creek, not far from here. they'll take you in as long as you pull your weight. think about it.

offer thus given, he gave her a polite dip of his muzzle. best of luck with the fishing, he murmured, and then he departed, unless she were to stop him. aditya had learned throughout his life that some battles just weren't worth fighting, particularly when they had the ability to spoil an already sour attitude.

At last he got the hint and began to back away. Wisteria swished her tail as she watched him go, judging everything from the sleek shift of his pelt over his muscles to the way he assumed she wanted anything to do with his pack. It was a fair assessment on his part. She was a starving loner at a stream trying to scrounge up a meal; what else was he to think? But he was wrong.

She may have been reduced to a hungry animal whose primary pursuit at any given time was food, but she remembered the faces of her mother and father. She remembered the hollow they lived in. She would join no pack but the one where her family resided... unless, of course, they proved to be the same careless, arrogant pack wolves as all the rest and chased her away too. She turned back to the water with a quiet snort and a loud growl of her belly, not even pausing to think that she might have had more luck catching fish with Aditya's help.