Hushed Willows Comedy

Her wanders in bad weather had again brought her to trees. This time, the droopy willows had provided a particularly Fantasia-esque setting for her to rest under. Speaking of, she was lounging. After the brief bit of entertainment that came from the tyrant queen, things had calmed down and now she was pretty bored. Sigh.  There were only so many days that she could go without finding someone to talk to -- though now that she had recognized this area of the world, she hadn't exactly had much luck having good conversations the first time around. Yes, she'd finally recognized the Teekons, though she had previously been on the opposite side of these mountains.  She'd get there eventually, but not today. Today was a day of rest since her work was done.

Next to her was the almost entirely devoured corpse of a hare -- most of what was left was just bones, but for now Skydance had decided to rest, digest, and maybe she'd go back to the bones while waiting for the next inevitable break in the storm. For now she was licking the last bit of pink from her paws and muzzle, watching the world go by around her.

Yami snarled as she darted through the trees. She had long ago lost track of the coyote that had snatched her meal out from beneath her nose, but her irritation and desire for vengeance kept her going. The storm had done a good job of covering the thieving bastard's scent, but Yami swore she could still see its tracks. In all actuality, she couldn't--it was all in her head. With any luck, she'd eventually realize that and let it go. The day old, half-eaten ground hog carcass was really not worth all of this fuss.

When she came across the other wolf, Yami paused and looked sharply at her. The stranger looked relaxed and comfortable whereas Yami looked exhausted, harassed, and like she wanted to burn the woods to the ground. "Hey! You seen a coyote around here?" she called with a growl in her throat.

What was with this place? Aside from a bunch of nothing, people seemed pretty grumpy here. The young woman had stormed on over and it earned a tilted head from Skydance. Seemed like people around here were wound far too tightly. It was rather disappointing. Maybe she could go a bit further through these familiar lands, but if it was going to continue to be unpromising, there was no point delaying much longer.

Perhaps had the other wolf halted a bit closer (or the weather been more to Skydance's advantage) perhaps she would have realized a familiar scent had followed along. Given the fact she likely would have jumped to conclusions, it was probably for the better that she was unaware. Skydance kept her relaxed pose, Not recently. You and the hare have been the only things I've seen in the last hour. Was there one in particular you were looking for that offended you? Maybe she just hated coyotes as a whole, who knew. Skydance was more of a live-and-let-live sort at least on her own. If they stayed out of her business, she'd stay out of theirs.

Whatserface didn't have anything helpful to say. Yami rolled her eyes and growled, glaring off into the trees. It didn't appear as though vengeance was meant to be hers. Not this day anyway. She suddenly felt all of the exhaustion she'd been ignoring weighing her down. She looked back at the stranger, letting defeat have its way.

"Yeah, some fucker stole my kill," Yami explained, "I was really hoping to murder the living hell out of it, but I give up. I can't find it in this weather." Which was too bad as it would've meant she'd managed to catch two meals. She wasn't above eating a coyote. They weren't wolves, regardless of how similar they might look.

Was it just frustration speaking at the moment? You know what, Skydance would see how it went. What remained of her kill was probably more of a snack than a meal at this point, but that didn't mean she was about hand it out on a whim. As amiable as she could be, she didn't just reward just anyone who had a tough time and happened to wander by.

There are a few well-populated warrens scattered about this forest if you're looking to try again. Though I'd skip the nearest one -- I think I've rather traumatized them for now. Certainly rabbits just moved on quick, everything enjoyed eating them. Though, how far were you chasing the thief? Would be awful if it is still lurking about.  Oh how did the land lay again? Had she come more from the depths or just passing on by? This was an ongoing problem with being a non-permanent resident, once things were out of sight the details didn't really matter. She took a moment and looked around from where she lay, but the drooping leaves didn't help.

The stranger, whoever she was, attempted to be helpful. Yami appreciated it, though it wasn't necessary. She didn't have any intention of trying to hunt now. She was too tired from chasing the coyote and likely too frustrated to have much success if she even did try. She would keep the information tucked away in her mind for later use, though. The woods wasn't too far away from the Peak, so might be worth revisiting if the pack had a need.

"Thanks for the tip," she said with a smile. "I've been chasing after it for a while. I lost the trail a while ago, if I'm being honest. I'm sure it's long gone; I just don't like to quit." Yami smirked a little at this. It wasn't entirely true--she quit plenty often when it suited her. But we'll let her be delusional if it makes her feel better.

"I'm Yami," she said after a beat.

Oh, good, it did seem like perhaps there was a spark of something brighter beneath the surface in this one. Honestly, if they kept being all angry, she was going to have that much more of a reason to continue on home. So, progress.  Well if you're far enough off his path, then may that bring with it a change of luck -- might be about due, in fact. Call me Skydance. It was silly, but after so long away from home she was almost missing the long introductions of the pack of her birth. Here, everyone had such short names and titles!

She still hadn't smelled the scent that Yami probably carried, either by distance or weather -- then again, it would be unlikely she would have acted any differently if she knew Yami was the minion of the little wannabe-Queen. I suppose we're a little far from some of the packs I've gone by.. Are you on your own? A slight tilt of her head at that.

The stranger took the hint and introduced herself as Skydance. Yami paused for a moment to admire the name--it was pretty and appealingly basic. She thought her own name to be stupid. It just sounded dumb. Yami. Her twin had gotten the better end of the deal, though Yama really wasn't that much of an improvement. Yama...

The young wolf gave herself a quick shake to bring her back to the present before she started falling down that particular rabbit hole, disguising it as an attempt to expel some of the snow that had been collecting on her shoulders. "Only at the moment," Yami answered, "My friend and I are forming a pack to the East. I just came out to do some hunting. What about you?"

Now she did wonder. Was this girl a follower of the other one? Skydance didn't know why anyone would be chasing along after that little queen, but maybe there was some sort of intriguing thing she was totally missing. Not that she'd been able to get a good sense of her beyond the two obviously weren't going to agree on things.

But some vague guess wasn't any excuse to be anything other than friendly, especially when it was just about a third party, Ah -- well hopefully that all goes well for you both then. I'm trying to figure out if somewhere in this whole area would be a good place stick around or if I'd just be better off keeping on towards home. I came through here sometime last year, can't say I found it particularly impressive. She shrugged, Have to say, I may just be a bit of an odd duck, can't just go inflicting that on everyone. But oh, she did not seem to be particularly sad about that, more like a cat that ate the canary.

Yami listened to see if there was any interest in the other wolf's tone that might suggest she was a potential recruit, but as she spoke, Yami didn't hear it. She let the slight disappoint she felt at this slide off her shoulders. She knew it was important that they find packmates, but Yami simply didn't care much about that. All she wanted was Kiwi. Kiwi was the only one that had ever shown her that it was safe to have faith in someone. And she'd only shown Yami that it was safe to have faith in her, not these random strangers.

"Thanks. I think it will," Yami replied with a confident smile before she stood and gave her coat a shake, "Well, best of luck to you on your adventures. I'm gonna see if I can find that coyote's trail again. I know it's pointless but, eh. Worth a shot." With that, she nodded and headed back off into the storm.