Seaside Moors a weak and repellent man at his worst

the disreputable man woke as they often did: easily and comfortably.
colt scratched his hinds and yawned; he smacked his lips and then rose to itch his back along a sapling. 
today he announced his hunting to no one; he left the isle behind and ranged up toward the coast, stopping in a wide field of salt-lavender as he sniffed the heavy brine of the ocean on the air.
what was across all that water? colt wondered idly, scarlet eyes looking for any signs of life hearabouts.

Heph ranged the coast, allowing herself the pleasure of wandering. Though she had slowly grown more familiar with it each time she returned she discovered new territories, new places and it made her glad to see them and know them at least as well as places could be known.

Her pace was jaunty enough to travel quickly, not wishing to be absent from Moontide for too long, but slow enough to catalogue her surroundings. When she caught sight of a stranger on the horizon she grinned, her tail wagging behind her as she approached. "Hello!" She brought attention to herself before the distance was fully closed.

quite possibly, colt wanted to know. his scarlet eyes frequented the eastern horizon, but he knew only that he had escaped death from that place, over the spine of two ranges. not again. he grunted, thinking of those who had been lost or never returned.
and then his attention was seized by a newcomer, a pretty woman outlined in shades of shadow and milk. against the sky her figure was upthrust and confident. colt grinned and approached, his own sharp hips rakish in the warm morning. "hello to yew too."

His eyes were red, but the intensity of the color did not unsettle her so much as intrigue. Her voice was teasing and light, she almost did not expect an answer though she asked anyways. But curiosity got the better of her and she spoke her question before trapping it along her tongue. "What brings such a handsome fellow to these rocky shores?" While these hills sheltered them from the brunt of the tides it the sparse vegetation made it less lush than the coconuts to the north or the plains to the ease or even the swampland to the south. Her gaze cast both to the horizon but also over him, not weighing so much as taking in the view.

"handsome?" colt made a large show of looking around and behind himself for the lupine adonis insinuated by the woman. he tipped his grin back to her with a roguish air. "yew of'n go around flatterin' strange ugly men?" briggs laughed.
she was fine and strong, smelling of pack and the sea; he found himself lightly inspected. "wanderin', i reckon." colt spat a stream of arcing brown birch-juice into the rocky ground. "huntin'." his eyes took her in as well, openly so.

Heph laughed along, shrugging her shoulders without care. "Only when I come across them." She replied, amused and playful in it. But she quickly moved her attention to his next words. His gaze caught her own frame and she wondered what he saw. Something in the mix of scents surrounding him was familiar, but she had visited many places and was not sure if she could fully place it. Land, less like the sea than Iseul. They were just north of the Two Rivers Isle pack, perhaps from around there?

At the mention of hunting and wandering her tail gave a gentle swish. "What kind of prey in these parts?" They were close enough to the sea that she thought they might come across some birds that enjoyed swooping over the sand, but far enough that she doubted they would find tidepools. However, it was sandy enough she was not sure what kind of small game would be around.

colt briggs would have been dead surprised had he known heph had sussed him out that quick. though lately he hadn't been one to hide things, let alone his title. 
but colt knew nothing, and so only cocked a hip and pretended to survey the landscape. "elk. couple goats, deer. once a big ol' badger," he grinned toward the woman who was his audience.
"rabbits."
"yew interested in comin' along?" colt asked next, sauntering forward another few steps.

Heph grinned, laughing a bit at the insinuation of his motion towards her. Returning it with a sway of her own shoulders she shifted so that she could walk more by his side to cant to the same direction. "Good food and charming company - how could I refuse?" Taking her eyes off of him for a moment she also surveyed the land.

The promise of larger prey was exciting but rabbits might be easier to divy up between them. Realizing she had not introduced herself yet she added, voice bright."My name's Heph by the way, of Moontide." She wondered if he would respond in kind or keep the mystery up.

"colt briggs," the rogue responded, taking a greedy moment to openly survey her eye-catching features. "well, what do yew fancy, miz heph?" 
he left out his own homeland, wondering if he'd see the recognition in her eyes that he'd done so. would she press? demur? colt wanted to see; he enjoyed little games, and his tail swept up proudly as he looked for a rabbit trail.

She nodded at his name, the had a surname, the kind of feature she noticed many wolves she had met since coming to the wilds bore, but nothing else. It was not a very strange thing to not introduce oneself as a part of a pack, especially if one was not to be had, it was not as if Moontide was her natal ground after all. "Goats would split well between us, but I'm ever the opportunist." She considered the prey he had named. Elk even between the two of them they would likely become the hunted rather than the hunters, and rabbits would be well if they could not find more but if she had the benefit of a second set of legs she would rather something that would be more of a challenge.

Curious over what he thought though having been the territory seemingly more recently she added. "Or do you have more sophisticated tastes?" Slightly teasing in her delivery, a departure from pure flattery but playful nonetheless.

opportunist, huh? briggs liked the sound of that, and grinned at her again. "not too picky 'bout what i put in my belly," he drawled, peering over the roll of terrain, before he looked back to heph. "got enough other tastes t'be picky over."
a wink added, and colt rolled his shoulders. "goat then. let's go find one."
they'd travel a while for that, he suspected, more toward the sea and the thin raise of rock marking the end of the wide field.
"how long yew been around these parts?" he asked affably.

Heph grinned back, the motion reaching her eyes causing them to blink in the sunlight as she agreed, tone edging towards conspiratory. "Quality's certainly important too." Not that she considered herself so incredibly picky in that regard either but she did have standards. Nodding her head she moved her head about, beginning to move about the territory as well to see if any trails stood out to her. A few older ones that might be worth following up on, but she kept looking hoping to find something a bit fresher.

At his question she had to think for a moment. In a way it felt like she had been with Moontide forever, it was a homeshe had never anticipated finding, but in reality she knew it was not so long now. "hmm maybe a few months now I think, enough time to start scoping things out. You?" He seemed familiar with this particular stretch of land, but perhaps he was new to coast or knew more places worth checking out.

"not long," colt said in his characteristically vague way. "handful'o weeks. wasn't plannin' on stayin' so long. yew know how it is." or maybe she didn't, the pretty, watchful heph with her easy humour.
"not accustomed to th'sea," briggs admitted. the scent of goat thickened in the air, but he paused to set his gaze on the ocean a minute before they pressed on.
a herd, a small one, but with good-sized individuals. colt began to test each track for signs of injury or sickness.

Heph nodded her head, surprised to find herself agreeing but doing so good naturedly. "A few weeks and then I'm itching to stretch my legs again. But it's nice to have a place to return to I'll admit - vacation from a vacation so to speak." Her lips twitched at her own joke, but the thought did not linger. 

At hs mention that he was not from the sea she found herself in a similar boat. "mm me neither, wonder if any of it'll freeze over for the winter." It was strange, many of the wolves she had met on the coast did not seem native to it - while she found herself attached to her new home she was unsure of what drew so many wolves to unfamiliar shores with strange prey and odd landscapes.

Observing the prints herself she noted a few smaller tracks, lighter that may have indicated youth. It was hard to judge just exactly how big they were, perhaps a bit too old to be easy prey but she noted them all the same. In a tange it was hard for her to distinguish any particular injury.

When they came into view she slowed her approach, not wishing to spook them before she had a chance to assess the small gathering. She spotted the smaller among their number huddling near what she guessed were their mothers and on the outskirts of the herd a goat that may have been holding its leg slightly oddly if it weren't for the distance. "Hmmm think it has a limp?" Gesturing that way the doubt in her voice threaded through - if they got closer or got the herd moving it would become obvious quickly, but she was tempted to go for the easier prey and try to cut the kids from their parents.

"reckon so," briggs agreed, deferring to heph's suggestion. goat-hunting took a mighty lot of speed and heavy muscles, sharp quick teeth and a willingness to be dragged a little ways.
he figured the pair of them had such recklessness in spades, and shot her a roguish look. "yew left, me right?" he grinned at her. "could try an' run them over the side, or cut that'un out the herd."
he was partial to the first thought: less injury, but they'd have to climb down for the bodies, dodging the angry seabirds and the talons of disturbed salt-eagles.

Heph had never attempted hunting on a scale that large - attempting to drive part of the herd over the ledge would allow them a greater kill. Glancing between the two of them she thought that the other canine looked intimidating enough for the ruse to work and the prospect of perhaps a whole pelt to bring back rather than having to split was tantalising, especially with young mouths in the pack. Her head nodded decisively, a grin on her face. "Let's see if we can herd them off the edge." Shifting her shoulders in a small stretch she shuffled to his right ready to go.

heph was careful but he could sense in her the rising energy that marked a hunter. and the fact she had considered the same also intrigued colt. mayhaps over a meal he might try and get to know her better.
or, at least find out about from where she hailed.
he started them at a jog which broke into a trot, then a run. the goats bleated and scattered, but snaps of harsh yellow teeth drove them into a stampede, their original quarry among the number.
"yeehaw! git on, git!" colt shouted into the teeth of the wind.

Heph followed apace and broke out into a run as the herd accelerated. A low bark formed in her throat as she urged the prey on. As they closed in distance she snapped at various among their number indiscriminate to keep them all in a panic. While many of the creatures scattered too far to the sides to bring back to the herd a good number of them continued to run in a group stampeding alongside the two wolves.

She looked towards the cliff, doing her best to both keep up with the stampede and pressure from her own side to prevent the movement of the herd from veering onto a safer course.

heph would make a right fine cowboy, colt decided as he hollered and she herded. an animal cut his way, and briggs gnashed his own teeth and sailed toward their very midst.
a screaming bleat cut its way from one goat to another and then they began to stampede in earnest, over the sharp lip and downward, relying only upon their fleetness to keep from being tripped by another of their own.
colt panted, watching as two males were caught, tangled by their horns as they started a fatal plummet toward the rocky scree below.

Heph saw the approaching cliff and watched out of the corner of her eye as Colt positioned himself in the midst of all of them. The screaming panic made the blood pounding in her ears go hot but she held her flanking position until they were closer to the edge. At the last moment she surged forward, barking and snarling and snapping this time directed towards a female attempted to dart to the side. Tasting only the barest graze of blood she skidded to a halt before she too could go tumbling off the ledge seeing the three bodies laid out on the bottom.

"Hopefully we can get down a bit more safely." Her voice was high and breathless from the chase but undeniably in high spirits. She had never hunted like that before and it had been an exhilarating chase having so many bodies moving in the rush of it all.

heph's teeth flashed. her voice was filled with the wild hunting they had done. colt flashed a yellowed smirk. "we'll go all slow-like, hmm?" his sharp eyes looked for a safer descent, a stone-lined path.
"not made fer cliffs nor mountains," colt declared. "not made fer anywhere in truth, but i been everywhere all the same."
a teasing drawl to cover his own fear.

Heph nodded her head, steady paws slowing and beginning the descent. Though some smaller pieces of rubble and rock gave way beneath her the heart of the slope held beneath her weight. She inched down.

Flashing the other wolf a grin she laughed. "Isn't saying you're made for any one place just a roundabout way of saying you're made for everywhere? Quite a tall order." Though her words were light her attention was fixed on the path down.

heph was growing on him, and colt in his weakness allowed for a pretty mental image of them continuing to do this for a bit, hunt up the coast. and more. but he dispelled it by the scent on her coat. she was a pack wolf and he was only beholden to himself.
"reckon i kin be whatever's needed. wanted." scree threatened to dump colt down a slope; he steadied himself. smears of blood told where the goats had been wounded, at least one of them. "jack of all trades'n such."

The last stretch of slope was slick with blood and the hair of the mountain goats, steeper than the rest and Heph hesitated at the edge of the change in slope. Juding the distance she gathered her haunches behind her and jumped, landing with a thud that had her stumbling forward a few steps, but ending up near the carcasses. Briefly, her gaze went towards the coast.

The jump punched a breathy chuckle from her lungs. "Wherever they'll be wanting something from you are you from them?" She surveyed the three bodies, one of the males breathed shallowly and she seized the jugular, weak token struggles before it too stilled.

colt snicked. "yew get it." but he was silent, contemplative as they reached the bodies and heph ended the last of them. "let's find a better way back up," he grunted, eyeing the cliff behind them, and then he started to butcher the second.
"reckon two of em'll be enough t'keep yer people?" he asked over an increasingly more bloodstained shoulder. "i only need the one."