Verdigris Ravine burning low.

Valiria rose with the sun, which shone in her eyes through the ridges that rose overhead. She winced away from them at first, but slowly relaxed into the warmth as it coaxed her awake. She emerged from her den amongst the red rocks to stride into the ravine, a bold splash of white against a forbidding backdrop of brown, red and gold.

She quenched her thirst at the edge of the river which wound its way through the ravine she’d recently adopted as her home. It reminded her of the land she’d grown up in, which was both comforting and melancholy all at once. Valiria had worked hard to forget, but she wasn’t so unaware of her self that she didn’t recognize the small part of her that quite obviously failed at this.

With a shake of her smoky coat, Liri set off along the banks of the river. Her stomach was beginning to ache with hunger, but while this place may be the perfect spot for a lone wolf to hide away from the world, she knew it was not ideal for hunting.

The numbers of The Tribe were but four. The scents of their prior numbers having been covered by the shifting of the sands of time. The coyotes had not left, yet not enough of them to mark the land properly. Now, they had an intruder among their midst, which K'oa had followed the scent of carefully. Ahead, she could be easily spotted near the river with her pale coat around their red rock home. 

Her bark is sharp, a warning call to @Candle and @Zoug and then she draws nearer in a trot, yet cautiously keeping her distance. This one has come to settle in Tribe people's home. Have you come for trade? Perhaps so, as was just fine, but this was coyote home- not for wolves to take over, as they had many other lands around them.

Liri moved swiftly along the riverside, but paused when she heard the coyote's call. She frowned as she looked around until her gaze landed on the stranger. Her ears swiveled forward to listen, noting the strange vocal pattern as almost alien, though she understood each of the words. She didn't know what Tribe people were, but was wise enough to assume it was likely this coyote's clan.

Valiria Redsand was not so prideful as to not notice the scent markings of those she deemed to be beneath her, as she did her canine cousins, but she didn't particularly pay them much mind since they were lesser in her mind. It would've been like respecting the boundaries of a raccoon—utter nonsense.

"No," Liri said, her manner just as short and to the point as it always had been. Deciding there was nothing more that needed discussing, the white wolf made to continue on her way.

The pale woman's response was but a single word. Short with Ko'a, snappy and turned away as though the woman was no more then the red sand caked to her paws. Yet the sands of the desert were to be respected, as was Ko'a. 

The woman pursues, dancing around to the front of the woman again, with quick and springy movements. Now, her head is low to align with her spine. Her legs are splayed out evenly over the sand. You are rude woman. Rude does not belong here- especially rude wolf. She snorts, the lack of cordial meeting being thrown back. Leave. 

She was yet another. Yet another of many wolves who felt it right in them to think less of other canine. Ko'a had endured judgement all her life. As a half-breed, she met scorn from both wolf and coyote. Ko'a had tougher skin now.

Valiria hadn’t gotten too much further before the coyote jumped into her path again, naming her rude and insisting she did not belong. Not a single emotion flashed across Liri’s ever stoic face, though inwardly she did wonder what had been rude about giving an honest answer to the question she was asked. She didn’t care enough to pursue it, though. She was hungry.

”And you are an annoying insect,” Liri replied, her tail swishing. She sensed this might turn to violence, but that didn’t particularly bother her either. Other than the time and energy she would have to waste squashing this ant. ”You do realize I cannot leave if you keep buzzing about in my path, yes?” she questioned calmly, ”Do your actions seem somehow sensible to you?”

She was honestly a little curious.

Her expression is flat, uncaring. Ko'a was not someone for the woman to rile herself over, for Ko'a was nothing in her eyes- less then, even! Be it as it may, Ko'a did not care if the wolf thought nothing of her, but what she did care for was to protect Tribe land and the precious sources of water and food it held. If she did not bring trade, she would not loiter here.

Fine then, this one will watch you go. She hops back, but she stays near, lingering, waiting, for her to take herself far off. Ko'a would follow her to their borders all the while. If this woman was looking for something to eat here or to rest in the shade under their red arches, it would not be without a fight for it.

Valiria watched the stranger as she finally moved out of the way. It had ignored her question, but that wasn't surprising—it had been close enough to rhetorical.

"Sounds like a brilliant way to spend your day," Valiria replied as she sidestepped the coyote and continued on her way. It was no bother to her if the creature wanted to waste its time following her around, just so long as it didn't interrupt her hunt any further.

Ko'a did not speak again to the stranger, not whilst she had no reason to. She would only remain lingering, watching carefully. Perhaps soon she might figure her time here more problems then it was worth, for no hunt would happen here without Ko'a ruining it.

Fortunately for them both, Valiria found no scent worth pursuing until she was out of sight of the ravine. And once gone from its sight, the sudden reappearance of her brother was enough to distract her from returning. Liri didn't need the drama—there would be enough in her future without starting a war with a handful of coyotes.