Gyrfalcon's Keep let me share the reasons for your lecture for a change --

@autumn

The Keep was a place Caiaphas had never ventured, and the evening shade doused in crisp winter chills found the sylph-like female winding her way through the intermittent spires. The way was treacherous with thin veils of ice unbroken across the granite slab.

She came across a nest temporarily empty, large in girth with several unique feathers pressed in the patchwork. Delighted with the wonder of her findings she grasped one pinion feather and held it against the pale waft of sunlight, mesmerized by the gossamer shimmer captive in each strand of feather-fluke.

Autumn had ben wandering between the Coast, the Flatlands, and the Wilderness. She was spending more time to go around the Wilds so she could admire the geography, plant life, etc. The keep was well forested with several small creeks. Autumn was climbing the rocky slope. She'd been here before, since it was near Silvertip, where she had grown up. There had been several times when the gyrfalcons would tease tthem, but others when she, Vulpus and Storm had worked to take one down for dinner that night. Now she saw a shadowy figure on the mountain. It was of grey. But as she got closer, she realized it was canine, with a black head. Autumn recognized that odd coloring immediately. She stopped climbing. Her enemy, at least that was how Autumn thought of her, was looking at something. "Hello," She called out, waiting for the reaction.

A gentle greeting truncated the hyperborean air, and slowly Caiaphas placed the delicate feather back between two woven tendrils of oak twig. She pivoted within the nest, small enough as she was that the gryfalcon's nest seemed to swallow her. There was no shift in her sour complexion as she witnessed Autumn -- with a nonplussed flick of her tail, she considered her options.

Her position as it was, was precarious - as much as she wished to chase the little creature, she did not have the appropriate footing to do so. Sullenly she flicked her gaze upwards, wondering if any hellbent birds would wing from above to take the orange creature. "Hello." Caiaphas returned the greeting joyously, awaiting the russet fox's move.

Autumn was very surprised when she received no aggressive reaction whatsoever. So she would have to start the conversation. Great. She knew deep inside somewhere that it would probably end in chaos, but why not take the chance? "How about we just try to get along?" She said. But deep inside she was truly looking for some trouble to stir up, some drama to add to her normal day. "So," she began, "where do you wanna start?"

eheheh autumn is so cute

Caiaphas had no interest in calming the strife between them -- so naturally, she was surprised when the lithe creature offered some sort of amnesty. The pale waif eyed the fox distrustfully -- enunciating her disbelief by allowing a scoff to expel into the chilly air.

She cast her head to the cerulean sky for a moment, wondering where the white-bane feathered birds were. They were large specimens -- large enough that Autumn would make them a fine dinner. Somewhat sinfully, Caiaphas entertained the idea of stalling Autumn until a bird came back to its nest and seized her as its' dinner. "Get along?" She parroted mockingly, her voice adrip with vivacious sarcasm. "That sounds so fantastic -- I have always wanted to be best friends with a member of a different, competing species."

Good, Good, that's what I'm looking for. "Not best friends. And we are going to be racist now, hmm?" She said. "Shame on you, coy-wolf. You don't even have a breed. What right have you to be saying you are even a species? You are just a mutt," She threw that out there. She didn't want just claw and fang fighting, she wanted arguments with words.

The wicked sprite was surprised by Autumn's snark -- with outrage clouding her features her ears flew forward in incredulity, absolutely disbelieving the words she had just heard. Had she been called a mutt? Her upper lip curled back in a silent snarl, with the scathing line of her eyes falling flagrantly on Autumn's own.

"I may be many things, but at least I am not a fox." She rejoined with asperity in her tone. "A hungry gryfalcon couldn't take me for breakfast -- but you?" She leaned back with her neck arched, a trenchant cackle interrupting the air about them. "I'd rather be a bear's droppings than a fox like you."

i've always had terrible comebacks that aren't very good... >_<

"At least I have a name. The name of your species is so unimportant that they just smushed two words together." She paused to listen to the rest. "I've killed plently of gyrfalcons. And I might say the same for you among cougars and bears. Your species is not large enough to have all out strength but too large to be fast and graceful. You can be killed easily," A wicked grin split her muzzle open, showing off small sharp fangs. "You mutt. Bear's droppings have higher standards than you," she said.

idk your comebacks are pretty sharp and have phas BLUBBERING in outrage

Autumn had a point Caiaphas had not been willing to exploit -- as much as she would like to believe she was an apex predator, it simply was not so. The brief interaction with the bear Jackson had painfully reminded the coywolf of that.

Her ridiculously long ears flew back against her skull in huffiness, and with a slow breath drawn out in furor she eyed the little fox vehemently. "I've killed lots of fox.. How many coyotes have you killed?" She had no comeback for Autumn's original retort, and instead had to resort to cowishly changing the ad hominem.

Autumn didn't notice that her enemy had changed the topic, only that she had sent back another phrase. The fact that Caiaphas had killed her brothers and sisters of a sort only hardened her hate for the coy-wolf into iron. It was true that Autumn had never killed a coy-wolf but ah, sometimes lying was for the best. "Three." She lied, her voice not wavering. It was not often that she used this skill but her father had trained her in the ways of deception and cleverness, as she was a fox and that was what foxes do. "Even you have to admit that's impressive for a year and a few months female fox, huh mutt? And I think instead of coyotes you mean coy-wolves." She said, her grin widening just a little.

Caiaphas found it hard to believe Autumn responsible for the death of three of her kinfolk -- even her expression seemed formed with disbelief. But the fox lied so smoothly, and Caiaphas could find no hole in her presentation.

This did not mean she needed to concede that Autumn was better than her -- if anything, it only cemented her insistence at besting the orange-hued critter. "What, with your ugly looks? Not surprised more have dropped dead."

Her lie came across just as she liked, although the comeback was painful. She was actually very pretty for fox standards, and to insult her appearance was deep. She needed to find Caiaphas's weak spot and win this word war without recycling comebacks. Unfortunately she was running out of ideas. She couldn't think of good comebacks for that on the spot. "No, they died slowly. For you they just burned up on the spot. I mean, who knew a coyote and a wolf mixed together could be so hideous?" She cackled, her eyes narrowing to little slits.

Much like Autumn, Caiaphas was running out of arsenal. But she dared not show it -- not to this tiny, little thing. Her black gum curled back in a gruesome sneer as she regarded the orange painted vulpine, her expression equally ugly as Autumn implied.

"If I wanted my comeback, I would tell your mother to wipe her chin." Caiaphas hadn't meant to be so vulgar -- but it was the last of a lengthy supply of bitter retorts she had, and if she could best this little imp, maybe Autumn would go away forever.

finish up soon? Also feel free to control gyrfalcon movements!

Honestly, whatever insult Caiaphas had thrown next would of been the last straw. Autumn was about to do something reckless when a loud kaw split the air. Her eyes soared up to a gyrfalcon slowly and ominously circling overhead. At first Autumn thought it was just going after her, but she remembered that the coy-wolf was standing in a gyrfalcon nest. Its sharp amber eyes studied both of them as it strategized ways to take them both down.

thanks for the thread! i always love threading with you

There was no time for hateful banter, for Caiaphas too felt the ominous shadow sweep over them. She cringed, withering against the coarse veil of the nest -- her fearful eyes skybent as the silhouette passed them both by.

Caiaphas was not about to risk her life being caught in another creature's roost -- and upon seeing that it was intent on eating one of them, she did the only thing she thought possible. With a shriek she lunged towards Autumn, hoping the noise would take her by surprise -- and with a swift joust of her shoulder hoped to send the thing sideways towards the nest while she beat her retreat.

Caiaphas did not look back, not once. With fleetness to her paws a hare would envy, the silvery wraith tore down the promontory and into the lush fold of the woods below.

you too! I like having Autumn have an enemy >:)

Autumn was shoved into the nest by Caiaphas, who darted away. Autumn was about to follow her lead, but gave it a second thought. Instead of following the coy-wolf, she raced off in the oppisite direction. Hopefully this was away from the talons of the gyrfalcon. Autumn glanced over her shoulder. The gyrfalcon was watching her, but now it sat in it's nest, it's eyes narrowed. She stuck out her tounge at it. Then she looked forward again, escaping her enemy alive once more.