Mara had been trailing the plump turkeys for some time now, the low cloud cover getting increasingly darker and ominous looking. They were headed somewhere important, that was for sure. They waddled at a fair pace on their squat little legs, the male's tail feathers pushed back to allow better speed. Thunder rumbled above the thick, black cover of pine trees and the turkeys jumped before picking up the pace even more. They crowded into a thick patch of ferns and other undergrowth and seemed to disappear. Confused, Mara stopped short. She circled the area they had gone into at a distance. The patch of bushes they had disappeared into was definitely not large enough to accommodate the number of turkeys she had seen gone in there. How could you just loose ten or so turkeys? Mara decided to check it out, well aware of the risks of loosing the turkeys. Just then the clouds opened up and started dropping buckets of icy water on Mara's sunset fur. She scrambled under a large pine tree and sat, glaring at the ferns and hoping the storm would pass.
Cara had never been fond of the rain -- among many other things.
So when she found herself trapped in the middle of the storm, far from cover she inmidiately felt like her day had gone sour. With her shoulders slumped and her ears pinned to the base of her skull she began to creep around the edges of the Spine, hoping to get away from the shower of cold water falling on top of her head.
The little drops of water that fell on her back, began to weave between the thickness of her coat, finding her skin and sending an unpleasant sensation acroos the female's body. It was then when she decided to stop and get off the pouring rain, even a petty tree would satisfy her right now. Anything to get the dreaded drops from sinking onto her pelt would be heavenly to the bad tempered yearling.
Without knowing so, the female crawled under a tree near the one her fellow packmate, who also happened to share the las syllable of her name, had taken as cover. She slid closer to the trunk, pressing her drenched fur against the tree bark and cursing soflty through gritted teeth while looking at the grey-scale sky.
"Hey, you." Mara whispered as to not frighten her hidden quarry in the bushes. She heard a faint chirp come from the patch of ferns and visibly flinched, hoping she had not given herself away.
"Wanna help me with something? And stay quiet." The russet girl whispered, her ears alert for any sign that the turkeys learned of her presence.
Another big, fat drop of water fell onto her, spashing on her forehead with a loud 'bloop'. The yearling shook her pelt vigorously, trying to rid herself of the water that continued to fall slowly onto her back. There was no way to avoid getting wet. And there was no way to avoid the slight feeling of annoyance when the a strange voice nearby called her attention only to make an invite -- that of course on the female's mind was seen as a bit out of place considering she was.. or had been the Alpha of the pack.
"Excuse me?" she barked, furrowing her brow momentarily until she realized the female in front of her had probably never met her in her days as Queen. Anyways, she should've known I hold I high-rank, she mused silently while trying to figure out what was it the russet coated female wanted from her.
Mara flinched at the wolf's loud bark and snuck a tentative glance at the bushes. So far the turkeys seemed to had not noticed the two deadly predators lurking about the outside of their well hidden shelter, but if the she wolf in front of Mara continued with her loud voice and attitude, they would be gone before she could blink.
"Hey, I said stay quiet." she hissed, still not aware who exactly this wolf was. The cold, uncomfortable dampness of her fur combined with the fact that this wolf could scare away a very large meal at any second started to make the normally optimistic wolf very grouchy.
"Either you help me, or you shut up." she snapped, her voice as low as she could get it with her bubbling attitude. "Right this second there are six fat turkeys hidden in those bushes. If you scare them off with your attitude, you scare away a good meal for the pack during winter." she warned, her ears pulled against the rain. She had just met this girl and she already had a strong feeling that they would not be very good friends.
Patience was not a virtue Cara had been blessed with. Though she had renounced to her title and had left an open door for Mordecai to take the Spine from her hands, she had not yet gotten used to not being the one all ears turned to when she barked a command. "I don't need to obey you -- who do you think you are?" she hissed back, her tail suddenly rising over her tail in a dominant manner.
She could still feel the phantom touch of her crown upon her head, which only fueled her annoyance for the rude female, who clearly didn't see the difference between superior and subordinate. "It will your mouth the one that'll be shut -- stick to your Tier or get the fuck out of the pack" she growled again, not caring about the turkeys at the moment. She would not let anything in the world distract her from putting the insolent female on her place. was this how Mordecai had felt all along?.
With her lips curling back to reveal her teeth, Cara took a menacing step towards the female, not longer bothering to shelter from the rain -- which only made the scene more dramatic.
"Fine, if you want to starve the fucking pack then go ahead. See what Mordecai thinks when I tell him you scared off enough prey for week or so because you couldn't keep you stupid mouth shut." Mara snapped. She was done with this bitch so she turned on her heals, in the process whipping the female in her deserving face with her tail. Ignoring her threat she leapt into the bushes at the now active turkeys and took her anger out on them. She only managed to grab one before the rest fled further down the tunnel and escaped out of her grasp. She shook the limp bird just to make sure it was dead before exiting their hide out.
"You, will not be getting a single bite of this." she hissed before scampering off into the rain with her prize clamped between her jaws.
Cara had tried to be nice.
She had really, really tried to but the female's insolent attitude had driven her past her limit. She was not about to be trampled by some random bitch with her eyes clouded with ignorance. "Stick to your tier " she snarled again, snapping her teeth in the air as a last warning to the female. If she was so worried about what Mordecai would say, perhaps he should know too how she had been disruspting the pack's hierarchy as well.
The whole situation was sickening for Cara, not only because she had to hold her tongue from spilling all kinds of curses onto the female but because with each second that passed, she could begin to see the obvious resemblance between her little feud with Mordecai and the current scene. As if it had not been enough with her own battle, now she had her past mistakes rubbed in her face again in the form of Mara's own rude responses.
Karma was a real bitch.
The yearling's eyes narrowed as the female jumped out to persue the birds, which almost managed to avoid the her attack with their clumsy wobbling. "This is the first and last time you will treat a superior in such way, I may not be Alpha anymore but I will not hesitate to bring your ass to the ground so you learn your place" she snarled, creeping slowly towards her with her neck craned forward and her tail held erect over her back in a dominant display.
Mara had not know that the bitchy female was superior to her at all. In fact it had never even crossed her mind. Maybe if she had acted like an upper tier wolf was supposed to, she would get treated like one. Mara was so pissed that she planned to tell her just that. She set the limp turkey down on the damp ground and turned back to the snarling wolf. Weren't they in the same pack? And weren't pack mates supposed to help each other, not fight with each other? In her old pack, it had been completely expectable to ask a wolf with a higher rank than you to help with a hunt or any other small task. She had assumed most packs would possess this kindness, so maybe it was just this one girls problem.
"Well, if you want to be treated like an upper level wolf, maybe you should act like one. You have that position for a reason, don't you? Not to boss everyone around and threaten your pack mates, but to be a leader, and help out. But maybe your head is just too far up your ass to notice that you have actual responsibilities that don't include walking around like you own everyone." she hissed, her anger spilling out into on big blob of words. If this wolf had acted like she cared, acted kind and willing to help, no matter what rank she was, then Mara would have respected her instantly. But the moment the girl growled at her, all possible respect she could have given vanished almost instantly. Mara believed that you should respect everyone until they do something that should take that away.
The fact that the other female had missed to notice that Cara held a higher rank was just insulting. Though ranks and status had turned into an important matter to the power-thirsty yearling, and she had never gone around shoving her superiority down other's throats she was not, what to call it, subtle with it either. She was a prideful creature and everyone in the land knew so.
Everyone except the stupid female in front of her.
An enraged snarl bursted from her lips as the other suggested the reason she had treated her as an equal was because she acted like one. Had Mara been blind to the signs -- the lifted chin, puffed chest and raised tail? There was no way, the yearling couldn't have acted more like a superior without actually launching herself to the female's throat like any Alpha would when defied. Maybe that's what she should do; regardless of not holding the top position anymore, her place in the pack's hierarchy gave her the right to punish her unsubordination.
The last few parts of the female's speech were lost to Cara, they made no sense. She held the spot she did because of her dedication and the history she had, and it was because of her prestigious spot that she should be given instant respect. And besides if everyone should be respected without discrimination of their rank (something Cara was not opposed to) why had it been Mara to throw the first stone?
While she left the fact that Mara's ideologies collapsed onto themselves aside, she propelled herself onto the air, her jaws aiming at the female's shoulder.
She had been warned, now it was time for her to crumble like her ideologies.
Mara had excepted the angry female to leap at her so she was prepared. Her dead turkey fell to the ground and she met the bitch head on in the air, her own snarling jaws aiming for the area at the base of her neck. This one needed to be taught a lesson. Mara knew now that she was a lower rank but that didn't change the fact that this ignorant idiot though she could go around treating everyone like crap. That's not what wolves of high ranks were supposed to do, they were supposed to be caring too. And this girl showed none of that.
Hopefuly the girl had been expecting Mara to turn and give up, that would give her an element of surprise. The petite russet girl was thoroughly trained in combat and had been raised to be of a high rank herself, so she knew what she was getting herself into. During her training she had been the second best fighter in her group of pups, putting her above her own brothers, so she would hold her ground. Her ears were flat against her head as she tried to ram her paws into the girls shoulders and grab her scruff with her fangs.
With her eyes narrowed into hateful sliths of pale yellow, she propelled herself onto the air, her ears pinned back against her skull as she attempted to thrust her paws against the smaller bitch's chest and therefore knock the wind along with every chance of ever being viewed as an honorable member of the Spine out of her body.
Despite the fact the former Queen had not recieved any type of training her opponent claimed to have, she was still a vicious fighter, that as proven before was bound to take on larger rivals without second thought. Cara might've lost the war that gave her the right to stand at the highest point of the hierarchy, but with her insolent attitude, the small female in front of her had condemmed herself to a battle she was bound to lose.
No one messed with Cara without sporting a few scars as zoovenirs afterwards.
If Mara had wanted Cara to act as what she was then she would.
A high rank wolf was not only responsability and recognition, it also meant one had the ability of taking care of the dirty work.
And boy Cara was now more than ready to make the rebellious subordinate swallow her pride; her method a bit rougher than the one Mordecai had applied onto herself.
"You win this time, fatty. But don't worry, I promise next time will be a whole different story." She threatened, with a smirk. "And I never break my promises." she ended with a growl before picking up her turkey and trotting off into the woods with a slight limp. Next time, Mara thought, Next time she will be the one with her face pressed into the dirt.
In the blink of an eye, what could've been a pleasant encounter turned into a gruesome battle, in which despite the ardous efforts from both parties only one could rise as victor.
After starting off with a fast paced exchange of growls and snarls as each tried to get the other to lose their footing, Cara found herself taking the upper hand -- that until the smaller female evaded her jaws and managed to plant an attack of her own upon the yearling's neck.
Thin threads of blood trickled from the sharp cuts issued by the bitch's teeth but not even the lines of staining crimson falling onto the pale fur of her chest could stop her now. With her tail curling dominantly over her back the yearling charged for the rebellious female, engaging in a complex dance of dives and dodges which ultimately showed her superiotity.
After lashing out wildly against her contender, Cara's teeth finally met their target and with her teeth piercing the soft flesh on Mara's neck the proud Delta shoved her brusquely to the floor, forcing her to submit. While Cara could have had the opportunity to tear through her flesh once she was down, the yearling simply took comfort on her victory and allowed the insolent she-wolf to walk away with her shattered dignity alone.
Mordecai would hear of this, and even if it got herself punished, Cara would see that the bitch's was booted to the bottom of the pack if not out of it. "Next time I'll pound your ugly face to mush" she threatened, rasing her tail over her back once more as she prepared to take off after her. Even if their fight had already ended and Cara's own wound were beginning to sting, she would not allow the female to simply walk away. She'd chase her off until her paws gave in, making her regret having crossed her with every step she'd made her take.
Hierarchy was one of the things every newcomer had to adhere to when they entered a pack, and if this bitch could not get that through her thick skull she'd soon find herself without a pack to call home.