Greatwater Lake Frozen Bareness of the Lands

Sniffing at the prints in the snow, her ears stayed perked to catch every bit of Somnia's words. The scent was familiar as well, but she couldn't remember seeing an elk before. Not a lone one, or a herd of them. Moose, yes, those giant beasts had nearly trampled her several times. Her mind tried to put a picture to the name of the animals, but even as the other she-wolf explained a bit more on them, nothing came to mind. Pulling her head up and her snout away from the ground, her amber orbs were brought back into focus, interest and confusion both swirling deep within their depths.

"They sound smarter than most herd animals." Sen's voice held onto a tinge of cocky-humor. "What do these things look like? Bigger or smaller than, say, a moose?" The corners of her maw twitched slightly, but whether a form or a smirk was trying to form couldn't be deciphered. She imagined a smaller version of a moose, that was still bigger than a deer, but had mountain goat horns atop it's head. The image was utterly ridiculous, that much she was sure of, but her mind couldn't help but produce such unsightly creations. The prints in the snow looked similar to each of those animals in some way, so combining them all together seemed mildly appropriate.

Somnia tried not to gape at Sen as she implied that she had never seen an elk. "They're usually smaller than a moose, but a large elk buck could be about the size of a small moose doe. The antlers are like a deer's antlers, rather than a moose. Some moose have those beard thingies, but instead, elk have longer, thicker fur on their neck. And elk, they tend to be a lighter color of brown than most moose." She felt as if here explanation was horrible, but it was the best she could do. If only she could just show Sen an elk! That would be soooo much easier.

Then, Somnia realized, that maybe she could show Sen an elk. After all, there was a set of tracks that would eventually lead to them. Maybe they could quickly catch up to the herd if they ran a little and stayed focus. "We could follow the tracks to find you a visual," Somnia suggested.

The explanation of their appearance left some things unanswered, but it did show her that her original image was very wrong. A small, furry-necked animal that was like a moose, but also wasn't at the same time. Simple enough to understand. She looked in the direction the prints were heading, then back to the grey scale wolf as she proposed the idea of following them. It'd be interesting to see one, but did she really want to? Sen quickly received the answer to her question, and gave a nod of her darkened head. "It'd be nice to see at least one," she answered. "I have a feeling my mental image isn't all too precise, or correct..." Her maw held neither a smile or a frown, but something in between.

Heck, mental images almost always were incorrect. A bear in Somnia's mind? Some sort of weird wolf-moose crossbreed. Muscular body of a wolf, shaggy fur and size of an moose. For the black ones, just add the color black...? And then, the faces, she just couldn't see in her mind. So that left some weird faceless animal of a nightmare in her mind.

Putting imaginary images aside, it was time to help Sen see an elk. "Their herd animals, so it would be a really rare coincidence to find one without a herd," Somnia commented. She took Sen commenting on wanting to see one as the go-ahead to start trotting in the direction the tracks faced.

Such an interesting mental image Somnia has of a bear~ Terrifyingly delightful. c:

The darker female gave a nod of her head. Herd animals were always tricky to deal with in her mind. They could gang up on a single thing so quickly if a threat arose, which was smart, but also dangerous for predators. Seeing the smaller wolf start in the direction the prints lead, her own legs started moving to follower her. How far they would need to go was unknown to her, not sure how quickly these animals moved. Assuming they were like deer or moose, then they probably wouldn't be moving too fast unless another creature decided to give chase. If they weren't... well, she just hoped the were. Traveling after prey animals for days on end never caught her fancy, leaving her only to go after creatures she could easily catch when moving around.

"You think we'll be able to find them?" Sen inquired. "Or are the chances of other predators getting to them first too high?" There she went, asking more questions again. While she was the curious sort, both of other things and to other lupines, she'd never been one to go on and on asking question after question. If their roles had been switched, she would have stopped answering the questions long ago, but that was her. The female was never too kind, and only occasionally tolerable, so meeting a kinder female that didn't annoy her was a great relief.

Thanks? ^.^

Did anything else prey on elk besides wolves? Well, maybe a pack of coyotes could. But besides that? Nothing else came to mind. Sure, maybe a few strong predators out there such as mountain lions could take a calf or elderly elk down, but it didn't happen often, if at all. "Yeah we should catch up fairly quickly. All they tend to do is eat until they find no more food than move on. The main predators for them are wolves and coyotes, but I haven't had any signs of them being here recently, besides us. Should come upon them soon." Somnia shared.

A while later, about fifteen to twenty minutes later if they had known to tell time, Somnia spotted the herd. She poked Sen with her nose and gestured to the herd with it. She then crouched down low behind a tree so the herd animals couldn't spot her. Somnia had no intention on hunting them, but she also didn't want to scare them away before Sen was satisfied. Maybe someday she could hunt them, if a few of her pack members were up to traveling this far away.

When do you want to end this? c:
This is the longest running thread I've been apart of on here, and has been very fun.

Her bright orbs looked first to Somnia, then to the herd as she slowly crouched down beside the other female. They were nothing like she'd imagined, but were still a sight to behold. From the racks of the bulls to the darker fur around their necks and legs, her eyes greedily took in each part of them. "They aren't nearly as strange looking as I assumed they'd be," she murmured, careful to keep her voice down low. "They sure seem to eat a lot though." To her, though, it wasn't uncommon. All herd animals seemed to eat constantly. Eating, sleeping, then moving to find new food to repeat the process all over again. It was how they survived, but also made them predictable. A part of her had hoped that these creatures, the elk, were different, but in the end they were the same. It was a minor disappointment, but she was still glad to have gotten to seen the large beasts.

Same. We could end it in a few more posts maybe?

Somnia not-so-quietly chuckled at Sen's first remark. She tried to picture a demented looking elk, but just couldn't. Just like how she had tried not to chuckle to loudly earlier, but it hadn't happened. At the sound of her chuckle, an elk had poked it's head up, looked Somnia right in the eye, and then let out a sound of warning before fleeing. It didn't take long for the rest of the herd to follow in suit. Predatory instincts told Somnia to give chase, but she resisted the urge. She would later be able to hunt that squirrel she had scented, and maybe some other prey animals would've stumbled upon the moldy acorns by now. Plus, she still had the two foxes stored in the den. "Sorry about that. Shall we head back towards the lake?" Somnia asked.

Bright orbs were trained to the beasts even as Somnia's chuckle rang out. She was working to imprint every inch of the cervines' forms into her mind, than way she would be sure to remember them later on. Their scent was alluring, wanting to draw her closer, and the urge was only multiplied as they all started to depart at a quickened pace. Sen, however, held herself back, resisting the urge to attempt an attack on the creatures. The shadow that was her body straightened back up, no longer having a need to crouch down. The elk had run off, leaving none of their herd behind, and there she was with another wolf still. It was she, the greyed female, who'd frightened the animals off. Normally she would snap at whoever had done such a thing, but strangely enough, Sen felt no need to do such a thing. She simply stretched out her limbs, having stiffened slightly from crouching, and gave a nod of her head. "Sure," the woman started. "No use lingering around here anymore since those elk-things left." Turning as she finished her sentence, the obsidian girl took a few steps back in the direction they'd come, then stopped and waited for her current companion.

I'm gonna make this vague and it can be my last post.

Somnia followed Sen, her nose hovering above the ground to pick up any scents. There could still be a few interesting things to find, so she would find another interesting thing or two before parting ways with Sen. Then, she could retrace her steps to the signs of prey she had found and hunt. Somnia would also have the two dead foxes, but hopefully she could return home with a few more dead animals besides them.

Was fun while it lasted, albeit strange to have Sen be civil. c:

When the two neared the lake once more, Sen continued to follow the she-wolf around as she showed her a few more things. It wasn't too extravagant, and didn't carry them far from the lake at all. In the end, though, the darker female had had more than her fair share of discoveries. The chances of her saying it had been fun were low, as that went against the way she conducted herself, but she knew that it had been. When the things had stopped making themselves apparent, and the two girls were left with nothing else to see, the obsidian furred female took it as a message to leave. After giving her goodbyes to Somnia, the she-wolf she believed to be a great ally or even friend, Sen was off once more. Where she'd be going this time, only time would tell, but she hoped to meet another lupine who could be just as interesting as the grey one.