Neverwinter Forest at the end of it

since i guess she lives here

There it was. By now, the buck had fallen significantly behind his herd, his limp heavy. Tiger debated going after it herself, but she was sure there was plenty of power in its other legs to get her off if he had the energy. As a lone wolf, it wasn't a risk she was willing to take. Tiger would have to wait until it lay down to die. But she kept after it, wanting to be the one to be there when that happened to get first dibs. To her knowledge, none other tracked the herd she did. She'd seen a couple of others in the Forest, but only passing through.

It was then the young buck's back-leg buckled and the thing tumbled. It made no effort at all to get up, and for the moment, Tiger lingered in the cover of the dark woods, watching its labored breathing. It still had its antlers and legs to come at her with, but maybe it had decided for itself to die. There was no coming back from that injury, and it was only a matter of time before he did pass on... but she had imagined he had more in him than this.

On his way back from Kintla Flatlands, Lotan had taken a different route. He didn't want to backtrack and simply follow the same path that had led him there. The whole point of being an outrider was to explore; so when he crossed the river, he veered north, skirting around the edge of Firestone Hot Springs (with a mental note to return to this interesting-looking place) and delved into Neverwinter Forest. Of course, without a map or a tour guide, he didn't know the name of any of these places -- but he stored their locations in his memory.

This forest was comprised of evergreens, so it had a completely different appearance than the Heartwood. He meandered slowly through the trees, enjoying the darkness and solitude; the heavy boughs of leaves nearly blocked out the sunlight in some places. The sound of wheezing drew his attention; the Ostrega paused, his ears swiveling on his skull as he determined the source of the sound.

Careful steps led him to a clearing where a male deer was sprawled, obviously in some sort of distress. Immediately, Lotan became defensive -- it was likely that there was at least one predator of some sort in the vicinity. He crouched, remaining mostly hidden from the buck's view but perhaps still visible to the she-wolf he hadn't yet noticed.

Labored breathing and all, she watched the thing freeze in its prone position... and then it jolted upward with a start, thrust its head toward the wolf she had not spotted, and bolt off. Its bout of adrenaline made it look as fit as ever, and Tiger found herself glad she had not approached it. No doubt it would have found the energy to kick her square in the face or else escape her in the same manner had it caught wind of her... but what had caused it to stir...?

Her bright eyes darted over the span of trees, but the wolf was obscured by the massive trunks from her own vision. Not looking to hide herself, Tiger moved out into the open and kept moving, her eyes looking for the culprit that had roused her dinner from what might have been his grave.

Unexpectedly, the buck took to its feet and galloped away with a lot more strength than Lotan had anticipated. He wasn't sure what had caused its swift departure -- perhaps it had heard the rustling of his feet against the leaves, or maybe his smell had wafted towards it. Either way, it was obviously more healthy than it appeared, which meant that it would not have been easy prey for just one wolf.

He soon discovered that he wasn't alone, however. A white female prowled into view from across the clearing, looking a bit miffed. Lotan's ears perked and he, too, stepped out of his hiding place; would she be annoyed that he had scared away the deer? Had it even actually been his fault? "That was a shame," he commented after a pause, his tail remaining neutrally low as he regarded the stranger.

Of course Tiger didn't know that it wasn't Lotan's fault legitimately, but Tiger could be irrational a great deal of the time when things did not go her way. It was less of a princess complex and more of a I do everything right, anyone else is typically wrong sort of thing... and she could hardly tell she was being ridiculous. At the least, Tiger was pretty transparent and open with her disappointments... and now was no different.

Yeah, she responded a bit stiffly, her head turning in the direction of the thing that was still more spry than the striped woman had thought. I guess it doesn't matter that you scared it off. Definitely would've ripped me a new one if I went for it. So thanks, her head now swung in his direction, surprisingly serious. She didn't begrudge him for his obvious slip up in, well, being obvious.

She seemed to be a little annoyed at first, although she did thank him as she turned towards him. There was a bit of a sarcastic tone in her voice, but the words she spoke rang true -- neither one of them could have anticipated that the deer wasn't as injured as it had appeared and that it would have jumped up and run away so abruptly. It could have dealt some serious damage to the unwitting wolves.

Taking a step towards her, he shrugged, a playful glint in his eye. "You're lucky I came along and saved your life," he replied with a flick of his tail, his gaze pensive as he waited for her reaction -- how would she take his light-hearted quip? Did she have a sense of humor?

He was soon fully in her line of sight, and Tiger listened to him. A grin came across her features immediately, as she croons in a sing-song voice My hero, and turning to look in the direction the deer had gone in. Tiger turned to look at him again, brows lifting. While she was hardly a princess, she was content to feign the role, her own tail moving loosely behind her, a mischievous expression coming to her own features.

However can I repay you? Her accent was slight, but it was there. The question she asked she felt was hard-hitting; what sort of dude was this before her? He appeared young, and he was good-looking, and clearly had a funny-bone in him... what else?

He was pleasantly surprised when she replied in kind, proclaiming him as her hero and asking what she could do to thank him. A slow smile curled across Lotan's lips and his tail stirred behind him as he tilted his head to the side and pondered her question. How could she repay him?

However, after a moment, he came up empty handed and replied as such: "A noble knight like me doesn't need repayment. It's all in a day's work." What a life that would be, if he really did go around saving damsels in distress. He avoided the use of that term -- this she-wolf seemed to be fairly independent and might be insulted if he implied she was helpless.

"I'm Lotan. Do you live around here?" he asked. She didn't have a particularly strong scent, which suggested that it was possible she didn't currently belong to a pack.

His response was one she honestly didn't expect, but she deduced of this stranger he was one to keep it safe. Or else, he truly was a chivalrous wolf. That was a rare find, and she'd be hard-pressed if she didn't find out which of the two it was. And so Tiger inched closer, her tail twitching impishly.

Tiger, she introduced, knowing it wasn't her real name but preferring it. Her family called her it anyway, and it was truly who she was... in spirit. As of two days ago, yeah. Right in these woods actually, she nods proudly at the place, her eyes scanning it as she states this before looking back to him. What about you, ser?

His brows lifted curiously as she shared her name. Tiger -- he knew what a tiger was, though he had never seen one in person, and wondered how she had earned that name. She certainly didn't look like one, so maybe it was her personality. It seemed that he would learn soon enough.

"Well, Tiger, welcome," he said, gesturing to the forest around them with a paw -- as though he owned the place. Truthfully, he probably didn't know much more about the territory than she did. "I run with a pack that lives not far from here. It's called Ouroboros Spine -- we're a mountain pack," he said, for the first time thinking of himself as a mountain-dweller. It was kind of neat -- it sounded dangerous, like he spent all his time scaling sheer cliff faces and balancing precariously on great peaks. In reality, he could usually be found stumbling and tripping on the loose rocks that littered the range, but, eh -- she didn't have to know that.

You're welcoming me?! she guffaws playfully, As of two days ago, this forest is mine. I should welcome you. God, what a horrific hostess I am... She shakes her head and snorts, knowing well what he meant, and then muttering blandly, Nah, just kidding, I'm just crashing here for the while. 'Til that deer dies. Insert shoulder shrug here. As he spoke of his pack, Tiger looked to Lotan with a bit more interest... and then let out a quiet sigh.

Mountains. She preferred loamy forests. Dunno if I'm about that height life, scary stuff if you ask me. I trust the even earth beneath my feet, right here. Tiger nods, then looks to him. How do you not fall? Living on a mountain, a full fledged mountain, sounded intimidating to Tiger... who really did prefer to have her feet set on the stable ground beneath her. She wasn't one to play it safe by any means... but also never felt the desire to rise to those sort of heights.

Lotan laughed. She seemed to be opening up to him quickly -- he was glad to have found a she-wolf who was on the friendly side. Not many of the other wolves he had met outside of the Spine had been pleasant, but he supposed that was part of being an outrider. He couldn't expect everyone to roll out the welcome mat for someone they didn't know.

Tiger was apparently just camping out in the forest for the time being, meaning that she didn't yet belong to a pack. She commented on the risks of living on a mountain as though she had read his mind, and he ducked his head slightly, glancing left than right as though he was about to indulge in a secret. "Don't tell anyone, but...I fall all the time," he admitted, slicking his ears back on his head. "Haven't banged myself up too badly yet, but it's hard to get used to all those rocks and sharp inclines. I came from a much flatter location." Sometimes, he missed the dark corners and cozy burrows of Sterren Hollow, but the Teekon Wilds satisfied his adventurous side.

The interaction continued easily between the two young wolves, until they parted ways with promises to meet again someday.