Fairspell Meadow It's not murder, it's ketchup

Someone from SS, maybe? All welcome, though! :)

Wildfire stood panting over the body of the freshly slain rabbit, her pink tongue lolling from her muzzle as she waited to catch her breath. When she finally did, she bent over her kill, plucked it off the ground and carried it deep into the long, summer grasses. She stashed it there to eat later, then slipped back into view. Now that the scent of blood was out of her nose, she wanted to investigate the strange, sweet smell that lingered in the humid summer air like heavy perfume.

She tracked it down to a bush laden with juicy berries. She thrust her nose against a cluster and it dropped right off the branch and bounced at her feet. Wildfire lowered her head to sniff it again. Yes, that was definitely the source. Experimentally, she stuck out her tongue, the tip of it pressing against the now slightly mushy berries. A sweet and sour flavor exploded in her mouth, causing her salivary glands to ache as they suddenly activated.

The polar bear had failed in her duties to protect the young of her leaders. Coyotes had attacked at the den, within the very heart of their territory. Though they had decimated the population of smaller carnivores, the Beta had not slept since, instead using the time to scour the mountain and it's surrounding territories for anything that might try the same thing. Somewhere along the line, she had slacked in her duties and failed to scent out the offenders, whether they had lived on the mountain previously or had snuck on grounds when no one was looking. 

Unwilling to allow such a thing to happen again, Nanuk moved past the borders, sure now that she had combed this section of the territory that there was nothing here. But just because a coyote or fox wasn't within the pack's lands didn't mean that it wasn't nearby, so she kept on with her thorough search. 

Her steady, tireless pace slowed when gold eyes caught a glimpse of red-orange fur, ears swiveling as her focus settled on a nearby bush. Crouching slightly, the pale female crept forward bit by bit, muscles tense as ever as she lay low, preparing to burst through the bush and catch her target. The possibility that it was a wolf hadn't yet crossed her mind just yet.

She ended up lapping up the entire cluster of berries, then plucking a few more from the branches. She enjoyed the taste, though Wildfire stopped after a few on account of the overwhelming sweetness. She licked her stained chops, then turned from the bush, prepared to continue her explorations. A drink sounded good too. Her diet was made up solely of meat, so she wasn't sure she liked this saccharine aftertaste lingering in her mouth.

The fur on the back of her neck suddenly rose and Wildfire paused, golden eyes narrowing as they scanned her surroundings. She felt like she was being watched, just like that day with Elwood. Based on that experience, Wildfire knew to trust her instincts. Her muscles stiffened and she lowered her head even as her tail raised a few notches to stick out like a bristly bottle brush. Her large ears twisted, straining to capture any sounds, even as her eyes and nose continued to scour the immediate vicinity.

The rustling stopped, the creature on the other side of the bush obviously having stilled. Her muscles bunched, tension growing as she watched for further movement. The bush between them blocked clear sight of one another and Nanuk counted on that as she suddenly exploded from her position and barreled through the bush with a snarl and snapping teeth, only to choke on it as she breathed in the scent of wolf and definitely not fox.

For a moment, the wolf just stared at the pup dumbly before snarling, at herself this time. Wrenching her head from the bush, her anger bubbled to the surface but was forced back with an iron fist paw. Godfuckingdamnit! She was losing her shit, in a way that she had not before. That coyote attack had fucked her over, making her realize--

He gaze switched to the bush, a rough sigh coming from her now. Her paws carried her around the plant, searching for her almost victim. "Anyone ever tell you you look like a fuckin' fox?"

The nearby bush veritably exploded and Wildfire jumped into the air, all four feet temporarily clear of the ground even as she spun to face it. She saw a white muzzle snapping between the spindly branches and she backpedaled swiftly, putting herself further out of range. Her large ears flattened in response to the continuous snarling, though they pricked again and she blinked her golden eyes owlishly as the whole thing abruptly stopped. No more than three seconds later, a large white she-wolf appeared, shooting a sarcastic question at her. She looked and sounded rather vexed.

The youth quickly deduced what must have happened. Her blood ran cold. Had she just nearly died because she resembled a fox? Wildfire swallowed. "I'm told I actually look more like a dhole," she said quietly, staring at the stranger apprehensively. "I'm glad you figured it out before you ate me," Wildfire joked weakly, then lapsed into silence. Although she figured there was no longer any danger, she remained braced for fight or flight.

A dhole? "The fuck is that?" She queried, never having even heard the word before. The notion of cutting back on her vulgarity around a kid was lost on the bearish female who now focused on the girl again, taking in her unique fur pattern. She could have been related to Shit For Brains with that fur. 

"Yeah, me too." While the female had no desire to bear pups, she also had no desire to eat them. Nanuk maintained an even distance from her, making no move to close the gap between them. The attack had been a mistake and she wished to bring no more trouble to the Spire than she already had. "You good? Besides having a damn heart attack?"

Wildfire didn't bat an eyelash at the swearing. Her parents often did it. For one reason or another, she hadn't inherited this trait from them; she very rarely cursed herself. But it certainly didn't faze her, nor did the stranger's question. She wasn't really sure herself, though Fox had explained it was some kind of wild dog.

"It's a wild dog of some sort," she replied, "and, yeah, I'm fine." She felt a tiny bit jumpy about the near miss, though nowhere near an actual heart attack, thank goodness. "My mother's name is Fox," she decided to share, "and I'm Wildfire." She didn't really see the point in using aliases any more, especially since she was terrible at keeping track of them. "Who're you? Where are you from?"

Wild dog. Okay, that's cool. Better yet, the kid was not harmed by the incident, physically or otherwise. At first, Nanuk tried to determine why the youth decided to tell her what her mother's name was but after a few moments, it clicked. She had told the kid she looked like a fox, so perhaps it was a coincidence that it was her mother's name as well. Perhaps it wasn't. Was Fox's name Fox because she looked like one? The Beta of the Spire might never know. 

"Kroc," She answered easily, the name coming to her mouth almost easier than Nanuk. "Of the Spire." Perhaps it wasn't the greatest explanation but it would do. The Spire was their own world and they separated themselves from outside wolves by not revealing anything about themselves or their pack. "Caldera, right? " She didn't wait for an answer, instead peering at the residue of berries consumed around her mouth. "Are the berries drugs or something? Why the fuck're you eating them?" And what could possibly make a wolf decide to just eat berries, of all things? Perhaps, the girl was a nutcase.

She introduced herself as Kroc of the spire. Wildfire hadn't heard of the spire, though she'd heard of the spine. Were they the same thing? And was Kroc named after the crocodile? She didn't really resemble one. Before she could ask any of these questions, Kroc guessed her own allegiance, then incredulously interrogated Wildfire about her dietary choices.

The coarse language didn't faze her, though she did purse her lips briefly before replying, "I'm from Redhawk Caldera, yeah. What and where is the spire?" she wanted to know. She was working on a mental map of the area, including the local packs, and wondered where the spire fit into the picture. "I ate them because they smelled good and I wanted to try them. They're too sweet," Wildfire concluded, unaware of the maroon stains on her jowls.

"They're mountains and they're nearby." Which probably didn't help. There was a whole mountain range to the east. If Wildfire could deduce that much, perhaps she'd find them but she did not seek to encourage a visit from the young female. Not that Nanuk's scent would help, being that she'd cleansed the scent of her pack away before venturing out, as was common practice in their ranks. 

Her explanation about the berries was accepted with leery thoughts but otherwise, she didn't comment on it. "You seen any coyotes acting nutty? Abnormal? Like attacking a pack, abnormal." She asked instead, curious to see whether or not the group that attacked them was a one-off or something widespread. If it was something another group had experienced, she would need to take the information back to Iqniq, though their patrol had already significantly increased since the incident.

Kroc answered vaguely. The youngster understood her reticence. Up until recently, she would not have readily volunteered information about her own base of operations. Wildfire no longer felt much need for secrecy, though she respected the other female's right to privacy and didn't press for any further details.

The unexpected question gave her some pause. "We've had a few stray coyotes here and there," Wildfire said, "but that's it. Nothing abnormal, I don't think. Why?" she wondered, shifting her weight and licking her lips. She could still taste the sweet berries, which reminded her: she still needed to get a drink of water.

Nothing abnormal. The wolf frowned but nodded, accepting her answer; the fiery girl had no reason to lie and even the sometimes-socially-challenged Kroc could recognize that. Her question was valid and in this, she did not keep her response stinted. If there was something odd going on with the lesser predators of the Wilds, other wolves deserved and needed to know, incase the apex predators needed to smack their revolutionary ways down.

"The bastards attacked us outright, made a go for our young. Group of seven or eight. None'f us have seen that kind of shit before, since coyotes are scavengers." Surely, something had pushed them to act that way. Perhaps it was the coming seasons, or maybe they had felt starved (even though those suckers had been pretty plump). Whatever the reason, the large Beta would make sure to keep an eye out for signs of them, the idea of revenge burning at the edges of her mind.

Wildfire halfway expected Kroc to refuse to elaborate. She surprised the youngster by telling her a peculiar tale about a renegade group of coyotes which had tried to attack her pack's young. Kroc pointed out that coyotes were scavengers. What would compel them to behave so strangely and with such aggression? Was it a freak thing or something more worrying?

"I'll let my parents know to keep a sharp eye out for them. We've had a few one-offs here and there and we know how to deal with them." Not so long ago, she and Nightjar had slain one right on their borders. The Redhawks would not hesitate to eliminate further threats. "They... didn't succeed, did they?" Wildfire asked slowly, not sure she wanted to the answer. She didn't want to think of coyotes killing and eating wolf cubs.

Under normal circumstances, the pale Beta would not have told the younger Wildfire about their young, about the attack. But it was one that she wanted to be prepared for in the event that it was not just a one-off, as the other had put it. "They came in the night," She offered a little more information before answering the next question with a strong and prideful "No." She would have never been able to live with herself if she had allowed the death of one of the leading pair's young. She also would not reveal that they had lost one of their wolves at all, if only because no wolf outside of themselves needed to know their ranks had weakened, even slightly. 

Such a thought made her mind turn to the time she'd spent out here so far. It was probably long enough that she should return to the Spire now and make another round of patrols, to ensure that they would lose no others. Had she not nearly attacked the young wolf, she would have felt fine with leaving without saying anything else but there was the teeniest amount of guilt that had brewed in her chest. "You sure you're good?" She asked, perhaps a bit awkwardly, wanting to make sure the boldly colored female wouldn't keel over and die two minutes after she left.

Nanuk's comment about the nocturnal assault made Wildfire think of that night when she'd discovered her sleepwalking father, only to be harassed by a coyote. It had been a stressful encounter, though there had been nothing peculiar about it (aside from Peregrine's somnolent state). She didn't mention it now, though she bobbed her head again to show she appreciated the information and would put it to good use.

A tension she hadn't known was there left her muscles when Nanuk assured Wildfire that no pups had been harmed. "Good," she said simply. Perhaps it was in her pack's best interests that a local rival's litter didn't make it, though she just wasn't wired to think that way. The idea of pups dying literally made her chest hurt.

Nanuk readied to head home and Wildfire bobbed her head a final time. "Aside from needing a drink of water," she quipped, "I'm all right. Nice, uh, meeting you." Her lips twitched with good humor. It had certainly been a memorable first impression. Taking her cue, the young she-wolf turned from her latest acquaintance, amber eyes dropping to the ground as she began the search for water.

Thank you for the thread! :D Hope we have another one soon!

As that line of conversation came to a close, it was evident that their time to go separate ways was coming up fast. Especially as Wildfire made a pleasant comment, which was probably one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to her. Aww. How cute. Holding back the instinct to snort and look at her like she was crazy (she had almost bene the victim of vengeful teeth after all), Kroc nodded. "See ya around." Perhaps she'd see then young one again, perhaps not. Either way, the Beta headed back for the Spire now, ready to settle into another (hopefully routine) patrol.

Thread fade!