Blacktail Deer Plateau jigglypuff

Set after Behati & Casmir return - can be after Lasher & Dante return too, don't mind!

The reconnaissance trip had been deemed a success by the leadership - although Behati wondered how much of it had just been a test to see what Casmir would make of adult responsibilities. Still, she had enjoyed the trip and the nervous boy's company, and was a little sad to be back within the confines of pack territory whilst Dante and Lasher retraced their steps. The Plateau would likely be settling near the coast, so the fib she had told Peregrine would not be entirely false.

It was well and truly autumn now - verging on true winter. Behati had failed to dig a den for the season, and was rooting around north of the Troll Marsh for somewhere to huddle. She didn't really know where to start, and the lack of knowledge was exasperating.

A week at home and still Osprey had made very little progress in establishing herself in the pack again. There were conflicting emotions - because during the months of solitude she had wished nothing more than to return home, to her friends and family... and if she was very honest with herself then out of them all she had missed Dante the most. Now that she had achieved that - she did not know, how to approach people anymore. Without fear of rejection, without wish to run and hide, while talking to them. 

Rather than seeing, she had felt scents of a new wolves too and it was another unsettling factor, for one thing was making amends with old friends. It was entirely different - making new ones. And, what had not been a problem for her before, now had become a major obstacle. She wished dearly that she could return to that exact time and moment, when things had not changed that much. The knowledge that it was not possible - did not help much. 

She was walking through the forest slowly, sniffing and listening for the small critters. While incapable of hunting large game, she could provide for herself this way. Osprey was so focused, that she did not notice the young she-wolf nearby.

But Behati noticed Osprey. She was looking around for someone to complain to about the lack of viable dens when the grey-white female caught her eye. She was snuffling around in the shrubbery, undoing the tangle of scents left there by the Plateau's smaller inhabitants. This wolf was not new to the pack as Behati was - she had greeted as an old friend, and true newbie found herself feeling quite envious of whatever past they had all shared.

They were a similar size and build. Osprey was older, but she did not wear her years in a particularly obvious way. Behati decided to step closer, sending a bark across the short distance between them. A bright "Hey!" followed, and Osprey would find a smiling, friendly face staring at her when she looked up. "What're you sniffing around for?"

Too bad for Behati, but Osprey did not see a friendly and smiling face - her sight did not offer that much of details. Rather she was startled by the sudden appearance of a stranger, even moreso, when it spoke to her. The elder jumped back and took a defensive position, the low growl that emanated from the depths of her chest, was full of distrust and expressed a warning. Keep your distance.

It took a bit of time for Osprey to ease up and take a more neutral position. After all the plateau's newbie was not to blame for her issues. And though she was still too tired to be eager to make any new friends, she pulled herself together and mustered up a quick and apologetic smile. "Food," she replied to the question. "There... there is a lot of it around, if you... never mind."

Osprey did not take kindly to being disturbed. The elder's growl flushed the grin from Behati's face, and the awkwardly spoken answer did little to soothe the burn of rejection. The younger wolf accepted the apology with a dejected shrug, unsure where to focus her gaze. It settled on Osprey's front paws, making occasional trips up to her green eyes. There was a weariness about her that clung to every hair. "Why are you looking for food in the ground?" she probed before any brain power could be spent on figuring out why Osprey might be digging in the dirt.

By the tone of the girl's voice Osprey understood that the manner of greeting had insulted her. She sighed... being friendly and welcoming had never been so hard - usually she would be the first to go ahead and befriend the newbies. Usually she would have a soft spot for young wolves. Now - though keeping her expression professional and polite, she could not help but feel a bit irritated and a wish to be left alone. Then again first impressions are first impressions - the judgement of your character are based on them. She was going to live with this person - whether she wanted that or not - in the same pack. 


"Sorry. Tired me acting - nothing personal," it was a feeble attempt to apologize again. "Rodents live in the ground. And there are quite a lot of them," she explained.

Osprey seemed distracted - a little upset, even. Behati wondered why she was tired, specifically - had she not slept the night before? And why was she snuffling around for rodents if what she really needed was a nap? Dante probably wouldn't mind; he seemed like a chill guy, and the pack was full of able bodies to pick up the slack. Behati did not know the ache and exhaustion that gripped the heart and transcended the physical. Not yet. "Well.. maybe you can have a little sleep. Do you have a den?" If she did, perhaps there were opportunities to build another nearby - or something ready-made that Behati coudl just tumble into. She scraped the ground, watching Osprey's face for a reaction to her helpful advice.

"I would gladly do so, but sleeping won't make the hunger go away," Osprey replied, going back to sniffing the ground and occasionally stopping to scratch those particular spots she wanted to examine closer. There were footprints criscrossing the area, but unfortunately none of them were very fresh. "So, how long have you been here already?" she asked to break the silence and learn a bit more about the girl. She also did not want to appear as an entirely grumpy beast.

"Ummm.. a while, I guess," Behati answered, unsure how many nights and days had passed, exactly. "It was still pretty green when I got here," she clarified. Osprey continued to scratch listlessly at the ground, making no real headway in her 'hunt', or whatever it was she was doing. "Why can't you eat from a cache, or something?" the younger wolf ventured, taking another step forward. "Or.. or maybe we can find something together?" Nothing big, she hoped - Behati had yet to take down a deer, even when hunting in a pair - consequently, she had been raised on squirrels and rabbits.

"I am proud, stubborn and stupid," Osprey replied to the first question, shuffling through the dead leaves, her interest piqued by a strange, sickly sweet smell, which could mean only one thing - a rotting body. "And I am not yet starving," she added. She had always thought about caches as the very last resort. And that ther must always be someone, who needed the spare food more than her. "It's a very nice offer, but I am not much of a runner at the moment," it was not that evident, when she walked, but the limp was there, when she had to move faster. Her paws ached, having not yet recovered from the long journey she had made over the three months.

Behati thought it a very strange way to speak about oneself, being too young to grasp the fun in Osprey's dry humour. But she did understand the reluctance to raid a cache, having shunned them upon first arriving for fear that the pack would judge her a poor hunter. She had not spoken openly about any of this, though, as Osprey did now. "I'll bring you something," she said with an air of finality that suggested she would follow through on that promise whether Osprey liked it or not. It felt like the 'pack' thing to do, and would serve Behati's ego more than it would the older wolf's stomach. The yearling was a poor hunter, and rarely caught anything more impressive than a rabbit - but it felt nice to think that someone would be in her debt.

Osprey continued to sniff at the ground, but Behati found her too interesting to leave be. "Why can't you run? Are you sick? There's a 'healer' or something-" She paused - obviously Osprey already knew this. ".. but I d'no what she could give you to make you run better. Do you think the whole grass and plants thing really works?" She was verging on babbling now.

The joke had not worked on the girl, which probably meant that Osprey had once again talked too much and used expressions that were too complicated. The young wolf probably thought that she was not only weird, but talked nonesense too. Way to go... But she did not let herself to linger with these thoughts, because the smell of the rotting flesh was becoming stronger and stronger. "No need to do so," she turned down her packmate's offer to get her something and letting the rest of the conversation fly past her ears, as she plowed through the dead leaves in the direction of the stinky, yet very promising prize. "Heureka!" she exclaimed, pounced at the spot and began digging. Few seconds later she pulled out the carcass of a dead fox. "Want some?" Osprey asked, being polite, but then - without waiting an answer - she began tearing the skin and limbs apart.

Ew. Behati was no stranger to rotten carcasses, but the fox that Osprey had unearthed smelled a little too far past its sell-by date. "No, thanks.." she murmured, eyeing the female as she began to pick apart the corpse. It was sad, wasn't it? She wasn't so old, and here was Osprey - broken down and desperately scratching around for scraps. "I'll leave you to it," Behati told her, turning tail before the other wolf could answer. She couldn't put the feeling into words, didn't really acknowledge it at all, but something about Osprey felt broken. Like she'd been through the wringer one too many times.

Behati seemed to be uneasy in Osprey's presence and before the elder was about to answer anything, the girl had turned on her heel and run. Realizing that the reasons for the youth's quick departure were many, she did not spend too much time thinking about it. There was a tasty smelling carcass before her that was waiting to be eaten and she was not going to let it go to a further waste. She returned to eating, enjoying the fact that she did not have to share her finding with anyone else.