Blackfoot Forest summertime sadness

With aching limbs and tired eyes, Roo napped beneath the green foliage of Blackfoot Forest, nestled between a slightly scratchy shrub and a tall tree. The two-year-old had clocked up quite a few miles today and so probably deserved the rest that he was awarding himself with. When golden eyes eventually opened, the beast stretched out all four legs and clumsily pulled himself into a seated position, blinking to adjust to the bright morning daylight and yawning to remind himself of the nice nap he was thankful to have taken. Feeling his stomach tighten in a rumble, his next move was decided: time for food.

Tracking was something that Roo had always taken pride in. He could still remember his first catch, a small but delicious bird. Even more vividly did he remember the grin on his father's face, the pride he'd felt on being congratulated by his mother when returning home from his first hunt. Calculated steps weaved him through the trees as he followed the scent of something tasty, nose hovering an inch or two above the moss and twigs. It didn't take long for him to come across the unsuspecting rabbit nibbling on a berry and he licked his lips in anticipation.

The swift dive was timed to perfection, outstretched paws ready to ideally grasp the prey but instead sending dirt flying in all directions as his claws scraped the ground. The startled rabbit had clocked onto Roo's shadow cast by the morning sun and made a break for it, twisting behind trees and darting in random directions. Roo gave a good chase but just when he was considering lunging again, his left forepaw gave way and sent his body crashing to the ground, wincing as he plummeting into a tree with some force. With a disgruntled growl he rolled away from the tree and pulled himself into a seated position, staring glumly into the distance and wondering where his meal that wasn't to be was now.

Aysun had taken it upon herself to explore as often as she could -- where there was daylight, she could be seen scaling rocks and hills in an effort to see further afield, and by night was either in Northstar Vale or in a clear spot where the stars were easily seen.

That was on thing that she missed the most about home, the deep timbre of her fathers voice lulling her and her sister into sleep as he spoke about stars and what it meant to hear them speak their stories. She had never understood what he meant, but had often found him sitting with his eyes closed at the edge of their den with a gentle smile on his face. Memories like that hit home for the young Savas, and she had to shake her head to rid herself of the image as she continued on through the forest.

All was quiet in the forest as the predator passed beneath the canopy, and it was only when a rabbit shot out of the undergrowth that she stiffened, raising her head to sniff at the air. Her fiery eyes narrowed quizzically at the scent that came through the trees, and she padded carefully towards it. She froze in her tracks as the pale figure of a wolf filtered through the trees -- his glowering gaze focused on what had maybe been his lunch. She emerged slowly, her head low between her shoulders though there was a friendly twitch at the end of her tail.

"I think it went that way," she gestured with her long nose, a crooked grin making its way to her features as she took in the mussed appearance of his coat (were there leaves in his fur?) and she leaned in closer, her brows coming together bemusedly, "You from around here?"

Roo didn't usually like to let his meals get away. However, he decided not to look at it as a failure, just a light disappointment. He was in a dense area of forest, there were scents and trails all over the place. This was the kind of mentality he'd adopted after getting used to his somewhat crippled foot. He'd been attacked as a yearling and although he spoke little of the event to anyone, even those he knew, it often became obvious that he was not as stable on his feet as he should be, forcing the conversation to spill out.

Roo's eyes dabbled from tree to tree in the distance until a gentle voice broke the silence. He crooked his neck to face the girl, deducing her as a pretty, tawny yearling. "Yeah, I th-think you're right. I-I'll let him go th-this time," he replied, eyes casting back out between the trees as he pondered where exactly the prey was now. Probably down a hole or something. Nevertheless, the attack hadn't been entirely sloppy and so he didn't feel like a great oaf. He couldn't count on all four paws the times his leg had buckled during hunting.

When the younger wolf spoke again, Roo's ears pressed momentarily to his skull as he assessed her somewhat amused surveyal of himself. He twisted his muzzle towards his shoulder to have a look at himself and chuckled at the clumps of dirt and twig or two entwined in his coat. Being pale definitely had its downfalls. "N-no, not really. I-I'm travelling. N-no destination in sight th-though," he admitted, raising a back paw to scratch at the mess entangled in his coat. Eyes cast towards the young girl again, widening slightly, almost inviting her to speak without having asked her any outright questions.

His laugh made her tail catch itself in a friendly swing, and she moved around him, "I'm new too," she offered with a smile, "first time I've been through here -- I have found a place to stay in a vale not far from here." She shrugged her shoulders, "It's nice. Lots of food and shelter." She clicked her teeth and moved passed him, distractedly sniffing at the tree he had originally fallen into.

"My name is Aysun." She grinned, giving her tail another wag, "We could go after another rabbit, if you wanted." Sometimes a team of two was better then one -- actually as a predator it was almost always better with two. She cast a look off into the direction that the rabbit had gone, before looking back at the large male. His pale golden eyes stood out nicely against his fur and Aysun took a moment to gaze into them somewhat awkwardly before turning away from him.

Leaves fell from him as he scratched at his pale coat, and she chuckled softly -- "Hey! I liked the leaf-y look," she paused, "it suited you."