Porcupine Ridge Mama, come here, approach, appear

Life was beginning to return to the ridge in the form of small budding shrubs and greening grasses. The male wolf inspected several blades at length, searching them with his nose to discern that they were healthy and well before he lifted a leg to mark the land, likely killing them in the process. Ears twisting, the wolf lifted his head high and scanned his surroundings, gave his jowls a hefty shake and continued on along the inner edge of the borders.

Jhala was gone. Her scent was lacking at the borders, although her presence had never been strong in the first place. For a wolf who had ascended to the station of beta, she had done very little for the pack, including their fight against Ryujin. For that reason, the tawny male was not unhappy to find her scent stale and fading, though it did leave the precious hierarchy of the pack in turmoil once more. Vuk or Diane would surely step up to take Jhala's place, but until that happened, the tawny beta was uneasy, as evidenced by his almost nervous manner as he patrolled.

The sight of a brown furred wolf patrolling, perked Illea’s attention.  Her brown eyes flickered over his structure... examining the male, as she tried to figure out who he was.  Illea had gone to this border today, to just do a normal quick check for any unlucky intruders.  Looked like someone else had beat her too it though.  Suddenly she realized who it was.  It was that wolf from the two meetings regarding Ryūjin.  She padded out from her cover in the shadows.  Giving the male a quick welcoming yip, to alert him of her presence... unless she had been noticed already.

“Hey.  I’m Illea.”  She called out friendly to the brown furred male.  Although she was sure she would not get a response, since this male had always been silent during the meetings.  Still she just wanted to put those words words out, just so she could give the male her name, so that they could become more aquatinted.  Maybe the wolf would understand her words.  Maybe not.  She wasn’t sure.

A twitch in his muscles drew his head around and that was how Illea entered his line of sight. The beta wolf lifted his head, pricking his ears to convey an air of superiority, although he held little sway over the females of the pack. Their hierarchy was their own. Tail swaying, the man turned a half-step to regard her, and when she barked at him he made a low sound back, neither understanding her words nor attempting to respond in kind.

Sweeping the air with his muzzle, the man drew what scent he could to himself and analysed it quickly. The white-furred wolf was undeniably female, sexually mature but unreceptive, so rather unlike Vuk and Diane. Still, she was not a yearling and so she was in his good graces. The last yearling wolf to make a mark upon the pack had disappeared and the male was unlikely to ever see another yearling enter the upper ranks as a result of that. He yawned and then continued on his patrol, his waving tail an invitation.

Illea approached the wolf, with a carefulness.  She padded over to him, after noticing his beckon with his tail.  Her footsteps were light and quiet, like a gentle breeze as she approach.  Soon she stood next to the brown furred male and eyed him with interest, matching his step as he continued on with what he was doing.  She wondered what it would be like to just be silent.  It sounded peaceful, yet sad to never get to verbally communicate with others and express your feelings through words.  She wondered if the male could howl though, since he had at least made a few noises, although none that had meant anything that she could understand.

The white furred females honey brown eyes, shifted around the area.  It was actually pretty enjoyable to take a walk with someone/patrol in silence.  She hadn’t done this in a long time.  It was quite peaceful at this moment, as the two walked across the ridge.

If asked in terms he understood what it was like to be effectively mute among peers, the wolf would've shrugged. He didn't know the difference, except for the understanding that wolves of these parts were more vocal than his birth family and seemed less connected with their natural figures. Otherwise, the beta understood them all quite well, just not their spoken language. He knew they were speaking it, but it was all gibberish to him.

Illea fell into stride with him, though he maintained a lead by virtue of his rank alone. They went along in silence for a short while, but then the wolf's eye caught on a flash of movement in the near distance. His gait rolled from brisk walk to canter and soon enough he was able to tell that his target was a blue grouse, and with a deep woof he began to pursue it, hopefully with Illea close behind.

Illea saw the animal flash too.  She surveyed the creature for a tiny bit, noticing it was a Blue Grouse only a second after the other wolf.  She watched as her current patrolling companion, began to pursue the prey.  The excitement of a hunt filled her and she dashed after the male, determined to prove herself and contribute well to this hunt.  Her eyes scanned the land just beyond the pair watching the Blue Gourse with obvious interest.  Luckily this Blue Gourse happened to be on the more colorful side.

She sorted out ways to catch this gourse cleanly, quickly and neatly, that would work with a pair.  Nothing that would probably or had a good chance of working came to mind though.  In the end she just decided to let her now hunting companion decide what he thought was best.  Of course he couldn’t speak though, so she would probably end up shadowing him.