Lion Head Mesa Canis Major, Canis Minor, Canis... Mediocris?

Weeks had passed since his encounter with Cicero, and since then he'd seen not a single sign of the older male. He'd wondered for a long while, trying to figure out where the other had gone or if he was in danger. Given the circumstances surrounding their initial meeting, he'd thought for quite some time on the notion that, perhaps, the seemingly kind wolf had been the culprit all along. The pieces certainly fit, after all, but not enough that the hypothesis could be considered concrete. Being a highly social creature, his mind presented him with an array of other possibilities, having no desire in assuming the worst of someone. While it'd never been enough to fully wipe him of his suspicions, it had been enough to keep him from thinking much further into it. As he'd tried to see it, the happenings of the past were to remain back where they'd been left unless desperately needed; which, of course, they were not.

It was a wonder how he'd managed to cover such little ground in the time he'd been given, but nevertheless, the fact remained that he'd only crossed into an unclaimed territory lining the one he'd previously been in. Minshi did not fret over such trivial matters, though, being a firm believer that time was of minute importance. Just as long as he continued to move forward and be given the opportunities to see new things, it didn't bother him for how long he traveled—or, in this case, how long he'd messed around for prior to the continuation of his journey. In the end, he'd managed to carry on, and that was what really mattered. For it'd landed him within the embrace of a mesa, whose surrounding area seemed fairly barren. It did not bother the star child, as he'd made due with what he had and proceeded to trek through the dry grasses, careful not to trip and fall lest he wish for another fit of itchy sensations.

While the towering mass of land had intrigued him, he'd dared not attempt to scale it. Instead, he'd focused his attention elsewhere, a flurry of feathers having caught his eye. It was not a small bird he'd set his gaze upon, however, but a decently sized turkey vulture. Min saw it as a meal, assuming it to be an easy catch as he witnessed it walking across the earth. Thus, he'd begun stalking it, creeping forward with his body low to the ground. The moment he'd gotten close enough, he'd coiled and then launched himself forward, awaiting the strange feeling of feathers in his mouth—but it never came. Rather, the vulture had noticed it's hungry follower and, like anything wishing to live would, had taken off right before the boy's front paws had even touched the earth. Minshi was disappointed by the loss, an immature whine slipping past his lips as he trailed after the missed opportunity with his gaze, watching it as more and more distance was placed between them. Once it could no longer be seen, he'd plopped himself down right on his butt and pouted, certain he was going to end up starving to death (which wasn't the case at all, he's just a drama queen).

Hey! Mind if I use this for my scouting trade? >->

Quiet, unable (or really, unwilling) to bring herself to stalk one of the many scary wolves of her pack instead decided to further increase her scouting trade. She was pleased with the amount of progress she was having in both trades and with spring now here she could use them both to her advantage in tracking the various herds that wandered in the Flatlands near their forest. But she needed to know the lay of the land first. And so the coywolfdog ventured south towards the large structure that dominated the southern horizon.

Quiet was slightly disturbed by the dry land south of the Woods, her paws not responded well to the soil shift from slightly damp to bone dry but she walked still, knowing that some sort of creature would live here or at the very least pass through here. The sign of a turkey vulture in the sky alerted her to the presence of food in the area and Quiet followed it's trail watching as it set down onto the ground. As she closed the distance she saw a flash of feathers followed closely by a flash of pale fur and once more the vulture lofted off into the sky. Quiet looked with mild interest at the young wolf, her head cocked at its whine. Was it trying to eat the vulture? Was he that desperate to eat a scavenger? Quiet remained a fair distance away from him, staring incredulously at him.

The sight of the young wolf that he had poisoned weeks earlier intrigued Cicero and was enough to captivate his interest. With a limp to his step, the hardened bubbles on his leg proof of cause, Cicero started making his way to the Mesa, where the boy had been hunting for something, it seemed, though not successfully so. He felt a pang of compassion for the boy's sad expression, but approached with neutral expression on face.

As he noticed the quiet wolf, Cicero prodded her side with his nose, offering her a chance to remain unseen should she wish it so, and warning not to betray him (though she had no means to).

Then he strafed to the side, approaching from a different angle should the quiet wolf wish to remain unseen, and ears directed forward he approached the boy. "Oh my goodness!" he exclaimed, easily slipping into the character he had played that day. "You're okay! I can't believe it! When I returned you were gone, but then, I'd been searching for some time. Did it wear off? Did it stay for long?" Cicero looked at the boy with widened eyes as though he could not believe that the boy was still alive after all that he had been through. Hopefully he would once more snatch the bait, as Cicero felt he had given him little reason to mistrust him for more than an honest mistake of gullibility.

I don't mind at all! Also, didn't roll to see if he'd notice Quiet because I assumed she's far enough away that it wouldn't make much sense for him to. c: And omg, Cicero is such a lil bugger! o:

Minshi had not taken notice to the silent hybrid, his session of self-pity engulfing the entirety of his mind. For someone who loved food as much as he did, some might say it was rather surprising that he wasn't a better hunter. He'd never put too much thought into it, though. When he caught something, that was great. When he failed, it sucked more than a leech. He'd never thought of ways in which he might better himself, for never before had it been necessary prior to his departure from home. Presently, though, he'd spared it a moment or two of attention, considering what his options were. Min being Min, of course, he'd skipped right over the notion of bettering himself as an individual, landing him right on 'find a friend or two to help you out'. Oh poor, simple Minshi.

The boy's head had snapped up almost immediately when he'd heard another approaching, the voice and the being that owned it having been recognized right away. He was cautious of the other, for he'd waited quite some time and never had the stranger returned. The younger had been left there to deal with the situation on his own, which, thankfully, hadn't resulted in him getting injured. His unease was, perhaps, made obvious by the expression he wore, as so by the step he'd taken away from the other male. Even though a glimpse of Cicero's leg had been caught, no questions relating to it had been presented. Instead, the several inquiries that'd been thrown out were focused upon. It'd taken a second or two for Minshi to sort through them, as well as piece together his answers, but once he'd finally done it pauses had become sparse. "It did wear off, but... it'd lasted for awhile. I was so scared, and then when I could finally see again you weren't anywhere nearby. I waited, but... you never came back! You left me there all alone!" It was something of a tantrum that he'd just thrown, or perhaps more similar to someone who'd just been scared half to death by their significant other jumping out of a closet at them whilst wearing a mask. Yeah, the latter was probably more accurate.

"Did you find him at least?" Minshi asked, deciding to fire his own round of questions. "Did you find whoever poisoned the rabbit? Did you get them back for what they did?" Though innocent by nature, he found himself currently being all for the idea of revenge. Once he'd settled down, it was likely he would no  longer think that way, but currently the star child was out to restore balance. Someone had poisoned him and probably the stranger, too, so didn't they deserve to be punished in some way? How, he did not know, but something needed to happen to them!

Quiet flinched at the sharp prod on her side, turning to see the mottled wolf stride towards the pale one a few lengths away. She was curious, not knowing that Cicero was the resident spymaster of the pack, but she decided to respect his wishes and hang back, only sneaking close enough to hear their conversation. Who was this mewling little wolf and why was Cicero so interested in him?

She listened as Cicero spoke to the wolf, his voice strangely compassionate towards him. Was he a friend then? Quiet didn't like Cicero's choice in friends, based on the pale wolf's whining. But this mention of a poisoned rabbit...was that Cicero's doing? Or another Dark Sibling? Quiet was intrigued, and hunkered down in the grass, watching.

The quiet wolf stayed back, as Cicero had instructed it — or rather, invited — it to, and Cicero approached. The poisoned wolf seemed upset about being left alone, which Cicero supposed was a normal reaction, albeit a selfish one. It wasn't like Cicero, even if he had been some random stranger, had been able to do much at all. "I did come back, but you were nowhere to be seen," said Cicero. He had come back, eventually, but by that time the poisoned wolf had been gone; probably his poisons had worn off.

Cicero continued to explain, "I looked around to see if there was anything funny where I'd found it, but I couldn't find anyone or anything off... So I searched and then eventually I returned to you, but you were gone. How long were you out there?" He'd returned in maybe half a day, maybe a bit more, and was curious how long the poisons had lasted -- hopefully he could get some more information about the way that the wolf had been poisoned before losing trust completely; it was only a matter of time until that moment, Cicero thought, considering the wolf was selfish and eventually he would choose for himself rather than trust Cicero, he felt.

The silent hybrid's presence remained unnoticed by the boy, his attention being occupied solely by Cicero. He could not get over the fact that the other had never returned, though it was soon revealed that that hadn't been the case at all. The marbled wolf had returned, but it must have been only after the younger had already taken his leave. They'd missed one another, it seemed, though by how long was not known. Despite having made such a crass accusation, no remorse was felt. He'd been fueled by the moment, by the hurt and fear he'd felt after having been poisoned, and so the notion of apologizing was lost on him. The only word that had managed to slip from his tongue was a toneless, "Oh." Afterwards, he'd fallen silent, but it was only for a moment before he'd needed to speak once again.

"So the bad guy got away..." he'd concluded, more so to himself that the other. It wasn't the best of news—honestly, it wasn't anywhere near good—but it was something he'd decided he would probably have to live with. If the stranger hadn't been able to find the criminal back when the trail was still fresh, then his chances of doing so in the present were nonexistent. Whoever, or whatever, had laced the rabbit was probably long gone, and it seemed as if they'd be getting away with their awful act. "I didn't wait for very long..." he'd then admitted. "At least, not as long as I guess I should have." If only he'd waited for a while longer, perhaps Cicero would have returned to him, and then the two would have been able to search together.

Feel free to skip over me for now since Quiet isn't doing anything but listening

Quiet sat quietly, doing what she did best: listening. The hybrid was unseen by the pale, young wolf, and Cicero ignored her all together, focusing entirely on the pale wolf who spoke of poisons and "bad guys". Without context Quiet didn't know what to make of it all. She was confused but thought that if she listened for a bit longer she would make sense out of this.

Cicero was very pleased to hear that the guy still believed that it was not Cicero who had poisoned him. His story had been kept short and believable, Cicero thought, but he had experienced plenty of wolves who still would not be very impressed with it. Cicero put up a caring frown as the guy said that he hadn't waited for very long either, and he said, "Well, I'm just glad to see you're okay! How long did it last until you got better?" Probably 'not very long', then. The trickiest part now was to get away from the guy again and coax along the quiet wolf so that he could inform her of what had happened. He wasn't sure she was still watching and listening in, truthfully; he had given it to her as an option but would she wish to come on over Cicero would not mind, either. Especially now — he had the information he needed about the poisoning, so now he mostly needed an escape. The quiet wolf showing up now would have been perfect because then he could say he needed to come with her for an emergency of sorts. Cicero glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the @Quiet wolf, though he wasn't sure she would understand his hints.

It seemed as if the other didn't take any offense to the boy's accusation, nor did he seem to really care that he hadn't been waited on for an especially long period of time. Min had caught a break, or so was what he believed. He'd yet to realize that his enemy was near to him; even if he had suspected it, he had no concrete evidence to support his hypothesis. He'd not been there when the rabbit was caught, he hadn't seen the plants being stuffed inside of it. Plus, Cicero had also eaten from the corpse, but it seemed he hadn't had a bad reaction to it. That in itself should have, perhaps, been suspicious, but the boy just couldn't bring himself to feel that way towards the situation. As it currently stood, the stranger remained as his saviour of sorts, the one that had fed him when he could have kept the entirety of the meal for himself. As payment for that, he wanted to answer that which was asked of him, but soon found that he couldn't.

Minshi's face scrunched up in thought, before he shook his head and shrugged. "I dunno," the younger answered, frowning slightly at his own lack of a proper response. "I don't know how much time passed... but it couldn't have been that long." That was a bit better, though he hadn't the opportunity to smile at his save, for he'd noticed the other glancing over his shoulder. Cautiously, he leaned slightly, looking around the older male and in the direction he'd glanced, but didn't find anything—rather, he'd given the area a quick look before returning his attention to Cicero, not allowing himself a real opportunity at searching for someone or something. "What are you looking at?" came his question, ever curious was he. "Is someone over there?" What was going on?

i hope you guys don't mind finishing this up? :)

The quiet wolf did not come forth, and Cicero looked back at the wolf as he was asked about his diverted attentions. Cicero looked over his shoulder again and said, "Did you see something too..?" to divert attentions away from him looking towards the quiet wolf. He shook his head and said, "Probably nothing..." while mentally mapping 'not that long' for the duration of the poison. Yet it was still strong stuff if it could make a wolf go blind, however short.

Cicero said, "Look, I should probably go. I'm glad you're doing better." Cicero smiled appreciatively and then he slipped away from the wolf, not sure he'd ever see him again, back towards the darkness of the Woods, in opposite direction of the quiet wolf. And as quick as he had come he departed, content with the information he'd garnered but glad to be away from the other wolf once more before such useless emotions as pity or compassion might kick in.

Wrapped this up since Quiet is inactive. ^^ Thanks for another interesting thread, Iris!

With his trust having since been placed in the patchwork wolf, he'd shrugged off his suspicions, deciding nothing must have been there—or something had been, but wasn't that important. Either way, it hadn't held his attention for very long, for the other spoke of leaving. Quickly, he'd looked to Cicero, but already had he started to head off on his own. "Maybe we'll see each other again sometime?" the boy voiced, though whether or not he'd ever been heard, he might never know. Rather than following the stranger, Min had chosen to take his own leave, too, continuing with his journey once more. There were still plenty of sights to see, and experiences to, well, experience. Thus, he was content, possibly even happy, as he wandered away, trailing off to finish the quest he'd started.

Never did he even take notice to the silent guest they'd had the entire time.