Deepwood Weald Time to take time, for spring will turn to fall

happening alongside babies ^^ work is making me angry atm so breaktime.  If this is <= 3 he'll find something 9

Ever since the locusts had passed, Dante had begun ranging farther afield in search of food.  It was a necessity... He could not go as far as Lasher had, not while Osprey was so close to her time.  But neither could he remain in Donnelaith, as any prey there was either long gone or scarce at best.

His pregnant mate was priority, so whatever he found, she would get what she needed.  He still ate, knowing that he needed to keep up his health to provide and protect, but there would soon begin to be a sharpness to his frame that would likely increase as weeks of little food went on.

Eyes narrowed, he snuffed about, hoping for some sign of anything warm and lively amongst the skeletal trees.

Having been born unto a plentiful spring and having weathered only a mild and forgiving winter, the girl was not conditioned for such cruelty. Oh woe was her. Indeed, the yearling was used to having a relatively full belly, and the gnawing of hunger had never found her so readily as it did now. In the wake of the locusts, which June had found magic in, came a dreaded sparsity of food that was at once unwelcome and unexpected. They may as well have been flesh-eating insects for how well they drove the prey away.

An inner voice insisted that she needed to conserve her energy, but a hungry and heedless June ranged out from Silvertip Mountain and into the weald as morning shifted to afternoon. She felt much hungrier than she looked. Her weight loss was minimal for now, not surprising given how reedy she already was, but there was a glint in her eyes that betrayed her hunger, and as the Silvertip yearling ranged further and further, she poked her tongue out in a gentle pant, as if the very oxygen of the air could sate her. But it could not.

When she came across a heavyset Mackenzie Valley wolf with cascading grey-to-white fur, June nearly hurried forward to greet him and see if he could aid in her search for food. He was surely capable, given the size of him, she having come to associate large size with capability in spite of reality, but the sight of his torn ear and the jagged cut of a scar through his coat stopped the yearling in her tracks. She was unable to mask a gentle whine as she came to a halt, uncertain of his temperament, given his scarring.

There was nothing.  Not a single trace of anything edible to be found.  He heaved a huff of annoyance and raised his head, narrowing his eyes at the distance as though perhaps something might miraculously appear.  Instead he was faced with a depressing expanse of dirt.

"Glorious," he muttered, sifting a paw at the dirt momentarily before readying to move on.  He would not stay long, but intended to circle about in hopes of finding something nearer the fields.

Instead he was met with a wary stranger.  He caught the whine and his ears twitched uncertainly; nothing about her spoke of a threat, but he wasn't sure he needed company right now.  Company meant possible competition for prey, something he could hardly afford with a pregnant mate to feed.

He did not immediately reject her though.  It seemed she wished to approach despite her trepidation, so his ears pushed forward and he relented some in his pose.  He'd hear what she wanted if she wished to speak, but he had places to be.

A soft breeze stirred the pure white fur across June's shoulders, but otherwise she was motionless as Dante circled to face her. He was even more daunting head-on, and she began to rethink her bold approach. Her paws shifted as though to carry her backward and away, but she paused, uncertain. Her tail pressed close to her hocks in deference and her mantle shuddered fearfully, but the Silvertip youth desperately needed food, and Dante looked like the kind of man who was capable of finding it for her.

"D-do you have a moment to spare? I'm starving. Maybe... maybe we could find something, share it?" she asked through a shiver. FitzDutiful would've been ashamed of his daughter, begging a stranger for a bite to eat, but June was still a child at heart and honour was not yet tightly woven to her heart. She was a virtuous and innocent thing, but she was not above begging when the need was as it was.

sorry <3 we can wrap this quick if you wish, feel free

She was obviously cowed, and he saw no threat in her movements.  She spoke of joining together, however, and his eyes narrowed.  

There was nothing to gain from such a thing, and much to lose.  He could not share, especially not if what they found was small.  That was the most likely of outcomes.  He had hungry mouths at home and she was not his to carry.

"Unless you know where to find enough to share, I do not think I can help you," he replied, knowing the words were cold.  But it was survival here and he had little enough energy to spare for his family. In these parts, seemed everyone was starving.

Her answer would prove unsatisfactory, and hardening himself, he would depart without much regret.  There was room for nothing but his family, and if she wished to have help, she needed to find another with less to lose.