Hushed Willows When a ghost is on the hunt

Open to all, it's just Gwen hunting :3

Hunter Thread: 2/5

Gwen scanned the area in front of her. She wanted to prove her worth, secure her place in Marauder's Keep, and earn the hunter trade. I can achieve them all, if I work for it, she thought to herself. Though, with winter settling in and the prey dropping to minimal amounts, earning the hunter trade and hunting for the pack was proving to be a difficult task. However, after meeting the mysterious lone wolf, Knew, she had felt more confident in the goals ahead of her. He was, so far, the only one in the Teekon Wilds who knew anything at all about her backstory and had been very supportive of her, which gave her a warm feeling inside. More friends like that would be amazing, but for now she would settle for just one.

She glanced up at the sky. It was chilly, but luckily her coat was fairly thick. Also, due to her white fur, she was able to blend in more with the snowy surroundings and that helped hunting a lot. She streched and decided she would attempt to find something. Chances were the only thing she'd find was a rabbit, if that, but it was worth a try.

The dark Ostrega was often on the trail himself. He'd dogged the rabbit warren for some of the morning and eventually been evaded until his motivation ran out, so he was back to roving through the willows soon after. He hoped he could find something better if he just put in the effort.

On the way, he started to notice scent of one of the new wolves -- which, he knew a tiny bit about, but considering his introversion, he'd yet to seek them out. His stomach felt like it twisted into a worried knot when he realized he was getting warmer on her trail, and that it was very possible she was out hunting like he was. He swallowed thickly and plodded closer, trying not to dread an interaction with a stranger so badly.

When he could see her (all stark white unlike so many he knew), he slowed up immediately and studied her carefully upon his approach. His posture surely suggested his uneasiness, but he exchanged it for a small tail-quiver of greeting. He couldn't tell what she was doing just yet but in an effort to let her gauge the response to him and not interrupt anything in case he was doing so, he was quiet.

Gwen was sniffing around and keeping silent, but she heard someone approached so she paused. She remainded like this for a few moments before turning to see who had arrived. "Hello?" she said quietly as she finally saw the wolf standing not too far off. She wagged her tail slightly but lowered her head, realising that this wolf must be a member of the pack and was most certainly a higher rank than she.

After all, the only ones 'below' her where Talewi - was that her name? Gwen wasn't completely sure, but she knew who she was thinking of - and the pups. She kept her stance fairly low and submissive but she also looked up, though not meeting his gaze, to inspect the male.

While he was comfortable enough in his humble niche among the pack, Silas was not often faced with others showing a submissive side to him. He licked his chops somewhat nervously, but otherwise did not pressure her with a stance of his own. Instead he hung neutral, from tail to shoulders and all else. Anything more and he knew he'd just feel awkward. He was comfortable in a middling position, happy to be support to leaders who made him want to be good for them, so he wasn't bound to be very assertive about his ranking.

Swallowing slowly, he tried to find his courage as he fought against the urge to gawk continuously at the pale female -- a stranger, essentially, but she was supposed to become one of them if she stayed here. "Um, hi. I'm Silas." This was his best place to start since he couldn't entirely tell if she'd rather not he be here. "Were you doing something?" he tilted his head and didn't mean it to sound rude.

Gwen smiled and relaxed slightly. This wolf seemed to feel as awkward as she did. "I'm Gwen... nice to meet you!" She said politely, with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. Though it only made her sound pretty casual, and didn't do much.

She again wagged her tail in a sign of friendliness and replied "Um... no, not really..... I was just trying to find some prey... no luck so far."

He could find a measure of relief in having her words seeming friendly enough. Silas nodded, wriggling his tail again too as he committed her name to memory. It was simple enough, so he didn't think he would have much trouble with it.. but it was still just a start for him. Thankfully, he could latch onto something she'd mentioned: prey. "Oh. I was tracking too, kind of. It's really quiet around here though," he said, having brightened a little bit in talking about what he did have pretty good experience in. "And I already bothered the rabbit warren I know this morning, with not much luck either, so I wouldn't waste your time there at least for a few more hours..." he went on to detail, probably beginning to give away that in his meager repertoire of interests, prey pursuits were one at his top.

Gwen nodded "Yeah, I haven't really found much." She sighed. Earning the Hunter trade was something she greatly wanted to do, but she was beginning to struggle in the cold Winter. "Oh, thanks for letting me know," She gave him a smile. It seemed as though this wolf enjoyed hunting just as much as she did. The white female was glad to find someone with a passion similar to her own. "Uh, you wanna hunt with me?" She asked. She hadn't hunted with anyone for at least 5 months, so having someone beside her while hunting something would be pretty fun, she thought.

Silas gave her a little nod. "No problem," he said to her thanks, since it just seemed like natural enough information to pass along to his packmates, especially if he was supposed to be someone invested in their gamekeeping here. Then, to her question that followed, his kneejerk response was interest. "Oh. Sure. What do you like to hunt? Or are good at? 'Cause I don't have a lot of experience in anything that isn't small game yet, but I want to do more.." Most of all, he was looking to feel it out. He also didn't do a lot hunting with a partner either, but he didn't mention that. The pack hunt had at least given him a small taste of it. Now, he felt like he could savor something like that much more, but he still had a lot of work to do before he could undertake something like that.

Gwen felt relieved that he said yes, mainly because if he had said no it might have been awkward. She thought about his question, and replied a few moments later "I've only really hunted small game myself, especially rabbits, but I'd love to try something else." She wagged her tail and glanced around, though she wasn't really sure why. Habit, I suppose.

"I don't mind what we hunt, really, I suppose whatever we can find," she gave a small chuckle.

Something else. His ears flicked and brow furrowed. He'd have to hope his luck on the trails changed soon if he could muster up something worth pursuing. But, he did kind of agree: he felt like exploring the other options if they could help it. Now, next step was making that so. "I can show you some spots in the woods that usually have a hint of activity besides just rabbits.. and they're ones I've not gone over yet today so I need to. Maybe we can have some better ideas over there." he gestured vaguely first, not immediately rushing into motion before giving her time to reply. Assuming all was well, he got ready to turn for the route in mind and set to motion.

He didn't know enough about hunting in a pair to have a good grasp on what all exactly they could do. He could probably track down a deer trail since he liked to keep tabs on those, but those were still not something he felt confident pursuing -- especially not even knowing that Gwen was an excellent enough hunter to perhaps carry some of his inexperience. That was all but out of the question. But, while he moved on, he dipped his nose down low to the ground occasionally to divide his attention between the trail and the winds alike. He hoped. However, there was a bit more ground to cover before he would get more serious. For now, questions came to mind as he glanced over his shoulder towards her. "Do you think you'd want to be, uh, an official hunter for the pack.. or just hunting because..?" Silas asked in his typical inelegance, trying to get to know her better if he could.

"Really? Awesome." She said with a grin. Perhaps while there they would find something worth bringing back to the pack - a deer or something similar size would be preferable, though she'd gladly take anything they could find. Gwen still wanted to prove her worth as a hunter for the Keep, and maybe if her and Silas could bring something down it would contribute to her earning a trade.

The wolfess walked alongside Silas, also occasionally lowering her nose to the ground in an attempt to possibly scent something. She wasn't, however, an excellent tracker. Gwen was much more skilled in the actual process of hunting, particularly if it was large game - or even a rabbit - as she was light on her feet and fast. Yet, still, she did want to help as much as she could. The white she-wolf, when not sniffing the ground, glanced around her, scanning the area around the pair. Her eyes were sharp - useful for spotting small prey or even larger, camoflaged prey.

Gwen was broken out of her thoughts as a question was given to her. She turned her head slightly to look at Silas, before nodding eagerly. "Yes... I mean, I'm working on the hunter trade. I enjoy hunting very much - especially the chase." She smiled and continued, "I'm not the best tracker, after all. I'm better at ambushing prey, chasing if necessary. Becoming an official hunter of the pack would be an honor."

In relaxing a bit more into her presence, and distracted by the steps necessary in tracking, he felt a bit better. Her answer, too, sparked a bit of hope since she did actually want to be a hunter among them. "Oh, nice.. I was kind of hoping so. It would be good to have more big hunts." And more hunters dedicated to the cause especially would benefit the pack greatly. "I just earned my title officially, but I still have lots to learn.. since I won't even be a year old yet for a little while.." he murmured, sniffing carefully before he spoke on again. Come his first birthday, though, he was hoping to feel a bit more established (and maybe even confident) in his position as formally a hunter of the Keep. For now, he was still a huge newbie.

His thoughts on the matter came a little more freely knowing she did want to dedicate to it. "I'm a pretty okay tracker. The chase is.. good too. Ambush is probably something I need to improve the most, next to group hunts.. so like almost the opposite," he chuffed softly. But, she was likely a lot older than him so he didn't feel too badly about his inexperience.

He carried on a little while long, eventually moving them closer and closer. It wasn't quite to where he'd planned yet, but he noticed some fairly distinct prints scuffed into the snow. "Hey, look.." he motioned before he lowered his nose to sniff at one of them. They were obscured by other traffic already, so not the freshest. But he didn't often see these elusive critters here: wild pigs.