Blacktail Deer Plateau familiar faces

even though the girl loved adventure and change, she still found herself missing the old territory at times. she had existed on the fringes of the pack for quite some time, and some mild illness had put her out of sorts. things had changed, but then again, weren't they always changing? new faces and scents, the old fading or faded, only her father a constant through all this. and Kieran, she supposed, he had never vanished from their ranks. 

she crawled from her makeshift den, gaze scanning the dusk-lit woods, shaking earth and dust from her pelt. she had felt listless, drained, this past while, and the journey here had been the beginning of an illness that had stuck with her for some time. but now, the last dregs of sickness faded from her, and for the first time in a long time, she felt herself. 

she adopted a lope, pleased to find that it didn't drain her anymore, and moved through the semi-familiar trees, ears roaming atop her skull and gaze flickering here and there, waiting, listening, to catch sight of something. after so long in the fringes, she wished to be apart o something one more.

The young medic Pema was walking threw the territory as she did most days. She tired to be everywhere at once and speak to the members of the pack as much as possible. Wanting to have a close realation with everyone, she had already meet all of the member of the pack. Well almost all of them members. Grayday's daughter Dawn was the last wolf on her list that she had yet to meet. 

Pema wanted to get her mind off of recent events involving Heartha's passing. Getting threw it and moving past it was the strategy at the moment, but she wasn't really sure how well that was working out for her. For now she hadn't been crying or sulking, but rather looking for things productive to do so she could keep her mind off it. One day she might have to face everything that happened that day, but hopfully not today.

Even though Pema wanted to meet Dawn, today she wasn't searching for her. Not that she didn't want to meet her, but before she had been tracking down unfamiliar scents. Today it seemed a coincidence that the two would stumble upon eachother. The frame of a dark and gray female came into Pema's view threw the trees. She recognized that it wasn't Grayday so it could only be one other person.

Walking up to her she greeted and introduced herself saying, "Hi there. You must be Dawn. My name is Pema. It's so nice to finally meet you." her tail swaying matching the smile on her face.

 

it wasn't long before the girl came across another, a stranger who bore the scent of the pack. a new recruit, then, but not one she had met; not that she had made much of an effort to meet. she liked to believe that she was fluid, adaptable to change, and it was true that in many ways she was. but having so many faces of her pack replaced by new ones was more change than she liked, even though she knew it was rude of her. 

the pale sterling girl stopped smoothly, sickness had had no effect on the hunter's grace she had learned well. bronze gaze travelled up and down the new girl, sizing her up. it troubled her that she didn't know exactly how long the woman had been here, her comings and goings, coupled with her illness, making the past few weeks a bit of a haze, punctuated only by a few events she tried not to think about too much. the key to avoiding grief, she had come to realize, was to quickly cast the subject into the very fringes of your mind, and never think about it. ever. 

"Pema" the girl echoed, voice tinged with coarseness, scanning her once more. " you're very new, aren't you?"  her tone was benign, with a note of curiosity, but not overly enthusiastic. she wasn't about to let Pema and other like her replace the faces of the past, no matter how childish that was. she would grow to learn quickly, though, that change in the ranks was always inevitable.

She thought about it, the amount of time she had been in the pack and was shocked by the reality of the answer. Had it really only been a weeks worth of time. So much had happened in that short span of time. Having had the time to meet every member of the pack and create an individual realationship with each of them. It felt like she had been with them for months, longer then that. She had found her place within the pack so easily, even if she was trying to bolden her title as the medic. It was clear that there was a family her, within the pack, and Pema was so over joyed to be a part of it.

"I've only been here a week or so, but it feels like so much longer then that." she explained to Dawn and told herself who was still somewhat in disbelief. Looking at Dawn, Pema could see similarities between her and Grayday. Their gray filled coats, average size and amber varied colored eyes. She mentally compared her to the current three pups, Easy, Dauntless, and Lavender. Dauntless shared somewhat similar colors, but Easy and especially Lavender had very different colors. Pema had never meet Khoe before, but she tried to imagine what coloration she must have to contribute to the pups appearances.

"What about you? Where have you been the last week?" she asked wanted to know why the two hadn't crossed paths prior to today.

The question wasn't overly intrusive, really, but it tugged at her irritation in the slightest. She had gotten good at hiding these things, however, and replied simply, " Wandering. I'm a scout, and I'll be an Ambassador, one day - it's my job."  It wasn't shaming that had her hiding her past illness, but rather an aversion to letting on too much to these new wolves. Nor did she want the first impression of herself to be seen as weak, so she skirted around the whole story. 

"What do you do, Pema?"  She didn't pin her as a warrior upon first glance, but she knew better than to rely on appearance. She knew that the pack was in need of a medic, and a naturalist, and wondered if this woman had come to fill that void; if so, the pack would certainly run a great deal smoother.

A scout. That's why Pema hadn't seen her around. I made sence though. The life of a scout often was filled with distant trips away from the packs territory. Especially for an ambassador who had to model the pack to other near by packs mostly. Being the leaders daughter, Pema could see how she would be a good ambassador. "I bet you do a marval job representing the pack out there."

A question then when to her, which she replied saying, "I've kinda before the pack medic. Helping people with infections and illnesses. I'm also trying to improve my hunting for when winter comes." the same realative answer she had given to the other members of the pack prior.

She claimed she was a medic, which was one void in the pack filled then, she supposed. "How did you learn? You can't be too much older than me - did you have a mentor?" she asked with a tilt of her head. Scouting didn't require much teaching, though she supposed Aoife had been something of a mentor to her in the early days. She had learned to navigate by the sun and stars, learned to hunt under her packmates.  But medicine wasn't something that one could simply have an intuition for, its knowledge required teaching; Dawn had to admit it appealed to her. 

She began slowly, thinking, then laid out her thoughts. "I can hunt; pretty well, too. If - if you were willing to teach me some of what you know, I'd be more than happy to hunt with you; show you what I know."  She wouldn't have made such an offer to an older wolf, but their slim difference in ages had her believe that them learning from each other could benefit them both, and even come naturally.

"My old pack had many wolves who had master their trades. So I know alittle of everything and I remember the herbs the medics used for curtain illness and injuries." she explained. All of Pema's life she had been surrounded by such expertise that at time, even now, she felt as though she could do so much better but simply wasn't. This was part of the reason she was so eager to learn everything she could, having these unconsious thoughs going around in her mind. Reminding her that there was someone out there that knew so much more then her and that if they knew all those things she could know them too. 

When Dawn preposed a trade off of skills Pema was intreged. "That sounds like a great I idea. Do you want to start now or maybe at a later time." Pema could understand that scouts may need to venture out of the pack from time to time so she would understand if Dawn had somewhere to be at the moment. But she wouldn't pass up the opportunity to teach and to learn in the same instance. Especially if this was going to help her and someone else in the process.

"I don't see why not" she mused with a smile teasing her muzzle, glad her proposal had been accepted. She stood, shaking out her pelt, gaze finding Pema's. "I found a scent back there - fox. If you were up for it, we could see if its still in the territory, and whether or not it would make a good meal? In any case, I was going to track it; it could be a danger to the pups." Her head tilted a fraction in question. A hunt would be a good time to learn about her new packmate and how she worked, and would offer some fun, too. A fox hunt was a little ambitious, perhaps, for a poor or novice hunter, but Dawn couldn't see why two wolves couldn't handle a single mangy fox.

There hunt would start now, and after a fox no less. Not a usual prey for wolves, but definatly one that needed to be if it were a danger for the young wolves within a pack. It made fur on Pema's back stand for a moment, thinking of how it could pose a danger to Easy, Dauntless or Lavender. Of course they were almost always under the watchful eye of Grayday or another pack member, but illiminating the threat would be the best course of action. 

"Maybe not the best meal, but something. And I agree that it would be a good idea to at least make sure it wasn't in the territory where it could pose a danger to any of the pups. If we can't hunt it down, at least we could chase it off." Foxes were sometimes trickier to catch with them also being a preditor and being about to hunt some of the same prey as wolves ment that in some ways they were similar to wolves. 

Pema started walking on, making sure she was keeping up with Dawn, seeing as how she had seen the creature last. He nose was pressed to the ground analyzing every scent that passed her nostriles. Untill she caught a whiff of what she was after comming off of a tree. "I think I may gave something over here." she said hinting of Dawn to some over and check it out as well. She was still rather new at all this and wanted to make sure she wasn't leading the two in the wrong direction.

The girl let a smirk pass over her muzzle a moment, remarking, " You'd be surprised; fox can be rather tasty. If we manage to catch it, it could make a good meal for the pups, too."  Dawn had tasted fox only once or twice, for they were a wily sort of creature, and a hard meal to catch. Meat was meat, and fox was a meal and an annoyance, but she found she liked the taste. Not as good as venison, but still, it was close. She led Pema in the general direction of the fox, waiting for her to notice its scent. When she did, the huntress nodded,  catching the scent quickly and glancing in the direction it led. "When tracking, look for bits of fur caught in brambles, scat, prints, as well as the scent trail. Through water and rocks, the scent can be harder to trace, so you'll have to be especially focused for anything that could mean a trail." She offered, not quite sure where to start. She motioned for Pema to follow, and began to lead the way, hanging back at times to let Pema track herself, and pointing out clues she found especially helpful when tracking prey such as this.

Pema hadn't had the chace to taste fox before, but Dawn had and insisted that it was fairly tasty. It made Pema want to catch it more the chase it off now. Along with the helpful tips that Dawn gave her along the way she would also get the chance to expand her palet. She emphasised focus when it came to tracking down prey, which would prove especially helpful in terrain where scents were hard to follow.

Besides the tracking lesson, Pema enjoyed the company of Dawn. They were similar in age, but she felt like it was more then that. Hunting with someone else required communication and sometimes a good connection depending on the cirumstances. This bonding activity would both strength their skills and realationship. 

Once they found the trail Pema was determined to keep on it like glue, following it down the tree and through the waving trees. It seemed to make fequent stops either near on in tree, making it a bit hard to pick up where they came out of the tree rather then where they climbed up it. But eventually they came to the trunk of a tree with a small opening between two exposed roots. "I think we may have found our finishing line."

They wove through the trees, occasionally tracking through undergrowth or brambles, Dawn helping Pema whenever she looked like she might need it. Dawn was surprised, and disheartened when they came to a den; if the fox had settled here, it might be harder than anticipated to truly drive it out. But there was another scent here; and old scent of death and carrion, and as the pair drew closer, the soft sounds of cracking bone and tearing flesh greeted them. It took the girl a moment of scenting, carefully and quietly, a short distance from the burrow, before she realized what exactly had happened. "It's hard to notice, but there's old racoon scent here, too. Faint, but plenty of it; which means that,"  she murmured, motioning at the roots, " is - was its burrow. It probably died in there, which is where are fox is gorging itself right now. I think it's best that we wait it out; if we startle it, it could stay on there for ages, or attack us outright."  Dawn continued softly, glancing to Pema and settling down on her haunches downwind of the burrow. She didn't know just how long it would take for the fox to be satisfied, but hopefully not much longer.

While she seemed to have gotten the hang of tracking down a scent it seemed she still had alittle ways to go when it came to identifying scents that intertwined with one another. Because she was focused on it she could identify the fox, but hadn't noticed the scent of racoon as she tried to block out other scents so she could track the fox. 

Her ears twitched back and forth as she heard the noises of the fox chewing on the flesh and bones of a deceased racoon. Dawn went on to explain that more likely then not it was the racoons den and not the foxes and that the best thing to do would be to wait it out. If startled it was likely to not come out for awhile, seeing as how it had food and seemingly no where else to be. Nodding silently to Dawn she backed away from the den, following Dawn down wind.

She might have started a conversation, if she wasn't too afraid that the noise might startle the fox. As they waited she layed down and took ocassional looks to smile at Dawn. They wouldn't say much for the fifteen minutes it took for the fox to become satisfied from it's meal. Waiting that long felt like forever when all you were doing was waiting. 

But after the wait a small head appeared out of the den, decorated in red paint from it's meal. It hesitated at the entrance of the den smelling the air. Lucky that the two were down wind or they would have been done in. Once it felt as though it was safe it began trotting away from the den and away from the two hunters. Pema looked at Dawn, telling her that she was about to iniciate the chase. If it turned out that she wouldn't be able to catch the fox she wanted Dawn to be right behind to make the second attempt.

Rising from the ground slowly, eyes trained on the fox she walked forward until she was a few yards closer, but still rather far away from where the fox trotted. Then she darted to a sprint getting a few feet before the fox realized what was happening and began running itself. She was gaining on it and only had to dodge a few trees before she made her first strike at the fox. 

Her jaws made contact with the back half of the fox, around it's hips. She had a good enough hold to keep it from running away, but thought that if she were to let go and attempt to grab it's neck it would escape and flee being such a swift creature. - or her writer wanted to make sure that Dawn could participate.

She ought to have warned Pema, but before the words could come the woman was already on the move, and Dawn followed with a stalking trot. She burst into a canter behind her when Pema made her move, the other woman's fangs digging into the creature's hindquarters. Foxes' were wily, and this one was no different, it seemed to flip over itself as it twisted and snapped desperately at Pema's face. It had neglected to take into account the second hunter, however, and when the fox exposed it's underbelly as it twisted, Dawn darted into the minute opening, fangs tearing the tender flesh. It screamed as animals do when death is upon them, and its fangs flew toward's Dawn, landing a burning grip below her left eye. She shook it off, offering it a heavy blow with her paw as it weakened rapidly, red elixir pooling around its twitching form.

The fox stopped moving and attempted to lash out on Pema. Luckily for her two things were on her side. One was that she had a strong grib on the foxes backside. Similar to how most wolves couldn't grab their tails, this fox wasn't about to reach far enough to nip at Pema. The placement of her teeth had been just in the right spot, well second best spot. The best spot would have been the neck or stomach, which is where Dawn's jaws landed, her second lucky thing.

It was alive for a few more moments before it's cries went silent and it's body went limp. Pema held on for a few more second before releasing her grip and proceeding to sniff around the body. Wondering just how taste this fox would be, or if rather she should simply bring it to the cache where someone like Dawn, who really enjoyed fox would enjoy it. 

"That was... different." she said describing how different it was to hunt a preditor willing to try and fight back rather then prey who would have rather chosen to try and keep running. "You should take the first bites. I think I'll just try alittle and bring the rest of whatever you don't eat to the cache."

The wounds under her eye smarted, but it was superficial, and the bleeding out to stop fairly soon. Her gaze turned towards the fox, and she half-heard Pema's words at first, only listening attentively a moment later when the thrill of the hunt had faded from her veins. " No, you ought to try it first; I'm going to bring this to the pups. I don't know if they've seen a fox before, and it ought to be good for them to see what it looks like - and tastes like." After making sure that Pema had tried the fox, should she choose to do so, Dawn scooped up the corpse by the scruff and, dragging it across the earth, brought it in the form of an offering and a lesson to her siblings. Glancing over her shoulder and dropping the corpse for a moment, she added, " We should do this again, sometime, if you'd like; perhaps you could teach me next time." she said with a grin, before continuing on her way.