Stone Circle Acquainted

@Dianne Val likes to meet you :P

Valette had heard from there daughter that she accepted a new member. This was one of the first members Steph accepted, and she was curious to get to know the new female as well. Valette howled for the new member going by the name of Dianne, that much she knew. Hopefully, this new female would stay in Easthollow, even after the winter.

Valette had already noticed an influx of members now winter was closing in on them. It was hard not to be strict, however, there would always be members that would leave in the end, for whatever reason.Valette was at Stone Circle, a place where she was often watching over the territory. It also gave an excellent view of the open plains they hunted.

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Dianne was curled up in a den, attempting to catch up on lost sleep when a summoning howl sounded. Well, she hadn't been getting far with it, anyway. Crawling out of her little hole, she trotted towards the source of the sound, soon realizing they were at those strange stones. Once she arrived, Dianne saw someone she did not recognize: a chocolate-grey wolfess with hazel eyes. How the woman held herself denoted that this was the alpha she'd heard about, Valette. She certainly looked the part, but did she play it well? She'd have to find out.

Hello, She greeted with a dip of her head. My name is Dianne. You are the alpha, correct?

Valette didn't have to wait long before the new female had responded to her howl. She noticed that the female was quite small, and had unusual coloring with the grey and gold. It did interest the female. Valette dipped her head in greeting when the female approached. "Yes, that is correct. I'm Valette," she spoke as an introduction.

'Nice to meet you, Dianne," she spoke politely. 'Was there a specific reason that you wanted to join us?," she wondered. Most just wandered past and decided to join, maybe Dianne did this as well. Valette's eyes were quickly distracted by something dark running over the fields. As she turned her head she noticed that the bison herd had decided to run for it. Strange. Normally they weren't that quickly spooked. 'That is our bison herd by the way," she explained to the new female.

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So the alpha's name was Valette. Dianne would make sure not to forget it. It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Valette, She returned mostly for the sake of not being rude. Valette then asked if there was a specific reason for her joining. Dianne appreciated the wording of this question because it could be answered simply and implied that the alphess was fine with her not having some grandiose, long-winded reason for joining a pack when winter was approaching. So, she answered simply with: It seemed nice enough and I needed a place to stay.

Valette's attention was earned by something in the distance, so Dianne followed her gaze. The burly beasts stampeded away from some unknown cause, their combined heavy footsteps audible even from so far away. The alphess explained that they were the pack's bison herd. Ah, so that's what they were called. Conversationally, Dianne glanced back at Valette and asked, Do you hunt them? She'd thought the feat impossible with their impressive size and numbers, but maybe these wolves would prove her wrong.

Valette offered a quick smile at her words. It seemed that the female did not have a specific reason for joining them. Which was totally fine, they kept quiet as a pack. They had their allies and friends. But she would be surprised if other packs regions away would know about them. Valette wanted them to keep a somewhat low profile as she didn't need a war or fights with other packs. Luckily, the ones close to them were all friends. "Well, that you are right about. It is beautiful here," she spoke.

Valette instantly nodded. "Yes, we do. Actually we recently took one down," she spoke proudly. It was wonderful to see the whole pack coming together and taking down that big beast. It was a lot of meat for the whole pack. "However, we don't always succeed. Only when they really panic we can take one down. If not, they will come to help their herd mate and it becomes really dangerous. It is very different compared to deer hunting," she explained with a nod. Valette liked to talk about hunting. "Do you like hunting?,' Valette asked.

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Dianne's brows shot up when Valette confirmed her pack did, in fact, hunt those beasts, even going on to say they'd succeeded in doing so recently. Impressive, She admitted, because it truly was — and Dianne was not easily impressed. The alphess went on to shed some light on how they managed to do it, but even when panicked, she imagined it'd be too dangerous to pull off without any casualties. Well, she'd been proven wrong. That earned this pack a lot of respect from her, especially since everyone here seemed weirdly peace-loving. They must not've been total pushovers when push came to shove.

"Do you like hunting?" Valette then asked. She pondered the answer to that question for a moment, as she'd never really thought about it before. Hunting was just something you had to do whether you liked it or not.

I guess I do. It's rewarding when you succeed and useful to be good at, Dianne thought aloud. I'd like to hone my hunting skills further, but I can't see myself hunting bison, She added, being more than aware of her small size. Dianne tacked that last sentence on just to see if Valette would offer to teach her what she knew. She'd be willing to take on deer, but bison were out of the question.

Valette instantly grinned when the female said that it was impressive. It was, it had not been easy. The female had to learn when they came here, they all had to learn. They had been getting more successful as more wolves were learning the art of bison hunting. 'Well if you want to continue learning we could work on that skill together. I am trying to master my deerstalker trade as we call it here," she explained with a nod.

"The bison hunt is really an art you need to do with the pack. The more, the better," she explained with a nod. "I am sure the longer you stay here, you will learn," Valette smiled. "I'm sure you will surprise yourself. It is a battle of stamina though. It usually takes several hours to have one killed on the ground," Valette spoke. She remembered how long the last one took, and that one was even injured.

"But I am sure you will learn," Valette assured her. "I can mentor you in the process if you like to," Valette offered with a smile. She was always eager to motivate and help others.

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When she mentioned improving their hunting skills together, Dianne said, I'd love to. She exaggerated her enthusiasm there with a faint smile to boot just for good measure.

Oh god, Valette really expected her to toss herself into the fray with one of those things? Did this lady not see how small she was? Hell no. It took several hours to kill one? Well, that wasn't too surprising, given that she honestly thought they became basically immortal once fully-grown. But hell if she'd spend more than five minutes in the vicinity of even one bison. Stamina and strength were traits Dianne simply wasn't gifted with. While glad Valette offered to mentor her, she was still learning how to tackle small creatures, let alone beings so large and imposing she thought them immortal until just moments ago.

Maybe if we start a little smaller first, Dianne replied with the ghost of a grin and a sideways glance. It was almost like a deal: teach her how to hunt something smaller, and maybe she'll give bison a try. Maybe.

Valette dipped her head, glad that the female was eager to hunt with her. Valette liked to improve on her hunting skill as well. The alpha female could imagine that it was quite intimating. Valette nodded when she mentioned wanting to start smaller first. Valette disliked to hunt small game. Just because to her it felt to her that it was a lot of effort for a little meal, which was basically the same effort you could put in with a bigger animal. At least to Valette.

"Sure, what would you feel comfortable hunting," she spoke. It wouldn't be bad for her to brush up on smaller mammals. She could work on her tracker skill in the meanwhile. Valette liked that idea.

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Thankfully, Valette accepted her proposal. "Sure, what would you feel comfortable hunting?" She asked. Perfect.

I've only ever hunted small prey, but I'm willing to tackle deer, Dianne explained. She figured Valette would be especially useful in teaching her how to take them down. Deer were still a bit intimidating to her due to her small size, and she didn't stick around for pack hunts in her previous pack. But there was a world of difference between deer and bison, and the former seemed easier to tackle by far.

Valette nodded. It was good to see that the female was open to hunting deer. Valette wouldn't mind starting even smaller but it seemed that the female was willing to hunt deer as well. "Alright," Valette agreed with a smile. "Deer are quick to spook and have quite a kick that could leave you bruised," she spoke, mostly thinking out loud. Compared to the bison a deer kick would be nothing. Deer were very different from bison where one had to be loud and scary.

'If you like we can try and see if we can track down the deer," she offered. Maybe not instantly hunting them but tracking them would be nice. She could use some freshening up on her tracker skill. It had been awhile she went looking for specific animal, she usually hunted what came on her path.

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Sorry for the delay!

Dianne nodded at Valette's tip about deer. They were no bison, but they still weren't pushovers, either. She was surprised to hear the alphess offer to track one down right this moment but wouldn't complain; she had nothing better to do. She may as well extract as much knowledge from these wolves as she could before inevitably leaving.

I would like that, Dianne replied softly. Brushing up on tracking was never a bad thing, and maybe Valette would give more pointers once they had a deer in sight. Shall we? She asked before lowering her snout to sift through the scents there, moving along at a steady clip with Valette presumably nearby. Bison was the first thing that jumped out at her, but as she continued to sift, she identified various smaller creatures, eventually finding deer.

I smell some in the meadow. Maybe they followed the bison, Dianne thought aloud, lifting her head when she spoke to glance at Valette.

Valette instantly dipped her head. She also liked to get some work done. She could get to know Diane better while doing work. The female watched for any visible signs that the deer had been around. In winter the grass was scarce and they often moved to bark if times were especially dire. She watched for signs at the trees if deer had been around. She had seen that Diane went with her nose. Valette tried to focus on some deer scat as well until Diane spoke.

She dipped her head. "They are sometimes in the meadow along side the bison," Valette agreed. "They use the forest as a cover when weather is harsh or when they feel unsafe." The female moved into the direction of the meadow, as she did, the female stumbled on a pile of deer poop. "It seems you are right that they headed this way." The poop was not as fresh as she liked it to find but it was a good indication that they had been here. At least one of them. Valette moved more to the meadow, perhaps they were out there.

no worries <3