Wapun Meadow I will take this, thank you

Hunter Trade: Deerstalking

Valette was following her nose, there was a carcass here somewhere. She could smell it. The female sniffed the air. Often she would hunt with her pack to provide for meals. But if there was a free meal somewhere she was keen on using that herself. The dark female scanned the fields and noticed a lump further away. She made some haste to investigate it.

As she came close, she could tell that it was a deer that had passed. Some animals had been there before her but there was enough meat on its bones. The female grabbed the dead animal and started to drag it back to Easthollow's borders. Though, that was still a few miles, more than she realized.

her encounter with the strange scarred boy wasn't far from her mind even as she began her journey away from the cavern. it wasn't that she liked him or anything, saarth was just comparing the pros and cons of straight and gay sex. so far, she hadn't really gotten anywhere with it other than the fact that both felt good...and yeah, that was about it. huh. maybe she'd see him again and they could conduct another experiment to further help her study in that area. or even better - a cute girl was nearby who happened to also be into girls and in need of a hookup. it was doubtful she'd be able to find the latter which was...depressing.

food. and a girl. someone was dragging a carcass, and as she drew closer - that scent seemed familiar. a pack scent. like that on...the guy?? saarth shook the thought away impatiently and instead, called out to the stranger, "hey - you need some help?" and yes, maybe she did it because she wanted a share of the food; she was starving, could you blame her? but, in any case, saarthal wasn't a thief. if refused a share, she'll help regardless. if the help is wanted, that is.

It turned out that moving the body wasn't as easy as she thought it would. However, she was not one to give up, plus she felt that the meat was worth it. With the cold of winter it had stayed preserved longer, so the meat was still good, even though it was frozen. The mother had managed to drag it for a mile when a stranger showed up. Valette was not really looking to have a battle over this meal. However, she was also not willing to give it up that easily.

Valette frowned as a female approached. The female was relieved as it was better than a male, they were usually -at least in Valette's eyes- better at fighting. She watched as the female approached. She was greeted and even offered help. Valette looked at her skeptically for a moment. "Hey," she greeted, though a bit guarded as she wasn't sure if the female was tricking her. Valette realized she could use some help. But this female didn't scent of any of her allies, so could she be trusted? Valette was a little more wary now they had many other packs as friends.

There was a hint of something familiar about her though, but the alpha female couldn't really place her paw on what what made her scent familiar. "I assume you are not going to help me for free," she spoke to the female. It seemed that she was a loner. Maybe even a helpful loner.

the woman was hesitant, wary and understandably so. a wolf alone with a carcass of food...what kind of loner wouldn't take this opportunity to steal a scrap? and they were in the middle of winter, too. a younger version of saarthal would have had this thought, smirked at herself and said the reason why she would do no such thing was because she was unique from all the other wolves. this saarthal simply allowed her lip to quirk in wry amusement at the stranger's words and allowed the true reason - she hardly cared about her life anymore - to flit across her mind as she spoke, "i mean, of course i'd like a bite or two, or a whole meal," saarth smiled impishly at the stranger, "but you're cute and i'm sure you've worked hard dragging this, or whatever, so - i'm just here to help. it'll be awesome to get something in return but -" she shrugged, "i'm not really expecting anything."

Valette was surprised at the honesty of the female. However, then she spoke about her being cute?! Valette had some big question marks in her mind. She probably looked slightly confused and startled by that comment. Valette had never really been called cute by another female except Aerasha, but then again, that was Aerasha.

"Um... Thank you?,' she spoke and shook her head slightly. Valette did feel flattered and as always, quite sympathetic. "Tell you what, If you help me bring this to the borders of Easthollow then you can take some meat off this carcass," she offered. She wasn't that cruel to let a loner help her without giving anything in return. "My name is Valette, what is yours?"

cute. saarthal laughed lightly and grinned, the corner of her lip catching between her teeth. yeah, no, she was definitely cute. "saarthal," the yearling offered, padding closer to the carcass to examine it - as in to see which bits would be easier to steal (not that she was going to do that, of course, but in any case) and which bits would be easy to grab onto. "so," she began conversationally, "you dating anyone?"

Valette dipped her head in greeting. She was about to grab the carcass to drag it further with her new found help but the question shocked her. She opened her mouth. Was she dating someone? She kind of was, wasn't she? Valette blinked. "Um. Sort of," she spoke in return. "Why?," she sounded, though as she said it, she took in the female again. Was this female... into her?

Valette blinked. She never heard of females liking each other like that. "Um. Oh. Eh," she stumbled, feeling awkward. Christ! She was an adult for crying out loud. She tried to put herself together. "Yes. I am dating someone," she confirmed more clearly.

"aw, sad - we could've had fun," saarthal smiled impishly, her words teasing, mischievous and without malice. well, she'd expected this and even if valette was single, saarth doubted she would've wanted to get it on with her. she was probably as straight as a stick. but well, even so - sticks could be bent. it was saarth's firm theory, after all, that everyone's sexuality - fundamentallly - was fluid.

"what's he like?" saarthal adjusted her grip on the carcass, muscles tensing in her shoulders. "is he cute? he must be, if he's dating you."

Valette deemed this the weirdest conversation she ever had with a stranger. But it was nice that the other asked about Greyback. How fun that she could gush over him. She never really had done that with any pack mate since well, she had been exploring with Greyback if they would be suitable mates. "He is extremely handsome and very tall," Valette couldn't help herself. "Always polite and protective." Those were all things she went crazy for. Valette felt her cheeks heat up, so once again she was saved by her fur. "I like him a lot," she admitted. Though it was almost a realization for herself as well. She did like him A LOT. Damn.

it appeared that valette very much liked this boy, and saarthal couldn't help but smile as she watched the stranger gush about her potential boyfriend or mate, or whatever title was in demand these days. god, this was very cute...and very painful - it made saarth's achingly single heart sink with the thought that she didn't have that, and, actually, would probably never have that. right. please fuck off. saarthal pulled her lips into a grin and smiled at valette brightly. "this is adorable," she said with a lopsided smirk. wait. she smells familiar. ohmygod she smells like that dude i fucked the other day. are they from the same pack? "so what pack are you from?" very subtle.

Valette tugged on the carcass as the female asked her some more questions. She decided to try another tactic and start to push the body forward instead of pulling it. This way she could talk better with the female. She was friendly, and Valette wondered if she wanted to join a pack. Valette flushed a bit when she said that it was adorable. Perhaps it was a bit. She found that Greyback did those things to her.

"My pack is called Easthollow," she offered to the female. "Are you looking to join a pack? We have some room left in Easthollow." Valette was quite open to new members joining their family, especially in winter.

easthollow. saarthal tucked the name in the warm confines of her mind and tugged lightly at the wispy flickers of alarian and now, valette, near, to connect them to the pack via webs of lines. valette proceeded to extend an invitation and aaarth was struck by the sheer ease with which she offered a place - a suspicion crawled to the forefront of her mind and she wondered if their pack were short on numbers but...that thought was neither here nor there, not anymore, not in the midst of the season she loved the most. 

"i'd love to join," the roman said, momentarily quiet and subdued, "but...don't you want to know if i've got any skills first?" her lip quirked upward into a lopsided smile as she regarded valette, amusement flickering through the depths of her molten gaze. it was light, teasing and harmless but a bitter truth resided in their pits - saarth wondered if she was fit to join a pack, if she was worthy...

Valette chuckled softly when the female pointed out that she should need to know her skills first. "Well, I was curious if you were ven interested. Maybe you had a certain reason to be alone," Valette spoke to her with a quirk of her lips. The female was however curious what the female's skills were.

"What are your skills than?," Valette asked. The female probably also wanted to know what kind of pack Easthollow was. Maybe she didn't feel the family structure as strongly as they did. Valette could not blame her if she did. Some were more eager to have a high rank or fight with others. 'You probably want to know about Easthollow as well?"