Greatwater Lake as if i myself had no voice

tags for visibility/joining if u want <3

at long last, merrick had crossed the mountains and found himself on the other side of the range. a great expanse of emerald grass spread in all directions, broken only by the implacable existence of a huge lake that glimmered brightly beneath the morning sunlight.
the sight of it piqued the boy's thirst, and he loped for its banks immediately, pleased that the catch in his shoulder seemed to have faded to nothing. on his way out of the stone spires, he had hunted for birds' eggs and satisfied his hunger, casting a glance around for the slender dark shadow that was the silent @Astara.
but he had not seen here, and now merrick was at the lake, wading into the shallows and gulping at its clear surface with a shameless delight.

merrick indeed was alone for the time being, but even if he was out of sight, he was never out of astara's mind. he would not be rid of the dark demon so easily; she followed after his scent at a leisurely pace, pleased to allow him his mistaken freedom.

at length merrick's scent lead her to a lake, and she watched the boy sup from the scintillating waters. drawing to a stop, the girl sampled the fresh air; it smelled heavily of peat, of damp soil, of lake-water -- and somewhere in the distance, the scent of goslings drifted towards them.

it was not the fragrance of the young birds that lifted merrick's head from the water, nor the earthy heaviness upon the wind; it was her, and the boy glanced over his shoulder to see the wraith that had stalked to some distance. placidly he regarded her, seeing no threat in her mien; after all, she had fed him and left him alone while he slept.
and it was good not to be alone, merrick decided, though it was unlikely she would be about forever. everyone leaves, the young coywolf told himself, padding toward her at an affable pace.

as she lifted her nose to the keening wind, the boy turned from his draught and regarded her coolly over his thin shoulders. she returned his gaze by a brief meet of their eyes, her tail arcing as if to acknowledge her stalking of him was deliberate. 

when he turned to stalk towards her, astara smoothly moved into motion, greeting him with a soft whuff before trailing her nose to the ground after the goslings.

it was a curious thing, to have been alone and then suddenly not, by way of eagles and a strange, silent girl. merrick’s ears arched forward; the sunlight caught the new notch in one of them before he settled the mismatched pair to seeking out the goslings nearby.
he supposed it was nice not to be alone, though he had no faith she would not suddenly disappear. after all, if his entire family had abandoned him, it would be foolhardy to place his trust in someone he hardly knew.
her silence made her almost unreadable, and merrick had been forced to rely upon the language of body and expression, as he had with nunataq. an unpleasantness, as it reminded him too well of his disowned sister, but he put that aside for now, devoting his attention to their upcoming hunt.

astara rifled through the reeds, unaware of merrick's inward misgivings in that moment. had she known of his doubts, she still would not have succeased them. she was a wolf, not a sheep -- she could not be tamed or tempered, and no matter what domestic life was imposed upon her, would serve no soul save herself.

this part of her personality, even when laid bare, was unlikely to assure a wolf like merrick, who had felt the sting of loss early. yet, if it was any consolation, so had she -- and her rather simple outlook on life likely would make her more predictable for those who cared to spend time knowing her.

drawn to the goslings, astara did her best to wade silently through the water. ahead, she could hear the hushed trilling of a mother goose. somewhere along this embankment, there were goslings to be fed upon -- astara glanced once at merrick before lunging for the mother, assuming he would swoop in and kill what he could while she took the brunt of the goose's fury.

she certainly seemed to invite the fury of avians whenever they met, merrick thought amusedly to himself. but she was quick, cunning, catlike, her corded body bearing more of the blows than seemed possible despite her lack of bulk. the young coywolf dashed forward in the chaos of splashing water, the goose's loud honking; he slew a quartet of goslings and gathered the bodies of three into his mouth.
jaws stuffed to capacity, the boy withdrew and cast down his kill upon the bank before whirling to return for the fourth. before he grasped it, however, he flashed his teeth in the goose's direction, assembling beside astara a moment for the increased threat of a two-predator presence.

astara forced her way across the water, the depth of the shallows causing slight impediment in her movements. at a high-stepping trot, astara splashed as the goose flew behind her in a honking shriek, batting her head and flank with forceful flaps of its powerful body.

ears back, astara bolted for the bank where merrick had deposited his kills. goslings were relatively easy to dispatch, but their parents were precocious, as astara soon found. the goose's fury did not slake, and she nipped harshly at the girl's tail as she scampered up the bank. faced with two wolves now instead of one, the goose landed with a crash behind astara's whirling form, flapping her wings impressively like a gorilla might pound its chest.

he snapped readily at the goose, pleased that it had followed them so. it justified his dashing into the shallows, the snarling arch of hair along his shoulders as he flung his tail aloft and challenged the great bird with the promise of death in his gaze. step by step the coiling young wolf forced a retreat, finally catching one of its battering wings within his jaws and flinging it bodily into the shallows before lunging for its softer underbelly. 
so taken was merrick with the idea of blood that he had all but forgotten his companion, and the ducklings limp upon the bank.

before, they moved in unison, harrying their prey. yet now, melonii and redleaf divided, one splattering through the water while the other skulked along the bank. astara's gaze fell on the goslings, stilled by merrick's design. her stomach grumbled and she leaned over one felled form, about to snatch it from the bank when she caught merrick dashing handily after his newest quarry.

glancing up, astara's keen ears stilled as she watched the spectacle. then she too surged into the water behind him, a low growl booming in her chest as she sought to help dispatch merrick's target.

she flanked him, and merrick drew a great amount of strength from the shadow’s presence, she who had been birthed from the forest and had not left him as so many others before.
surely in time she would; for now he would relish the snap of her jaws, even as his own rent a large wound in the breast of the insouciant waterfowl.
to and fro he shook the feathered devil, splitting it between the grasp of himself and the girl, until at last its entrails trailed loosely in the water and he came away panting, smirking.