Golden Glade Everything felt fine when I was half of a pair

The fleet-footed rabbit dove into a tussock tucked neatly between two maples and disappeared, leaving an exhausted Wisteria panting in its wake. It had taken the bulk of her meager energy to chase it this far only to have it escape on her. The subsequent rage overwhelmed her briefly; she snarled and flung dirt with a scrape of her front paws and paced in a furious circle and tore at the grass, but the rabbit remained tucked safely in its warren and she was not strong enough to evict it right now.

With a tempestuous stomp, Wisteria flung herself down into the soft grass at the base of the leftmost maple, growling quietly to herself with her ears plastered back and her turquoise eyes pinned fervently to the spot her prey had disappeared. One, she counted, unconsciously slapping her tail against the ground in time as she tried to calm herself down. Two, three, four...

The trip over to the new land wasn't exhausting or anything, yet Rye found himself tired anyway. His mind out of sync with his body, he was stumbling around in the forest. Tripping over stumps, roots and even his own paws. He had a full nights rest, a stuffed tummy and plenty to drink. He guessed it was simply a restless night, the Towhee situation must've still been bothering him, even if word was sent to her about their move. Which to him was a promising. Perhaps things were on the up, tensions lowering and forgiveness being passed out. Rye questioned what would happen if he asked Quixote what happened to Towhee, would he be snapped at for asking about business not of his own? The risks were felt to be high, but he wanted answers, though the time was inopportune. Another day, maybe when the pack finally settled into its new home.

For now, he was going to busy himself with chores, patrol and hunting. Meet some of the new pack members, and Alphas. Ever since Towhee and the Phox fellow left, Rye wasn't pretty much the only adult in the mid ranks. Cinder was pretty much an adult but Rye hadn't a clue where he ran off too. Not all of the newest members were adult, but they were close enough. Speaking of new members, one was pouncing before him now. After a tricky rabbit hiding within its home, a quiet snicker sounded from his muzzle. Her frustrations were well understood, Rye knew rabbits could get the best of any one. 

He kept his silence, and distance, awaiting her next move. His bottom was planted in the grass below him and soon to follow, his chest. He watched curiously, interested in the frustrated females next move.

Besides the Frostfurs, nearly ever member of the new pack was a Redhawk. She supposed that was the logic behind the pack's name. There was only one wolf in the entire pack who was not related to the four Alphas, and he happened to be creeping on her right now. Wisteria was quick to notice. She only reached a count of eleven before the back of her neck began to prickle and she knew there were eyes on her. It took her until a count of twenty-seven to work up the nerve to turn and confront whomever it was. They might have seen her fail and would make fun of her, and it took her a while to get over the anxiety that came with that thought.

When she did, she did so swiftly; a very sudden turn to pin her eyes on the forest behind her. Wisteria was expecting to find a wolf standing there, staring, so she overlooked Rye at first. When she finally did notice the man lying in the grass, her ears flew forward and she growled, what are you staring at? It was all a front; if challenged, Wisteria would be quick to back down. But she believed and had learned in her time alone that sometimes an aggressive facade was enough to deter further conflict.

The sudden twist of the female surprised Rye, he wasn't expecting such a reaction. He wasn't even sure she knew he was there but apparently so. At first she didn't see him, too low to the ground he guessed, but then her eyes locked onto his. She growled and demanded to know what he was staring at. Now, ordinarily Rye would back down but this time he was a little miffed by her unjust reaction. His brows furrowed and he stood, his ears slightly pinned but stayed more on the neutral side. He didn't want to be mean, its simply that he wasn't expecting to get a harsh reply.

"Relax." He ordered, but not harshly, he didn't feel like making enemies. Although it could help push his decision towards joining Towhees pack. "I was just watching you hunt," He informed, calming down from his brief high of annoyance. He sat and willed his features back to neutral, he shouldn't have gotten so defensive but it was too late and he honestly didn't want to apologize. "Is that okay?"

Whatever irritation Rye was feeling on the inside wasn't communicated outwardly; from Wisteria's perspective he was calm as calm could be. A little matter of fact in his delivery, perhaps, but she wouldn't complain about another wolf's candor. He did everything right and if Wisp was any other wolf she might have struck up a good conversation with Rye about hunting.

Unfortunately, she was not only basically a teenager, she was wild and unkempt.

No, she snapped, pressing her own ears back defensively. He might, if he read between the lines, recognize her hostility for the fear that it really was, but wolves as reactive as Wisteria made it hard to want to see past their unpleasant attitude. It was much easier to walk away from such interactions. As if to dollop the acid icing onto her own crumbling cake of social pleasantries, Wisteria added, it's creepy and weird. Yeah. Take that, cRyep.

'Creepy'? 'Weird'? Rye took it as an insult but it was born out of embarrassment. He didn't mean to come off that way, he just didn't want to interrupt her or ruin her hunt. Maybe even give her a few pointers on what to do instead and thats exactly what he planned to argue. "What was I supposed to do? Interupt your hunt?" He explained defensively. Teens, at first Rye didn't recognize her as youthful but the more he looked the more he realized. If her attitude continued it would further bolster his anti kids policy but TEENS! Ryes' mother told him stories of his teen angst, and attitudes, how one minute he was angry and the next passive aggressive. He could only imagine what was in store for him with this teen.

Being inexperienced with teens, Rye couldn't recognize the fear that was held within. He couldn't read it as well due to his frustrations, something he would surely later regret. "What did You want me to do?" It was a genuine question, he didn't know her, he didn't know her past. However Rye got the feeling the pack that joined was pure family and they seemed nice, respectable but he wasn't sure about any of that.

Gonna go ahead and archive this since you're inactive. Can always do another when life gets less busy!