Grouse Thicket Skimming

It was a warm day, but the shade of the canopy above helped keep the sun off her dark pelt.  She'd spend the majority of the sunniest hours of the day hiding away here rather than roasting -- she'd start her trek again when things stopped being quite so bright and toasty, and maybe do a bit of hunting or something in the meantime.  But what was she doing here?  Vasa was very Not Interested in dealing with the grubs that were her younger siblings.  They were just so small and useless and that kind of weirded her out in a couple of ways that she didn't entirely understand herself.  But since Phoebe had gone and suddenly made herself scarce (which certainly seemed to be making her parents a bit nervous) Vasa had instantly volunteered to go take a look.  Anything to get away from being assigned to help out with the babies.

On her quest, she was skipping a very obvious first and second stop -- to stop by and see if Phoebe was hiding off at one of their sister packs.  But certainly if she just wanted a change of pace, she would have told the rest of the family or someone would have, right?  Hm.  Vasa would have, so that was good enough logic for her.  So instead, here she was heading northish on her grand quest.  Phoebe wasn't much of a wanderer, so certainly she couldn't have gone too far.  Probably got lost or something -- which is why she totally should have come with her on the trips, she'd have a much better sense of direction and would have been back in no time.

Pippin had been following a small herd of deer for a few weeks now—the pack’s latest hunt had been a bust, and the agouti wolf wasn’t willing to let an opportunity slide away from them again. The Grove wasn’t necessarily large in numbers, though, and so Pippin considered the need to find a deer among them that was more weakened.

They began to lead him further from his pack’s lands, and he felt his patience ebbing with the possibility of the potential hunt slipping from their grasp. The pups were older—but how far could they travel? He had no inclination or knowledge on the matter.

The sun was hot, causing his tail to give an irritated lash before he found the shade of the thicket. His nose to the ground, it occurred to him only moments later that another scent was nearby, and his molten eyes sought her out—falling upon the dark yearling with a blatant stare.

Stretch.  Yeah, she could wast e away most of the day here, she wouldn't even have to try too hard.  Maybe just have a good nap, chase a few of the birds around... Before she knew it it'd be dark and she could go back to tracking... Not that she was finding any sign of her sister as of yet.  She'd either not gone this way or had gone long enough ago that it wasn't gonna be much use.

Vasa heard something and looked back, spotting some guy just... Looking at her. Uh.  He wasn't from her pack.  And she hadn't really met anyone outside the pack really either so.  Stranger.  Or whatever.  She blinked, looked at him, then turned and looked past herself, then back to him, speaking up with a somewhat snappish but confused manner, What?  Why was he staring and not saying anything? Um. It's not like she was hiding or something.

The inked girl looked behind her and then back to him, the snap in her tone stirring a small smirk to pull at the corner of the wolf’s lips. She was youthful—awkward in her growing state, and yet confident all the same. Something the golden viper could appreciate, given his own tumultuous youth.

“Wasn’t expecting to bump into anyone,” he spoke, his rumble nonchalant as he tilted his muzzle slightly, the wind brushing against the fur along the Ostrega’s spine. “I’ve been keeping tabs on a nearby herd.” About to ask her if she would like to simply join him--perhaps two eyes would be better than one, Pip bit his tongue, swallowing the offer. At that point, he would just seem like a creepy guy offering a girl candy to come see his van.

He chose what he hoped was a safer route. "I'm Pippin, from Asterism Grove."

I think I am going to be booting Vasa out of the game for a bit after this thread!  If you don't wanna wrap up the thread in your post, feel free to send me a PM on my OOC acount and I can readd her as a lone and we can keep on rollin'!

A tip of her head, Why not?  There's a ton of packs around here and stuff.  Aren't you the farthest one from home?  It was slightly accusatory, but not insanely so.  But yeah.  That herd's been around for ages. They cross over to the plateau and stuff and go to the lake. Shrug.  She was quite matter-of-fact about it.  But why wouldn't she be?  They only lived there for ages before moving.

Vasa.  Of Frosthawks.  She really hadn't done much talking to outsiders, so she wasn't sure if there was anything else to really say, so she improvised and skipped on to something else, Does Phox still act like he permanently has a log jammed up his rear so far that it's gonna bust out his mouth if he coughs?  Because that was pretty much her only interaction with the guy -- zero sense of humor, just generally a git, the whole nine yards.  Not her favorite family member, obviously.

PP just to fade the thread. <3

Flippantly, the dark girl replied to him, and the Ostrega studied her with light amusement. She seemed to care very little about the herd—basically deeming it old news—and the golden wolf shrugged.

When she mentioned Phox and accused the man of having a stick up his butt, Pippin’s brows lifted, his smirk widening. “Phox was an ass to you, huh?” He paused for a moment, giving his muzzle a faux shake of disbelief. “I can’t imagine why. You’re such a charming thing.”

With that, the agouti wolf slid past, keen on continuing what he felt was important to the pack—after all, they had not had a truly successful prey fall and had mouths to feed. An ear flicked back at the sardonic response the girl called after him, no doubt, but he paid no heed to it.