Blackfeather Woods holy water can not help you now

the morning finds her on the borders, sniffing at the old scent of coyote. it's been a day since they took one of moonshadow's brood, and while she does not particularly care, she half-hopes they'll come back. it's the boy's fault, anyways - no coyote would have taken her from the wood; she'd have killed it, first. she supposes this only means less competition. Hela's surfing high on youthful invincibility, and thinks that if only she could find one of the intruders, she could fight it and prove her worth to the woods. to Maegi. 

something moves in the close-growing trees on the other side of the border; she raises her muzzle carefully to glare out into the emptiness. a long second passes, two, and there is only silence. "hey!" she barks, firm, but whatever is out there doesn't respond. marching over the border, tail curled high like Maegi's when she greets strangers here, she peers behind each tree, certain that none will escape her investigation.

He happened across her by chance, and watched quietly from the forest's outskirts. Venamis, having heard the whispers of a cub who'd gone missing at the jaws of a coyote, was determined to prove how brave he could be. The young Melonii slunk through the trees along their border, fearful of nothing.

Hela, it seems, is also eager to prove herself courageous, as she struts around with her tail arched and blue eyes searching. She looks for something, looks for him without knowing it's him, and a sly grin crosses his features as he crouched low to evade detection.

Ven circled a tree, careful on raven paws, silently admiring the other youngster's ferocity as she boldly hunts. "Boo," he breathed, a hushed sound when he finally straightened himself, presenting a challenge with the upward curl of his own tail and keen prick of velvet ears.

he does a very effective job of startling her, though she seeks to hide her quick backstep and the plunge of her nerves by painting a scowl on her face. her hackles are rigid, but she attempts to ignore that as she fumbles for something to say in retort. "venamis," she hisses, though her malice is overshadowed by a larger goal. "I'm looking for whatever took starfall, or whatever his name was. you gonna help or be - be stupid?" she manages, scowling still. the olive branch is more an effort to conceal her fright than out of the good of her heart, and she'd much rather find the thing, or evidence of it, alone - she'd have all the glory for herself, then.