The Heartwood I'll be wearing these scars for everyone to see.

He and @Opalia parted ways that morning with the promise to reunite come sundown, as they often did when travelling together. Two separate pairs of eyes and sets of paws covered more ground than they did collectively, so it made sense to search unfamiliar territory alone - especially with the serious lack of prey to deal with. Besides, one Drakru sibling was never too far from the other.

There was something comforting about the Heartwood, as though it radiated safety. Dacio took his time as he meandered through, careful on his dark paws and nose actively searching for any signs of a claim. He maintained alert for a sniff of prey, hopeful that something might've passed through recently, but whatever scent he detected suggested that any creatures who'd deposited there were long gone.

A dark ear rotated atop his head at the crack of branches overhead, and Dacio pointed his muzzle skyward to spot a squirrel awaiting the opportunity to forage on the forest floor. It had seen the wolf however, and watched it warily with beady black eyes. The young warrior did not stare, choosing instead to glance away and carry on, hopeful to lure it into a false sense of security so he could return to hunt when it was less on edge.

She was like a phantom in the way she crept toward the scent of something meaty with such slow, silent steps that she drifted closer to him almost completely inaudible. The breeze had done her a favor and brought the scent of prey, gamey and mouthwatering to her and lured her to it her hunger ridding her of any hesitation even when she smelled the male going toward it too. Her stomach snarled and so did she as she burst from the foliage and snatched the squirrel the blood flowing over her tongue and waking her up as she dropped the small beast and finally saw who she had robbed of a hunt. Her ears went back and she slunk backwards ducking her head and making it clear she would turn the squirrel to him "Inha sorry, Hidiõn take?" she crooned appealingly, keeping her figure low as she gracefully stood almost bowed to him. If she had been home she would have been laughed at and beaten by her father for such an act but out here the world was cold and the people colder, she had learned this the hard way many times over.

The squirrel, bold in its hunger, moved to venture down onto the forest floor almost as soon as Dacio turned his face away. He kept a dark ear trained on the scrawny rodent, eager to maintain its confidence by believing he wasn't considering it as his next meal. So keenly focused on this tiny creature, the young Drakru missed the quiet watch of another hunter.

She swept forward, launching herself atop the tree-climber and bringing its swift end while Dacio stared hopelessly from between the trees. When at last she took note of him, the prey fell limp from between her jaws to land on the ground at her feet.

It was then that the she-wolf did a strange thing, something that made Dacio twitch a whisker curiously. She had won this meal fairly, yet somehow felt the need to offer it to him. The young Gona, hungry and with Opalia at the forefront of his mind, considered asserting himself and taking advantage of the gesture so that he and his sister might taste flesh that day.

But he was not yet starving enough to sway his pride. He'd merely eyed the squirrel; Dacio had no real right to it.

"No," he told her simply in the common tongue, indicating that he had not understood the other language she'd spoken. "You take."

She seemed to have confused him and she cursed her meager knowledge of the common tongue her father had forced down her throat. Then he spoke clearly enough that she understood him clear as day and her ears perked and she lifted her head as if surprised. She looked down at the squirrel and took it into her jaws, one paw holding down the tail and hind legs. She tore it in half and took the tail since she had killed it and wanted the meat but she gave him the other end. Her expression was kind and she lowered her head "The world ees..cold Sir" she said in a friendly tone without explanation and watched him carefully, her tail slowly beginning to sway. "Many...Many tribes here?" She asked of him unsure of how to ask this very well in common and feeling extremely embarrassed of that ducking her head nervously.

She certainly was an odd thing, though her kindness reminded him sorely of his late mother. Portia was the purest thing he'd ever known, willing to give or do anything to improve the lives of others. The wound left behind by her absence still stung, though Dacio had perfected masking how he truly felt about it. He mourned her daily, though always privately.

"Thank you," he told this stranger, looking down at the torn body of what he'd intended to be his prize and knowing that he would never even consider splitting it with a loner should he have been the victor. Blinking up at her words, he studied her features quietly and noted a rare trait of mismatched eyes, something both his littermates had inherited from their father. "I came from the coast," he answered, "have not seen many packs along this way."

There had been a sniff of something to the forest just south of the one that bled, but he and Opalia had simply skirted around it. Even the dispersal wolves had been few, and he wondered if the trembling earth had driven them further inland too. "Are you looking for one?"

The coast.


Her heart leaped at the mention of a coast and she knew where she would be off to next, to the ocean which had always been a dream of hers to see. The knowledge that there were no packs in the area currently that he had seen so far wasn't troubling to the she wolf for it simply meant this was an area she didn't have to come back to in the search for her future home. He asked if she was in need of one and she shook her head "Soon not yet" She replied and sniffed at her piece of the squirrel which she found distracting. She wasnt sure what else to say, she had never interacted much with wolves that weren't Duthrikan and in her homeland small talk wasnt really a thing. "Inha Pool. You?" She introduced herself as a means to not seem awkward for falling silent.

crappy morning post

Sorry for this awful delay but I forgot about this thread, derp. Going to withdraw Dacio and fade here.  :)

He, too, was distracted by his share of the squirrel. Hunger tugged at his belly, urging him to feed, but the sterling yearling bit back the desire. This morsel was one he would deliver to his sister, no matter the ache.

"My name is Dacio," he returned, tongue trailing over his upper lip as he shifted his weight. "I should get going, but I wish you good luck." Moving to gather the torn squirrel into his mouth, Dacio struggled to keep himself from crunching it between his fangs. Politely, he dipped his muzzle and turned away to head back in the direction he'd come from.