Spotted Eagle Mountain I have always been a fortress.

For @Katya Noir  :)

When night crept in, Venamis ventured from his hollow. A boy who favoured the darkness, it was the one thing he missed most about dwelling among Blackfeather Woods. With the dimming of sunlight came a security blanket that provided comfort unlike anything else. Though he pined for the proud trees of what was once his home, the raven-furred Melonii did so with a bitter taste on his tongue.

The mountains that he'd roamed since his dispersal were barren, he felt, but he could certainly think of worse places to find himself. Venamis trailed with careful steps along rocky slopes made treacherous by Winter's frost, but he accepted the challenge as he pursued the distinct trail of a squirrel that had scampered over the powdered snow just recently.

Guess I can use this thread for her trade of hunter :D

Fueled by hunger, the woman followed the trail of prey for a few miles past Great Bear Wildness, until the mountain of Moonspear became a speck at the rear and a greater range of mountains came to sight in front. She was not sure where she was going and could not tell how far she had wandered, so focused instead on catching up to the stench of rabbit. The tracks were so wayward and varied, veering this way and quickly swerving another, that the woman took a chance on a particular scent and followed it further until the mountain of Spotted Eagle grew larger and more imposing. It didn't take her long to notice that the scent of the rabbit grew more rancid, the scent of death smacking her head on--it was a dead end, and an empty mission that made her shoulders slump with disappointment. Winter was killing off viable prey that remained left and right.

Turning on her toes to find another trail to track, the woman stopped when she caught whiff of another scent, wolf a young male, absent of a pack. She saw him, a looming dark figure who's eyes resembled lanterns in the darkness, he seemed intent on finding something and immediately the woman picked up on the tracks of the fleeting squirrel, the tiny pawprints moving every which way in the snow. She was careful as she trekked the slippery slopes of the mountain upward, keeping a distance from the male but also just close enough to potentially cash in on a bite of the reward if he so happened to find it before she did and was willing to share.

There it was, that feeling again. The discomfort of being watched that made his hackles prickle, akin to the nip of a flea in a place one couldn't quite reach. Venamis, distracted by this unsettling, found himself unable to concentrate on the importance of his hunt.

He paused in his tracks, an inky lobe shifting atop his crown in attempt to locate whatever creature might have followed him. Was it a bear, perhaps, that hungered for his flesh? Ven had never seen such a beast, though he'd heard tales of their ferocity. The boy held his breath then, hearing nothing but the sound of his own rapid heartbeat.

Rolling a shoulder, uncertain, the spider pressed on along the mountain trail with a new purpose: if someone saw fit to pursue him, he was going to make sure they did not rob him of the meal he so desperately required.

She paused for a moment, mimicking the male as he stopped to survey his surroundings. She had a feeling that he knew she was there, the wind had most likely carried her scent toward him, but Katya was not ready to give up her position just yet. She was uncertain of what this male would do if he found out that she had indeed been following him.

When he pressed forward she slinked onward as well, careful with each placed paw and keeping her body low to the ground. It helped that her pelt was dark like the night and helped to conceal her as she stalked the larger male, waiting for him to find the prey that would most likely partially fill the belly of one wolf let alone two--but desperate times called for desperate and even foolish measures. She inhaled deeply, hoping that he would not figure her out and placed her paws ever so carefully within his tracks as not to leave behind a trace of her presence if she needed to flee. 

crack 

The sound of a snapped twig echoed, loud even for hardest of hearing to detect, and inwardly she found herself cursing. There was no backing out of this awkward encounter and almost immediately, she revealed herself after having obviously been found out. "I hope I'm not intruding..." she spoke, not knowing exactly how to break the ice with a wolf who's space she invaded.

He was hungry, painfully so, but he abandoned his tracking of the creature he hunted. Instead he veered away from the trail and moved along a route that lead him in the opposing direction. Whenever Venamis could shake the feeling of being pursued, he would return to pick up where he left off.

A loud crunch of splintering wood caused him to flinch and, swinging around with his upper lip curled, revealed his pearly white fangs in savage warning. He growled lowly, frosted stare peering beneath a furrowed brow through the darkness to find a glimmer of unfamiliar eyes staring back at him.

His tail flagged, and his stalker revealed herself. Venamis continued to rumble his frustration as she stepped into clear view with a hopeful lilt to her words. "Well yeah, you are," the spider answered, "so fuck off."

Her words caught in her throat she watched as the male's posture turned defensive, and she flinched when he warned for her to back off. His words cut far more than his display and the woman found herself backing from him, wishing to shrink but knowing that it was too late to disappear from him. She blinked quickly a few times, struggling to push back her fear but wishing to stand her ground if only to bluff this male into thinking she was not afraid. "No." she responded, ears falling to her skull despite her desire to look intimidating and large. "I came to find food and that's what intend on doing." she said, looking past the youth knowing that she would have to go past him in order to find the prey she'd been tracking. "please move aside, I don't want to fight you." she said, half warning and half hoping the male would just let her past. There was no need for blood shed if she could play these cards right.

Her flinch was visible, and Venamis drew strength from her clear anxiety. Winter-white eyes lingered dangerously on her dark features, cold and piercing, daring her to test him. Much to his surprise, she did - with a very unexpected "no" that was enough to curl his upper lip in a display of fangs.

She chose to disregard his warning, albeit politely, and announced that she intended to continue hunting. Trailing after him, no doubt, with every intention of mooching the rodent he himself had been tracking. "You've been following me," Ven countered confidently. "Were hoping to take what's mine?" A snort then, communication of his distaste for thieves; "there isn't enough for the both of us, so I suggest you hunt elsewhere."

She stood staring at the large youth in surprise, mouth slowly opened and then closed shut without a word. She hadn't intended to follow him, and even if she expressed this until her face was blue she was sure the dark male wouldn't believe her. He was convinced that she was stealing something from him, or at least that she wanted to. Her eyes narrowed, only slightly, with disbelief as shoulders released the tension they were holding and her posture grew neutral, tail swaying slow behind her. She didn't want a fight, especially not over a morsel barely enough to fill her stomach. "I am not a thief," she explained to the youth, even if her words would probably fall on his deaf ears. "and I was not following you. she said, attempting to correct him but again watched for any signs on his end for denial. "But it seems you have come to a conclusion that I cannot remedy on words alone, but you will not accuse me of such a lowly crime as being a thief. I was raised much better than that." and without much of a word she moved to the side as if to allow the male to continue on with his hunt. She would not be made to look like the villian in this situation.

She was right: his conclusion made, Venamis had already made a firm judgement on this female. Stubborn, steadfast in his thoughts, he showed no intention of making any effort to listen for whatever defense she might attempt to share.

So the boy turned away, her threat rolling like water from duck feathers, and continued to pick his way along the narrow trail he'd found himself on. A raven ear remained pointed backward, listening for the sound of footfalls at his rear that thankfully did not come.