Whitebark Stream put my hands in the fire, watched my welcome wear thin

forward-dating to the 28th! tracker thread

her heat is fading; the scent remains, but it is faded. their window is closed, and much has changed the past few days. no matter what comes of this; with Whitebark, with Artyom, she is content. 

the morning finds her watching the six that @Chai had found, quiet as she watches the group. they are unaware of her, as such, they wander comfortably by the stream's edge. one doe breaks away from the group; approaches the stream on stilted limbs. dawn is concealed just within the tree line, watching the deer as she steps carefully over the icy bank.

Xizur had not been oblivious to the alluring scent wafting through the aspen's for the past week, but to say he was drawn to it was a bit of an overstatement. The most it had stirred in him was curiosity, and even that had gone largely ignored. It was only as the scent fades does he seek out it's source.

The trail eventually leads him to the familiar figure of the stream's leader and he stops a ways off, ears upright and interested in her movements. For a moment he half considers taking a few steps closer but opts to remain back instead, content to watch as she goes about her tracking.

for a while, he goes unnoticed. but the prickle along her spine, that intuitive sense that is part of all wild things, has her shift her attention away from the deer a moment. gaze trails back to meet the distant figure that she recognizes to be one of bhediya's wolves. she chides herself for the thought; they are all part of whitebark, and thinking of those that had joined with the dark woman to be separate would not do. 

she invites him to join her with a low chuff, soft enough not to alert the herd. her attention is drawn back away swiftly, however, when a sharp crack rings out; the doe has managed to puncture a forelimb through the ice. her auds press forward as she watches the doe struggle; she rest of her herd alert and unsettled as they watch her in much the same manner.

He slips closer at the sound of her invitation, his movements slow and purposeful until the sharp crack of ice has him freeze in his tracks. Cinnamon ears swivel atop his head as he takes a step closer, sea salt gaze shifting to find the doe stuck in her unfortunate predicament.

His toes instinctively itch to spring forward, to take advantage of the situation. He'd not had any large game since the quakes and his mouth watered at the thought of tasting deer once more. Mindless on the matter of how dangerous thin ice could be, Xizur turned to cast an uncertain glance in the greyscale leader's direction, curious to see if she would strike or hang back for now.

then, suddenly, the ice gives. the sharp crack is enough to send the rest of the herd wheeling, stampeding a short distance away, as the doe issues a keening call. dawn shifts, poised, glancing once at her companion. but fear is a powerful force, and a moment later, the doe frees herself, emerging stumbling onto the bank. stilt-like limbs quiver, frigid water rushes off her pelt and then she is rushing after the rest of them—limping. 

"are you a proficient hunter, Xizur?" asks the woman then, turning to glance at him. he's young, but well-built, perhaps just edged into adulthood. already, she's fairly certain of what she plans to do next, mind working as she regards the youth. not now, not yet, but within the day. there exists a perfect window where the herd is settled but the doe still weakened; it is this she seeks to pin down. the pair speak a little while longer before the boy takes his leave, allowing the woman to watch over the herd a while longer.