Big Salmon Lake heavy

she is quick on the heels of a hare, the pair charging through the reeds. each twist and turn is mirrored by the wolf as she follows, teeth bared, hackles pricked. a few seconds longer, and then the game is over. she fails to react just as quickly on a turn, and the hare seizes the advantage suddenly offered to it. a few more seconds, and it is gone. 

panting, the woman allows herself to feel disappointment a moment before turning toward the lake, seeking to slacken her thirst. her shoulders slouch; she is thin, and can not miss many meals more. the problem could be solved by joining a pack; but she can not allow herself to do. she is accompanied by a heaviness everywhere, now, and her acceptance of her curse does not mean she is without fear, uncertainty. she remembers slavering jaws and those frantic, unseeing eyes, and each time she finds herself wanting for a pack, a family again, she remembers the destruction the single white wolf wrought. and when she hopes, and wonders at her apparent health, doubt comes in the form of nightmares. 

she reaches the bank and drinks deeply, putting aside such thoughts as her gaze slips over the vast waters before her.

Always a creature of habit, Toad had barely strayed at all from the old Redhawk territory for a week. Game was fantastic in the summer months; she'd caught a fair few small animals, some of which were stored safely in caches not far away. This was hardly a position she wanted to be in for long, but she didn't quite know what else to do with herself just yet. Had the Redhawks still been about, and had anyone known of her other siblings' whereabouts, she might have ventured onward to better places. As it was, she was pleased to hang around an area she was beginning to know very well. Toad knew what kind of prey was about; she was learning more and more how to hunt them alone, and thus far nothing had told her of better pastures.

That day, Toad was moving after a successful hunt to the lakeside for some water and sun. Having been quite well fed the past week, she was pleased to enjoy summer's warmth and the pleasant natural sounds that surrounded the great lake. The brown she-wolf sauntered, relaxed as she moved toward the wonderful scent of fish and water.

A brown wolf, not coloured so differently from herself, stooped over the bank to drink. Toad did not slow her easy pace, but instead pricked up her ears and gave a short half-bark to announce her presence. Her tail remained low. She, as usual, showed no sign of posturing or anxiety. Instead, she too, bent over the bank several metres away from the other to take a nice drink.