Cassiopeia's View they say I only hear what I want to

Grimsley made his way up the peak just as he had done one night many months ago. It had been much, much colder then and he missed the crisp snap of the winter air. He often traveled at night or by dawn and dusk in the warm seasons. He was ill suited to the heat with a thick, dark coat and a personal intolerance for the kind of discomfort it brought. It was under cover of darkness, now, that he moved again to the plateau and stood at the edge to look out upon the flat lands below. His blood gem eyes glanced along the forests and lake, trying to remember what he had been told the last time he had been here - with Tzila. 

Though he had wandered free of Teekon Wilds - and had never shone his face at that mercenary pack she had mentioned - he had not forgotten her completely. She had been an interesting and unique beauty who had left an impression upon his memory. He looked now for where she had said her pack lay. Though he was still not dedicated to the idea of service under unstable individuals - or service at all, to be honest - Grimsley was curious to see if she still existed. The world was hard - perhaps she had died or been maimed or starved in the bare winter. When he had been here last, food was a luxury.  He thought he remembered where she had indicated her home was and he narrowed his eyes on the woodland.

He would travel there before he continued into the mountains. He would see if she was there and put his curiosity to rest. As for what he would do if she was… about that, he was not yet sure.

Things had been difficult for the cat in recent days. She had travelled across the flatlands and tried her best to stay away from wolf packs, who seemed to have attempted to claim nearly every part of the heartlands. Her side had a nasty scratch on it that was just starting to scab over: the result of a lucky escape from a male cougar who had pushed her toward the mountains.

Prey here was harder for her, as she was more used to being closer to sea level and using trees along sloping coastal lines to find food. Still, she had begun to find her footing at the base and middle of the mountain range. Umi wasn't sure if this banished place was where she wanted to create a permanent home, however.

The mountain goat that she had been stalking from a higher rock for half an hour had caught her scent as a draft blew down to it. The white hooven animal bleated and leapt away, running straight for the odd-coated wolf before it spotted him, and flew downhill.

Heaving a great sigh, Umi slipped down from her rock toward where the beast had run, and found what looked like a very strange wolf in front of her. Her tail flickered curiously. Oh, sorry. Heh, you almost got it, she smiled. The darkness lit her eyes like lamps. They were on dangerous ground, the sheer drop where he had been looking was beyond far. The lioness, however, showed her naivete being entirely unconcerned for her safety.

ooc;  :o

Grimsley chewed over his thoughts, worrying them to the marrow, and was completely oblivious to the night and its other inhabitants. When the goat leapt past, he startled - unusual for him - and felt an immediate wave of irritation at himself. Not quite embarrassed but certainly annoyed he narrowed his eyes at where the beast had gone, the concept of catching and eating the animal a secondary thought. The rocks behind him shifted and Grimsley turned, expecting to see another horned bit of prey and thinking that he may take this one down, if only in reparation for being startled, when his gaze settled instead on the massive cat.

Well. Larger than a Lynx, at least.

His hackles rose along his spine as she wound her way to him. Instinctively his head lowered, protective of his throat and he turned to face her completely, shifting her paws for maximum stability. Grimsley was not friendly to other predators. He absolutely hated bears and had no love for any other species, either. If it was not a wolf or food, he did not care for it. In the dark he eyed the lioness coldly, his muzzle wrinkling ever slightly.

“Oh, sorry. Heh, you almost got it,”

It speaks, he thought unkindly. It took him a few moments to realize that she was speaking about the goat. Her tone and posture were relaxed, casual. It was a confusing juxtaposition to her glittering eyes and deadly claws. The silence was pregnant for a few seconds before Grimsley responded in a rumbling tone, underlaid with the hint of a growl. "I was not trying to catch it." He told the lion, resisting the urge to show his teeth. "You're a bit friendly."

:D They are 10000% opposites

Umi noticed the wolf fluff up, but it only made her aware that he might feel startled by her presence. She had, after all, thrown a goat at him. He was a strange animal, one with a colouration she had never seen or heard of in a wolf, or any animal for that matter save perhaps a broken skunk. He looked...forboding, like a creature of death or simply a bad omen. She felt herself wanting to judge him as this, and caught it immediately.

Though Umi was not an animal most would consider wise or even intelligent in almost any respect, there was one area that she had picked up very quickly from her mother's teachings. Always assume positive intent. Though Mother had also warned that wolves and other predators could be unpredictable, it was wrong to judge a person based on their appearance alone. And so, against her initial gut feeling, Umi forced an assumption that this oddball of a wolf was a friend to her.

You're a bit friendly. She beamed, not understanding that he didn't exactly mean the statement as a compliment. Her tail twitched again with interest and amusement. I like to meet new people, she said, more as a fact than an explanation. The lioness respected his space, but sat down a distance away. I'm Umi. I don't live here, but I've been looking for new hunting grounds, she told him; it was a very brief version of why she was here.