Wapun Meadow spiegel

Northeastern edge beside Arrow Lake - open but @Siarut

The cat had been to the meadow before. Things had been easier. She recalled the laziness of late summer and how carefree the local herds had been. So easily had she taken the fast-growing fawns.

Now, they had moved on. The ones that remained were lone males and the occasional doe, digging through the frost to decent grass beneath. Whenever they spotted her, if not in a herd they would run. They could not tell, so stupid they were, what she might be up to.

Umi was not hunting that day. She was well fed. She roamed, strolled rather through the tall grasses of the meadow. She did'n't know what to expect.

For the first time in days the sun peaked through the clouds, and Siarut was greeted with a beautiful, crisp fall day. It brought a smile to him, despite the crushing weight still smothering him. With a deep breath, he gently woke the kids before taking them to the stones. More adults frequented the area and it was rare for it to be desolate of family members.

Over the last week, Sia had begun returning to his normal routine. He patrolled the borders more frequently, and checked the caches when he remembered. He’d heard whispers of the attack from their neighbours, and Sia had no intention of being run off by an upstart. So today, with the youngest Ateneq’s being watched by their relatives Sia headed out on a scouting mission. Just to check the surrounding area, and ensure the sovereignty of Easthollow.

As he headed out of the territory, the crunch of the frost grew dewy and moist. The meadow quickly becoming a mud pile. As he continued to check the area, his once pristine white coat was caked in mud up to his elbows and along his stomach.

The lake wasn’t far from where he had slowed his scouting. The northern man vaguely remembered meeting Dawn here once, a long time ago. As he walked his mind wandered, wondering whatever happened to her. @Takiyok also used to frequent this area at the bas of the mountains when she ruled the range. He hadn’t seen her in sometime. Since their anti climactic reunion, she had always visited him. He hadn’t been in any positions to leave the territory to seek her out. But, that didn’t stop him from missing her.

The lake grew in size the closer he got, his nose picked up a distastefully feline scent. His hackles instantly rose, and his breath drew quickly. Siarut was frozen in place, and thrown back into his memories of only a couple months prior.

Looking down at his paws, they were no longer covered in thick, caked on mud. No now they... he... was drenched in blood. Her blood. The widow gasped loudly, stuck in an uncontrollable downward spiral of panic, fear, hate, rage.

I should have probably warned you that Sia would probably attack on sight.... seeing as his mate was killed by a mountain lion at the beginning of the year...totally up to you how to proceed. I’m flexible. Hit me up on discord if you want to talk about it.

All good! She needs a reality check :o

As Umi strolled, she noticed a turkey vulture flying overhead. Its huge black wingspan seemed for a moment to blot out the sun. She wondered what they did all day. Did they just circle? Did they actually eat turkeys? She hadn't actually seen any turkeys yet in the season, but she was sure they were around. She couldn't remember the last time she had turkey. Yummy things.

Absentmindedly, Umi hummed a tune.
"♪ In the pines,
in the pines,
where the sun don't ever shine,
I will shiver the whole night through ♪"

She saw the white wolf, still, at a distance. He looked as a spirit to her: clean, bold, fierce. Ever naive, the cat calmly wiggled the end of her tail and said simply, hello!

That he might be lost in his own torment was unknown to her. That he might view her as anything other than good was foreign. Her entirely positive experiences after leaving the coast behind her meant that she now assumed that the wolves that did not frequent the coast were inherently good and wanted peace. One had even invited her to pack territory, though she knew that crossing over wolf territory was always a risk.

And so she stood open, smiling, adding a friendly chirp for good measure.