Sheepeater Cliff Don't shoot love, baby

@Ivev Near the base!

Stretching her legs after spending so long in Ouroboros was one of the most gratifying experiences Ptarmigan thought she'd ever had. In truth, it was only a small pleasure, but she took great joy in it. She was uneasy whenever she walked among the pines of her stolen home, and though she was supposed the be the head honcho, she suspected pitch forks around every corner. Eventually, she grew stressed to the point of needing release, and running across the Flatlands was exactly that.

A gentle breeze toyed with the fur on her face, while the longer hairs on her back whipped into a tangle in the wind she generated with her sprint. Her tongue lolled out the side of her mouth as she ran, only stopping when she came into the shadow of the central mountain range. If she thought hard about it, she would remember travelling through here before, but it hadn't been remarkable enough for her to remember it.

Above her, cliffs climbed infinitely upward. It promised adventure, but for the time being, Ptarmigan stood and regained her breath and strength at the foot.

Maroon 5 — Shoot Love

As soon as the tree line broke, I swiveled my spine upwards, clarion blue eyes soaking up the heavens that floated above them. How graceful this blanket seemed to stretch from one horizon to the next, not a wrinkle in its unmarred belly. Down south this hue of the sky was a warmer cerulean, more easily to absorb the heat of the sun. I could only remember the misty gray-blue pastels that would seem so far out of touch. I would have to remember to trek up here at night and observe the difference of star patterns.

My trepid step brought me out into the rolling fields which cleaved sharply downwards. In the blurry distance I could make out the defines of Firestone Hotsprings, before the wooded blue lines of the far territory met the opposite mountains that made up the valley. It was another point of interest for me to visit, although it seemed the group was heading north. It would make the travel time no less than a five day's walk.

I shuffled along at a meandering pace, my nose and ears balking at each new and undiscovered scent. I had remembered what had happened the day before- a rather unsavory and awkward encounter with an established pack member. I was encouraged to return to the northern holding of my affiliations, but I was consistently mulling my reactions to strangers. It would be better to just return to the base and regroup until I had a permanent lodging. But of course, this wilderness was teeming with wolves. I could make out the firm black outline as I approached the northern mountainside, it's feet covered in thick pine forests. I halted, my ears flattened. Would it be better to just skirt this ebony wolfess who stood oh so conveniently in the path to the Tartok wolves? A sharp breath whistled silently through my mouth as my guard hairs crept closer to my skin.

Rather than letting out a soft chuff to alert this stranger, I padded slowly through the grass, eyes uneasily prying at the female's pelt. Perhaps she was trying to find the reclusive waterfall camp; a prospective warrior for the ranks. Or a loner, scrounging for a meal. Whoever she was, I wasn't one for putting up an assertive presence, rather stopping several bounds away, chin low.
Good evening.

For all intents and purposes, Ptarmigan was a general wolf. She had average hearing and average smelling by wolf standards, she was fit and capable and could run long distances. She wasn't the best team player, having been cut from selfish cloth in the form of her mother and even her grandmother, but that was a minor flaw. It could be rectified. Disabilities and injuries could not be rectified, and it was upon this logic that the Endore pitched the idea of climbing further upward, and found herself lacking reasons to do so. The mountain was undeniably dangerous, the cliffs undeniably steep, and it was undeniably stupid to risk injury.

Having decided against this particular venture, the Alpha began to turn around when the sound of crunching autumn grass made her pause. She stood perpendicular to the approaching bitch, who earned a slow and suspicious side glance from the dark Endore. For a moment, she was frozen in that stance, watching the other cautiously despite the greeting, with her ears the only animated thing on her.

Eventually, she did relax somewhat, and turned to face the female properly. She was ivory throughout, without any interesting markings that the Endore could see, with clear blue eyes that summoned her attention. Ptarmigan, ever the defensive and uncertain type, stood stiffly in place and did not extend a greeting in kind, but rather, began with, “you need something?”

It would be hard for the small, compact she-wolf to not respond in a snarling, negative way to the black canine's obvious stand-offish mood. Ivev had met a range of savory to sour characters, and she was struggling to take them in stride. It had been a long time since the soft-spoken naturalist had time to lay and rest. Her paws were begging for a cool creek to soak in or a smooth stone to rub against worn callouses.

Ivev lifted her head, calculating the best way to approach and deal with the stranger. She stood in a low meadow that opened up to the mountain wall and the beginning of the trees that sheltered the pack's camp. It would be difficult to ignore and skirt the green-eyed wolf's presence. She seemed the type to lock onto something, sink her teeth in... shake until her target was reduced to shreds.

No. Just heading home, the white wolf responded as her legs stepped closer, still against the swaying golden grass. Her nostrils flooded and the naturalist inclined her head. The black female had the scent of many others on her, a sure sign of a pack wolf. Yet the territory was open and free of scent marks. Are you lost?

“Where's that?” she asked, keen to hear whether the pale bitch came from the forest of crows or not. Her encounter with the hybrid on their borders had been full of false pleasantries. She'd left with a sour taste in her mouth unlikely to be washed away by even the most meticulous of cleanses. She didn't want meat nor fish, not with strangers so near. Ouroboros Spine could sustain itself indefinitely, but that didn't mean the Endore, made nervous already without others to contend with, liked their presence at all.

When asked if she was lost, the female allowed herself to relax just a smidge as she returned with, “Nah. I like to walk.” She was the nosy sort, and finding out new things was sort of a pleasure in life for Ptarmigan. She wasn't exactly the scholarly sort, but rather, the meddling sort. Ivev was unfortunate to have stumbled upon her, if the white female wasn't too carefully guarded with her words and secrets.

The strange female's green eyes reminded her of a pair watching from the depths of the night, round discs void of a pupil as they forever tracked their prey's position. Ivev couldn't help but to rip her stare away from the blackened female and past her shoulders to the tree line behind her.

Behind you. The white wolf motioned with a nod of her head to the woods behind the female that stretched down from the tall rocky walls and into a narrow valley. The pack's walk had been twisted and lurching down into the canyons to the waterfall, and they had left little trace as they walked through the woods.

She didn't know how to truly answer that first question without betraying the Tartok band's location, as they were still traveling and vulnerable with nowhere to protect. But the stranger seemed to visibly relax slightly, and perhaps she wasn't out on the warpath. Maybe she was, like she added, 'out for a walk'. Ivev's tail flickered once in dissent, but her ice-colored eyes were glassy and emotionless. She didn't feel an aura of trust emanating from this creature.

Then I'm sure we share the same enjoyment of discovery, the snowy female responded with a twitch of her ears. I'm Ivev.

Sorry to just pull Ptarmigan out of here without warning but she's been dead for a few weeks and I want to wrap her up ASAP.

She turned her head to glance back where Ivev had gestured. If a pack had come to settle in that region, she'd know about it. Wolves were hardly the subtlest creatures. She rolled her shoulders and warded away any indication that she might not believe the pale female and covered her uncertainty by saying, "welcome to the neighbourhood."

There was mutual distrust, it seemed. She could sense the tension radiating out from the other just as surely as Ivev could sense her own. Though Ptarmigan was often a creature to stir conflict, this time she merely pressed her ears up and said, "Ptarmigan. But I'm afraid I need to be going."

Nothing prompted this, of course. She simply didn't want to spend time here and, anyway, she had duties she was supposed to be taking care of. With one last long look, the dark Alpha turned and strolled away.