Phoenix Maplewood if loving you is a felony now then i'm a renegade, riding

@Ensio

qiao came on a western wind, three small shadows darting ahead of her.

yerba buena; she tasted sea salt close to her lips. not very far now, not far at all.

she paused atop a mat of gaultheria, plucking a broad leaf from its stem and chewing. the taste was always bitter, but qiao worked the pulpy plant into a paste, bending down and placing her work atop a thin peltskin.

He knew what he needed to do. What he wanted to do, and would ultimately accomplish in the end, with Arius by his side. But that may be a long ways off yet. What Ensio needed now, was time. Time to be alone. To reflect. Even to train. What better way for a young warrior to start than taking a day trip away from home?

The orphan, the boy who had no mother or father to call his own, lost to death's grip, was stone faced and silent as he moved within this forest. The lack luster atmosphere of late autumn, with winter just at the door, was fitting to his stormy mood. Head held level with his spine, the youth scoured for any movement. Of anything smaller than him. Suitable for target practice.

qiao spat into the peltskin, folding its edges closed. nosing the twine about its edges, she shouldered the makeshift concoction and took two steps forward before she was compelled to halt. 

somewhere, the careful patter of feet. qiao’s long ears turned back as she drank the wind’s scent. looking for something? she queried into the cold air, eyes trained towards a thicket where she first heard a rustle.

He stopped. He heard movement ahead. The smell of another and a skinned animal he was not familiar with. He scanned, trying to pick out and distinguish her russets amongst the maze of dismal browns and grays of a winters forest.

Slowly, he moved forward. Enough to expose himself more, shedding light unto his pale, stormy frame. He wondered who she was, and what she was doing with the fox skin at her paws. But he seemed indifferent, remaining stone face. "Yeah. Target practice." He stated bluntly, a glare deep in his eyes. He was hurting. Fit to burst.

a young brute, filled with tenacious energy entered qiao's vision. he would be a fine creature at adulthood, if he ever made it. qiao took one step back, wondering if he had equally pugnacious comrades with him.

 qiao clucked. "fresh off your mother's tit, and looking for something to sink your teeth in, hmm." qiao glanced around her; she was in a slight divot of earth, where brambles and reeds flanked her to each side. she stepped to the brambles, her attention still honed on the boy. "there are better targets than me, boy."

she sought to quell his violence - but if it came to it, qiao would run. she had always been a runner, a survivor. later, when those who did her wrong slept, she snuck into their camps and quietly bled their life from them by a quick slice to their throats.

He made no move to dash at her. He stayed rooted in his spot, quietly curious of this wolf. He huffed lowly at her words, but not necessarily in disdain. "I am not interested in other wolves. Not today. More along the lines of something I can overpower more easily." 

He was a youth, after all. He had to refine his skills before he tackled something or someone that fought back. "Who are you, anyway? And what is that stuff you got there?" He gestured to the chewed up plants and the strip of hide she had been working with. She might at least, serve to divert his anger for a little while.

the boy claimed his interest elswhere. qiao made show of visibly relaxing, but kept her muscles coiled lest they be called into use. wolves, she had come to learn, were as reliable as the words which curled from their mouths into empty air. that is, to say, their promises mattered little.

"qiao-ilha. and this is gaultheria. teaberry." qiao gestured to the plants behind her. "useful for steeping in water, to clean cuts or cure a headache." she glanced upon the child, who was so close to coming into his own -- so close to discovering the ugly truths of the world. "where are you from?"