Emberwood Trojan war

The Stranger padded resolutely through the fiery light of an autumnal wood—the mid-day sun setting the whole forest ablaze. Even the gray creature glimmered red. The entire forehalf of his body was amassed in blood. He now left behind a mere skeleton of a doe, a meal he'd been harboring many hours (nearly an entire day), now finished and with a little less than a quarter of meat, bone, and fur left to the corporeal world.

He licked his chops as he went, enjoying the healthy, metallic tag of blood lingering on his lips and the feeling of a completely full belly. He was perhaps overweight now, overcompensated for having not eaten in nearly a week, and so his gait was heavy and lethargic as he searched for a cool spot to nap in for the next several hours, if not days, as he digested.

The swift-moving wolf galloped towards the forest, sun beating down on her brown back. Her strides were long, and in no time the crimson and saffron trees were making way for her as she entered the welcoming home of abundant trees. Falwasi decelerated once in the forest, wary of scaring any prey that happened to be nearby. Her prime logic to visiting the Emberwood was to hunt. She hadn't in a while and she was hungry. Hungry to eat, and kill.

Ambling through the array of trees, she trapped an unfamiliar scent. A pack wolf, but an unfamiliar pack to her knowledge. Falwasi deeply wanted the smell to be her imagination so that she could have some alone time hunting, but unfortunately it wasn't. The wolf would smell her, eventually, but for now she was going to hunt. She wasn't too much of a social butterfly, so the stranger would have to come and find her if he wished.

I forgot to make a note that this is before his visit to DFG, since I am unsure if he would be accepted or not, but you don't have to change your post -- we can just ignore it from this point forward lol :)

He was attracted to a feminine waver in the air, interested for once if only because he knew he was well-fed, and wasn't presently in the mood for competition or confrontation. Rather, the wanderer felt a strong pull for company; a wolfish need for companionship that the loner mostly ignored in favor of survival. But he had never been afraid of females, even if they were mostly wary of him, and the fairer gender of wolves were also less likely to incite a fight with him.

So he followed the scent, thick tail swaying back and forth against his haunches as he tracked the hunting wolf. It wasn't long before he could see her below him from his perch on a slight knoll in the woods, and he watched her movements with cold, teal eyes until she would spot him too. The wild-furred male didn't make an effort to approach her more than he already had. There was always the risk he could frighten her off merely with his presence, let alone if he appeared to be stalking her.

[size=x-small]Oops - ok! [/size]

Just as she was about to strike at a rather large hare, the creature shot off before she could even blink. Falwasi hastily turned her head towards the sound of leaves scuttling and saw a pair of turquoise eyes burning into her flesh. "Damn you!" she yelled roughly at the wolf. Her eyebrows were furrowed in disappointment - she rarely missed a good pounce at a hare. Falwasi hadn't meant to sound so hostile, and immediately attempted at softening her tone, "What are you doing, anyways?" she asked, her tone slightly nicer. The male glowed a ruby color in the light, but around his mouth the color was true, of blood. Falwasi would give the wolf a chance to explain - however the Emberwood was pack land, and if he had been hunting... Well she would deal with it when the time came.

The she-wolf looked over the wolf - every shade of grey appeared in his coat. He was an athletic, muscular thing with a standoffish demeanour and a dignified expression that did not worry her. Unlike her previous encounter with the ragged loner who she had fought with, the male showed no aggressive attitude, so Falwasi relaxed her muscles as she awaited the stranger's replique.

His shoulders prickled lightly when she cursed him. The loner was used to confrontation (his plethora of scars, both hidden and seen, proved it) and the male was wholly prepared for it at all times. That being said, he wasn't in the mood to be antagonized, and would likely be on his way if the female continued to be hostile. He only realized belatedly that he had frightened away her catch, but there was no apology on his icy face.

She questioned what he was doing, but since the stranger hadn't actually been doing much of anything besides being nosy, he opted not to answer. Instead, he told her: "if you're hungry, there's a kill I abandoned near by. It's not much, but it's more than a hare's share, anyway."

He eyed her for a moment, but didn't particularly wait for her to respond before he turned and began plodding his heavy way back towards the decimated doe.

Falwasi thought it through - the Emberwood wasn't exactly claimed land, so she would let this time go. They were on neutral ground, and she shouldn't be hostile, she would be expected to encourage him to join the pack. The lone wolf had just as much a right to be there as she did.

After he suggested a kill to share, he didn't wait for her to respond, and calmly walked away. Falwasi stood, affronted by the wolf's lackadaisical behaviour. "I like to eat what I kill myself." she shouted after him, attempting to prove she didn't want his charity. When he continued padding away, she grumbled, her curiosity getting the best of her.

She abandoned the chase that the hare that had shot off was offering her, and instead decided to chase the grey wolf. Falwasi had no desire in eating his prey, but she was intrigued by him; the way he held himself was composed yet fierce. Stealthily climbing up the knoll he had been standing on, she got back onto her feet, spotting him ahead of her. She trotted smoothly up to him, and slowed to a walk as she reached his side.

"Go hungry then," he replied smoothly, not caring for her stupidity. It made no sense for a wolf to pass up on a perfectly good meal just simply because they had not caught it themselves. He had fought many wolves for scraps he had not earned, but when it came to surviving, the stranger would've done anything. He began to wonder if this female was even wolf at all.

She followed him anyway, and the next thing he knew, she was at his side. He glanced at her, sidelong through a large, blue-green eye. She was a fine creature, really. Her eyes were sharp, her pelt looked much softer than the spiky blades along his stony back, and there was a sheen to her color that reminded him of a gold and cinnamon deer. If he had not just eaten, the red-fronted wolf might've looked at her in a hungrier fashion.

"Why are you following me?" he asked, since she had not been interested in his offer, there seemed no reason to accompany him through the blazing wood.

"Why are you following me?" the silver and grey male asked her, glimpsing at her. Falwasi didn't know exactly how to answer the question, since she wasn't going to openly say, 'Because you're thought-provoking.' So, Falwasi ignored his question - she had one of her own, "Who are you?" she asked unexcitedly as they trudged through the autumnal forest.

She wondered where they were headed, but she had a pretty good idea - they were most likely headed towards the stranger's supposed kill. Falwasi's stomach suddenly abandoned its need for food, but the pack could always use some extra game especially since their past two hunts had been failures. And, her stubborn mind still lingered on the thought of hunting. If she grew bored, she would turn around and try to find that hare that escaped from her attack.

She didn't answer his question. Instead, she asked her own. The stranger thought that this was rude and irritating, and for a moment he contemplated chasing her away. His stony fur prickled, but he wound up being silent for a long while. He wasn't going to answer her either, not that there was anything for him to say. He did not have a name, at any rate.

"Is that why you're following me? To know me?" There. She had answered his question with a question, so he would do the same. Despite being lonely and use to a wild detachment towards his kin, he was not stupid or without his wiles as a conversationalist. His mother, once upon a time, had been royalty, after all.

"No," She answered abruptly, "You're near the Creek border and you chased away my prey and if I chose to continue hunting I would feel distracted to do so in this forest right now with a loner lurking nearby." Falwasi said in a huff, nothing about her tonality or expression to contradict her statement. She could sense their discussion would continue to be touchy; they were both stubborn creatures.

"There, I answered your question. Now could you please answer mine?" The sharp-tongued wolf asked in a forced tone. Falwasi was at least trying to be polite. She didn't really know why since she could just turn around back to Swiftcurrent Creek; she was annoyed enough. [b]"You know what, never mind. I don't give a shit," she decided after a moment, turning on her heel to continue with her hunt... elsewhere.