Redtail Rise i'll sit all alone, watch from the edge of the earth

it is the first morning since the coyote incident that jr has nursed her shame enough to return to the borders. she is glad, perhaps for the first time in her life since learning that she was different from everyone else, that she cannot hear anyone.

she didn't want to have to deal with pity, which would only give her shame more room to grow, or worse yet, words of encouragement that she would not take very encouragingly.

ghost hasn't ridden on the junction betwixt her shoulders since the scrap and even now, he takes to the skies, a bit ahead of her; reconnoissance.

there are new scents on the borders, even within the territory that she does not recognize; jr takes careful stock of them, tucking them away for later.

for now, her attention remains upon the scents and her visibility of the borders, hoping that if she kept pushing on the soft limp might go away.

At some point, it had become apparent to Carrion just exactly what being deaf meant. When she had been informed about the newest youngster among them, who had shown up sometime within the last two or three full moons, she hadn’t been entirely certain what a wolf who could not hear would be like.

They had not interacted much, if at all, and it was interesting to sometimes trail the girl at a distance without ever being discovered due to her disability, but she had little enthusiasm for crossing paths with someone she could not stymie with her riddles.

That being said, there wasn’t much difference in her eyes between the deaf girl and, say, Augur or New Snow, who she cared for as much as a narcissistic adolescent could. And since both of her mute guardians (and their just-as-mute children) served a purpose in their own ways, all without ever being able to converse, she now wondered what kind of camaraderie she could share with the recovering patroller.

Instead of stalking her from afar as usual, Carrion made a point to come from the front, so as to greet the hearing-impaired guardian head-on. She approached slowly, unwilling to startle the injured youth, wagging her tail tentatively once they’d made eye contact. She did not look to the girl’s limp or noticeable injury – she didn’t care about that – but instead made it clear through body language that she intended to walk alongside her on patrol. Was she welcome there?

unfortunately for jr, despite that her sense of smell and sight have grown hawkishly keen to make up for the lack of hearing: they are not infallible. if someone remains downwind of her, they are at a clearer advantage; such as her sometimes shadow that she didn't even realize was even was her shadow.

ghost, ahead, drops low and circles before facing forward again.

suspicious, jr thinks; still unable to read all of ghost's signals.

but she does not have to ponder it for long. doesn't even have a true chance to react before the other girl makes herself known, approaching from the front.

golden gaze takes her in, recognizing her somewhat. jr tends to keep to herself most of the time — for she is a poor listener and conversationalist — and tends to let others come to her as opposed to seeking them out.

a quick scan of the other's body language tells jr that she has an interest in walking with her on patrol, and as jr offers a nod of invitation; welcoming.

A good sign, a welcoming gesture; Carrion quickly took the space at the girl’s right shoulder, owlish gaze imploring her to lead them onward. This was the coyote-battler’s realm, after all, she herself was only a guest to border-tending.

As they moved, she eyed the deaf girl sidelong. It was her first opportunity to really study her up close, and she found herself captivated by the pattern of colors against her burnblack coat, the churn of youthful muscle, and the glint of dark saffron eyes. The falcon was interesting, too, but it did not stay in one place long enough for her to observe it as well.

Carrion suddenly lifted her nose to the wind. What was that? She looked to her companion. The scent of something dead had wafted in.

i haven't decided on what they should find or if there's anything else present around the dead thing, so feel free to improvise as much or as little as you'd like <3

there is a companionship to be found in the other, though jr does not know her. does not really know anyone in the rise, in truth. though this was in part of her prickly fortress nature, holding ptero close to her chest; hoarding it like a secret despite that teaching it to those interested in learning it would certainly help her in the long run.

but she was starting small ( though not really small for her at all ); doubling down on her effort to keep learn lip reading. a bigger challenge now that the wolves of the rise seem to have no interest in talking to her now that they share an awareness that she is deaf.

she feels the other's eyes on her and her ininjured shoulder twitches; like the crawl of cat's skin when their human's fingers are inches away and they anticipate the petting that will follow.

a glimpse is spared to the other girl, out the corner of her eye; though any inquiring looks are stolen by the scent of something rotting.

her gaze hardens, snapping in the direction she believes the dead thing to be; in the spacial area that she has always considered no man's land. temporal in the way that it was not claimed but not technically neutral, in her mind.

her path cuts sharply in it's direction, crossing out of the rise's borders with the clear intent to investigate. a glimpse spared over her healing shoulder to see if the other girl was intent to follow before she faces in it's direction again, caution quieting her steps as she shrugs into the foliage.

jr is on edge; her muscles tense beneath her pelage as she draws nearer to the mutilated thing. canine in shape but small. wiry. she recognizes it now, immediately as coyote. but this rutheless mauling was not the work of her or their burnished leader.

so then, who? or, perhaps worse yet, what?