Swiftcurrent Creek memories

@Falwasi Sparring or Hunting please!

Star's eyes were open, and her sleep had gone. But she still laid in her grass bed. Today too many memories were overflowing her at once for no reason in particular. There was Peak's parents and his little sister, they were the perfect family. And then there had been the Snowfang family, with no mother, a cruel father, and two depressed daughters. That had been them, and Star didn't like to remember it. And if she looked back on her life, she would find there was only one wolf she'd ever truly loved, who had been her sister, Moon. She could see her sister's freckled black and white face, a broad smile upon it, no matter how bored or lonely she was. She was a bit shorter and fluffier than Star, but still capable of ninety-nine percent of the stuff Star was capable of. She could not lie here all day, she realized. So she got up and began to walk alongside the creek, following it's shore, and thinking about her family.

She had been resting beside the Creek when she caught the familiar scent of one of her pack mates. Unfortunately, Falwasi did not know which, but there was no need for hostility or ignorance. Any wolf who was a member of her pack should be her friend, if not allies.

The velvet pelted wolf did not think any of her pack mates have had a decent meal in weeks. It seemed as if every living critter around their home had been driven away. There were few rabbits or deer around anymore, and Falwasi was convinced the number of fish in their beloved creek had been minimising, too.

Stretching her legs, she moved her slim face towards the source of the smell. She furrowed her brows; she could've sworn it was Bazi. Petite, thick white fur... but the thing that gave her away were her eyes. They were black, like the winter night sky. Definitely not Bazi.

Falwasi gave her a small bark, dipping her head, "You must be Star," she said, unsure of how she knew her name. She probably heard other wolves speaking, and well, the arctic creature did resemble a star. Blurred at the edges and dazzling white. "I'm Falwasi."

Star was jolted from her thoughts by a voice. She turned. The lady was familiar, Star had definitely seen her at a meeting or two. "I'm surprised you know my name, but I've heard yours too, but I didn't know it belonged to you. Nice to meet you." She said. No, she was more than surprised. It made her feel important, that someone knew her name without having to ask her. It filled Star with pride. "So, Falwasi, how long have you been part of the Creek?" Star asked, willing to try and start the conversation.

"Almost three months now," Falwasi responded, failing to return the pleasantries. It would have been nice to meet her, were the introvert not such an... introvert.

She desperately wanted to hunt, but forced herself to be polite. "And you?" she replied with a smile that was trying a little too hard. Hopefully Star didn't catch her out in her weak moment. As far as Falwasi knew of the little wolf's rank, Star was of a higher rank than Falwasi. Ranking didn't at all matter to the mountain wolf, but she knew it might to others.

After receiving her response, Falwasi inclined her head towards the creek, giving her pelt a little shake. Well, the water was frosty, but it wasn't glazed over. She figured they still had a pretty fair shot at catching a few fish. "Care for a hunt?" she asked, hoping the answer would be a yes.

Star was surprised to find that the girl had been here almost as long as Star. "Three months. Just before Fox left." She replied. She didn't notice that Falwasi seemed eager to quit talking and start hunting, but soon the lady voiced her opinion. Star was releived. "Yes, definitely. I am not sure if you have realized but I am not very social." She said with a small embarrassed smile. Star sat down next to the Creek, waiting for some fish to come by.

With a abashed smile, Star admitted to her anti-sociality. She seemed like a pretty social wolf to Falwasi, though. She didn't know why; maybe her big, thick coat had an inviting attribute to her. "Well, you're not the only one," she agreed, and it was true.

She joined Star at the edge of the freezing waters, remembering her first hunt within the Creek with Bazi. That day had been one of Falwasi's highlights, it was the day she learned to hunt river fish. It might've not seemed like much of a difference, but there was. Although the wolves had to hunt in deeper water in lakes, the river fish were incredibly fast. It was a good thing Falwasi was more cunning.

Crouching down on her hind quarters, her copper eyes scanned greedily over the water's surface, then further below that. Seeing silvery trout catch the light, Falwasi dove forwards, open-mouthed. The water was indeed absolutely glacial, but the adrenaline of the hunt pushed the cold from multiplying away. Grabbing the fish by its neck, she made sure to kill it quickly by clamping her jaws tight as she felt its blood ooze into her mouth.

Star was glad to hear she wasn't alone. She had never thought of it as a bad thing, she found it neutral. She didn't need to be social to help keep the pack in order. She watched as Falwasi expertly caught a silvery fish and slapped it onto the shore. At Skytouch Mountain they hadn't hunted fish, but thanks to the man she met a day or two ago, she could catch them. Star made sure her shadow was not on the water, as he had done. She watched as a silver fish dappled with a dull blue swam by. It circled a little. She waited till it was in just the right spot, and then her fangs flashed. Her jaws plummeted into the creek, grabbing the fish and giving it a bite, until it fell limp. She placed it on the shore. She smiled a little at Falwasi and turned back to the water.

It was her turn to watch as Star brilliantly hung back, her shadow casted away from the water. She grabbed the fish quickly, giving Falwasi a faint smile before turning her attention back to the water. Seconds later, her action was repeated by the brown hued wolf.

Falwasi looked into the water, ignoring her own, slim reflection. To her misfortune, she could not spot a living soul in the tumultuous waters, so she stood straighter, a look of determination crossing her features.

Then they softened from the stiffness as she saw a yellowy-khaki glint prominently standing out against the blue waters, her muscles contracting instead, paw swiping viciously but calculated at the aquatic as water sprayed across Falwasi's muzzle. Feeling the trout go still after her attack, she picked it up with her mouth, cold water attacking her warm blood.

Star watched as Falwasi similarly caught a fish. Star noticed Fal was good at it. "I only recently learned to fish. I come from a mountain, where we never fished." She told the wolf quietly. She didn't take her eyes off the water.
A much smaller grey fish swam by ever so slowly. Star's shadow was already directed towards the ground. Star again did the same motion, waiting before she flashed out, grabbing it in her jaws and slapping it onto the fish pile, which was beginning to grow.
Fish were a good prey. They couldn't really migrate away or fly off when it got cold. Long as you knew how to catch them, they could keep you pretty well during Winter. Star was worried about how empty the caches were, but after a good little hunt like this, they would be just a but better. It was not like they could fill a whole cache with a few fish, but at least their wolves wouldn't starve completely.

The hunt was warming up, and the two girls exchanged the role of the spectator and of the entertainer. After Falwasi had caught her second fish, the star clarified that catching fish was not a casualty in her previous pack. Well, she was awfully good at it. "So who taught you to fish?," the golden wolf asked. She was genuinely curious; all the wolves she had met that recently learned how to fish were stiff and unfamiliar with the techniques and movements.

Immediately after Star caught her kill, Falwasi set herself up to catch another. She didn't have to watch the arctic catch more fish; she had some hunting to do herself. This time the mountain wolf walked into the cold water, standing in the middle of the creek, waiting for a fish to swim nearer. The water was colder than when she first arrived, as she expected. Snow was soon upon the Wilds, the temperature dropping marginally with every passing day.

Falwasi lowered her mouth to the water, snapping her mouth towards a smaller fish in the water but missing by a few inches. Smaller fish tended to be quicker, but even so most misses were because she was rushing the kill. Lowering her mouth once more, this time slowly, she sweeped up a fish calmly. Falwasi clamped her jaws upon the floundering creature, lips tickling with the success of the kill. She tossed it out of the water and watched it as it landed near her pile of fish before returning to scour the water with her eyes in search of the next fish.

"Oh, well, I'm a terrible warden," she began, her voice popping in- aren't you terrible at everything? She narrowed her eyes. Shut up you. "I saw a wolf, and I was about to tell him to leave, but I saw him fishing really well. He sat down right next to me as if he wasn't trespassing. So I asked him to teach me, and it turns out he didn't know english, but somehow he understood. He showed me step by step without talking. He had a good method." She stopped. "I don't think he was a threat, he taught me how to fish after all." She paused. She hoped Fal didn't think she just let everyone trespass or anything. She would defend their territory when it was needed, but he had taught her to hunt, giving her a lot more to eat. She wouldn't stay as hungry because she knew how to hunt fish.

As she had been telling her story she'd been watching the water again. A small silver fish had swam by rather quickly. Star's jaw submerged into the water to get it- but it darted off just in time. She almost caught just the tail, but didn't end up catching anything. Not that Star liked the tail. Perhaps she was not as good as she thought, although she had caught on quite quickly. Whoops. She thought as the fish escaped, carried off with the help of the current.

Falwasi stealthily climbed out of the creek, giving her pelt a violent shake so she wouldn't freeze to death from the water clinging to her fur. It helped; her fur stuck out at odd angles, but the air was drying it quickly.

The white wolf answered her question. This foreign wolf she spoke of seemed interesting. Perhaps Falwasi would like him were she to meet him; and she was sure if she came across a wolf who didn't speak english it would be him, for there were not many wolves from abroad.

A similar fish to the one Falwasi missed clambered away from Star's grasp. "They're reasonably fast," she said. If it were her though, she would've caught another for good measure. "I think we've caught a fair amount," she added. Together they'd caught five. The mountain wolf three, the arctic two. It wasn't a large, or sufficient amount of food for the Creek wolves, but considering their recent hunting failures, it was good enough. "Care to eat? We could share one, and fill one of the caches with the rest," she offered. It wasn't a particularly generous offer, but half of one of the largest fish would have to do.

She was glad Falwasi didn't think there was anything wrong with not chasing him off. Or at least if she did, she didn't voice it. "I think you're right. It's not much but it will have to do, our last few pack hunts haven't gone that well." Star sighed. And this soon before Winter. Once Winter was here, they better hope their hunting luck didn't decrease. They'd already gone badly enough in Autumn. Star pulled forward a large fish. "Head or tail?" She said. But they weren't flipping a coin, they were sharing a meal. In truth Star didn't eat the head or the tail, so the side she got didn't matter. She just thought maybe Fal had a craving for fish eyes or something.

[size=x-small]Last post from me![/size]

The alabaster girl offered her which half she wanted. Personally, Falwasi preferred the head's half. There was slightly more meat, and it tasted a lot better than the tail end. Also, there were less bones. The tail side on the other hand was thinner, and although it did have meat, it didn't taste nearly as nice as the head. The mid-section was the best, though. This was where the fish was at its plumpest, and because of this Falwasi had no problem choosing.

She wasn't greedy. "Tail," she answered with a slight smile. The damp wolf had eaten better than she predicted Star had for the past few weeks. She did not wait for Star to reply, and instead tucked into the large fish.

Falwasi's stomach started to fill as the flavours of the trout were taken in by her tongue. She'd had better fish, but nevertheless it was an enjoyable small meal. The aquatics weren't particularly messy, either. Unlike a rabbit or a bird, the blood remained inside her mouth, the faint taste of metallic blood accompanying the strong taste of the meat.

thanks for the thread!

She took the head side happily, only to bite the head off and place it on the ground. She bit into the meat. She wasn't sure if she liked fish yet- the whole entire thing tasted like water with some flavor, but the meat was so much cleaner and neater to eat than other land prey. A little blood got on her muzzle, and after she finished her portion, she dipped it in the water to wash it off. "I'll fill the caches for you. Thank you for hunting with me, Falwasi. Till next time." She said with a broad smile, before she picked up the other four fish by their tails. With a wave of her tail she began to trot off, heading for the nearest cache, to fill with the success of their hunt.