Dawnlark Plains Nasty freestyle

It came as a (somewhat nasty) surprise that Redtail Rise was quite close to the sirens' former stomping grounds. After discovering this, Junior felt like approaching Saena and encouraging her to move further north or south along the coast. But she quickly realized the selfishness of this impulse and quashed it. Did it really matter anyway? They were clearly gone, hopefully never to return. It made her feel better when she squatted and urinated copiously in the heart of Monolith Forest.

Junior then returned inland a ways, bypassing the rise to explore the plains on the other side. They were relatively boring and the landscapes to the northeast beckoned her. Yet the yearling ventured no further today. She roamed the wide open spaces for a while, then flopped on the ground facing Redtail Rise. After discovering the proximity of Ankyra Sound, the Outrider now felt totally oriented in relation to the other territories she knew. Much had probably changed in the past several months, though the landscape certainly hadn't.

She felt a bit tired, though she wasn't hungry. Junior pondered taking a nap. She stretched out on the grass, then let her chin sink onto her forelegs. That's when she noticed how dusty and grimy they were, presumably from all the traveling. Sitting up again, the yearling began to give herself a bath, starting with her scarred forelegs and culminating with her hind leg hiked in the air as she gave her nether regions a thorough washing.

i was gonna wait until I finished with Vienna but why wait? :D

Manauia had taken upon herswlf the task of exploring some of the regions surrounding what was to be Tezca's new claim.  There was little of interest to be found in the flats, yet they did show promise for migrating herds, as the grasses would likely draw such things in. So long as they lay unclaimed, they could serve a nice addition to their own territory, a place to find prey when their own lacked.

She strolled along, deep in thought, happy for the distraction such sensible topics brought. If not that, she knew she would be dwelling on Tezcacoatl's offer and her own promised response. Now that Citali and Noctli were here, things were a bit brighter, but she had not spoken with them enough to find if they even were remaining. Perhaps it was a conversation they needed to share. Her decision, once given, would be immutable so long as Tezca held her to it. No matter her past failures, still she held her word as an oath.

It was then that she caught sight of another, and her ears pressed forward in surprise. Since Duskfire's downfall she hadn't known another pack to be in the area, so surely this was a passing vagabond? Unless a group moved in, which would spell possible annoyance for their own band.

At a light jog she started towards her, intent on finding out the meaning behind this.

Hello! Thanks for joining. :)

Her mind wandered as she bathed herself. She thought of Swordfish and felt a pinch of remorse for what she'd done to him. The poor guy really hadn't seen it coming. She pictured his stricken, crestfallen face when she had told him she was leaving him. He hadn't begged her to stay, mostly because he had been too frozen to say much of anything. Junior wondered what he had said since then...

The sound of approaching footsteps broke the spell. Realizing she had fallen still anyway, Junior placed her leg on the ground and sat up straight. She ran her tongue against her teeth and stood, eyes watchful as another wolf approached. She wasn't familiar... no, wait, she was familiar. It took the yearling several seconds to figure out when and where she'd met this wolf.

"The hoity toity bitch," she muttered under her breath. Out loud, she called, "If it isn't the true Amazon sister," lips twitching into an amenable smile. At the time, Junior had found the woman's disdain toward the Nereides rather distasteful. These days, she was much more likely to agree with Manauia (not that she remembered her name) about the inferiority of the so-called sirens.

Even if Junior's greeting hadn't clued her in, the Amazon would have recognized the woman from their previous meeting regardless. It was hard to forget eyes like that, and she had trained long and hard to be able to ingrain such details in memory, as her role of huntress required it. Names, however, did not fall under that juncture. She didn't even remember if they had exchanged such things.

"You." She said, eyes narrowed suspiciously but no malice in her tone. A few short months ago she might have jumped the girl for her association, but now the 'Amazons' she had once resided with no longer posed a threat. Whether they were still around or no more was irrelevant... they had been beaten, and so were inferior. Not to be bothered with or worried about.

Unable to tell if Junior was baiting her with the title she gave, Manauia let it go, choosing not to rise to it if it was a stab at her previous claim. She spoke truth, whether she believed it or not, and at least she had gotten something from their encounter. Instead she gave a small smile. "Indeed." At one time she had wondered as to the claim of the coastal wolves, but having met them, they were obviously not of the proper caliber. That didn't mean she couldn't sate a little curiosity, though. "And what of your 'Amazons'? I have not heard of, or from, them of late." Though she hadn't heard much of them before their battle either, not until their leader left that message on the Glacier borders. A secretive bunch, it seemed.

Junior smirked at the other woman's stiff reply, albeit without any sort of malice. "I'll admit I don't remember your name. If I recall, it was something very long with lots of vowels and syllables. I'm Junior," she added in case the other she-wolf likewise didn't remember.

"I left them not long after we spoke, actually," the yearling said after giving Manauia the opportunity to reintroduce herself. "I realized they were a bunch of cunts," she said baldly, shrugging her bony shoulders. "I heard they were involved in a battle and then vanished. I personally couldn't care less what happened to them." Maybe that was cold but it was the truth.

"Weren't you a loner when we met? Still doing the nomadic thing?" the yearling wondered conversationally, taking a seat and wrapping her tail close to her recently groomed haunch.

I'll try to be quicker on this if you are trying to wrap Junior up <3

"Manauia." it wasn't the easiest of names to remember, not so simple as Junior. The only thing she desired to keep from her life before the rise. "That was probably a wise choice. They did not do well in that battle." At this she smiled, a genuine and somewhat bloodthirsty expression. That day had been possibly her best since she'd started traipsing about these lands. Even for an Amazon she was fonder of battle than most. Almost to the point of impropriety. Her eagerness was sometimes her downfall.

Her natural mistrust made her wonder what she should even say to this twice-met stranger, but the thought was pointless. She had no lands to defend here presently and no intrigues to protect. Even if this girl was still affiliated with the 'amazons', they could do nothing now. "I found what I was searching for, but yes. I am still not affiliated with any of your 'packs', so to speak." She barely considered the groups living around here as such, for there was not a real Queen among them that she knew of. And there was no such thing as a real King.

There's no rush, really. :)

"I heard," Junior said, "and I'm not surprised. They were too busy with their sexist witchcraft to train for battle." There was a sneer in her voice and on her lips. She couldn't believe she'd ever run with them. She blamed the stupidity of youth for the terrible lapse in judgment.

"Ah, and what's that?" the yearling wondered, fully prepared for Manauia to refuse to tell her. "I'm not surprised about that, either. You strike me as the type to found and lead your own pack, rather than join one."

'Sexist witchcraft'. The only thing she could partially respect them for, though this she kept to herself. She was aware that outsiders did not understand nor respect their ways, which was why they remained outsiders. They were generally taught respect, in time, and it was not an easy lesson. Rememberance brought another smile to her face, and a bit more ease to her mood.

Junior asked a lot of questions, ones that a month ago would have been met with refusal. Her time here, and the unlikelihood they she would return, had eased her worry of betrayal. She would still not say much, but she would say more than she had. "An old friend. I was meant to be protecting him, and failed in that. I seek to rectify this."

Her statement of starting a pack brought a laugh forth. "Me, lead? There are none here I would wish to lead." Let Tezca be shepherd to the weak and unworthy. Manauia did not have the tolerance or the patience. "I am more a sword than a scepter, and only wish to one day return home." Her eyes roved over the angled black frame before her. "Is that your desire now? To lead?". If she had condemned the women she once called pack, perhaps she had decided the best leadership was her own.

The she-wolf offered up the information easily enough, though it really meant little to Junior in the end, especially without names. Deciding it wasn't her business (and that she wasn't interested enough), she didn't ask for those. She replied with a simple, "Ah."

Manauia seemed bemused by the idea of leading. That's the hoity toity bitch I know, the yearling thought, smirking faintly. She didn't mind it, really, despite the implied slight. She wondered where home was, though before she could ask, Manauia asked Junior if she sought to lead.

"No way. I like to travel, which makes for a poor leader. I'm way too undependable for that," Junior responded unabashedly. "I did try it, actually. I was Beta of a pack for a little while. But it didn't work out for the reasons I mentioned. I'll take the road over responsibility any day of the week."

She licked her lips, paused just long enough to gather a breath, then queried, "So, where is home?"

Manauia could respect that at least the girl knew herself well enough to admit she wasn't the leading type. Many would claim they could do it all, wishing to be respected and seen as intimidating. Not realizing that leadership was hardly required to gain that respect (and hardly demanded that respect be given by default). Her reasons were questionable, but honest.

She felt a pang as Junior asked of home, tempted to brush off the question. The rise was nowhere nearby, far as she knew, but it was painful to think about knowing she possibly would never return. "A long ways from here. A beautiful place, very different from these lands." The slight to this place was definitely implied. "But lost for now, at least to me." She frowned, and suddenly she was done talking. She did afford the girl a courtesy given to few - a farewell. "I should go. But good travels, I hope." Kinda. Maybe. She didn't put a false 'nice to meet you' on there, pleasantries not being her thing so much. But this conversation hadn't been awful, and she knew she needed to start getting used to dealing with these outsiders.

Manauia offered a rather vague but nonetheless heartfelt answer to Junior's question. The yearling didn't pick up on the slight, mostly because she was imagining this distant paradise. As an Outrider, she loved to hear about faraway places. Maybe she would go there someday. She intended to stay with Saena's pack a long while, yet there was still a lot of traveling Junior wanted to accomplish before she kicked the bucket.

It seemed Junior's question had spurred some strong feelings in Manauia, for she abruptly pardoned herself and went on her way. Junior didn't try to stop her, nor did she really mind that much. She offered a stiff bob of her snout, two-toned eyes following the she-wolf until she moved out of sight. Her eyes then cut back to the rather flat, uninteresting scenery before her.

She yawned. Now that she was freshly bathed, that nap was in order. Not one to be picky about sleeping space, the skinny black she-wolf simply sprawled on the ground, closed her eyes and fell asleep on the sunlight plains.