Bullet Train

Without her usual burden of traps and hides, which she had left cached in a hollow while she scouted, Leto crept through the long, dying grasses in silence. She might not have a preference for hunting in the traditional way, by tooth and claw, but neither she had not neglected her learning in that area. She was perfectly capable of stalking or of ambush when the mood struck her, and scouting was in its own way a relaxing venture. Of course, her pelt certainly didn't blend well with the northern environment she was currently in. The southern continent, sure, where large bright flowers and huge butterflies created splashes of color in the darkness beneath the tree canopies not unlike her own color-on-darkness pelt, but not here where drab colors were key. Her usual methods of hunting that didn't matter so much, but on a scout?

Yeah, this called for some camouflage.

A quick search along the river had given her a good supply of mud that she'd rolled in to cover the main portion of her pelt, and a couple different colors of clay, which she smeared in streaks and stripes over her face and sides. The wet mud and clay quickly picked up bits of leaves and grasses and seedheads until it dried and held them in place, adding to the camouflage. The mud was cold against her skin while wet, slicking down her fur, and then as it dried it tended to pull and crack, but it was all easily ignored and blended really well with the sere autumn grasses she was travelling through. The mud helped to mask her scent slightly too, not to mention the odor of crushed herbs and such that stuck in it. Her heat scent, unfortunately, would still have a tendency to make itself known if a wolf came across her trail long enough, but at a quick sniff it would do to keep her hidden.

Her heat. Heat meant autumn, again, and the fact that she was reaching the end of her heat meant that autumn too was coming to an end. It wouldn't be long before she had to make her way down to Auster if she wanted to escape the cold of winter. It was already quite chilly, but she'd found herself slow to make her escape this year. Her meandering path, though pointed in a generally-southern direction, seemed reluctant to actually head straight to that land bridge. Well, it was understandable and natural that she be reluctant to leave with the possibility of finding Artemis or her mum or da like she'd found Iskra, but Leto was unaccountably annoyed with herself. She was an independent agent! She didn't need to find her family. She was fine by herself!

Narrowing her eyes at an offensive grass seed, Leto wrinkled her muzzle up and huffed at it, then kicked the grass tuft when the breath didn't budge the fluffy seed. Stupid seed. Stupid family. Stupid Boreas. She didn't need any useless old baggage dragging her down. She didn't need anyone. Nope, no one! In fact, they needed her. So why should she be looking for them? They should be looking for her, and maybe if they asked nicely she'd let them stick around right?