Cautiously Ferrous peeped over the rock she'd been hiding behind. Zahir was being really bossy; after catching Ferrous with a sharpened stick she'd intended to go after one of her siblings with, the stocky cat had thumped her on the head with a heavy paw and then forbidden her from leaving her sight for the rest of the day. For awhile the girl had sulked, but no more! She wanted to play.

The coast looked clear so the tiny girl slithered off the rock and darted away.

She ran for what felt like forever before collapsing in a heap behind a tree to catch her breath. Free! She was free! Her tiny tail drummed a staccato beat against the tree trunk. The world was hers! She didn't know where to start. Chase a bird? No, no. She sat up suddenly. A squirrel! Yeah! Now she just needed to find one...

The man moved quietly through the basin, right ear giving the occasional twitch as he caught some sound or another. His silver eyes scanned all that was around him, taking note of every bird in the trees, every different scent he picked up. Oh, and of course the sound of someone crashing through the undergrowth. He supposed it was a smaller creature, whatever it was. It didn't appear threatening and so Felicien walked on, monitoring it's progress quietly. But then the rustling grass was replaced by the tell tale thudding on wood. Goodness who was making such a racket?

Feli didn't have to change his course very much to see whom it was. A young pup... And one who looked quiet pleased with herself at that. The man stood within the foliage, his dark coat a shadow upon the land. He rumbled softly, calling to the child. "You should mind how loud you are. You could draw unwanted attention, child." Feli shook his head. This little one wasn't like the pups from his own pack: had she been she'd know this sort of information already. But Felicien held no I'll will towards her, nor did he care to lecture her further. He turned on his paw, about to continue onward when something nagged at him.

"Shouldn't you be close to your densite? Our your parents?" He glanced towards the girl again, coming out of his hiding before sitting on his haunches. Was she lost? Did she have a parent? Feli frowned deeply. Depending on the answer this conversation could go from pleasant to disasterous and everywhere in between.

Ferrous was in the middle of a frenzied, squirrel-hunting sweep of the treetops when a deep grownup voice snatched her attention out of the foliage. Her head whipped around so fast she saw stars, but she had to know who she was dealing with - and fast. Grownups could be scary. Kids, not so much. She was convinced she could take on anyone her size, but all grownups were bigger than her and that made her uneasy.

The man cautioned her about making so much noise and then turned on his heel to walk away. Ferrous would have been content to simply let him go without replying to his comment, but for whatever reason he decided not to go, choosing instead to engage her further.

Rats.

What was it about her, she wondered, that made grownups do a double take? She didn't know what it was about her that screamed 'unsupervised' but whatever it was, she needed to find out. That way she could turn it on and off whenever it was useful and convenient. Right now it wasn't all that convenient, but she was okay with improvising. She gave him her best puzzled look, hoping to convey confusion over his assertion that she wasn't where she belonged,  and then said brightly, "I can explore if I want. Just not toooo far." There. That kinda sorta answered his questions without mentioning densites or parents. Hopefully that would be enough to convince him.