The forest is, thankfully, quiet. It's not something that gets Itzal itching to explore, though -- there are few scents on the outer edges of the pine trees. Well, the scents that are present are ones that should make his mouth water. Elk. Faint, but there. With a white blanket of snow covering the area with a thick frost, though, Itzal feels more apathetic to the idea of a chase than anything. He hums to himself, more like a hemming and hawing than an actual lyrical noise. He's indecisive, something that isn't unbeknownst to his character. He's often stuck here in a purgatory of decision making. "Should I go or should I stay? Should the elkies lead the way? Or should I kill another day?" Each line brings another head tilt until Itzal looks more like an owl than a wolf. The quick, snapping motions of his head even makes the skull on his face jostle. Oh! Careful! "Careful! Careful!" Don't want that falling off of his face. He likes his eyes! He wants to keep them! It's much harder to get rid of his eyes if there's something in the way. Still indecisive, he plops his rear down into the snow, a thin black streak against stark white. His tail curls up beside him, unkempt and ragged with melting ice. "Stay or go? Stay or go? Stay or..." He trails off into a muttering of inconsequential substance, every nonsensical murmur echoing against the steer's skull. "Speech."

Though sometimes Kai is comforted by the quiet stillness of the north, other times he can't help but feel the undeniable need to cause some kind of upheaval. The north, after all, is never quiet for long.. the calm before the storm is a saying that he knew all too well after spending so much time in these unpredictable lands. And.. if the storm never quite comes? Well, goddamnit, he would be the storm.

Maybe that was a slight exaggeration. Still, it was hard to not want to be somewhat chaotic, even if he wasn't sure exactly where to begin. For starters, wanting to run off some of his pent-up energy, he'd decided to run, weaving erratically between the trees of the Sparse Pine forest. His movements were unpredictable, and loud; he was fully prepared to deal with the consequences of disturbing anyone's peaceful afternoon. As a matter of fact, he almost hoped he might run into someone - it'd been far too long since he'd had a good conversation, and he was craving something new.

Only the scent of another would make him pause, slowing his pace and peering around for the source of the stench. After a moment, he hears a voice, asking more than once - 'Stay or go?' though though the voice was oddly muffled behind the creature's mask. Curious, Kai would wrinkle his nose, bewildered as he searched for the source of the voice. After a brief moment of searching he saw a stranger in the distance, with a only skull for a face. Or was he wearing some kind of skull over his head? Kai frowned deeply, perplexed at the side, as he veered toward the stranger, overcome with curiosity. "I'd stay, if I were you!" He called out cheerily, though his brows were still furrowed in concentration as he tried to get a better look at the lanky stranger. "I like your... uh.. face," Kai offered with another frown, not sure if that was the most eloquent way to put it.

© argent 2017

Steady paws gallop through the forest, and Itzal's eyes finally fall on the source. It all hits him at once, smell and sight and sound. Rather overwhelming, really; he tamps his tail against the snow to remove some of that excess energy from seeing someone so big and new. His nostrils flare uselessly behind his skull, the scent of dusty bones momentarily overtaking the newcomer's unique scent. Ah, there we go, now it's hitting him -- and an interesting smell indeed! He stands up and hops from one cold paw to another, trotting at a standstill with a lolling tongue. He notes each facial cue, every shift in expression, but his own doesn't change. He still stands and trots with his tongue flapping stupidly, as though none of the expressions mean anything to him. They do, but only because they tell him so much. So very much! "Stay for what? Will something happen?" He finally stops his jogging in place and flops his rear back into the snow, sending scattered flecks of white onto his pelt. "If Itzal goes away and nobody is around to see, will something happen anyway?" His giggle echoes in his mask, blending effortlessly with his words of nonsense. "Will a tree fall? Dangerous." He doesn't seem to acknowledge the newcomer's comment for a moment, almost as if it didn't register. But his ears flick backwards in a barely-there confirmation. Finally, he speaks again. "I like my face. It's why I wear this. Nobody can take my eyes through it." Each word seems solemn, rolling through his maw like a hundred little prayers. "And your face -- it's big! You're big!" And back to the odd and unhinged giggling. "There once was a wolfie named -- ah?" He can't rhyme if he doesn't know his name...! "Quick, quick! Your name!" "Speech."

Kai couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable around this stranger, a rarity for the normally quite exuberant wolf. The way that the odd skull concealed his face was mildly disconcerting, though Kai isn't normally one who is quick to cast judgment. Instead, he'd wait to figure this stranger out, taking it as a challenge of sorts rather than something to shy away from. His expression remains curious and only slightly taken aback as the creature faces him, slowing his pace... though his limbs continue their movements as if he was running in place. Kai's head would cock slightly to the side, but his smile returned after only a moment of consideration.

"I mean... I don't anticipate nothing happening, exactly," he'd reply with a touch of hesitation. While he didn't know of anything in particular worth staying for, well.. them running into one another was something, was it not?  "I don't think you're in any danger of trees falling, but.. maybe getting hit by some snow?" Kai grins playfully, deftly lifting a paw and splashing a spray of snow in Itzal's direction. The stranger seemed a bit odd, so why not add in a bit of his own fun while he was at it? The last time he'd tried hitting snow at someone, he'd actually made a friend out of the ordeal, even if she'd been irritated at his antics first.

Another laugh fell from parted lips at his next words. It was hard for Kai to tell whether he was simply touched in the head or being playful, but he'd happily play along. At least this encounter was more entertaining than some of the other dull wolves he'd met so far in his life. "Thank you, I guess?" Nobody had told him his face was big before, and he shook his head, slightly bewildered, trying to take it all in. Was he honestly afraid of someone stealing his eyes? Huh. "My name is Kai. What about you, skull face?" Briefly his gaze would leave Itzal to scope out their surroundings. The forest was dense with tall pine trees and various patches of vegetation and shrubbery here and there. Definitely a good place to explore, if this stranger was up for it.

© argent 2017