The saliva began to pool in her mouth when she had first captured the scent of the damn rabbit, and now, as she trekked through the forest, sharp ends of twigs snagging on her fur and her paws crunching against the fallen leaves, she followed the ever-stronger trail. It was moving but it was close she realized as she rounded the trees and brush and foliage that blocked her straight-forward b-line towards her breakfast. Everest had decided to stay in the one place that she was aware there was water at - it would be idiotic to go anywhere else without direction lest she die of dehydration. Perhaps she was being a bit dramatic, but nevertheless, dramatic was what Everest was. It was odd being aware there were wolves that were sparkle-dogs around her, but truthfully, Everest couldn't really find herself giving a shit. They must've sucked at hunting, at least - the thought caused a 'snrk' to escape her lips, eyes squinting in amusement. Surely, at least, they must've found a different strategy. There was no way that any of the space-wolves could sneak up on prey looking like that. Perhaps, on her travels, she would meet a bright pink wolf. That would definitely make her day. One day, maybe. Not today. She clicked her jaws as she focused on the task at hand; following the trail. "Speaking"

Shaye was patrolling the territory between her pack and Sunset falls. She had heard of alligators that had been swimming near shores around the region as they entered Autumn, and was weary that the sunset falls might act like a highway for the watery creature into Abaven. The knowledge that the current was running the wrong direction didn’t sooth her as much as it should. Or perhaps she was simply itching for a fight, to test some of the skills her second had been training into her. She paused at the top of the waterfall, looking out at the beautiful view it opened up before her. The wind caught in her blue macaw feather, and fluttered it by her ear. The soft caress of it through her coat reminded her of her father. She pushed her nose into the wind, and stood there is silence for a time, reading what she could from the scents it carried. Mostly there was the clean bitterness of salt from the ocean to the east of her. She also caught the scent of loner, not a strange occurrence, she often caught the fading scents of wolves that had passed through. This one, however, seemed fresher then most. Curious, she let herself head down the path to the base of the waterfall. Nimble paws easily traversing the rocking decline. She caught the scent again near the bottom, and tilted her in the direction. The wolf had passed this way, which way had she gone. The Alpha moved onwards, uncertain what drew her. She caught the scent of rabbit and turned her head, and - oh, there was the wolf. She blinked, in a moment caught off guard at the sheer absurdity of the moment. There she stood, all forty inches of her, and there was this stranger. Her earthy tones merged well against her coat, and along all.. What, mabe Twenty inches of her? This wolf was easily half her height. Shaye said nothing as she crouched down a little, knowing the stranger could see her, and addressing her with a friendly wag of her tail. She could clearly understand she had interrupted this woman's breakfast, and would not cause her prey to scamper if she could help it. "Talk" "You" Think

Unbeknownst to him, Cypress was not the only wolf seeking out a meal. His day had started off much like most others, with a stretch and a shake and a rumbling stomach. It had been a day or two since he'd eaten, and that would certainly have to be remedied. He was more or less wandering without purpose, keeping loose tabs on the familiar scents of his family while still satiating the need to wander and explore. Only on this particular day, his internal compass was housed in his nose instead of his eyes. It was with brief displeasure that he realized the scent of rabbit he'd recently found overlapped with not one but two other wolves. His brows furrowed, but only for a moment. Knowing he'd probably been beaten to the punch was one thing, but Cypress was still by no means a shy or introverted young male. Meeting others was a reward in of itself, even if it meant he would probably have to continue searching for food through the evening, or tomorrow instead. His gut warbled out its displeasure, but he approached the others with an easy smile. At first he saw only one female; a tiny wolf, nearly a head shorter than himself. He very nearly missed the second shewolf, crouched and silent, though she didn't appear to have any sort of malicious expression to her. Huh. That's weird. A moment too late, Cypress realized that the shorter wolf actually still seemed to be in the middle of hunting. He too crouched down, but had no idea whether or not his blundering had already scared her meal away. His ears pressed flat, apologetic, and snapped his mouth shut around the apology that very nearly burst out of him unchecked. Even if the hare's keen ears hadn't picked up his footfalls, it certainly would have heard him speaking. Maybe that counts for something? He berated himself, As far as first impressions go, not your best work. A sigh withered and died behind his lips, as he waited to see whether the smaller female would continue on or whirl on him. Wellp. So much for a meal and good company. "Talk" "Listen" Think

Damn right it was a moment too late. The sound of shifting leaves caught not just her attention, but the rabbit that she just now caught sight of. For a moment she just stared as it ran away, far too fast and far too much of a distance to catch up with. Her ears pivoted backward against her skull, a frown making its way onto her lips as her eyes narrowed. She continued to remain still, inanimate. With a beat, she turned around slowly towards not one, but two individuals. Both of them crouching and overall gave off a pretty uncomfortable vibe. I mean, if you turned around and saw two larger individuals crouching towards you, you'd be put off too. Unfortunately, her fur spiked up in agitation and, once she saw the apologetic look coming from the male, she let her ears droop slightly into more of a relaxed state. However, her fur didn't fall flat; while she moved past from the original agitated state pretty quickly, she remained on guard. She turned her attention on the male. "'Sup?" "Speaking"

Shaye heard the sound of pawsteps beside her, away from the stranger she knew was there, and her ears perked up in alarm. Her lips curled back over her fangs and - oh, she spotted the apologetic, and also small wolf that stood there, looking a little ashamed as the prey took off, alerted by the sound of the sudden and small gathering of wolves. Shaye flicked an ear, a little amused by the situation, through there was no mockery in her gentle expression.

She rose from her crouch, towering over both the wolves, one by half her size, and the other by only a small measure. “Well, this was unexpected.” Shaye would comment softly. “I didn’t mean to intrude.. Well, I suppose I did. I run the pack next door to these lands and was doing a patrol here, I did not mean to disturb your meal.” she would explain as she shook out her muscles, standing tall with the pride of an Alpha, but a hint of apology in the twitch of her ears. She didn’t mean to tower so over these wolves. She got the giants blood from her father's side of the family.

“But I think I owe you a meal, regardless, one your both welcome to join in on” she hadn’t been the one to startle the prey, she had known from the beginning there was a rabbit being hunted, but the strange male it seemed, had not. “I’m Shaye.” she introduced herself to them both. With one white wolf, and one earthy, Shaye’s near black coat kept her the most concealed in the shades of the trees

The sound of scattering brush confirmed to Cypress that his worst fear had been realized. Well, maybe not the worst he could possibly think of but in that moment, sure. Knowing that the rabbit was really long gone at last, his sigh would be contained no longer. He slowly rose from his crouched position as the huntress turned to face him. Regardless of her height, Cypress had learned enough about girls to understand that one being angry at you was never a good thing, no matter how tall or short they were. He expected some sort of yelling, but somehow her terse, "Sup," was just as bad. He tried to smile, but he was fairly certain it came out as more of a grimace. "Erm. Hiya?" The taller wolf was blissfully more eloquent than he could muster given the circumstances, and he forced his mind to unjumble while she spoke. She even when so far as to introduce herself, and Cypress realized that he probably ought to do the same. "I'm Cypress," he said with a small smile in the Shaye's direction. Turning back to the other female he added on, "But I'll also answer to 'bumbling idiot,' if that suits you better." Cypress tried to make a joke, but he knew it was sort of lame. He coughed to clear his throat and shuffled in place, paws shifting as if he wasn't sure what to do with them. "I really am sorry about the rabbit. I'm not much of a hunter myself but I'll try to help too. If that's alright, of course." It was the least he could do after bungling that up, right? Besides, the idea of others disliking him right of the back wasn't something he was used to, and it seemed like a good idea to remedy that as quick as possible. In fact, all thoughts of getting himself a meal seemed to have fled at the prospect of having to continuously glance over his shoulder in anticipation of small, angry revenge. Or maybe she was just as bad as he was at first impressions, but either way, Cypress didn't think he wanted to stay on her bad side for long. "Talk" "Listen" Think

Suddenly there was a spew of action and words and god damn were they talkative. The boy wasn’t, at first, but the female - oh boy. She blinked owlishly in her direction, more focused on the big ass feather than her actual words because what kind of wolf wears feathers?, and yet, Everest couldn’t say she’d seen anything considered normal in these parts. Maybe they were in some sort of cult. Bro, what? The word of ‘free meal’ was the only thing she got importance out of and the only thing they got a reaction from. "What’s the catch?" Her eyes narrowed skeptically towards the behemoth of a woman, craning her neck up to just be able to meet eye-to-eye. She had the right to be suspicious. Oh right. "Oh uh, Everest.” "Speaking"

The female wolf didn’t seem to react much as she spoke, except perhaps to display scepticism across her features. Shaye let her tail swoosh behind her a few times as she thought. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time she had met a wolf more familiar with hardships than kindness. Her thoughts flashed to Spider, who had clearly been abused often in his life. The darkness only barely grazed her thoughts this time. Her anger, when it came to wolves in pain, was still something she was dealing with.

The male wolf, who introduced himself as Cypress did not seem as weary as the one who called herself Everest - hmm, an interesting name for a wolf much smaller than a mountain. She offered Cypress a smile at his apology, he seemed genuinely sorry for his intrusion. He spoke as much as she did, through his was all in making up for his mistake, and hers was information-giving.

Both these wolves were much younger then herself, and Shaye considered how to approach the skepticism of Everest. “No catch, you can take it or leave it.” Shaye explained. “But there is a herd of Elk not far from here, and the three of us could take one down.” she knew most of the prey movements in and around Abaven, she had made it her business to know them.

The short shewolf, Everest apparently, seemed... Well, suffice to say that Cypress was starting to regret turning down that rabbit trail in the first place. Shaye seemed nice enough, but the dusk-and-tawny woman had been anything but friendly so far. Cypress didn't begrudge her her suspicions, merely wanted to remove himself from this vaguely awkward situation. Of course, the idea of getting a decent meal with the help of two complete strangers did sound like an amusing way to spend the day... He resigned himself to hoping Everest would just lighten up eventually. He licked his chops. "I haven't tasted elk in forever," the young male said, almost wistfully. He tended to pursue smaller prey, given that his propensity for clumsy accidents made anything more than surprising a rabbit a bit of a chore. "I'm in for sure." He turned to Everest. Who could turn down a hunt like that over one lost rabbit? He quirked his head, curious. He'd met plenty of loners who chose that life because they just didn't get along with others. This female wouldn't be the first, but at least she hadn't responded to their interruption with violence. That was something, right? He turned to Shaye, planning to follow her regardless of whether or not the other shewolf came along. Worse comes to worst, the two of them might be able to go after a yearling at least. His stomach growled out its approval. "Talk" "Listen" Think