she’s been here for at least a week now, and still she can’t seem to find any discernible reason as to why her littermate felt the need to settle in this dump. sure, there is the occasional pretty girl - but so far she can’t find anything here that Saffron hadn’t already provided them. as Yarra picks her way through the undergrowth, cursing softly under her breath, she lifts a paw and scrunches up her nose in disgust. some kind of unnameable sludge sticks to it, causing her to stick our her tongue and make a series of over exaggerated gagging noises. funny how the girl can rend tissue from flesh and marrow from bone, but a mere splatter of mud is all it takes to rend her a disgusted mess of spluttering complaints.

The Willows was one of the better places Echo had found. She'd always felt better when surrounded by trees or tall grasses - more places to hide, more nooks and crannies to explore. It was pretty much perfect here - peaceful, even, and fairly easy to keep away from any other visitors who came and went from the area. The lake provided water not just for her but for prey as well, meaning that the hunting was fairly easy even with the cold winter weather settling in. She was currently taking a nap at the base of a large willow tree, curled in on herself with her nose tucked behind her paws. At least, she had been taking a nap until the sound of someone making ridiculous over-the-top gagging noises pulled her from her snooze. Cleary eyed she raised her head, ears pulled back and her nose crinkling in annoyance as the sounds seemed to just keep on going. Peeking her nose from behind the thick trunk she spied a dark bleary figure, clearly the one making the racket. "Do you mind?" She snapped, her senses still fuzzy with the remnants of a nap that had probably not meant to last so long. "Speak."

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a rather snappy voice draws her attention, and Yarra whirls, something poisonous and angry balancing on the edge of her tongue. venom-green eyes land abruptly on a grey figure sprawled breath the boughs of a tree, narrowing as she accesses the situation before her. curled up in its shadow in a pretty grey-furred woman with moon-silver eyes and a gunmetal pelt. intrigued, Yarra approaches with a cautious step, letting her gaze roam shamelessly over the monochrome. “you know,” she peers, “gemstones are usually found within caves.” she tilts her head, flashing toothy grin. “what is one so precious such as yourself doing out here in the open?”

Slowly the sleepy haze started to fade, and belatedly Echo realised that the stranger was approaching her. She made a face that read 'ah shit', annoyed with herself that she'd drawn their attention. With a frown, Echo reluctantly shifted to a sitting position, finally focusing on the wolf who slowly approached her. A woman, larger than herself, and painted in deep reds. Her frown only deepened as the woman spoke, not quite catching the meaning behind the woman's words. "... huh?" Gems and caves? What was she on about? Precious? Echo blinked owlishly at the woman, her thoughts still not quite catching up with the situation. "Sleeping?" It came out like a question. "What are you doing making such weird noises?" "Speak."

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her flirtations are met with blunt confusion, which means this girl is either playing coy, or just…genuinely doesn’t understand what Yarra’s trying to do. which is fine; Yarra likes them dumb just as much as she likes them smart. “were you dreaming?” she coos, daring a step closer. not by much, though - she doesn’t want to scare the girl off. “was i there? because you’ve certainly been in mine.” she levels the girl a wink, followed by a fluttering of her lashes. at her question, though, disgust twists Yarra’s expression as she lifts up her paw and examines the pad. “oh, this place is just simply dreadful…I must have trod in something disgusting. my old home was far superior; it was full of beauty.” though what Yarra considers beautiful might differ from others a little bit. she can always recognise beautiful women, however. “you’d have fit right in.” "Speech"

A step closer and Echo leans back a little, her fur ruffling at the young woman's cooing. The more she spoke, the more Echo's sleepy mind managed to piece together what was happening and she grimaced at the cheesy lines. Did those... actually work? She could only look at the young woman with a pained expression, wanting so very badly to say something snappy but already her eyes danced over the stranger's larger form. The female couldn't be any older than Echo and yet she towered over her already - what were they feeding the wolves here? So far she'd met tiny and now giant, there didn't seem to be much in-between. At being called beautiful Echo let out a surprised huff. It wasn't often that she was given compliments or flirted with and so she was never quite sure how to take them. If she were being honest, she also didn't believe them. It wasn't necessarily that Echo thought she was ugly, it was more that she always assumed there was some ulterior motive and on a personal, even physical level, she wasn't interested in making herself vulnerable like that. "Look I'm ah, flattered. But you're barking up the wrong tree." Echo was more than capable of admitting that some wolves were aesthetically pleasing to look at - this girl certainly was - but there really wasn't anything else to it for Echo. Hopefully the stranger wouldn't take it personally. "Speak."

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Yarra tilts her head, listening to the girl’s gentle rejection with a thoughtful expression. it’s a bit disappointing, she supposes - the girl is lovely - but if there’s one thing Yarra isn’t, it’s a sexual assaulter. she can respect a ‘no,’ when she hears it - at least a ‘no’ of the intimidate kind, anyway. “very well,” she agrees, sitting back on her haunches in order to demonstrate her compliance. she won’t come any closer, should the girl wish it. “plenty of fish in the sea, and all that. perhaps you might assist me, then.” she scents the air and cocks her head, the scent of prey bathing her tongue. “i’ve a hankering for some fresh kill, and this place is practically teeming with it. tell me, how’s your hunting?” "Speech"