smile

His prey was drawing close to its end. The track was slower, the marks closer together and meandering. Blood smeared the vegetation as the creature moved heavily through it. Enrico's eyes narrowed in anticipation.

The soft sound of pawsteps behind him put his hackles up as the dove-gray male spun in place on the narrow trail instinctively. He forced himself to smooth the snarl from his face, ashamed that his instinctive reaction would now be one of fear. He had sworn to himself that he would not live like an animal any longer, yet his first reaction was that of a hunted rat.

He closed glacial eyes for the briefest of moments, gathering his dignity about him with a deep calming breath before he opened them upon the creature who dogged his footsteps.

The male was a little taller than he, a pale white with minimal brown markings, and golden eyes. Certainly no one he recognized, and the man's smile and his nod seemed friendly enough, though that did not preclude him being an enemy. Still, it would not do to be impolite.

Enrico inclined his head courteously in return, and indicated the blood trail with a tilt of his muzzle. "You are... welcomed... to be joining me, if you be wishing... a hunt... a... meal," he invited slowly, cursing that he had so little practice with this unfamiliar language.