Just a quiet night?

Naiche would acknowledge openly he has many flaws but labeled that primarily to his age and limited experience. Still, as a pup he use to feel safe and secure in thusting his elders to take care of his siblings and himself.  He should of asked for more lessons back then.  That being the case one thing he refused to mess up on now was not paying attention to his surroundings.  Being alone and still only basic concepts of fighting would put him in a bad position should danger arise he wasn’t expecting.  No, not danger just like the dumb duck he’d be killed.

It was dark and his head had been facing the water, it had been the sense of smell that had first alerted him to the presence of another wolf coming his way.  Since the wolf wasn’t charging at him he didn’t jump to run or get defensive straight off deciding it was best to appear calm.  Truth was, the moment the scent came to him Naiche’s muscles tensed up.  This would be his first time to run into another wolf since he lost the protection of family.  

Naiche turned his gaze to the wolf as it got closer and spoke.  Oh…stars and moon combined… what was this monster??  Naiche had never seen a wolf anywhere near that size before.  It was…a giant.  Yah, if it wanted to kill him Naiche would be dead, outright.  Hackles started to raise by instinct but with a great deal of willpower he got control of his body, and once he was confident, he could look calmer he was ready to answer, “Not much.  Just a foolish duck.” Well, and the ones that flew off.  “I think the storm coming has most the prey holed up somewhere.” Certainly, larger animals had no where to ‘hole up’, but Naiche refused to try and even get one of their young on his own.  Too well he remembered the dangers of what one mistake could do.

After speaking he recognized something he had foolishly missed earlier.  This wolf smelled the same as an underlying scent that had already been here.  This guy was no stranger to the area so likely he had a pack somewhere nearby.  Unless he was also a loner, certainly someone like him could be one if he so desired.  He kept his head even with the other wolf, but his eyes looked past his shoulder not wanting to show any sign of rudeness to the behemoth.  “You come here frequently? I apologize if I invaded your space.” He probably hadn’t, the guy could of just chased him out easily but it was best to be safe.