Seemingly oblivious to the ever nearing shadows, Valkyrie ate from the deer carcass as though nothing was amiss. She watched the wannabe thieves out of the corner of her eye, though. They slunk from rock to rock, their low gray forms blending in with the lichen and shadows. No doubt they meant to take her by surprise, but she'd caught wind of them long before she'd spotted the first creeping shadow.

Casually she adjusted her stance so that she could spring at a moment's notice. The seconds ticked by as she continued to eat in silence and then a sudden chorus of yelping and shrieking broke out as a horde of coyotes sprang from the rocks.

Valkyrie was prepared. No sooner had the nearest one broke from cover did she have him by the head. She shook him once - a warning shot - and then flung him at his nearest compatriots. It was then her turn to shriek and to menace, and she did so with a wild gleam in her eye that promised equally swift injury to those not wise enough to flee.

She stood over her kill and eyed the coyotes as they regrouped and formed a semi circle in front of her. Of course they wouldn't give up so easily, but she was pleased to see that she'd managed to at least give them second thoughts. Even if their nerves only got the better of them for a second, it was better than nothing.

Shaye had no love for coyotes, not from the moment Ace had told her how they had planned on taking on her young apprentice, as she had slept alone in her den in a recently abandoned pack. She had scoured the territories near Abaven to eradicate the members of the group Ace had missed, ensuring they could not harm another pup, and that had been that. So, in the midday hours, when the shadows just began to change, the sound of a hunting pack would catch her attention. The familiar yips and bays of the foul creatures wasn’t something she could pass up easily. Some inner part of her would always question, now, who or what they hunted. With a soft sigh, the woman would change course, taking a quick jog in the direction of cries. She came quickly upon the scene, the pack had cornered a large, young woman who stood at about equal height to the Alpha. She didn’t look afraid, one creature already dead beneath her. Shaye stood behind the postering group of Coyotes, and lowering head, with a glint in her eye that was unlike the kind Alpha, she charged into the frey, as silently as she could manage on her paws. Luckily, the stranger was making a bit of noise herself, covering Shaye’s approach. She reached the wolf on her left, at the far end of the semi circle, and mowed the coyote down. She didn’t stop until she was half over the creature, teeth going for the smaller canine’s neck, biting down hard, with no place for mercy. "Talk" "You" Think

If Valkyrie was at all surprised by the sudden appearance of the black stranger, she didn't show it. Though she watched Shaye approach out of the corner of her eye Valkyrie never once broke off her stare with the coyotes. She'd zeroed in on one that she thought might be the alpha and was doing her best to intimidate him. Every second he hesitated to instigate another attack was a victory in her eyes.

When it became clear the stranger was going to help her Valkyrie couldn't stop the smile that slowly curved up her lips. She waited, her legs coiling beneath her, and when the other female struck she was ready.

All heads turned to Shaye as she caught the whole pack by surprise. This gave Valkyrie time to launch an attack of her own. She used the coyotes' surprise as a cover and plowed into the nearest one's chest before he had a chance to realize what was happening. Her claws raked down his shoulder and chest as she wrapped him up in a bear hug. It got worse for the coyote as Valkyrie wasted no time in biting repeatedly at his head and neck.

The coyote beneath her whimpered and bucked, but she held him hard, pushing him into the dirt, even as she tore at his neck. She needed a better angle. She pushed a heavy paw into his shoulder, released her fangs, just missing an assault as he turned his own teeth towards her. She drove her paw more heavily into him, breaking him, before ripping out his throat. It was messy work, more gritty then the Alpha would ever take in a hunt, but she didn’t pause to let her mind catch up. The whole pack had their attention on her now. One of the creatures pounced at her, a frightened sort of postering, rather than a real attack, it didn’t commit fully to its pounce. Shaye didn’t shy away, she simply released the limp form in her fangs, and bared her teeth at this Coyote. It almost backed into its pack mate getting away from her bloody fangs. Shaye kept her gaze on the coyote, noting from the corner of her eye the creature that slunk in the background, trying to get behind her. She let it come, knowing that jumping at him too early would only lead to it jumping away, and she would rather have a total party kill. She really didn’t like coyotes. She kept her fangs bared at the creature that had half-pounced her, and waited. When the one behind her shoot towards her, she jumped back. Not letting the one she had faced down get a shot at her unprotected backside. The pouncing Coyote was too committed to stop in his tracks, and she was able to swipe him with her paw, knocking him off balance, but he was already starting to scramble away. She pounced, ipping forward to pound him again with her paw, but before she could go for a bite, the other coyote got a cheap shot in on her side. She snarled, and twisted hard, trying to throw him off, without giving the other coyote an opening. Pests! Small, nasty creatures. "Talk" "You" Think

Valkyrie made short work of the coyote in her clutches. When it squirmed no more she cast it aside and fixed the remaining ones with a wild eye. As soon as she noticed how the mob seemed to focus on the other wolf she bounded forward to offer aid. It was the least she could do since the woman had so readily taken her side.

Valkyrie was quick to grab the coyote who had managed to get a cheap shot in. She grabbed him by the tail and wrenched him backwards. As soon as he was within arm's reach she dug her claws into his hips, released her hold on his tail and bit into his back as he writhed in pain.

Before she had to pause and decide which Coyote to take down first, the stranger grabbed the one at her side, pulling it free. She grunted as its fangs left her fur, and pounced on the one in front of her, who had hesitated to help its friend. Now, it was too late for the creature, as she got her larger bulk on him, pinned him down, and ripped in. she turned him into a corpse in moments, and spat blood from her mouth as she took a step back. Valkyrie was finishing with the one that had attacked Shaye’s side, and that was the last of the pack.

That had to have been one of the fastest group fights she had ever participated in, considering how many opponents they had faced. “Good fight. I’m Shaye, and i’d say thanks for the save but i think we're about even.” she offered the wolf a friendly grin, trying not to let her eyes stray to the bloody corpses. It wasn’t often she let her anger out, and coyotes where one of the few things she couldn’t help losing her temper on. Still, she felt at least a little sick as she saw the aftermath.

The pinned coyote quickly realized struggling was futile and took up screaming and squirming instead of fighting. Valkyrie was merciless, though, and its cries fell on deaf ears. She continued to bite into its back and tore off chunk after chunk as the coyote shrieked.

Its eyes were wild, its mouth spittle-flecked as she slowly wormed her way up to its head. She drug herself closer using her claws and teeth until at last she could grab the coyote by the throat. Its cries grew garbled and raspy as she crushed its windpipe. At last it fell silent and she dropped it.

Valkyrie swept a feral glare across her surroundings in search of her next opponent, but the yellow-bellied creatures had all fled. After a beat she straightened and her wild-eyed expression tamed into something a little more civilized and a whole lot more smug.

"It certainly has been a pleasure, Shaye. My name is Valkyrie and don't think we are quite even yet. Please," she motioned towards the deer carcass. "Let me repay you with a meal." Valkyrie was unfazed by the carnage around them and had no problem picking up where she'd left on in her meal. She'd fought for it and won; how much sweeter would the meat now be on the heels of her victory?

She grimaced as Valkyrie finished off the last canine, with a great deal more carnage then Shaye would have liked. Her own kills hadn’t been pretty, but she hadn’t had quite so much enjoyment on her face as this woman had. She kept that in mind as they moved from killing to conversation, and the woman introduced herself.

Still, she was able to keep up her smile, remembering that she hated Coyotes, that they had planned this ambush on the woman and her meal, and that Shaye was happy to come to her rescue. She gave one of the creatures a kick as she moved past them, grimacing a little. “I never did like Coyotes.” she admitted. “Thank you, I wouldn’t mind a bite.”

She moved towards the meal, and politely ripped off hunch, and moved a few steps back to give the woman some space, before digging in.

Valkyrie raised one of her forepaws and swiped it across her muzzle to squeegee the blood off. The action didn't quite have the intended effect as her front paws were equally coated in ichor. In effect all she did was trade old blood for new blood.

The young marauder didn't have much of an opinion when it came to coyotes. They each played a role and she couldn't begrudge them theirs even if she found their heckling aggravating. This - all this killing - was just business. They did their best to steal from her and she did her best to repel them. Today she was successful, tomorrow may very well belong to the coyote.

"Please, eat your fill." While a largely greedy creature, Valkyrie placed quite a lot of value on honor. The stranger had put her neck on the line for her - jumped into a fight without so much as a word -and while what happened in the fight had made them even in it, Valkyrie still needed to repay her for her aid in the first place. The least she could do was offer hospitality.

Now unafraid of attack, Valkyrie padded to the kill and lay down beside it. She hooked her claws into a leg and used them as anchors as she began to tear pieces off. Between bites she asked, "So tell me Shaye, why help a stranger? Could have saved yourself many a bite if you had kept walking."

She dug in on the food, having worked up an appetitude over the rapid fire fight. She paused when Valkyrie spoke, swallowing a bite before opening her mouth. “Coyotes attacked one of my packs young. My pack is very near to here, so you could easily have been one of mine. When you turned out to be a stranger, I was right there, and wasn’t above joining in.” she explained, which wasn’t the whole truth. She had a feeling this woman might find it difficult wrapping her head around the idea that Shaye would have jumped in, regardless who it was in danger.

It was wired into who she was, it was the nature in which she had built her pack on. And.. was obvious, with how many injured and hurting wolves had found their way to her border. With every one of them that joined, her protective instincts grew. Likely, this would get her into trouble one day.

Valkyrie ate a bite slowly as she considered Shaye's answer. Had she been in Shaye's place she wasn't certain she'd had done the same thing. For a brother or sister certainly, but a stranger? She leaned towards no simply because she played too great a value on her own worth.

She swallowed, then said, "At any rate I am grateful." Ever a businesswoman, the mention of Shaye's pack didn't go unnoticed. If she was to make a name here for herself she would need targets and business partners alike. More importantly, she would need information to base her decisions off of.

"You're part of a nearby pack, you said?" she prompted, fishing for information.