Of all the wolves in Boreas and all the places on said continent, why Chaos had not spent more time at a place as fascinatingly morbid as the tar pits he could not even fathom. Though maybe it was the tarry stench in the air, mixed with au d' death from the myriad creatures who'd gotten stuck, died, and had not yet sunk beneath the bubbling black surface.

Chaos himself was careful to avoid coming within slipping distance of any of the pools, taking to heart the warning of the dead elk staring up out of one of the first pools he'd come across. Not today, death. Despite his entirely reasonable caution, Chaos evinced no fear as he meandered his way along the paths between pools, occasionally stopping to peer at some particularly gruesome spectacle. He was glad he hadn't brought Legion this far. As important as it was for the yearlings to get introduced to things like this safely, he didn't think that trying to keep track of them and the rest of the pack trying to camp in such an inhospitable place would count anywhere near "safe." Yikes.

She had been left on her own for what felt like forever now. She had given up on looking for her mom, and eventually decided that maybe her mom didn't want to be found. Maybe this was some weird lesson her mom was teaching her. How to survive maybe? Well, if that was her goal it was working...sort of. The girl was bent over some carrion, though it was far from fresh and tasted gross but she was starving. She'd ended up in this gross smelling, lonely place but at least there was food. That was why she stayed. She didn't know how to hunt so she scavenged, only she didn't think of it as anything bad because it was all she knew. She couldn't remember the last time she had any fresh food, but she had gotten used to eating dead things and it wasn't so bad anymore. Sometimes though, she got the occasional stomachache. Sometimes she could handle it and others it was so bad she would throw up or lay somewhere hidden as she felt like she was dying.

As she quickly ate away at her rotten meal, her ears constantly twitched as she listened for any signs of approach. Sometimes other wolves or predators liked to steal her meals, so she always ate as fast as she could before she was chased away. As she ripped a bone from the rotten body, she swore she heard something amidst the bubbling of the tar that surrounded this land. Afraid that something was coming her way, she fled from her meal with the bone in her mouth.

She checked over her shoulder a few times, sure that someone or something was behind her. Focused on that, she didn't realize someone else was in her path until she ran into a pair of legs and she was thrown backwards from the momentum of impact. Frightened, she quickly scrabbled to her paws and spotted her bone on the ground underneath the stranger. How did he get in front of her so fast? She swore it was him she heard behind her..."Hey! That's my bone!" She cried out, fur standing on end as her eyes darted from his face to the bone.

The pitter patter of little feet was the only warning Chaos had as he minced around a tar pit, before a young wolf appeared before him, her head turned back away from him. He had a split second to pause and brace himself before she collided with him and bounced off. Something rolled beneath him with a rather pungent smelling clatter, but he was intent on the wolf who'd collided with him rather than what she dropped. He bristled angrily, fully ready to rip into the wolf figuratively and, possibly, literally, but stopped when he saw and scented how young she was. He eyed her, relaxing a bit now that he saw she wasn't anything more than a couple seasons old pup but not quite all the way relaxed - after all, it wasn't like Imperialis pups hadn't been capable of fighting at this age. He twitched a brow up and snuck a glance under him, though, when she said something about her bone. That foul smelling thing that had rolled under him was something she was actually putting in her mouth? "You are more than welcome to it," he growled, nose wrinkling in disgust as he backed up to where he could poke at it gingerly with one paw. "You are definitely getting worms from that nasty shit though."

She stared at him with bristling apprehension as he reacted to her, and while part of her wanted to fight him, the other part of her told her to run. But her paws stayed glued to the spot because she wanted her food back. She felt like something was bubbling up in her throat and she knew what that all too familiar feeling was, but she fought to keep from puking in front of this stranger. When he stepped back and poked at her bone and told her she could get worms, her lip twitched.

She struggled to keep a straight and brave face, but she was failing. Her ears fell back and she felt her lip tremble, but she was determined not to cry in front of him, either. "I...it's the only kind of stuff I have to eat," She retorted as she darted forward to grab the bone before scrambling back again. She dropped it on the ground as that bubbling feeling came back up again and her stomach felt like it was twisting up. "Do you...have any good food, mister...?" She hated that she felt like she was begging. But what choice did she have?

Harder hearts than Chaos' might have melted from the pitiful words the pup spoke, and the quiver to her lip. Now, Chaos wasn't stupid though - he'd been around enough pups that could pull a sad face and a lip quiver to get out of trouble or to get something they wanted. He didn't think that was the case here, though, and frankly... he was a lot bigger and stronger than she was so even if she was looking to con him he figured he could handle it. He took a step back - carefully, so he didn't step in any tar pits - to give her enough room so she was comfortable that he wouldn't take her bone. "I don't have anything on me, but I can get you something if we get out of these tar pits. I can hunt, or get you something out of my pack's storage."