The coyote woman caught the faintest whiff of scents on the salty air coming in from the direction of the island. What exactly it was she couldn't say for certain but it was enough to peak curiosity. She knew exactly what she wished it to be. Her brother, but that was a far fetched sort of dream. What would Arkin be doing out on an island? But just in the off chance that her brother truly was there...

The female eased her way from the mainland shoreline in order to make the swim out towards the island. The choppy water didn't make the trek especially easy but it also wasn't something that was about to force her to turn back either. No, if her brother was actually out there then she was determined to find him.

Arsinoe paddled harder and kept her head tilted up above the water. Strong kicks pushed her forwards until she found herself landing paw upon the pale sand that made up the shoreline of the island. She drew herself from the water and shook out her coat. Afterwards golden gaze took in her surroundings. Crescent shaped shoreline, dense vegetation further inwards on the island, a sweet smell coming from the trees, the squawk of a seabird overhead, and finally, a set of unintelligible tracks in the sand. Yeah, sand wasn't really that great at trapping precise prints but still it was enough to know that someone, or something, else had been here. So it was with these tracks that the coyote decided to start and moved over to the depressions in the sand to sniff at them in order to figure out just how old they were.

Ardyn Cadeyrn Aodhán Phoenix Adravendi

He’d come to the island again, taking advantage of the tropical nature of the place to gather fruits and plants that weren’t dormant further north. Granted they weren’t for him; instead, he had a trap to build for some of the local pigs that had settled on this island who knew how long ago. With fruit gathered, he piled it on a hide pulled from one of his pouches, unfolding and stretching it before turning to take a sharp-edged ax to the base of the first sapling that had caught his eye, chopping high enough to leave room for the tree to grow back from the base. Lyr wheeled above, arrowing through a gap in the canopy and landed nearby, clicking his beak as he folded his black and white, glowing plumage. Ardyn glanced to him and nodded. No need for words to understand the alert that another had arrived on the island. He was well armed and armored, and from the soft clicks of Lyr’s beak, he knew the other was tiny and fresh from a hard swim. Still, he kept an eye and ear out for any approach as he stripped branches and leaves from the sapling, sharpening the end in preparation to be driven into the ground. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Not too old, that was the conclusion that she ended up coming to. Whatever had made these tracks was likely still about. Now to figure out what it was that had made them, that would be the real test. The coyote female walked to the right of the pockets made in the sand, keeping the line of them in her peripheral as she moved forwards. Naturally tall ears swiveled atop her head to listen for any sounds. The woman was alert but lacked tension and wariness. It was more the intensity of a hunter stalking prey instead. And that really was pretty much what this was. There was no fear within her but a curiosity to find out what else was on this island.

The tracks took her towards the trees and were thence lost. There was some smushed grass but that was about as far as it went for tracks. Again clear definition was lacked. This trampled grass was harder to follow than the sand had been. There were times where she would have to pause in order to reorient herself. In these moments would she stand still to listen to her surroundings and to visually seek out the next section of bent grass. It was slow going but she felt certain to be on the right path with the extra bit of caution paid to what she was doing.

Eventually she came to find another canine beneath the canopy of the trees. Just a dark shadow, that was what the male looked like at first. Arsinoe couldn't help but to just stand and stare. She had never seen anything such as the beast before her, let alone what the man was doing. Which begged the question, what was it that he was doing with that stick?

Ardyn Cadeyrn Aodhán Phoenix Adravendi

Soon enough, light paw-steps reached his ears, and the breeze brought a scent to his nose that briefly caused his hackles to prickle beneath his armor; thanks to his mane, the response wasn’t visible to the coyote that had just stopped short. The young King shifted to get a look at the coyote, noting that she lacked the inherent sneaky, slinking bristle most had when they came across a wolf they might want to drive off. And there was the spark in her yellow-gold eyes that announced that she was not one of those coyotes who threatened pack borders and pillaged the stores when they could. Those were simpler-minded beasts, still walking the path of a base-instinctive beast. He noted the curiosity, glancing at the sapling before setting it aside and remarking, “I’m building a pig trap. If you’re open to helping, I don’t mind sharing a portion of whatever we catch.” His features settled into their natural genuine friendliness; he’d already deduced that she wasn’t a threat – yet – and so, he’d treat her as he would any other canine he came across in the field. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Perhaps her thick coat of being of northern breeding had fooled him into thinking she was a wolf. It has happened before. It certainly worked to her advantage but she would never seek to outright lie to anyone about he heritage. She wasn't ashamed of what she was despite what trouble it might cause her sometimes. Why should she be ashamed? Coyotes were just as diverse with their moral compass as wolves were. Some were sneaky and conniving and some weren't. She fell into the latter category. Arsinoe took pride in being able to do for herself. She didn't have to take from another in order to get ahead.

"Trap?" Pig, she knew but trap was a new thing for her. She had never used any sort of trickery when hunting. She did that whole run down and hope for the best sort of thing. You know, just your standard hunting methods. Before they had gotten separated Arkin had always been her hunting partner. Now she had to depend solely upon herself for all of her meals. Though this guy was offering to share the catch with her. Of course there was the addendum that she had to help in order to be able to take a share.

"Help how? I do not know this trap." You want a runner, she was your girl. Small prey? Leap attacks were easy peasy. But traps? That was entirely foreign territory.

Ardyn Cadeyrn Aodhán Phoenix Adravendi

(OOC: So sorry for the slow response; been one of those weeks where all the energy’s been sapped x,x) The coyote’s response was a question, and Ardyn nodded in confirmation. Her next words brought a light grin to his light-masked features, and he nodded at the first sapling he’d cut and hewn. “I’ll handle cutting these saplings into posts. If you can find lots of sturdy vines like these,” He padded to a tree and brushed his long toes over a vine that choked around the tree’s trunk, climbing skyward, then bent and used one saber to slice through the vine, freeing it, “Lyr can help get them out of the tree from the top. Then we can weave the vines through the stakes once I have them up to form a pen.” He pointed to the fruit pile. “Then we either bait the trap with these, or drive a herd of pigs into the trap and shut them in. Another way to trap large prey is to dig a large hole they can’t jump out of once they fall in, but pigs can’t jump very high, and I may try taking one or two home alive; see if we can’t raise a few in my pack. I don’t have high hopes though, they have nasty tempers.” The last he said in a chuckle, head shaking ruefully. He regarded the coyote with a cocked head and added, “I’m Ardyn, by the way.” Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

So the concept of the trap was explained to her and it really did seem simple enough. He would take care of the trickier part with the limbs and all she had to do was gather up some vine. That didn't sound as if it would be too impossible of a task to achieve. His work was obviously the more harder of the two but he seemed equipped to handle it in ways that she was not. So with a plan worked out for how she was able to help did the coyote woman move over to a nearby try in order to survey it to figure out a way in which to get the the vine from it.

"I can drive. I am good at driving." She had done just such a thing for her brother before. Arkin had always liked to refer to himself as the King of the Takedown and Arsinoe allowed him to live up that honor. She was sure that she could do it too if she had to. It didn't look all that hard when her brother did it. For now, while on her own, she mostly stuck to smaller prey. They were quicker but also didn't require coordination with another to catch.

The woman finally grabbed the end of a vine in her teeth and tugged on it in order to loosen its grip from the tree. Arsinoe moved around the tree to help unwind the vine from it, following the way that the vine hugged up against the tree. Every so often she would have to pause and lean her weight backwards in order to free the vine from a snag upon some of the branches of the tree. It took time but she was making progress on getting the length of it loose.