Crow had been wandering the north of the land for two days. He'd been lucky enough to find a few streams and ponds to drink from to keep him going, and the remains of an old deer only partially decomposed. The birds, of course, had shown him the way, and it was the same flock he followed now. It was difficult to watch the sky and the path ahead of him at the same time, but somehow he managed, dodging between the trees, and hopping over stones sticking slightly out of the earth, while not losing track of the scavengers above. This technique had taken over a year of practice, and he'd lost the flock and gone hungry more than a few times since.

Somehow, though, he always found his way back to them. He'd be wandering one day, and he'd find one - just one - sitting on a branch, as if waiting for him. Often, he'd walk right by it, and it would caw loudly to get his attention. Then it would take flight, and the rest of the flock would follow. They never waited for him though. They knew the rule of the world just as well as he did. Survival of the fittest. If he couldn't keep up then he wasn't meant to live.

The flock lit down after a few minutes, and as he ran to the clearing that the birds now surrounded, he was pleased to find most of a calf laying near one side of it. It seemed as though it had been killed within the hour. That was good. The less time it was out in the open, the less chance there was he would catch a disease of some kind. There were also fewer insects than usual, which was a huge relief to Crow. They could be pesky at best, and deadly at worst.

As usual, the birds, sensing his presence, waited for him to take the first bite. Even if he was a scavenger, they knew he was still higher up on the food chain than them. As the first bird lit down on the carcass beside him, it knew that it could very well be injured or even killed if he decided it was not time for them to eat yet. Even if he had chosen the life of a scavenger, he was still a predator by nature.

But as usual, he didn't harm the bird as it began pecking at the corpse. He didn't even acknowledge its presence. Any movements toward the bird, even with the best of intentions, and the bird would take flight. He'd learned that the hard way. The birds were not his friends, just his meal ticket.

As he finished eating, he left the carcass, and went to find a in which he could wash his muzzle, and then drink. He found a small pond instead, just nearby. As he dipped his muzzle in, he shook his head vigorously to wash off as much of the blood as he could. When he was satisfied with his reflection in the dark green waters, he began lapping at the surface. When he'd finished, he lay down beside the pond, and sighed.

Was this really living?

Midnight had called the forest home for a long time now she knew the sites and scents knew the lay of the land and what was normal in a day, she saw the scavenger birds as they hovered over the clearing and paused, all her kills in the past few weeks had been small a hare here a beaver there, if she remembered correctly there had been no kill there when she had patrolled yesterday. Fresh meat then and if the flock size was anything to go by, a good size meal.

She moved with slow purposeful movements leaving her den on the side of the hill she moved over the shale that guarded her front door moving into the more densely forested valley it was only a few second before the coppery and sweet scent of deer?s blood permeated the air. Midnight picked up her pace, it would not do for the bird to have the choice parts, she smiled as she entered the clearing at a trot then froze, the smile slipping from her face. The birds where the only creatures in the clearing but something was off the calf lay half eaten and she could smell another wolfs scent filling the clearing. Her ears pricked listening but the black birds where bickering over the meal squawking and cawing as they fought over the scraps and she could here nothing but their chatter.

Carefully she put her nose to the ground following closely on the tail of the scent her ebony ears flicked to catch any sound her golden orbs searching through the tangled wood. When she saw him she paused waiting for a moment in the brush, she took in his height and strength and the black of his coat so similar to her own before stepping free of the tangle and into the brutes line of site, ?greeting,? she called gently, ?a fine day,? she was only a few meters from the other wolf as she approached the water, her eyes fixed upon him as she lowered her head to drink.

She did not seek confrontation and for a moment wondered if she should simply have eaten and returned to her den but as content as she may be with her loner life she missed wolf interaction and so she watched him as she drunk, judging his movements, she kept her tail low and her body relaxed. This was her home she was confident that if push came to shove she would escape.

? 310 words ?



? o o c ?

sorry for the wait. <3

the flame-pelted entity stalked forth, pelt sharp in contrast to the cool, green and white colors of budding spring and lingering snow. every once in a while her head would swing sideways to sniff at the roots of a tree or the previous burrow of some small mammal, almost as if the wolf were searching for food, and yet she was not hungry. the observant creature would also stop here and there and lift her head, taking in the terrain around her and try to commit it to memory. it had seemed like it had been so long since she had stepped in this portion of the red forest, and fall and winter had changed it almost beyond recognition to jupiter. or was she merely being forgetful? hm, who knew?



beside her plodded along a creature of chubby proportions, covering in black fur with a swathe of alabaster upon his chest. the tasmanian devil let out a grumpy snort, stopping every few steps to growl and clean the mud from his paws. he stopped only in his grouchy habits when ahead he spied something that jupiter was too busy to notice, halting and narrowing his eyes, and then following up this action with a wary snarl.



startled by her companion's sudden discontinuation in his whining and grumbling, jupiter blinked and looked up, spying the two wolves a good thirty yards away from them. she glanced at mercury, and then away from her companion and back at the other lupines, a smile breaking across her face. she raced forward, bouncing as she went in an odd sort of skip.



"hey!" she exclaimed as she moved, finally coming to a stop a few yards away from her quarry, tail wagging madly. mercury struggled to catch up with his dashing master, eyes almost closed from their severity of their narrowness. "what'chu guys doing?"