Irving had always sort of lived on the continent. He hid in the shadows as he aged from a kitten to a young feline. His family members lurked in the more tropical regions but were slowly dying out. As of late, he was seeing less and less felines and more canines. It was something that deep down worried him, but he was always sort of on edge anyway. Even though he had met some rather pleasant wolves, he still didn't quite trust them. Something in him told him not to trust them. What didn't help was that he was small. He wasn't a big cat after all and even some wolf companions appeared larger than him. Which he never understood why they would want to trail after one of those beasts, but he supposed it would make for easy living. Content to keep to himself, Irving hung around the southern area known as the Rio Grande. High up in the trees, he stretched across a branch that hung over the fast-paced river below. From his branch, he had tied a piece of rope that he had crafted himself from nearby fibers. It twirled and swung in the breeze as he lowered it down into the water. His belly grumbled at the thought of being able to have dinner tonight. With a piece of rodent from two days ago tied to the other end, he slowly dunked it into the water so that it hopefully wouldn't get washed away. His eyes were on his trap as he clung to the branch and hummed to himself so he didn't feel so lonely.

As summer encroached upon Auster, winter was starting to settle over Boreas, driving Birna to begin her trek back north. They'd taken a break near the great river and she left Clovis to nap while she and her raven headed to the river to do some fishing. The journey was a bit slower with the young… well, she wasn't really sure what kind of cat the boy was, but it was nice to have company for once. It certainly made hunting more effective to hunt in a group than solo. She'd seen this with the wolves, and had often wondered what it might be like to live with a group of fellow felines.

Birna bent her head near the river to take a quick drink. Crocodiles had been seen along this river and its muddy waters could hide many a threat. She backed away quickly once her thirst was sated. The threat of other predators also made this a dangerous place to fish. If only she could do so without risking her own safety.

Guelder called gently to her before landing in a nearby tree. Her pale sapphire eyes followed his flight and to her surprise there was another leopard-like feline in the tree. He was working with something there. Birna cleared her throat. "Sorry to intrude. What is that you have there?"

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Fully immersed in the task at hand, Irving did not notice the gal that approached. It wasn't until her companion let out a call did he looked up from his fishing endeavor. His ears flick backward for a moment as his bright blue eyes look her over. She was a feline as well so that at least calmed his nerves slightly. Sweeping his tail behind him so that she cannot see the nervous twitch of it, he glances down at his string and bait to also draw her attention down toward the water. "Sorta like fishin' bu' nah as complex," Irving answers in his accented voice. A twitch of a smile appears on his lips as he glances back at the lady. "Nah much ya can intrude on. This is free lan'," he waves a paw to gesture around the river. As long as he had known the Rio Grande, not a single pack had ever expanded here. Which honestly surprised him because well, look at the place! It was heaven! When he placed his paw back upon the branch, he felt the familiar tug of his rope dipping into the water. "Ah, caugh' one!" The cat exclaims as he pulls on the rope carefully to guide the caught fish toward shore.

Birna's whiskers flicked forward as she gazed upward. The man explained that he was fishing but that it wasn't as complex. Her head tilted to the side. It seemed more complex than just trying to grab them though definitely safer. "It's fascinating, and smart. Last time I was here in the summer I encountered a great and terrible lizard. It snatched a deer right off the banks." She shuddered. She did not like those creatures.

The little leopard sudden moved, exclaiming that he'd caught one. Birna moved to position herself out of the way. "Do you give lessons? My name is Birna and I should very much like to learn of other ways to catch fish. They are a very rare food where I used to live." High up in the old mountains fishing holes were rare and in those that existed fish lived deep, deep down in the water. They would only occasionally wash to shore when they were sick or dead.

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Irving blinks a few times as Birna explains to him about the giant lizard that took a deer off the bank. He turns his chin to give her a peculiar look. "Ya mean a gator?" He questions quizzically. Sure, he'd seen them before. They enjoyed the murky waters of the river and typically left predators alone unless they were smaller like him. "Yea, they ain't nice folk," he adds as he hops down from his branch, careful not to get his length of rope entangled in the tree. Drawing in his rope with his paws and teeth, he tugs and waits at different moments, feeling the fish and expertly guiding it until it flopped up onto the shore. "Lessons?" Irving questions as he pounces forward, extending his claws and swiftly swiping the fish's neck open and severing its head from its body. Straightening up to turn and fully get a look at the other feline, he regards her for a moment. Ah, yes, she did look more... northern than himself. Fluffier, thicker, more grey than his tannish-yellow sleek and thin-coated form. He then glances down at his fishing rope where one end is still caught in the fish's mouth. "Mm, I can teach ya if ya wan'," he says as he puts one paw on the fish and then uses his teeth to pull the rope from the fish's mouth. As expected, the piece of mouse he had tied onto one end was gone. Holding up his rope, he extends it to Birna so she can take a closer look at it. Then it was as if a light bulb suddenly went off in his head. How rude of him! He hadn't introduced himself to her. "Oh, name's Irving, nice to meet ya Birna," he gives her a wide, cheeky smile with lips pulled back before continuing with his lesson. "See, wha' I do is jus' take some vine, tie a bit o' mouse roun' one end an' then I dangle from a branch," he drops the rope on the ground if she hasn't taken it from him and points up at the tree where she had found him. "Plop the mouse en' inta tha water an' give it a wiggle occasionally an' wait fer yer mouse ta bite," Irving then wiggles his paw around to show her how he would move his paw if he were doing it. "Patience ya biggest worry, really," he adds on with a shrug.

Birna nodded as Irving explained that what she'd encountered was a gator and they were not nice creatures. "Indeed, we don't have those where I grew up." High up in the mountains there was rarely anything in the water she needed to watch out for so it was definitely a surprise when a predator larger than her tried to end her peaceful drink. She was not used to being prey.

The leopard introduced himself as Irving and agreed to give her lessons. She settled down to listen, her great tail wrapping partly over her paws and then trailing off into the brush. "Ok, sounds straight forward enough." She got to her feet and padded over to gather her own piece of vine. Her claws made short work of it and she dragged it over to where Irving was. "One moment." She called her raven down and sent him to grab a chunk of leftover bird from their last meal. When the raven returned she used her dexterous paws to tie the vine around the meat and the the cropped rib bone it was attached to. "How does this look? I find hunting fish quite different from larger prey so any tricks are most appreciated. Do you mostly hunt fish or have you ever tried for bigger prey?"

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Irving watched in silent wonder as Birna set about doing as he instructed. His eyes widen slightly as he notices that she has an extra toe that allows her to gather and hold and do things that his paws can't do. Lifting his paw and staring at it as he flexed his toes, his brow scrunched and he frowned. Why were Birna's paws so different? He looks back at her as she comes back over and realizes that they're almost raccoon-like but still different. Distracted, he almost doesn't notice her hold out her piece of vine and bird meat that is tied to one end. Giving his head a shake, he peers at her handiwork before nodding. "Yea, jus' like that!" He says in a chipper tone as he gives her a smile before going back to his own fishing contraption. Moving the fish he had caught off to the side, he sets about pulling the tail and a bit of meat from it and tying it back to the end of his rope so he can throw it back into the water. "I spen' mos' my days fishin'," Irving waves his free paw around himself before continuing, "I'm rat'er small for a cat so huntin' anythin' big is troublesome," he frowns before focusing back on throwing the line in and letting it drift along the water. "Do ya like huntin' bigger game?" He asks in return, letting his eyes move back to her occasionally.

Birna caught Irving looking at her paws out of the corner of her eye. It wasn't odd to get stares from those that managed to be close enough to see her longer toes, and thumb-like toe, working gingerly on a task. Rather than simply ignore the look she opted to acknowledge it. "I was born with them. My mother said it was a good omen… the soothsayer not so much, but that is a long story. I find them quite useful myself."

She watched as Irving baited the trap with some of the meat from the other fish. Rather than take any of his she reached into one of the small pockets on her harness and pulled out some dried turkey meat. Taking a particularly sinewy piece she baited her own trap with it before devouring the remaining piece as a snack.

Irving explained that he spent most of his time fishing and that as a smaller cat it was difficult to go after bigger game. She nodded sympathetically. "I like hunting bigger game but I also find it difficult to do alone. I am a larger cat but it's quite dangerous if the prey is not already significantly ill or injured." She tapped the outside of her trap with a claw for a moment before turning back to Irving. "You know I have been studying the group hunting patterns of wolves… and I can't help but wonder, what if there were a band of like-minded predators? Perhaps of felines? Would this not better our chances of success?"



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When Birna caught his lingering glance at her toes, he promptly glanced away. Not out of embarrassment, okay maybe just a little bit. He had been taught at a young age that it was rude to stare, but he let his gaze linger because well, he was kind of jealous. How cool would it be to have toes like that? He is glad that she brings it up, explaining that she was born with the blessing. His brows raise as he looks back at them curiously. There were so many questions he wanted to ask but refrained for the moment. Surely, there would be a moment to ask them. Letting his focus go back to the fishing line, he listens with one ear turned in her direction as she speaks. He nods and lets out a thoughtful hum at her questions. A band of felines? "Ya know tha' many cats?" Irving questions finally, his gaze slightly hopeful as he steals another glance at her. She was much larger than he so hunting with her would prove to be easier, but if they had more? They could hunt really large animals. They would have to learn, adapt, change their tactics, but he didn't see why that wasn't possible. "I ain' ever really been 'round anyone much, but I don' see why it ain't a good idea," he adds on, finally turning his focus from the line to give Birna a smile.