Summer was here in full force. The sun seemed to miss no blade of grass as its rays beat down relentlessly on the prairie, warming the land until it was nearly unbearable. With the heat of the season came a strange sort of uncomfortable restless that she didn't know quite how to deal with, so she would do the thing she knew how to do best -- she would hunt. Slowly Saga Destruction traversed the flat terrain, her small body nearly disappearing into the tall grasses as she went, slinking close to the ground as she stalked her next meal. A rather fat hare had been hopping through the foliage and she had spotted it, knowing instantly it would make a fair meal. Her most recent conversation with Eirik had helped her grow a bit more bold, even if only slightly. Her packmates likely didn't even know her well enough to recognize the change in her. Though she was content to live in the shadows, and knew she could very likely go unnoticed for most of her life -- maybe that wasn't the best thing for her. Even participating in the small game that Rune had prepared had felt rewarding, even if she hadn't won, and even if her contribution had been minimal. The girl was silent as she stalked through the grasses, her green gaze fixated on the rabbit in the distance, easily pinpointing his position with each motion of the tall grasses around him. With extreme caution she crept forward, each step highly deliberate as she stalked the hare with precision.

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Summer had been nice when it had first arrived. After the coldness of winter, Eirik had welcomed the warmth, the endless sun, basking in it and allowing himself to grow a little lazy under its influence. Only now he wished he had been more active. Now it was getting so hot he hardly wanted to keep exerting himself so that he stayed fit and prepared. He did not even want to pace the borders in endless patrols, that simple task now proving to be tiring and exhaustive. He tried - he paced along the edge of the Prairie now, his tongue lolling as the sun beat down upon his broad back - but it was forced, careless. He hardly stared away and around, but kept his gaze straight ahead, trying to focus his attention on the end goal where he could set himself free from his task without feeling entirely useless.

He was getting closer, just a little further left, but in a moment of laziness and defeat he decided to end his patrol early. He had done enough, or close to enough, to constitute a more or less full patrol, or at least enough to keep him from feeling guilty later. He stepped off the path he had been following, making a beeline for the edge of the Fern Gulley and all the shade that it provided with the intent of trying to cool off and relax before he simply collapsed under the heat into a useless lump.

Only he did not get far enough toward his new destination before a scent wafted across his path. It was recognizable in a way - he was sure it was Saga as she had a scent all her own that was different than the others because of her tendency to keep to herself - but there was something noticeably different about it. Something he could not place but that was...curious. His nose twitched at the end of his muzzle as he turned his head, pinpointing the direction from which it was coming from. He padded off deeper into the Prairie, searching for her, but not even his advanced height gave him any advantage against her small stature that easily hid amongst the grasses. She must have been here somewhere... "Saga?" he called out, unaware of her hunt, unaware where she was in respect to the place where he had stopped. Had he been wrong to think she might be close?

Though she was used to the warmth of the east, where she'd grown up, she found Secretua lacked the refreshing breeze from the sea. The air here was drier and the sun a bit hotter, and she felt herself panting as she stalked through the tall grass of the prairie. The season of her heat was something unfamiliar to her, something she'd never really experienced and certainly hadn't anticipated. Hell, she didn't even know what was happening to her, or even that she was in heat -- merely that she felt restless and uncomfortable, but instead of facing her problems she was content to wander aimlessly and keep her mind distracted. The soft voice of Eirik would pull her back to reality, his voice small coming from a decent distance away, though the land was quiet enough to pick it out from the quiet song of insects and birds that surrounded her. Carefully she would redirect her pawsteps, aiming to close the distance between them as she traversed the thick grasses. Only when she felt her nose colliding gently with his right flank did she realize he'd been closer than she anticipated. Sharply, Saga would pull away from him, eyes widening as she swung around to gaze at him more easily. "Sorry," she mumbled softly, surprised at how close he had been, and even more surprised that she had collided with him. "I didn't realize you were so close." She'd been distracted by following the hare, but instantaneously upon hearing Eirik's call she had lost track of it and had no clue where it might've hopped off to.

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He heard nothing at first, just a silence full of irritating insect noises that did not answer him nor cease so he could hear anything being spoken back to him. A little sigh exited his nose as he glanced about, beginning to doubt that the small wolf he thought was here was actually around. She was so tiny she easily could have flitted away already without him even realizing. And he could have been talking to no one but the insects. It was a sour thought, especially since he held no fondness for the bugs, and it did leave him a little disappointed. He was always happy for his rare moments with Saga, Secretua's teeny Hunter. Losing out on that was a bummer on his day.

A small bit of hope was given to him. A quiet rustle sounded nearby, seemingly in response to his call. His dark tipped ears trained on the noise and the rest of his attention followed, searching for any movements within the grasses to give away the passage of the creature within. They had to be close, right? But where--?

Eirik's ears turned, finally pinpointing the location, but not before the creature in question walked right into him. His hips were jostled by the collision, and he took a quick side step to maintain his footing, turning himself around so that he could face the one who had bumped into him. And grinned when he realized it was none other than the little Hunter herself. His tail began to pick up in a wag, his rosy pink eyes brightening as he looked at her. "Are you okay?" he asked through a gentle chuckle. She had not hit him very hard, but still he felt the need to make sure. "You must have been really focused on your hunt." Or at least that was the only excuse he could think of for her bumping into him: inattention.

It was of no matter in the end, however. He cleared his throat, trying to compose himself again and calm the jittery feeling that was settling over him, and asked as casually as he could, "So how are things?"

If anyone else had interrupted her hunt, she likely would've been quite frustrated -- and though an instinctive bit of annoyance worked its way into her gut, it quickly faded at seeing Eirik's face. He was easily he only true friend, except for many her siblings, though even they had not come to find her after she'd disappeared from Sawtooth. Would they even still be considered friends? Her gaze was a bit warmer than usual as she examined him, backing up a bit to face him more properly and swinging around closer to his front. Her quick movements had caught him temporarily off guard, and for a long moment she would will herself to not apologize repeatedly. If there was anyone she didn't want to make a fool of herself in front of, it was Eirik... and perhaps his father too.  "I'm fine," she spoke softly, her voice meek and quiet, as usual. Her gaze was curious as she eyed him, instinctively wondering if she'd done anything wrong. It was still difficult for Saga to realize that he simply enjoyed her company.  "Are you?" Of course he was okay! Silently she scolded herself for asking it so quickly, for it really was a stupid question. Briefly her gaze would drop to her forepaws, feeling a bit sheepish suddenly. On the inside, she was a whirlwind of emotions, so usual of her... and yet her demeanor was usually cold and sharp, calculating and withdrawn. Only now would some of her anxiety seep through, her gaze darting down and to the side to avoid contact with his own, though quickly she would return to assessing him silently. "I was," Saga agreed softly. "I was chasing a hare. A big, fat one." The tiniest of smiles would tug at the corners of her lips, her jaws briefly unhinging as she felt her tongue lapping at her lips quickly. Perhaps he might want to hunt with her? An afternoon meal sounded quite nice. "Fine," she agreed shortly. What sort of things did he mean? Life was as usual, though a bit too hot for her taste. Here, there wasn't the welcome respite of the ocean to retreat to in such extreme temperatures. Did he mean her hunt? That had been ruined, but she'd much rather spend time with him than alone. And yet she found herself at a loss for words -- another completely unsurprising aspect of Saga's personality. "How are things with you, Eirik?"

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Quiet as ever, the small wolf chose not to say much but Eirik was happy to note that she at least was okay after running into him. He had been a little worried; compared to her, he was like a big rock, and if she had managed to make him skip a step it meant she had to have run into him pretty decently. Rosy eyes colored with concern even as he smiled and skimmed over Saga quickly, double checking for himself that she spoke the truth. When she turned the question back around needlessly on him, his smile grew and so did his amusement. "Think you might have dislocated my hip," he joked somewhat teasingly, shifting his back leg a little as if experimenting with its mobility, "but I can walk it off." Was it just him or did she seem a little more timid than usual?

He was determined as ever to keep things easy and fun - simple words that he lived by and a lifestyle he was not altogether sure she was familiar with - and was encouraged when he saw her nearly smile outright with her answer. A big fat hare did sound like a nice little meal, enough so that he could feel his mouth water a bit at the thought, but with the heat combining with his natural inclination toward laziness the urge to perk up and help track it down was not nearly strong enough to urge him into action. "That's too bad," Eirik replied, and, belatedly putting everything together, he asked guiltily, "Did I mess that up?" It would not have surprised him; even without trying he rarely ever entered into something without making a mess of things first.

Keeping with her succinct answers, Saga stated that things were "fine" with her, and without quite thinking himself he answered in kind when she questioned him. "Fine," he stated simply, adding a nod of his head for emphasis, though finding it lacking too much for his taste he elaborated. "Dad hasn't kicked me off Guard work yet, so still doing that," he joked, "and I'm going to be a big brother soon." He practically beamed as he spoke of his future siblings, his excitement clearly evident. "I'm hoping there's a boy. I like my sisters and all but-" he paused, shook his head with a sour look - "a brother would be awesome."