Mæva settled on the edge of the water, stretched out on a fallen log in the sun as she watched the water reflect the sky. A blue heron was out fishing. She watched as it gracefully walked through the water, head tilting from side to side as it scouted for fish. It was autumn now though she hadn't noticed much of a difference in the landscape yet. It was probably too early. She'd be happy if the heat cooled a bit. Her head flopped down on her fore arms as an ear twitched. She was bored. Mæva wasn't quite sure what to do with herself now that they'd arrived in Boreas and met the family. She was getting older now and while she'd considered striking on and joining a pack she really wasn't a pack wolf. She couldn't imagine being glued to one spot.

Just how many packs were there in this god forsaken land? She’d thought she’d been home free after her run-in with that boisterous pup and hadn’t come across another soul for over a week. It had been nice, like she could actually breath again, but now she could smell the scent of a pack floating along with the wind. This time, she was determined to skirt past them.

Having taken a wide berth around to follow close to the coast, she came across an estuary that seemed to be teeming with bird-life. It seemed like hundreds of the aviators were clustered in the wetlands, squawking and chirping to their heart’s content. Her stomach growled at the thought of some bird and she figured it would be easy enough to snatch a chick from their parents’ wandering gaze.

Oh, how wrong she was. When she snuck around a heron’s nest, the mother nearby fishing, she’d thought she was in luck. She was poised, ready for the kill, her jaws open and waiting to snatch up a heron chick, when suddenly she was being pecked on the head. She cried out in pain and confusion, tail tucking between her legs as she ducked and put her paws over her head, squeezing her eyes shut to try and protect herself from the sharp beak.

"Speech"

Mæva toyed with the idea of visiting her relatives in Valhalla but what she really wanted was to play with her siblings. She wondered what they were getting up to without her. She found it hard to believe that she was going to turn two soon. She'd officially be an adult. How depressing!

Mæva's musings were cut short by a commotion back near the willows. She whipped her head around to see a heron pecking at the head of a smaller, emaciated yearling. She quickly sprang into action, leaping off the log and racing toward the heron. Water and mud splashed up behind her as fangs found the heron's neck. She kicked off with her hind legs and used her momentum to shove the bird aside, allowing the follow through to carry her right onto of the bird, pinning it beneath her. She shook her head violently until it broke the heron's neck.

She didn't normally kill unless she was hungry but this other yearling clearly looked like she needed food. Mæva released the bird and turned to face the other girl with a grin. "You ok? You can eat this if you want."

Sidero couldn’t believe she was going to die like this: brained to death by a heron. After all she’d been through, this had to be the most ridiculous way to go. No one would miss her she supposed and maybe no one would find her body. Maybe she’d just sink to the bottom of the estuary and be eaten by some passing fish. Yeah, that’s probably what would happen.

However, before she could succumb to her fate, a flicker of a large shadow passed over her along with a growl. Oh god, apparently the wolf thought it better suited to end her than the heron. But, instead of teeth closing around her neck she heard the strained honks of the heron. Peering out from her paws, she saw a huge red wolf violently mauling the avian, tossing it around like a ragdoll unti, finally, a sickening crack stilled its flailing body.

The heron was tossed at her paws and the wolf moved closer to her. With a whine she tucked her tail to her belly and crouched to the ground, submitting immediately. Then, the wolf offered her the bird. She blinked, her body shaking violently. This had to be a trick, she was sure of it, no one just gave up a meal like that. Especially not to her. No, she wouldn’t fall for it. “N-no. Y-y-you killed it, i-its yours. I w-wouldn’t dare put m-my f-filthy, undeserving paws o-on something of y-yours,” she stuttered out.

"Speech"

Mæva beamed with pride over her success at saving the woman and killing the bird so efficiently. She was really getting good at hunting. Her smile soon turned into confusion as the other woman shrank away from her and whined.

Mæva's head tilted to the side at the other woman's body language as well as her words. She'd never seen anyone react to her that way and having been essentially raised by the wilds she wasn't sure how to react. "Hey, it's ok. I won't hurt you and I'm not hungry. I killed the bird to rescue you and you look like you could use a meal more than me. I'm Mæva Adravendi. What's your name?" She fell back on the usual pleasantries. Names were good, weather was good, and then maybe she could get a read on the other woman. Mæva's ears flicked forward as a number of birds in the grasses suddenly took off into the air.

Sid was admittedly very confused when the other wolf didn’t sneer at her or throw insults her way. In her pack they’d played games like this with her all the time; they’d make her think that they’d turned over a new leaf, that they were including her and being nice to her, then at the last second they would scoff and beat her up. So, she didn’t trust this ‘Maeve’. Nope, not one bit.

”Y-you’re too k-kind to a w-wolf l-l-like m-me Miss. M-maeve. Y-you deserve i-it,” she reiterated, her tongue twisting all over itself in her fright. She remembered suddenly that she’d been asked a question and she was quick to answer, “S-Sidero, miss.” Sid had never been given a last name explicitly and she’d never been allowed to use the last name of her parents. So, her name was just...Sid.

"Speech"

Mæva really was baffled by the other wolf's behavior but if she didn't want the bird then Mae would take it and make sure it didn't go to waste. She didn't blink at the mispronunciation of her name, that was pretty typical so she offered an easier alternative. "Nice to meet you, Sidero. You can call me Mae. We could split the bird, but if you really don't want it I can take it." Mæva had learned how to dry and partially preserve meat for a later time. Besides, maybe her dad would be hungry and want to eat it.

Mæva flopped down on her side onto a bed of tall grass, sending a few quail bursting into the sky as they fled. "So, Sidero, do you live around here or are you just visiting?" Mæva didn't have anything else to do so she figured she'd try and strike up a conversation.