Áskell couldn't believe they were already half way through fall. Winter was probably going to rear its ugly head well before he was ready at this rate. Pulling himself out of the muddy water he shook out his coat, teeth clasped tightly around a carp. He'd never caught a carp before so he had no idea how boney they were. The fish had been swimming near the surface so of course he just had to try and catch one. The fish flopped and flailed in his mouth so he quickly scrambled over the willow roots onto solid ground where he dropped the fish. Ok… now what was the best way to kill these things? He bit at the head, trying to hold it down with his paws until his lower fangs clipped the gills, sending a rush of blood over the grass. Oh! There was the throat! He bit down hard until the fish stopped moving… well mostly. It continued to spasm even after life had left it.

Ophie was hungry, nothing new there, but felt a pang of guilt at the thought of raiding the pantry again. She'd been shooed off more times than she cared to admit and honestly it was mortifying. Like she ought to curl up in a hole in the ground and hope she ceased to exist. In theory, she was more than capable of catching food for herself and would no doubt not feel as guilty about eating if she did but...Well look at her. She wasn't to bring down anything substantial anytime soon. Moving faster than an easy lope got her out of breath and tired real fast, and all the Fatalis hunting methods focused on speed and strength, two things Ophie just didn't have right now.

Her stomach grumbled and groaned, aching up a storm as her nose twitched, catching the scent of fresh blood. Had she stumbled across a lucky find? Had some scavengers left some pickings for her to nibble at? Pressing on Ophie hid herself against the side of a wide willow tree and peered around the corner. There was a wolf ahead, dark of fur and blood smeared across his maw as he ripped open a fish with practiced ease. Her ears flicked back nervously as she swallowed down the mounting sense of nervousness that built within, well she couldn't just go and steal from a wolf could she? They'd get mad and it wasn't like she'd be able to make a quick get away either.

Áskell wolfed down chunk after chunk and as he moved to flip the fish over so he could work at the other side he saw another, very round wolf, approach. He stared at her, licking the blood off his lips. He'd never seen such a fat wolf before and his head cocked to the side as he tried to figure out what the issue was here. He tested her scent, noting the Armada but not anything he'd associate with pregnancy. Between Deathbelle and Recluse he knew enough of that scent to be sure pregnancy wasn't the issue. "Uh… hey. You know, last I checked wolves didn't hibernate, you don't need to put on that much fat for the winter."

Ophie flinched when the stranger set his sights on her, all watchful and knowing, clever eyes like they bore right through her. She shifted her weight from paw to paw awkwardly, swiftly abandoning the thought of taking a nibble out of his fish to focus on the fact that she'd been caught. Sort of. No jabbing words of accusation left his mouth, just a very, very pointed comment that made Ophie feel a little sick. Well, a lot sick really. Appetite lost, her ears swivelled back as though to protect herself from the sting of his words. But it was too late, the seed had already been planted and was taking root.

She knew she was fat, gross, disgusting, pathetic, a waste of skin and bones, a disgrace-the list went on and on- but did he really have to point it out? Did he really think she was so naive to not feel it in centre of her chest? To know with disarming uncertainty that she wasn't like everyone else and as such she was just wrong. Everything a wolf shouldn't be.

"I uh-yeah I know." She sputtered, out barely able to speak around the heavy lump forming in her throat. What else was she supposed to say or do? Call him out for being so on the nose? Ruthless. Ophie couldn't do that, even if she tried.

Áskell watched as the girls ears flicked back and a wounded expression fell across her face. He'd been expecting some sort of indignant or sarcastic comment, maybe a fight. Instead she just stuttered out a response and made no attempt to counter what he'd said. She'd have been easy pickings if he hadn't been caught so off guard by her frank agreement with his statement. He cocked his head to the side, a thoughtful expression flitting across his face. "Oh… well, I mean, not that it's bad or anything. I bet the extra fat will keep you warmer, like a walrus or a seal. Can you swim at all? You're welcome to join me fishing." If a walrus could swim with all that blubber then the girl would probably be able to as well and he was more interested in having company than driving it away.

Try as he might, he wasn't really making it any better. Being compared to a walrus or a seal wasn't really flattering in any sense, his words were like a series of barbed jabs that made her wonder why she ever tried to go out and be more independent in the first place. Sure, no doubt a lot of her siblings probably thought nasty things about her behind her back but they'd never been so on the nose about it. Maybe she was too soft for her own good, needed to grow some thicker skin, but it seemed impossible when she'd always been so soft and quick to worry. Just because people could be cruel didn't mean she wanted to spend her whole life flinching as she waited for strikes to land.

"No it's okay, thank you. I didn't mean to be a bother..." It was not her place to apologise, especially since he hadn't earned it, but old habits died hard. Just because someone wasn't nice to her didn't mean she found it easy to treat them the same way. She dipped her head a little, apologetic. "I'm Ophie and um..it was nice to meet you?" He hadn't given her his name, she didn't even know why she wanted it. To make him feel more of a person than just a figure with eyes that knew too much?

"Oh, you're not bothering me. I don't mind having some company since fishing is honestly kind of boring." He wasn't even sure if fish could hear like deer and other prey so as far as he was concerned standing there talking wasn't going to scare any of the fish away anyway. Áskell picked the last of the larger chunks of meat from the fish as the girl introduced herself as Ophie and asked… a question? He wasn't quite sure how to interpret her statement. "Uh, yea nice to meet you. I'm Áskell. Say, if you want we could-" Snap! Áskell's head whipped back as he saw a large bear approaching them. Uh oh… it probably had smelled his fish. His fur frizzed up and he watched the bear, trying to figure out if it was going to make a go of them.

Áskell. Well she would have gone onto to say something polite, but their line of thought was snipped short by the appearance of a big and lumbering bear. No doubt drawn in by the smell of freshly caught fish. Ophie froze on the spot, eyes wide and pulse racing as it approached. She'd only ever seen them from afar and wasn't at all sure what to do, whether they ought to flee or fight. For all her training she'd had no experience when it came to fighting predators, simply didn't know what tactics worked best or if it was even worth the effort to fight over a measly fish. Now she really thought about it, it didn't even look that yummy anyway. There were plenty more fish to be caught and squaring up with a bear wasn't something she was all too keen to do, to be perfectly honest.

Looking to Áskell for guidance, she took a hesitant step back. And then another. Maybe if they backed off slowly it would let them go?

"What should we do?" She asked, too scared to raise her voice above a whisper.