O Child of Dust

Less than a day's journey from her homeland in Serpent's Pass, Sagacity had tracked a small herd of deer and now wished that she'd brought someone with her. She could have easily snagged one of the newer members so that she could put them to the test and see how well they could hunt and work as a team, but she'd decided that she'd go tracking alone. Always alone- not that Sagacity ever made the 'FOREVER ALONE' face when she set out by herself, though, as she liked sticking to her own agenda and not having to be considerate about others. She was quite bad at making first impressions with females anyway and stubbornly chose to believe that they wouldn't hang around the mountain for long. Not that she had any reason to believe they weren't made of the right materiel for the pack- she simply hadn't taken the chance to meet them yet. She was a busy single mom. That was a good enough excuse, wasn't it?

But now, when she could've had a few tag-alongs to help her hunt she regretted not snagging one or two of them- however many new ones there were. She could've taken Asta, though she preferred to have Asta stay and take care of Mercy when she wasn't around. Naira might've liked the excursion, and she was a capable hunter...But she had such a busy agenda and two energetic girls of her own. She left by herself hoping that she could score a meal fit for both herself and Naira, which would then be unceremoniously regurgitated for the kids. How charming.

Thus far, with the afternoon sunlight dappling her silver back as she crouched low to the ground and peered with narrowed yellow eyes toward the small herd of deer, she was undetected. She'd followed them at a swift enough pace to catch up with them, a venture which had taken most of the morning. The sun was high in the sky and its warmth brought forth swarms of black flies which irritated the deer and provided a distraction which Sagacity was grateful for...Even if it meant they bothered her too. She simply slicked her ears back and blinked whenever one came too close to her eyes. Her pelt was thick enough to keep them from biting through her skin, though the deer weren't so fortunate.

There were a handful of them- maybe 9 or 10, not including the fawns which were beginning to lose their spots. They were big enough now that they were beyond the point of curling up in the tall grass and having absolutely no defences or flight or fight reflex. Now, when spooked, she knew they'd run and the little buggers had long legs, even if they were ungainly and spindly. She watched them move, the little ones fretting about the flies and the older deer crowding together to swat at the pests with their tails and constantly flapping ears. Sagacity needed a gameplan, but wasn't sure exactly what angle she might try, so until something occurred to her, she settled in to wait.

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The days bled together unceremoniously.  Shrapnel paid them little mind, having spent a fair amount of time simply making his way through what was his uncharted territory. Hunger had begun to knot in his stomach with familiarity, though he had gnawed here and there on what he could find. It was a nuisance to the earth creature, not quite straddling necessity. It bordered it though, always hanging around in the dim recesses of his mind, waiting perhaps for the most inconvenient of times to strike. Yet this did not deter him as he pressed onward across what consisted of the calm heart of the Lore, sunlit eyes taking in his surroundings beneath the expanse of woodland and sky.

He had heard the gentle click and call of the deer, but did not openly follow them. He instead trailed them at a considerable distance, as though he could herd them by his presence alone. They didn't notice him, but he gathered from their meandering pathways that they were comfortable, if not unaware of the predatory beasts that more than likely lurked outside of their band.  This too contributed to his loitering behind; he had seen the others, sensed them as well. Every step was just another venture closer to the unseen walls of their homes.

So when he had finally caught up with the herd in such a way that they were clearly seen, he made himself oblivious to their wandering gaze. Falling back on an old stunt, he hunkered down low in the tall waves of grass, extending his forepaws out ahead of him. A leisurely position, but with good reason. Craning his muzzle skyward, he howled lowly, wondering who, what, or how many canine brethren he could lure out to hunt.  Why chase hem blindly when it would have been easier to let someone or several do it for him? It wasn't laziness, not really. It was observation, it was his version of tactics; he had to know what to expect there, in that foreign, proverbial garden of eden.

By staying low and quiet, Sagacity hoped to single out one of the younger deer- one of this year's fawns would do- when it strayed too far from the group. The young ones stuck close together, frolicking about carelessly and once or twice coming almost a bit too close to where she was. Only once did one of them stiffen, but only so for a moment as its companion reared back and flailed its front legs, challenging the other into a playfight. The distraction was welcome, and Sagacity relaxed. Perhaps the fawns would play themselves out and hunker down for a nap, then it'd be much easier to pick one off.

But her plans were interrupted when a voice called out- soft and gentle, but still enough to bring the herd of deer to attention. One or two of them whistled, ears pricked and eyes staring off in the direction from which the voice had come. One of the bolder ones stamped one of its forelegs defiantly, a show of strength and determination. One of the fawns sprang to the doe's side- obviously looking to take shelter with his much bolder mother. Sagacity would have been been incredibly irritated- but instead was struck by surprise. Slowly and carefully she left her position, taking advantage of the fact that the deer's attention was fixed elsewhere.

She circled around until she caught his scent and had to put in an effort to keep herself from making any comments aloud to herself, or even laughing. Quietly, carefully, and very aware that the deer were paying attention to the area in which she now lurked, she moved forward until she could see him. Her eyes roved over his shoulders and along his back; he'd filled out a bit. Part of her wanted to sneak as close as she could get to tweak his tail with her teeth but she decided against it. Instead, hunkering her body close to the ground, she crept forward and emitted a soft exhale- just loud enough for him to hear, though she was likely too quiet and too far away for the deer to notice.

"Trying to ruin my hunt again, Shreds?" She asked, her voice little more than a whisper, which was hard to do, given the excitement she felt having found him again.

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Seconds turned into lengthy minutes with no appearance or response. He sighed to himself, tail flicking idly with a notion of disappointment. With the deer standing at attention, he knew it would be futile for him to give chase right now. Eventually they'd calm back down and carry on, no doubt perplexed by the lone call of a wolf with no obvious event to follow.  So for now he simply surveyed them, taking stock of their ample numbers. The young and the old, the strong and the feeble; all it boiled to was fast food or a grand meal.

But it also became clear that he wasn't entirely alone with the herd either. This realization came only moments ahead of the approaching canine, his earthy head turning stiffly to catch the words that flowed towards his ears. There was recognition in her tone, but it took several beats before it clicked with him. He remembered her, hackles bristling unevenly along his naps and back. But he didn't outwardly remember her name, their travels previously had happened well over a year ago. He had been younger then, maybe even freshly out of his his father's pack. He couldn't remember the when or why.

"Ruin your hunt?" he queried with a smirk. "You look like you'd do a fine job of that yourself. She seemed smaller than before, changed abruptly in comparison to him. Maybe she had been, or maybe he just didn't remember entirely how she had seemed before. Yet the audacity in her claim, it struck him roughly like a thorn wedged in deeply between his toes. Had that been her name? Close enough. "Audacity." The word, or name in this case, followed just a second after his insult remarking. The deer beyond him remained forgotten.

Sage's ears flicked back when he made a remark about her hunting skills and she pulled a face as she moved up next to him. She kept her body low and once they were even she lay down, noticing now just how much larger he was than she now that they were closer together. His shoulders were higher above hers than she'd expected them to be, but that was simply a matter of perspective. When they'd last met he'd been little more than a teen and she hardly on the cusp of adulthood. Naturally, she'd tried to act and feel more mature, but he had as well, which had rubbed her the wrong way. Now the age difference couldn't have been noticed by anyone looking upon them- Sage was as slight and nimble as she'd always been, whereas Shrapnel had left the hallmarks of adolescence behind. There was still a youthfulness about his features, though, and a fullness that his shoulders and chest yearned for, but those too would come.

She snorted silently when he took a stab at her name. She didn't respond for a moment, eyes trained ahead of them before she abruptly turned her head to give him a quick once-over. "You look like shit." The words were blunt, but the tone of her voice would've better suited the words "You look good," as though she meant it as a compliment. "Where've you been?" She asked, the distraction of her one-time travel buddy serving as a good excuse to let the deer enjoy a bit of peace.

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Her commentary back to him didn't have quite as much as of a bite like his had. It didn't bother him any, just like it didn't seem to bother her. At least that's what he was willing to think, his smirk slipping back across his face. While he doubted he didn't look horrible, he was well aware of how much more of a vagabond he seemed. But he had tried to keep himself in some sort of decent shape, never quite letting himself get too ragged through the act of traveling. It gave him a slight advantage, and had maybe kept him safe a time or two.

So in response to where he has been, initially all Shrapnel did was shrug. He couldn't have elaborated on the places he had been because he didn't paid them much heed. He hadn't found the right place yet, a place that suited him and his needs.  "Everywhere," he simply said. For him it was the truth, he felt like he has been everywhere. Yet it was only here that the ghastly calls had drawn him in, though they had ceased to call him back since he had left the ghastly wood.

She wasn't surprised by the fact that Shrapnel didn't go on a tangent, describing all the places he'd been and who he'd met. It wasn't in his character to do so, or at least, it hadn't been when they'd traveled together, and in turn she wasn't annoyed at all by his vague response. He'd never been one to go on at length about anything which was involved in small talk, so she was relieved that he hadn't changed. Perhaps if he had given her more detail she might've lost interest in him, as though the change in his nature would've been a negative one. No, this way he was someone she could understand easily, and identify with. And it made it easier for her to relate to someone when they weren't a big talker.

"You sure get around." She commented quietly then, her attention fixing itself upon the deer again. She crept forward about half a length to strain her ears forward and peer through some leaves where she could occasionally see the tawny hide of a doe or fawn. When one walked by she'd see the fast flicking of white, as the deer hadn't quite settled yet and batted their tails still as a sort of signal to any prey, saying 'we know you're out there.' this didn't mean much to Sagacity anymore- she still intended to find something to eat, and made the assumption that Shrapnel would help her.

(This post was last modified: Jul 01, 2013, 09:03 PM by Sagacity.)

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He felt like smiling inwardly at her comment of "getting around" but withheld; the whole getting around bit had been part of his life for quite some time now. At least half of it if he had to guess, but like many things, the concept of time melted together like snow and ice over a running river. He had long lost track of how long he had been on the road so to speak, and hadn't bothered to muster the energy to figure the seasons, months, even days. Hell, he had lost track of how many days had passed since he had even been drawn into to the Lore.

Not that he knew the name of the place anyway.

Watching Sagacity as she turned her attention to the deer, he considered pressing her gently for some information. The queries stood boldly on his tongue, but didn't roll their way out. Instead, he joined her in that silent observation, still noting that the deer hadn't let down their guard. More importantly, no one else had made their move on the prey they had both spotted from their respective locations. Figures. "You know, I would say the same of you," he said then, because after all, what were the odds of them intersecting one another again? Those odds he didn't even want to begin to figure out, but he knew they were rather low. Yet there they were. Shifting his molten gaze back to her, Shrapnel spun his next plan into action.

"In exchange for what you know about this place, I'll help you with prey." And with a cant of his head to follow, he silently added deal?

Sagacity's tail twitched slightly at his retort, and had she still been showing any signs of having given birth, she might've taken his comment a bit more seriously. As it was, though, she figured he couldn't have been able to tell at all by how she looked that she was raising a son- Mercy was, after all, feeding mostly on digested meal and thus she exhibited few symptoms of motherhood. The tip of her tail touched his side, just deftly enough to acknowledge the joke and show mild appreciation for his humour.

His offer and price were acknowledged with a short exhale of breath. It seemed as though he was implying that she couldn't hunt without him- which was mostly true. She'd have a much harder time separating a deer from the herd and bringing it down on her own, but she didn't like to think she needed his help...Even if that was the case. Nevertheless, she showed no signs, aside from the small puff of air, that she needed to rely on him. "Dinner first, talk later," She said, by way of an agreement. She turned her yellow eyes to meet his fiery gaze for a moment and without so much as a smile she winked, and turned her head as she rose to a crouch, ears turning back as she began to slither away from Shrapnel and making an arch around the deer.

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Good, they'd made an agreement. That satisfied him greatly, though he hadn't considered it would largely depend on how well they did at scoring a meal. With nothing set in granite that they would be so lucky to even take down one of the many making up the herd, he watched as Sagacity pressed on through the grass quietly. Only after he studied where she was going did he adjust where he was himself, slinking lowly through the tall grains of the lush floor. He blended in only so much there, but it was enough. As long as they went undetected for a while longer, he suspected that the deer would begin to lower their guard... and with any luck with their energies spent from being on alert for a bit would lessen the likelihood that they would sense an attack coming now.

Though he was an arrogant sort, Shrapnel had no problem in letting her make the first moves. For him this had little to do with dominance and more of being what he could use to work with. In a turnabout way, he hoped to get her to do what he had intended to do all along, to make that first move and get them going, and then swoop in to lay claim to whatever happened to get between freedom and his willing teeth and hungry body. Feeling he had a rather advantageous position on the herd some moments later, he lied in wait, letting his eyes scan the area for any little hint that he could spy out where his much smaller once-companion had gone to. Assuming she'd be the first to go, he lazily yawned, and simply let things unfold from there.

And if she didn't... well, then he supposed he'd do the work himself.