Secret Falls salt and vinegar

Still the falls but butting up against the mountain. @Skookum and @Cancer

She had ventured west that morning, willing to wander until she hit the base of the mountain. Hawthorne never had the desire to cross the giant stone monument. Her loyality was with the Edge which meant her curiosity of what was on the other side was nonexistent. Besides,nowhere would be as cool as the falls back home. The fallen trees made for great climbing and there was always a place to get a drink.

That didn't stop her from standing at the base, kicking some lose stones. She remembered the strange horned creature her and Pumpkin Eyes had chased. It was with that memory in mind that her eyes scanned the surronding area. Were any more going to pop up with their awful literally bleeping sounds?

Perhaps she shouldn't have ventured here alone.

Skookum's quest for solitude lead him around the base of the mountain, carefully skirting a wide berth past the packlands scattered through the region. It was a bountiful area, which was good for ensuring the large male had enough prey and scavenged carcasses to hopefully make it through the rest of the season. But it also made it a little bit harder for him to avoid running face to face with any others of his species. It was just so much nicer to travel alone, only his own thoughts to keep him company.

Skookum followed the sound of rushing water, a distant hum that soon grew into a cacophonous roar. Absentmindedly he followed the sound, eyes tracing up the cascade of water framed by icicles clinging to the stone. It was quite a sight, and he sighed pleasantly. His dark eyes skimmed downwards, tracing along the edge of the pool and locking onto a gangly wolf not yet grown into her full stature standing a short ways down the bank. His body stiffened, a slight scowl settling on his face. Did everyone let their cubs wander around unattended in the dead of winter nowadays?

Cancer hadn't been out here for any particular reason other than scouting for prey and otherwise avoiding his pack, but then he crossed Hawthorne's scent and recognized that it was alone. Pretty unusual, she normally had the other kid with her from what he observed. He didn't particularly care, but as it had been with @Risaela, Cancer knew better than to stick himself as the one that could've stopped something bad from befalling a packmate, especially a youngster. Not that she was actually much smaller than him, that year of difference hardly mattering as she neared her teenhood, but despite technically being a yearling himself Cancer very much viewed himself to be an aged and capable adult. It was his responsibility as thus to watch over the children.

She wasn't the first one he found, however. Approaching them somewhere in the middle of the invisible tangent between them, his blue eyes first set upon the older, unfamiliar male and his striking markings. He saw the turn the stranger's lips took, and his own muzzle morphed with a similarly grumpy expression. His strides picked up their pace, and he pushed himself out into the open and aligned himself at Hawthorne's side. He even bumped flanks with her, a very uncommon thing for the dark wolf to do, but with his gaze pinned still on the third party, it was clear he was sending a message.

She was with him, so he better not try anything funny.

She likely would have taken her time to notice the older male had the newest Edge member not shown up at her side, even greeting her with a bump. A brow raised for a moment before she caught the unique marked male out of the corner of her eye. Orange eyes settled on him as she let her head settle along her spine. What're ya doing and who are ya? She asked the non-Edge wolf per usual. Hawthorne never once let a stranger get away without her learning something about them. How else was she supposed to inform @Askan of the few things he might miss?

Hawthorne didn't mind being a little standoffish with the large stranger either. Not when she had back up by her side. Maybe that was her ego talking, though.

Skookum's scowl only deepened along his scarred visage as a second wolf appeared beside the first, taking what was clearly not only a defensive posture, but one that signaled that Skookum was already guilty of something. As if casting his eyes upon the other wolf was some great crime he'd committed. This second wolf wasn't much larger, and truly not much older than the first. The glare from the striking blue eyes might have been more imposing were they set in a face that didn't look so young and inexperienced.

His dark eyes bounced between the two, clearly unimpressed by the staredown he was getting. The younger and greyer of the two spoke, nearly demanding who he was and what he was doing. Skookum scoffed, tossing his head slightly. "Oh, is that how we're doin' introductions nowadays? You expect me to give my name when I don't even know yours?" He bit out with great displeasure, his tail stiffened in a straight line.

Shallow water has trapped several fish in a small pond. Hunt Opportunity

Whether she meant to be rude or not, Cancer rather liked the curt cut of her jib. He hadn't much talked to the girl before, but if their spending time together meant giving a stranger shit he was all in. Of course, the older wolf wouldn't just throw out his answers. They might very well leave this all without ever hearing them, which was fine with Cancer. He didn't care what the guy's name was or what his purpose was, doubted it was information that would ever be useful to him. He'd backup Hawthorne though, for now.

"Yeah, that's how we're doing introductions," he affirmed, head dipping closer to shoulder-height while his black tail flicked through the air behind him. Personally, he'd rather stay stubborn and abrasive than actually hear him out. If Hawth wanted to try a smoother approach, she'd be very much alone in her efforts.

Well if that's what we're doing, I don't know your name so why would I give you mine? It was funny how these things went both ways. Hawthorne didn't mind her companion's rough take on this too. In fact, she preferred it. No one just waltzed through this place without facing the Edge wolves. Nor was someone getting away with that kind of sass.

He eyes narrowed, a squinty look she picked up from her superiors. This guy already looked a bit banged up. He had those marks that Reyes had. Not in the same pattern obviously but the texture looked the same. Was he looking to gain a few more of those marks? The thought wanted to make Hawthorne smirk but she did her best to keep a flat look to her features.

(This post was last modified: Jan 02, 2018, 04:38 AM by Hawthorne.)

Skookum gave the whelps a withering look in response to the glares he was receiving. Any reasonable wolf would have responded with 'oh, of course, my apologies, my name is so-and-so'. Instead all he got was nothing but attitude from these two, though he couldn't really be surprised. Kids were often little hellions when their parents weren't in sight, and he was sure if the parents of these two came upon the scene, they would spin some lie about how he was the one harassing them. But so far he'd done nothing wrong, and he wasn't about to be chased off by two kids who were acting bigger than they really were.

Skookum shrugged his shoulders. "You're the one who asked first. If its no difference to you, then I'll just call you a couple of brats."

As was to be expected, the foreigner was less than pleased. Rather than adopting some etiquette, Hawthorne went on to be just as stubborn as her packmate, and a wisp of a smirk painted Cancer's muzzle as he couldn't help but enjoy the tired ire in the old wolf's eyes. Yeah, they were being hella annoying, but he was sure this one had done something to deserve it. No one's record was unblemished, every wolf had earned their punishment.

His tail whisked the air behind him and his ears pricked forward at the word brats, annoying because the connotation of the word made it the same as being called a kid. He wasn't a damned kid.

"Yeah, cool. And you'll be dick-nose. So, like she asked, watcha doin' here, dick-nose?"