The sun burned feebly from it's noon-time peak low in the southern sky, casting long-shadowed light and little warmth over the wetlands. With each step of her creamy white paws the ground crackled beneath her, the frozen mud of the marsh creaking and groaning in protest beneath a layer of snow. Oula took care to walk around the marsh's perimeter, not daring to try her weight over the dubious layer of ice coating the water.

Dry, brittle cattails brushed her flanks as she crouched between them, stalking after the scent of moose. Her body was rigid like an arrow, stiff tail flagging straight out behind with sniffing nose extended to direct her ahead. Oula's breath curled white tendrils around her rounded face with each breath, the cold that nipped at her nose and toes easily ignored with the task at hand. Her mission today was simply reconnaissance, despite how cocky the Whitebark woman could be, she knew a moose was far too much for her to handle alone. But if she could scout out the cow's position, it would be a trivial matter to alert @Veho to it's whereabouts and rally the pack in a hunt.

As she followed the trail of her quarry eastward, further and further from the Hollow's bounds, the scent of other wolves became apparent. It wasn't unexpected to find that other wolves frequented the area, but it did put her on alert, her body tensing and pale green eyes keeping vigilant for more than just moose.

Oula's senses buzzed as she began to enter the presence of another. First was the scent, over the more stale canid odors that crossed the area was a fresh waft of wolfish musk and willow bark on the wind. Oula's soft grey hackles bristled, her stride stiffening and tail slightly curving upward. With any luck it would just be a scrawny loner who knew what was good for them and buzzed off without any confrontation. But today luck was not on her side, her smoothed features twisting into a grimace as someone hollered at her. Her heart pumped furiously, a fresh pulse of adrenaline that she would be lying to say she didn't quite enjoy. Finally, some excitement.

Her small brown ears turned towards the sound of pounding pawsteps, her body shifting into a sturdy defensive stance. Pale sage eyes flickered through the reeds, settling on a female charging towards her. Her heart dropped into her stomach as she noted the snowy white pelt. It couldn't be. Her face twisted into a wild snarl, a deep rumble emanating from her chest before she noticed the distinctively green eyes staring back at her. Not the wolf of sky blue eyes and ice white coat she had been searching so desperately for. It wasn't her.

The rage and fury that had inhabited Oula's features drained away, leaving behind simple annoyance. Her short tail swished a high arch over her back, her stance assertive but lacking aggression.

"None of your business. Move along." She said with a sneer. Currently the leaders of Grizzly Hollow were the only wolves she answered to. She owed nothing to this female, not even an explanation.

Oula's angled eyes narrowed to green slits as the wolf before her kept talking . "As I said, none of your business." Oula reiterated, her voice low and dour. How this wolf knew the name of her pack, Oula had no idea. She figured it wasn't just a lucky guess. As a newcomer to these parts, she knew nothing about the neighboring packs or their dispositions. Apparently whoever this woman lent her allegiance to was not on good terms with the wolves of Grizzly Hollow.

Oula's creamy white muzzle wrinkled, lips peeling back to expose two rows of pearly teeth. She kept her focus locked on the white wolf, her stout frame leaning forward as the female began to move towards her. Her muscles tightened with the expectation of action, claws curling through the snow into the frozen earth in case she needed to act quickly. The swishing flag of her tail grew still as she gave a low growl, a warning as she stood her ground. A part of her wanted this wolf to just buzz off so she could get back to what she was doing. But the other part of her was jonsing for a good tussle.

Oula let out a sharp bark, lunging forward a few inches towards the circling female and stopping short like a junkyard dog on a chain, an unspoken final warning in her gleaming eyes that there was a bite behind the bark.

Oula could tell the wolf was trying to push her into a fight, and she wasn't exactly hesitant to leave her without one. Her warning had gone unheeded, and while the woman moved away a few steps it was not enough. Her silver fur bristled along her stiff shoulders as her head swayed to keep watch as the female circled.

Oula had been prepared, but the white wraith of a woman was a touch faster than she was. Oula flinched as the she-wolf struck out like a snake, and while Oula's limbs scrambled beneath her to move out of the way she was a moment too slow. A sharp pain arched across her thigh as teeth sank in to skin.

She wobbled but kept all four paws firmly planted, a snarl leaving her wrinkled lips as her body curled towards the wolf attached to her leg. Her creamy forepaws dug into the snow as she pulled her weight forward, leaving behind tufts of fur and spots of blood as she roughly ripped her limb free from it's hold. She twisted to face her opponent, haunches pressing hard into the earth to launch with fangs bared towards an exposed flank or shoulder.

Oula's teeth clacked disappointingly around thin air, the vile dame dodging just out of reach in the last moment. As Oula's paws met the ground again, the woman was already at her side. Paws pressed hard into Oula's shoulder, hot breath prickling across the base of her neck as teeth combed through the silver fur of her mane, piercing down into skin. A high snarl left Oula's jaws, notes of irritation blending into alarm, then pain. This was decidedly not going well.

Oula allowed her knees and elbows to buckle, crouching down against the snowy ground. If she was going to be on the ground anyways she would much rather do so voluntarily with her belly pressed safely against the earth, instead of being knocked off kilter and exposed to the short tempered mongrel that was currently trying to gnaw a hole in her.

There wasn't much she could do from her position on the ground, but Oula turned her neck to the side, snapping to grab at one of the female's snowy white limbs. An ankle was all she needed, if she could clamp her teeth hard around the thin bones of the foot, the shock of it would hopefully be enough to get the female to release her and back off.