@Oula // Clear -1*F, -18*C 11AM // Gonna be vague about what happens in our thread @Veho

After her chat with Veho the tawny female had decided she would make an effort to break out of her shell and meet the other wolves of Grizzly Hollow, but actually doing it was a lot harder than saying she would do it. For the past couple of days Yvly had been lurking around the outermost edges of where the communal den lay to the north, daring herself to go closer but being unable to do so with the fear of being surrounded by strangers. So she mostly ended up pacing back and forth from tree to tree, muttering under her breath about just doing it.

But today was different. Today she would stop fretting about what would happen and just go for it, for better or worse. With a deep breath she began a slow walk in the direction of the communal den, however when she caught sight of it she stopped in her tracks. Deciding after a moment of consideration that it would be best to wait nearby for a wolf to emerge, she reclined back on her haunches, dark amber gaze fixed on the mouth of the den. Maybe another day she would take those few extra steps into the den, but today was not that day. Baby steps. It may not be today, or tomorrow, or even in the next week, but it would happen eventually.

The clear day helped her relax as she waited patiently, the weak winter sun keeping her pelt from freezing over as she sat on the snowy ground. Winter was only just beginning to rise to its peak of power, animals already left or hiding away. Hunger would soon arise in the packs as food became even more scares, relations would be tested over and over again. Only the strongest would survive.

OOC here!

The solitary peacefulness was broken by a sharp voice calling out from behind the tawny female, curtly saying that if she wanted to guard the den properly she should face the other way. Yvly swiftly turned her neck and shoulders so she was now facing the other who was standing with a self-assured stance. Knowing that she would be on the bottom of the dominant totem pole, the tawny female changed her posture so it was more submissive, hoping that the female would not try and force any dominance on her. That was one of the few things that she could just not stand, but it would do no good to start a fight when she was so new to the pack.

However, the grey and cream female wasn't acting very nice to her, if she was going by the tone of voice and the way she stood, so Yvly felt no need to be anyone other than her usual self. "Who says I was guarding the den?" She said in a snarky tone, carefully gauging the flat expression on the others face for any changes. She always knew where to draw the line, well, most of the time. If they had been loners the tawny female would have added an afterthought, one which wouldn't have been very nice, but since they were pack mates she'd have to keep those comments to herself instead. "Would you like to show me how, then?" Yvly continued sarcastically, unable to keep the words inside, but they were much nicer than they would have normally been. She gave the grey and cream female a hard look, non-verbally telling the stranger to not test her. She would become very much less-than-nice then.

Sorry for the wait @Oula!

Yvly noticed the swift change to a confused expression on the grey and cream females face at her snarky comment. It seems the stranger wasn't expecting her to verbally bite back, as one would say. Well, she was very much all bark and no bite. Fighting was definitely not her forte... she would need to work on that in the near future. A few scuffles here and there were likely to be in the offing, whether they were wanted or not. She wasn't intimidated by the females' size, however, given their similar body shape, so if the situation arose she wouldn't back down. Maybe she did have a bit of a bite after all.

Tawny ears flickered forward as the other female continued speaking, taking in her words with some thought. No one was a mind reader, and she accepted the fact that a stranger wouldn't know what she was doing, but the way the other female had gone her way about it simply irritated Yvly. She wasn't a fan of being told to do something one way when she would rather do it another. But such was life, and she would simply have to let it slide if she didn't want to make an enemy of the first wolf she had come across in the pack.

A soft chuff escaped Yvly's maw at the question of what had she actually been doing, and she considered saying something ridiculous, but with effort told herself she needed to be nice to make friends. "I was waiting," the tawny female said simply with a half forced smile on her face, properly turning her body around so she was fully facing the grey and cream female. "I figured since I have been a part of this pack for nearly three weeks I should meet a fellow pack member." She then raised one of her wolfy brows and waited for the other female's reaction to her rather truthful words.

OOC here!

Perceiving the narrowing of the grey and cream female's green eyes, Yvly realized that she must be acting quite unreasonable in terms of her words and actions, though she didn't quite understand why. Sure, she was a bit uptight and withholding, maybe even slightly snappish, but that's what she responded with when the other did something she didn't like. However, she did understand that other wolves may not comprehend that. They didn't know why she was the way she was, and so she would have to try and give them the benefit of the doubt, as bothersome as it sounded. And so when the other female introduced herself as Oula with a seemingly partially forced smile, Yvly gave what she hoped was a convincing smile in return, trying to reciprocate the politeness that she was receiving.

She opened her maw to reply with her own name, but stopped short. She didn't need to tell the other wolves of Grizzly Hollow her real name when she would rather them call her by her preferred nickname, so the solution to the problem would be to just introduce herself with the nickname. Yes, that was a very good idea. Only Veho and Wacipi needed to know her real name. "Crystal," she offered in return, attempting to make her posture more friendly than the closed off state it had been in before by allowing her body to relax and wag her tail so it was thumping softly on the ground. This whole 'being nice' thing was mentally strenuous, but if it meant she wouldn't get into verbal and nonverbal fights with her pack members then she supposed it was a necessary evil.

OOC here!

The tawny female kept a watchful eye on Oula as she stepped forward, reclining her haunches upon the snowy ground. It was clearly a sign of acceptance, well, enough to not warrant the grey and cream female to be on guard. Yvly reciprocated Oula's posture as she spoke once more, speaking of having only joined the previous fall. So she wasn't much newer in this pack than herself. Something interesting to know. Being the newest in a pack was hard; not really trusted and always watched. Wolves relied a lot on loyalty, and she knew firsthand it wasn't easy to gain it back once it had been lost.

Oula's question was met with a slight pulling back of tawny ears. She didn't like it very much when others pried into her past, or rather anything about her at all. Giving out information about herself wasn't an easy thing to do, never had been, and likely never would be, and the action to respond in an aggressive manner was very hard to contain, but she forced herself to breathe and relax. It was necessary to do such things if she wanted the trust of her fellow pack mates, but that didn't mean she had to like it. "Far from here," Yvly said flatly, keeping any emotion from spilling forth, "To the North," she added swiftly, trying to not come across as bitchy or cold. It would take time for her to open up to anyone, lots of time. "You?" She asked as politely as she could. Hopefully this encounter with Oula was salvageable... if not, then there would be next to no hope of fixing it at a later date.