Lorcan had been on the trail of the elk all morning. He had first caught scent of them on the lowlands the previous night, but had decided to wait until morning before pursuing any kind of hunt, presuming that the small herd would spend most of the night grazing what was left of the grass which lay just beneath the snow covered tundra. In the morning when he awake, he was surprised to find that they had in fact moved on during the night and so he had spent hours tracking the large prey down in hopes of a meal.

The scents seemed to disperse once he entered the woodlands that surrounded the vast tundra expanse, but Lorcan had managed to keep on the scent trail of one of the hooved beasts, which he now followed eagerly to Windsong Fjord. Black nostrils flared as he breathed in its scent, nimble paws carrying him swiftly towards the direction of the water. Brows furrowed as another, less appetising, scent caught his attention. Someone else was nearby. Could they be hunting the same animal? The dark fur along his neck bristled as he thought about the possibility of a confrontation – Lorcan couldn’t get into any more trouble, not whilst he was still on such thin ice with Craw.

Hesitantly the subordinate continued to traipse towards the water, still weaving his way through the woodland, golden eyes scanning the surrounding area for the other wolf. It didn’t take long for him to notice dark brown tones of the other male who stood at the waters’ edge, gazing into its crystalline depths. Lorcan watched suspiciously as the stranger proceeded to point his paw towards a single crow which had he settled on the ground close by. Was he talking to it?! Lorcan raised a brow, tail swaying with curiosity. Quietly, he moved out from beneath the shadows of the trees and walked over to approach the man, taking care not to scare off the crow that he seemed to be so interested in.

Stopping a few metres short, Lorcan greeted the man with a curious tilt of his head. “Is this bird bothering you, Sir?” His eyes flickered across to the black feathered bird. “I find snapping your jaws at them seems to work quite well.” Lorcan grinned, fangs flashing menacingly.

“Also.. You wouldn’t have happened to see any elk pass by through here recently, would you?”

The male turned around to look at him and the first thing Lorcan noticed was his eyes. Peculiar and memorising they were; part amber, part icy blue. The agouti male couldn’t help but stare into them with curiosity, trying to see where one colour ended and another started, but then he grew anxious that he had been staring too long and he quickly blinked before flickering his eyes away, as if he were looking at something in the distance.

He didn’t look back to see the man’s half-snarl, but instead at the strangers reply his eyes darted from the trees in the distance across to the crow that was still settled on the ground nearby. Lorcan raised a single white brow amusement before turning back to face the glaring male, who seemed less than pleased with his suggestion. “Oh, okay…” Lorcan murmured in casual feign acceptance, deciding not to start any arguments over something so petty.

Russet ears pricked up when the crow cawed and Lorcan watched, onyx black lashes parting slightly wider to reveal the whites of his eyes, as the stranger shouted back a response to the bird. Well, this is weird. Then all of a sudden the male was in his face having swiftly moved in to stand a little too close for comfort. He could feel the man’s hot breath on his muzzle as he spoke with his narrowed eyes. Lorcan couldn’t help but raise his hackles in response to the uneasy situation.

The stranger seemed to think that the elk he had been tracking were in fact moose, which, made him feel all the more uneasy. It was a childish mistake to make, which made Lorcan question whether the male even had it in him to carry out a hunt as a pair. It required careful thinking and strategy that Lorcan wasn’t sure this strange loner had in him, especially if he was going to shout at the random ravens that whole time. Plus, if it was actually a moose, the subordinate refused to anywhere near such a colossal animal, not after the recent incident with the bear.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realise you were also tracking it.” He tried his best to sound sincere, as he slowly put one paw in front of the other to turn around and face back the way he had come from. “It’s all yours, Sir.” He nodded, with a half-smile. “I’ll just go and search for something else, I’m sure there’s plenty of prey around here.” With a nod of his head, he began to walk away.

The stranger called out, begged, for him to stay. Lorcan paused mid-step, neck twisting around so that he glanced back to the stranger, white brows furrowing into a frown of uncertainty. “Why?” The agouti male asked bluntly with a slight downward tilt of his chin.

Lorcan’s tensed for a moment, lean muscles rippling beneath his thick winter fur as the male immediately moved to position himself in from of him, to block him. Feeling slightly intimidated, the bridge along his muzzle wrinkled and the dark fur along his back bristled as Lorcan then attempted to side-step his way past and gain back some distance between them.

When the male done his best to try and explain about his lack of friendly company, Lorcan just raised a brow sarcastically? I’m sure your conversing with crows has absolutely nothing to do with it - he inwardly mused. He wasn’t in the mood to be messed around to get into any trouble. He shouldn’t have really been out at all. He’d only left the pack territory because he’d thought he’d get lucky and find a dead or dying elk somewhere to scavenge and take back to Craw.

But then the male offered up his name and asked once again, this time with a tone of desperation, to hunt together. Charcoal lips pulled to one side awkwardly. Could Lorcan trust him? He wasn’t entirely convinced. “We won’t be able to take down anything large with just the two of us, not unless we scavenge it.” He finally admitted with a defeated sigh, turning around on his heels to face Daedra again. “But, I suppose we could look near the water for smaller prey? Maybe muskat or beaver.” Lorcan suggested with a slow sway of his tail, see if the male would be interested in his offer.