A sudden noise made her pause, the bright yellow of her eyes scanned the heavily blossomed trees that had come alive with vibrant color and the rich aroma of earth and wildlife. Overhead she heard the whistling call of birds high in the canopy busy tending to their growing chicks that had hatched months prior, they were well fed and fat, thriving off of the abundance of the land. 

She watched one bird in particular lower toward a low branch and scurry with a hop toward its chirping chick, hungry for the fat worm it held in its beak, its sparse feathers were an array of white and grays and downy like winter fur. Summer returned life to the land, and Rory hoped that this new abundant life would help to quiet her stomach from its constant rumbling.

Her nose was low the entire time, following the scent of fox she'd caught half a mile back which lead toward the base of a large and rotting tree. The fox had come near earlier and if she hurried she could catch up. With renewed energy and excitement she followed the scent until it seemed to grow stale, stopping only when a pile of bones stood exposed to the rising sun; a carnivore had been through here just before her.

She scoffed, surprised and angry for not having caught the scent of cat in the wind earlier before wasting her time in tracking already dead prey.  "No point in wasting everything," she said after taking a bone into her mouth and chewing at it until the taste of bone marrow flooded her mouth. It was a tantalizing taste that left her wanting more but she scavenged just a little while longer, tearing off what remained of the skin and picked over meat. In that moment, guard down, Rory felt invincible and ate at the fox carcass loudly.

She ripped at the fox meat, tearing what little remained until the bones were clean and glistening, and licked at the carcass in case she missed extra skin or fat before finally turning away with a faint feeling of satisfaction. Though she hadn't eaten much, the prize could hold her over until the following morning before the process was repeated; this was her reality. Being a loner, she didn't have  the luxury to raid caches, or to partner up with another wolf to bring down much more rewarding prey, instead her failure inflicted her solely and it was beginning to show as wear and tear on her dull white coat.

She turned around, in mid lick of her jaws, to see a brown figure staring at her as if in awe of seeing someone devour something so greedily. Shame befell her temporarily before she regained consciousness of what this encounter could mean; potential friend or foe. Her instincts were swaying her to run, considering that there was no longer anything worth protecting but the young woman stayed put in her spot, yellow eyes searching her company with curiosity. What had brought this woman to her?

 

"Pickings have become more and more scarce..." she started off, half expecting that this woman had come in search of food as well but never knowing completely unless the other offered her the information. "unless you're willing to work for more. her words were concise to eliminate any confusion. If this woman wanted to eat she needed to be quicker than that, or willing to participate in a friendly and quick hunt.

She listened intently as the woman spoke, her ears twitching every so often at the soft call of a distant raven or the rush of wind that pushed past her thin frame. It would seem that this woman was quite hospitable, the thought forced a smile along the length of her lips in acknowledgement but she would not speak for a moment or so more, contemplating the woman's gesture.  "You are kind, thank you, but I fear that a days walk is beyond me." she didn't have the energy to spend on a walk that did not guarantee food. How was she to know if the woman would change her mind the moment they reached the borders. She wouldn't risk it.

When Treyah lifted her nose to the wind Rory was quick to mimic the gesture, her eyes closing to pinpoint the sweet scent of blood in the wind. It wasn't far from where they were, perhaps a few minutes of a walk and they could feast on the spoils of a cat; she couldn't have asked for anything better. Her lanky form followed that of her companions, silence followed them quickly but her eyes watched every so often to see if Treyah had picked up the change in course as she had. When they were within a few feet of the kill her eyes searched for the kill, and when she initially saw nothing, a look of defeat threatened to fall over her.

It wasn't until she followed the splatter of blood that she witnessed the hanging hoof and interest overcame her. The lynx had been smart to hide its kill in the trees, it was relatively safe from the average predator, and to the lingering canines it nearly seemed impossible to retrieve. "Do you know how to climb trees?" she wondered to the woman aloud, after falling to her haunches. It was a skill she had never been forced to utilize until today.

The young woman seemed nice enough, she even laughed when Rory had asked her a silly question like whether she could climb the tree and reach the deer for the both of them. If she had been paying attention she would have noticed that Treyah was much larger than she was, taller and probably heavier all around, how could she have been so oblivious to the most obvious of physical proportions. At least the woman was friendly enough not to take offense and in good sport began to jump at the carcass instead.

Though Rory was smaller and probably more agile because of this, she had never been much for heights. The simple act of climbing mountains made her uneasy so a thin tree would send her into a fit of hysteria if for some reason she couldn't get back down. It didn't take her long to figure out that perhaps she'd propel a little further upward than her counterpart, considering she was smaller, and prepared for the leap without much thought in mind. Her first attempt nearly lunged her at the tree instead of up it and she adjusted herself appropriately before trying once more. This time with a bit more accuracy.

Narrowly missing her target caused the hoof to wiggle, barely missing the limb by an inch or two but determination kept her interest and she followed through with the action once more, gaining the leverage she needed to feel bone against her teeth upon the fifth try. She clamped down hard, allowing her weight and gravity to do the rest to pull the deer downward but the cat was more clever than they had assumed and wedged it just enough so that a simple tug would not do enough damage. In fact, it seemed to have gotten caught against the bark of the tree but the more frustrated Rory became the more she jerked and tugged her body in hopes that something would give and it didn't take long before her efforts were rewarded with the loud thud of deer and flesh along the ground. "Holy crap, that worked." she spoke, surprised that Treyah's suggestion had been successful.

The only thing to figure out now was who got the bigger portions. She was tired, but not nearly exhausted and licked her jaws in wait for what would happen next as the deer laid within a few feet of her paws, waiting for the wolves to finish what the cat had left behind.

There was no doubt that hunger had driven her to pull the prey down, it was what drove her in every way and it was no different when a obstacle presented itself, it just so happened that another wolf was present that could have been of good use. She sincerely hoped her company didn't think she were ungrateful, her presence had been appreciated and she even made a little room for Treyah to dig into the kill once she had approached it with every intention to tear at the fattest areas. The woman had earned her place, in fact she probably deserved it more than herself but the pack wolf was mindful of her need of the kill and allowed her full access, to which Rory acquired a wider stance and dug as greedily as she wanted. The kill would not go to waste with her around.

Her ears were like satellites on her skull and swiveled in the direction that Treyah's voice had come, she paused just long enough to lick her lips before she tore a meaty chunk from the hide, swallowed it nearly whole and responded. "I don't have a home, I live pretty much everywhere. This week I just so happen to have made a little sanctuary here..." she said, licking her lips in case any blood remained and continued on. "I'm Rory, it's nice to meet you Treyah. Your name is pretty by the way." she smiled, hoping the woman would believe her, "I've never heard of your pack, is it new, are you the leader?" she asked with a cocked head, she was large and kind of intimidating like she imagined a leader to be. Forgetting the kill only momentarily, she moved a step closer to the other woman to gain some knowledge of her companies home.