She’d been exceptionally lucky today! Usually, on her solo hunts, she would take down a rabbit or two, maybe a marmot on a particularly good day. This evening though, as she’d hiked north from the Cove, she’d come across a fresh blood trail, and, ever the opportunist, had decided to follow. It didn’t take long before her prey came into view either, a young goat, limping along on a clearly injured leg, fighting to keep up with its herd. As the predator closed in, they all picked up speed of course, adults and kids alike scampering up the cliffside, but the injured youngster lagged behind, stumbling several times as it attempted to scale the mountain. With a wolfish grin, Flair had taken up pursuit, keeping a comfortable pace, in for the long haul.

In the end, she’d come quite far from Lost Lake before the beast finally gave in, having tripped several times, the rest of its herd abandoning it to its fate. The huntress only had to put it out of its misery, jogging up to clamp down in its neck until it went slack. For a moment, she stood over her kill, gasping from the long trek, surprised at how long the scraggly thing had held out. But still, she couldn’t help but feel smug. At least until the vultures started circling and she realized she had to drag the thing all the way home all by herself.

She was just bending down to get a good hold, when the sound of approaching paws made her freeze up. Spinning to face the stranger, she instinctively flashed her teeth, defensive of her kill, ears flattening back and eyes narrowing. For the moment she remained still though, waiting for the other wolf’s reaction.

The form that appeared from among the boulders was lean, draped in a muddle of browns and cream. As soon as she spotted Flair, she froze in place, staring back at the defensive shewolf with unusual, sharp green eyes. The fiery woman in turn held her ground, testing the air with flaring nostrils to try and catch a whiff of the stranger’s scent. With the wind against her, it was hard to get much of anything, but as far as she could tell this was a loner; Good riddance! For a moment she’d been afraid she was about to have a squabble with the neighbors.

Flair relaxed slightly, lowering her lips to cover her teeth back up and letting her hackles settle. She kept her defensive stance over the goat, making it clear that she intended to protect her kill, but otherwise tried not to be outwardly aggressive; She didn’t want to start a fight if it could be avoided. Averting eye contact, she swept her gaze over the other wolf’s body again, noting the unusual patterning and shorter, more skinny frame. If it did come to a fight, she felt confident she could make it out on top; But let’s try to avoid that…

Clearing her throat, Flair jerked her head towards the stranger, flipping up one ear in an attempt at truce; “S’ry ‘bout that, y’ spooked me. Y’… New ‘round here?” It was the best she could manage, hopefully it was enough.

Despite her less than genteel manner, it seemed the stranger was willing to accept truce, perhaps swayed by something other than mere words. Flair felt almost deflated, even as she tried to extent an apology, she’d prepared herself for a fight, her subconscious instantly expecting to fight for her meal, as she had so many times before; Old habits die hard… Even after months as part of the Cove, she wasn’t accustomed the protections a pack extended, even by just the smell on her fur.

But the tawny loner didn’t know any of those intricacies, she smelled a pack wolf and backed off. For some reason that graded on that same corner of Flair’s subconscious. But she shook it off, focusing her full attention on the other wolf as she answered the question, offering an apology of her own. Flair’s other ear perked, and then they both flattened sideways, regretting her initial aggression even more. She knew all to well what it was like to be hungry.

The returned question made her pause, a small crease forming in her brow; How am I supposed to answer that? She scraped lightly at the ground with one paw, flicking her eyes down as she thought. “Uh… No,” She finally settled on, looking back up at the stranger; “I’ve been ‘ere… Awhile.” It was too complicated to get into the finer details, suffice to say she certainly wasn’t new to the Lore; More like old…

In the silence that followed, Flair glanced between the other wolf and the carcass, still safe between her legs. It was an awfully big kill to drag all the way back to the lake. Biting the corner of her lip, she made a decision, clearing her throat awkwardly before asking: “D’you… Want some?” She jerked her head down at the goat, taking a few steps back to expose it; “It’s too big fer me t’ take home anyway!” She hurried to explain, lest the woman think she was too soft; It’ll help us both out…