Her heart thundered in her chest as she looked about the snow covered clearing. She was torn. She loved the flighty wolf, really she did... but should Aniu, a wolf slowly being reborn, finally getting back in touch with the girl she was before she lost her courage, be happy to hold herself below someone just as flighty as she had been a few months ago?

It was that strange black creature at the Lagoon, the catalyst for what she was slowly becoming. First the fight, and then the bobcat. She could do it. She really could. She didn’t have to be afraid. She had a family, cubs to protect. She knew that she could, and would always be there for them.

Her days of rolling onto her back were over. It was time for a change.

And so with a shaky breath, she tilted back her muzzle to smoothly call for her tawny friend, no hint of the challenge to come in her tone, merely requesting the other woman’s presence. No point to terrifying her before she ever arrived. As her final notes were loosed on the breeze she settled herself, with her legs slightly splayed to allow for better balance and her tail held casually between her legs for now. When the other wolf approached it would rise to sit level with her spine and her ears would point forwards, eyes seeking to meet to enforce the purpose of this encounter.

But for now, she would wait, with her heart in her mouth.

What the hell was she getting herself into?

As Sibyl made her way to the place Aniu had picked, she panicked for a moment, her tail momentarily dipping before raising back up as the other wolf’s ears pinned back. Any steely resolve had slipped and now she would have to force herself to go through the motions. Stiffly walking forward, some of the hardness slipped from her eyes, replaced with blatant uncertainty. She managed to keep her tail elevated but it was unclear whether the stiffness in her joints was from fear or resolve. She just had to stay upright.

It wouldn’t have to result in a fight, really. Fighting was the last thing she wanted to do with the wolf before her, more dear to her than blood. She didn’t want to ruin the camaraderie that they shared. She just knew deep down that this was another step towards the wolf that she was. She needed this. For now.

“You know what it is.” she responded gently, almost pleading, so all this formality could be over sooner than later, and they could get back to the way things had always been between them. Holding eye contact was making her nervous, and Sibyl would be well within her rights to lash out. The small sooty girl made her move then, attempting to bring a paw to rest over the current seconds shoulder, as she had seen her brother do before. He made it look so easy.

Please don’t eat me. Please don’t eat me.

Sibyl shrunk before her and Aniu’s heart ached. She hated to see her friend like this, still she held her position a moment longer, so they would both know this was how it would be. Without animosity towards each other. The simple way of things. With such small gestures, it was done, and both women were visibly relieved.

A quick lick to her tawny friends temple and a playful nip of her ear sent the sooty wolfs tail wagging as she quickly lowered herself back to earth, standing on her own paws instead of leaning on her friends back. She happily bumped against her friend, doing all she could to reaffirm their friendship, set things back to how they had been, with the exception of their ranks. Sibyl had never held her position over Aniu, she would do the same. There was no room for bitterness between them. They were family - victorious bob-cat herders, protectors of the realm that was Grizzly Hollow.

She would be lost without her tawny friend.

“Thank you.” She whispered to her friend, a new light in her eyes. She could take on the world if she had to in this moment. Pride filled her chest. Chulyin would be so proud of his mousy little sister. Naira would be so proud. She was doing it. She was finding the wolf she was.

Now that the formalities were over, she turned her nose to the breeze. With four growing pups the caches always needed filling and she felt her new responsibilities quickly blanketing her mind. She would be very busy from now on.

“Hungry?” she questioned with a smile. It was time to put all of this behind them.

Deer. She salivated at the thought. It had been so long since she had hunted anything sizable and she could not think of better company to do so. They were small, but they were fast, so it was with an excited yip and exhuberant wag of her tail that she sounded her approval, bumping happily against Sibyl’s side as she set out with her nose held high and her mouth open, almost tasting the air to see which way they should go.

All the scents around here were stale and so she set off at a comfortable wolf-trot, stopping here and there to sniff at the ground and try to pick up a trail. They had almost traversed the entire Cedarwood by the time she stumbled across something mildly promising. With a playful nip at Sibyl’s chest, a friendly challenge to a race - she set after the trail, only slowing as they drew close. It was only a small herd, a large stag standing just a short distance away, watching his gathered does ever closely.

Perhaps had she been less full of her own confidence she would have thought better than to attempt to take on such a healthy group, but with the recent shift in their positions she would not back down now. There wasn’t a weakened individual readily identifiable among them, yet still she began to creep forwards.

Aniu's excited nip spurred Sibyl into a frolicking gallop after the smokey grey wolf, her tail flopping back and forth and tongue hanging out the side of her mouth as she raced towards the scent. She was more in the mindset of a game than a hunt, and her footfalls were loud over the crunchy snow. On cue Sibyl slowed when they were nearing the herd.

Sibyl paused, crouched low for a moment as she tried to look over the deer, or sniff out any sign of weakness. She couldn't detect anything, but Aniu was moving forward regardless, and Sibyl internally shrugged. She moved to the side a bit, sneaking up at a slightly different angle but still on the same side of the group as her friend.

First one, then two does lifted their heads, brown ears flicking and nostrils flaring as they sensed something. Sibyl kept scooting closer and closer, eyeing a random doe, until finally the buck spotted her. With a noisy snort, the buck whipped towards Sibyl, a short lunge and stomp of his hooves was enough to send her skittering back a few feet.