Shade from the thicket provided excellent coverage for those in need. Shadows waltzed in an eternal dance as the boughs of the trees moved back and forth in a light wind that caressed the branches in a loving embrace. One of these shadows flicked in and out of sight, a dark shape that hid behind trunks and moved downwind as the breeze did. It was a girl- an adult, now that she had finally turned two years of age. Still slim and small, never as powerful as her brother Ash. A task had been given to her by the leader of Secret Woodlands, for she was a hunter now, a feeder of the pack. Eva intended to take this seriously, though decided to make it a covert mission in order to entertain herself.

Right now she was a spy, sneaking in enemy land while watching out for other wolves and looking to stop an enemy informant. She was an adventurer; she had many years of experience under her belt and was well-renowned for her stealthy assassination abilities. Her good eye flitted back and forth amongst the foliage as she stalked forwards, keeping her head down and body straight. Somewhere here a messenger was hiding, attempting to escape from her claws and cause harm to her family. Eva would not- and could not- allow this.

Suddenly her ears perked and her body poised itself in an offensive move. She slunk forward, keeping close to the trunks and sliding against them as she walked, nose to the ground. There. A twitch in a bush, the little rascal thinks hiding in a plant will stop her from finding him!? A low, warning growl emerged from the pack of her throat. Make any move, and you're dead, it attempted to convey. Her prey did not appear to heed her as she stepped closer and closer. Almost....almost...

It seemed like her opponent intended not to take her advice, shooting from the bush in a sudden movement that nearly took her by surprise. Then both were off, weaving in and out of tree-trunks in a deadly dance. Sometimes Eva jumped too soon or too late over a root and nearly stumbled, which would classify the mission as a disaster. The nimble girl, however, managed to keep her balance somehow (her mentor would assure that it was due to her fine training, despite her own protests) and continued the dramatic chase.

"speech"

Eva stumbled once more, misjudging the placement of a root. It almost sent her sprawling forwards but she kept running as quickly as she could in order to keep up with her prey. The quick turns and jumps began to tire out the 2-year-old and the distance between the hunter and hunted began to lengthen, much to Eva's dismay. She powered forwards to close the gap at least a little, but it was beyond her now. This other operative had the upper hand on her, and she had failed. The Hervok was about to slow down and come to a stop when a peculiar smell reached her nose. It was one she recognized, it was the scent of a Secret Woodlands wolf- and one in particular. She remembered him from meeting with the pups when he had nodded and then disappeared into the underbrush.


Her prey appeared to be equally startled by this fresh new scent that seemed to come out of no where. It was on all sides, closing in on it and it became disoriented. Eva took the chance to pounce, biting down on the neck of the rabbit she had caught. The family secrets were safe.


Picking up the kill, her mismatched gaze looked around for Hollow, the male that had assisted her. Without him this enemy would have lived another day and could have hurt her family. Eva smiled at these thoughts as she continued along with her game, at the silliness of it all. Her eyes found his striking blue ones before actually seeing his whole body, as it blended in with the tree's shadows quite nicely. She shyly averted her eyes, and then a genuine smile passed over her jaws, one of gratitude. "Mmnks" she attempted, forgetting that the rabbit was still held in her mouth. A flick of her ears showed her utter embarrassment, and she dropped the kill. "I-I meant.. thanks." Once again her good eye averted from his gaze, looking at the ground while cursing her own stupidity.
"speech"

Eva nodded shyly, still taken aback by the large male's sudden appearance. At least she had not vocalized her 'game' for everyone to hear... now that would be embarrassing. The female wolf abandoned it for now, cataloging it for another time when she needed some kind of premise in order to keep her attention on the prize. Her own spy identity would remain a secret, for now. "Thank you for helping me," the Hervok sister replied with a smile. The tactic was not one she had ever heard of being used before. Maybe other wolves did not have the imagination that Hollow seemed to have?


The male's eyes seemed to be moving quickly, from Eva to the surroundings and then back to her. She warily watched him, the smile faded, not quite sure if she had done something wrong or if he was just checking for predators that she might have missed. Her green eye watched his blue darting about before they suddenly focused back on hers, the Hervok's eyes now widening in surprise at the unexpected look. Madame Huntress? Eva smiled to herself. She liked that name. "Very well, Sir Guardian, thank you. How has yours been?" Eva recalled that Hollow had recently been promoted as well, and seemed more than capable of stepping up to do his job. The fact that he had an injury never even came to mind at this point.

"speech"

Eva looked at the Guardian curiously. Some details were simply beyond her at times, and Hollow's injury was one of them. Why would Nina keep the male away from something he enjoyed? It was only when she noticed his uncomfortable shifting of weight when the thought finally occurred to her. The Hervok looked at him sympathetically. It seemed like he had adapted to his temporary disability well, which was always a trait that Eva admired, particularly since he put the good of the pack before his own wishes.


Now it was her turn to move her weight around while the darkly-furred male seemed to inspect every meter of her eyes. She was used to the stares, but not from a wolf with such a piercing gaze as he had. Eva could not help but return the look, and mirror the color of his eyes to those of ice on a cold, winter day, before looking away towards the ground and not meeting his eyes again. Was it rude of her to inspect him so? The silence continued as he did not reply, and suddenly he seemed to come out of a trance and spoke. She was surprised by the suddenness of the words, and looked up at him, the rabbit laying forgotten at her feet. "It is great that you still enjoy yourself though," she replied with a smile, "Especially with your injury. It can be trying at times, I'm sure."


A thought occurred to her, yet she was almost afraid to ask because of the answer she might receive. Hesitating for a moment, Eva mulled over the thought. Surely he had somewhere to be other than here, right? He was probably busy with something else, but the girl enjoyed his company. "Would you like to try out that tactic again? Or maybe a new one?" The invitation was tentative, and the Hervok prepared herself with the words of "I have somewhere else to be." Yet she stepped beyond her boundary of comfort and put herself out there, for the sake of possibly having a partner in crime, at least for a while.

"speech"

Eva's green eye brightened as Hollow accepted her invitation, and relief flooded through her tense body. She allowed her small form to relax and an audible sigh of relief left her jaws. Flicking her ears in embarrassment, she listened to Hollow as he began speaking of his ideas. He very quickly articulated his goal, and to Eva it seemed that he had been hypothesizing this tactic for a while. An energy radiated from him as he explained in almost a single breath. His eagerness seemed to transfer to her own body and the Hervok could feel her anticipation build.

"It's a good idea to use what we've got," she commented, thinking to herself though all she wanted right now was to jump and leap and expend the energy that was pulsing through her veins. "We should bring the pups here for training, definitely, maybe hold a race for them? They'd like the competition, right?" Though Danica did not seem to be one for competition, certainly she had a thirst for learning and maybe even to prove herself deep down. Bane and Ashton could probably form a rivalry that would be a sight to behold and would encourage them to work hard and learn.

"What moves have you thought of?" The Huntress did not have much experience fighting in the thicket but would always be willing to take advantage of the opportunity to help the pack. "Could you teach me some?" Hollow certainly seemed to know what he was doing and had much time to mull all of these ideas for fighting. His comment on being one of the fastest in the pack brought a smile to her face, and for once she wondered whether or not she should challenge him for the title. The girl let it go, content simply learning and not overreaching a boundary.

"speech"