I Hate you, too

“I figured fat cow was impressive for a rock,"

• • • — Ruiko Tainn, it's not this quiet, rest in peace

Curiosity eventually dragged her away from the misty forest she had been clinging to and out into the open. It was jarring, how the trees simply ended and the ground lifted up towards the red-clay foothills. It had been a long time since Bishop had walked in lands this open. With childish hesitance and interest, Borden's last daughter found herself wandering through a sort of canyon. Deep crimson streaked the brown walls and some pillars of rocks rose randomly in the middle of the wide path made by the crevasse. There was a lot of character in these pillars, chunks missing here or there, slash marks that looked like they could have been made by massive claws, and — Oh.

The pale girl did a double take. She figured she hadn't seen what she really thought she had seen, but on the second glance it was still there. She blinked several times and scooted backwards to get a closer look, feeling almost frightened by the uncanniness of this particular pillar.

"Why, it looks just like a wolf!" she barked to no one but herself.

To say that it looked just like a wolf was a bit of an overstatement. There were a lot of creative liberties taken in this claim. But it was admittedly startling, a long, horizontal, cylindrical protrusion that could have been a snout over shadowed by two asymmetrical conical offshoots that could have been ears if you pretended they were the same size. All this occurred at about eye-level, making it hard to ignore or miss. Twisting her head, Bishop tried to discern an expression on this rock-face, but found it hard. It was just rock, after all. Something just seemed... more-than-rock about it that unsettled her.

The temperatures were dropping and the sun was rising for less and less time each day. In hindsight, going exploring in the Sierra Hills that bordered his pack's home was not the smartest decision that Serach could have made, given the dwindling hours of daylight. But sitting at home all day long was starting to take its toll on him and the best way he knew how to fix it was to get a change of scenery. So the youth had crossed over the now frozen creek near his family's den and headed east, crossing over the pack's borders and up into the hills.

Leaving the trees behind, his paws took a few minutes to adjust to the terrain. Once he was able to find his rhythm, though, Serach moved fairly easily over the red hills, weaving in and out between rocks. It wasn't a particularly interesting place, but it was enough of a difference from his tree covered home that he was content. Already winter had not been kind to the Bend wolves. Sighing, the yearling shook his head, determined to drive the negative thoughts from his mind. He didn't want to think about it now.

Rounding a corner in the ravine, the youth stopped short. The fur along his back immediately rose up along his back and his lips pulled back ever so slightly. He hadn't expected to see another wolf here. She seemed distracted by something though - at least that's what he presumed by the focused expression on her face. Maybe she would be too focused in whatever it was she was doing and he would be able to get around her without too much of a hassle. He really just wasn't in the mood for one today.