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She'd gotten too far from her temporary den to return that night. Countless hours had been lost in her curiosity, and by late afternoon her ears had been piqued by the rumbling falls. She followed it, finding herself at the base pools of Bramble Falls, peering hungrily at the fish that swam there. Paramount spent the better part of the evening using the sunset's waning light to wrestle her up a couple fish.

The moon was up and bright before she settled, forepaws wrapped around a plump fish with its head already missing, and a second lying limply to her left. She glanced at her secondary prize, glistening with dewdrops like contrail, and she smiled proudly. Pink nose dug further into the meal already clutched in her paws, and she moaned quietly into the deliciousness.

It had been some time since she'd enjoyed fish. And never had she enjoyed them under such a brilliant blanket of stars.

Something about the incoming cold weather had made him feel restless. He didn't have a preference when it came to the seasons, caring only that each of them had something new in store for him. Finding a new haunt, eating a new food, seeing a new face. More often than not, he enjoyed the slow change of the weather and the way that the days were warm when the sun was up and cold when the moon hung in the sky. Tonight, it was the emerging moon that lit the landscape as he trudged through a loblolly and closed in on the rushing roar of Bramble Falls. Navigating with little aim along the banks of Heartleaf Creek, the boy's gaze strayed from the pale light that filtered down through the near-barren tree tops to the glistening waves of the water as it flowed past him. Up ahead he could hear the cascade, crashing down from the mountainside with might, the sound of it drowning out the quiet that otherwise permeated the forest. Mist from the falls hung in the air and settled upon the golden and pewter fur along the bridge of his nose and between his eyes. Licking some of it from a single side of his lips as he approached the pool where the falling river ended and the creek began, the youth was so distracted by the sight and sound of the place that he'd failed to notice that he wasn't alone here. The girl's delighted moans were lost to his ears, but the scent of her met his wet nose in a moment of surprise. Wild-eyed and on guard, he stiffened for a moment before glancing briefly over his shoulder.

(This post was last modified: Oct 01, 2013, 10:01 PM by Mirren.)

His arrival came on the fall's mist, much quieter than the surrounding thrum of tumbling water that Paramount was enjoying right down to her bones. Her ears turned up and she peered sideways at a drinking wolf, only noticing him because he was near enough to see. Her nose and ears were waterlogged by this point.

She liked these peaceful moments, but couldn't say whether she preferred them better alone, and she watched him until he noticed her, blinking casually at his abrupt stiffness. The wolf in the loblolly was large, massive even if she were to compare him to herself. Para met his amber eyes briefly, and then turned down her muzzle.

It might have at first seemed like she was respecting his presence, but rather, she was ignoring him. Especially if he was going to be hostile. So what had at first appeared to be a slow bow, turned into the crisp she-wolf digging meticulously back into her meal with an ear turned curiously in the young male's direction.

She would at least acknowledge whether he stayed or went.