Fireweed Rise early rise

OOC: @Craw - Hope this is good for you! Figured even if we don't have multiple threads for it that they would have spent time together otherwise. <3

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As Craw had taught him, Wraith waited at the edge of the Willow Ridge pack's territory and howled out for his friend. For a loner, Wraith still looked in remarkably good shape for the middle of Winter. He knew he had the pale-furred male to thank for that; Craw had been going on multiple hunting trips with him whenever Wraith wasn't exploring the surrounding territories. Already, he had a pretty good handle of the areas around the pack territory and had certainly mastered where the pack boundaries were.

While he waited, Wraith watched his breath billow from his mouth like fog on the mountains. A rough night plagued by nightmares left a hollowed look in his yellow eyes, but all hints of grief and exhaustion slid away when he heard approaching paw falls. Recognizing the sound of Craw's gait, Wraith stood, tail wagging. The dark wolf stretched out his legs and woofed a soft greeting before he nibbled at Craw's muzzle and chin.

"You're slow this morning," he teased. "Too early for you?"

Perhaps he had woken earlier than usual. The sun was just starting to kiss the horizon, painting the sky with muted pink and orange clouds. Still, earlier was better for hunting in Wraith's opinion. The prey weren't always awake enough themselves to pay attention enough to escape the hungry jaws of a predator.

Ideal :D There's space now, so throw up a joining thread when you're ready - and if you decide to go IC, tag me, Craw will want to be there <3

Tired after a night of little sleep, Craw was appreciative of Wraith's physical acts of affection and respect, pleased as ever to see the black wolf exactly where he was expected to be. When Wraith had been turned away from the Ridge, Craw had worried that it would drive the male away, severe the delicate connection he'd spent two days establishing, but it was not to be so. The loner had accepted his fate with dignity and patience, and Craw rewarded it with his company and support in keeping Wraith safe and fed. Craw often took parts of their successful hunts back to the Ridge's caches, so that his own efforts were not seen to be wasted on some satellite loner - and so that Wraith's value would be clearly seen, for the meat that Craw brought back was often earned through both of their efforts.

He grunted at the tease, lightly grabbing for Wraith's muzzle in his usual gruff, dominant way of expressing endearment. The tension was ebbing, though, the further he walked from the heart of the pack's territory, and now he was here - here in neutral territory with Wraith, where he was able to reclaim some significant aspect of his true self and leave the subservient pack slave behind - the silvered wolf came at ease. Shaking off the few flakes of snow which had fallen upon him during his walk, Craw let himself relax, coming to sit near his dark-furred compatriot.

"@Isolde is still missing," he rasped by way of explanation, though his tone and manner were casual as he spoke just after scratching at his ear with a hind leg. "Spent much of the night looking, but there's no sign. Her family are talking of leading a search party. They should've left the night she vanished - who knows what could have happened to a child her age."

The playful tenor of Wraith's voice fell away at the mention of a missing packmate. Concerned, he frowned, blinking away snowflakes that landed on his eyelashes. "Why didn't you call for me? I would have come to help." The nights in the past few days were far less friendly than the days. Even with his thick coat, the dark male struggled with battling the chill on his own. It was a time to be hunkered down with warm bodies. Hopefully, the missing youth was doing the same.

"We'll hope she's off finding herself rather than trouble." If she'd been missing for a while now, Wraith had trouble imagining the bit of hope he offered was possible. Surely the family would have found something already to give some kind of inclination to her whereabouts. A trail, a scent, anything.

The dark male butted his shoulder against Craw's as he stepped towards the hunting lands. It was a familiar path already; Wraith could have walked it by scent alone now, even buried beneath the snow as it was. Hoping to put his friend at ease, he let the playful banter slide back in to conversation. "Come on. I'll catch you some breakfast while you nap like a pup in the weeds." Though it was a jest, Wraith wouldn't have minded if Craw did that very thing; the large wolf found caring for others eudemonic.

@Wraith Sorry on the wait, but holidays are over so normal activities can resume! Thanks for your patience, and let me know if you want me to change any of the stuff I'm making up in this post <33

Craw rolled his shoulders, a vaguely dismissive gesture in response to Wraith's concern. "The family is very protective. While your help might be appreciated, you are not of the pack, " - yet - "and could be seen as too much of an outsider. Your efforts here are benefiting the Ridge, though, believe me." The two large wolves' work at scavenging and hunting together fed them comfortably and kept the pack cache topped up, something which Craw made sure @Morganna understood was in part thanks to Wraith.

The silvered wolf only grunted at the bit of offered hope. Craw had not spent much time with the young girl, but if she had any measure of her family's pluckiness and strength, she might survive until found - assuming she was not taken, in which case he felt their odds of relocating her slim. Or relocating her alive, anyway. As they were neither his blood nor responsibility, Craw found it difficult to muster any sympathy beyond those which were instinctual, for any ordinary wolf placed value in the next generation... but she was not his spawn, and the Archers were not his family. Sometimes misfortune just happens.

The topic was growing stale already - even though it had been Craw to initiate it - but Wraith cleanly fixed that; the pale wolf huffed in mock-indignation and stepped forward to nudge the dark male right back, if perhaps a little roughly. "You will do no such thing," he wheezed, a slow smirk on his face as he nipped at Wraith's cheek. "Unless, of course, you mean to finally finish that bull - in which case, I'll be sleeping over there." Just as Wraith and Craw were themselves examples of how large wolves could be, the caribou bull Craw spoke of was the same example for his own species; they had spotted the specimen on a hunt while tracking the herd and, in casual testing of the beast's reactions and strength, had quickly determined that it would be no easy target. In antagonising it, they had managed to draw some blood, but the brawny caribou had soundly chased the pair off. Craw was debating suggesting that the pack take it down, but he wasn't sure that the gain outweighed the risk. One well-placed kick from such an animal could knock the life right out of a wolf, and that was ignoring the threat from the other caribou - who were all dangers in and of themselves.

OOC: Eeee, not to worry. <3 I understand life always comes first.

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Wraith took no offense to the reminder that he wasn't yet welcome among the pack. He knew, in time, he could prove his worth and was quite willing to do the work to make it apparent. Though he had never spent a Winter away from the shelter of a den and the warmth of a pack, the weather here was far milder than what the large male was used to. At least, so far. These lowlands were unpredictable to him. He imagined it would take several seasons before he grew accustomed to the dangers of the willows and their skies.

As the tone of their conversation changed from thoughtful to teasing, Wraith flashed his teeth and let out a bright laugh. "Sleeping?" he asked incredulously. "You'd be awake and staring in awe," the male boasted in jest. "Unable to even tear your eyes away!"

Though Wraith knew he was the last one to ever attempt to take down a beast so large on his own. His usual prey were far smaller and their terrain far less certain. On the lowland plains, Wraith hadn't a rabbit's chance in a den of ever even catching up to one on his own, let alone taking it down. Such a fool's errand would no doubt end in loss of life. Despite what his ghosts told him, Wraith quite fancied living.

With just the pair of them, it seemed best to avoid the larger animals this morning. Best instead to take down small prey. Perhaps if they were plentiful on this cold morning, the trip wouldn't be wasted.

There is a rabbit\'s nest nearby. +1 Health

It was true, of course, and the slow-growing grin on Craw's marred face proved it. Not that he would realistically let Wraith do something so foolhardy, but in the fantasy world where he did, there was no chance Craw would miss it. The scene unfolded for a moment in his mind's eye, and it was probably obvious he was imagining it - and then he shook his head with a snort, dismissing the folly.

Pushing his forelimbs out to lower his belly to the ground, he made himself just a little more comfortable, muscles still tired from a night of wandering and very little rest. "If only there was a convenient ravine for you to leap upon it from above," he crooned, alluding back to the first hunt they had partaken in together. He was all too aware of Wraith's skills in such terrain. "Then it might be worth paying attention."

Aware that Wraith likely wanted to get going on their usual small-game hunt, Craw was nevertheless keen to eke out even a few minutes of rest before setting off again. Wraith would no doubt make his impatience known if he felt it strongly enough, and in the meantime he enjoyed a brief moment of self-maintenance as he pulled out bits of foliage which had lodged themselves between his toes the night before, tugging at them with his smallteeth. Damn things had been stuck there for hours.

It was pleasant to be able to just relax in someone's company, to trust enough to do so.

Wraith's warm laughter rumbled from his chest, amused by the easy camaraderie between them. What luck was in play the day he ran into Craw? Though the pair hadn't known each other long, the pale furred male was as much his brother as any who shared his blood. He found himself wondering if the fellow northerner had an eye for leadership one day. He would make a good one, if he had the drive to fight for it. One worthy of the loyalty he inspired in the dark wolf. He gave a long stretch himself, willing to let his friend linger and groom himself. At the shifting of the winds, however, the scent of a rabbit's burrow was too enticing to ignore for long. With a grin, the male nipped at Craw's ear. "Alright, enough grooming for you then. We've work to do, remember?" Wraith trotted out into the snow covered dry grasses, paws breaking down into deep pockets of tunnels beneath the snow and ice. Prey was plentiful so long as they were willing to play hide and seek to find them. His black nose hovered just above the snow as Wraith began tracing the scent. When his track started circling on itself, his lips lifted into a confident smile. Now, he need only close the circle tighter... The black wolf froze, muscles tense in preparation. The barest hint of noise had him plunging his muzzle into the snow and pulling out a squealing rabbit. With a single shake, its spine was broken. Amber eyes lifted to find Craw. Wraith dropped the kill at his own paws and offered his friend a cheeky grin. "Best get started if you want to catch more than me," Wraith teased.

Burtn @DA & Dawnthieves.de

As the winds changed and the scent of rabbit touched Craw's nose, the spider-faced man glanced up at Wraith, predicting his reaction exactly as it happened. He sighed dramatically, but his amused smirk told a different story, and he twisted his head up to snap back at Wraith's retreating figure just a little too late. With a grunt the hefty wolf was on his feet, stretching for a moment to warm up his limbs before trotting after his dark companion.

Attention following Wraith closely, Craw slowed as he saw the man pick a spot, circling into it gradually, and gave the scene a wide berth; he didn't want to ruin any chance of a catch. "Congratulations," he drawled, as the dead animal fell from Wraith's jaws, pulling a face at the jeer. "Looks like you have things under control and don't need me." But he turned his attention to the soft snow about them and turned his ears and nose to trying to locate a hidden rabbit of his own, making a good show of his efforts to participate seriously in this hunt. It was a deception. In reality, he was paying much closer attention to Wraith from his peripherals and when the dark man wasn't looking, and once he was aware that the hunter was narrowing in on another kill, Craw jerked forward at the very last moment to nip at Wraith's hocks - intending to sabotage his concentration and efforts.

With a cackle he leapt away, inviting retaliation, finding that he needed this whimsical distraction after such a long, stressful night.

Wraith's teeth flashed in a rapid grin at Craw's drawling words, thoroughly amused by his friend's antics. "They're your pack," the black brute reminded him with a laugh. If he were hunting for only himself, Craw was right. The northerner was quite proficient a hunter on his own, though if it came to taking down larger prey, he'd need the benefit of a pack. And despite having others at his call, Wraith found it interesting the pale furred male instead chose to stick with him alone. He didn't seem embarrassed to have befriended him. Perhaps he just didn't care for his packmates as much as he'd led him to believe? Or was there some other ulterior motive at play? He pushed the thoughts away as Craw set to work hunting for his own kill, leaving Wraith to continue tracking another scent. Not rabbit this time, but bird. Ptarmigan, if Wraith had to guess. Their winter plumage would make it all the more difficult to find them in the snow, but Wraith knew if he put in enough effort, his ears and nose wouldn't fail him. The brute was closing in, dark fur bristling across his shoulders as he felt a rising tension. The nip at his hocks had the male belatedly realizing that it wasn't hunting tension he sensed, but his cheeky friend instead. Wraith twisted in the snow, his bulk sending white flakes in all directions as he charged after Craw with a dark laugh. "Brat," he accused, a forepaw outstretched to smack the pale man on the nose.

Burtn @DA & Dawnthieves.de