Iridescent Lagoon godless.

Midday, snowing heavily. -8F/-22C. Open for 1-3 members of Morg's crew.

Little Crow had been sent adrift after meeting Kajika at Fallen Tree Cove. One door was closed… But Namid had been long since gone, and her mother had been murdered sometime in the spring, presumably not long after she'd taken off from Crow's Crossing in the first place. Idly, she was forced to wonder if her sire had made good on his word and slaughtered Dizzy Barreda for her traitorous ways - if that meant she was next.

But the little thief was smarter than her mother had been. She was certain of it. Wouldn't suffer the same fate. (She was a far better thief, for one thing.)

The snow made it difficult to detect if a pack was here or not, but there were wolves, and wolves in groups meant caches. Heck, with it coming down and leaving blanket after fresh blanket, Little Crow could disappear into the coming dusk without scent or trail, as long as she moved quickly enough. Paws dug quickly, pulling up a half-frozen rabbit from a recent burial - didn't matter who killed it, who buried it. Finders, keepers, and all that.

Little Crow stuffed it into her jaw, ignoring her shivering paws as the wind gusted up and blasted her with snow - the only drawback was that she was forced to move slow, snow high up on her legs.

tldr; crow stole from a local cache. special mention for @Morganna or @Skoll.

so close your eyes and know how lucky you are

Morganna Archer

They hadn't been here long enough to have many stores to spare so when the scent of a loner crossed her path, Morganna deviated to follow it, closer and closer. A little too close. She chanced upon the scene as the woman stuck her head beneath the snow, emerging with half a rabbit and started to move away.

The leader smirked. Under other circumstances, she might have even gotten away, and while it was irksome to be robbed she could look past the price of half a rabbit to consider just what she was capable of, would she be willing to earn it?

Her tail curved over her back, chest puffed full of air as she moved to close the distance between them, her path easier with the other wolf forging ahead. "Now jus' where do yer think yer goin' with tha'?" There was a smirk on her lips, voice almost conversational. It had been too long since any decent form of entertainment came her way and no matter which way the little thief jumped, Morganna was in for a good time.

Little Crow's ears folded backwards, eyes narrowed to tiny slits. The wolf behind her wasn't forging her own path, just moving through the line the loner had cut through the snow. She only had a few choices. Run, but that would be fucking stupid, when the other could just follow, and follow faster. Drop the rabbit and run, because that had worked with Hearthwood River - but for all she knew, the stranger hadn't killed this hare, either. Could just gulp it down like she'd seen them rattlers do, but she couldn't make her jaw do that hinge-thingy, and the dusty female wasn't mighty keen on the idea of choking to death just now. After everything.

That'd be fuckin' irony though, if she ever did see it.

Briefly, she worked her jaw as she turned around, facing the woman head one. Despite her iron will, it did not unhinge, and so she dropped the rabbit, thin lines of drool falling from her teeth as she hunched, fully prepared to run if this started rolling downhill. "Gonna bring 'im home," she snapped, lips curling upwards as she squared her paws around the carcass. Half a carcass. "Thought I might call 'im George. Make a pet outta him."

The fuck did she think she was gonna do with it? Shit. Old folk were so foolish.

baby I'm back now, feelin' how I used to feel

Morganna Archer

Morganna managed a snort of laughter as the loner snapped back at her, fast and sharp. There was an amused light in her eyes that touched the edge of her voice as she countered, "I mean what'er yer going tha' way for? Th' dens're this way." She motioned with a tip of her head. "Sure yer don't want somethin' a bit more fillin' than half a hare? It's not stealin' if yer stick around." Of course there were strings attached, and if the girl was as clever as she thought they'd get on to that soon enough. She smirked as she waited to see what way the woman would take her offer.

Goddamnit.

She shoulda just wolfed the carcass and busted ass. Talking to old ladies had somehow resulted in a whole heck ton of unsolicited advice, lately. Clearly, this was the universe's way of telling her to shut the heck up. Or just her own dumb luck. Little Crow narrowed her eyes to wee slits, front paws still framing her half-prize as she sized up the pack wolf. Guh. Who knew how far off her friends were.

"Ain't stealin' if I don't get caught, neither." And look how well that went. What the dark wolf was offering her? That was a big old trap. Maybe it worked on dumber wolves. Or wolves who'd never been screwed before, but shit. That stunk like 'getting yer ass kicked' from a mile away. "I ain't jus' joinin' up, clear as that. Shit, y'think I wouldn'a packed up by now if it weren't just nice words, huh?"

Nah. Nothing was for free. It was a matter of price.

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

baby i'm back now, feeling how i used to feel

Morganna Archer

When the stranger chimed in that it wasn't stealing if you didn't get caught, Morganna gave the girl a condescending smile with a tip of her head as if to silently say, Really? "An' how often does that work out fer yer?" When she continued to shoot back with sharp words, the Archer smiled, her tail giving a small wave in response to the barage. "Well I wouldn' offer if I thought yer were dumb, an' I wouldn't stop ter talk if I didn' think I might have a use fer yer." There was no point beating around the bush. "Wouldn' it be nice ter have somewhere ter lay low when it doesn' go yer way?"

"More often than y'think."

What Little Crow didn't want was for this wolf to think she was helpless. Or useless. And frankly, her track record lately hadn't been that bad. Losing her partner in crime was kind of rough, but it was really the snow and the bitter cold that threw her game off. Her ears remained pressed against her skull, posture quite hunched - sharp, yes, but stupid? Willing to fight a pack wolf on its own territory? Hell no.

"Look, lady - I know what th' benefits could be." In theory. Not that it had ever panned out for herself or her Mama, which, really, was why she was in this position in the first place. "But y'ain't told me whatcha want. I ain't been a loner my whole life. I know how this works. I know it ain't free. So what's the cost?"

baby I'm back now, feelin' how I used to feel

Morganna Archer

Well she was still alive so Morganna assumed she couldn't have been doing too bad for herself, but she concealed her thoughts well enough, the same dangerous smile on her face as she took another step closer to the stranger. This one didn't need buttering up, she wasn't going to rush into something blind. "If yer stay, yer welcome ter do as yer please. Yer can eat from th' caches an' find a warm place ter sleep, yer can get ter know th' rest of'em or not, an' sometimes I might need yer ter run a message fer me." The smile fell from her face, ears turning forward pointedly. "Not that yer'd have ter be doin' any speakin', if yer catch my drift. I got five kids, and a few of 'em ain't nearly as clever as they think. Yer've got skills they could benefit from too, if yer think that teachin' could be yer thing. I wouldn' push it, but I wouldn' stop yer from smackin' em around if they fuck up either." Her head canted to the side as she waited to see if the girl would ask her any questions, names could wait until she'd made up her mind.

Messages without words. This woman was a fuckin' weird one…but then, who was Little Crow to talk? She could hardly be classified as your run of the mill wolf. Pack politics weren't her jam. She'd rather be alone. Sometimes she wondered if she was a wolf at all, or if she was a little coyote Desideria had scrapped up out of a den instead.

Or a crow, trapped inside flightless bones.

Whatever.

What this woman wanted seemed simple. And maybe that's because she hadn't met the spawn yet, maybe they kept running off other wolves. But they'd never come up against Little Crow, and by hell and back again, she sure did like those times she got to snap and bite at Orin's bratty kids. Same age and all.

Maybe the universe gave what it took. Who knew. It wasn't a blood promise, at any rate.

"Fine. I ain't gonna be nice 'bout it. World sure ain't." She paused. "And I sure as shit ain't havin' my own. Long as we got that settled…" Little Crow shrug. "'m in, I guess. Call me Crow."