Bramble Falls Birdwatcher

Snff, snff, SNRT. Hrun sneezed, his sniffer continued to wiggle as he followed the sound of trickling water. It was lightly snowing that morning, and he had come to realize how much he despised the white fluff. His first year of snow had been a fun, joyous thing. Now he wanted winter to be over, he wanted the warmth of summer, the buzzing of mosquitoes. Hrun wanted things that reminded him of home, but also someplace new. It was confusing to him, but he knew that so long as it snowed and the cold killed any insect that dared exist in the freezing temperatures, he wouldn’t be home. Or… there wouldn’t be insects. Something. He shook some of the snow (and some of his own frustrations) from his pelt. As the sound of water grew near, he also heard… something else. It was a bird, he knew, but something was off about it. The wolf lowered himself and crept towards the scene before him.

Birds were playing in the water. Ravens, which he’d seen plenty of, danced about the water. They jumped in and out, making strange calls to one another. For a few moments, Hrun simply watched the birds. They mostly ignored his presence. Eventually, though, their actions became boring. Unceremoniously, Hrun rushed forward and grabbed one of the birds, snapping its neck. The others screamed, their wings fluttering wildly as they took to the skies. Hrun paused, eyes to the sky as he watched the large black creatures disappear from sight.

The burst of birdish activity caused Woya to jump; her pale eyes flicked to the sky to watch the ravens grow smaller and smaller until they and their noise had vanished. What was that about? Wary but curious, she pressed forward, weaving through the forest until the trees began to thin and between them she saw a waterfall and a wolf.

The very faint scent of blood tickled her nose and her mouth began to water. Dinner time, maybe?

She slunk forward, out into open view. Her posture remained low and unassuming, but her eyes did not leave the stranger's form. She watched him all the while, as though distrusting that he wouldn't mind his own business, and walked to the waters edge to take a drink. Was he going to eat that... ?

(This post was last modified: Feb 27, 2021, 04:20 AM by Woya.)

Blood dripped onto the snow below, a stark contrast of dark red and white. Hrun was about to sit down and enjoy his meal, but then heard the soft, muffled sound of pawsteps on snow. It wasn’t the decisive movements of his brother, and quickly he spotted the pale female. He watched her for a moment, his own stance mimicking her own. His face scrunched up, a wrinkle forming on his maw in warning.

He then dropped the bird to the ground and placed a paw on it to rip off a wing. That was quickly devoured. In fact, he was seemingly trying to eat the thing as quickly as humanly (wolfly?) possible. If she was anything like the other crazy wolves he and Maugrim had met, he’d be better off trying to eat and run.

The other wolf was, unfortunately, properly wary rather than unassuming. Woya only watched him from the corners of her eyes as she approached the frozen bank, making sure he didn't feel the need to assert himself over the drinking supply either. She saw him dig in, and resentment roiled within her gut. Honeyed eyes narrowed into a glare, and she wished not for the first time that she had her brother's size and could just barrel the asshole right over.

There was no way for her to outright take the meal from the stranger, however, and it would be gone before she could anything else about it if he kept up the pace he was wolfing the carcass down at. So she had to just watch with saliva collecting between her teeth as the dark-pelted wolf ate and she continued to starve. The defiant child in her wanted to make sure she was a thorn in his side regardless, somehow. Thankfully, he was fairly unique in appearance; if she couldn't get him now, Woya would remember his dumb little face.

Finally her eyes left him completely as she turned her attention onto the iced-over water. Her fore paws stomped against the encasement, but it held, solid and thick. Instead of finding where the ice began and working from there, she moved forward a few steps; the falls were still active, and the closer one went to where they crashed into the pool, the thinner the ice would be as the movement kept the water from freezing. She then continued her attempts, turning just a teeny bit on her paws each time as she did, making a very slow circle around the spot she worked upon.

When the ice gave beneath her haunches and back half plummeted into the frigid water, her front claws scrabbled to keep purchase and a yelp shot out of her maw, eyes wide with shock and fear. Hopefully, her audience would be caught by surprise and act without thinking. Hopefully, he wouldn't notice that she really wasn't that far out at all and that if she did happen to fall completely into the water, Woya would be able to stand up no problem and simply walk out of her predicament.