Daybreak Peaks i'm getting sick and tired of never understanding

Migrating geese are raucously crowding bodies of water, and react aggressively to other animals trying to drink or fish.
All Welcome! located around -45.48479, -16.17188 on the map

He returned, again and again.

Invites were extended each time he roamed. The land seemed a bit better here for more long term stay. The trees along the riverside offered shelter where he had discovered that one of them seemed to lack ground beneath the tangled roots. He had begun a halfhearted process of emptying out the space further. Expansion.

Even if his interest stayed mostly with the nearby river.

Which he returned to now as the sun reached a high point in the cloudy sky. Only he had not anticipated a flock of geese that had become suddenly territorial over his fishing spot. Hey! He bellowed angrily only to be met with even angrier honks. His hackles flared and he became enraged as one goose in particular dared to start a charge at him...

Didn't mean to write such a novel, but I guess I felt the need to explain how she got up there in the first place since I haven't posted with her anywhere else yet. Please do not feel obligated to respond with equal length lol

Her first steps in this place, three days ago now, brought her through the widening maw of a valley. The trees broke open and Leon noticed the moving air began to hum softly through the spring grass, a whistling sigh. Having grown used to the shelter of trees after abandoning the ocean many miles south of here, the sight of a meadow, open and bright, was not a welcome one. A billowing curtain of new smells came sliding down over the hills. She stood still in the shadow of the trees growing thinner behind her, and, peering left and right, chose the western course that seemed to follow a mountain ridge growing taller over her left shoulder. No doubt there were likely a herd or two of something (deer, elk, caribou) wandering amongst those tall, yellow grasses. Maybe she would have tried to catch a small, sickly one by surprise on a good day, but the sun had risen and set many times since she'd eaten on her travels north. She'd have to find something easier for now.

The hours blended together as she followed the cool mountain shadow around the belly of the meadow, and eventually came to a lake. Around the fringes of the lagoon she stayed for two nights, filling her belly on fish and water. Not one to sit still for long, north she continued to wander until the trees enveloped her again and the sound of a river running over her right shoulder pricked her ears. That was as good a temptation as any, and she followed the sound.

Suddenly out of the silence, a deep, angry Hey! made her jump a little and land with widened legs. She was sure whoever it was must be talking to her; her ears flattened against the back of her head and her tall body sank a little closer to the earth. She stood still and quiet, just listening. She couldn't see who bellowed at her, could smell only....birds? Geese? Maybe something canine, though it was being overpowered by goose-stink. She remained in a crouch and stalked forward through the brush to get a better look, and would have appeared submissive if someone stood before her, though she soon realized: it was not she who was being spoken to, but a goose! An angry goose. She watched now delightedly from the shadows to the southwest as the black body of the stranger was met with a chorus of angry honks, and a challenge, it seemed, for that spot at the river. She really shouldn't hang around here too long without introducing herself, she knew, and would prefer not to at all if she could help it—but the young wolf couldn't help but observe the obvious entertainment unfolding before her. She sank down and lowered her chin to the soil, tried to make herself small as she watched from the grandstands *ahem* bushes.

(This post was last modified: Apr 24, 2023, 03:17 AM by Leon.)

The bird refused to back down.

The problem was that Loach also refused to back down.

He had not wanted to take on a goose today and yet it seemed his time had come. There could be no choice but to fight back, especially as long wings seemed in his face all of a sudden. Snapping against him as a beak came in.

Loach would bleed, there'd be no question about it. Maybe not a lot and not very long, but it was all he needed to be rightly riled.

A wing in his mouth was not enough to keep the bird though. A bird who had maybe rightly realized that a wolf could hunt it right back. The other wing that still beat angrily against his face had him release the grip he had managed.

Then it took off, only a little bit further down the waterway. He wondered if more would show up now, if a whole flock might gang up on him for the crime had just committed against the bird. Not that he cared as his hackles raised in an ungodly show. The snarl that vibrated through him was riveting and warming. As if he remembered all at once what it was like to be feral.

I'll get ya if ya come back down 'ere!

Bellowed in the tone of an angry man who yelled at children to get off his lawn.

Leon watched the brief squabble amusingly. The goose has a death wish, she thought, smiled a little to herself, and then rose from the ground to watch the bird fly a ways down the river. Might be nice to taste something a little warmer than fish. This debacle could be of some real use to her, after all, if she played it right.

He looked like she should tread carefully, hackles raised and snarling like that, but he kinda sounded like her grandpa—and that gave her enough confidence to be a nuisance.

She began a quiet walk forward and then took a seat at the lip of where grass turned to riverbank, curling her tail around her legs. "Don't think they speak wolf." she pondered aloud, a glint in her eye. "Would've told them off ages ago," she said a little quieter, and her ears flopped a little back.

It was a young woman whose voice quipped into the air.

His ears stood tall and his narrow face swung to look at her. Large, tall. The cutting figure of a fisher too, or a runner if she cared not for the water.

He snorted a bit dryly, stiff shoulders rolled in hopes that some of the tension would loosen its hold on him. Between the two o' us they'd be downright dumb to come back this way. Yet he still bet they would, the moment he turned his attention away too long. The goose had seemed to anger to simply give up that easy.

You got a knack for huntin' them? I stick to the scales, but I'd be grateful teachin' them a lesson.

Leon observed the way he moved and spoke carefully. He was smaller than her, but stronger by the looks of it, and certainly older and more experienced. Thankfully, he didn't seem like he wanted a challenge.

She paused a moment after his response and glanced over at the water again where the geese gathered, honking amongst themselves. They had to be the dumbest of birds. Whoever stretched their necks out so long must have cut off blood flow to their brains. Suicidal and mannerless. She had more teeth than they had braincells, and she'd be happy to kill one or two.

Her eyes moved back to the black wolf before her. She hadn't often hunted geese alone, though once upon a time it was one of her favorite prey to stalk with a litter mate. You had to be a little clever, because once they were in the air the game was off. The thought seemed to trigger something that visibly washed over her face, and her body tensed a little, briefly, before she caught herself and shifted in place. "I've had some practice." she said, some kind of undertone to her voice. She stood and approached him, treading delicately over the shifting rocks beneath her. "I'll teach them a lesson, and we'll eat one for dinner," she began as she walked, and then came to stand before him. "..if you can tell me something about this place afterwards." Her grey eyes shifted over him. A reasonable trade, no?

It was, perhaps, the simplest deal that had ever been requested from him. He would not show all his cards but he could easily continue to feed information on what he knew about this slice of the land, if she continued to help him out.

You got yourself a deal. He resisted the urge to call her cubbin'. For once enough smarts racked around his brain to tell him he should not age-down the young woman here to help him teach the birds. You doin' it solo or should I be on standby? He snorted softly with mild amusement, a little flick of his damp tail.

Undeniably the fish were all gone by this point. Between the geese and the wolves, they would have been better off swimming elsewhere. He wouldn't blame them, but it did mean he was going to be all the hungrier real soon.