Dead Empress Backwater it took a little time to make a little better

AW!
RE - Isidore, you find a pair of bucks with their antlers locked together.

There sure was a lot of water around here. It wasn't too very unlike the oceanside where Isidore had grown up in, but far more enclosed and without the signature saltwater scent. It was a welcome change, this maple and freshwater that washed over his senses, and Isidore was having a good time exploring the territory after @Eros was kind enough to show him the more important areas. Outside of that, there was so much more to see and do, and Issa hadn't even scratched the surface, he felt.

He'd been skirting the edges of the standing water when he spotted something very curious. For a moment, he was concerned the entranced deer had made their way here, but upon closer inspection, it was a pair of very alive, very angry bucks, interlocked by the antlers.

Isidore crept closer to the pair, who were too busy snorting at one another and shaking their heads to try and escape their deathlock to notice the wolf. He managed to get right up next to them without detection, keeping low to the ground, and wondered what the appropriate response to this situation would be. Some part of him knew this was a good opportunity to hunt them both - to call for a few packmates to help him take them down - but there was another part of him that wanted to help. That entire herd of deer had perished in the water not too far from here, after all, so wouldn't it be good to help those that remained? How foolish a way to die this would be.

He chanced a few steps closer, and gave an experimental nip at one of the buck's heels, which definitely got a response. The deer snorted again and made an alarmed sound, kicking out behind him, and Isidore narrowly managed to move out of the way. He stood back, eyes narrowed, contemplating what he should do next.

The news of the deer that had perished in the creek nearby had been alarming to the father for more than one reason. The first being that many prey dying this close to winter might mean that their hunting became scarce once the snow flew, the second being that they may have contaminated their water source. He had kept a close eye on the packmates since the incident and so far there was no sign of illness in any of the wolves, but it may be too soon to tell for sure.

The sound of clashing antlers had caught Viorel’s attention from where he had been reclining upon his favourite fallen log. It held him high enough above the water that he was always dry, and had long been worn smooth by his frequent visits. Looking over leisurely from where he lay, his eyes widened as he saw one of their newcomers nipping at the bucks who had become locked together.Barking out in alarm the man abandoned his post to rush towards the scene.

He didn’t know Isidore well, having only a short introduction from Eros, he watched the silver man carefully. Then he growled, ”They might have the same disease as the others. We need to get them out of here.” But, they needed to do it while making sure they didn’t accidentally infect themselves.

A loud bark shocked Isidore out of what he was doing, and the silver wolf backed up a handful of steps, eyes wide as they turned toward Viorel. Eros' dad, and the other leader of the pack, he remembered, looking much less composed than he had when they'd briefly met the first time. Issa's brows knitted together in confusion, unsure exactly what he'd done wrong, until the older man spoke.

"It was a disease?" he asked, rhetorically for the most part. He didn't really need to know the specifics of what they'd found out, or if that was just a guess, but it would certainly take away some of the mystery from the story he'd built up in his head. Only mildly disappointing, and then more alarming, because what if it was contagious?

Well, then, he supposed it was important to remove these two from the territory. "I was hoping to get them to separate," he admitted, though his initial plan had not gone as well as he'd hoped. "But maybe it'd be easier to herd them away if they're stuck together like this?" The gears in his mind turned, and he looked over at the deer, head tipped ever so slightly, before he glanced back at Viorel. "What do you suggest?"