[Surik]

Why did she come here? She had all the freedom in the world to turn around and flee, like a bird without a cage. She could have gone anywhere she, please. Maybe the mountains somewhere, surely they'd be able to give her an amazing view from such a high elevation. Oh, or the beach, surely there had to be some interesting things to see at the coast's edge. After all, Surik grew up with nothing but trees and forests. The normal things for a wolf her age lived to see, but no. She had to choose those locations. This pack, to call her home. To settle down and plant her roots.

The ground here always felt wet and muddy. Like it was constantly raining. The air was thick, hard to breathe in at times. Like one's neck was being squeezed, restricting one's airway and preventing oxygen to get to one's heart. Bugs, bugs, and more bugs seemed to thrive in this place. Bones were thrown around like garbage, plaguing the land with their white marrow goodness. A waste in Surik's eyes, but she didn't dare speak up. It wasn't her place, it will never be her place to speak up.

The familiar sound of a fish splashing in the water brings Surik back to the current moment. The sun's rays struggling to break through the clouds, through the fog that plagued these lands. That devoured all who were not careful enough, that were stupid and were lured into the darkness with false hope. Craving the warm blanket of mysteries that were destroyed within seconds after one realizes that monsters live under the blanket instead if fantasies.
A half eaten fish laid split in half in front of her. It's right eye staring right at her. As if trying to look into her soul, cursing her for tearing into its stomach and ripping its guts out and devouring all that it had to offer her. A silent scream, a prayer that was not allowed to be touched by a god. This fish was surely cursing the young she-wolf. It was delicious though.

Shifting to lay in her right side, Surik stretched her hind left leg out. Her little toes moving individually to release the buzzing feeling in them from being laid on for too long. Alteron, a dark fantasy. A place that Surik should never have stumbled upon. A place where she should have run from instead of seeking refuge like the idiot that she was. The place where she felt chained and caged. This was her home now, she was Alteron's newest little bird with its wings clipped and fangs pulled. She needed to find her place, she needed to survive. No, Surik will survive here. She was not some pathetic beast that danced for food, she was a hunter, she was a scavenger. She will bare her teeth and fight, to be recognized. For she, was worth something, something more than the damn dirt that caked onto her paws.

Acting quick, Surik jumped to her feet and turned around. Her two different colored eyes narrowing as she sought the owner of the scent that she'd been smelling for the past few moments as she thought. Had her moment of recollection. "Sneaking up on one so early in the morning is not a very smart thing to do." Surik spoke, trying to sound annoyed by the fact that her peaceful morning was being interrupted by someone she had not met yet. Hiding her fear, her anxiety, Surik took in a deep breath and narrowed her eyes more as she breathed out through her nose. Releasing her true feelings and tieing on that mask that she had built for herself. "Well? Are you coming out?" she asked, her voice barely giving out the small hint that she was a bit nervous, scared of what could come out of the darkness. Another monster? Or, a fantasy?

[Aves]

"Would sneaking up on you some other time be better?"

Stepping out of the brush Aves let her smirk show just how clever she thought she was. She had been watching this coyote (for never seeing a wolf of this stature was what she thought this was) for a moment now. The wolf knew first hand Alteron took creatures other than wolves but the memory of the floppy corpse her brother gifted her was her first thought when she looked on this tiny canine.

"Sorry if that was rude," Lies are great ways to start conversations with strangers, "I'd never seen you around here, and the last one of you I saw didn't belong here. He ran," Would she run now? A part of her hoped so, what a lovely present she would make, "But I don't think an outsider would take a fish then stand up to a stranger when caught."

Aves took in the scene. Despite the impressive display she was far from intimidated. She'd taken down prey bigger than this little pissant. But they were clearly Alteronian, either that or blinded with ignorant bravado, and perhaps murdering a packmate for the crime of being tiny wouldn't win her kudos here. Not in her rankless position anyway. Could this be a friend? Eh, what the hell, she didn't have anything else to do today. Lets see if she could remember how.

"How was the fish? I've never caught one, I didn't really have he opportunity to learn in my first pack."

[Pawprint]

Well this was different.  No one ordered HIM to come out from hiding.

Rooter preferred to quietly eat the cherries that fell from the trees around him, but the snappy wolf beyond the undergrowth gave him no choice.  But before the grizzly moved he heard a second voice, coy and smooth and unafraid, answer the first wolf.  Her voice reminded him of Telana without the, the...hmm...

"Experience," he whispered.

He realized it had been a long time since he spoke with her.  He didn't know if she was still traveling.  Rooter gritted the ground, upset.  He should have stayed by her side.  Or looked after her roses.  Well, the least he could do was make friends until she came back.  That would make her hap--pleased.

The young adult bear lifted himself off the leaf pile and shuffled through the undergrowth to meet these new wolves.  The first thing he noticed was the female scent of both wolves.  Oh, one of them was a coyote.  Annoying brazen canines.  His mom said the only canine more smug than a coyote was a fox, and the only canine more clever than a fox was a coyote.  This would be the first time he would actually talk to one instead of chasing one.

"How was the fish? I've never caught one, I didn't really have [t]he opportunity to learn in my first pack."

"It's best to start in shallow water," he said before he was in eye shot, "especially a river when they swim against the current."  Now the bear shook his body through a patch of thorny berry bushes.  He looked to the dark coyote and lowered his head in what the bear hoped was a greeting.  His eyes widened a little at the recognition of the black and white mixed wolf.  She was at the first introduction long ago with Miss Telana, the young leader boy, and the--

"You have his scent."  The undercurrent of caution was clear and present.  Falco.  A wolf almost large enough to see eye to eye with him.  With a voice as deep and intimidating as his.  A threat.  "You look a little a little like him." 

Rooter may have been intimidating physically, but sometimes he came off...less than knowledgeable.