R scuttle

[Ferus]

The caves had been full, lately. Full of new things, new noises, new smells. That didn't bode well, for the caves, or for their dwellers. It made Ferus nervous. In the darkness, tucked just inside one of the openings to the outside, a pair of slate eyes opened, pupils wide to drink the dim lighting from the dreary outdoors in. In the seconds that passed, the shapes of the cavern's walls and roof sketched themselves into existence, but Feru already knew what it looked like. Their tongue swiped at her nose, a yawn aching in the tendons holding her jaws together, before she glanced toward the outside. It wasn't warm enough to melt the snow, but not cold enough to properly solidify it. Feru made a face, preferring the dry, cool mixture of dust and stone they were curled on. No hunting outside today, then. The best she would likely do would be to stick her head out, and lap the clumps of wet snow off the grass trying to establish itself for a little refreshment.

Instead of venturing out, Ferus unfurled herself from her tidy ball of fur and stretched the sleep away, shaking the worst of the dust and stray, tiny rocks from her pelt. At the junction of the entrance of the cavern, a bit of wood sorrel was trying to survive the frost. Mercifully, Ferus shuffled toward it and dipped her head, pinching with her teeth near the base of the stems to nip the first leaves of the plant off, rolling the bitter leaves in her mouth thoughtfully as she turned to continue through the caves. She moved slowly, ears pricked, breaths slow, even and quiet. One of the smells drifting through the mildewy-cave-smell and her own scent was that of a fox. A stench so intense, Ferus could not help but follow it. Either the vile, musky creature would take its leave before the whole cave stank so badly Ferus couldn't differentiate between a mouse and her own shit, or it'd perish and feed Ferus. She didn't have a preference, although admittedly she sort of hoped the thing had already cleared out. She didn't want to have to haul the carcass into the cold sleet so she didn't have to keep smelling it. She liked the cave-scent. Subtle, stony, and most importantly consistent. Caves were always cold, and dark, and usually a bit wet, no matter the time of year. Reliable as her own habits were, when unbothered by things like yelling and skunks and foxes and shit like that.

She was a bit grumpy, yeah.

[Rudolph]

He hadn’t caught the scent of the woman in the cave until he had already sought refuge within it. And then, well, it was such a nice break from the elements that Rudolph couldn’t be bothered to leave.

There were stale scents at the cave’s mouth, multiple wolves, but only one seemed to be residing there both stale and fresh. Female, most likely. Alone, probably. Even if she was angry at his presence, he was cocky enough to assume he could fend for himself if things went sour.

Now, there was the question of whether or not he wanted to say hello.

[Ferus]

Something new. She didn't notice it immediately, but when she did, her ears gave a bewildered, alarmed flicker.

Fresh, under cave-scent and the fox Feru still stalked. The wolf paused, ears twitching as they zeroed in on the shuffle of movement elsewhere in the caverns.

Another wolf. A more present threat to a great many things for Feru, but one she was less keen to take on than the fox. She stared into the depthless inner reaches of the caves, touched never by light but, on occasion, by the breath of their dweller. She could hide, lie in wait in the parts of the caves where she, and she alone, had the greatest advantage.

But she was still a wolf, all things considered, and they had instincts that chafed at the knowledge of another lupine on her territory. Slinking, they shuffled toward the light where the encroacher lingered.

Inside the caves, likely taking shelter from the chill or the wet. Inclement weather had driven many a weaker creature from the outside into the caverns...And into Ferus' waiting, hungry jaws.

They did not step into the light, but lingered in the shadows where the dim light from the cloud-filtered day could not reach its weak tendrils. There, Ferus simply stood, eyes trained on the distant, or as distant as she could make the wolf in the caves as they were set up, wolf. The only sound was the drip of water off stone onto more stone somewhere, and their breathing echoing off the walls, resounding as loud as any 'hello' in the enclosed space.

[Rudolph]

There was no greeting from the stranger, but there was confirmation that his nose had been correct. Rudolph hadn’t noticed her at first, though the sound of stirring—breathing?—made his eyes probe into the darkness.

There. She stood, watching him, and Rudolph tilted an ear back. The skin on the back of his neck prickled as he stared back at them.

[Ferus]

Green eyes, brown pelt, the features took shape slowly as Feru's eyes adjusted and sorted the tan wolf's shapes from the backdrop of the dirt-coated cavern. He wasn't taller than any usual male, but his fur was either poofy from the chill or he was a little more muscled than she.

Feru didn't move, certainly didn't let on that they were patiently taking stock of the wolf before them. His ear twitched back. Their tongue slithered out to sweep across her nose, then rasped against her whiskers. Distantly she thought she should say something. She didn't particularly want to. When was the last time she'd spoken to another wolf? Time flitted amorphously in the caves. Her days functioned on her desires and her desires alone.

"Why are you here." She murmured, trying to come across as relatively non-threatening. Or, at least neutral. It felt unnatural.

Charisma roll[roll=1d20+0]