Welcome to Gaia! ::

(Hey, we both just started college! That's cool! <3)

Nalum stopped short a few feet of his brother, crouched with his fingertips touching the ground and his chin practically to his knees. Since the underbrush was thicker here, it was a practiced instinct to compress oneself as much as possible without compromising balance and readiness. He knew that his brother was here some where, but he just couldn't fathom where exactly. Given enough time to sit still and observe, Nalum could pick out any intruder upon the scene that he was watching. But when things got quick and the scenery changed, his powers of obeservation become muddled.

He glanced behind him at the frolicking wolves. As long as they were following him, his life was complicated with unknown responsibilities, and so he looked on them pensively. He hoped that they would be taken off of his hands.

((yes! It's fine!))

"I was hoping," Nalum whispered as he moved like molassass up hill, "that you could get rid of them for me! Make them your pet for all I care." Although his movements were careful, his slow speed was exaggerated like his fear of the wolves themselves.

((Sorry for the delays. I'm just having a bit of a dry spell in the writing department.))

Eszrah looked at the two wolves quizzically for a moment. There was something about their odd behavior that piqued his interest, especially the forward approach of the larger of the two wolves. If they had been on the hunt, they surely would have attacked Nalum before he reached Eszrah's position; and if they were simply looking around, they wouldn't dare approach two humans so playfully. Their demeanor was surely unbecoming of a common wolf.

Eszrah made no move toward the approaching animal. Instead, he stood his ground; both feet planted to the ground, legs bent slightly in case he should have to move quickly. He slowly pulled a poison-tipped bolt from a satchel attached to his left calf and slipped it into the groove on his small crossbow.

"Beast of the wilds," he pleaded softly, "preyathee leave us be. Turn back and no blood must be spilled here."

Kishi shielded Aela from Eszrah's sight with his larger frame. His eyes never left the bow as his lips curled in a warning snarl. This is getting too dangerous, Aela. We might want to consider taking the information we have and high-tailing it.

Aela whined deep in her throat. What information? That people are crossing the Plains? We know they're all up to something, but we don't know what! What good would our reports do?

Then perhaps we should try a different, more subtle, approach? Whatever the temperament of the other human, this one doesn't seem to want us around. And he's not afraid to eject us forcefully. A low growl started in his throat. He edged backwards, pushing Aela back with him.

Kishi and Aela finally got beyond the reach of the bow. They loped off until they disappeared from view behind a slight dip in the terrain. Aela, wasting no time, immediately shifted back to her human form. "Ugh! That boy was horrible! We weren't even threatening him!" she muttered under her breath as she tried to decide what to do.

You could try seducing him. Kishi teased playfully. He barked in irritation as Aela actually seemed to think about it. Absolutely not! I won't allow it!

Aela laughed and scratched him behind his ears. "I wouldn't dream of it. But perhaps we'd better follow them from a distance. With me in my human form. If he tries to pull another stunt with that bow, I'll show him precisely how fierce we can be, dearheart." Her face was fixed into a scowl. So saying, they both snuck back until the tall, waving grass hid them from the two humans' view.

"Strange indeed," Eszrah spoke in full Kiyap Turean. "They behaved strangely for common wolves. It was not wrong of you to leave your post. Had they not encountered both of us, they may have attacked you."

Eszrah leant down and studied the wolves' paw prints in the dust. From what he could tell, they were in fact wolves, but the thought still irked him in the back of his mind. He stood up and stretched out his arms and legs, throwing his bow around his back with its leather strap.

"The sun will reach the horizon in a few hours," he said, looking out across the plains at the brilliant golden orb. "We should begin to head for home. No one seems to be coming today."

His brother looked suspicious. "We should take a winding path, maybe. Yet..." Yet it was already fairly dark. Maybe they should just head straight home, where further reinforcements were in any case. "Yet I'm hungry," he said lamely, "and wolves can follow sent for days, any way."

I can't believe I let you talk me into this. Kishi spoke into her mind in mock-irritation. This is going to be an uncomfortable trip. Do you know how hard it is to do this?

Aela sighed softly. "Yes," she murmured, making sure to keep her voice low pitched. "Now stop whining. You're the one that wanted to do more than keep tabs on the deer populations."

Getting killed wasn't included in my grandoise plans...

"Shut up and crawl, wolf." Aela tucked her long hair behind her as she continued to crawl. She tried to remind herself that this was for the good of her tribe. She really did.