A Closer Look (Zena & Amaris)

Zena rolled her eyes and grumbled under her breath "yeah obviously you don't even know the definition of kind, much less respectful.." Her feet dug anxiously into the ground, trying to maintain a level head. The she-wolf went on an on, accusing Zena of how she was ordering the stranger to bow down to her. When in truthfulness, all she wanted was a nice conversation, not a battle. The sound of the femme proclaimed that somewhere along the way she had been outspoken and abused and needed to be rude to prove her dominance.
Zena turned from the wolf, and spoke just loud enough to be heard "I'm not going to argue with a fool," She turned her face up to the darkening sky, thunder rolling in from the looks of the clouds. She continued "You can follow me or not, but just to give out the option, I know where shelter is and you are welcome to be my guest." Her feet trotted forward over the sandy ground which quickly turned into sand. Most wolves would call her an idiot for allowing a DMP member to follow her, but she didn't care. There was something about this wolf that drew her attention, Was it her braveness? no. Perhaps boldness? Not close.. these thoughts swirved thru Zena's mind. Her milk colored paws soon carried her to the forest, out of the vale and into the surrounding forest.

Shadow narrowed her eyes at the she-wolf's words. She was kind and she was respectful if the wolf she was talking too was worthy of her respect. This femme in front of her obviously wasn't worthy with her respect. Shadow was about to open her mouth and say something but the Alphesse kept talking as a crack of thunder tore at the sky. She continued to call Rain Shadow a fool, another reason not to honor this she-wolf, and walk away telling her to follow if she wanted, that she knew where shelter could be found.
Shadow glared up at the sky. There was no way she was following that stuck up Alpha but there was also no way she was standing here and getting soaking wet. Grudgingly, the femme leaped over the stream and padded after the Alphesse. She kept her distance though, a few good tail lengths behind so she would just see the silvery pelt of the other female. Shadow hoped that she wasn't being taken into a trap but right now she had no choice. She was hungry and tired and maybe where she was going would offer her some well needed rest.

ZENA
Zena glanced back over her shoulder checking to see if the femme was following. The she-wolf kept her distance and obviously didn't trust Zena at all. She trudged forward thru the muddy ground, ignoring the fae that was tracking her steps. She passed familiar landmarks that reminded her the way to the den. She had found this territory many moons ago, scavenging it like the loner she was. The sky had begun to rain down with cold droplets of water, soaking into their pelts turning Zena's a deep shade of grey. Her paws ached from having to drag thru the mud, she lowered her head trying to take some of the weight of her back feet as she climbed the elevated side of the mountain that overlooked the vale. Her lips were pulled back in agitation, never had the climb felt so long. She looked back at the wolf "What is your name? And I don't care how much you hate me, i'm not going to fight you if thats what your looking for." her voice announced her decision of dominance to remain peaceful.

A cold droplet of rain smacked Shadow in the middle of her head. She growled as the sky released it's burden and sheets of icy liquid pelted down on the two wolves. The dark grey femme stepped high as the ground quickly turned into mud. Her paws were being sucked down into the earth and when she pulled them back up they were the color of midnight. She grumbled to herself about being stuck in the rain and hating how she had given in and followed this strange Alphesse. She hoped it was worth it because it seemed like a long ways off from where the she-wolf had promised shelter.
Shadow was snapped from her thoughts by the Alphesse's annoying voice as she attempted to make nice once again. Rain Shadow frowned when she was asked to give her name. Should she tell this wolf the truth? Hell, what did it matter. At the moment she was too tired to care. "My name is Rain Shadow," She answered, practically yelling over the thunder and pouring rain. "Most wolves just call me Shadow though." Shadow fell silent, she felt like she should ask this other femme for her name, but that would be accepting friendship, then again she did just give out her own name. The she-wolf sighed and opened her maw once more, screaming over the sky's fury. "So, I just told you my name. Now you tell me your's."

ZENA
The request came as a surprise, despite Zena's continued attempts at friendship her efforts had so far been in vain. She had asked more in an exasperated frame of mind than anything, and to receive an actual answer...well she was taken aback to say the least. "My name is Zena" she consented, a tone of hesitant joy creeping into her voice. She took this newfound success and ran with it, furthering another historical jab into the misty figure that was Shadow. "Where's everyone else?" she voiced the question, trying to hide the meaning behind the question, she wanted to know wether or not she was in danger. "We're almost there" she said, as a familiar fallen tree trunk came into view though the forest surrounding them. The waterlogged timberland around them sagged with moisture, and the ground beneath them swallowed their legs in the swampy ground. But shelter was not far off.

The Alphesse seemed happy as she told Shadow her name. Zena. The grey femme had known a Zena back in her birth pack, but this new Zena was very different from any wolf back home. Unlike the wolves that inhabited Dark Mountain this strange new she-wolf was nice and kind, which was something Shadow hadn't really ever seen before. Once again Zena's maw opened and another question spilled out. Shadow's eyes narrowed at this topic. The femme had asked her where everybody else was. So, she didn't trust Shadow. She was still waiting on wolves to leap out of nowhere and snap her spine in two. Though this was a good fear to have Rain Shadow didn't understand why she would ask. It was obvious she was alone by the condition of her pelt and her skinny frame. DMP wolves were always kept healthy, even if cosmetics were never a priority.
"There is nobody with me. I'm alone. I've told you this several times. Plus, if you know so much about Dark Mountain don't you think they would have already jumped out and killed you by now? Also, we wouldn't mess with you. You aren't a threat to us." Shadow scoffed.

The fae's answer kind of snapped into Zena's bran not leaving her much time to process what she was going to say, and just spit out an answer. "Obviously you don't know much about DMP. And that's the thing. They enjoy attacking wolves who pose no threat at all. As if it were a game" She continued on her path, picking her feet up much higher than she should to clear the mud that had formed under her paws. The familiar scent of the den drifted into her nose, sending the feeling of warmth thru her body. The rain was now at full pour and had completely soaked them down to the bone. The sight of her home sent her sprinting towards the entrance, only stopping to shake out her fur before she stepped inside its protection. It wasn't a very large den, maybe able to fit five or six wolves at most. It was a cave carved into the mountain side by who knows what, and had a soft incline one you walked inside. Zena stepped in, trotting to the back of the cave where she had moss and grass arranged in a smashed down pile that hadn't been changed out for some time. She pointed with her nose where her guest could rest, a few feet away from herself, but not to close to the entrance she got blown away by the storm.

Shadow growled a little at Zena's clipped answer. Who did this wolf think she was to tell Shadow that she knew nothing about the pack that had raised her!? Dark Mountain was all the dark colored femme knew, and to be told she was clueless about it was insulting. Shadow's blood boiled but she kept a unsteady grip on her anger. Right now was not the time to explode and show this weak Alphesse what a real wolf could do. This fool had shown her into her home and even if she was full of herself that wasn't a reason to kill her. Shadow had to stop with the urges to murder anything that moved. She wasn't DMP anymore so she didn't have to kill ruthlessly...or did she?
Rain Shadow shook the water from her now soaked pelt and trotted into the den. It was a good size but it smelled a little and the bedding looked like it hadn't been changed in weeks. She wrinkled her nose as she sniffed around and curled up on the bed that Zena had pointed out. "Um, thank you." Shadow said, cringing as if the words burned her tongue.

Rain Shadow
Shadow let out a deep sigh, thankful for being able to rest her aching paws. The pleasure was soon dimminished though as another stream of questions poured from Zena's mouth. Still she wanted to know more about Dark Mountain Pack. This time it was focused more on Rentsa, the leader that recently won the position of Alpha before Shadow had left the pack. Still that was almost two years ago and she was sure a lot had happened and she had thought that Rentsa would have been overthrown by now. Obviously she was wrong.
"I left Dark Mountain many years ago. I was barely a year old. I hear things from time to time about them, I still like to keep up with whats going on with my birthpack but the last time I saw them with my own eyes the pack was turning in on itself. I knew that they had settled that fued awhile back but I wasn't 100% sure Rentsa was even still leader. Its unusal for a wolf to be leader that long in DMP." Shadow sighed heavily, still very annoyed by this wolf's voice. "So in the middle of the fighting I ran because I was a scared pup. I got lost and nobody came looking for me so I kept going. I wasn't taught to give up and somehow I made it out there in the big bad world." She stopped, eyeing Zena as if daring to ask her anymore questions.

A short snarl came from Shadow's maw but she didn't make any move to attack. She was simply annoyed that another wolf would challange her like this! She hadn't ever had such a thing happen to her. She wasn't backing down of course, no that would be worse than death. Shadow answered the question though, her eyes still cold. "Dark Mountain wolves are taught from birth how to fight and how to win. I cherished those teachings and I never let them go. I found a pack to live with but they taught me nothing really. I built on what moves I already knew until I was pretty much unstoppible. I left that pack though in a matter of months, too peaceful for my liking, and ran into some wolves along the way. Most were boring and didn't care to teach me but eventually I found a few who would and in the end I beat them at their own game. Fighting is my gift and battle is what I seek the most." Shadow hissed. Her voice was a low whisper that could give a wolf goosebumps. She wasn't playing around and the stiffness in her limbs told others that she didn't want to play.

Zena seemed startled by Shadow's monologue about Dark Mountain. What probably had scared the Alphesse the most was the femme's little comment on how she liked to kill. Shadow wasn't a cold blooded monster, she did have a heart somewhere and she even felt a little bad for upsetting Zena. The dark female nodded to the other wolf as she suggested they head on to bed. It was growing dark outside and the storm seemed to be getting worse. Shadow lowered her head onto her paws and closed her eyes. For now she might as well call this place home, she had nowhere else to go and this Zena wolf seemed alright. Maybe this could be the pack she can stick with for the rest of her days. Rain Shadow highly doubted that, she still wanted more.