Rikka

Water lapped over the plants along the ground, shards of ice clashing against each other as it moved. It had barely started to melt when the older female found her way into the waterlogged land. White socks stained brown from the mud and muzzle greying from her age, Rikka stared down at the shallow pool with an alert gaze.

Fish moved under the surface of loose ice, seemingly slowed by the cold that surrounded them. One of them came close to where her paws were submerged and with a sudden lurch, her muzzle was underneath the surface and snapping close.... on stalks of grass and weeds.

She jumped up and out of the shallows with a sputtering of noise before flopping down on her haunches with a whine. An audible growl could be heard from her stomach, white tipped ears folding back as she lamented in her lost prey. She was becoming slow with age, and this winter was the toughest she had to endure. Ribs showing through thick fur, Rikka stared down at the water, watching her reflection as it shimmered on the surface.

Quentin & Shrike

"I smell someone." Shrike said with a sudden perk of his head and abrupt pause in his stride. The wolf's sudden shift in demeanor, and the way he froze, alerted Quentin to a potential situation, and the man stopped as well. "Find something, Thander?"

Shrike swiveled an ear back at the sound of his human-given name, but didn't fully turn to acknowledge his master. The emerald-eyed wolf began to stalk forward instead, his giant paws smashing through the brittle caps of ice that had formed between the reeds along the shore. By the time he came across the exhausted and gaunt Rikka, water was dripping down from his underbelly, and darkening the various hues of gray that made up his coat. "Oh, it's another wolf, Quentin!" He announced, now looking back over his shoulder, as if the human could understand what he was saying.

"Hold up, Thander." Quentin called back with caution in his voice, still not sure what his companion had found, and knowing that some animals in the Valley could be unusually aggressive.

As the human approached at a slow but deliberate pace, Shrike looked back to Rikka with his soggy tail beginning to sway, and a smile plastered across his face, "Hi, I'm Shrike. Who are you?" In his four years of captivity, the former Aspen Grove pup had lost touch with his wilder instincts, and thought nothing of approaching this wild wolf, nor offering her a pleasant greeting as if he didn't have a bright orange collar around his neck or a human tottering along behind him.

Rikka

The voice that perked up between the tinkling of ice made the wolf jump, paws finding their way under her dripping form. Much to distracted by the movement underneath the water, she had not scented the duo until they were right on top of her. Ears back and a paw up in case she chose to bolt, Rikka's blue gaze looked towards the wolf and... oh no... is that a human behind him?

"U-Um... I'm... Rikka..." Each word was punctuated with a step backwards through the marsh water, eyes have locked onto the towering two-leg that was stepping up to the collared wolf's side. "I'm sorry... I- um.. Should be going... Y-You know? On the hunt and all... ha..." More steps, examining the human for any sort of equipment that might hit her from a distance. A nervous laugh slips from her equally quivering smile. "Although you may be...on the hunt too? M-Maybe for some...elk...or... something" not me.. The last words were muttered so softly that she wasn't even sure she said it or thought it herself.

Quentin & Shrike

As Rikka rose up, and the water began to cascade from her coat, Shrike took note of her less than healthy form. A babbling of clearly nervous words then spilled forth from the stranger, prompting Shrike to tilt his ears back and give his tail a hearty, friendly wag to dispel any notions that he might be a threat, "Rikka? That's a nice name." He offered amiably, "I didn't mean to startle you, but... um.." The wolf tilted his head, emerald eyes traveling freely along Rikka's lean form, "It doesn't look like your hunting is going very well?"

Beside him, Quentin patiently endured the thwap of wet tail against his side, and the sprinkling of water that danced from it with every swish. There was a light of caution that shown in his bright blue eyes upon realizing Rikka was a wolf, but that subsided the moment he read her body language - she was frightened, and she was not in a healthy state. There were no fangs bared, nor any growls of warning, so Quentin did the only thing he could think of in this moment. He slowly crouched down to one knee, enduring the bite of cold and wetness that quickly encroached along his jeans. "Easy, fellow." His voice was a calm one, deep in tenure, without being harsh or gravelly. Taking care not to make any sudden movements, the man began to fish in his pockets for the snacks he brought along to feed himself and his companion during their trek today; and other than a backpack slung behind his shoulders, there were no obvious guns or tools of violence on his being.

Tail still a-wag, Shrike continued the conversation in words beyond the human's understanding, "No, my human doesn't really know how to hunt. Quentin's a really good scavenger though, he always brings food back from the human town, so we never go hungry." Shrike stated this with pride, and his healthy coat and full frame reflected as much. "I bet if you join us on our hike, he'll even share some of our food with you?"

Rikka

The more she watched the two's demeanor stay calm while she stuttered through words and moved to run, the more she realized they were not looking to do her harm. From the slopping wet tail wag to the human crouching down to her level, they obviously tried to act as friendly as they could, most likely to calm her own jumpy nerves. The implication that the two-leg beside didn't hunt had the wolf cock her head to the side, a clear sign of confusion and curiosity.

"Sc-Scavenge from the human town? They must have plenty of scraps if there's enough to feed you both..." Although Rikka didn't take any steps towards the strangers in front of her, she had stopped moving backwards at the very least. Her muscles started to unwind when she looked down at the water she was hunting in. Ears still back, she shook her head. "That easy to notice, huh? I thought the fish might be slower in the cold, but they're still just as quick as they are in the warm times."

Pawing at the water, she turned her gaze back to the two of them. Once again, the blue eyes flitted towards the human kneeling in the water. She watched his hand with curiosity, leaning a few inches closer to sniff at whatever he was digging for. Although she wasn't sure about joining them for a walk, her stomach was empty enough that the prospect of food overrode her cautiousness.

Quentin & Shrike

Shrike plopped his hindquarters on the ground, subconsciously following his human's behavior as he continued his conversation with this unknown fae, "Well, I don't know if scavenge is the right word? I don't actually get to go into town with him very often, but he always comes back with food, and it doesn't smell like he has to fight anyone for them. He might just be their alpha human or something." Here the wolf paused, his thoughts and his line of sight meandering as he tried to understand the strange ways of the two-leggers.

The gentle sound of splashing drew his gaze back to Rikka and the way she pawed at the water that had proven so fruitless for her. Fearing that he might have come across a bit offensive, Shrike briefly drew his ears back and let his tail beat the ground with greater fervor, "It's okay Rikka, I've never been able to catch fish myself. And I've been in a pretty bad spot myself, before - not so much with the food problem, but the cold. Quentin actually saved me and my brother when we were little, and lost in a snowstorm."

It was at this point that Quentin had gotten his fingers around a strip of dried jerky, and held it out in Rikka's direction, where her curious nose had already begun to stretch cautiously in his direction. "That's a good pup, you can have it."

Scorponock

Scorponock had been lingering around sniffing the area while quentin and his brother were busy.

Rikka

Blue eyes lit up at the sight of the jerky, ears moving to stand tall as the scent of meat made her muzzle drip with saliva. That same gaze flickered upward, watching for any devious moves before his meaningless words gave her some sort of confirmation. She surged forward, snatching the dried meat out of his hand and immediately pulling herself back a step to crunch it between her teeth.

All the while, she was listening to Shrike's words, and the prospect of this human being an alpha had a light laugh break from her chest. Jerky crumbling dropped from her muzzle before she swallowed the rest down with the laughs conclusion. Like a mirror, Rikka plopped her hind quarters down in front of the two, bringing a paw to her chest with a breath. "S-Sorry. I don't mean to insult, of course. But your two-leg friend just doesn't seem like the alpha type, you know?"

The mostly black wolf licked her teeth. "Although, I will admit. This prey is very delicious and I dont think thats just my stomach talking." Another chuckle, her tail starting to beat behind her. "It's so different from when it's a fresh kill but it's not...bad? Does he feed this to you all the time?" She had known the city to be a treasure trove for the scavenger animals but she had never tried to scavenge there herself. Her mind seemed to completely forget about the failed fishing attempts, a growling stomach giving precedence after tasting what the human had to offer.

Quentin & Shrike

"There, that's not so bad, is it?" Quentin murmured, keeping as still as a statue, save for the slow movement of his arm as he reached for a second length of dried meat. He also took this opportunity to really analyze the dark-coated wolf, seeing that she did appear underweight and malnourished. The wear and color on her teeth suggested advantaged age. And now that she was sitting down before him, the assumption of the lupine's gender was corrected. "A lady? And an older gal. Where's your family?"

An ear of Shrike's again swiveled to his master's quiet babbling, then to the nearby patterings of his brother, letting him know where Scorp was. His focus, however, remained on Rikka, and his steely aud quickly swiveled back to attention as the mirth rose in the she-wolf. Far from being offended, he took a meek side-glance to his human and responded with hesitation, "He's... yeah, he doesn't really come across like that, does he? I've really only seen him get kinda aggressive with some other humans once, but they were scaring a human cub. I guess he's more like a pupsitter? Not that Scorp and I are pups anymore..." Here he frowned, contorting the blaze of black fur that ran up the center of his face as he tried to put some sort of title on his human. When food was mentioned though, Shrike immediately brightened and even stood up, patting a paw against the sodden ground in invitation, "Those are just snacks, he feeds us all sorts of good meats and things! Why don't you follow us, and he'll share some more with you?"

Scorp

He was listening Im more an alpha then him He mumbled.

Rikka

With his movements slow and deliberate, blue eyes had moved from the human to settle on the younger wolf in front of her, her soaked tail breaching the shallow water and dipping back in with each wag. His murmuring was lost in the background, her head tilting as Shrike explained his two-leg's possible position among the humans. 'A pupsitter, huh? Well, I guess that would make sense. Seems trustworthy enough to look after young ones.' Her thoughts trailed off along with Shrike's before they circled back to the food.

Again, the invitation was thrown our there, a simple walk as the proposal. "Well..." As usual, her eyes flickered to the human, watching his hand that had dipped into the same pocket that the meat had come from. She could feel her stomach growl at the prospect of the second or possibly third piece. "What's the worst that could happen? I just hope an older gal like me doesn't slow you down." Rikka gave a soft smile, moving to stand slowly and shake off some of the swamp water soaked into her fur.

Quentin & Shrike

A second piece of jerky was produced and tossed gently in Rikka's direction, this time not forcing the wolf to get uncomfortably close to him. "You don't look injured, but you're a bit bony." His words continued, as meaningless to the canines as their ongoing analysis of his status was to him. Again with great care and with no abrupt motions, Quentin rose to his full height and brushed some leaves from his now soaked knee and lower leg. "Hang on a few more weeks, and food will be plentiful again." He assured the she-wolf, not at all anticipating her joining them on their trek. He was more worried about his pets following her, leading the man to whistle out and pat his leg, "Harley! Shrike - come! Lets keep walking."

Despite his previous claims of no longer being a pup, Shrike pranced his front legs in excitement when Rikka's gave in on his second attempt and then dropped briefly into a playbow out of sheer joy. "No, no, don't worry about that! Quentin is pretty slow with his two legs, so you won't bog us down at all." Then he popped back up and took a few strides in Quentin's direction, while offering a short bark to Scorponok, "Hey Scorp, come say hi to Rikka!"