Hunting had always been a favorite pastime of Slade’s, and today was no different. It was morning, with the sun already up but not quite at its highest point, and life was stirring all around. Slade had been awake for a long while by now, of course, and it was because of this that he found himself spying on a tangled group of bush roots. He was certain that there must have been some mouse underneath, hiding. He would wait as long as he needed to in order to catch that pesky little rodent. Would it fill him up? No. Was it really worth crouching, in the chilly morning air, for at least ten minutes? No. But it was something for him to do, as he knew that he was unlikely to find others around at this very moment. Cercatori d’Arte’s territory was large, and most Luperci would likely be in their houses or not hunting. Well, let them be, because Slade wasn’t going to start the conversation.


Lost in thoughts, the young coyote hardly noticed when his long-stalked prey scampered out of the bush, right between his paws, under his belly, and away out of sight. Slade growled. If he couldn’t catch a mouse, what good was he? Right, not much. Scowling, he shook his head and started wandering, keenly aware of his snarling stomach. He sniffed around in search of other prey, but all he could pick up were a couple of squirrels. They hardly filled him, but they were enough to shut his stomach up, and that was good enough.


By noon, Slade stumbled upon a semi-familiar place: Thornbury. He had seen the town just a bit on his tour of the territory, but this was the first time that he had found it on his own. Well, he lived in Cercatori d’Arte, and wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to do a bit of territory exploring. Maybe he could find himself someone who would be willing to teach him how to write or write for him while he was at it. Then he scolded himself for letting his mind wander again, and continued snuffing around.


Most of the houses he found were made of stone, a few of wood which seemed to be rotting, but what really stood out to him were the vines that covered nearly all of the ones he saw. Shaking his head, his never-still mind began to envision himself as an older coyote, a famed explorer, who had just stumbled upon the ruins of an ancient, sacred place. Somewhere around here was a gem, a priceless thing that others would kill to find, and it was now up to the coyote to find it.


Slade’s imagination did him more harm than good when it came to activities other than hunting; he quickly found his head stuck in a thorn bush because his imaginary self saw something glinting between the barbs. He didn’t try struggling, having a feeling that it would do more harm than good, and instead could only stand there like an idiot.


Slade, he grumbled to himself, you fail.

OOC: Thanks for joining!
I'm assuming that Valinta's in Optime form; I know that your profile says otherwise, but I don't think that Secui have fingers.


The scent of an unfamiliar female suddenly reached Slade’s nose, and he willed himself not to sigh. As if being stuck in a thorn bush wasn’t already humiliating enough on its own, he now faced the issue of being stuck in the prickles in front of someone else. He supposed it was better than standing there all day, and it likely wouldn’t have been a while before someone came along, but it didn’t make the situation any less embarrassing. He acknowledged her words with a small nod, saying nothing.


He felt her picking at the spikes for a bit, and when she stopped he assumed it was safe to exit. Slowly, he stepped back until he was completely out of the bush. Turning around, Slade found himself faced with the female who had spoken earlier. She asked him if he was all right, and he fought for a moment to find his voice before saying, "Yeah. Um… yeah. I’m fine. Just, you know, got stuck in a bush...." He finished with a chuckle that was hardly intended to be humorous.


Trying to gulp down his embarrassment, Slade dipped his head and turned his eyes away. "So, ah, thanks for saving me... from the bush...." He had never had much luck speaking with strangers, let alone the fact that this “stranger” was someone from his own pack, and he had a very good feeling that he hadn’t made a good first impression. He had a habit of mentally beating himself up whenever he made a major blunder, and he really hoped that it wasn’t showing through the fact that he was unintentionally grumbling nonsense.


He hardly had the chance to think that it would be a smart idea for him to introduce himself, at least with a name… though maybe the female would be able to figure out that his name was Slade because it was the only sensible word that could be distinguished from his babbling.

OOC: Heh, that's fine; we're all human. (Right?)


It was fortunate for Slade’s sanity that the female - who introduced herself as Valinta - didn’t wrap her arms around him, as he usually didn’t like being touched. He was by no means snobbish or conceited, but simply felt very awkward when someone else was grabbing him. Besides, he had just met Valinta, and he would have been scared to a degree if she had decided to take that course. There was no telling what would happen after that, but it would likely result in a bitten arm on Valinta’s part.


Slade realized he was mumbling, which he promptly stopped. He was making a fantastic first impression on Valinta. Wondering why he even cared what she thought of him and quickly figuring that it was because she was a packmate, he cleared his throat and introduced himself as asked. "My name’s Slade." Usually after saying that, he would ask the other who they were, and hopefully have them be the conversation starters. In this case, however, he already knew the name of the other wolf. Tilting his head slightly, he tried to think of some way to start chatting. He could start conversations with those he knew in a snap, but with those unfamiliar to him, it took a moment to think of a topic. He wasn’t about to get up and leave, passing up the opportunity to meet a packmate, but he wasn’t going to start rambling about how his days in the pack had been so far, either.


After his mind failed him, Slade turned to his imagination and let a question slip: "So, what talent do you have?" Immediately he regretted saying it, as the wording might make it seem as if he were saying Valinta had no talent. Inwardly screaming at himself for being stupid - and fortunately managing to keep it inward - he added, "Just a question. I mean, this is a pack about art."