Man, I suddenly had a lot of inspiration for this one. Haha. SSWM: 830

In the three months that Kesho had been back in Inferni, he had only met perhaps half of his packmates, if even that. It wasn't something that had necessarily been causing his brain to itch, but he did desire to have more friends, at the very least. His old age make it a bit hard to mesh with the younger members of the clan, though he'd been trying his best to update himself. He'd even gone so far as to walk around in Optime form more frequently, donned with the tattered dark red scarf that Alyssum had given him; he'd left behind the simple leather bag he'd recovered from Halifax. Maybe this fresh appearance would help with his feelings of age and separation. Whatever the outcome, he tried to put these thoughts out of his mind, for now.

The old man was enjoying a jaunt in the near dusk, feeling exceptionally spry today. The Hastati had managed to fashion a weapon from a rib bone of a deer he'd slain in this form, proud and confident for having mostly overcome his fear of the form. Though the rusty male was not looking for a meal, he kept his nose and ears up, eyes alert, for any signs of movement that he might be able to take advantage of.

As soon as the moon's light began to fade completely, a breeze caught his nostrils and he froze. An ear twitched; he heard movement. It was small, probably just a rabbit, but he could not deny himself the thrill of the hunt; even an easy one like this. Immediately he crouched low, now wishing that he was in his Secui form, but knew despite the odd posturing, he could catch the small mammal.

The creature paused to sniff the ground, it's ears ridden with spasms, attempting to detect what it felt was closeby. It was in this moment that Kesho made his move.

The rusted man slid around the trunk of the tree that had provided his shelter, immediately leaping to the rabbit, powerful legs propelling him within inches of the creature. However, he had failed.

In an annoying feat of anticipation, the hare sped off, and though Kesho had attempted to catch the small beast with the blade of his knife, the thing had evaded him. A low growl, and he angrily stalked off after the thing. How dare you get away from me...

But suddenly he saw quick movement ahead of him, the rabbit now out of sight. With a grumble he broke into a rhythmic, fast run, trying to now make up for the moments of slacking. But, it was too late.

A dark figure had snatched up the creature right before his eyes. From fifty feet away the Hastati watched, his dark red eyes shadowed with a pale rage for whoever had stolen his kill.

He quickly remembered where he was; still in Inferni. So, the perpetrator must have been a clan member. Immediately his tension was relieved, although his hackles remained raised, an eyebrow cocked in curiosity as he neared.

Into his vision came a small, jackal-looking girl. She possessed a red mask, like Kaena, and Kesho instantly recalled her; he remembered the look of disgust she'd given him at the clan meeting. Now he regretted approaching at all. Now, the tension rose again, if only slightly.

Kesho paced forward; the last drops of moonlight spilling through the canopies of the trees highlighted the spilled blood around the girl, and her red-stained mouth, teeth, and paws. She had made quick work of the beast, as he would have.

The old man did not know the Lykoi girl's name, but would now be sure to find out. Not all Lykoi were the same, Kesho soon discovered, and some would take much time to trust. Halo was quickly becoming an important ally to him, but the others, well... There was a group of hippie, peace-and-love preaching sisters, all Lykoi. And what to think of them? They would be the death of Inferni, he thought. They needed to bring their heads from the clouds. So did he.

"Hello, again." Kesho stated simply. He wondered if she remembered his name, but decided not to ask, and instead wait and see. "We tracked the same animal." he said, a small smirk on his face, trying to be friendly but unsure of her feeling towards him, now. "Nice night." the man nodded rather awkwardly and stiffly to the woman.

Kesho took several deep breaths, still recovering from his sprint, fingering the bone knife in his hand. Now, though, he tucked it into the makeshift strap he'd made; a tie around his leg, to hold that blade only. He was not looking to fight this girl, that was sure. And maybe, if they actually spoke at length, she might not think so lowly of him; or he of her.

No worries, I'm sorry, too! I didn't notice this right away. :X Also, weird post. WC: 560

The jackal woman chose not to respond to Kesho, but instead motioned for him to follow her. He eyed her slightly grumpily, nodding reluctantly and following with a slight roll of his eyes. Not even a greeting? Hmm. And where exactly was she taking him? He figured she must have a den or something nearby, but he couldn't understand the sudden and desperate need to go there, without any words whatsoever.

It wasn't an incredibly long walk, and Kesho didn't mind it. Ignoring his traveling partner as she did to him, he allowed himself to focus on his steps, trying to stretch out his achy muscles as they moved. He was getting used to the winter's weather once again, and was even learning to enjoy it's frigid embrace. Nevertheless, he would not object to a brief escape from the windy, snow-blown chill of the night.

The old Hastati realized with a bit of relief that Sepirah must have lived in the caves as well, for their feet were carrying them through the rocky outcroppings now. Kesho himself had recently made his home in these same caves, although his was a bit farther into the depths than hers appeared to be. They passed near Kaena's home, and instinctively Kesho's ears swerved to try to pick up any sounds from that place that might tell him she was home. No sounds came, however, and with a slight frown he determined she must have been elsewhere. The ebony Lykoi girl led him into her home and he watched as she shook the light layer of snow off of her coat, sitting on her bed and pulling a large blanket over her body. A quick glance to her fur told him that she clearly was not built for this weather; the strong jackal blood in her made her more adapted to a warm climate. While his fur was not as thick as, say, Gabriel's, it did provide him a bit more insulation than that. Idly, he brushed the remains of the snow off of his fur, as well.

”Sorry for not saying anything before. I wanted to get out of the cold.” the dark girl spoke with a shiver, bringing the carcass towards herself. ”Perhaps you’d like to share this meal with me then, seeing as we were both after the same thing?” she proposed before she began to gnaw on the thing herself.

With a nod and a very slight smile, he politely declined. "No, thanks. I could eat a whole one myself; I'm sure you could, too. I'll just hunt later." In all truth, the man wasn't even that hungry, but the snack would have been nice. She offered to share, though, and that was enough.

The Hastati glanced around for a moment and took a seat for himself, across from her. Red eyes scanned the room, wondering if there might be anything special about it. So far, however, it seemed fairly uninteresting.

Feeling a bit awkward, he attempted to make conversation. "You don't like the cold, hm?" After a brief pause, he added, "My bones don't like it much either, anymore." The cold tended to make his joints ache, although he found that if he remained active and warm enough, the pain was minimal. The man wondered if this girl had thought to wear any human clothes, besides just a scarf. Though he thought them silly and unnecessary, she might be able to tolerate the cold better with such things.