“There is about to be a squirrel genocide.”

The small tawny coywolf twitched her ears and glared across at the plump squirrel, which twitched its tail a few times then resumed sprawling out on the ground in the patch of sunshine. It looked so goddamn vulnerable, but she knew that if she took another step in its direction, it would flick up a tree faster than she could snap. She also knew another step would make her a threat again, and her head was already smarting from thrown acorns and pinecones and all sorts of ammunitions the buggers cached for the purpose of throwing at random wolves. She could sense dozens of the creatures up above, and she couldn’t tell the rustling leaves from the squirrels’ chattering anymore.

“This is problematic,” Vesper growled, and she took a seat. It was more dignified for her to sit still rather than go sprinting under a rain of nuts. Then again, all chances of being dignified were erased the moment she let the creatures get to her. She was a predator; she ate squirrels that crossed her path. She did not let them throw things at her.

All she had to do was wait for them to lose interest; the sunlight would be gone in about half an hour, if she judged the color of the sky right. And, after that—who knew? She could try her paw at hunting some nocturnal animals, or she could rest. The female liked to make use of as many hours of the day as she could, but there was always the prospect of sleeping.

She sighed, closing her eyes—until the sound of soft paws on leaf-litter made them snap open again.

Vesper whirled around, hackles stiff and ears alert, and got a pinecone thrown at her for her trouble. However, the squirrels vanished in that moment, returning to whatever duties she’d called them away from.

Something was coming.

Here you go. My posts will get better. ><

“Do you always jump like a frightened hare when you see someone else?”

A russet-and-white-patched shape stepped across the leaves toward her, and a smirk was visible under a pink nose. The canine was both older and larger than her (at least in this form), and there were traces of others on her; she belonged to a pack of some sort. All of this was revealed with a quick, cautious sniff, before Vesper settled her rear to the ground and watched the thin female creep closer.

The coywolf snorted at the questions but kept her cool. “I suppose I’m expected to roll over and show my belly for every creature that comes stamping through the forest this close to sunset,” she said with easy sarcasm.

Her light blue eyes flickered over the stranger, vaguely interested in her rich, near-crimson dog-like markings. Her eyes, by contrast, were colorless. While Vesper had seen stranger creatures traveling around ’Souls for the short time she’d been here, it was still somewhat intriguing.

“What, you have personal experience with these critters?” Vesper motioned up in the trees with her muzzle, and a squirrel disappeared around to the other side of the trunk, chattering wildly.

lol That's quite all right. Meanwhile, I'm really sorry for the extremely short post. I didn't know what else to write.

The muscular, russet-patched canine growled loudly; the sound caused Vesper to bristle and narrow her eyes in turn. She was somewhat surprised by the show of aggression, only because it seemed so out of the blue. She had made sure not to trespass onto any lands, so all she could reason from this was that the stranger had expected her to just submit to the taunting. The hybrid’s lip curled slightly, but she did not move from where she was seated, deciding not to be the first to start the fight.

“Zalen?” The unfamiliar word rolled awkwardly off her tongue, and Vesper snorted. “Sounds rather nasty.” She lifted her head, keeping it almost at the level of the bicolor hybrid, all bright-eyed arrogance. “No one is superior than me.” She grinned challengingly. “Unless you want to prove you’ve got some bite to back up that bark, sweetheart.”

If this somehow came down to a fight, she was ready. As much as she liked the energy and strategy that came into battle, contrary to popular belief she did not particularly enjoy scrapping with everyone she met. Discipline and control of emotions was as much of a virtue as skill in battle. It would be a waste of energy to tussle with this stranger, especially when they had nothing other than words to quarrel over.

“Maybe I’ll sprout wings,” the coywolf muttered on the topic of squirrels, but her disinterest in the topic came through in her voice. They seemed less brave when there was more than one scrawny loner to harass, but that was just fine with her. She’d get her revenge whenever she caught one closer to the ground.

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