Settling in is a Challenge

Blaze padded through the forest in her lupus form, sniffing for any sign of prey. She had been part of the Inferni for only a few days and was already tired of the other canines. She needed some time alone, so she decided to be useful and hunt.

Blaze scanned the snowy forest, her ears pricked and attentive. She had sent Midnight to try to find some form of prey. She was hoping for at least a rabbit. It'd be enough to feed someone. Though, maybe she could hunt down a deer. That'd surely be useful.

Blaze scanned the landscape once more before continuing onward. Her ears flickered at the sound of her paws crunching in the snow, and she growled with annoyance. She'd never hear the prey if she kept moving. Still, this area was clearly barren, and the pack needed food. She sped up to a trot, hoping to find an area with more life.

Yet now I'm standing here, my heart so full, I can't explain
Seeking faith and speaking words I never thought I'd say.

There was so much of this new territory that was still unfamiliar to Faith. She had taken some time to visit the other points that now made their borders.. but they felt so blank. Their scents were there, but the skulls she had become accustomed to had faded in the journey they made to this new place. It would have to be remade. No doubt her mother would find some join in being able to make more of her flower skulls. It was an art really. Dahlia could even help her by painting a few. Just because they had such a thing to label as a warning, didn't mean that all of them needed to look threatening. Besides.. if nothing else it would bring the family together.

Speaking of the pup, Crucifix offered to watch over her for the afternoon, giving the robed girl a chance to do as she wished. There was little free time for anyone in Inferni, as the winter during the move was already making it harder on them. Prey was harder to find, and many of them were still settling in. Her mother had been doing her best to help with some of her extended family, but even then it was limited due to her mental state. Perhaps spending some time with Antioch might help her to relax and open up more.

Faith made her way to the forest at the southern-most tip of their new borders. It was barren and not much of a sound was being made. A soft sigh came from her maw, then her ear twitched. There was the sound of something, or someone rather, moving about in the snow. Spinning her head around to the source, she caught sight of the lupus stranger picking up some speed in her step. Hoping that she was not in the middle of something, the Civilis padded over to her, "Hello. I don't think I've ever seen you before. Are you new to Inferni?

Hope you don't mind if I snag this. +300 words.

Blaze raised her head as she trotted through the snow, hoping to pick up the scent of prey. She didn't get prey, but instead the scent of an Inferni canine. A fellow Infernian she reminded herself as she looked around, trying to spot the other canine.

Blaze spotted the Infernian by her red robes and brown fur, just as noticeable as her. She eyed the stranger's styled mane and odd headpiece, as well as the way she held herself upright. Blaze had never been one for being civilized. The best she could do was wear a necklace and her old cape, though she'd left her cape in her den. It'd be too distracting.

Blaze flicked her ears as the stranger spoke. "Yup. I just joined a few days ago," she said, still examining the stranger. "My name's Blaze. What's yours?"

Yet now I'm standing here, my heart so full, I can't explain
Seeking faith and speaking words I never thought I'd say.

Faith was well aware that there were many in the clan that didn't operate in the same manner she did. She chose the life of the Lord, following in his light, and dressed herself for the occasion. Hope too wore clothing, but nothing to the extent she had. Her mother was more.. traditional perhaps, prefering to wear only shorts, if anything at all. Then there were those on her uncle's side, a man who chose to walk a more feral lifestyle compared to many others. Perhaps this woman was more like them. Maybe then she found more comfort in the caves than those who spent their lives in their former mansion.

As the robed girl approached the stranger, she couldn't help but feel like this woman looked familiar to someone else she had met. Another woman out beyond the borders, looking a bit similar in color to this one. Disregarding this, she offered the woman a smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you Blaze. My name is Faith de le Poer."

Turning her blue-green gaze out across the snow covered land, her nose took in the scents, not much could be taken in from the surrounding areas. Head shifted back down to the other woman, "Are you hunting? Perhaps I can give you a hand. We may stand a better chance if we hunt together." Faith had little practice when it came to hunting, but at least had some skill to help support her mother and her sister. If she could catch even something small, it was first shared between those who needed it, then her.

But this was winter, the time when prey would be the most scarce. The more chance they had, the better Inferni would be. As long as they could make it through the winter, they would be able to prosper much more once the prey returned in the spring.

+300 words.

Blaze snorted as Faith introduced herself fully. She wasn't used to canines with full names like hers. She supposed she'd have to get used to it, as it was normal in pack life. "Nice to meet you, Faith," Blaze said, quickly scanning the optime luperci.

Blaze nodded in thought as Faith suggested helping with her hunt. They'd have a better chance of catching anything together, especially in the winter months. "Yeah, I'm hunting. And I'd appreciate your help. It gets difficult during the winter," Blaze said, turning her attention to the snowy land. She'd need all the help she could get if she wanted to catch anything.

"I sent my friend, Midnight, out to see if she could find anything," Blaze explained. "She's a crow, so any prey will be much less startled by her than if they saw us." She scanned the terrain, looking for any sign of her avian friend. She wasn't shocked to see nothing, as it would be difficult for Midnight to find something and then manage to track her quickly. Blaze began making her way through the snow, hoping to find something.

"C'mon," The coywolf said, gesturing with her said for Faith to follow, "Let's see if we can find anything."

Yet now I'm standing here, my heart so full, I can't explain
Seeking faith and speaking words I never thought I'd say.

Faith was more than willing to assist with hunting. The more they would be able to catch for the clan, the better. It was comforting to hear the invitation from the other female to come and join her. There was just one small problem. The two of them were in different forms. Due to her nature, the darker of the two was much more used to being in her robes, there wasn't much reason for her to return to her more natural form; however, with no means of hunting in this form, she would have to be the one to change.

Stepping over to the side, the robed girl began to remove her iconic dress. A soft smile moved across her face as she saw Blaze turn her head to the side before their green gazes met again, "Why don't you go ahead? I need to shift before I will be able to help. I won't be too long." Truth be told, there was no exact timing when it came to the nature of shifts. All she knew was it was going to be a wait. It wasn't anything new, as she had done this a few times in order to provide for her family.

Once the other female was on the way, or chose to stay as the case may be, Faith's eyes closed, feeling the bones and muscles inside her body changing. It wasn't always the easiest thing to get used to. It took time, but she had shifted, and her robes where hung from a branch in one of the nearby trees so it wouldn't get too wet from the snow.

Now in a much more acceptable form, her paws carried her across the snow, turning her nose up to the wind to see if she could catch anything, or the trail of the other female had she decided to go ahead. When she was able to place herself at Blaze's side once more, though making note of where she had hung her clothing before leaving, she gave a nod, "Ok. I'm ready. Lead the way."

+300 words.

Blaze was glad Faith was joining her hunt. She was a good hunter, but the winter seemed to always mess with her. It was time she helped the pack, or clan as the canines there called it, and she would catch much less without the help. Blaze knew that their different forms could cause a problem, but had no way of hunting in Optime form. She was thankful when Faith moved away to shift.

"I'll try not to get too far ahead," Blaze said before trotting through the snowy landscape. She lifted her snout to find any hint of a scent. She smiled when the scent of another animal found its way to her while riding the wind. She couldn't tell what animal it was, due to her not knowing the area, but she was sure it was prey. She began following the scent slowly, making sure not to get too far away from Faith.

"Welcome back," Blaze said when Faith caught up. "I think I've got a scent. It may be a rabbit or something, I'm not sure yet. Let's go. I don't want to lose the trail." Blaze followed the scent the wind was blowing toward her and Faith, and soon found the trail. Her tail wagged happily, but she forced it to slow before continuing to follow the trail. She was hoping Faith knew what the trail would lead to, seeing as she was native to the area.

"Do you know what the trail is from?" Blaze asked a bit awkwardly. "I haven't been around here long enough to tell." Her green gaze shifted to Faith, hoping the dark furred female would know.

Yet now I'm standing here, my heart so full, I can't explain
Seeking faith and speaking words I never thought I'd say.

Faith knew that it would take time for her shift to be complete. Being that she was using it much more often in order to provide for her family, the time it would take was sure to be shortened. Hopefully once the prey began to return to the area, she wouldn't have to resort to doing this so often. It was much nicer, and much more fitting of her form to be on two legs, wearing her robes with pride as she offered her prayers to the Lord above. She hoped he was watching over all of them, granting them some mercy in their time of need.

The coyote girl trotted along, following Blaze's footsteps that had been left in the snow. Once she had caught back up, the other female explained she thought she caught the scent of a rabbit nearby. Not wanting to waste any time, she took the lead, leaving her to follow along. If she was so new to not only the clan, but to the area, then perhaps it would be better for her to take the lead to begin with. It would give her the chance to become more familiar with following the trails as well as what prey it belonged to.

Then there was a pause. She wasn't too sure, and was now beginning to second guess herself. Faith's head moved down, taking a small sniff of the trail they had begun to pursue. It was a bit hard to bring it to the front, the scent having gotten mixed in with the wet of the snow. One ear turned to the side, her head slowly came back up, giving her new partner a nod, "I think you were right when you said it was a rabbit. It seems it started moving this way." One of her front paws moved up, pointing in the direction she could gather from the lingering scent, "So let's head that way. There may be more than one. It's hard to tell from what I can smell."

+300 words.

Blaze didn't mind how long it took for Faith to shift. She knew that some luperci prefered to be in a single form, similar to her. She prefered her natural lupus form. It made hunting much easier, and she had gotten used to the use of four legs. Though, after becoming part of Inferni, she felt it was necessary to be in her optime form more often. It was an odd insecurity of hers, but she was determined to push past it and learn to be comfortable in all of her forms.

Blaze allowed Faith to lead, secretly happy. She was nervous she'd mess up in front of someone who knew what they were doing. If she wanted to prove she could provide for the clan, she had to learn the area. She decided that she'd investigate the entire territory as soon as she could, finding the best hunting spots and where to scavenge. Perhaps she could find a place with materials that could be used to make jewelry. She remembered being told it could help her with trading.

Blaze stopped beside Faith when she paused. The darker furred luperci seemed to be confused as she sniffed the trail. Blaze bent her head down and tried to see what she could get from the scent. It was indeed mixed in with the wetness of the snow, but Blaze could tell the trail was fresh. She looked to where Faith was pointing, and nodded in thought. "I think you're right when you say there's more than one," She said. "The trail is fresh, too, so they can't be too far off. Let's go." Blaze began walking through the snow, trying her best to keep it from crunching. If the trail was fresh, then the rabbits couldn't be too far away. She didn't want the snow to scare them off.

Yet now I'm standing here, my heart so full, I can't explain
Seeking faith and speaking words I never thought I'd say.

Faith knew she was not the best hunter, but learned quickly how to do so out of necessity. There was no way her family could just keep taking from the clan's gather storage of meat, especially with there being so little from the blaze that tore down the entire mansion. All of them would need to eat something, and in the harsh winter they were having with the move, she had been coming out here more and more. It was nice, at least in her mind, to be able to pick up on some things just from trial and error. It helped her to learn what things worked, what didn't work, and how to judge the scents along the snow.

Hopefully once spring came back to the world, she would be able to get some rest.

With the uncertainty in her discovery, Blaze came over, taking her own sniff of the same area. She too confirmed that there was likely to be more than one rabbit judging from the trail they had come upon, as well as her being able to pick out just how fresh it was, and in the same direction the girl had lifted her paw in the direction of. Now there was no uncertainty.

The lighter of the two females began to make the trail through the snow, doing her best to be as quiet as possible. That really was the challenge with hunting in the middle of winter. The snow might have had some bit of beauty to it, but it made life that much harder.

Faith followed along at her partner's side, taking a brief pause to sniff and judge how the scent was from where they had first started. No doubt, the scent was growing stronger the further the two pushed ahead. Then she stopped. Ears started to pull back as she lowered herself to the ground, moving behind a bit of cover. Blue green eyes peered forward at the pair of rabbits before them. It wouldn't be much.. but it was better than nothing, for both of them. Her head leaned over to Blaze, whispering, "There they are. I think if we can separate them, we'll each have a good chance at catching one of them. I can lead mine that way." One paw carefully moved up again, pointing over to the small area on the right. That may even be enough to draw the other one towards the left, right into her partner so long as she was in the right place at the right time.

+400 words.