The lithe adult’s amber eyes fell on the teenager, who returned the stare indirectly. She would not gawk blatantly at the stranger, but her gaze remained only centimeters below level with the other’s. She knew when to respect her elders; she was not her sister Valencia, yapping at everyone and acting like she owned the entire world.
The stranger replied enigmatically, her tone accented in a way that brought a twitch to Tommy’s semi-pricked ears. It was not an altogether unpleasant sound, but it was different. She did not know what else she had expected, but that certainly hadn’t been it. The intrigue that had been stirring in her since she first laid eyes on the beige-topped wolf—who seemed to have a trace of some other canine in her heritage judging by her distinct leanness—was only heightened by the sound of those words. However, it was apparent that she hadn’t stumbled onto a pack territory without knowing it. The adult smelled of no wolf; she was as alone as Tommy.
Without another word, the long-limbed figure swung back around and continued to stride away in that steady lupine lope. In most cases, the yearling would have reclined on her rock again or sought somewhere else to go, but as new here as she was, she knew that she would need some assistance. While she preferred being independent, she was no fool; she could not survive here on her own without at least some information to go by.
Jumping off the stone, Tommy landed in the sand and shook some of the wetness from her fur. She followed the stranger at a polite distance, not seeing the sense in shifting shape if the optime was moving on all fours anyway. Her voice was composed as she questioned the other wolf-mix. “Excuse me if I’m being blunt,” she began, before taking a long pause to gather her thoughts. “You don’t seem like you were born here.” Her yellow eyes rested briefly on the other’s coat, which wasn’t as long as many of the northern breeds’. She took in a breath and finished, getting the query over with. “May I ask how long you have lived here? I come from the southern part of the mainland, and I’m interested to know how easy it is to adapt to living here.”
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