Nootau’s focused only wavered a moment at the alarming call of an unknown species of bird, but he did glance in the direction. When he returned his eyes to the stranger a moment later, the fellow looked damn friendly. Nootau blinked. What had happened? Not a second ago he had felt that he might to have to protect his food. Nootau was unsettled for a moment, but the feeling passed more quickly than it had come upon him. The stranger had decided to be kindly if he had even debated being aggressive before. That was all Nootau needed to grin happily and wagged his tail at him. Maybe knowing that there was prey within easy reach had made the loner feel less survivalist and more conversational.

The stranger’s words confirmed Nootau’s thoughts and the young male responded joyfully, “That’s a relief. When you growled, I wasn’t sure what you wanted.” Nootau lay down by the meal of meat and bone. He tucked the mangled rabbit firmly between his forepaws and took a nice, big chunk into his mouth and snapped it down his throat. But he paused, and tilted his head. He still didn’t know why the loner was hanging around. Usually the wolves Nootau met approached for a specific reason.

And since the wolf wasn’t leaving, as signaled by the sitting position, Nootau figured he might as well make sure the wolf didn’t need something. But, introductions would be first. It put a name with a face and a face with a scent. Then, Nootau could easily find the wolf again should he discover he needed to, or properly greet them the next time they met. All that crazy proper stuff that was important to common wolves like him. “I’m Nootau, who are you?”

If there was nothing the taller wolf wanted, Nootau was happy to have him around anyways. It could be the black wolf was looking for company. Nootau could relate to the emotional need of a companion, even for a short while. Nootau detested being alone, for he had spent far too much of his life that way. So, pleasant company was more than welcome. Maybe they could go hunting later… or exploring the crags. Maybe both? Nootau eyed the black wolf, trying to guess if the wolf would enjoy that sort of outing. He couldn’t make up his mind, so he took another happy bite of his favorite food.