There was someone outside. Strangely uneven clicks of someone’s claws on the rock echoed to Alana’s corner of the cave. She turned toward the noise, eyes wide. Having been previously facing the darkness of the depths of her cave, she blinked her yellow-green eyes at the sunlight coming in through the entrance, trying to see who was outside. Before her eyes adjusted, she heard the other female’s words. Good, he hadn’t found her yet. Or at least, it wasn’t him directly. She had to be suspicious in these lands. After all, it had been a female that he had “fought off” before he….before she was hurt. Who is to say they weren’t working together?

Shortly after the other spoke, her eyes adjusted enough for her to see the figure in the cave entrance. The wolfess was younger than her, or at least, she appeared to be younger. Young enough to have not been around when Alana was last in these lands. She seemed harmless enough, and at any rate, as long as Alana kept her distance, she could probably outrun her. It was hard to tell from this angle, but the fall-colored wolf seemed only slightly larger than Alana herself. If the other was alone, she was probably safe enough.

She rose from her place in the shadows, a grey shadow emerging from grey rocks. Her haste to cross Moladion to Glorall had left her coat in something of a wayworn state, but it helped her blend in with the rocks of the Grotto. Her small paws carried her towards Gaia, although she did not leave the darkness of her cave.

“I am Alana, formerly of Glorall,” she said quietly, not wanting to be overheard. Formerly of Glorall, indeed. How many years had it been now since she was a member of that pack? She had been only seven or eight when she left these lands, and she had now counted thirteen springs. It was unlikely any in these lands even remembered her. “What is it that you offer?”

True enough, she could see now that Gaia was only slightly larger than herself and was built just as lean. Perhaps company could suit them both. After all, it had been a pack that Alana had come back to these lands for. The only reason she wanted a pack was for protection. There was no unwritten wolf-law declaring that protection came only from numbers in a pack and not from numbers in general.

Still cautious, but not feeling threatened by the girl, Alana sat, though her eyes did still occasional scan the forest beyond Gaia. She may not find the girl threatening, but that did not mean that they were alone here.

Alana
. female . thirteen years . 29 inches 75 pounds . no mate . no life . Glorall .
. mother of Grendal .