this life does not end with death, there is a journey left to make;
ancestors watch over us and guide the path we take

The shewolf seemed placated by the presentation of his paw, tended to once more and the bleeding staunched better than it had been before. Yet it was her next action that truly intrigued the snow white male, and his waving tail froze in midair as he appraised her movements to cover the blood his injury had left behind in the soil. He had not seen one so attentive to covering another's tracks in a long time, not since he had belonged to a pack. But they were little more than strangers - what reason did she have to so adamantly strive to conceal his presence within these woods? Her huff caused his tail to wave back and forth once more, releasing the momentary tension in the air. Still, he was curious about her, about the pack she must belong to, about why she was so concerned with him and the tracks he left in his wake.

A whine built in his throat, until finally his jaws splayed wide in a yawn that rid him of any lingering stress from the initiation of their encounter. He shook his head for only a moment before his frosty eyes locked with those of vivid yellow, and the look in her eyes caused the dynamic of their tryst to shift. When she dropped down he leaned forward, his muscles taut with anticipation, and then just as suddenly she lurched back and away. Iluq chuffed excitedly. When she slapped the ground with her paws he had a hard time holding himself back from lunging forward to engage in her tantalizing dance. But as she lingered low to the ground in such a playful manner, he could not help but prance forward to momentarily station himself just above her. His head turned to hover over her withers, and then he bounced backwards and to the side, his tail flung high.

His good forepaw was extended towards her, batting at the air in play before he wheeled away, bounding off a few steps into the woods before turning and leaping back towards her. He stopped, legs stiff with anticipation, ready to react to whatever she threw his way. She might belong to a pack today, but there was an instinctive, primal desire building within the very core of Iluq's being to liberate her from all that and create something new. It was a testing that was as old as time itself - the challenge of a young male come to seek the daughter of some staunch leader. But the ways of these lands were unfamiliar to him, he was unaware of how it would be impossible for him to carve out a space within these foreign lands to claim for him and her alone. The six packs that reigned supreme here had never tested one another's boundaries in the need to claim more space for themselves. In time he would learn - perhaps she would show him the truth and strangeness of these lands - but for now, she had consumed his attention entirely.

ILUQ