Into The Valley

        If Gods existed, Mirai, thought, the mountain prairie would be their hideaway. Their safe haven.
        The towering slopes of rock had donned their winter finery, sweeping long, flowing coats of satiny white over their shoulders whose hems cascaded down within the prairie itself. It would have seemed ironic, given how void of life and deathly still the place was. How could it be Eden on earth, never mind the playground of deities? But wolves who didn't come to the Valley would never have known the bruised blue sky as it was now. Or the sharp, chilling air that pierced her throat with each deep inhale. The green had not yet completely faded for it was still early, and while surveying the valley walls one would have seen large patches of moss combating the powdery white, tinges of life where there were none. Mirai sniffed the air, poised like a marble statuette atop a slick, flat rock that lay embedded in the ground a short distance from the cave mouth she had just emerged from. It was cold. Perhaps not cold enough to make her want to curl up and sleep, but cold enough to send a mind-numbing chill darting through her body.
        It had been a while since the she-wolf had last eaten, but Mirai thought she could still last for a while despite the pangs of hunger that kicked at her belly. Occasionally she picked up the tantalizing scent of prey, and saliva would begin to pool within her maw, yet she would realize it belonged to some passing bird and was probably way beyond her reach. In half-irritation, she lashed her tail and leaped down from the rock in one bounding stride. How lovely it would be, to have a pack she could call her own and packmates to hunt with. If there was anything that life had taught Mirai, it was that you were stronger with numbers. Moose wouldn't simply roll over, dead, for any scavenging wolf to pick up. Deer didn't hunt themselves. If there was anything Mirai had learned the hard way, it was that a lone wolf could be so utterly useless.
        For now, the view of the vast prairie was food enough. Mirai listened to the crackle of snow underfoot and the distant calls of some unnameable birds as she padded further away from the cave, piercing brown eyes roving across her surroundings for any signs of movement. And then she saw it. But certainly not the sort of movement she was expecting. Mirai blinked, and skittered back on her paws a couple paces, attempting to get a better glimpse of the dark shape suddenly bolting across the moss. It was another wolf. Another wolf! Perhaps the first one she had seen since she came to this land. Suddenly fueled with energy, the silver female carefully strode forward, taking care to keep a respectable distance between this stranger and herself. The other wolf seemed to have caught a squirrel and was already devouring it ravenously when Mirai cleared her throat softly. She didn't want to startle the wolf in any way. "Excuse me?" the silver female began politely, her soprano voice a tad stiffer than it usually was. "If it isn't such a burden, and if you are willing, I'm a little unsure where to go in this Valley." It wouldn't be so unbelievable if this strange dark-furred she-wolf rejected Mirai's request for a guide. This was coming from a complete stranger who had probably just intruded on her meal, and she couldn't yet tell if she was hostile or not. Hopefully she could be saved from quite a bit of embarrassment.

        When the she-wolf readily agreed to Mirai's offer, the latter internally heaved a sigh of relief. It was good to know that the female with mis-matched eyes that Mirai actually found pretty was more than willing to take on travelling companions. Mirai herself, though evidently not the most social creature, could hardly pass up on some company when given the chance. And, she thought, a shiver snaking through her body, they would need all the help they could get in this bitterly cold weather. "I would like for us to travel together," she said in response to the dark wolf's words. "My name is Mirai. Do you intend on joining a pack sometime down the road?"
        Another draft of wind swept towards her velveteen nose, and it twitched slightly at the sudden influx of new scents. Though many of them were stale and possibly days-old, there were a couple that were startlingly fresh and near. As if on cue, her head whipped around in the direction of those potent wolf scents, searching for any glimpse of lupine movement that could flutter across the white terrain. More rogues? They certainly didn't smell like pack scents, nor did they possess any sort of cohesiveness. Mirai flicked a ear. For two dark shapes had suddenly come loping in their direction, with one visibly dwarfed by the other. She assumed they were travelling partners as she and the other female were soon becoming, but as they drew closer and their voices became more apparent, Mirai had a brief impression of two brutes very unwillingly thrown together to face some trial or tribulation. 
        She knew there was no real danger. Mirai knew what impending doom felt like and this wasn't one of those emotions. She appraised the two males rather like an art critic would, though her hackles remained lowered and her ears erect. Perhaps one of them would say something first? She wasn't sure of their intentions approaching two females without so much as a warning, and besides they seemed much more preoccupied bickering amongst themselves than even face them.