Brush Lands

Tired paws grazed across the ground, the slightest noise being produced for only those who were talented listeners to hear. The albino pup still had some spirit in him, but truly he was dying of thirst and exhaustion in the heat, no matter if his blinding ivory pelt reflected the sunlight. He was lucky to have found a heavily rotting carcass, what looked to be a mouse that had been picked over. The thing crawled with peculiar little white worms that Mint had never seen before, but all the same they were almost disgusting to look at. With his little teeth he had managed to gnaw at what was left of the bile smelling meat, and presently he regretted even touching the thing. Poor little Mint was suffering through an agonizing stomach ache, hacking up a bit of what little he even had in his stomach. It made his journey to nowhere miserable, though he wanted so dearly to play.

The sounds of audible mumbo jumbo had hit his huge ears long ago, indicating that perhaps he could get help. To him, he knew no such thing as a big mean furry wolf that would dare eat him, or rather a wild coyote as he thought they were. Just like him, though little did he know that he was actually a coywolf. Just as the foreign voices became clear, Mint noticed something fluffy laying on the ground outside of the brush he was engulfed in. And then, suddenly, it moved, sliding across the terrain. A toy? Ignoring the gurgling spitfire that pained his stomach, a tiny, skinny form would come bouncing speedily through the brush on somewhat long limbs. "Ahhhh Ha!" he would voice giddily, pouncing on the puffy plaything, weak paws wrapping around it. 

In less than 10 seconds the young half breed realized that the fluff of his toy was in fact a long creamy colored tail, attached to a big body (Rowan). Realizing his mistake quickly, Mint scrambled off, but not to submit and apologize. No, he knew minimal words and he saw no harm in his play. Instead, he was intrigued that he was right infront of a real live wild coyote; the ones he had seen few times near the humans territory. A slender white tail flopped about happily, his whole back side seeming to sway rapidly with excitement. Mint, the innocent little thing, bounced over to face the coyote head on, staring wide eyed with a goofy smile. He recalled back to his previous two encounters with the species, trying to remember what they had taught them. "Hey, kid, if you ever see another one of me, say hi. Yes- hiii" the she-wolf would draw out. "And then, if they ask for your name say Mint! I think that's your name anyway," "Hieee!" he would attempt, sky blue hues drifting to find that there wasn't just one big wild coyote. Nevertheless, he wasn't scared. "Hiee!" he would repeat, his wide smile unfaltering. Afterwards his orbs would glance around between facing, hoping they had understood what he had said. Meanwhile, his stomach threatened to spill over once again, but his sickness wasn't apparent nor could he express it very well.

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Mentioned: Alpha Rowan , @wingnut , @eleven , @twizzle , @rain , Salutary Snow Rose , @elspeth
OOC: Forgive Mint's confused assumptions :3 He'll learn eventually.

The sun was set high above the thick vegetation, playing hide and seek behind groups of thick, white clouds. Dusty watched them as they leisurely floated across the blue sky. He admired the clouds, they seemed to show emotion that no one else seemed to acknowledge. When they were calm, they would traverse across the sky. When they were sad, they would cry and send water spraying down and drenching those beneath them. When they were angry, they would change into a dark grey and bark with a deep echo and send blinding light down to the earth. What made their emotions change was beyond him. Maybe they really did watch over the animals below, and when one would perish the clouds would cry for them. But after all, this was just another one of Dusty's silly speculations.

His eyes averted from cloud watching and he began to asses his surroundings once more. The grass was course and brown, covering the area around and beyond him. There were shrubs and thick bushes here and there and large patches of sticky, smelly mud. The prey around here was sparse, all Dusty had seen recently had been a grouse that was busy trying to find food for itself; and a hare that huddled beneath a bush, it's wide eyes watched him as he had past it. He hadn't been hungry then, but now he wished he had hunted while there was prey present. His stomach growled to only convey his thoughts to his silly brain. The tan wolf swiveled his ears to see if he could pick up a sound while his eyes and nose scouted for potential signs of sustenance. All he could smell was mud, all he could see was an area without mammals and all he could hear was the gentle breeze licking at his fur.

Silly head, he thought to himself, you have forgotten what it was like to be on your own, haven't you? Come now Dusty, you're better than that! Get it together and find something to eat. Then, find some shelter and take a rest. After all, you have traveled this far haven't you? With some new found reassurance from his own conversation with himself, he arose to his paws and stretched his forelegs, then his hind legs and gently shook his tan fur out. His paws and nose led him to a patch of ground where the earth was sort of dry and the grass was more spread out. His nose had caught the smell of an avian and he had been following it for a little ways now. At least his tracking dexterity was still sharp as ever. Once his black pupils locked onto a feathered specimen, he instinctively froze. He knew that birds were far more complicated to catch than any other small prey items he had ever hunted. He knew he had to get close and pounce on the grouse before it could take flight and be gone before Dusty could blink. The bird was standing beside a small puddle, tossing water onto itself. Granted, the water was dark and probably dirty. The grouse was more than likely getting filthier rather than cleaner. The male rogue didn't mind though, he was hungry and willing to consume anything with flesh at this point.

Every second seemed like an hour, he would take a step while the bird bathed but not another more once the bird looked up from its wash. When he deemed he was close enough, he bunched his muscles together for a swift dash over to the targeted animal but as soon as he was prepared, a startling noise set the bird a flight and almost had Dusty flying as well. His fur was spiked out and his eyes were wide with alarm. He couldn't place where it came from, but he knew he didn't want to find out. His nose quickly set to work to find what had made that slipping sound. Under the thick tang of mud covered most everything but a hint of wolf. It was closer than what Dusty was comfortable with and the male turned tail and retreated in the opposite direction. He wanted to avoid as much contact with other wolves as much as possible until he was completely aware that they could be possible allies. His long legs, deep chest and large lungs were the perfect equipment for a long distance sprinter and Dusty made swift ground between himself and the sound that had startled both his prey and himself.

Paws thudded on soft ground until he halted, tongue hanging from the side of his maw and his sides rapidly expanding and contracting in a swift pant. He looked all around to make completely sure that nothing was tailing him and he began to seek shelter immediately. There was a group of bushes closely planted together with enough leaves to at least partially protect him from the elements. He shrank down and crawled into them curling himself into a ball of fur and sighing once he felt comfortable. His eyes scouted around from what he could see beyond the leaves. Everything seemed to be silent once again and he began to relax and closed his eyes. Sleep didn't take long to swallow him whole after the run he had just been on. Once asleep, soft breathing could be heard from outside of his makeshift den.