Post by Curiosity on Jul 5, 2011 17:42:05 GMT -5
Characters Involved:
Malia, female wolf
Rowtag, male wolfdog
=== Calm River ===
Since departing her companion, Malia had followed the northern bank of the river, keeping north when she reached the fork near the base of the mountain. The scents of other wolves was already growing stronger than it had been at the pond, and became even more obvious the further she walked along the treeline. Pausing for a brief drink, the first time she had stopped since leaving Inteus behind, the off-white wolf takes a moment to reflect on her goals, and the approach best suited to attaining them.
There isn't really much rhyme or reason for why Rowtag is here. The water, must be. The wolf hybrid hadn't been around the lands of the Ute pack in quite some time, and thus the news of Wyanet and Hahtalekin's death is still unknown to him. Having found no real reason to stick around aside from the occasional chance to socialize; that he wasn't very good at to begin with, Rowtag decided that being by himself was probably the best. When the smell of another that is unfamiliar wafts toward his nostrils, the male's larger than normal ears press forward and his eyes focus on the wolf in the distance, but he stops short his approach to the water for the moment.
Her tongue laps at the water's surface, and Malia watches the resulting ripples, starting small at first but rapidly growing larger and wider in a matter of moments. The she-wolf is quickly alert again as the scent of a stranger nearby grabs her attention, lifting her head again to swiftly scan the surrounding forest. "Show yourself," she addresses the shadows with a subtle growl to her tone to show she means business.
Taking a few steps forward, Rowtag keeps his ears up but otherwise looks relatively neutral. So there's a new wolf around. So what? Keeping his eyes on her, he growls lowly as well in response to her own, though it's mostly just a mimic and not so much a threat. "Who're you?" He asks abrubtly, not really caring for manners with strangers.
Malia's bronze eyes flicker over to the other canine as he approaches, looking him up and down and sniffing at the air for a moment before she offers any reply. He doesn't smell exactly like most wolves, and there's something a bit off about his appearance... "Malia. Who are /you/?" she returns the male's question, though perhaps her tone implies she's looking for more than just the wolfdog's name.
"Malia? Never heard of you." He mutters, and takes a few steps forward in order to reach the water to get a drink, which he decides is the reason that he came over this way in the first place and not his usual roaming around for basically no reason. "Rowtag." Is the simple answer to her question, before he lowers his neck down in order to lap up some of the water, not even bothering to keep an eye on the other wolf for the moment.
"Well of course you haven't - I've only just arrived here yesterday," Malia answers simply, perhaps a bit too haughtily. As the hybrid steps up to the river's edge alongside her, she takes the opportunity for a closer look, confirming her suspicions. "You're a half-breed, aren't you?" Although the term certainly isn't the kindest one, the she-wolf doesn't appear too terribly prejudiced otherwise about the wolfdog's nature.
More focused on his drink, it takes Rowtag a few seconds to lift his maw from the water. But when he does, he looks just as disinterested as he was before he got the drink. "I see." Is all he offers, taking a few steps back away from the water and looking sharply at her with the 'half-breed' comment. "Yeah. That a problem?" He asks, his tone a bit more firm this time around.
"I don't know. Is it?" Malia quips with a convincing facade of a saccharine sweet smile, holding the male's intense gaze evenly with her own. "Hmm...I don't think so," she continues in apparent consideration, slowly pacing closer to the wolfdog, openly eyeing him up and down as she makes a lazy arc around him. "I think it's rather interesting. I like new things." Another wide, toothy smile.
Keeping his expression as apathetic as possible, Rowtag's ears flicker this way and that what with the bugs lingering around the water before he looks away and rolls his eyes a bit. "Whatever." Is the most polite response that he can come up with. "If you're looking to join a pack, I'd recommend somewhere else."
Malia isn't deterred by the hybrid's lack of apparent interest or concern, though her brow lifts at his last last off-hand comment. "Pity. A pack is exactly the thing I was looking for," the she-wolf laments with a single, slow swish of her tail. "Why is that, hmm?" she continues in inquiry, peering curiously over at the male as she does .
It would seem that his lack of interest does nothing to get the she-wolf to wander away from him, which was actually what he was going for. Only slightly annoyed by this, Rowtag gives a roll of his shoulders and sits down on the grass still nearby the water. "There's one around here, but it's not worth the effort. Trust me."
Now she's intrigued...if she wasn't already. "Oh? Why do you say that?" A thought occurs to Malia, and she adds: "Did they not want a half-breed around, diluting their pure blood?" The voiced assumption is a bit of a spur, perhaps intentionally so in an attempt to goad the wolfdog into revealing more telling information about the nearby pack than he normally might share with a stranger.
Scowling a bit at the jab to his bloodline again, Rowtag growls very quietly and shakes his head, scoffing and looking away from the wolf. "No." He says simply, and thinks over his distaste for the back and why exactly he wouldn't recommend going there. "..Actually, now that I think more on it, I think you'd fit in there quite nicely." Really it's an insult, but his tone still sounds neutral enough. "Go for it."
Malia knew her comment was walking the line between riling up the wolfdog and having him turn against her, but she was willing to take that chance, and he hasn't completely shut her off yet. As such, she presses further, not relenting in her search for valuable bits of information. "Oh, Rowtag, I didn't mean to upset you," she murmurs, feigning familiarity in her tone as she steps up closer to the seated wolf, circling around to his front with the lightest brush of her tail against his side as she does so. "I really do want to know more about them, though. Won't you please tell me?"
With his eyes locked on the wolf, Rowtag clearly isn't impressed with the apology, or with the brush of her tail on his side. In fact, he shifts his weight a bit afterward to make his distaste visible, and another quiet growl comes from the only minorly riled up hybrid. "I'm sure." Is his response, before he flicks his ears back just a hair. "There's not much to tell. I haven't been around them in a while."
Malia doesn't show any visible response to the male's reaction, though she adjusts her behavior accordingly nonetheless. "Why not? You never told me why it wouldn't be worth joining up with them...are they a very small, or very aggressive pack?" she questions further, attempting to determine more precisely what sort of wolves she might be up against.
Chuckling quietly, Rowtag leans to one side and with one of his hind paws reaches up and scratches at the back of an ear slowly. "I told you, nevermind. If you're looking to join a pack the one around here is as good as any other I suppose. Though I don't typically hold packs in a very high regard, so. Do so at your own risk." Resting his paw back on the ground and straightening out, he adds, "Like you had planned on doing."
Malia huffs a little at Rowtag's stubborn insistence to keep his muzzle shut on the matter, but she knows full well that two can play at that game. "Well, I'd just like to know exactly what I'm getting into before I dive right in, you know?" the creamy-pelted she-wolf continues, taking a few steps away from the wolfdog once again in her sporadic circling of the male. "I don't typically hold other packs in very high regard, either...and I like taking risks," she continues somewhat cryptically. "But only when I have a good idea of the risks involved. I was hoping you might be able to help me with that, but..." Malia trails off, trying yet another tactic in an attempt to get something more out of the male than just annoyed apathy.
With a devious sort of smirk appearing, Rowtag inwardly laughs at Malia's stubbornness that is almost equal to his own, at least concerning the topic of conversation. "What would you have done then if you hadn't run into me?" He asks just to be obnoxious, and stretches his front legs out in front of him in order to lay on the ground. "The risks involved with attemtping to join this pack are the same as any other I'd assume. I'm not a joiner." Pausing, he looks back over to her. "Unless you had a more specific question."
"Found someone else a little more willing to oblige a stray she-wolf like myself," Malia quips without a second thought, as though she's already thought two steps ahead no matter what. Her yellow-tinged ears lift alertly at one of the hybrid's off-hand comments, however, and she's quick to respond in kind. "Neither am I. There are leaders and there are followers...and I am not a follower," she answers with a crooked smirk spreading across her maw. "I might even go so far as to say I'm more of a...taker. What about you, Rowtag?" she continues further, attempting to meet and hold the wolfdog's gaze until she gets her answer.
"How unfortunate that you ran into me instead." He says with another quiet chuckle, and lets out an exasperated sounding sigh, since this is probably the most he's had to actually talk to anyone in quite some time. "A taker? Ooh." Rowtag mutters with feigned intimidation, mocking her in a sense. "I'm none of the above. I said I don't think highly of packs, and I see no reason to be a part of one if it isn't necessary."
A subtle growl rises in Malia's throat at the presumptuous underestimation of her ability - it's not as if she's doing this alone, of course, and if this halfbreed would be so kind as to just help her out a bit, why, then she'd have even more support. "Well, since you don't think very highly of this pack, and I could use a little...help getting them to see things /my/ way, why shouldn't we try working together just a little bit to 'soften' them up, hmm?" the creamy-pelted wolf suggests in as selling of a voice she can manage. "You don't have to stick around, of course. But everyone wants /something/, Rowtag. What is it /you/ want?"
Noting the growl that comes from Malia this time, Rowtag's own interest does begin to kick in, in a sense. "Trying to get them to see things your way?" He repeats questionably, tilting his head ever so slightly after he thinks on it for a moment. "Oh. You think you're just going to take it over or something?" Rolling his eyes again, the half-breed doesn't even bother to suppress a laugh. "Interesting. What makes you think you'll be able to do that in the first place?" Leaving Malia's question unanswered, he stares at her rather intently this time, waiting for his answer.
Malia's bronze-hued eyes narrow at the sound of the disbelieving laugh. "My father's family got very close to taking over this area, years ago," she responds in way of an answer to Rowtag's question. "Suffice to say, that strong desire never left our bloodline." Malia's ears briefly slick back, eyes flickering away for a second before returning once more to meet the other canid's gaze. "And I am not alone. I have an equally dedicated companion...and perhaps I will be so lucky as to find another," she murmurs suggestively, a brow lifting in slight expectation as the stare-down continues.
"I see." Is all Rowtag says at first, apparently putting some thought into what she had to say this time. "So, taking over packs is a genetic thing with you?" He asks with a smirk, and pushes himself up to a sitting up position again, because apparently this much change in his mood toward the she-wolf and what she was here for required a more serious, business-like posture. "Perhaps." He says in a disinterested manner again, even going to far as to looking away and dropping his voice at that point. "My mother was the alpha of the pack around here. Since her death I haven't had much reason to stick around." Looking back, he rolls his shoulders in a shrug. "Not sure how valuable a straggler would be to your little.. take-over thing."
Malia says nothing at first as the wolfdog's demeanor and position shift, waiting to speak until he mentions his deceased alpha-mother. Perhaps that's the way in, the sore spot she can prod until Rowtag caves to her side of things. "The new alphas must fall far short of your mother's leadership there, no?" Malia suggests in a rather leading manner, her lush plume of a tail idly swaying about behind her. "Ahh, Rowtag. You're as valuable as you make yourself out to be. I'm sure you know at least /something/ of use...and even if not, you're the former alpha's son. Why, I'm sure you'd have no trouble at all just waltzing back onto pack territory...and learning some rather useful things along the way." The ivory she-wolf pauses, waiting to see if he follows along with what she's suggesting.
At the 'valuable' comment, Rowtag eyes Malia suspiciously but lets it slide. There's no use picking apart insults, if that was what it was supposed to be, as it was quite possible that he was simply overthinking things, no matter how surprising that might've been. "I suppose I could, couldn't I?" He asks rhetorically and nods his head afterward as if he was answering his own question. "Though I do have to wonder what exactly is in it for me. I'm not interested in sticking around with a pack regardless of who's leading it. Seems like a lot of trouble to go through for someone I don't even know."
"Well, you never answered my question, Rowtag. What is it you want, hmm?" Malia coyly questions, resuming her slow, circular pace around the male once more. "It's rather difficult to know what to offer as proper enticement if I don't know what sort of prize you're looking for, now isn't it?" she continues, a sly smirk curling up the edge of her lips. The wolfdog has certainly been a tough nut to crack so far, and the she-wolf has little idea so far of what would appease his particular tastes.
"I guess that depends on what sorts of things are offered." Really, Rowtag hasn't the slightest what he'd like to get out of the situation. He's made it clear that he isn't interested in the pack life. The right to some food without the need to hunt would be nice, but his hunting skills are keen enough that he doesn't even feel like he needs a reward that so glorifies being lazy. "We'll see." He says, watching her circle around him.
Malia tosses her head back with another little huff...and Inteus thinks /she's/ difficult. "Well, I'd offer a chance at power, but you've made it perfectly clear that you're not interested in being any part of a pack. So, are there any old rivals you'd particularly like to see brought down to size? Any pretty she-wolves there that wouldn't give you the time of day before? Of course, there's always just the simple option of a steady supply of your favorite meats from the pack's subordinates..." she runs off a few possibilities, going through a mental list of vices. Wrath, envy, lust, gluttony...
Thinking those promises over, Rowtag's first inclination is to go with the 'old rival' bit. Not that he really had anything to worry about with Ciqala, he simply just didn't /like/ him. "Like I said. We'll have to see, but nothing's impossible. I'll think of something." He says, and stands back up, shaking any dirt or dried up leaves or anything from his coat, as they'd stand out like a sore thumb what with all of his black fur. "I take it you'll be lingering around for a bit, right?"
Malia grins wide at Rowtag's decision to think her proposition over. Something's better than nothing, at least. "Naturally," the pale-furred she-wolf answers simply with a smile. "I'll be following the river north until I find what I'm looking for. I'm sure we'll run into each other again, Rowtag." Particularly if the wolfdog makes the decision to return to his family's packlands...as that's likely where she'll end up being sooner rather than later. "Until then..." she trails off, turning on her heels to continue along her intended path, following the trails of wolves.
Malia, female wolf
Rowtag, male wolfdog
=== Calm River ===
Since departing her companion, Malia had followed the northern bank of the river, keeping north when she reached the fork near the base of the mountain. The scents of other wolves was already growing stronger than it had been at the pond, and became even more obvious the further she walked along the treeline. Pausing for a brief drink, the first time she had stopped since leaving Inteus behind, the off-white wolf takes a moment to reflect on her goals, and the approach best suited to attaining them.
There isn't really much rhyme or reason for why Rowtag is here. The water, must be. The wolf hybrid hadn't been around the lands of the Ute pack in quite some time, and thus the news of Wyanet and Hahtalekin's death is still unknown to him. Having found no real reason to stick around aside from the occasional chance to socialize; that he wasn't very good at to begin with, Rowtag decided that being by himself was probably the best. When the smell of another that is unfamiliar wafts toward his nostrils, the male's larger than normal ears press forward and his eyes focus on the wolf in the distance, but he stops short his approach to the water for the moment.
Her tongue laps at the water's surface, and Malia watches the resulting ripples, starting small at first but rapidly growing larger and wider in a matter of moments. The she-wolf is quickly alert again as the scent of a stranger nearby grabs her attention, lifting her head again to swiftly scan the surrounding forest. "Show yourself," she addresses the shadows with a subtle growl to her tone to show she means business.
Taking a few steps forward, Rowtag keeps his ears up but otherwise looks relatively neutral. So there's a new wolf around. So what? Keeping his eyes on her, he growls lowly as well in response to her own, though it's mostly just a mimic and not so much a threat. "Who're you?" He asks abrubtly, not really caring for manners with strangers.
Malia's bronze eyes flicker over to the other canine as he approaches, looking him up and down and sniffing at the air for a moment before she offers any reply. He doesn't smell exactly like most wolves, and there's something a bit off about his appearance... "Malia. Who are /you/?" she returns the male's question, though perhaps her tone implies she's looking for more than just the wolfdog's name.
"Malia? Never heard of you." He mutters, and takes a few steps forward in order to reach the water to get a drink, which he decides is the reason that he came over this way in the first place and not his usual roaming around for basically no reason. "Rowtag." Is the simple answer to her question, before he lowers his neck down in order to lap up some of the water, not even bothering to keep an eye on the other wolf for the moment.
"Well of course you haven't - I've only just arrived here yesterday," Malia answers simply, perhaps a bit too haughtily. As the hybrid steps up to the river's edge alongside her, she takes the opportunity for a closer look, confirming her suspicions. "You're a half-breed, aren't you?" Although the term certainly isn't the kindest one, the she-wolf doesn't appear too terribly prejudiced otherwise about the wolfdog's nature.
More focused on his drink, it takes Rowtag a few seconds to lift his maw from the water. But when he does, he looks just as disinterested as he was before he got the drink. "I see." Is all he offers, taking a few steps back away from the water and looking sharply at her with the 'half-breed' comment. "Yeah. That a problem?" He asks, his tone a bit more firm this time around.
"I don't know. Is it?" Malia quips with a convincing facade of a saccharine sweet smile, holding the male's intense gaze evenly with her own. "Hmm...I don't think so," she continues in apparent consideration, slowly pacing closer to the wolfdog, openly eyeing him up and down as she makes a lazy arc around him. "I think it's rather interesting. I like new things." Another wide, toothy smile.
Keeping his expression as apathetic as possible, Rowtag's ears flicker this way and that what with the bugs lingering around the water before he looks away and rolls his eyes a bit. "Whatever." Is the most polite response that he can come up with. "If you're looking to join a pack, I'd recommend somewhere else."
Malia isn't deterred by the hybrid's lack of apparent interest or concern, though her brow lifts at his last last off-hand comment. "Pity. A pack is exactly the thing I was looking for," the she-wolf laments with a single, slow swish of her tail. "Why is that, hmm?" she continues in inquiry, peering curiously over at the male as she does .
It would seem that his lack of interest does nothing to get the she-wolf to wander away from him, which was actually what he was going for. Only slightly annoyed by this, Rowtag gives a roll of his shoulders and sits down on the grass still nearby the water. "There's one around here, but it's not worth the effort. Trust me."
Now she's intrigued...if she wasn't already. "Oh? Why do you say that?" A thought occurs to Malia, and she adds: "Did they not want a half-breed around, diluting their pure blood?" The voiced assumption is a bit of a spur, perhaps intentionally so in an attempt to goad the wolfdog into revealing more telling information about the nearby pack than he normally might share with a stranger.
Scowling a bit at the jab to his bloodline again, Rowtag growls very quietly and shakes his head, scoffing and looking away from the wolf. "No." He says simply, and thinks over his distaste for the back and why exactly he wouldn't recommend going there. "..Actually, now that I think more on it, I think you'd fit in there quite nicely." Really it's an insult, but his tone still sounds neutral enough. "Go for it."
Malia knew her comment was walking the line between riling up the wolfdog and having him turn against her, but she was willing to take that chance, and he hasn't completely shut her off yet. As such, she presses further, not relenting in her search for valuable bits of information. "Oh, Rowtag, I didn't mean to upset you," she murmurs, feigning familiarity in her tone as she steps up closer to the seated wolf, circling around to his front with the lightest brush of her tail against his side as she does so. "I really do want to know more about them, though. Won't you please tell me?"
With his eyes locked on the wolf, Rowtag clearly isn't impressed with the apology, or with the brush of her tail on his side. In fact, he shifts his weight a bit afterward to make his distaste visible, and another quiet growl comes from the only minorly riled up hybrid. "I'm sure." Is his response, before he flicks his ears back just a hair. "There's not much to tell. I haven't been around them in a while."
Malia doesn't show any visible response to the male's reaction, though she adjusts her behavior accordingly nonetheless. "Why not? You never told me why it wouldn't be worth joining up with them...are they a very small, or very aggressive pack?" she questions further, attempting to determine more precisely what sort of wolves she might be up against.
Chuckling quietly, Rowtag leans to one side and with one of his hind paws reaches up and scratches at the back of an ear slowly. "I told you, nevermind. If you're looking to join a pack the one around here is as good as any other I suppose. Though I don't typically hold packs in a very high regard, so. Do so at your own risk." Resting his paw back on the ground and straightening out, he adds, "Like you had planned on doing."
Malia huffs a little at Rowtag's stubborn insistence to keep his muzzle shut on the matter, but she knows full well that two can play at that game. "Well, I'd just like to know exactly what I'm getting into before I dive right in, you know?" the creamy-pelted she-wolf continues, taking a few steps away from the wolfdog once again in her sporadic circling of the male. "I don't typically hold other packs in very high regard, either...and I like taking risks," she continues somewhat cryptically. "But only when I have a good idea of the risks involved. I was hoping you might be able to help me with that, but..." Malia trails off, trying yet another tactic in an attempt to get something more out of the male than just annoyed apathy.
With a devious sort of smirk appearing, Rowtag inwardly laughs at Malia's stubbornness that is almost equal to his own, at least concerning the topic of conversation. "What would you have done then if you hadn't run into me?" He asks just to be obnoxious, and stretches his front legs out in front of him in order to lay on the ground. "The risks involved with attemtping to join this pack are the same as any other I'd assume. I'm not a joiner." Pausing, he looks back over to her. "Unless you had a more specific question."
"Found someone else a little more willing to oblige a stray she-wolf like myself," Malia quips without a second thought, as though she's already thought two steps ahead no matter what. Her yellow-tinged ears lift alertly at one of the hybrid's off-hand comments, however, and she's quick to respond in kind. "Neither am I. There are leaders and there are followers...and I am not a follower," she answers with a crooked smirk spreading across her maw. "I might even go so far as to say I'm more of a...taker. What about you, Rowtag?" she continues further, attempting to meet and hold the wolfdog's gaze until she gets her answer.
"How unfortunate that you ran into me instead." He says with another quiet chuckle, and lets out an exasperated sounding sigh, since this is probably the most he's had to actually talk to anyone in quite some time. "A taker? Ooh." Rowtag mutters with feigned intimidation, mocking her in a sense. "I'm none of the above. I said I don't think highly of packs, and I see no reason to be a part of one if it isn't necessary."
A subtle growl rises in Malia's throat at the presumptuous underestimation of her ability - it's not as if she's doing this alone, of course, and if this halfbreed would be so kind as to just help her out a bit, why, then she'd have even more support. "Well, since you don't think very highly of this pack, and I could use a little...help getting them to see things /my/ way, why shouldn't we try working together just a little bit to 'soften' them up, hmm?" the creamy-pelted wolf suggests in as selling of a voice she can manage. "You don't have to stick around, of course. But everyone wants /something/, Rowtag. What is it /you/ want?"
Noting the growl that comes from Malia this time, Rowtag's own interest does begin to kick in, in a sense. "Trying to get them to see things your way?" He repeats questionably, tilting his head ever so slightly after he thinks on it for a moment. "Oh. You think you're just going to take it over or something?" Rolling his eyes again, the half-breed doesn't even bother to suppress a laugh. "Interesting. What makes you think you'll be able to do that in the first place?" Leaving Malia's question unanswered, he stares at her rather intently this time, waiting for his answer.
Malia's bronze-hued eyes narrow at the sound of the disbelieving laugh. "My father's family got very close to taking over this area, years ago," she responds in way of an answer to Rowtag's question. "Suffice to say, that strong desire never left our bloodline." Malia's ears briefly slick back, eyes flickering away for a second before returning once more to meet the other canid's gaze. "And I am not alone. I have an equally dedicated companion...and perhaps I will be so lucky as to find another," she murmurs suggestively, a brow lifting in slight expectation as the stare-down continues.
"I see." Is all Rowtag says at first, apparently putting some thought into what she had to say this time. "So, taking over packs is a genetic thing with you?" He asks with a smirk, and pushes himself up to a sitting up position again, because apparently this much change in his mood toward the she-wolf and what she was here for required a more serious, business-like posture. "Perhaps." He says in a disinterested manner again, even going to far as to looking away and dropping his voice at that point. "My mother was the alpha of the pack around here. Since her death I haven't had much reason to stick around." Looking back, he rolls his shoulders in a shrug. "Not sure how valuable a straggler would be to your little.. take-over thing."
Malia says nothing at first as the wolfdog's demeanor and position shift, waiting to speak until he mentions his deceased alpha-mother. Perhaps that's the way in, the sore spot she can prod until Rowtag caves to her side of things. "The new alphas must fall far short of your mother's leadership there, no?" Malia suggests in a rather leading manner, her lush plume of a tail idly swaying about behind her. "Ahh, Rowtag. You're as valuable as you make yourself out to be. I'm sure you know at least /something/ of use...and even if not, you're the former alpha's son. Why, I'm sure you'd have no trouble at all just waltzing back onto pack territory...and learning some rather useful things along the way." The ivory she-wolf pauses, waiting to see if he follows along with what she's suggesting.
At the 'valuable' comment, Rowtag eyes Malia suspiciously but lets it slide. There's no use picking apart insults, if that was what it was supposed to be, as it was quite possible that he was simply overthinking things, no matter how surprising that might've been. "I suppose I could, couldn't I?" He asks rhetorically and nods his head afterward as if he was answering his own question. "Though I do have to wonder what exactly is in it for me. I'm not interested in sticking around with a pack regardless of who's leading it. Seems like a lot of trouble to go through for someone I don't even know."
"Well, you never answered my question, Rowtag. What is it you want, hmm?" Malia coyly questions, resuming her slow, circular pace around the male once more. "It's rather difficult to know what to offer as proper enticement if I don't know what sort of prize you're looking for, now isn't it?" she continues, a sly smirk curling up the edge of her lips. The wolfdog has certainly been a tough nut to crack so far, and the she-wolf has little idea so far of what would appease his particular tastes.
"I guess that depends on what sorts of things are offered." Really, Rowtag hasn't the slightest what he'd like to get out of the situation. He's made it clear that he isn't interested in the pack life. The right to some food without the need to hunt would be nice, but his hunting skills are keen enough that he doesn't even feel like he needs a reward that so glorifies being lazy. "We'll see." He says, watching her circle around him.
Malia tosses her head back with another little huff...and Inteus thinks /she's/ difficult. "Well, I'd offer a chance at power, but you've made it perfectly clear that you're not interested in being any part of a pack. So, are there any old rivals you'd particularly like to see brought down to size? Any pretty she-wolves there that wouldn't give you the time of day before? Of course, there's always just the simple option of a steady supply of your favorite meats from the pack's subordinates..." she runs off a few possibilities, going through a mental list of vices. Wrath, envy, lust, gluttony...
Thinking those promises over, Rowtag's first inclination is to go with the 'old rival' bit. Not that he really had anything to worry about with Ciqala, he simply just didn't /like/ him. "Like I said. We'll have to see, but nothing's impossible. I'll think of something." He says, and stands back up, shaking any dirt or dried up leaves or anything from his coat, as they'd stand out like a sore thumb what with all of his black fur. "I take it you'll be lingering around for a bit, right?"
Malia grins wide at Rowtag's decision to think her proposition over. Something's better than nothing, at least. "Naturally," the pale-furred she-wolf answers simply with a smile. "I'll be following the river north until I find what I'm looking for. I'm sure we'll run into each other again, Rowtag." Particularly if the wolfdog makes the decision to return to his family's packlands...as that's likely where she'll end up being sooner rather than later. "Until then..." she trails off, turning on her heels to continue along her intended path, following the trails of wolves.