The other wolf snorted at her admission, but it didn't seem as if she were mocking her. It almost felt like an agreement, like she too understood or partook in the nightmare that had been her past several days. It almost put the great dog at ease, but she kept her muscles tensed and beady eyes firmly affixed to the stranger. She knew the dangers of letting down her guard, and the sharp cliffsides before them did little to assuage that worry. It didn't stop her from smirking through at the other female's second snort; masking the tiny amount of pride she gleaned from making the pretty dame laugh.
Her joviality didn't last long as the conversation pivoted, and Ida's interest only peaked further as her blocky ears pricked at the mention of a kingdom. She raised a clublike paw and gnawed at her cracked pads, picking out bits of pungent sap to smother any questions she may have blurted out instinctively. It tasted terrible, but better that than revealing both her curiosity and the relief at knowing that there truly were other wolves besides just the two of them. And Maureen, wherever she was now. She pulled out a particularly thick clump and turned her head to spit it into the grass, mulling over the sudden onslaught of questions she had for the strange wolf as she drew closer.
"Kingdom's orders," Ida finally rumbled back, setting her paw back down and licking tree sap off her blunted fangs. "Guessin' y'don't agree?" Her gaze wandered over the scaled wolf's shoulder, trailing down the bluffs and mountainsides east and wondering just where such a kingdom would be. She certainly didn't see any castles, but hell, she'd missed bigger. She abandoned the prospect and rolled her shoulders, lips parting slightly into a rueful smile as she chuckled. "Personal time ain't th' worst, at least. Long ah's it's not inna cell."
Or exiled, but she decided against saying that. Now that she was closer, Ida picked up the faint traces of other wolf-scents wafting from her ruddy pelt. She probably wasn't booted, she assumed. She wasn't going to ask. The conversation shifted however, and Ida hummed lowly. She resisted the urge to pat the back of her head again and make sure her skull was still intact, but she'd done that enough over the past several days as she pondered the circumstances of her arrival. Some stubborn part of her almost didn't want to tell, but the stranger had been honest enough with her already--what was the point of hiding it?
"Prairies--couple uh woods. Had some quarries around 'tuh chew, but nothin' like this," Ida looked back down across the bluffs, a bitter longing struggling to rise in her chest. She squashed it down as she always did, feeling it instead heat to a dull rage which throbbed within her aching paws. "Met uh whelp further north who talked uh cities; woke up n' the snow n' woke me up too. Thought she was ina different world." Ida looked back towards the stranger, brows furrowed as a disbelieving, almost amused huff left her chest. "Feels weird--ah'm thinkin' she was right."
Her joviality didn't last long as the conversation pivoted, and Ida's interest only peaked further as her blocky ears pricked at the mention of a kingdom. She raised a clublike paw and gnawed at her cracked pads, picking out bits of pungent sap to smother any questions she may have blurted out instinctively. It tasted terrible, but better that than revealing both her curiosity and the relief at knowing that there truly were other wolves besides just the two of them. And Maureen, wherever she was now. She pulled out a particularly thick clump and turned her head to spit it into the grass, mulling over the sudden onslaught of questions she had for the strange wolf as she drew closer.
"Kingdom's orders," Ida finally rumbled back, setting her paw back down and licking tree sap off her blunted fangs. "Guessin' y'don't agree?" Her gaze wandered over the scaled wolf's shoulder, trailing down the bluffs and mountainsides east and wondering just where such a kingdom would be. She certainly didn't see any castles, but hell, she'd missed bigger. She abandoned the prospect and rolled her shoulders, lips parting slightly into a rueful smile as she chuckled. "Personal time ain't th' worst, at least. Long ah's it's not inna cell."
Or exiled, but she decided against saying that. Now that she was closer, Ida picked up the faint traces of other wolf-scents wafting from her ruddy pelt. She probably wasn't booted, she assumed. She wasn't going to ask. The conversation shifted however, and Ida hummed lowly. She resisted the urge to pat the back of her head again and make sure her skull was still intact, but she'd done that enough over the past several days as she pondered the circumstances of her arrival. Some stubborn part of her almost didn't want to tell, but the stranger had been honest enough with her already--what was the point of hiding it?
"Prairies--couple uh woods. Had some quarries around 'tuh chew, but nothin' like this," Ida looked back down across the bluffs, a bitter longing struggling to rise in her chest. She squashed it down as she always did, feeling it instead heat to a dull rage which throbbed within her aching paws. "Met uh whelp further north who talked uh cities; woke up n' the snow n' woke me up too. Thought she was ina different world." Ida looked back towards the stranger, brows furrowed as a disbelieving, almost amused huff left her chest. "Feels weird--ah'm thinkin' she was right."