mods please delete

[skinklegs]

Rizana felt one of her nerves fray and snap. She wanted to roll her eyes and grimace. Maybe a flash of her incisors would make the pint-sized nuisance think twice about pestering her so. But probably not. It was more likely that that would just peeve him off, and that she'd be subsequently curb-stomped by him and his very large friend. Even if she managed to chase them off, a fight would still be a terrible waste of time and calories. Never mind the possibility of sustaining open injuries. Loss of blood would make the cold even more difficult to bear, and if the frigid temperatures didn't kill her, the possibility of infection from one of these mutts' filthy mouths would happily finish the job.

Still, she didn't like this guy's tone. "The next town isn't exactly a feasible walking distance," he said, implying she came from where, exactly? And why was he so concerned with where she went after leaving his alley? Was he worried that she would try to muscle him out of his territory? Why bother? She was already outnumbered, and she had no idea if there were more dogs around under the annoying flea's command. She had no intention of sticking around to find out. There was no reason for him to prod her so except to annoy her, and if that was his goal, then he was doing a damn good job of it.

What irritated her most, though, was what he said next: The insinuation that she was running from something. A fire lit in her chest, and her hackles raised again in anger. Who did this guy think he was? He's the one that should have been running, if he knew what was good for him, but instead he insisted on pushing his luck. She'd never run from anything in her life. Except for that one time.

She closed her eyes for a moment, drew in a frosty breath, and let it out.

"If I were running from someone, then you'd be smart to run, too." She tried to rein in her impatience, but there was still an undercurrent of agitation her words. "Lucky for you, no, I'm not. Nothing chased me here. I came of my own volition and I'll leave the same way. It's no concern of yours where I go after I'm done here, unless you'd like to make it your concern."

[korvid]

Dakota knew he was testing his luck here. It was obvious the larger female was annoyed, from the tenseness of her sturdy limbs, to the way her amber gaze bore into him with every passing second. He himself was irritated, so of course, whatever he said came across as ill-intended and arrogant. Everything about this situation set him off. Not only was he tired with chilled air nipping at his entire being, he had an unfamiliar, clearly stubborn, stray dog before him trying to snag a meal from an area he considered his own territory.

When she finally spoke though, voice laced with agitation, Dakota understood that he had probably misjudged her. He'd just assumed she was another mind-less stray aimlessly wandering about the snow-covered wasteland. One of the many dogs he hadn't had a problem bossing around once he'd weaseled his way into their heads. But the more her words dug into him, the more incorrect he felt. This dog had spirit to her, and she wasn't an idiot either. Dakota swallowed over the lump that had formed in his throat and drew in an icy breath that stung his throat.

He started, "I don't know about making it my concern. But I am curious, about a lot." Dakota shook his thick spotted pelt, and sat down neatly in front of her with his small white paws drawn close. This was going to cost him a few pride points, but he'd just have to deal with it, for now. "I think we got off on the wrong paw." Oh, how it stung. "Let me apologize, for pissing you off. I have a bad habit of picking fights I can't win." Beside him, he heard Gage holding in a chuckle and the shepherd mix almost grimaced.

"I was being genuine in that statement though, the next town really is quite far away." His black ears angled back ever so slightly, making it all too obvious that being polite after all that hostility had him feeling awkward. "Further than either of the three you could have come from. Just thought I'd warn you." Dakota's pale blue eyes flashed. "But, if you're not planning on staying here then you're right, it's none of my concern."

[skinklegs]

It took some time for him to reply, and when he did, it was admittedly not what she had been expecting. Instead of snapping at her or slinging yet more questions her way, he simply sat down in front of her. The aggravated expression that had crept its way into her features twisted abruptly into one more akin to genuine confusion. She angled her ears forward attentively and narrowed her eyes fractionally, keeping them trained on his as he spoke.

He was curious, he said. While his initial behavior did not betray curiosity so much as outright hostility, she was willing to bite, especially once he...apologized? Satisfaction bloomed where agitation had been a moment prior. The feeling intensified when she began to note the obvious discomfort radiating from him in waves.

One corner of her black lips quirked up a bit.

"Nice of you to let me know," she said. "Much obliged. But I don't believe you're doing it out of the kindness of your heart, are you? Not after that show you put on a minute ago."

She, too, sat down then. She was still acutely aware of her empty stomach, but resolved to put it out of her mind for at least a few minutes. That, she thought, would be long enough to settle whatever it was the white mutt wanted from her. It was obvious that he wanted something. If he wanted nothing to do with her, she imagined he would have run her out of the alley by now, or at the very least allowed her to have what she came for so that she could be on her way. That was her original intention, after all. The question was: What did she have that he would want?

She went on: "You can cut to the chase. It's cold, and I'm hungry. Why don't you tell me what you want, and then we can both leave here happy?"

[korvid]

He frowned, moderately annoyed by her obvious satisfaction in having received an apology from him. The shepherd wanted nothing more than to bark back that he had mostly apologized in order to avoid chasing her off and bring about conflict, but that would contradict his goal here, so he held his tongue.

Then she spoke and he was once more surprised by her perceptiveness. Particularly, "...But I don't believe you're doing it out of the kindness of your heart..." had caught his interest. Of course, he wasn't but he'd assumed that she would want him to act that way in order to defuse the situation. With her acknowledging that he had ulterior motives, it felt as if the air suddenly become lighter- now they were on the same page. He watched as she sat, and made sure to maintain her gaze as she continued. When she had finished her statement, Dakota took in an icy breath and began his proposition. "I can do that," he started, "What I want is more or less- assistance. Physical assistance actually. I'll spare you a longer explanation but to put it simply, there is a dog I need help running out of our pack's territory. This dog is pretty... how to put it? .. Vicious. He takes what he want's and doesn't seem to care that he's drawing the negative attention of both humans and other dogs."

He didn't feel the need to tell the story in full. For now, he just needed her to agree to follow him back to town. Dakota also didn't feel the need to tell her that this dog was his supposed 'leader', nor that he himself would be snagging that position once she helped run Sam out. With Sam and his follows chased off- perhaps things would finally begin to calm, and the humans wouldn't be so keen on chasing off every stray they happened to see out on the street. "And before you ask what's in it for you, it's shelter. You're looking for a place to end up eventually, aren't you? I can guarantee that if we can run this dog out- there will be plenty of places for you to settle in."

[skinklegs]

As she listened, her ears perked up and angled forward with interest. It seemed she had stumbled upon far more than she bargained for in this little town of theirs. Some kind of turf war, she gathered, between the spotty stray and his rival, the "vicious" dog who, heretofore, went without a name. He must have been quite something, she imagined, for Spot to require reinforcements beyond his own present talent. His friend, as she had already thoroughly observed, was quite large. Did that mean their opponent was even larger, or just far more savage? Either way, she wasn't intimidated. In her short life, she had faced down creatures ten times as large and ten times as ferocious as any dog could hope to be.

Then Spot extended his offer, and the invitation became all the more enticing. What a generous reward for taking part in such an intriguing adventure. She would have done it in return for a quick meal or two, but she wasn't about to let him know that. Besides, again, she got the feeling he wasn't doing this solely out of the kindness of his heart. This arrangement was likely to benefit him as well as her. At risk of flattering herself, she was large, intimidating, and experienced; why not invite her to hang around his territory for a bit? Moreover, she couldn't help but notice that at present, she was the only female in the equation. But she shrugged that off as coincidence for now.

Her black lips pulled back into a wide, toothy grin and she barked a laugh.

"Well, my friend," she said, "I think you've found yourself the perfect solution to your little problem. Never met a creature on four legs I couldn't outmatch. This male you're talking about—he should be no trouble at all."

She made a show of puffing out her broad chest and stretching her neck. "But I think I'd be considerably more useful in a scuffle if I weren't half starved, you know? Throw in some of your spoils here"—she nodded in the direction of the scraps she had been offered some time ago—"and you got yourself a deal."

[korvid]

so sorry for the wait o: i'll reply by next week!