[open] dirty paws & glistening scales; any

[Firen]

Firen is alone with his own thoughts for the first time in his young life, and he feels as empty as the endless sky before him. But he does nothing to change that. When his ears stop ringing, the young wolf listens to the snow gently falling, and that is all.

A shell of a boy, he passes an hour in quiet meditation. The confusion and adrenaline settle, but he is unwilling to decide his own opinions on the ruin of his home while his emotions are so raw. So he doesn't think on that; he thinks on snow gently falling. 

A pulse of life disrupts his quiet musings, as he feels the unguarded consciousness of another being. This other has seen him, and this being does not enjoy the sight of a newcomer. The fingers Firen's mind quickly latch onto the stranger and it is a hot and violent consciousness he finds, at least when compared to the snowfall.

The brindle wolf turns to face the distant figure before he should have been able to know he was there - before sound or scent met his senses.  He turns slowly, laying his belly against the soggy earth and lowering his ears, even though the other still has minutes of trotting to cover the distance between them. 
 
'A pup.' the pale alpha states, and Firen sinks a little lower as if to confirm this fact, licking his lips with his red eyes fixed on the bare earth. He allows his wolf instincts guide his actions as the larger, older male evaluates him. 
 
But just behind the first another comes trotting towards them with cool confidence, yet the horse's mind does not match his posture. Firen is puzzled when he feels that both males see him as a threat - at least, enough of a threat to raise their suspicions and hackles - he had only ever been seen as an awkward child in Tephra.  For just a second his eyes flick up to view the horse as he speaks, but he remains low and submissive at the other wolf's side. 

"He sees us as a threat," he murmurs in a wolfish grunt, barely louder than the falling snow.