First Encounters

Shadow lapped up water from the cool stream, thankful for a quiet place to rest after a hard journey of crossing the hot plains for days. She hadn't known where she was going, just anywhere that she might be able to call home. The Femme could smell the faint traces of other wolves in the area, some with pack smell other just loners. Still that was enough to make her excited. Crossing the plains had left her with a odd feeling of dread and loneliness and for once she missed the company of others
Rain Shadow sighed, her thirst quenched but her belly still growling. She could hunt later, for now she needed rest and the canopy of trees around her offered welcoming shade. She curled up in a cool spot and closed her white blue eyes. Shadow was about to fall into a deep slumber when suddenly a tree branch snapped up ahead. Her eye's snapped open to find another Femme staring at her from across the brook.

A growl rose in Shadow's chest and she quickly jumped up, fur on end. The femme in front of her didn't seem to want to fight but she wasn't about to let her guard down. The wolf didn't smell like a loner, she smelled like and Alpha which confused Rain Shadow. This land was obviously not apart of any pack lands so why would an Alpha be all the way out here? Shadow doubted the femme was all the way out here for her, what pack leader would leave just to find out who was padding along in the loner lands? Whatever was the wolf's reason for being out here Shadow was ready for a fight.
"If you're going to attack me then go ahead and do it. I've got better things to do than stand around at stare at you all day." Shadow snarled taking a small step forward.

Shadow's ear flicked, she was surprised by this question. She relaxed some since it was obvious this wolf had no intentions of fighting and Shadow was so exhausted she honestly didn't care at the moment. She didn't let her guard down though as she sat back on her haunches, observing the femme with curious eyes.
Shadow wasn't sure if she should reply the Alpha's question since the answer would probably run her off, but what did Shadow have to lose? She didn't know this wolf so it didn't matter. Actually, it would be funny to watch the femme run with her tail between her legs.
"I'm from Dark Mountain Pack." Rain Shadow answered with a slight smirk. Even though she hated her birth pack she liked the reactions wolves got when she told them where she was from. It made her proud in a odd way.

Shadow snapped to attention, her body language becoming hostile, her ears flattening on her head and her fur flicking from side to side. She had been stupid to say where she was from. Of course this wolf wouldn't be one to flee, she was an Alpha! Shadow's lips pulled back from her teeth showing her sharp canines.
"Nobody sent me. I'm here on my own and for once it wasn't to kill anybody." Shadow said, her voice deadly. If she had too, she would kill but at the moment she would rather avoid it. She was too tired to make it a good fight.

Shadow growled, impatient at this slow exchange. This femme obviously knew more about Dark Mountain than most did. Shadow could tell she was on edge, probably guessing that she was about to get ambushed by a dozen bloodthirsty wolves. She was right to be frightened but at the moment Shadow didn't have the patience.
"I'm not here to skin you alive so calm it. I'm here looking for another pack." Rain Shadow said, feeling slightly ashamed. Back in Dark Mountain she would have been laughed at for her cowardice answer. Nobody left DMP unless they were dead.

Shadow growled, her muscles tensing. "I'm not following you anywhere. I can answer your questions just as well here as I could anywhere else." The she-wolf snapped back. She wasn't about to walk into an unknown area with a strange Alpha, she wasn't an idiot. Shadow's eyes narrowed as she stared down the wolf on the other side of the bank. The femme stared at her just as hard and an eerie silence enveloped the grove.
Finally Rain Shadow laughed darkly, breaking the quiet. "By the look of stupid confusion on your face I'm guessing you want to know how I escaped. Everybody wants to know." She rolled her eyes then continued. "I'll tell you how, pure luck and the fact that I was a ignorant pup." Shadow shifted her weight forward, her white blue eyes still boring into the other she-wolf's. "Did I answer your question or do I need to say more?"

(Because the title says 'Close Encounter((S))', plural, I am assuming that this is where everyone is going to meet? And yes, i'm a cheater X) I'm using part of my sample post.)







Rain crouched low against the ground, the branches of the bush she had managed to compact her slender figure into pinching and poking into her coat uncomfortably. Her breath scraped roughly through her throat as she gazed through the leaves that half-way blocked her vision. She made sure her ears were flat, and pressed her belly firmly to the ground as hard as possible, praying not to be seen. The bear she watched silently grunted loudly, lumbering clumsily around the trees. It was obviously confused, the stupid creature."It's a shame such powerful bodies were given to such small brain", Rain thought to herself. Even so, fear pulsed through her veins with the pounding of her heart. She became tenser and tenser with every second that slowly ticked by. It seemed like an eternity she'd been shoved into the prickly branches of the bush when the bear, at last, tottered away on it's large legs. She let out a long breath of relief, scrambling away from the grasping branches that pulled her fur and scraped her skin underneath. When she was finally free, she sat with a thump. Her encounter had drained all the energy from her, leaving her exasperated and tired. She rose slowly to her feet, flicking her ears irritably. "How annoying," she thought "To have to cower for such a creature." she muttered angrily. She turned, heading the opposite direction the bear had gone. She wasn't going to take the chance of running into it again. Besides, she could could smell water. Her tongue was so dry it felt like sandpaper scraping against her mouth and lips. AS she continued on her way, she froze. Other wolves. Femme, by the smell of them. She resumed moving at a slow pace, placing her paws silently on the dried leaves. She didn't want to risk being heard and attacked. That wasn't what she needed.