Hopeless ||

Molly was surprised when he appeared beside her rather quickly and slowed his pace for her. Her ears pinned back as she inhaled his scent, picking up her pace slightly. She wanted to get to the dens as quickly as possible now. As they continued to walk, she grew more and more uncomfortable and uneasy, shadowed by the large, silent, male wolf that she assumed was angry with her. She remained painfully alert of his movements, her stomach growling painfully once more as she passed a carcass left by some other small predator. Her ears flattened against her head and she forced herself to move on, ignoring the fact that it was now painful to take a step because of the emptiness in her stomach. She winced slightly, already finding herself exhausted, but did her best to ignore it and press on in hopes that Inferno didn't notice.

Unfortunately for Molly, Inferno's silence made him a great listener, as well as observer. Fallon would be able to attest to the fact that you notice a lot less when your mouth is constantly running. Multiple times, he listened to Molly's stomach howl - really, if she didn't think he'd heard /that/ she was delusional - but she'd kept going, and so did he. The white wolf's wince put a kink in her step that Inferno picked up immediately. Turning to her and scrutinizing her carefully, Inferno stopped. "Molly," he called, his low voice, after hours of silence, sounding more gruff than he intended, "we have to stop and eat." Inferno watched her, swaying slightly on his feet as he anticipated having to chase her down to make her stop. For a healer, she did not take care of herself well.

Molly flinched at the sudden voice from the male, and she glanced over, her pace slowing slightly. "Inferno, I'm fine. We're only a few hours away from the dens. I can eat when we get there." She said, her ears pinned back slightly as she took a deep breath and looked up at him. She was a terrible hunter, and she would rather be hungry and exhausted than embarass herself in front of a male she barely knew. Plus, she figured he was forming opinions and assumptions about her constantly, and the fact that he rarely talked only made her more uncomfortable and wary about those thoughts. She watched him, coming to a stop as he did, knowing that if he wanted her to eat badly enough, he would just chase her down and force her to eat anyways. There was no point in pushing forward if he was going to dwell on a little thing like that.

In her presence, he resisted the urge to roll his eyes again at how stupid she thought he was. "You're tripping over your own feet; you need to eat." Inferno felt the fact that he'd won that argument, and so he stated what was going to happen, "There was a carcass not far back. We can either return there and eat or hunt here, whichever sounds best to you." It didn't matter to him what they did, so might as well let Molly chose, since she wasn't getting much of a choice in anything else regarding this matter, and knowing how mad she was at him right now, he felt it'd possibly avoid the situation getting worse to let her have something of a decision.

Molly sighed as she looked back. The carcass was covered in flies and she had seen birds circling, so she doubted it was very safe to eat, and her ears pinned back at the thought. But then again, she would screw up any hunt he tried to do, so she was at a loss of what to say. She looked around, thinking carefully before looking up at him. She would rather embarass herself than risk getting sick. "There's no way I'm eating that fly-ridden carcass. Although you may think I am, I'm not an idiot." She said, her eyes narrowing as she looked up at his face, since his form towered over her's. She lifted her chin stubbornly, her ears still pinned back as she looked around. There were a few prey scents hanging in the air, but she was such a failure when it came to hunting, she quickly grew confused. The scents all seemed mixed together and jumbled, leaving her to sigh and look over at Inferno, hoping he didn't notice her confusion and frustration.

A sudden amused grin broke out over Inferno's face at Molly's indignant comment. Without a word, though still cracking up to himself, the wolf began to scent the air, zoning in quickly on a hare slightly upwind. He honestly hadn't been trying to assert a test or anything to test the white wolf's idiocy; he'd just suggested the carcass because it was an option, at least for him. Inferno would have had zero qualms about eating it. When he was hungry, he was hungry. His stomach would take care of the reast. 'Healers,' he snorted to himself in his head as he tracked and took down the rabbit, not worried about leaving Molly behind.

Quickly after securing the meal, Inferno followed Molly's scent back and presented the rabbit, hoping that it would be either enough or that she also had caught something to eat, though for many reasons (including his first impression that she just didn't seem like a hunter...at all), he did not expect her to have anything.

Molly noticed his grin, but chose to ignore it, watching him walk off in what she assumed was the direction of some sort of prey. She waited until he left to stick her nose to the ground, sniffing deeply and trying to distinguish even one scent. Finally, she stumbled upon a mouse, and to her luck, it didn't seem to notice her at all. She crouched, although her rear stuck up in the air slightly, making her look adorably foolish, as she focused on the mouse in front of her. She waited for a few moments, her ears perked and her body still, waiting for the mouse to get distracted by something. Then, growing impatient, she leaped at it. The mouse sprang away and thwarted her easily, escaping to safety as she stumbled and yelped in surprise, rolling into the trunk of a large tree and collapsing in a heap at it's base.

(Molly's 'adorably foolish' pose made me laugh. She's so cute. <3)

Inferno approached Molly and tilted his head a bit, trying to figure out what in the world had happened to her. Dropping the rabbit at his feet and edging it and inch toward her, the wolf asked, not daring to allow himself to believe that she'd actually gotten into that much trouble by attempting to hunt, "Decided to pick a fight with the tree, huh? I've always heard their bark was worse than their bite...guess not?" He twitched an ear back as he rose his brows and tried to keep from grinning. Whatever she'd been doing, she looked slightly hilarious now.
"Here," he said, deciding it was a good idea to put the rabbit back in his mouth. He brought it over to her and dropped it at her feet before stepping back and laying down facing the dens, taking the opportunity to rest while she ate.

Inferno's voice made her scramble to her feet and close her eyes. If a wolf could blush, she would be doing just that now. Her ears flattened sheepishly and her tail curled between her legs in embarassment. "I-uh...." She stuttered, looking up at him, unsure of what to say. Finally she gave up, knowing she already looked like a fool in his eyes. "Oh, forget it." She mumbled, looking down at the rabbit he dropped at her feet. She slowly let her eyes venture from the dead prey to the male's face, frowning still in embarassment. "Thank you." She muttered under her breath, lowering her head to eat slowly.

Inferno was amazing at how much easier he felt just by Molly saying thanks. She may hate him, but at least it was only a moderate amount and not enough to keep her from withholding any sort of gratitude. And that was enough for him. Contentedly, he lay on their new trail watching the world intently with keen eyes and perked ears. They'd be back to the dens in just a few hours, and he was interested in meeting Khalessi, for one, and finding out how Fallon and Blitz had fared on their patrol last night. He didn't have a hard time believing that they'd slept well, remembering Molly's deep sleep.

Molly tried to eat slowly, but before she knew it she had finished the kill and was licking her lips clean. She sighed softly, glancing over at him as she stood, shaking the dust and dirt from her fall out of her fur. She shifted her weight uncomfortably, still uncomfortable and embarassed by her fall as she waited for him to get up and lead the way. They were getting closer to the dens, and now that she had eaten, she was sure she wouldn't have as much trouble keeping up with the long-legged wolf's pace.

An ear automatically twitched toward the sound of Molly getting up, and his eyes followed soon after. Noting that she seemed ready to go, Inferno got up and set off again at trot. After a minute of their journeying, he glanced down at her and asked, rather sincerely, "You feeling better?" He wasn't sure how much of a difference a rabbit could make, though perhaps it was one perk of having a small body, but hopefully it had been as beneficial as it seemed from the much more energetic way she was moving.

Molly followed him silently, and her pace was a bit faster, keeping up with him with more ease than before, thanks to the meal. When he spoke, she jumped slighlty, not expecting the sudden voice. "I'm feeling fine." She lied, never having mentioned that she was feeling bad in the first place. "Thank you for the rabbit." She said, thanking him again. When she was living on her own, wandering the pack lands, she had lost a LOT of weight, since her hunting skills were horrible. If it weren't for her thick, white fur, she had no doubt that he would have noticed that she was nothing more than skin, bones, and organs....literally.

The wolf gave her a long look, evaluating for himself whether or not he believed her. It was true, she looked ok, but there was a hollowness about her face that suggested there was more severity to the thinness of her body, no matter what her fur concealed. Why had she been so stubborn this morning? Inferno hoped Khalessi wasn't this bad, especially as the head hunter. Inferno hadn't felt like he'd suffered while he was on his own recently. He was lean normally, pretty much skin, muscle, bone, and legs to begin with, with much less of a coat than any of the other wolves in the pack (coming from a more desert-ed area) and all that was a nice asset to his ability to hunt, thus he was able to maintain it fine. But there was hope for Molly, at least: the herds had to be coming back just as the small game. They'd have enough to eat and store for winter soon enough.

"You're welcome," he responded to her thanks, slightly bewildered at her saying it again. "You really don't need to starve yourself to prove a point, you know," he said softly, wondering why he was saying it at all. Maybe it was just to let her know that she had a great talent for non-verbally letting others know she was mad; there was no need for her to go overboard and hungry.

Molly continued walking, but when he told her she didn't have to starve herself, she stopped, looking back at him. "I could have eaten when we reached the dens." She said softly, trying to defend her actions but then deciding it wasn't worth it. She sighed softly, shaking her head and walking once more. Why did she suddenly care what he thought? Her ears flattened slightly, her tail hanging behind her as she moved. Her eyes scanned the trees, knowing that they were nowhere near the dens just yet. She wasn't sure what to do or say, so she simply kept walking, hoping to reach the dens sooner or later. Her stomach still throbbed and cramped painfully, but it had ceased growling, so it was much easier to hide it from him.

Inferno was getting a little confused in trying to figure out what Molly was trying to pull. Both of them knew perfectly when that he knew she was not going to make it. She was so famished, she could hardly walk, and there was no way he'd been imagining that. That's all he knew, not even beginning to assume all the pain that accompanied that kind of starvation. So the wolf didn't even bother to state a retort to that comment of hers. He just kept walking, hoping that her pride wouldn't kill her someday, which it most surely could.

Molly had so perplexed him that for the next half hour, he couldn't stop trying to figure out what was going on inside her head. Curiosity and confusion was beating him down, and he finally broke. "How can you be so submissive and soft one day...one minute!...and then be stubborn and haughty the next? How does that even work?"

As they walked, Molly let her mind wander, hoping to distract herself from her aching stomach long enough to make it to the dens. Hopefully there would be food there for her. His sudden outburst surprised her, making her jump and look over at him in confusion. Finally she managed to form words, and her ears flicked backwards. "I'm sorry I'm too complicated for you to handle." She said, a slight joking tone in her voice. "There's a lot about me that you don't know." She added, the joking tone gone. "It's not like you've been so open about yourself either." She said, turning away to wince slightly as she felt the cramping pain in her stomach once more. When it passed, she picked up her pace slightly, glancing around in hopes of a sign that they were closer to the dens.

"I don't know /anything/ about you," he corrected her. "I've known you for half a day. But I am trying now, and you just keep lying or getting defensive. I don't know what you think I'm trying to do except understand." As for her other question, Inferno ignored it. He hadn't been open because she hadn't asked. End of story. Molly seemed to view the male like she expected nothing from him, so how could she also be expecting all that?
Again, Molly's pace shift easily gave her away, but it did add to the puzzle Inferno was trying to put together. What was it that made this little wolfess so jumpy, frightened, and yet so proud? She may laugh at him for asking, but it was mind-boggling and getting on his nerves.

Molly sighed, coming to a stop as he spoke. It was obvious he was frustrated, and she didn't even know how to explain what he wanted to know. She turned to him as she stood there, looking up at him carefully. "Inferno, please, don't be mad at me. Today was the first time I've eaten for at least a week, maybe more. I can't hunt. You actually came back and saw me collapsed under a tree as a result of my attempt to do so." She said, looking away as she spoke. "I don't like to wake up because I can't feel the hunger pains while I'm sleeping. That's why I wouldn't get up this morning. I'm sorry." She said, her ears flattening as she avoided eye contact. She sighed softly, curling her tail around her paws as she sat down. He was upset with her, and she wanted to work things out before he got angry enough to push her around. She looked up, suddenly realizing how hot it was. She began to pant, wishing they were near the lake so she could go for a quick swim or something. But she blinked a few times, her ears flat as she forced herself to focus.

Inferno's mouth twitched as he suppressed a short laugh as Molly admitted her hunting endeavor. But he was not quite in the mood to laugh. For some reason, perhaps the fact that she'd lied to him almost constantly as long as he'd known her, he still felt there was more to parts of her story, but he let it go and didn't ask again. She actually hadn't answered his question remotely, but at this point, he didn't think she was going to.

He began walking again, just ready to get back to the dens and actually get some good hunting in. Pausing and looking back at her, the wolf clarified, "I am not angry at you, Molly. You do frustrate me...and annoy me, when you're being stubborn...but please don't think for a minute that it would ever even cross my mind to hurt you. I know you have thought it; I've seen it, but if there's one thing you need to know about me, that's it." And that was it for talking; he was off at a trot determined to just leave this all even and not cause any more friction between them.

Molly wasn't sure what was going on in his head, and at that moment, she wasn't sure she wanted to know. She listened to him silently, her eyes following him as he spoke and finally as he walked away. She tried to follow, but his next words stopped her. Her perked as she listened, but she said nothing in response. Instead she just stood there, watching him trot away. After a few moments of recovery, she ran after him, but even then she couldn't keep up with his easy, fast speed. Finally he disappeared from her view, and she gave up, slowing down to a walk and panting heavily as her lack of energy and food caused her to sit down in order to catch her breath and prevent herself from passing out. Hopefully she was close, because with Inferno out of sight, if anyone or anything wanted to harm her, it would be incredibly easy.

As he'd figured, Molly fell behind. "Fine, huh?" he scoffed. If she was going to lie, might as well make it believable. The wolf sat down and looked back to where she would be. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, he assumed she'd be able to track him (or at least know her way to the dens) well enough not to get lost for a second. Either way, he knew he would be able to find her again once he was done.

Yet again, Inferno set off on another hunting trip. They were so close: if she could just make it to the dens, she could rest and everyone else could hunt. It would be fine once they got there. So soon.

This time, Inferno caught another squirrel, like that morning. It was smaller than a rabbit, but hopefully enough to sustain her the last half hour. Doubling back on his tracks, the wolf made his way back to Molly, who he found obviously depleted of energy. "We're almost there," he told her after dropping the squirrel at her feet and sitting down a few feet away. He didn't expect a reply while she ate, but instead waited, musing over the perks of living alone.

She sat there for a few moments, trying to get herself up to follow him. But she couldn't, so she remained, blinking several times when she saw him returning with food. The way he dropped it in front of her and just sat there made it obvious that he didn't like this. Her ears pinned back, but she devoured the food, refusing to make eye contact with him. "I don't want your charity. Especially if you really hate it so much. It's not like you do a very good job at hiding that fact." She said, her voice sharp and slightly out of breath. She sighed softly, standing and heading in the direction of the dens before stumbling slightly because she was growing dizzy. But she caught herself, forcing herself to move onward toward the dens, hoping Fallon would be there. She was much nicer than Inferno was, and she could use some friendly comfort right now.

"It's not charity, and I'm not trying to hide anything," he told her, keeping his eyes on the trees. The wolf got up and began following Molly as she began moving. It was painfully obvious that she was struggling, but she wanted to keep going, it'd be better to just get to the dens, and the food should kick in sometime soon, so Inferno just let her set the pace and go. Inferno adjusted the time it'd take to reach the dens in his head: an hour. Was there a better way they could do this? As they walked, Inferno trailing a few feet behind the little wolfess, he started looking at their surroundings with a new intention. It didn't seem likely that he'd find anything to help, but it was worth it to at least try to come up with something.

She barely contained the growl in her throat as he spoke, and her ears pinned back while she moved away. She did her best to move quickly, but it was obvious that he was moving slower than usual for her. Her tail lowered and her ears remained pinned firmly to her head as she struggled, but she was determined to make it. But she knew that at this pace, they were at least an hour away. She figured that Blitz and Fallon were already waiting for them. She sighed, looking back at him over her shoulder. "I don't need a babysitter. If you don't want to be here, go a head and I'll catch up....eventually." She said, a growl thick in her voice. But it wasn't an angry one, or a viscious one. It was more frustrated at herself. But she would never admit that to him.