"Pack born?" 

Moondust questioned, stunned by the possible insult that the the dark wolf had just made about her. It broke her defensive stance, staggered her once sturdy frame and caused her to amble about for a split second. The feeling was something she had never felt before, one she wasn't used to, but she wasn't going to let the feeling stick around. She couldn't let this wolf, Drifter, get the better of her with a single comment. 

Shaking out her fur, Moondust steadied herself and tried to show that he hadn't shaken her confidence in any way. She wanted to show him that she was still standing tall, even after his snide remark. 

"Why are you following me?" 

She demanded with yet another warning growl rumbling up out of her chest. Moondust wasn't going to let another wolf get the better of her in any way, be it on the battlefield or a spat of words, it wasn't going to happen. 

A deep chuckle bubbled out of Drifter, the male wolf shaking his head in absolute amusement towards Moondust. His electro blue eyes sparkled with that very same amusement, the look of held in laughter glinting on his sour pucker face. Moondust wanted to wipe that look right off of his face and bat him around a bit, maybe that would stop Drifter from barking up a tree he shouldn't be. 

"I wasn't following you." 

Drifter sounded so nonchalant about the whole thing, it nearly had Moondust's muzzle hanging open in utter shock. Though, it also confused and worried the she wolf at the same time. If he wasn't following her, then what exactly what he doing out there so close to her pack's den? The timing was all too strange, especially for Drifter to be running into her as he did. 

"Really? Then what are you doing out here? This is pack territory and you're trespassing." 

Suspicion laced each and every one of Moondust's words. He would have had to have been following her or at least watching her in order to know that she was out there alone. This wolf made her very uncomfortable, unsettling her and breaking down each one of her nerves with simple comments she really didn't need. There was definitely something fishy going on with this wolf, Drifter, and she was going to find out what one way or another.

While her mind played twenty questions with itself, Drifter stood from where he had been sitting and stretched out his front legs. His head lowered close to the ground as a satisfied groan left the male wolf's lips, followed closely by some very audible pops from his back. Surely Drifter couldn't have been that old. 

"Just roaming here and there, don't really have any particular destination set for myself. Now, why don't you put your teeth away and we can try to be civil and talk." 

Civil? This moss covered wolf claiming to be moving from one place to the next wanted her to be civil? All she knew as his name, not where he was from, if he had any friends nearby that she couldn't scent. Moondust knew nothing of this wolf and that made Drifter ten times more dangerous to her, especially since she was alone out in the forest with no one else to aid her as backup. 

Another growl left Moondust, this time it was more out of frustration than anything else she was currently feeling. She forced her body to relax and opted for just glaring at Drifter for the time being. Even if she had managed to calm herself, that didn't mean she wasn't going to be on alert while the black wolf was around. There was no way that she would let her guard down with an unknown wolf standing before her, not when he could so easily attack in the blink of an eye. 

"Fine, civil it is. However, you try anything and you're a dead wolf walking." 

"Good girl, no need for anyone to get their tails in a twist." 

Moondust's fur bristled at the comment knowing that Drifter meant it as a jab towards her defensive disposition towards him. He was trying to get under her skin and rile her up, provoke her in some way that she didn't care to be provoked in. Did that make her wrong for the way she had reacted? 

Of course she wasn't wrong. A stranger pops up out of nowhere and they expect you to play nice? Moondust wasn't going to let Drifter one up her like that and wiggle his way into her mind, planting a seed of corruption to drive her mad. She wasn't going to allow him to do anything, not while she was healthy and capable of defending herself against creepy male wolves like Drifter. 

"So tell me, where were you speeding off to so quickly? Alone as a matter of fact, too." 

Moondust was hesitant when it came to this question, her eyes watching as Drifter scratched right behind his ear without any regards to protecting himself from that which was in the surrounding forest. He wasn't even protecting himself from her, which struck her as odd in itself. On top of watching him, she began to wonder just how much she should tell him about what she was doing out there. She didn't know where Drifter came from or who he really was, trust was a difficult thing in this situation.  

Ocean blue eyes shot up to meet with Drifter's electric blue ones, not planning on making the mistake of looking away from him again. She wasn't going to give him the advantage he needed to take her down, not when she had so many back at home that were depending on her to come back with a cure. 

Sighing softly to herself, Moondust hun her head for a brief moment to collect herself, only to correct herself immediately and raise her head quick enough to catch Drifter's curious gaze. 

"I'm on a solo mission for my pack and I don't really know where I'm going to be quite honest." 

Moondust's voice slowly slid into silence as her sadness built back up within her and began to pool into the depths of her ocean blue eyes. It caused them to water, making them look as if the ocean was truly swimming within her gaze and crashing against the shadows of her lashes. 

That curiosity that Drifter was once feeling suddenly multiplied in rapid succession to everything else. His head was cocked to the side and his left ear twitched in slight annoyance that a pack alpha would send their hunter out here with very little information on the mission. As he mulled over Moondust's words, that curiosity quickly shifted  into a bubbling confusion, uncertain how he should really take it. Was she just giving him the information he needed to hear, or was what he assumed to be true actually true? 

"Didn't your pack alpha give you specific instructions as to where to go?" 

Finally, Moondust reserved herself to sitting down, figuring that Drifter wasn't the type of wolf to attack without actual cause. Her ears drooped ana small whine left her lips, like a child upset that something horrible had happened to her just recently. Which wasn't too far off from what she was actually feeling. Moondust was contemplating telling the black wolf before her what was going on, however, this was something she shouldn't really be talking to anyone about at the same time. Especially Drifter. Though, his worry and confusion within the simple question struck Moondust like a claw to the face, her alpha lying in the medicine den as one of the newly deemed sick. It was why she was out there in the first place. 

"It wasn't my leader that issued the mission to me, it was one of our pack's medicine wolfs." 

"A medicine wolf? Why would they be giving a hunter the job of a medic? Shouldn't they be out here instead doing their job?" 

"Yes, they should, but they can't." 

The confusion that had slowly been enveloping Drifter closed in on him like the vice grip of a bear trap. Moondust's medicine wolves couldn't take the time to go out themselves? Something definitely wasn't right with her pack, especially when a hunter was doing the job of a medicine wolf. He may not have had a pack to call home, but he knew the inner workings of a pack and how life was. . . essentially. From what little she had mentioned, obviously that of the hierarchy was completely out of whack and needed to be straightened out so everyone could do their intended job. 

"Why would the medicine wolf issue the order and not your alpha? What about the beta? Couldn't they assist with whatever was going on and issue the mission themselves? A pack shouldn't be run by the medicine wolves, nor should they go behind the alpha's back and send out one of their own alone on missions." 

Drifter was starting to seem like a genuinely nice guy who really cared about others. He seemed like someone she would have gladly confided in if they had met under different circumstances. However, as much as she wanted to explain things in full to him, the safety and well being of her pack were at stake. That was something she wasn't willing to risk. At the same time, Moondust wondered if Drifter might be able to tell her something, anything that may point her in the right direction for a cure or where this sickness might have helped. He was a wanderer and he may have seen things that she may not have. 

"Whatever I'm about to tell you, please, keep it between just the two of us. I'm begging you to do so. So many lives could be at stake depending on how this conversation goes and your actions afterwards. Can I trust you will keep it between us?" 

"Of course, I travel alone and never stay in one place for too long. You're the first wolf I've spoken to in. . . well, a long time." 

It was rather embarrassing for Drifter to admit exactly how alone he really was out there, however, it was a risk he himself was willing to take to understand what was going on. Being a lone wolf hurt sometimes, but it was better than having to watch out for a large pack and have so many depending on you. It was better than caring for so many of your own, that the moment you lost one, the attachment you felt tore at your heart and shredded it like a hungry predator going at its prey. Now look at him, inserting himself into what sounded like this she wolf's pack problems as if they were his own. How was an outcast like himself supposed to help her pack when it wasn't even his to help?

Moondust watched the series of emotions fly across Drifter's face. Worry, panic, momentary realization, and contemplation. She had never seen so many emotions move so fast, she could barely keep up with each one. Though, it did make her wonder what was actually going through his head to have such a variety of emotions come across his face so boldly, unable to hide them from her. 

Attempting to push away any niggling thoughts that were trying to work their way into her mind, Moondust settled herself enough to try and talk a little about what was going on. Drifter seemed genuinely worried and as if he wanted to help her if he could. Even so, she barely knew the moss covered wolf, which was probably where her overwhelming hesitancy was coming from. She didn't want to say something and then her pack's lives become in even more peril than they already were. 

"Something, and no one knows what, but it's making my packmates very very ill. Just today, our pack lost one of its pups to this sickness and I can't bare to watch anymore be taken from us." 

"And let me guess, you were sent out here to find a cure for your pack?" 

The questioned swirled within Moondust's head, the overwhelming urgency of this mission finally hitting her. Her packmates were dying, the young and the old, the healthy and the already ill. Something was spreading like a wildfire through the pack and she was the only one that could help them. The responsibility was crushing her, like a pile of boulders had just been dropped on top of her and there was no one there to dig her out of the heavy grave. 

"Yeah, a cure or whatever is starting this sickness. None of us know what is going on, we just need something to give a little hope that we can beat this." 

Desperation formed within Moondust's eyes, the young she wolf standing from where she sat as if she were going to run off at any second. It was the complete opposite, however. It was to move a little closer to Drifter, hoping that the show of trust would allow him to feel more comfortable with helping her. She couldn't do this alone, not without taking a mental blow that she may never recover from. It was bad enough that her thoughts were already revolving around how many more they were bound to lose the longer that she was out there. 

Forcing the thoughts from her mind, the desperation seemed to seep into her ocean blue eyes as she pinned that very gaze onto Drifter. He was watching her, listening to her every word rather diligently and looked to be contemplating just how to help her. Though, she could have just as easily been reading him wrong and her desperation pushed her to see what she wanted to see. Her mind could have been playing tricks on her, tricking her to think that he really was interested in helping when he really wasn't. It stabbed her with a sharp claw of worry, panic sifting through each of her inner conflicts and making the feeling worse. 

"Please, I can't do this alone, I don't even know where to begin searching. Is there any way you can help? Anything that you might have seen or learned while out here on your own?" 

The desperation stung Drifter like a billion bees attacking him. The pain he could clearly see in Moondust and hear within her voice broke his heart, feeling for her as if she were one of his own. How could he not help her? Though, the 'how to help' was going to be the difficult part, seeing as he himself didn't even know where to begin. 

A small hum left Drifter's lips as he shifted a little where he stood and walked forward, his movements non-threatening and as docile as could be. He stopped only when there was enough room between Moondust and himself to speak; 

"Don't you worry bout a thing, old Drifter here is going to help you out until I'm blue in the face. We aren't going to let anyone else in your pack leave to join the moon goddess above, I just wish I had more to go on." 

"Thank you." 

Moondust spoke softly, merely a whisper as she gave gratitude towards the wolf that was standing in front of her. Before she realized it, she moved forward and closed the small talking space between them, her head coming to rest on his shoulder in a hug. Her own actions came as a surprise to her and they seemed to surprise Drifter as well, his body freezing in place as he tried to register what was really going on. However, as soon as the hug was initiated, Moondust pulled back and took a few steps back, enough to once more put that space between them. 

"So, a sickness. . ." 

Drifter started, his brain trying to play catch up from the sudden short circuit job it had going on. He barely registered the female wolf nodding her head to his comment, that she was actually willing to trust him this much. They had only just met and their first interactions weren't exactly the best. So, for her to reach out to him in desperate need of assistance on her mission was a shock that he never saw coming. 

Nodding her head once more at the statement that should have been a question, Moondust lowered her eyes in sadness. They traced the blades of grass as she allowed the silence to billow around them like an overwhelming blanket of leaves to cover them. She had no words that needed to be spoken, none that would explain any further what was happening to Drifter. She only hoped he had some idea of what to do or where to go, maybe even what could be causing such a sickness to spread so quickly. Though, the spreading was worrisome, nothing would be solved if they couldn't figure out the main source of the illness. 

"Have you sought out the aid of any nearby packs? I'm sure their medics would have some knowledge on how to care for such an illness." 

Moondusts head snapped up as the revelation of what Drifter just said hit her like running into a cave wall. She hadn't thought about any other packs, too afraid of what would happen if she went to someone else. Some packs may take this as an opportunity to wipe out the weaker of the species, to end that which could be a threat to their own packs. Trust was obviously hard to give these days, especially by her. 

"No, I hadn't thought about it. I think I was so hellbent on getting out here and starting the search, I didn't think about going to another pack for help." 

"Then that's where we will start. I know someone from a nearby pack, maybe he can get us in to speak with the medic." 

There were so many maybes within Drifter's sentence that Moondust wasn't sure it would be wise to go with his idea. However, it was the first solid idea that she had since taking on the mission from Sunny. It could prove useful in her search, if anything, they could point her in another direction to search. 

"Alright, let's go speak to this acquaintance of yours." 

"Alright, and everything will be okay. I promise you that." 

Moondust was certain she could see a smile forming on his face as he turned to head back in the direction that he appeared from. His target was walking right back between the trees he had been presented through, however, something had caused him to stall. 

Turning his electric blue eyes over his shoulder, Drifter's gaze met with Moondust's wary, yet curious one. Her head had tilted to the side and her body tensed as if she was ready to attack him if he made the wrong move. It was enough to force him to stay put, not wanting to see as if he were a threat to her, despite having just promised that everything would be alright. 

"Just one thing before we go." 

"Yes, what is it?" 

Nervousness and warriness filled Moondust's voice as she narrowed her ocean blue eyes onto Drifter. Though it all melted away the moment the black wolf opened his mouth and threw his inquiry right at her, no hesitation whatsoever; 

"You never told me your name."