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Frith and the Frumious Bandersnatch were stalking the borderlands between Ramus and Torbu territories for prey. It hadn't been a particularly good past few days for them, so when the scent of something dead and delicious hit Frith's nostrils, she led the pair charging off in its direction. The large ungulate was very fresh; it hadn't been dead more than a day. In fact, it looked like it'd had been a hunting kill that had escaped and died of its wounds; no sick meat here! And best of all, the corpse was right here, ready for the taking. They could meet their hunting quota for quite a while with this thing. While Frith cautiously scouted around for any signs of the hunter pursuing its fallen prey, Fru bent down and grabbed a hind leg in her teeth. "Oi! C'mon, let's take it before somebody else shows up and grabs it first!" But Frith put a paw on her shoulder to stay her movements. "Hang on a tic, girl. I think I hear somebody in the distance. I think it might be one of ours; if it's a huntress who brought this down, it wouldn't be fair to keep it. We'll help her carry it back, though, and maybe she'll be generous and let us count it as part of ours. If anything, we can say we dealt the killing blow."

Fru nodded, then slashed the prey's neck with her claws, bloodying them. At least this way it would look like they did part of the work.

Frith's eyes widened as she realized what was coming along. It wasn't a Ramus huntress, but a very large Torbu male. "Oh dammit! Torbu patrol. Big male, comin' in hot." She watched, somewhat horrified as Fru's mouth twisted into a terrible grin. "No, Fru. No. We are not going to pick a fight. Absolutely not." The blue female ducked her head and stuck out her bottom lip coquettishly; pouting almost always worked on Frith and they both knew it. This time, though, the more steadfast of the pair was holding her ground. "Absolutely no picking a fight. He's too close for us to pick this up and run with it without provoking suspicion; we're going to handle this like responsible adults and..."
"And not make things any worse between our clans than they already are," Fru finished. "Alright, alright, I'll be nice. But Frith, darling?"
"Hmm?"
"What if he picks a fight?"
Now it was Frith's turn to smile. "Well, then, my dear, we'll simply have to show him what it means to fight like a girl."

"And we see- and smell- and hear you," came a sweet-sounding voice, followed by a rather high-pitched giggle. Stepping in front of the blue female and motioning that she should stay down in the grass, Frith pushed herself forward, walking slowly until she was looking eye-to-eye with the male. "And now you see me." She was eyeing him over, looking for any apparent weak points. Gods above, it wasn't fair how much bigger males got than females. His horns, too; those looked pretty nasty. "And you've quite obviously seen our ungulate. The question is, do you acknowledge that it's ours?" A purple eyebrow arched delicately over her black mask. This could end badly or quite well, depending on how the male reacted.

Frith was somewhat taken aback by the male's answer. She hadn't expected him to give it up so... easily. Any Ramus in his position, male or female, would have fought tooth and claw for a carcass this large. "Good. Because it is ours," she answered bluntly, wondering what was going on in the male's mind. Was he planning on waiting until their backs were turned to charge and take the meal? It didn't seem a terribly difficult thing to pull off. Eying him suspiciously, she crouched down near where Fru was hidden. "Watch your back and be ready. He's Torbu; I don't know if we can trust him.".

But for her part, Fru had come to a different conclusion. "He doesn't really seem all that threatening, Frith. I don't think he's gonna fight us for this thing. Damn shame. 'Sides, the Torbu have access to lots more prey, I think. He's probably not got a quota to meet."

"Maybe, but still. I don't want anything to happen to you," the darker 'giet murmured. "It's my job to keep you safe."

Frith cocked her head, thinking cautiously about the male. Was he wanting to talk to them? Was he waiting for backup? Was he even supposed to be out here? Frith had no idea how tight of a leash the Torbu kept on their clan members. It was probably awfully loose these days... Though nobody was truly certain about what was going on in there, something had happened to their leader. Darius, the old king, was dead. This was widely known. A kip was supposedly their new leader, but who he was or why he'd been instated was unknown. Perhaps he was a spy of sorts, putting out feelers with anybody who passed this way. It wasn't in Frith's nature to trust anybody, but a strange male got the least trust of all. Cautiously, she answered. "Yes, it is. A fine day, at least in the Ramus lands. It is fine in the Torbu, as well?" There could be no denying the undercurrent of that question.

For her part, Fru stood up. She wasn't afraid of the male, and she didn't really need Frith's protection. Though she liked how much the other female cared for her, not everybody was out to get her. "Indeed, it's a nice day out! Frumious B here, what's your name?"

Frith's brow furrowed ever so slightly. No talk of the king. But he'd been at a festival... perhaps the clanbeasts didn't actually know what was happening with their leadership. This wasn't the way things were normally run. Perhaps the clan of family was beginning to hide things from itself. This could be... advantageous. Clearly, they would need to learn more. Let's see... who had Torbu connections? Frith couldn't think of anybody off of the top of her head. Perhaps she and Fru could make connections for themselves. They would just need to be friendly. "Perhaps, then, you'd do well to take care. You know of your new king, yes?"

Fru scratched her ear. "Hooper's a nice name." For the most part, she was content to let Frith do the talking.