Broken Timber Pines A squirrel is just a rat in a cuter outfit

Broken Timber Pines, there seems to be an infestation of squirrels. They are everywhere, dropping things and chattering
@Eirian @Yuka @Erebos @Koda @Iopah @Zeta @Delia @Nalda @Maeve @Ember @Arion

Heavy head lifted off crossed paws as the inky woman stretched, imagining for just a moment she could even feel the bones in her tail cracking along with her spine, but as she moved to wave the missing appendage, nothing brushed her flank or spine and it was then she remembered. The taught stretch of her face morphed into a sour faced frown but that simply would not do. A quick shake was enough to remind her she still had a part to play and today it might take some time to get herself in character. So when she finally hunched her shoulders to exit the den she had claimed for herself, ears folded back so as not to brush the dirt ceiling she was entirely unprepared for the onslaught as she left her cozy home.

It was reflexively that she dodged the flying... pinecone?! Years of dodging her fathers teeth paying off in spades as she skittered back under the cover of the fallen tree that covered the entrance to her den. A wide eyed look to the left, and then to the right showed this was not Eirian out for revenge for his stolen bone (she wondered if he had found its new, bee free hiding place yet? She had been careful to place it in his path, ready to shrug her involvement off as a rescue after the fact), so she was only left to wonder who or what had decided to blitzkrieg her small clearing?

It was then the angry chattering registered, seemingly rival scurries going to war over who owned this particular stand of trees. A useless growl would do her little good now but she loosed one none the less. "Fuckin' rodents! I'll climb up there and eat the lot of you!" Unless they had babies. She never could bring herself to harm the young.

Okay, what the heck was going on!?

The two-year-old had been woken shortly after daylight with incessant chattering in the trees overhead. She had removed herself from her den and bolted outside in a tantrum rather comically: fur disheveled, half-in-half-out of the den, and paws splayed widely as though she were stuck. Truly, she'd been awake long before this outburst. The chattering had been ongoing since the first twinge of light had entered the den and she had repeatedly rolled over inside the den. It had turned to sleepy restlessness, to attempts at covering her ears, to the current outburst. Her eyes looked around wildly above her as if to identify who the culprit was who had stolen her shut-eye. 

"Hey!" She called out to no one chatter-box in particular, trying to stay her voice low enough as to not wake any of the other pack mates that had managed to sleep through all of this. When a pinecone dropped in front of her nose with a careless plop!, she realized this would not be dealt with from her current position. Wriggling momentarily before she found some footholds, she darted out and ran towards the thicker terraqueous section of trees. It was not long before she stumbled across a pack member that had been awakened similarly. It was the black wolf she had met weeks before - the one without the tail. They were everywhere! She barked at a couple in one tree that continued carelessly dropping things, one hitting her flank on the way down. How had they bred so fast?? Her annoyance drew barks, and snaps at the air as she called in defiance to their noisy chattering laughter. 

Her claws scraped down one of the trees in frustration, huffing at them before she turned to Eek. The squirrels bound from tree to tree so fast she was unable to count them all, or keep track of any one. When she had her back turned, they scurried behind her, causing her to whip around and chase them up the nearest tree.. always too slowly. "The little rascals!" She exclaimed, "Don't you know some people are trying to sleep!?" She explained to them harshly, her beryl-lime eyes losing remnants of comity. They answered her with a flurry of shredded pinecone to her snout, to which she shook them off with a growl. This was hopeless!

 

the rabbit

Adopt my twin!

The longer the morning went on, the harder it was to concentrate on the borders. With every hour the pests got louder and louder. There was always a couple squirrels somewhere in the cedar forest - there probably wasn't a single place in the Lore that was completely free of them. Iopah folded her ears to muffle the sound, but she could still see them swinging in the trees. This was more than ridiculous, it was infuriating. Her hackles had long since lifted into tall, gray blades over her shoulders.

She was trying to ignore them. There was nothing she could do really. Even on the ground they were fast, high up in the canopy they were impossible to catch. Barking and growling was incredibly satisfying, but it would but escalate the situation - and the squirrels had the numbers to win an argument with the wolves. If she could only get away for the day, take a few other wolves and hold an impromptu hunt somewhere. They could head east into the ferns, there weren't usually--

Pain exploded on her nose and Iopah yelped, snapping out reflexively. Shrill screams immediately replied and Iopah glared up at the squirrels. One ventured lower to swing on a pendulous cedar limb. It was still safe -swaying several feet above the wolf- but the Pines' queen leapt up. Her teeth snapped shut on empty air and the squirrel shrieked a laugh at her.

Obviously it was decided slumber was not on the agenda for the Pines wolves according to the squirrels whom busied themselves leaping about the overhead branches and leafy canopy while filling the early hours of dawn with the sound of their obnoxious chittering and chattering that sounded like an all out war of the woodlands. The amplified sounds they made grating against the ears of not only himself, but the entirety of the pack it would seem as Eirian emerged from the den he called his own; whenever he didn't squeeze himself between the sleeping forms of his subordinates inside the communal den, that laid nestled dab smack in the center of the raging battlefield.

Woosh the sound filled the russet male's ears as a pine cone came zipping past the side of his head, narrowly missing the chance to hit the back of his skull had it been just a few inches closer to the left. First keeping the wolves that inhabited this part of the forest awake wasn't enough, now they were subject to being apart of target practice?! An irritated growl rumbled against his chest as his limbs strode determinedly toward the nearest tree rat infested trunk even though he was well aware they remained untouchable for the time being, but that wouldn't stop him from giving them hell should one be foolish enough to allow grass beneath their tiny paws. Squirrels were equally fast on the ground, but Eirian was determined to be faster.

Reclining onto his hindquarters partially the patriarch placed his forelimbs upon the bark of a towering cedar, letting loose his own series of annoying barks and yaps in hopes of luring a dumb enough squirrel; most likely a younger and immature creature, into a confrontation on his turf. If not, just the act of releasing some of his frustration vocally was greatly satisfying.

I suppose there is no harm in allowing Koda the pleasure of barking at the squirrels!

Like the rest of the Pine wolves, Koda had turned in early for rest only to wake, rather unexpectedly, to the uncanny sound of chitter chatter from somewhere in a towering tree. Shifting in his sleep did not make the sound go away, in fact it seemed to grow louder with each minute that ticked by and before long he retired from the attempt only to poke his head from the abandoned den he'd slept in during the night to see what the commotion was today. Squirrels were frequent visitors to the Pines, the thick foliage and fallen timber pines seemed to be a favorite place for the scavenging critters, and the trees that did remain standing were their safe haven as they accomplished what squirrels did after finding an acorn or two to eat--what they often did not do though was throw the darn things at the unsuspecting passerby. 

He felt the sting of a acorn bounce from his left shoulder and looked, quite perplexed, as the object rolled a few inches from him only to settle just shy of his opposite thick foreleg. He scoffed, a look of agitation formed across his face as another wave of acorns fell randomly around him, narrowly missing him in the process, after the sting of yet another acorn fell off his back a look of anger formed across the remainder of his normally kind face. It was of no surprise that he was not the only wolf to have noticed, and grown tired of the chitter chatter and obnoxious tossing of acorns from their usually docile neighbors--instinct brought powerful movement to his legs. He moved toward the nearest tree, forepaws outstretched to bare his weight as an onslaught of barks, and growls fell from his lips. Though the squirrels were handsomely out of reach, it still felt good to at least let them know that one slip up from the safety of the tree, could cost them a precious life. 

(This post was last modified: Jun 16, 2016, 10:27 AM by Koda.)

Arla and Emma are the ish and made my pretties!
Koda will most likely always be accompanied by Chiron unless otherwise stated, or requested.