Sacred Grove Cruisin' Through

The place radiated energy, something foreign to the young male as he curiously sniffed the trees. There were strips of bark torn off the trunks with leftover chunks littered about. He could smell that the culprit was deer and his stomach gave a loud bellow. When was the last time he'd eaten fresh? He was confident in his ability to scavenge, but hunting sizable prey required numbers. These were the moments his heart, or maybe just his belly, longed for his family. He missed being full and curling up backside with his siblings as they soaked in the warmth of the sun. Cashew pushed the memories out of his mind, reminding himself that they would find him! Casually he strolled away from the barren trees.

There was plenty to explore in the grove as he followed the trails left by other adventures. His paws gently landed on the ground so as to not make too much sound. His tail swished lazily behind him. His pelt wasn't freshly groomed as he would have preferred, but it was far from being unkempt. He wanted something fun to do. His brown eyes searched for something interesting to grab his attention. As luck would have it, he spotted a songbird feather wedged up between low-hanging branches. With a leap of faith, he launched himself upwards, teeth snapping close inches from the prize. He tumbled to the ground with a childish laugh before trying again...and again...

A certain sense of adrenaline fueled each fall of dainty paws as Koko ventured way beyond the limits that had been thrust upon those in the Cove and even further still than she had intended to go originally. Like an objectionable concoction that gradually suffocated the young woman the mixture of the rising tension with the return of the leader's child in less than ideal conditions from what she gathered and the familiar warmth beneath her coat that signified the oncoming return of her heat cycle had started to become too much to bare at once. Thus a small stroll just outside the boarders which was still permitted for a dose of fresh air had turned into an unexpected trip down the mountainside.

Unlike the wispy forest of the willows that seemingly welcomed travelers with open arms, this place held a completely different aura of its own. Soil underfoot even when covered in snow seemed to vibrate with energy and demanded a certain level of respect from those that dared traverse amongst its trunks. Not one to openly be defiant to such power, chocolate dipped ears splayed themselves back nervously as icy blue eyes constantly surveyed her surroundings. Perhaps she should turn around and get back before it was too late to save herself from getting into trouble back home, but this place was...intriguing.

Plop. Plop. Laughter.

Kokonoe froze mid stride and pivoted her ears forward to catch the sound of paws falling the ground over and over again as if someone was..hopping? The infectious sound of laughter, of fun, had paws once more in motion to seek the sounds out while ivory brows knitted themselves together in curiosity pushing through the underbrush to settle her sights on a young fellow similar in coloration to herself leaping repeatedly at a specific tree. With his next bounce off the ground her eyes followed his projection to try and figure out what could possibly have gained his attention. Her sights fell upon a pretty songbird feather and instantly her eyes widened at just how pretty the colors were, her mouth working faster than her brain in that moment.

"Pretty!" She exclaimed and immediately swallowed hard once she realized she had blown her own cover. Oh crud...

Word Count: 374

Art Credit:ulfeid3

Cashew was enjoying himself, stretching his limbs as he repeatedly tried to reach the trophy. His teeth clicked together with each failed attempt. His fluffy brown pelt became jostled about in messy tufts. Eager and determined eyes studying the object of his interest with the same concentration one might spare for important tasks. He had nothing better to do, after all. Mustering up his stamina the boy crouched real low before springing up once more. "Pretty! The unexpected voice caused a series of unpleasant events for the male. First, his head collided with the branch as he looked at her, and then he landed like a buffoon in front of her.

His brain turned to mush as brown eyes locked onto blues. The bright feather drifted down in a spiraling fashion to land on his dark nose. His muzzle twitched before a loud sneeze forced him upright and the feather forward. Cashew blankly stared at the woman, his heart pounding in his chest. She was no Dime a dozen, that was for sure. His cheeks were hotter than normal and as he tried to find the words to shoot back a flirty response his mouth became dry. Mindlessly his tail wagged in a helicopter fashion while he looked at Koko like a love-struck fool. Not that the boy was even capable of love.

Finally the Lakewood was able to regain himself enough to stand up and retrieve the feather. In an almost playful way he pranced up to her with a bouncy gait. Smiling he held the feather between his teeth and leaned towards her. An attempt at words was made, but instead gibberish left his mouth, and the warmth he felt ignited into a hotter flame. She had brown fur like him, with pale complimenting the darker shade, but somehow she gave him a run for his money in the looks department. He could smell that like Iris she too was in season, but he could not fathom how to pull the moves on such a fine lady. For once he felt like someone was out of his league.

We'll get him falling for a stranger, a player

What a series of unfortunate events indeed for the young male.

Chocolate shoulders lifted together as a wince graced Koko's face, a single eye closing sympathetically for the pain of what the gentleman must have felt once his skull collided with the branch overhead before icy blues watched his russet form tumble to the ground in a heap. Warmth immediately surrounded the area of her cheeks as if it had been her that had fallen in such embarrassment, meeting those brown eyes of his with an apologetic glint behind them before her attention shifted to that of the falling feather that adopted a spiraling pattern on its way down to land gracefully on the tip of his nose.

Oh, but this gentleman wasn't finished having a hard time. No more than a moment of the feather landing on his nose did he end up sending himself upright with the jolting force of his sneeze while sending the feather forward toward herself yet falling still so gracefully to land on the ground. At this Kokonoe couldn't help but try her best to stifle a bout of giggles all the while some still managed to escape her muzzle from watching such a comical display. A good belly laugh surely was worth the punishment possibly waiting at home for her.

Her tailed mirrored the wagging of his own as she stepped forward to completely emerge from the brushes she had formerly tried to hide herself within, once more releasing a series of giggles when his words failed to properly form while presenting the feather and instead came out more like gibberish than coherent words. "You're a silly one." Koko spoke through one last bout of giggles, trying her best to compose herself as she shifted herself to lower haunches into a sit. "I'm Kokonoe, Koko for short. Who might you be?" Her question was paired with a curious head tilt, her pale gaze looking the young man up and down. My, my.. He was funny and cute.

She was stunning as a morning dove. Had he not been a traveler, he could've sat and stared at her for eternity. Instead, Cashew was a boy of short patience with a wandering heart. He was roped in by the series of giggles. Her laughter was a pleasant tune to his ears, as was she a sight to his eyes. His cheeks burned hot from embarrassment while his belly churned with butterflies.

The she-wolf came into full view, and Cashew might as well have been drooling. He wasn't sure if he had ever seen a wolf as fine as her before. Open mouth, insert paw. He was going to flunk this. His typical flirtatious one-track-minded self was ready to shine through. His mouth was parting before he could stop it, "Darlin' you're as gorgeous as a sunset over the ocean." Perhaps it would've been smooth if he hadn't had a cocky air to him. "I can be silly for you all day long." At this exact moment his single brain cell fired up. The boy gave a sheepish look, taking a nervous step back. What was he doing? She was lightyears out of his league!

"I-I uh, I like your name." A rare moment of the male saying a compliment without seeking something in return. "'m Cashew Lakewood, ma'am."</b> He dipped his head respectfully as the introduction left his lips. His heavy country accent flowed through and through.

We'll get him falling for a stranger, a player

Her greeting was met with a series of flattery that crossed territory uncharted before for Koko. As such icy blues blinked rapidly trying to understand the comparison he was spewing, unsure what an ocean was yet the chocolate female did know how gorgeous a sunset was. They were easily near the top of her list of things she found to be pretty, but definitely way more gorgeous than miss plain Jane herself here in her honest opinion. Perhaps it was that same realization that dawned upon the similarly coated man, thus his flirtatious nature was recanted for a more sheepish one.

A more genuine compliment, it seemed, fell from his lips and a respect dip of his head was offered with a moniker of his own laced in an accent unheard of before by the woman. "Why thank you. A pleasure to meet you, Cashew." For records sake the name was securely tucked into the recess of her mind for safe keeping should it come to prove useful later on. You never knew when the right name could get you out of a sticky situation.

"What made ya want that pretty feather?" She asked with genuine curiosity, stepping forward to brush the tip of her nose against the very feather in question that had the man tumbling in quite a display moments ago.