Sacred Grove stalemate

<blockquote>It didn't matter that he couldn't understand it - that it was speaking an entirely different language - because all that mattered was that it was <i>talking</i>.

Marsh narrowed his eyes, his ears flicking back. If looks could kill, the colourful little bird would have keeled over by now.

One of his eyelids twitched as he stared. The creature was sat on a low branch not a foot from his face, twittering and gesturing and quite clearly having a wonderful one-sided conversation with the silent predator below. Did it think this was funny? Had it been just a few inches closer to the ground, Marsh would have taken his chances and lunged for it. After all, that was a win-win situation, right? Either the bird was destroyed, or it left.

You'd think so, wouldn't you?

Trouble was, he'd already tried that once, and the audacious laughter that rang from the tiny thing was enough to send Marsh's nerves from nil to sixty in five seconds flat. Abandoning it was also out of the question, for it was enjoying its quiet, brooding companion so much that it had stalked him halfway across Swift River's territory. There was no question in Marsh's mind about the proper solution to all this, but he knew just as well as the bird that it was perched in the optimum spot; just out of reach of leaping jaws, but not far enough away to be ignored.

Thus, the River's Second had been forced into submission, unable to perform his duties because of his antagonist. It was entirely too distracting and disruptive to get anything done at all.

His eyelid twitched again, his grey gaze unfaltering as it bore holes into the merry, hateful thing. If nature was merciful, it would listen to his prayers for spontaneous combustion.</blockquote>

Sorry, short! ._.
<blockquote>The male's scent hit her a moment before she saw him. Volkan stopped in her tracks; though she had padded too close to him now, and he would surely notice her, she didn't make a sound in hopes that he wouldn't. Of course, she wasn't so naive. Dropping the half-eaten rabbit dangling from her jaws to the ground, the yearling stared at him. <i>Oh no.</i> It wasn't that she was afraid of Marsh, just that... well, to be honest, she wasn't in the mood to be so forcefully dominated, like last time.

Sure that she couldn't just turn around and leave, Volkan watched him, still as stone. What was he doing...? Was he... talking to a bird? Perhaps he wanted to try and catch it? A little perplexed, the young female stood, awkwardly waiting for him to turn and address her, inwardly dreading the moment when he would. Preemptively, she lowered her stance somewhat, ears flattening in distaste at the situation at hand. </blockquote>

(This post was last modified: Oct 10, 2011, 05:49 PM by Volkan.)

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Sorry for the wait T-T

<blockquote>A distraction was good, no matter its source. When Marsh's ears informed him of the blessed interruption, he gladly broke his gaze from the jumped-up ball of feathers only to have it land on the girl from the hunt. Instantly he recognised her discomfort, and vaguely wondered why she would be so, but he couldn't allow his mind to wander too far; all he had to do was show weakness and the bird would strike with its skills of irritation, he knew it. Instead, he chose to disregard her curious attitude in favour of understanding it later, and hope to use her interruption in the meantime.

A wide, wicked grin broke his maw as he watched her, his tail sweeping once in silent greeting and welcome. Two against one were odds he quite fancied. Jerking his head towards the twittering bird, who was only just beginning to realise that something was up, Marsh pointedly licked his lips. He felt nothing against the girl, nothing at all; she had submitted when he had demanded it, and that was that. If she helped him eliminate a hated foe now, then all the better.</blockquote>

I'm sorry too! :]
<blockquote>His grin caught her somewhat off guard; she returned it awkwardly, dipping her head and lowering her stance momentarily to show him the necessary (or so she hoped) dominance. What to say to him? It wasn't like she'd sought him out. But before she could attempt a stab at conversation, she blinked as he motioned toward the tree he'd been staring at moments before. What, the bird? It was chattering away, though it stopped momentarily as Volkan stared at it. What was the deal here? And... couldn't they just talk about it out loud?

A little hesitant, but unsure of what action to take next, the mottled female drew closer to her admittedly intimidating pack mate and superior, keeping a lower stance than usual. Her pale gaze questioned him, flickering upward at the tree. When she was close enough for them to converse hopefully without catching the bird's attention— wait, was she buying into this now, too?— she stopped, exhaling sharply, anticipating that Marsh would provide her with some sort of information about this... weird... situation...</blockquote>

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<blockquote>She returned the grin, but he could see the hesitation behind it. Why was she being so awkward? Was she guilty of something? Should he have been acting differently as well? All these questions just had to wait, for he could think of no reason that she should be so shifty, and right now he just wanted to deal with that damn bird. Volkan edged closer, and Marsh willed her on, but she didn't seem to understand his murderous intent. Impatience flared, for he had hoped that she would aide in his war, and as the bird began to cautiously perk up again in its chirruping, the frustration bubbled up and overflowed; snarling suddenly, Marsh leapt and snapped at the lofty bird, predictably falling short but startling it nevertheless. The creature took flight, but, also predictably, merely hopped over to a nearby (higher) branch and began again in earnest.

Oh, it was just having <i>so</i> much fun. Snarling hatefully, Marsh glared at it for a few moments before turning back to Volkan, his expression softening. At least she was a distraction. Cocking his head slightly, he watched her, curious if the reason behind her discomfort would become obvious now that he could more easily concentrate on reading her body language.</blockquote>

<blockquote>She simply stood, eyes wide, as Marsh suddenly launched himself into the air, snarling fearsomely, and the bird evacuated to a nearby branch. By the time he was finished, the yearling had resolved not to look so confused, as she now actually understood what was going on. For whatever reason, he hated that thing, wanted it gone. She reasoned it wasn't pure hunger that was driving him to do this, which made her wonder... was Marsh... was there something going on with him? With his... sanity?

She didn't have time to contemplate, and felt a little bad for thinking it after seeing just how agitated he was becoming. Though his snarls made her withdraw slightly, she held her ground, almost sure that he would do her no harm. After all, it seemed like his attention was focused on this bird... she glanced upward at it, looking back at him as he watched her. With the bird clearly aware of both wolves' presence, and actively mocking them, Volkan surmised that it was okay to speak, now. Birds didn't speak wolf, right? <b>"What's... wrong, did it hurt you?"</b> She asked quietly, knowing the question was absurd, but having nothing else to say. What did he want her to do, climb the tree and get it herself? Admittedly, the damn thing was growing on her nerves too, but it seemed out of their reach, annoying though it was. She hoped her question wouldn't provoke him to snap again for whatever reason, and stood tentatively with a forepaw lifted.</blockquote>

(This post was last modified: Dec 04, 2011, 08:50 AM by Volkan.)

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<blockquote>Understandably, she spoke. It didn't make it any less frustrating, but he at least had long come to expect such disappointing turn of events. His distaste was evident on his face, though he made sure to keep forcedly neutral overall; he didn't want to make her feel unnecessarily uncomfortable, not for no reason. Slowly, he pieced together what she had said. Hurt... him? The strangeness of the question didn't help matters, but he tried to make sense of it. In a way, it had hurt him, though only his peace of mind. Is that what she meant? Surely she could not have meant physically - but then, she had been acting very strangely. Perhaps she was a little confused.

Snorting, he glanced up at the offending avian, twittering happily at the wolves' expense. Volkan did not seem perturbed by it. Is that why she was bewildered? He rolled his tongue in his mouth, warming up for the familiar hateful motions required for speech, though he didn't know what he was going to say in response. Yes, yes it had?

<b>"Luhhhhoud,"</b> he growled eventually, unable to think of anything more appropriate to say, though he was vaguely aware that it might give the wrong impression. Nuances in word meaning wasn't his forte. Loud, obnoxious, irritating, take your pick - it all meant the same right now. A discontent rumble in his chest as he foresaw misunderstanding and sought clarification, he turned about and began to skulk away, agitated by Volkan's strange behaviour and his lack of understanding of it, but not wishing to compound the situation further.</blockquote>

Up to you whether she lets him go or wants to <s>infuriate him more</s> talk x3 sorry if this cut it short, but he's awkward!

Hmmmm. Is it okay if we continue for a few more posts (to reach 10)? So we can get the points? ._. Sorry if that seems lame; we're just so close though! Only 3 more to go anyway. :]<blockquote>Uh-oh. Marsh was not happy, that much was clear. Volkan tilted her head at her in an unintentionally birdlike way, but all he would say was some garbled word that sounded like... <i>Loud?</i>

Her look of offense was brief, as she tried to suppress it as soon as it swept across her peppered face. Her? Loud? Was that what he meant? She closed her gaping jaw, shaking her head for a moment as if it would help her understand. All she'd been trying to do was help, didn't he see that? As he turned away, the young wolf stared for a moment at his retreating form before her paws carried her hurriedly after him. Why? She wasn't sure. Marsh was admittedly not her best friend among the River wolves, but still, somehow, he had earned at least an ounce of her respect— something she didn't just give away freely, that was for sure. And she wasn't going to let him sulk away without her apology.

<b>"Hey—"</b> she tried to whisper after him, catching up with him after a few seconds, <b>"You're... right, I'm sorry, I was just trying to help, but I didn't mean to be so loud—"</b> but suddenly she became distracted, because none other than the offending bird itself had fluttered down and perched on a branch from a small <span class='word'>copse</span> to her immediate right, still chattering. Her eyes widened, and she stopped in her tracks, not daring to look at it. It could be within their reach, if one of them could be quick enough to catch it. Slowly she turned her gaze to Marsh and stepped backwards, leaving no obstacle between him and his enemy.</blockquote>

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Absolutely fine, irritated Marsh amuses me 8D

<blockquote>Having hoped to avoid the confrontation that would come when she misunderstood - for she would misunderstand, his attempts to make things clearer by using their words tended to work less frequently than it didn't, especially with wolves he wasn't familiar with - Marsh was surprised and angered when he heard her pursue him. What was she hoping to achieve? He couldn't explain himself, the situation with the bird was as irrational as it was irritating, and beyond express his annoyance towards it, he didn't know what to do. He had not wanted anything from her beyond the request that had passed over her head, and as such, when he recognised the word 'sorry', his irritation briefly flickered towards confusion. Why was she sorry? That she hadn't tried to kill it? But then, that implied that she understood his plight, so -

Ohh. The misunderstanding was worse than he had anticipated. From his thin comprehension, it sounded as though she thought <i>she</i> was being loud, to which Marsh bemoaned his hatred of the words, for surely things would be simpler if he could just easily explain her folly and be done with it. But that only made him despite the language more, for his cursed inability regarding it. Why did it have to be all or nothing?

As he halted and made to turn towards her, having no idea how to fix the situation but deeper aware of its broken nature, his gaze and Volkan's temporarily alighted upon the same thing. In that instant, he was totally sure that the final destruction of the damned creature would solve everything. He barely had time to acknowledge Volkan removing herself from his path before he struck, darting forwards with disproportional (but totally earned) aggression, making sure not to waste the perfect opportunity that life had presented to him. That bird was going down, it and everything it represented. The heavens sang when Marsh's teeth clamped down on its tail, startling the forsaken creature into flight, but he was not to let it escape; another quick jerk of his head and instant death was delivered.

It was over. The torture of the last who-knew-how-long was over. It felt symbolic, somehow, and certainly as he turned back to stare at Volkan, the limp, broken bird in his jaws, it was clear that most of his tension had been relieved. He even had an idea of how to bridge the gap of understanding. Tossing the bird at her feet, subconsciously wagging his tail at the joy of the event, he poked his nose towards it and repeated the same garbled word as before. <b>"Llllluh-oud,"</b> he said, trying to add pointed inflection. After all, wolf words he could just about deal with, but the bird's chatter had just been blatantly insulting.</blockquote>

<blockquote>The chain of events was quick, a chain reaction. No sooner than she'd stepped back, Marsh was staring the bird down, practically incinerating the dumb little thing with its gaze. Then, boom, he was in the air. Volk had already witnessed this guy in action at their hunt, so his speed didn't surprise her; still, she found herself impressed as, seconds later, he stood with the poor bird dangling from his jaws.

The onyx female shifted her weight, an oversize forepaw lifting briefly as she studied Marsh's face. She could see the relief in his face that his antagonist now hung loosely from his jaws. Soon he tossed it toward her, and she looked at him, puzzled, until he repeated the same word as before. <i>...Loud,</i> he managed, nosing the bird. Now, Triell's words about Marsh made even more sense. He really wasn't a talker, was he? But she understood, finally, and a wry grin swept across her peppered features as she nodded in agreement with his short statement. <b>"Indeed,"</b> she replied, throwing him a quick wink before bending down to sniff the bird.

But clearly it was his prize, if he wanted it— she would if she were him— so she kicked it back over to him with a paw, feathery tail giving a flick as she turned to leave. <b>"I think this belongs to you,"</b> she said, still smiling. She'd keep this encounter between Marsh and herself, which she assumed he'd want, as she figured he wasn't a wolf who enjoyed being embarrassed often. Trotting up to him to give him a final small lick under the chin in respect, she then sauntered away through the trees to meet up with Swift River's second another day.</blockquote>

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