<blockquote>There was something eerie about walking in a place he’d not yet become accustomed to. Movement wasn't free. He was much more aware of his surroundings... the squirrel that flung itself high from one branch to another a few feet away, the sharp crack as one rock hit another, displaced by some clumsy animal who had a misstep on the already unsettled terrain, the heady scent of the loam where moisture collected to create green areas between the rocks. Such was the case for Mateo; but then, that had been the case for some time now. He become used to his travel weary habits. The way his eyes flickered constantly around the terrain, inhaling deeply every so often in order to test the air for new scents, the little radars that his ears had become, constantly in motion atop his head. He took no note of them now, merely the information they brought to him.
He hadn’t moved too far away from the area that concealed his den. A small outcrop rose low in a nook of a slope where it lay sheltered. Looking down towards it, one would expect it to be nothing more than a pile of rocks, covered by a sparse growth of foilage. He hadn’t been paying particular attention in that direction, pointed as he was north. However, as one might expect, he became rather distracted as the earth began to tremble beneath his feet.
It started suddenly and was just as quickly bone jarring, the roar of rock colliding with rock, earth rolling over itself, consuming his entire body. His eyes widened and he hunched low to the ground, looking wildly about for the sudden impact that he expected. Quickly finding that the earth was not opening beneath him, his eye caught movement as he craned his head around to see what was happening.
It was easy enough to see what had cause the tremors; the rocks that jarred against each other were coming to a slow halt, the roar dying slowly away while his body dealt with the aftershocks of having the earth shake beneath him. His body had turned unconsciously as his head did and he was now facing southwest; the direction his den lay in. Perhaps it was unsightly, but one would have to forgive Mateo for the slack jawed expression that hung on his face. The slide had completely cemented his den into the earth. Not even the telltale foliage could be seen beneath the newly laid grave of rock.
He gaped for an instant longer, blinking dimly at the sight that now lay in front of him.
It was only the loud scuffles and high pitched giggles that brought his jaws together with a click and snapped his head to his left. His body tensed, legs stiffening along with his tail as his eyes narrowed in the direction the noises were coming from. Already on edge, he was quickly working himself into a paranoia. Of course, he didn’t have to wait long before his paranoia became a reality and a darkly colored wolf leapt through the bushes from the south, tumbling about like a rag. His gaze bore into her own, lip curling ever so slightly as a shot of adrenaline rushed belatedly through him. He took in the sight of her, speculative before his gaze shifted momentarily back to the rubble that had killed off the birth of his den.
His ears lay back across his skull, pinned down by the sheer exasperation he felt suddenly empty from his chest in a deep sigh. Really? Had that really just happened? A few more rocks jittered free from the loose mess of rubble that now lay down the side of the incline, completely covering the path and the entrance to his recently hollowed out den. Live to regret it, he’d thought. He could have mocked himself with ease had he found the situation funny. As it was, he was now without the small sense of familiarity he’d managed to claw out in an unfamiliar terrain and apparently now in the company of an equally unfamiliar wolf. His gaze shifted back to the wolf, a cold glare settling on her. His body remained tense and distinctly unfriendly, hackles raised ever so slightly in his irritation. Even his look said quite plainly: <i>This is you’re doing. Now what are you going to do about it?</i>
Indignant. That is the word to describe this situation. </blockquote>
(This post was last modified: Dec 14, 2011, 09:44 AM by Mateo.)
Sex: Male
