Wild Cherry Orchard Showing the Hours

Had Valtyr been a man, he would have nearly blushed at her suggestion. Kind though it was, a deep feeling of inadequacy surfaced. It was quickly followed by annoyance, then guilt. Rebecca was only trying to be helpful, but the onyx brute couldn't help but feel as if she were mothering him. He was older and more experienced -- it should have been the other way around.

Sighing lightly, Valtyr glanced at a lone leaf twisting in the breeze. <b>"That is a kind offer, Rebecca, but I'm sure I'll manage to scrounge something up soon."</b>

He did not want to come across as rude or as though he was committing a <span class='word'>solecism</span> in turning her down. Still, he was unsure. He knew he needed food, and soon. But he did not want to feel as though someone else had to provide for him while he was still without a pack. It was a matter of pride to be able to fend for himself, as he had done for months. <i>Yeah, great job I've done of that,</i> he mused silently as his stomach grumbled in protest at its current state.

Then an idea came to him. <b>"Perhaps we could hunt together. Two sets of teeth are better than one, after all. And we might catch something a bit bigger than a mere hare."</b>

Males. Never could ask for help or accpet help. Specially from females, especially from females younger than them. <i>You brute don't go underestimate me!</i> Rebecca wondered. If you glanced the condition of the brute, you might want to say Reba was better hunter, though she didn't know if Valkyr had some other reasons to look thin. Broken heart could take away you want of food, or something else. He said he wasn't sick, so probably he wasn't. But Rebecca didn't show that, it would be very rude

Hopefully she hadn't been too rude. Maybe it wasn't right to offer your help? What if she had been rude? Rebecca still had very poor knowledge of manners.<b> "I wasn't rude, was I?"</b> she asked lowering her head, ears flopping.

Then she decided to answer the next question of the brute, ears little higher, tail wagging. <b>"That sounds good!"</b> Eyes shining friendliness, tail wagging enormous speed.

(This post was last modified: Jan 04, 2012, 11:02 AM by Rebecca.)

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Valtyr's features softened slightly as Rebecca seemed to think better of her offer to help him find food. He hadn't meant to insult her -- he was simply too full of pride to let someone else care for him when he was perfectly capable of fending for himself. It wasn't as if he was deathly ill or seriously injured and unable to move from one spot. He just was not his usual self, in more ways than one. Valtyr pressed his ears back slightly as an offer of apology.

<b>"Not at all, Rebecca. It was kind of you to offer your assistance."</b>

The onyx beast stood as the female agreed to his proposition, her tail wagging furiously. He chuckled softly at her enthusiasm. He was glad she had agreed. It was a nice compromise -- she got to help, and they both got a nice meal out of the deal...hopefully.

<b>"I haven't had much time to scout these lands for prey. Do you know where we might find some?"</b>

Valtyr attempted to sense any other creature around from where he sat, but his ears picked up nothing, and there was no discernible scent on the air.

Rebecca's ears rised again when Valtyr said she hadn't been rude. Then she started to wonder answer to his question.

Normally Blackberry Field was good place to hunt, but today she had came here to do it, due no prey was seen in Fields.
<b>"I originally came here to hunt. Before I started to follow your scent. Usually Blackberry Field is my hunting ground, but today I didn't see any prey in there. So I think here, somewhere, should be deers or something"</b> she replied to him. Thinking how confusing it might be.

Rising her head, ears and head turnign around to find something eatable. Nothing as far as she heard and saw. Or smelled. Turnign her eyes back to Valtyr, she asked: <b>"Have you marked your den? Shall we go?"</b>

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Valtyr nodded at Rebecca describing her usual hunting grounds. So this was not the only place to bear fruit. Well, when it was in season, anyway. He made sure to keep a mental note of that for when spring came. Where you could find fruit, you could almost always find prey.

He glanced back at his den. He had made sizable improvements to it, and it was now lavishly coated in his scent. Just to ensure that no other wolf would mistake it for an abandoned den, he trotted over to some shrubbery that was almost next to the entrance, lifted his leg high, and marked. Any wolf foolish enough to ignore that scent marker deserved to be chased off.

The obsidian beast jogged back over to Rebecca, tossing his head to show he was ready to go. The possibility of a decent meal had revived his spirits. <b>"Off we go, then!"</b>

Wagging her tail once more before pulling her head down and sniffing the ground. There was nothing interesting, but she satrted to loop around to find something that told about prey. Lifting her head, listening, watching was Valtyr still after her. Nose back down, moving on. This continued some time, until she got something interesting, Valtyr's den in sight but far away.

Lifting her, but staring the point where the scent cam from, tail rising and wagging like a flag. <b>"Valtyr! Smell this!"</b> she said, excitment lighting up her voice. Not looking was Valtyr even near, just focusing to the interesting scent, starting to sniff it's surroundings.

(This post was last modified: Jan 05, 2012, 07:28 PM by Rebecca.)

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((OOC: The correct spelling is Valtyr, not Valkyr. No worries, though!))

The obsidian brute let Rebecca take the lead. He kept his senses sharp for any signs of prey, but also watched her bound about this way and that with interest. So that must be what it was like to have hardly a care in the world. Valtyr still felt that great stone in his chest weighing him down, constantly reminding him of all he'd lost, that nothing would ever be the same again. He jogged behind the female in half-interest this way for what felt like ages.

He was snapped out of his trance by her lilting voice calling to him. His gleaming eyes brightened slightly as he loped over to where she had apparently picked up a scent trail. Lowering his nose to the ground, he, too, caught what she had found. An old, lone female elk had wandered this way merely hours ago. They were young and healthier than the elk -- they could easily catch up.

<b>"It's a sick, old elk. She came this way not long ago."</b>

Valtyr twisted his head to gaze at Rebecca and wagged his tail. <b>"Good job."</b>

His spirits brightened for the time being, the onyx male took off after the scent at a determined but energy-saving lope. They needed to be able to catch the elk with energy enough to spare to bring her down.

OOC: Spelling mistake :[ Sorry. I often make them, hopefully it won't make it impossible to read my posts. Writing too fast... >.<

Smile widening her face as Valtyr praised her. Tail wagging and tone dropping out form mouth. Slowly but steadily she started to see this brute as father, not as a friend or partner, but as a dad, stepfather. Maybe because she missed those parental characters to quide her, and praising sounded awfully lot like a thing parents would do. Though she wasn't fully sure.

Rebecca wasn't never really trained to understand trails, she could follow them but what she would find from the end was pretty much a mystery. Of course she knew what was wolf and what bear, what dangerous and what not, but she was unable to tell that it was female, sick and old. Not from scent that layed on the ground. Listening carefully, then sniffing the scent again to keep it in her mind.

After it was deep in her memory, she started to trot sircle, simply due Reba was so excited to learn all these new things and meeting someone so nice. Tail wagging high above her back, head held high, being proud in the way pups were. She wasn't that type of wolf that started to think about the past too much, that part of her grew stronger with age. It made her seem childish sometimes, but it was part of her. Want to be child, live the childhood that wasn't full.

<b>"What's next?"</b> she asked with excited voice, halting and lowering her head, tail still wagging high.

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((OOC: It's okay! IIRC, English is not your first language, right? You're doing well. Also, if I could powerplay a bit -- in his last post, Valtyr had taken off after the scent and it seems Reba stayed behind and ran in circles. I'm going to assume Valtyr found the elk and Reba is with him.))

After a lengthy lope across the orchard, following the scent of the lone elk, Valtyr halted at the edge of a thicket just before the Ghastly Woods. The scent of the elk was much stronger now. In her old age, she could not possibly hope to outrun two young wolves. But he knew well she still had sharp hooves that could cleave a wolf's skull with a single well-aimed strike. She had no antlers as the males did, and for that, Valtyr was thankful. One less threat to consider.

As Rebecca spoke, the onyx beast threw her a sharp glance to silence her. It was not in anger, but there was no call to speak until the kill was either made or lost. They needed the element of surprise on their side. He could only hope the elk had not heard her. Valtyr gestured the direction the prey had gone and carefully crept through the thicket in pursuit, keeping low to the ground. Before long, he spied her. She was nipping at what little grass there was left on the ground.

Crouching low, Valtyr glanced at Rebecca to check her position. He did not know how experienced she was with the hunt, and there was the possibility of youth getting in the way of the kill. But he also knew that as feeble as the elk was and as strong as he was, he could not hope to take the elk down himself. He needed Rebecca.

OOC: True, I've learned english at school. Finnish is my mother tongue. Also, that's fine.

When Valtyr gave him that glance, Rebecca froze. No moving, no sound, noly standing and following him with her eyes. She hadn't followed the trail, so she didn't know the elk was already close. But now thats he knew, Reba didn't want to ruin the hunt. Lowering her body silently, eyes following Valtyr. When he gave the sign, Rebecca started to sneak in that same direction after Valtyr.

As Reba saw the elk, she quickly lowered her body even more. Still moving forward, until she was next to Valtyr, waiting for instructions of something. No matter in how unhealthy condition Valtyr was, she knew he would be stronger than her. But Rebecca was fast, and maybe by combining those two abilities, they could catch the old elk?

Not knowing how good hunter he was, or did he had any abilities that might come handy during hutning, Rebecca was little lost of what to do. She was good hunter, forced to hunt by herself from very young age, training her skills. First insects, they were easy, ants didn't much think about themselves, then rodents taht were fast but with good ambush rather easy to catch. Slowly the preys had gotten larger, stronger and faster, until she ahd reached the top of her powers, nothing larger than it she was able to hunt alone. And elk was something she had no chances to take down. Simply not enough strength.

(This post was last modified: Jan 06, 2012, 02:44 PM by Rebecca.)

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