Sacred Grove A Question, Please...

(Cali is continuing her patrol and exploration of the territory following her spar with Marsh...)

The white female followed the river, a bit slower this time to accommodate her complaining muscles. She had gotten what she was looking for, right? Marsh had taught her something, all right. She had a lot to learn. Cali was determined to follow her course through though. She would learn all she could on fighting and do her best to deserve the higher rank that she craved. It would mean little if it was just handed to her after all. If... no, <i>when</i> she accomplished her goal the victory would be all the sweeter for it. It didn't seem as if there was a female filling the rank any longer, but she wanted to prove herself to Corinna and Indru mainly, but also Marsh and Ice. They were her betters, but she hoped to stand besides Marsh and Ice with confidence in the end. The far away end... she sighed to herself. Well, she'd taken step one and she had the aches to prove it.

She wandered over to the edge of the water to slake her thirst. She had not taken the time or effort to do so after her lesson with Marsh and her throat was now burning fiercely. She closed her eyes tiredly as she lapped slowly at the cool water. She would be fine soon, but for now she was exhausted and hurt in too many places to count. It was a good thing for her that it had merely been a training session or she'd be somewhere else entirely now! As the water revived her she opened her emerald eyes and caught sight of her reflection in the moving water. She gave an indelicate snort at her appearance. Her white fur was dirty and matted in places, complements of the brutes saliva. She had several minor cuts and scrapes that stung and she had a slightly deeper gash on her left shoulder from a particularly aggressive maneuver. She shook her head and decided to clean herself up before continuing. No way she would let Marsh seeing her do so. It would probably irritate him. She was coming to realize that most things did, other than silence, strength and loyalty, especially to Corinna. She would work on that too, but the leadess was wary of any advances of familiarity. Apparently, the female seconds in the past had left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. She aimed to change that point of view, but it would take time. At least now, time was something she had. She no longer needed to scrounge and barely survive as a loner and for that she was eternally grateful to the Swift River pack.

With that thought in her head, she slowly entered the river, cautiously stepping out deeper. She kept her feet dug into the ground beneath her and braced herself against the flow of the river. A sigh escaped her as the chilled water penetrated her thick fur and undercoat, soothing her injuries and cooling her aching muscles. Holding her breath she quickly dipped her head under the clear water several times before gasping for a breath. Then she exited the water and gave a mighty shake that she quickly regretted when her muscles screamed at her. Clenching her teeth for a moment she let the wave pass and then lay down to groom herself slowly. Eventually she managed to get her coat clean and dry, although it was still apparent that she'd been in a scuffle with her scrapes and slowly bleeding shoulder. A few more good licks stopped the bleeding there as well. She rested for a few more minutes, took another good drink and then proceeded on her border patrol at least <i>looking</i> better than she had.

(This post was last modified: May 12, 2012, 03:42 PM by Cali.)

Never Underestimate a Heart of Fire...

The roaring of a painful death followed his shadow, always hairs behind him, if not in his coat, eyes, and nose. A flutter of wings indicated a bee trying to plant it's stinger inside his nostril. How anything could get up there after his last episode with a stray stick was beyond his comprehension, but still a yelp gurgled in his throat, the best he could do in his present situation of running for his pitiful life. How had he even gotten into this mess? Blurry images flashed before his eyes, his family photograph now faded with age, the woman he loved and lost, the pack who hated him but merely tollerate him for entertainment's sake, the porcupine he almost stepped on, the skunk that sprayed him in alarm, the blurry forest he kept dashing into, the tree that now bore the imprint of his skull, the sticky yellow splashes from a beehive that nearly fell on his head from the impact, the swarm of irate citizens behind him, the blur of black ahead that looked like a safe spot... oh lawdies, a baby bear! He pedaled his feet trying to escape but a distant roar and approaching train of dark color indicated that mother bear was indeed nearby and now more pissed off than pissed. Fright couldn't begin to describe his situation as he'd already emptied his bowels once.... make that twice. Leaves stirred up in every dirrection as he hurtled himself towards a river ahead. Perhaps if he got into the current, it would protect him from the bees? But what about the bear? Another roar thundered, quickly approaching in both anger and anticipation of a new furry meal beginning to swell with the furry of golden, black-striped insects. A hurricane of chaos, he threw himself into the river, a great splash following. His legs slipped beneath him as he tried to swim but felt his body being dragged away. When he felt ground, he began to run, squinting his eyes to protect him from the onslaught that was surely following. He emerged from the river in flailing moments and began his run once more, not noticing the wolf in front of him, or how he was one second away from running into it, possibly even tripping, falling on his face, and into a land that wasn't his. But he had no time to smell. "Kiy yai!", was as much as he could manage, hardly a phatic greeting, if it could even be dubbed that. #552002

THANK YOU JACCY

(This post was last modified: May 19, 2012, 10:04 PM by Skittles.)

The day was actually quite beautiful and the white female was enjoying her trek, despite her aches. It gave her time to think and settle her recent experiences in her mind. Although she had been terrified to make her request, she was glad that she had in the end. However, her body wasn't pleased. She had stopped a couple of times to clean the three inch gash on her shoulder, mindful of possible infection. Muting the complaints of her body, Cali continued to scan the terrain ahead of her, memorizing terrain and seeking anything that might seem out of place.

One moment, Cali was on a peaceful patrol, doing her best to ignore her myriad of aches and pains, and the next a wolf was emerging from the swiftly flowing river behind her. Somehow, he was in a dead run from the moment he touched solid land. He screeched out a warning a mere second before barreling into her full force, knocking the breath out of her momentarily. She briefly lost track of him as her own world flipped over a time or two before coming to a halt. She scrambled back to her feet quickly, still in high defense mode from Marsh as well as being 'attacked' by a stranger.

She glared at him, once she got her bearings again. Just as she was about to snarl at him in warning, another roar caught her attention and sent chills down her spine. Following the sound, she spied a rather angry looking mother bear on the far shore. <i>Ahh. Well, that explained his hurry.</i> Regardless, he was trespassing. <b>"I'm not sure what you did, but you are on Swift River land, stranger."</b> Her voice was firm, but slightly less angry than it would have been. She was curious of the story with the bear, but that didn't matter with a trespasser on their land. She took a deep whiff of his scent and realized that at least he was not from another pack. He was a loner, like she had been a short time ago. <i>What were his intentions?</i>, she wondered. <b>"Explain yourself,"</b> she demanded.

Never Underestimate a Heart of Fire...

Crashing into a foreign body not his own was a brutal hit and it took him a few minutes to recover and begin his lope again, but his muscles didn't have the strength to pick up the fervor of his previous pace. This time the roar came from a distance and he dared to look out of his peripherals. Seeing nothing, he allowed his head to whip around and saw that it had at last came to a stop, perhaps not wanting to get its feet wet, panting, he sniffed the air, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he did so. Feeling safe from the bees, his flank and demeanor seemed to droop now. He studied the expression of the wolf for a moment, his own face going from neutral to a happy bafflement, froze, and then mutated to horror as he realized what had just happened. He had traded the bears and the bees for a very angry wolf. One half of his brain began to ponder the implications of those words, that the land was claimed, that this was not his home, and that he must speak, while the other began to wonder how to explain what had happened. "Uuuu.....", he gasped for breath, panting heavily with all the exertion. "I ... I ... ", he began to paw at his face and nose, realizing that the skunk spray hadn't quite hit him as directly as he first thought. But his story wasn't complete! "And then.... asppppeeeewwww PLUNK", he tried to demonstrate something falling. "bbbbZZZZZZZZ dieeeee!", he did his best to wiggle his paws. "rrrroooooaaarrrr!!! aaah!", he demonstrated standing on his back legs holding his paws to his chest and attempting to show his tonsils. Backing down to the ground, he pedaled his feet as best he could, staying in place the whole while. His eyes suddenly widened. "You're a ... g-g-gir....", he didn't get to finish his sentence as he plopped his front end on the ground, his rear still sticking up preposterously, and attempted to cover his eyes with his paws. Realizing this wasn't working, he began to paw up dirt, and tried to pile it on his head and cover his paws on top of that. His rear end began to quake with nervous fear as he half-stood as still as he was capable of. #552002

THANK YOU JACCY

Cali waited for the wolf's response, still miffed at having been bowled over so unceremoniously, even if it had been unintentional. The male stared at her for a second, before apparently loosing what was left of his mind. The strange concoction of sounds and actions, coupled with their corresponding expressions was more than enough to make the female worry for his sanity. At least insanity was not contagious. She surely would have been running for her life.

By the time his 'story' had come to an end, her eyes were wide and she had pulled her head back warily. Then, if she interpreted the stuttering syllables correctly, he realized that she was a female and proceeded to quite literally bury his head in the sand, rear end up in the air. By this time, Cali's jaw had dropped and it took her a moment to snap her jaws shut with a rather audible 'click'. She had to think about the wisdom of trying to ask this...wolf... another question. There was no telling what he might do.

Best to start with something simple. Like a name. <i>That couldn't be too difficult to answer, right?</i> <b>"I am Cali. What is your name stranger?"</b> Yeah, strange.... Now that her brain had had some time to process his performance a small smile crossed her face.

Never Underestimate a Heart of Fire...

The sound of ivories clashing was just one of the many sounds of a haunting nature around him ready to devour the flesh from his bones. Here, he could not see her, or smell her. There was only dirt and darkness. In the sanctity of his quiet place, he felt at peace and gradually his nervous wag began to fade to a mere drooping, pathetic tail. "Skittles?, came his muffled response. He didn't realize his belabor as he began to ramble on, his thoughts taking the edge on the tips of his tongue and beginning to slice open his lips from the inside, where all defeat started: internally. "But I'm a boy and you're a girl so you have the cooties so I'm not talking to you and you don't exist and I'm not trespassing because I never ran into a territory because I didn't have time to smell and wasn't almost drowning and didn't knock anyone over and there's not honey on my face and an angry bear in the woods with a skunk that squirted me and a bunch of homeless bees stinging me and the poo that I stepped in and a very bad day. Nothing ever happened because it's black right now and the only thing that exists is the sound of my own voice." There. His lungs heaved in. And heaved out. Fresh air began to oxygenate to his brain, though still clogged with dirt. He sneezed and proceeded to pile on more dirt. "So you're going to say now that none of that matters because you are all evil for the sake of having a cool name and are going to eat me alive because it's scary and edgy. Just say it so I can run away!", he half whined and half shouted and whimpered with no iota of sarcasm. "Calllllliiiiiiiii.", he repeated the name to himself to grind it in and to finish his sentence. His feet re-adjusted himself in his posture, taking another moment to shovel more sand onto his nose, holding his eyes shut tight. What an awful day it was. Hopefully this female would tell him the truth so he could run away. #552002

THANK YOU JACCY

Cali's head began to hurt the more that the bizarre wolf spoke. She nearly regretted asking, but she was at least getting some useful information now. All of his crazy sounds and pantomimes that had led up to him sticking his head in the dirt fell into place. Bees, skunk and bear, all in one day. And now trespassing. She could almost sympathize with the poor creature... but of course she had the cooties since she was a 'girl'. The white fae had never encountered another such creature in her entire life.

A part of her wanted to invite him to stay, if only to give this pitiful creature before her some safety. She was not going to <span class='word'>belabor</span> the situation though. She didn't know about the others, but Marsh would probably shred the poor thing, just to get him to shut up and Corinna wouldn't have any patience in her current condition. She did her best to make her words sound friendly and firm at the same time. <b>"I assure you that I do not have the 'cooties' and that you are indeed trespassing, whether it was intentional or not."</b> She gave him a moment to absorb her words before continuing. <b>"You may stay a bit, to be sure that the bear goes away, but now is not a good time for one such as yourself (meaning joyfully crazy) to join as our leadess Corinna is expecting pups soon."</b>

She looked back down the river and saw that the bear was still there, although her interest seemed to be waning. She only glanced their way ever once in a while. It should be safe for him to cross back over soon. Until then, he would simply have to deal with her 'cootie' riddled self for she wasn't about to leave him alone or allow him deeper into their territory. Barely over the border was far enough. <b>"Maybe you can come back another time, without the bear,"</b> she suggested and wondered if it was a good idea. She hated the idea of sending him on his way though, even if all of his screws were loose.

(This post was last modified: May 21, 2012, 01:00 PM by Cali.)

Never Underestimate a Heart of Fire...

If ever there had been a wolf with no luck, or luck that got decimated at every opportunity until there was nothing left but the worst of bad kharma, it was surely Skittles. Whatever he had done in his past life surely had to be as atrocious as a child rapist slave-trader murdering scum. Though it was true that some of these things he brought on himself. One could only wonder if there was a portion of the man's subconscious that somehow created all these situations, perhaps out of spite. He listened to the woman who seemed to half-invite him to stay with her pack and at the same time make an effort to get him to go away. Whatever the case, he wasn't welcome here and yes, he was still trespassing. Couldn't he have his tiny dirt mound where the bees and bears and skunks didn't chase him? Couldn't he have one small tattered corner of the world that didn't involve scraping by for a meager and pitiful existence barely worthy of the word? Clearly, the answer was no. He made no effort to reply or move, and when he clenched his eyes shut, he knew that the woman was still there. The situation didn't seem to be going away any time soon. He began to grind his teeth in agitation. What could he do, what could he say? What did he even want? He wanted to get out and away from this mess and this woman. Readying his muscles, he suddenly burst out of his makeshift mound and sprang away, loping both away from the woman and back towards the river at the same time, his dignity in shambles, and a dust cloud following him. At least it wouldn't try to eat him later. He shook his head, wanting to forget the name of Cali, this land, this day, and so far, this entire year. With Cali behind him, he began to wonder, what if he had never been born? Would things have been better? Would his mother have less disappointment? Would Mim have had a better life ... ? #552002

THANK YOU JACCY

(This post was last modified: May 21, 2012, 06:19 PM by Skittles.)

Long moments went by and she wondered if the imbalanced wolf had even heard her. If she had been more established, she might have tried to make a case for him. If there weren't pups on the way, if she wasn't sure he would have driven Marsh to an act of violence just by speaking his jibberish. Then he finally seemed to gather himself for action and she tense slightly, honestly having no idea what he might do. Then he bolted away from her in a cloud of dust heading back towards the river. Her body relaxed and she let out a sigh, watching the strange wolf go.

He surely only wanted a home and she hoped that he would find one. There was no telling, he may even end up here at Swift River again some day. She was sorry to have sent him on his way and silently wished him well. She sedately walked towards the river to watch his departure and make sure that he got back across safely. At least the bear seemed to have lost interest in the poor fellow. He should be safe from all of the critters that were out to get him, at least for now. She shook her head sadly and lowered her head to take a drink from the flowing river that bordered their lands.

Never Underestimate a Heart of Fire...

Sucky post.

With the woods around him and the river behind him, he paused, standing in the shadow of an ancient oak, it's trunk wider than his length. He didn't particularly want to turn around, but he felt compelled to, for whatever reason, like an itch. Bronze eyes took in the female who seemed to give a sigh of relief and fetch a drink of water. As he watched her movements, he wondered what it was like to be like her. What if he was in her paws? He could go around telling everyone how this was his home and they couldn't enter just because. Perhaps he'd even act deeply concerned and concerted. What was it like to be the boss? Or to be liked? To have a home? He narrowed his eyes as he gazed at her ribs, noting the contours between each bone, and how it was difficult to tell. Turning his head backwards, he took a gander at his own, which protruded far more. At least she hadn't been hungry enough to go for his throat, he admired her for that, and she hadn't seemed to raise her voice once. Turning, he padded away into the shadows, as jagged as the hunger that persistently burned in his ribs. The umbra of the wild was thin, must like himself. Perhaps they could both be wild together, nature and he, free, without a care in the world. It was what happiness was all about, wasn't it? fade out #552002

THANK YOU JACCY