Heartleaf Creek water resistance is huge

It was early morning, the woods still wreathed in tendrils of mist the peeking sun had yet to chase away as it languidly began its slow ascent into the sky. Normally Spooks would have been sleeping, but just the previous day he had happened across Heartleaf Creek. Unfortunately the sun had begun to set by the time he located his newfound discovery. Disappointed at missing a chance at being able to try a paw at fishing, Spooks sulked and slept fitfully the whole night, unable to rest with his thoughts filled with the prospect of fishing.

As his paws sank into the muddy bank of the creek, Spooks peered in, wide-eyed and delighted as he distinguished shadowy figures of fish swimming about within their liquid domain. He hadn't ever fished before, but the yearling reasoned that it must be relatively similar to stalking small prey, such as rabbits and the like. For someone as talented as he, it had to be a piece of cake! Spooks lowered himself into the crouch, green eyes practically boring holes into the swimming fish as he searched for a target and found one - a medium-sized specimen that had strayed particularly close to the water's edge.

The monochrome male darted forward into the water, churning up a terrific splash with his paws as he plunged his jaws into the water where a fish just was, snapping to find . . . nothing but water in his mouth. He scowled. This was harder than it looked.

hope you don't mind junai droppin' in. :)

      Morning had never been a particularly happy time for Junai, who much preferred sleeping in to waking up with the sun. However, recent scents amid the grove had left her troubled, dissatisfied, and notably restless. Sleep had evaded her that night, coming in only short and light spans of time before ending by some ridiculous dream, whether it be Indru demoting her to the puppy ranks or the pack being overrun by strangers... Junai supposed both were possible, but it soothed her to believe that they were hardly likely to occur. 'They're just silly dreams, Junai,' she told herself to start a rather unenthusiastic pep talk, 'Go 'n' do somethin' productive.' And so, yawning plaintively to herself, she left her den by the river and made her way through Relic Lore, uncaring and perhaps even unaware as to where she was headed with the sun behind her a clear sign to any who knew her that Junai wouldn't be so intelligible for at least another hour.

      Her travels were laced with many a yawn and a grown and a tummy rumble, making any progress made slow. It probably would have been wise of her to, er, wake up a bit before going on some thoughtless (quite literally) adventure to do something great and wonderful and awe-inspiring. Whatever—she was certain she'd be fine, half-asleep or not. To prevent getting too lost, she stuck close to the river, bumbling along rather contentedly, her expression deadpan with one eye giving an exhausted twitch every now and again. Perhaps she'd go to the Glade and get some flowers... Her thoughts wandered, pointless, and she vaguely pondered if a skunk would smell bad with an attar of wildflowers from the Glade... She might have had other spontaneous thoughts if not for a sudden splash not far ahead, which left her blinking as if to get a clearer picture of where in the world she was.

      The Creek—well, that made sense, considering the whole splashing ahead. Uh... Morning—what sort of weird-o went fishing at such an hour? Of course, she had just been determined to go investigate skunks, so perhaps she shouldn't have been looking at the black stranger like he had five legs and one eye. Hmph. She stepped closer and, giving a long yawn, remarked, <b style="color:#2A4F0F; font-family:georgia;">“Ya know how early it is, right? You shouldn't be, uhm...” She paused, looking him over. He was by the shore, not wet aside from his muzzle; she looked to the river, with the narrow shapes darting about in it. Fish? Fish... Fishing! Oh, she was good. <b style="color:#2A4F0F; font-family:georgia;">“Fishing so early.” She paused, considering him (wow, he sure did look weird!), before amending, <b style="color:#2A4F0F; font-family:georgia;">“Not to mention, you're doin' it wrong.”

not at all! (:

Muzzle dripping with water, Spooks padded back onto the drier portion of the creek bank, sat, and regarded the darting figures in the water with a very serious gaze. Apparently fish were rather quick, so Spooks would have to either be faster (unlikely) or sneaky enough to catch them off guard. Not to mention it was difficult trying to snatch them up in his jaws due to water distortion and the depth of the creek. Unfortunately, his fishing reverie was soon interrupted by the soft approach of another individual.

Spooks turned to look at the newcomer, giving her a once over. Judging from her scent, she was a Swift River member and most likely one of numerous siblings that Indru had mentioned having. She didn't exactly resemble Indru or Borla though, Spooks considered, somewhat perplexed by the color of her dark fur. And then she preceded to comment on his early morning fishing to which he shrugged nonchalantly. "Why not? More fish come out when it's early," he retorted, a bit miffed at her words that he interpreted to be veiled with slight disapproval with his actions.

Her next sentence only caused him to scowl, an expression half out of irritation and half with embarrassment. It wasn't his fault that he was doing it wrong (even though it was)! Besides, this was his first attempt at fishing after all. Not to mention the stranger didn't look much older than him even if she was slightly bigger. "You try then. I haven't fished before," he said in response, a note of a challenge in his voice.

      The stranger sounded a little annoyed, maybe a bit frustrated—specific emotions jumbled together in her current state of mind, in part because she was only moderately coherent and in part because she didn't care that much to begin with. How her words affected others rarely perturbed Junai, who happened to be self-centered for the most part... She had her redeeming moments, but this certainly wasn't one of them. Instead, her usual brash and blunt self, she grumbled in response, <b style="color:#2A4F0F; font-family:georgia;">“It's all about you, huh? Nevermind us who want some peace 'n' quiet.” If she thought about it, she might have decided that she really didn't care much for peace and quiet at all... In fact, most of the time, she hated it. But, as per usual, Junai enjoyed giving others a hard time—which, judging by the hint of a playful grin on her lips, was completely and utterly harmless in the grand scheme of things.

      Either way, jesting or not, Junai would not pass down a challenge. Her brows furrowed mulishly at him, a mixture of annoyance and determination clear on her features. Her? Fish? Well crap. In all honesty, Junai had never seriously fished before—her idea of fishing was splashing in the water like a flailing octopus, which wasn't as effective as it sounded. She deliberated, wondering how she might weasel her way out of such a challenge, before nodding in a most cool manner and replying, <b style="color:#2A4F0F; font-family:georgia;">“Easy peasy.” She strutted forward without another sound, the water reaching her thin ankles as she stared intently at the figures darting about in the water. Her eyes watched one intently, her mark chosen, and she waited for it to stop at an algae-covered rock before darting forward. Water splashed up most ungracefully as she made her move, her jaws snapping in the water and... And grabbing something, something slippery that twisted in her grasp and resisted her skill. But she had it, right?

      She turned to face him, grinning triumphantly, only to feel the weight between her jaws suddenly disappear. All that remained of her prize was a piece of its tail fin, which Junai was quick to spit out. She blinked, appearing rather embarrassed, and said quickly, <b style="color:#2A4F0F; font-family:georgia;">“I let it go 'cause it tasted gross, sorry.” It sounded believable, right? Judging by the way her ears pulled back bashfully, it seemed clear that she knew that it was a poor story herself.

The reply he received was sharp, caustic, and left him slightly gaping (much like a fish) in consternation. Nobody had ever talked to him like that (except his sister) and quite frankly Spooks was at a loss of what to do. He was of average intelligence and wasn't particularly gifted in volleying back witty retorts to begin with, hence his current state of astounded silence. After a few seconds, Spooks finally got a hold of himself as annoyance coursed through his being and he subjected the stranger to his Very Angry Glare while mentally noting that this girl was definitely going down on his blacklist.

Green eyes still narrowed, he watched as she decided to take on his challenge, hoping fervently that this was just a bluff but veiling his worry at being one-upped with a cool stare as the stranger waded into the water and snapped forward after a spell of focus with a silver fish in her jaws. Spooks seethed with dismay at her success, but instantaneously his plummeting despair recovered when the fish wriggled out of her grasp and he was confronted with an excuse which he clearly wasn't buying. "Sure you did," he taunted, a triumphant grin practically plastered onto his face.

The tables had turned now, and with her loss, his ego practically inflated several times. Raising his head in an arrogant tilt, Spooks demanded, "Who are you anyways?"

i see no vitals on your ekg, dead on the dance floor. we only clap because we need more 3oh!3 blowin' out your speakers (blowin' out your speakers).

:)

Neither of them seemed to buy her excuses, which was a little disappointing but hardly surprising. Junai was all talk and in a competition, bragging and exaggerating did little; this, unfortunately, was not a competition of quick wit but of physical prowess. (Unfortunately, some would comment that Junai was lacking in both departments, though that was neither here nor there.) The only relieving part of her failure was that her opponent wasn't much better at the sport than she, leaving her to retort quickly, “Oh shush. I think I did better than you did, mister.” Not that her attempt had been much better than the monochromatic stranger's had... But Junai liked to think that she was considerably more competent than some weirdo who liked to prance around in the wee hours of the morning.

Over-inflated egos aside, there were more pressing matters to attend to—such as who Patches was. (Seriously, what was with those whack-o white splotches? Junai secretly wished she looked cool like that, a desire she masked with insults and indifference.) Either way, deciding she might as well be somewhat cordial and answer his question before posing her own, she replied, “Junai Tainn of Swift River.” She vaguely recalled Indru telling her to be more wary of strangers, to be careful and blah, blahh, blahhh. For the time being, it was not a primary worry in Junai's mind, who was far more concerned with seeming cool and collected than worrying about some scrawny boy's hidden motives. (Not that he was much smaller than her, but it was peculiar for Junai to encounter anyone her age smaller than her; not to mention, most of the guys she had ever met had been brawny, not short and thin and admittedly sleek.) What was more interesting than any darker intentions he might possess was the smell he had upon him (she had not cared to noticed before), all too familiar and comforting and...

And wrong. It did not fit with him. It did not fit with anyone but the Tainn family—not even Honijo Ithil was welcome to wear a perfume such as her. The thought that a stranger, an alien in nearly every way possible (aesthetically, at least), smelled like that, like home, like family... She wanted to bite him. Hard. More importantly, she wanted to bite Indru. Harder. He was a traitor, recruiting strangers with unknown motives (his words, not hers) into Swift River. A variety of emotions flashed across her face and she seemed torn between fury and wanting to run away screaming. It was too early in the day to start up with such emotional crap and, after deliberating for a moment, her tail lashing from side to side in clear irritation, she figured it wasn't Patches' fault that he had joined Swift River. He had wanted a pack and had sucked up to the closest idiot of an alpha he could find; Junai almost wondered if Ioni or Ruiko would have been better suited for alphaship in times like these. No matter... She would chew him out later. In the mean time, forcing herself to breath deeply and slowly, calming gradually, she asked, “And just who are you, my... dear new pack mate?” It sounded wrong, improper. He wasn't family, he was a stranger. A pack was a family unit, not a motley group of acquaintances. No. If not for this one little hitch (and probably a few others), she might have actually tolerated the fishing wolf's company. But now? It would prove to be difficult, that was for sure.

table code by sie.

Her swift retort did manage to take away the satisfying tingle of gloating at her loss, but it was still undeniable that results were all that mattered, right? Besides, Spooks privately thought that she had just happened to be lucky with that one fish in an attempt to self-justify his earlier failure. The next time he went fishing (which he would when this obnoxious girl wasn't around), Spooks made a solemn commitment in his mind to do better and actually catch something.

Surprisingly, she answered his question, and Spooks was both surprised and disappointed to hear that she was indeed a Tainn. Just great. He was stuck with this annoying, newly-named stranger in Swift River, a prospect that he balked at with great distaste. And it wasn't like he could just go and beat her up if she happened to irritate him, unfortunately. The monochrome yearling was very much at a loss of what to do. Back in his old pack, his sister had declared that they should mess up anyone who dared to cross the Number siblings. But Junai was a Tainn, a sister of Indru, and in a rare stroke of foresight, Spooks reasoned that his leader probably wouldn't be too happy with him if he did indeed go head-to-head with one of the Tainn siblings.

At the tone of Junai's next words, Spooks bristled at the blatant sarcasm laced in with dear. He had a feeling that her animosity towards him went deeper than the previous fishing incident, but being not very perceptive, he couldn't figure out the root of her rancorous feelings at the moment. Not to mention that although he had spent his childhood surrounded by his siblings, there were also plenty of unrelated wolves in the pack that he interacted with and thus failed to understand Junai's xenophobic sentiments. After a long silence as he silently debated whether or not to reply, Spooks figured that sooner or later she would find out his name, seeing as they were in the same pack. "Spooks," he said curtly, green eyes narrowing, "Also of Swift River."