Swift River life's good

you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. Big wolf, big bark, he thought with a grin. Ice wasn't a Tainn, but he was definitely one of the larger males around in the pack. Thick, sturdy, with a wide, deep chest, he had large lungs and thus a great capacity for creating "booming" barks. Which he had just demonstrated to little Rissa, glad that the running hid his smirk. She was still a little unsteady on her large paws, but it was adorable all the same, and he huffed a laugh under his breath as he made it towards the river. Usually he wasn't one to show off and let someone know that he could do it better, louder, bigger, or whatever, but he hadn't been able to resist barking. Rissa was still so small, her voice high pitched, and although it was too soon to tell, he guessed she'd be more slender and refined than her male relatives. Likely she'd never have his kind of deep bark, but who knew? Maybe Rissa the Queen would grow up to be the first buff Tainn female! He grinned, watching her flop down on her belly in the grass. She seemed a bit worn - maybe their "race" had exhausted her? For a moment he frowned down at the pup, then shrugged. She'd learn, or something. Grow stronger. From his own days as a pup, he remembered how quickly you got tired, and how quickly you regenerated. And when the chickadee showed up, Rissa was already more alert, wriggling on the grass to get to it. Snake, he thought again with a fond smile, watching the tawny little body wriggle through the trodden-down grass. The bird wasn't oblivious to the danger, for it had jumped around to stare down at the child, but deemed her no threat and went back to its feeding. Ice remained where he was, knowing that any movement from his considerably larger body would likely to startle it. "No," he agreed when Rissa asked him if they ate birds. "There's no point, they're too small. Not enough meat on them, and they're devils to catch. If we're lucky, we can catch larger birds like waterfowls and pheasants. They're a decent meal, but I'm not sure if there's any around now." He wasn't sure if she knew what waterfowls or pheasants were, and sadly he didn't have one to demonstrate on. Instead, he turned his eyes out to the river again, were a swallow had come, darting around for insects. The ever-present symphony of chirps and songs was all around them, accompanied by the whisper of the river and the rustle of leaves. "Rissa, see the bird out over the river? That's a swallow. You recognize them by their split tails," he was saying, hoping she'd turned fast enough to see it, for even as he commented on their tails it seemed to have gotten what it wanted, swiftly disappearing downstream. Normally swallows preferred more open places, but perhaps it had just come down here to feed. The river held a lot of food, after all. .ice aesir

let the stars above shine in your soul

Admittedly, she was a little disappointed that they didn't eat birds like that. They seemed the perfect size for her, and plus they'd be so much fun to catch! Or try to eat least. Her tail wagged on anyway, finding the bird rather pretty, and she decided that she wouldn't want to eat something so pretty anyway. Besides, he'd mentioned another kind of bird they could eat, so obviously they would be far more interesting and meaty. One of them had water in the name, so maybe they could find water now! And how convenient, the river was right there! Except, when she pulled her eyes from the tree and looked at the water, there was nothing there. Just like, well, just like Ice had said. The young Tainn huffed.

Ice's sudden words caught her attention and she moved quickly to see what he was talking about. She'd just barely caught sight of the swallow as it flew off. "So fast..." She muttered, ears back. Her silence lasted a long moment, and she jumped to look up at Ice. "We catch a bird now, please?" she asked, tail wagging quickly. Bird watching was fun and all, but she wanted some action!

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you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. It was a peaceful day to be doing things, and Rissa was an attentive audience - but one with an attention span of a few seconds, and a need for action. A wry grin twisted Ice's lips as he stared down the river, flicking both ears and tails through the summer air. "Catch a bird, hm?" he murmured half-loudly, sniffing the air. Why had she asked for a bird? It was unlikely he could catch one, but he could always try... He didn't smell any of the larger, edible birds he knew of around though, and with a motion of his head indicated for her to follow. With his tail moving solemnly behind him Ice set off at a trot, moving down the river at a slower pace than usual to accommodate her shorter stride. Didn't want to catch a bird and not have her as a witness, no! Not feeling particularly excited about the whole thing, yet dutiful enough to try, he moved along the riverbank. Ice wasn't good at catching fast, small prey. And they, naturally, tended to avoid him. And if he were to have luck with a waterfowl he had to go into the river. And the river was wet. After a while he spied a few ducks swimming at one of the somewhat deeper sections - to his elbows, maybe - and stopped, turning to Rissa. "You have to be lucky enough to wade close enough to them without them getting away. Come on in!" And then Ice drew a deep breath, shuddered, and placed one paw in the shallow river. The cold darkness swallowed his pale foot but he put in the next one too, until he stood with all four ones covered by running water, gripping the edges of slimy rocks or sinking into soft gravel; the waterline was somewhere around his hocks, and with his tail held above the water surface he began to walk out to the ducks. They eyed him warily, easily swimming away from him, but not bothering to take to the air or swim further away. A few of them seemed smaller, maybe this year's ducklings, and Ice looked across his shoulder, hoping to see Rissa with him. .ice aesir

let the stars above shine in your soul

Oh goody! Ice was going to catch a bird. Hopefully she'd learn something from it, so she could catch a bird too! Where were they going to go though? Noting his slight head movement, she grinned widely and skipped happily after him. After a short moment, she realized that if she wanted to see him do anything, she'd have to be quiet and not startle his prey. Rissa stopped skipping and merely followed quietly behind him. Her ears were up however, and she was in no way being meek. If anything, Rissa being quiet would only be reason to worry that she was going to do something naughty. Of course, this simply wasn't the case now. She exercised a bit of self-control for both of their sakes.

She noted they were getting closer and closer to the riverbank, and her tail wagged. Water! Water was always fun. Moving from behind him, to beside him, she spotted the water birds after he did. Her head tilted up, quietly watching him as her tail slowly began to wag faster and faster. It was when he moved into the water then invited her when she got really excited. Her tail wagged, and she nearly threw herself into the water. With a deep breath, she kept herself from doing that, seeing how Ice had reacted, and followed slowly in after him. It was cold, but it bothered her less, since she was quite looking forward to the swim.

Ice paddled out farther, but not used to swimming, Rissa stuck to the shallows where she could stand, even if the water sometimes tickled her chest. It was chilly, but after awhile, it felt good. She giggled, watching him with amusement, hoping that he could catch something wonderful!

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you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. Once he made it to the center of the river, which was not exactly deep but deep enough that he couldn't walk comfortably, he took a deep breath and allowed the instincts placed in him to take over. The world faded, until it was only the water, the waterfowl, the play of wind and the tug of the stream, and himself. One front paw pushed off the bottom, the air trapped in his fur helping him to keep afloat; he struck out in the water, and it passed all around him even as he made it across the deeper section. The waterfowl began to drift gently downstream, intending to take the lazy, easy way away from him, but what he really wanted was to drive them towards Rissa, and let her have some fun playing with them as well. Cursing ducks and their evasive strategies, he found the ground beneath his splayed toes again and in a rush of water, powered up on the opposite bank. It was easier to run up here than slog through the shallows. He shivered slightly in his wet fur, but shoved it to the back of his head. Once he came up alongside the retreating ducks, which did not take more than a couple of long steps, he swerved back towards the river and threw himself into their midst. Water splashed up around his belly, into his face and eyes and mouth, cold, dark, slithering, claiming him, but he forced it aside. As he had wanted, a few of the waterfowl took out into the middle of the river. Growling in pleasure at his own clever tactics, Ice sprang through the shallows, trying to keep them going Rissa's way, until he one again hit the deeper middle. Panting, pink tongue lapping against the water's surface as he paddled through it, Ice kept chasing the three or so ducks towards the other shore. Maybe Rissa would be able to catch one herself? And even if she didn't, once they got onto shallower ground she'd be able to help chase them... Grinning, he felt his pushing paws find ground again. And in that good mood, they spent part of the day, sunlight flashing in the water that splashed around them and on the wet feathers of the waterfowl they pestered. Laughing, smiling, tails swaying, until they were both soaked through to the skin and tired, when they crawled up on the banks to doze and rest in the warm light. .ice aesir

(This post was last modified: Nov 05, 2012, 03:14 PM by Ice.)

let the stars above shine in your soul