Spectral Woods The National Pastime

For @Fenru only.

Overcast. 61 degrees F

It was still quite hard, trying to adjust to the new environment around her and keep up with her duties at the same time. She was much more cautious when it came to the prey on the other side of the mountain, clearly remembering the fox that had died an untimely death due to the transmittable disease that had been going through the Lore. The land there was beautiful though…even more beautiful than the Sacred Grove. Jessie felt like it was so much darker in these parts though, probably because she mostly secluded herself to the shadows. She was much more talkative than she had been though…since Rissa’s body had been found. She had gotten a good kick to help her start back on her way and now the Swiftpaw girl was getting there. She still had a stable family to be around and she wasn’t alone. As long as she stuck with the new pack, she knew she would never be alone.

Today, however, she was alone. She sat by the creek watching the fish swim by and wanting desperately to reach out and snag one of the scaly things wither strong jaws. Belun was no longer with them…an unfortunate sign to her that he too had deserted them. For some reason, she had felt like he might have been…different, but in the end he had turned up just as everyone else had in the past year. A deserter, something the Oak Tree Bend wolves had grown use to. Sometimes the pepper and salt colored woman still found that she was thinking of the pack as Swift River, but in the end knew how to catch herself from thinking such thoughts. This was their new beginning and each and every wolf within the pack was going to end up making the most of it. With this thought in mind, she dipped her small paw into the water, watching as the silver fish glimmered as they rushed away from her awaiting paw.

It was a shame that she had found no one within the pack to hunt with but found herself looking for other things recently. Like dead bodies…or even something one of her pack mates was looking for. According to Ice she had an “expert nose” and when she thought about it hard enough, she quickly realized she had no clue how the hell he had gotten that for her. T amazed her with some of the things her family came up with, but she still loved them dearly and would not trade any of them for the world. With this thought in mind, she removed her paw quickly before emerging her body within the creek, her emerald green eyes gleaming with joy as she watched the fish swim around her in ease. Oh how she wished someone would help her hunt fish again like she had back in the day. It had been something that had brought her joy, but she knew very well that most wolves within the pack, namely a white snowball, did not have much of an appetite for fish.

there's so many things we're not

but with what we have

i promise you that we're marchin' on

To take everything into perspective, the rate at which Fenru Tainn had bounced back was momentous. He was still cautious when patrolling the newly-set borders, but then again, it was simply just a matter of time before he truly got used to the lay of the land and the routinely beat he had not yet familiarized himself with. The nightmares and the sleepless nights were rare here within the Spectral Woods, especially along the side of the old oak that now served as his homing beacon. What he had not yet full investigated was the creek and where it went through the territory. It was not as grand as the Swift River on the other side of the mountain and that was reason enough for the Tainn to appreciate it and accept it even more.

He shook out his coat twice then proceeded on a leisurely walk, savoring the cool air as it filled his lungs. For roughly half an hour, he wandered, keeping the steady companionship of the winding, babbling creek on his right side. He had thought to hum to himself, a new quirk he realized that he particularly enjoyed (now that he was no longer strongly haunted by his life within the Sacred Grove), but the moment a single note fluttered from his throat, he noticed a rather dainty and petite something, or someone, in the water ahead. One sniff was quick to alert him that she was neither a threat nor a trespasser; it was simply Jessie.

His tongue graced his lips and he cleared his throat courteously as not to startle her while he drew closer to her swimming spot. He noticed then that she wasn't swimming, merely standing in the shallows instead. A brow quirked and he stopped on the bank opposite of her. "Hey," he cordially greeted her, a smile accompanying his wagging plume of a tail. "Whatcha looking at?"

As though he couldn't keep himself from being curious, he stepped into the water then waded over to where the Hunter stood. In pretending to be quite an overgrown pup, he stepped to her side then draped his broad neck over her shoulders and pressed the side of his face into her temple. Enthusiastic eyes scanned the water in front of her, only catching a glimpse of something sparkly beneath the surface, which he thoroughly and incorrectly dismissed as sunshine gleaming off the ripples. His gaze skimmed over the rippling surface, eyeing the reflections of the gray skies and the high tree branches below it. Playfully he whispered with a boyish grin, his tail flailing about above the end of his spine. "What's so amusing down there... Show me?"

FENRU TAINN

template made by GINNYSAURUS. of RPG-D.

(This post was last modified: Jun 06, 2013, 06:39 AM by Fenru.)

Taekwondo (M, W, F) | Rapid-Response Day (Tu) | WoW Nights (F, Sat, Sun)

It was easy standing in the water for such a long period of time. The water would splash against her chest, leaving her cooler than she had been in awhile. Her mind, however, was not on her bodily needs but more on the silver fish beneath her paws. She wanted desperately to snake her paw out and flip one the fish onto the surface, but she knew there would be no time for her to get out and end the creature’s life before it would flop back into the water. If she was still enough, every once and awhile she would feel scaly flesh swim by her leg. She would giggle, thrilled by the touch of her prey. She was not alone for long in her small paradise though, for the clearing of another’s throat would draw her attention away from the beautiful water in front of her. Fenru’s voice wrapped over her ears in silky tones, her ears flickering towards him. The man had developed into one of the largest males she had ever seen in her life and all she could do was smile at the handsome Tainn.

She did not even have time to answer his question before he was wadding into the water next to her. Horrified by the sight of the fish swimming away from both of them, she gave him a playful look, allowing him to wrap his head around her and drawing comfort in the touch of her family. She leaned her head into his as she looked back down at the water, her emerald eyes glimmering in happiness. Both of the wolves were still, and eventually the fish started to continue on their regular pattern. Fen’s soft question in her ear caused her to look at him, curiosity crossing her beautiful features. He was now of age and she was slightly surprised that he did not know what fish were, considering that they all lived near the river. None the less, she gave a kind smile and whispered back to him, "Alright. Give me a minute."

She stared down at the water then, her emerald eyes focused on the small glimmering fish swim past them for several moments. Fortunately, luck was with her that day and eventually a small fish snaked its way past them. Quickly, right before the fish would have passed the pair, Jessie dived into the water, letting her jaws wrap around the slippery body of the fish. Quickly, her head submerged from the water and she threw the fish to the bank, watching the silver creature wiggle and flop before ending up back in the water. The big splash that the fish made coming to hit Jessie in the face; the woman cringed away. Wagging her tail, she turned back towards Fenru, her voice light and eyes bright, "That, my dear Fenru, would be a fish. In my opinion, a tasty meal."

there's so many things we're not

but with what we have

i promise you that we're marchin' on

The fact that Jessie obliged in showing him exactly what she was observing or admiring made Fenru's grin broaden. When she brought her eyes back down to the water, he mindfully drew back from hovering over her, but before he knew it, her head was in the water and the splash from it and the silvery thing that retaliated against her got him square in the face. His eyes closed instinctively as the cold water drenched his fur but once he opened them again he saw on the banks of the creek the smooth and slippery body of a fish. He stared in awe for some time, brief flashes of his memories with {Prosper} coming to mind for the first time without heartache or bereavement.

"That, my dear Fenru, would be a fish," Jessie informed him as he continued to smile, water dripping from his chin, throat, and the tips of his ears. "In my opinion, a tasty meal." It was a surprising fact in itself that Fenru knew what fish were, having grown up next to a river, fishing even should have come as a second-nature to him but, alas, if that had been the case, the young Tainn probably wouldn't have been exactly where he was at this very moment. In all honesty, Fenru had only ever seen one fish in his whole life.

"Oh," he mused, as though he were learning the fact for the first time. "My friend Prosper caught a feesh once." A peal of laughter fled his throat and chest, a purely sheepish grin playing on his face, "He called them.... Oh, what was it? Hmm." He had to take a second to tilt his head to one side, to bring the memory fully into his consciousness. In his head he remembered how he once snuck away from Rihael and Kisla, eager to find out if his play mate, once brought to him by the generosity of the River, would somehow reappear again to play. Another chuckle and he divulged the word that was making him chortle and titter about in the water next to the Hunter (now deemed a promising Fisherman). "That's right, I remember now... 'Swimmies.' Er, wait..." A loud guffaw had his right forepaw out of the water, lifting to cover the bridge of his muzzle right below the dark markings beneath his eyes. "Simmies! He called them simmies."

Replacing his paws back into the shallows with a small splash, he righted the angle of his skull and gazed to Jessie, evidently tickled from sharing the earliest memory he could remember. "I didn't even know they were called 'fish' until my Uncle @Triell taught me about them. I was like... I don't know... a few months old or something. Rihael used to tease me 'bout it." His eyes seemed to gloss over for some time, but once he audibly sniffed he idly stepped out of the water and returned to standing on the banks. Still grinning he impishly stuck his tongue out, "Are you sure they're a tasty meal, Jess'? I'd need... hmmm... like ten of those to fill me up."

FENRU TAINN

template made by GINNYSAURUS. of RPG-D.

Taekwondo (M, W, F) | Rapid-Response Day (Tu) | WoW Nights (F, Sat, Sun)

She found joy in watching the different emotions play over the man’s face, finding it amusing that he was almost…awed by the sight that she was showing him. In truth, perhaps the woman would have also been amazed by the silver fish jumping around as the sunlight hit its scaly form. She flicked her tail behind her, causing even more water to fly into the air, quickly landing with a bump to her muzzle; a small laugh soon emitting from her jaws. The pepper and salt colored woman’s attention was now solely trained on Fenru, listening to him speak of his past. She listened, highly attentive with what he was saying and not having any issues with losing interest in what he was saying. This was the first time that another pack mate had bothered opening up to her about their past, and she found that it warmed her heart getting to know a little bit about Fen. Over the past few months, both of them had been bound closer due to the horrible mishap of the disappearance of Rissa, but now they were starting to get back on track and Jess found that they were still closer than ever.

When Fenru…sort of…confirmed that he knew what a fish was there was a pause. Looking up as if she were thinking, she tried the words on her lips. "Shhimmies….no, that’s not it. Simmies?" Nodding her head with her words and pleased with herself for getting the correct pronunciation of the word that Fen had used. And when the Tainn spoke again, the same he spoke with it was much more familiar to her, having the man been a pack mate for so long. It worried her that he had not yet returned with Marsh, and the sad thought caused the woman’s ears to flatten on her head for a second before they pricked once again as the large man, who now towered over her, exited the stream of water. Wagging her tail, she lifted her eyebrows at his words, a small smile making its way onto her black lips. "Well…more like a little snack, I guess. Here…try one."

Before she went back to studying the water, she turned to Fen, an amused smile on her lips, "You have to help though…of course,"

Sorry its short. I'm exhausted. <3

there's so many things we're not

but with what we have

i promise you that we're marchin' on

"Here…try one," Jessie continued, after playfully testing out his and Prosper's original name for the scaly waterborne things. Fenru's tail wagged in broad swaying movements but abruptly stopped when she said that he would have to help her. His tail began to wriggle again upon seeing her smile. Well, then...

Turning about and returning a grin to the Hunter, he stepped back into the water and waded off to one side on her left. With his fiery eyes cast downward, he scanned the water for any hint of movement that deviated from the creek's smooth current. He tried his best to keep still but he turned to Jessie curiously, "Sooo... we're gonna catch actual fish?" His head tilted to one side, intrigued; sure, he knew he was well-equipped to try and snatch one but he wasn't quite positive he would be able to. "What do they eat?" he casually asked her, fighting to keep his tail still in the water. "And how'd you learn to fish?"

"Marsh," the name fled from his lips as easily as {Prosper}'s had and he hastily continued in hopes that she wouldn't dwell too long on his absence, "tried-to-teach-me-once... but I think I ended up playing in the water instead 'cause my brother splashed me." The small bits of the memory he remembered made him smile again, even after it had initially vanished from uttering his missing uncle's name. "But, um, so... if I'm gonna help, wha' do I do? Teach me, Almighty Huntress." His grin broadened and touched his eyes, his tongue lolling out of his mouth briefly as he attempted to copy Jessie's stance, assuming that the way he stood in the water was an important part of learning the art of catching fish.

FENRU TAINN

template made by GINNYSAURUS. of RPG-D.

Taekwondo (M, W, F) | Rapid-Response Day (Tu) | WoW Nights (F, Sat, Sun)

Jess was extremely pleased to see Fen wad over to where she was in water, as if agreeing to her terms in helping her catch one. She watched in eagerness as he came to her side, a light grin making its way across her features. It had been so long since she had been able to fish with someone and the new companionship she could feel with a fishing mate was unbelievable. When Fenru asked her a question, she almost laughed at how direct it was. So quickly she replied, "Ya. Fish. The actual stuff." She could not stifle her giggle as she spoke to him, knowing that this was his first time that he might actually be successful in the art. At his next question, her eyebrows furrowed. She was never exactly sure what the critters that she caught ate, she just knew that she ate them and she liked it. She could however, answer the next question he asked. It was one of the reasons that she enjoyed being around Fenru, he always seemed to have something that he wanted to ask about and would not be afraid to speak his mind. It reminded her of herself when she had been much younger. "I don’t exactly know what they eat…but my father taught me how to fish a while ago."

She smiled, almost to herself as if remembering a time in her past long ago when Father had once taught her the arts of being a Fisherman. It had been her dream to become a Huntress since she had been younger and where she had been from, it had always been important to learn every skill of hunting that there was. There was even one time that she had successfully caught a bird that had tried to fly off a tad bit too late. Bird Catching had never been something that she had been extremely good at though and it had ended up with her ego being busted down a few levels. It was what she had needed though, for she ended up working harder than ever to prove herself to her past family. Fen’s voice cut through her thoughts once again, and at the name that he mentioned, Jessie glanced around cautiously, as if Ice would be watching in the bushes and go on a rampage for saying Marsh’s name out loud. She knew it had been a hard time for the older male, and she did not wish to make his times any darker. She did listen to what the young man had to say and a small smile formed upon her lips as she spoke, "Well, that is sure sweet." They stood in a small silence for a short time before it was broken by Corinna’s son.

A small grin sat on her features now as she stared back down at the water, watching as Fen copied a similar stance to her own. Clearing her throat, she spoke softly, so that hopefully the waves of her voice would not be too alarming to the creatures swimming below them. "Well…considering your jaw size, I believe it would be much easier if you wrapped your jaws around it and bit into it. It’s not quite as easy for me because the fish are usually much larger than my own, so I usually have another partner helping to finish off the fish once I flip it to the side bank. Sorry if this doesn’t make much sense, but when you aim to get the fish you have to keep in mind where it is going to go, because you can’t exactly keep your eyes wide open when you are fishing. I think I remember a friend of mine getting some kind of infection in her eye at one point. Understand?" She wagged her tail, desperate to see Fen to try and actually catch a fish.

there's so many things we're not

but with what we have

i promise you that we're marchin' on

The Hunter began by telling him about how easy it should be for him to clasp his jaws around the fish. Oh. That probably meant he would have to be fast then. He shifted his submerged limbs, trying to plant his paws into the silt and small river stones as firmly as possible. Okay, he could do that... His ears cupped forward, already hanging on her every word. She continued to inform him that should he continue this little affair, practicing and honing his hunting skills under Jessie, and he wasn't in the water with her, he was more than likely waiting for her catches to land on the shore. He could also do that, he also decided. But, for now, he was far more interested in actually learning how to help her out by also catching the fish.

She apologized and he was quick to utter a small and assuring, "No, not confusing at all," before taking in the fact that it isn't exactly a good idea to keep his eyes open underwater. He affirmed that he understood her with a brief nod and a hushed, "Got it." Eager to try and test his reactions and hunting instincts in a new element, he slowly waded out and away from her, stopping somewhere beside a still part of the river where the current failed to pull it further along. "Hey, Jessie?" he then called out to her, his whispered tone feigning a voice that was figuratively yelling. "Jessie, how do I track them if I can't use my nose to smell them?"

The masked youth temporarily tore his eyes away to try and peer through the water while keeping his nose well above its mirror-like surface. Every slight ripple, even if it came from his own subtle movements, had the connections in his brain firing off in all sorts of directions, engaging his instincts much too abruptly for a craft that required patience and composure. If he couldn't manage to look and see properly, then he could very well lose any chance to snag a decent meal if this scenario had been one in which he had no choice but to fish. "Everything's... everything's moving! I can't tell if it's-a-fish-or-not!"

FENRU TAINN

template made by GINNYSAURUS. of RPG-D.

Taekwondo (M, W, F) | Rapid-Response Day (Tu) | WoW Nights (F, Sat, Sun)

Intrigued by the way he was handling the situation, Jessie let her jade eyes drift towards the young man standing a little bit away from her, staring at the water with what she thought was a confused expression. When he did turn to her and spoke her name, her head did move towards the man, her head tilting to the side slightly as she listened to his question. Pondering what he said for a moment, she heard him speak again, a small smirk residing on her lips. She held back her urge to giggle and remained still as she fixed her steely eyes on him, speaking clearly but softly enough not to scare the creatures away that swam beneath their paws, "Well you have to use your eyes, dear Fenru, and not move a muscle until the time is right. If you study the water well enough, you’ll be able to see the flashes of silver in the sunlight, that is a fish, but you have to aim to where you think the fish will be headed because if you go towards where you immediately see it, you’ll miss…I promise." Her lips pulled back to show her teeth in a smile.

On more than one occasion Jess had found herself diving towards where she had first seen the fish when she had started to learn how to fish. Looking back on herself now, it almost made a flush come to her body, imagining how embarrassing it must have been to others while to her it had simply been…well amusing. Sure, the pepper-and-salt colored woman definitely took her duty seriously, but she also knew how to laugh at herself, which caused others to either look at her with distain or with admiration for coming out of much an embarrassing situation so easily. It helped keep her mood light when she felt like she could have been burning with embarrassment. Now a day, all she wished for was some sort of light in the darkness that had been plaguing her, and in a way she had, but then the light she had found disappeared and she was forced to start all over again. Returning her gaze to the water to watch for any passing prey, hoping that Fen had understood what she had been saying and that she made some kind of sense.

there's so many things we're not

but with what we have

i promise you that we're marchin' on

Jessie patiently suggested that he use his eyes - in figuring this out and understanding that he had to be the epitome of Guard on high alert he blinked a couple times before opening them as wide as he could manage before having to blink again - and not move until he found that the moment and timing was right. "Oh," he forcefully whispered again, an excited grin forming on his ashen maw. "If you study the water well enough, you’ll be able to see the flashes of silver in the sunlight, that is a fish," Jessie stated next, "but you have to aim to where you think the fish will be headed because if you go towards where you immediately see it, you’ll miss…I promise." The sun managed to come out for a bit, and Fenru hoped it would continue to peek through the cloud cover until he discovered what the silvery glimmer of scales underwater looked like for the first time.

"Okay," he nodded, sending the still surface into a series of small ripples at his elbows again. He affirmed again that he understood and turned his attention back to the water, "Got it." It might have looked rather awkward but despite his arched back keeping his shoulders hunched forward and his neck craned downward while his tail was held out a stiff as a tree branch away from his spine, Fenru was actually enjoying himself. In Jessie's good companionship he had forgotten what they were doing and started to hum an merry little tune. When he thought he saw something silvery move just inches from where he was standing, he instantly stopped after having remembered just exactly what he was waiting for and his simple song ended with a rather intrigued, "Oooh."

Had the young Tainn actually been looking hard at how he was poised and where he was standing he might have noticed that he was standing on a piece of what was actually a ragged underwater plant. Its leaves had been plucked weeks ago but its stem still swayed to and fro beneath the surface, pinned beneath his left fore paw. A dark shape started to swim in a circle around him and he tried with all his might to stay still just as his hunting Teacher had instructed. His jaws slowly dropped open and his amber eyes started to follow the swimming shape. Then... unexpectedly, it brushed up against his forearm and it not only sent Fenru jumping clear out of the water from sheer shock, but when he came back down into the shallows with a large splash, he also sent the poor little catfish flying into the air!

Everything happened in slow motion. The channel catfish's shiny and skinny body wriggled as though it were trying to swim up into the sky and Fenru tried steadying himself on his hind legs with his front paws and arms shooting out into the space in front of him. "Gah-gots it!" he enthusiastically barked as the fish landed with a smack over the length of his muzzle before slapping its tail over his block-like nose. All four of his feet went back into the water and the catfish did the same. The youth went after it, diving head first into the water and practically submerging himself until it was only his rump and his drenched tail wagging about in the air above the surface.

Again both prey and hunter resurfaced a little bit farther downstream from where Fenru's little pool had been, and again Fenru was on his feet while the now traumatized catfish was flying up into the air, its body in a nearly crescent-like shape. It came back down with a decent splash and its pursuer was met with a fwip to the top of his face before landing back into the water once more. If he didn't act fast, he was going to lose it...

One more dive into a more shallower part of the creek had him only ducking his head and shoulders underwater but the third time was a charm, his jowls clamped down and secured something in its grasp. When he proudly pulled himself up for air, he grinned broadly until it dawned on him that what he held in his teeth was much too heavy for the fish he had been trying to catch. It wiggled too but an unpleasant taste that was being found out along his taste buds immediately made him drop the elongated creature. It fell back into the water around his feet and what Fenru saw as it started to half-swim and half-float with current had him leaping out of the water again in a flash with an unmanly, "AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIYYEEEEEEEEEE! JESSSSSIEEEEEEEEE ITSASNAAAAAAAAKE! SNAKE-SNAKE-SNAKE!"

His first impulse quickly brought his stocky legs to practically clear the water altogether in one long jump and land safely on the shore. All dripping wet and practically soaked to his undercoat, Fenru shakily sidled over to Jessie the still almighty Hunter and he offered her the best apologetic all-teeth sort of grin he could make. His auburn ears, which had been lowered and hidden into the sides of his head fanned out like airplane wings as he made the only sound he could make with the adrenaline pumping through his veins: a silly-sounding, "Heeeeee-hee. Snake."

FENRU TAINN

template made by GINNYSAURUS. of RPG-D.

Taekwondo (M, W, F) | Rapid-Response Day (Tu) | WoW Nights (F, Sat, Sun)