Thicket of Secrets And who are you?

For @Kova. And @Firefly eventually. :)

RE: Karina, you found the remains of a deer - but it is rotten and inedible.

Following her nose, the littlest Baranski exited the Cedarwood Forest for the first time in her life. She was theoretically allowed to go exploring with the adults of the River, but Karina preferred her own company or that of her brothers to the company of the adults in her pack. They were always trying to teach her things that she just wasn’t good at. It was always “look at that” or “see this?” and it took her ages and a lot of squinting to find what they were trying to show her. Terrified of being hurt or hurting someone else, she was rotten at fighting too, and as for hunting… even if she could see the target she would rather make friends with an animal than hunt it down. Lachesis was the only wolf who taught her things that made sense. He showed her how to use her nose to identify the useful parts of plants and other wild things. “Wound mending” usually smelt one way, and “sleeping” smelt another way... it was hard to explain to her brothers, but she could just sense things about plants. She would have loved to find Lachesis and talk about the plants of autumn (summer plants were on their way out) but he was so busy these days, what with taking on all her father’s responsibilities. Karina wondered if he even had time to heal her father properly, and that was when she came up with this brilliant idea to gather the healing herbs herself.

Karina sniffed at a fruity smelling plant, wrinkling her nose as she tried to remember. It was so odd, but the farther she got from home the less she could recall from her sessions with Lachesis. She had assumed it would be just as easy as one of their lessons where she picked the correct herb from a pile. Gathering from the wild was nothing like that, she was realizing. Live plants looked and smelled so different from their dried counterparts, and the right answer wasn’t so easy when the question wasn’t multiple-choice. All she had managed to gather was a mouthful of minty-smelling stuff, and she couldn’t even recall if it was useful. All it was doing was clogging up her nose so she couldn’t smell other stuff properly. She spat the minty plant onto the ground in annoyance, and when her nose cleared she caught an interesting smell in the air. She knew it would be a bad idea to go too far out of the Cedars, but as long as she could find her way home…

She darted after the pungent scent, knowing that it was highly unlikely anyone would check for her or even know she had left the Forest. There were so few River wolves now, and they were all so busy now that Dad was sick. Soon she came upon the carcass of some horned creature. Karina supposed it was a deer, but it was hard to tell when it smelled so rotten. The pup was pretty hungry—she always was, it seemed— but even if she was starved she wouldn’t touch that meat. The antlers were a different story though. Karina felt confident that there was something useful about deer antlers, even if at this moment she couldn’t remember exactly what it was. If it was possible those horns could help her dad, she was going to get them. Breathing through her mouth, the pup started chewing through the decaying flesh at the base of the skull, attempting to sever the head from the carcass. She gagged as she got a mouthful of rotten hide, spitting the putrefaction onto the ground before running a few paces away to breathe. She could really use that minty plant right about now.

(This post was last modified: Oct 12, 2014, 09:37 PM by Karina.)

   

    
 

Totally forgot about this. I'm available for spreeing till 9pm tonight! :)

There was no denying it. He was L-O-S-T lost. Kova had been lost for half the day now after getting separated from his pup sitter Firefly. He had scared up a couple of rabbits and while Firefly wasn't looking, Kova had gone after them. He had chased his rabbit all the way towards the edge of a forest right over puddles and small muddy streams. In the end he never got the rabbit. Instead what he found was a forest ahead of him and no baby sitter. Kova knew that Firefly had been taking him into a forest that held the waterfall someplace within it. So thinking that she was somewhere nearby and would find him, Kova decided to look around some. She had a good nose right? He couldn't get in trouble if it wasn't his fault that he had gotten lost. It was his first time ever setting paw in a forest. The boy's eyes grew wide as he took in every tree that stood, lay, and lean upon or near each other. He had learned from the adults that trees were like plants, just really tall. However he just couldn't believe the immense size of them! They were horribly tall! Their stems were harder than the big blackberry bushes from back home, and they had a totally different smell from blackberries. Kova spent a good portion of his day just wandering around looking at plants and trees enjoying the sounds and sights of the place. However as his stomach began to growl wanting food, the young Lagina felt the need to begin looking for something to munch on. He hoped that Firefly would find him soon, but for now the child's attention was on finding food for himself. Following his nose and the scent of something dead, Kova made his way to the scene. He approached without a care in the world not knowing that the area could have been dangerous. Instead his curious gaze was caught on the sight of another wolf. He scented the air and was happy to find that it was a female near his age. She certainly didn't look like Noble did! Her coat was a lot more like his own with a white base covered in speckled black and gray patterning. Her periwinkle eyes flashed in the shade of the trees as she coughed. Kova tilted his head unsure of her. "Are you sick?" Kova asked before pausing at the deer carcass and glancing towards it. Deer or any kind smelled funky to him and he didn't really appreciate the taste. However this deer smelled even worse than it was supposed to. He definitely had second thoughts about trying a bit of it.

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(This post was last modified: Oct 29, 2014, 08:23 PM by Kova.)

OOC|| No worries. And sorry-- sprees are tough with my work schedule. Maybe this weekend though?

Oh and just so no one's confused, Karina is mistaking Kova for her brother Orren in this post. Her eyesight isn't the best, and the decaying scent has cut out her sense of smell. ||

Staring at the carcass from a distance, Karina had trouble summoning the resolve to approach the putrid mess once more. It would be so easy to simply walk away and pretend like she had never found the deer and never left the territory on this silly mission. No, Karina thought, her blue eyes trained on the antlers. If they could help her dad, she wasn’t leaving them. She wasn’t some fair-weather daughter. She approached the carcass, each step filled with steely determination. She wasn’t like Orren slipping out of the den at any opportunity and slinking back hours later, wondering if anyone had noticed or if he was in trouble. Her parents needed the comfort of family now more than ever. Karina and Aleksei had been by their father’s side almost constantly. Karina began chewing around the base of the deer skull again, unsure of whether the sour taste on her mouth was from the deer or from her poisonous thoughts toward Orren. Where was her good-for-nothing brother? Where did he go when no one followed?

Here, apparently. Karina saw Orren’s hesitant approach in her peripheral vision. She had a fantastic nose and would have noticed his presence sooner had this rancid stench not been swamping her senses. As it was though, she pretended not to notice him; the silent treatment was just what he deserved. He wanted to disappear? She would treat him like he was invisible. If you’ve nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Well, silence was Karina’s specialty as a matter of fact.

And then he had the nerve to question her—not only that, but to actually bring up sickness. ”No...” she said slowly, so surprised at her brother’s gall she forgot her vow of silence. ”That would be Dad. Or had you even noticed, Mr. Gone-When-It’s-Gets-Tough?” She looked up from the deer to glare at her brother. His coat was all wrong—light in place it was supposed to be dark. Had he rolled in something weird? That would be just like him, to get all dirty and then stay away for hours because he was worried about getting a bath when he returned. The thought of Mom swiping Orren with her tongue and lecturing while her brother squirmed and protested made Karina smile a little despite herself. She sighed, looking down at her paws instead of continuing to chew. It was harder to be mad when he was standing right here, and it had been so long since they had spent any time together. ”Nevermind,” she conceded, her tone apologetic. ”Help me with this, would you?” She tore a piece of rotten flesh from the dead beast’s neck and flung it toward the other pup playfully. She could be mischievous too.

(This post was last modified: Oct 21, 2014, 06:20 PM by Karina.)

   

    
 

Kova's tail wagged at first when Karina replied that she wasn't sick. However his happy feeling turned straight to confusion as she began commenting about his or her own father. His head cocked to the right while Kova stood there unsure of what to say or do. He wasn't expecting the girl to recognize him let alone be angry with him over something like his father. "B..but my dad is fine now. He's gotten better." Kova spoke with confusion still laced through his voice. If she was talking about his father as if she knew him then, just who is this girl? Kova shook his ruff before padding a few steps closer. He surveyed the work she had done pulling the flesh away from the deer antlers wondering why she was even putting her teeth on such a vile smelling carcass. When her voice passed by his silver ears once more it was a bit...gentler. The apologetic tone tickled his curiosity further. Did she really think that she knew him? Who is she mistaking me for?I'm positive I have never met this girl in my entire life. the young Lagina wolf pup wrinkled his nose at the smell of the deer while Karina asked him for help. To be honest, he wasn't sure what she needed help with. The peppered gray and white girl was doing well taking the fur and flesh off on her own. "What are you trying to get from there? It's all bad food. The bellyache throw up kind..." Kova stated simply before stepping forward to see what she was doing. When he spotted little teeth marks in the antlers an idea sprang into his head. She was chewing at the antlers? "Oh wait.. The antlers are what you want? Sure I'll help." Kova had chewed on antler before, and although he was patient for a pup; most of the time an adult had to crack the bone open for him to get at the good white stuff inside. He didn't have jaws strong enough yet to chew through an antler for hours on end. However they could get it if they popped the head off the deer. With that thought in his head, Kova stepped forward and took a place opposite of Karina where the base of the head and neck of the deer joined. He started clawing at and nipping the disgusting fur away to get to the bone underneath. Pausing in his work to look up at the girl, Kova wrinkled his nose to keep the gross smell from killing his sense of smell. "So who are you? How do you know my dad?" Kova asked curious as to how this gray pup knew that his father had been ill and hurt quite recently.

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(This post was last modified: Oct 21, 2014, 11:06 PM by Kova.)

There is a rabbit's nest nearby. +1 Health

Orren insisted that their father was better, and Karina with her jaw busy could only answer with a puppyish growl. Is that what he was telling himself; Dad is all better so it’s okay to run off every day? How would he even know? The next time he spoke he was closer, questioning her objective and talking about bellyaches. Karina was still busy trying to detach the skull from the top of the spine, but Orren’s words struck a funny note and she paused her efforts to look up. Since when did Orren care about the end purpose or consequences like tummyaches? The brother she knew would already be attacking the carcass, gleefully strewing deer guts left and right. The other pup—who seemed much more prone to thinking out loud (or really thinking at all) than Orren—took his place opposite her and began chewing, after figuring out all on his own it was the antler she was after.

Karina’s soft blue eyes widened, and she took a step back from the stranger. He asked more questions as he worked, but Karina’s brain was frozen in panic. She had never met anyone outside of Cut Rock River, and even interacting with River wolves made her nervous. It hadn’t even really occurred to her that other pups her age existed who weren’t her brothers. ”I made a mistake..” she squeaked, "I thought you were.. you-you’re not..” The pup stammered, unable to really get out what she was trying to say. She inched backward another step before lowering her body to the ground reflexively. If the stranger had been an adult she might have taken off in the other direction, but the girl was just curious enough about another her age that she stayed put, watching him through cloudy blue eyes. "You’re not my brother,” she finally said, a little more confidence behind her voice. That much of course was obvious to the other pup and had been for a while, but Karina’s frozen brain couldn’t think of anything more intelligent to say. What were you supposed to say when you met someone who wasn’t Cut Rock River?

Are her eyes still periwinkle blue? Or has some of her physical attributes like that changed?

Kova twitched his jaws back down to the nape of the deer's neck. His teeth tugged at the flesh to loosen it before he used his claws to scrape away the loose bits. The pair of pups had successfully removed a good portion of the rotten meat surrounding the neck, lower jaw, and skull bones. However as Kova worked he also tilted an ear towards the stranger girl to hear her answer. A few moments passed and she didn't answer causing the Lagina male to look to the peppered girls face with an expectant expression pushing his silvered brow upwards. Her reaction to him was priceless. Kova couldn't help but giggle as the girl suddenly realized that he wasn't whoever she thought he'd been. However when he spotted her slink backwards the chuckle coming from his muzzle ceased. Kova brought his head up from the deer carcass and cocked his head curiously at the other wolf pup. Finally she spoke about him not being her brother, and Kova let his tail wag as a smile crept into his black rimmed lips. His friendly demeanor spoke of a respectful child used to practicing the rules that his parents had instilled in him. "Of course I'm not your brother. My name is Kova Lagina, from Black Thorn Downs pack. What's yours if I may ask?" Kova's movements were slowed down so as not to startle the girl or scare her further. He didn't think that she would get that shocked from realizing that she didn't know him. Slowly he lowered his jaws to start working on the deer's neck again. They were just about at the bone, then maybe they could chew it apart from the skull. "So are we finishing this job together or what? Cause I'll take the antlers if you won't." Kova asked half hoping that his words would prompt the she wolf to continue to help him get the antlers off the carcass.

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OOC|| Thanks for reminding me-- Karina's bio was out of date! I updated it with the current info. Yes, her eyes are still blue and cloudy-looking. ||

Karina eyed the strange pup warily; it did not escape her that he was laughing at her. She was used to that. Being the youngest and smallest and the only girl in her litter, she was always the butt of some stupid joke. It didn’t help that she seemed to be the worst at everything too. Well, she was good with Lachesis’ lessons, but for all the stuff that mattered—hunting and fighting and stuff—her brothers were already much better than her. It would seem that this boy was no different. He introduced himself, and Karina noticed that his name had a pretty flair. ”Kova Lagina,” she said, seeing how it felt on her tongue. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had to learn a new name. ”Oh.” Karina realized that he had asked for her own name, and all she had done was repeat his. ”Oh. I’m.. Karina. Baranski. My parents lead Cut Rock River.” She tried to think if she had ever heard of Black Thorn Downs before. She felt certain she had overheard the other pack mentioned during a pack meeting, but she couldn’t remember if Downs wolves were good or bad.

The pup took a step toward Kova. If she couldn’t remember what her parents had said about the Downs wolves, then she would make the judgment herself. She liked this new boy, even if he had laughed at her at first. He was curious like Orren but not wild and impulsive, and he was smart and thoughtful like Aleksei but not so uptight or high-and-mighty. And he wanted to help her get the antlers. ”..Yeah.” she finally agreed, walking back over to the carcass. "Well, there are two.." she ventured, not quite realizing that his threat to take the antlers for himself was empty. Who wouldn't want such a cool prize? Karina saw no reason why they couldn't each have one. Instead of getting back to work chewing though, she found that she was overwhelmed with questions for the strange boy. "Do you live here in the Forest? Are you a prince?” she asked. She had been told from a very young age that she was a princess, and her brothers were princes. A new thought struck her, and her eyes lit up with excitement. "Wait.. do you have sisters? Can I meet them?!” Everything would change if there were girls around here to play with! Maybe they would like playing pretend and birdwatching and doing all the things Karina liked but her brothers thought were silly. Quite suddenly the deer antler was pushed a few spaces down on her priority list.

(This post was last modified: Oct 29, 2014, 05:35 PM by Karina.)

   

    
 

It had taken Fly ages to find Kova's scent trail. She was completely astonished that he had managed to get so lost! She had been leading him to the Secluded Springs, chattering away about how excited she was about a very plump rabbit she had caught the other day and then she had turned around to ask him if he had ever caught any prey on his own. But he was gone! Just gone! She had spent a good part of the morning with her heart beating a mile a minute trying to find the young prince. He must have gotten split up from her very early on in their journey for her to have had no trace of his scent. How had she taken so long to notice he was missing?!

The second she picked up on the young wolf's scent trail, she calmed down. With a trail to follow it did not take Fly long to find the boy within a cluster of thickets. From her vantage point she could see him but he could not see her. And neither could his friend. Curiously, Fly watched on as Kova and another pup picked at the antlers of a deer carcass. His new friend had a salt and pepper coat and her eyes seemed strange to Fly. They were blue but oddly hazy. Fly heard the girl ask Kova if he was a prince and she giggled. Someone else who used the phrase to describe the alpha's son! Fly watched on as the girl grew more and more excited and asked Kova if he had any sisters. Firefly didn't want to interrupt this experience for Kova; it was a great feeling to meet new wolves. But she also felt like the young wolf still needed some supervision. She didn't know if he knew better than to freely give out information about his pack. Fly made sure to rustle the thickets around her as she emerged into the cleared space where the pups were so that she would not scare them. Voice high and light she teased Kova, "So this is where you ran off to. You found a new friend." She would scold the pup later for running away, not in front of the young girl. Glancing at the girl she introduced herself, "Hello, my name is Firefly and I am a friend of Kova's. Who are you?" She didn't want to alarm the girl or come across as rude, so she would start with pleasant introductions and perhaps allow the pups to continue their small talk, but she knew that she could only supervise this little visit for so long. Soon, she would have to take Kova and move on or else run the risk of the girl's family showing up and not taking kindly to the little rendezvous.

Kova continued working on the antlers as his joke went right over the peppered girl's head. Picking his head up to frown at her, Kova then listened as the she pup named "Karina" began rattling off a list of questions. It was around then that his frown turned back into a smile. He was more than happy to answer the Baranski girls questions. Kova liked to help out and educate others. "I am a prince. THE Prince of Black Thorn Downs pack, but I don't live in the forest." Kova brought his clawed paw up to the elk's neck, pushed, and then cut at the ligaments and things still keeping the bones attached. They had almost gotten the head detached from the rest of the body. Then another wolf appeared. Kova flicked his head around to look at the intruder before realizing that it was Firefly. She had finally found him. Although Kova was quite content to chat with Karina by himself now. He still wagged his tail in greeting to Firefly before looking up at her. "Sorry... but the rabbit. I tried to catch it and I knew you were going to the trees. So I just kinda wandered around in this place." Kova apologized quickly though it wasn't the most sincere apology he had ever given. The silver pup was actually glad that he had ran off from her, because if he hadn't he would not have been able to meet Karina. "We live in a place called Blackberry fields. Though there aren't any berries left anymore. I think they'll come back when it gets warm again." He answered The Baranksi she wolf for both Firefly and himself. Kova didn't know that his parents might not want him to share information with wolves outside in other packs. "and I only have one sibling. My sister Noble. If she were around we could play but..." Kova shuffled his paw against the neck bones of the deer. It would probably be more fun to play hide and go seek with three wolves instead of two. Kova hadn't yet realized that Karina had an eye problem. So he continued thinking about games and stuff that they could all play together. Games that weren't necessarily easy for a pup who couldn't see very well to play.

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