Larkcall Lowlands Needle in a Tundra

 

Kajika glanced up at the sky, the clouds causing him to wonder if it was going to rain that say and if he should seek shelter.  He didn’t much care for pouring rains but small showers were nice.  He especially liked them in spring however the glimpse of sun was a reassurance that there probably wouldn’t be any rain that day.  In his journey to explore the lands that he had decided to call his home, for the time being anyway, he had rediscovered the lake that he had gone fishing in previously.  Further travels brought him to this place that he found himself in now.  It was a large grassy area that was spotted with flowers, something he would never share was how much he liked flowers.  So much so that he stopped to sniff a few as he made his way across the landscape.

 

Just as he was putting his nose to something like the fifth flower he saw a small movement in the grass.  He wasn’t sure what it was since he didn’t exactly see what had made the movement but his curiosity so instead of thinking about what sort of bad things he thought it might be he decided to follow the scent.  That was enough to tell him that it was in fact a mouse that he was following and though he had recently eaten he thought it might be fun to have a chase.  It was something to take his mind off the many things that plagued him most of the time and have a little fun.

So it was he stuck his nose into the grass following the scent of the mouse as it traveled looking for he expected the same things that he usually spent most of his time looking for.

 

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Traveling north had proven to be a tiring thing. Desideria was not eager to turn around and head south so quickly, not when there was so much room to roam. There were so many fewer pack boundaries, the entire region felt freer and less claustrophobic than it had where she'd originally thought to keep her denning site. It was enough to make a girl reconsider, and should she be able to find a safe place that provided plenty of shelter (while remaining less than a day's travel from fresh water, of course), the timber wolf was fairly certain she was ready to start digging. Of course, that would also require her to find something to eat. Fish were all well and fine, but the small female was not a proficient enough fisher-wolf to live off the river's bounty. There was a cornucopia of large game to hunt, but she was one small wolf, and even a fawn would be difficult for her to separate from its mother and take down all on her own. It left her hunting birds, which had a very low chance of success, and or hunting rodents. That was something she well understood, raised in an arid landscape, and set her nose to work, seeking out a small burrow. It was a rustle in the grass that caught her attention, and the dusty wolf lowered her body as she slithered through the high reeds. If there was a rodent further up, she'd have to be very quiet or risk a high-speed chase through the sharp blades. Suddenly, the creature veered to the right, and before Dezzy could follow suit, she bumped into another wolf with a startled yelp. Amber eyes flashing forward, her ears swept back as she scurried to gather her own feet, eying Kajika with mistrust. "Oi, get your own snack!"

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Lately his life had become all about finding food, shelter, water, and keeping out of the territories of pack wolves.  Those were things that he hadn’t had to worry too much about as a pack wolf himself.  There wasn’t a lot of time now for him to just take a few moments out of worrying about those things to just enjoy the day but today he had decided to indulge himself in a little fun which he found in chasing the scent of a mouse.  He didn’t usually hunt mice for the fact that he would have to eat so many for it to even make an impact on his hunger but chasing them while it was fun he also knew that it helped to hone his hunting skills.

However he was not expecting to be knocked completely off balance by…well he wasn’t sure what.  At least not until he regained his balanced and looked around to see what exactly had run into him, he had run into, he wasn’t really sure which way it had happened since he had been so enthralled in the chase.  His gaze landed on the figure of another wolf, a female who was claiming that the mouse that he’d been chasing was in fact her snack.  Kajika gave his head a shake before speaking, “If you want the mouse you’re more than welcome to it,” he told her calmly, “I was just having a bit of fun and if you would like it would be my pleasure to help you.”  He had made the offer though he wasn’t sure that she would take him up on it but he knew that he didn’t need the mouse and if she did then he would help her since he wasn’t really one to not help another who might need it.

 

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"Oh." Oh. This guy was big. Now that the flurry of paws and pelt had become still, Desideria finally had a moment to look over the other wolf. He looked young, but he was already a large creature – much larger than herself, and for a moment, she wished she could bite her tongue. Fortunately, her loose lips didn't sink her ship this time. When the male spoke, he offered her not only the stray rodent, but to help her catch it. Wasn't he different from the last man she'd run into? Bewilderment glimmered in her August eyes as she studied the loner in silence, head tipped to one side as she tried to weigh his apparent altruism. Eventually, she did speak, bringing up one paw to rub at her face as she stared downwards at the earth. "Oi, sorry for shouting at you, kid. Got really into the chase, you know? Wasn't looking where I was going." Admittedly, he'd run into her, too, but he'd willingly given up the meal. (Not that it mattered much anymore, Dezzy realized wryly, the rodent was probably long gone and tucked safely into its burrow at this point.) "The critter's probably gone, now. We could probably hunt something else though, if the offer stands, yeah? Plenty of game in these parts I've seen – haven’t tried my paw at it, not yet. Not alone, you know? Not good planning." The dusty female paused for a moment, allowing herself a breath before plowing onwards, steeled by the stranger's apparent friendliness. "My name's Desideria, by the by. You can call me Des. What's your name, yeah?"

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It had been a long time since Kajika had allowed himself to be knocked of balance like that, though he supposed that he hadn’t really had much choice in the matter, but having it done by a female made it easier to overlook.  While she was silent he took that moment to really look her over as he sat back on his haunches.  She was much smaller than he was but the memory of the force with which she had bumped into him which caused him to believe that he size shouldn’t be any indication of what she might be capable of. He waited patiently for he to speak allowing her the opportunity to consider his offer since it would be one that he wasn’t sure he would take easily form a stranger.

Finally she did speak offering him an apology, “Don’t worry about it. I was quite involved in the chase as well.  I hope that you weren’t hurt,” he stated kindly.  He couldn’t imagine that bumping into someone of his size, and he was rather aware of his size, could be very pleasant. He also wasn’t going to put all the fault on her either since he wasn’t really sure how it had all happened, that wouldn’t be very fair in his mind.

Kajika gave a nod of his head in agreement when she stated that the mouse was probably gone by now but she seemed to be taking him up on his offer which caused a smile to form on his lips.  “Of course it does,” he said in regards to the offer still standing,“ And perhaps we can catch something much larger than a rodent with the two of us working together.”  He wasn’t sure what they would go after but a small deer would be nice, he had been craving deer for a while now. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Des, I’m Kajika,” he introduced himself, “So where do you suggest we start in our hunt?”

 

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There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

"Kajika, huh?  That's a pretty name.  Haven't heard something like that before," she rumbled, bobbing her head as she commit it to memory.  Kajika.  A unique name for an otherwise plain individual.  Other than his impressive bulk, he was a typical shade of sienna with a dark mask and dark legs.  It was his eyes, she thought, that separated him from the others.  Her own eyes were shades of summer and autumn, but his were so light, it was if rays of moonlight shimmered through those glassy orbs.  For a moment, they caused her pause, and Des smiled to herself.  Kajika, big man with the pretty eyes – and the nice manners.  Couldn't forget that.  No matter how average he looked, the display of such polite demeanor was almost more memorable than the name. "And 'm fine, thanks.  Only thing wounded is my pride!  Was real intent on catching that little mouse, you know?  Guess he lives to fight another day – but we have bigger and better things to do.  Saw some elk over to the west."  Desderia paused for a moment, glancing over her shoulder in that direction.  Delicious, she imagined, but those were big animals with some huge herds.  That was not something two wolves could handle.  With a wry grin, she gave her new companion a once over. "You ever catch birds?  Old friend taught me once – really good to eat, you know?  Not like deer, but still really good.  I saw some pheasant before.  Hadn't thought much about it, they're kind of big for one little lady, but I bet the two of us could catch a big ol' bird, yeah?  What do you say, up for something new?"

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(This post was last modified: Apr 27, 2015, 06:19 PM by Desideria. Edit Reason: Open tag. )

 

He nodded when she repeated his name, “Thank you for commenting on it,” he stated a little shyly when she complimented his name.  He was suddenly thankful to his mother for naming him that.  She had once told him what it meant but at that moment he couldn’t remember and he supposed that it didn’t particularly matter at the moment.  No, what mattered was the girl in front of him and the fact that he worried that she had been hurt when they had collided so he was pleased when she stated that she hadn’t been physically at least.

“I’m glad that you weren’t hurt and as for your pride I am sure that a successful hunt can fix that,” he stated with confidence.  At least it always made him feel better when he was feeling particularly down.  “Yes I suppose he does but elk sounds a lot better than a little mouse not to mention more filling.”  It had been a very long time since he’d had elk, maybe an even longer time then deer.

Then she spoke about birds and inquired about whether he had ever hunted birds.  Kajika shook his head, “No I haven’t actually so I suppose that I will have to take your word for it but if you are willing to show me how to hunt them I would like that so that so that I can have the opportunity to try them myself.”  He did like the idea of trying something new very much.

 

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Despite her initial outburst, this interaction was going much better than she would have predicted. Her tag began to wag slowly, ears swiveled forward as she inched closer to the male. With no aggression shown, she feared little he would suddenly spring in attack, especially when he was showing interest in sharing a hunt. They'd be much more successful as a group, she knew, and a lone wolf should take as much food as they could get. "Well, it ain't no elk, I'll tell ya, but I always liked a good pheasant. Much better than a little bird. Or a crow. Don't eat crows," Dezzy tacked on, snout wrinkling at the memory. Ugh. She shook her head, pushing the sour taste from her tongue as she shifted her weight. "C'mon, then. They were this way!" Turning about, the female began to trot through the scrublands in silence. Once they'd gone some distance, she slowed to a halt. Desideria lowered her belly to the ground and glanced over her shoulder, waiting for her companion to follow suit. "They're shy birds," she murmured, significantly more hushed than she'd been during their introductions. "So we need to be quiet. They make this…this knocking noise, so we want to stay low and listen for that, okay?" Her ears swiveled forward and she studied her new student for a moment before adding, "Do you wanna try it first, or do you want me to show you how? You gotta sorta…sprint and spring up, time it just right to catch 'em before you fly away." With that in mind, she began to belly crawl forward over the dry ground, towards the area she'd seen the pheasant previously.

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Kajika had to admit that he had been a little worried that the meeting with the female would turn out to be a fight over something to eat but he was rather glad for the prospect of hunting with her.  It pleased him that she felt comfortable enough to move closer to him after all he thought that it was important that they were comfortable with each other if they were going to hunt together.  He listened as she spoke about how much she liked pheasant, “It might not be elk but it will be good to taste something different and learn how to hunt it.”  Since his options were kind of limited as a lone wolf he felt that having more options would keep him from starving. He laughed when she spoke about the crow, “I will keep that in mind,” he assured her.

“Lead the way.”  When she headed off in the direction of where she knew the pheasants to be he followed at a trot to keep up with her.  When she lowered her bely to the ground he did the same, “We don’t want to scare them before we have had the chance to catch one,” he stated in a low tone to match hers to show that he understood what she was saying.  He nodded though he didn’t think she had heard when she told him what to listen for his ears scanning the area for the sound. Thought about her question of if he wanted to give it a try first, “Maybe we both could go…better our chances?” he thought that if they were all together in a group and all tried to fly away when one of them came upon them it would be better for them both to be there so they wouldn’t lose their prey completely if one of them missed.

That said he followed her in a belly crawl once more in the direction where they would hopefully be catching their next meal.

 

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