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Reflections — Hearthwood River 
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Played by Kai who has 786 posts.
Inactive No Rank
Inna Baranski
@Naia and @Orren


On this particular excursion Inna had found the river that ran close to the den.  Once she'd found it she didn't think it would be bad if she played in the water for a little while. The thing was she hadn't ever actually been in the water before so she approached the edge.  First she looked into it and saw the reflection of herself which scared her a little at first. She thought it might be another pup looking back at her.  Inna wonder if it might want to play so she barked at it then waited for some sort of response.  She became even more curious when the other puppy did exactly what she did when she did it.

This was all very perplexing to her because she didn't understand why it kept copying her.  There was clearly something wrong with the puppy looking back at her.  Finally Inna balanced on the edge of the water and pawned at the other puppy splashing the water around her in the process. That was when it became very strange to her because it seemed the puppy wasn't there at all.  Sitting back on her haunches she stared at the water trying to figure what exactly had happened..

(This post was last modified: Jul 23, 2015, 11:41 PM by Inna.)
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Played by Alace who has 323 posts.
Inactive Deceased
Naia Aegina
Naia trotted toward the heart of her beloved pack’s territory, her latest catch swinging merrily from her jaws. Between her teeth, in place of her typical squirrel or rabbit, was a massive carcass that would look and smell very different from the usual meal she brought to the Baranski family. Naia set the freshly-caught beaver at the entrance of Kisla’s den, trotting away quickly so as not to disturb the sleeping inhabitants. All was quiet in the whelping den for once, and Kisla deserved a few more minutes of peace.  

“Orren?” the Timber lady called out for the youngest Baranski boy, her preferred sidekick for her hunting ventures. This time of morning he was usually checking the pack's caches, which they kept all around here at the heart of the territory. The boy had been smart (or had it been her suggestion?), digging caches into the rocky riverbank where the ground was cooler and the flowing water would draw scent away from the hidden stores.  

Hearing a splash nearby, Naia of course assumed it was the aspiring hunter checking one of these river caches, and she trotted jauntily to the source of the sound. “Inna!”  she said in surprise, taking a half-moment to even recognize who she was seeing. How had the pups grown so much in half a moon? “Hi there!  Remember me, Aunt Naia?”  The cheerful scout kept her voice gentle, and wagged her tail in an inviting manner. “What do you have there?”  she asked, noticing the child’s perplexed focus on the water pooling between her paws. 

[Image: hashtags-inalinaia.png]
Played by PuppyThief who has 157 posts.
Inactive No Rank
Orren Baranski
:D @Inna

The younger prince was having a slow morning. In these hot summer days, most mammals were primarily active at night, when the air had cooled and the shadows offered better camouflage than the glaring light f the sun. The wolves were no exception to this rule, many of them spend the light hours resting, and waited for the cool twilight to begin their duties. This was especially true for the hunters, having to follow the same routines as their prey in order to gain success; Orren Baranski had personally failed several hunts before discovering this, following trails for hours on end, only to come up empty handed, his prey hiding from the heat and exposure safe underground or in dense thickets. Finally the aspiring hunter had realized his error, and so his days had shifted into a mostly nocturnal schedule. As late as last night, he had used the dusk to sneak up on a family of martens, securing several portions of good meat for the stores. So now he was getting his well deserved rest.

Still, the sound of a familiar voice calling his name, roused him from his doze, copper tipped ears perking even as he struggled lift his heavy eyelids. Naia's voice was distant, though not too far away, and despite his tiredness, the adventurous yearling's curiosity was stirred. With a small groan, he forced his eyes open, blinking a few times to clear the sleep from them. Light filtered in through the den opening, still pale enough to tell the boy that the day was quite young yet; And hopefully not too hot... Unfolding his legs, Orren's bulky form filled out the confined space of the communal den as he stretched, loosening up his body. Then, with a wide yawn, he slinked out of the opening, persimmon eyes narrowing against the sunlight.

It didn't take him long to orient himself, and as soon as he had gotten accustomed to the light, he turned towards the river. Naia's call had come from the other side, possibly the birthing den - the scout had been a great help in providing for Kisla and her newborns, along with himself - and as he trotted down to the water, Orren wondered what his teacher might be up to. When he saw her slender silhouette on the river bank, and noticed her small, dark companion, he thought he might know, and a broad grin spread across his face as he approached them. "Good morning ladies!" He called jovially, beaming at the female second before turning his attention to Inna; "What might we be up to down here?" His voice and gaze was friendly, with Naia to watch over her he felt assured of Inna's safety, but still there was a small stab of anxiety in his heart, seeing his baby sister so close to the water. The river of Hearthwood was much calmer and safer than Cut Rock's wild surge, but it still had its current, and the River prince knew better than most how treacherous that could be.

Word count: 508

Thoughts ”Speech”

Played by Kai who has 786 posts.
Inactive No Rank
Inna Baranski

The puppy in the water was very confusing to Inna. Sitting back on her haunches she tried to think why the puppy wouldn't come play with her.  It never occurred to her that it looked just like her.  She didn't understand why it only did what she did but even more curious was that it copied her at the exact time she did anything.  Her tail tapped against the river bank in her annoyance of not being able to figure out exactly what was going on.  She gave a loud huff which the puppy seemed to mimic though Inna didn't hear it.  Then she thought perhaps the puppy was trapped under the water somehow and if that was the case they needed to find a way for her to get out.

She was so lost I'm her wonderings that she didn't hear anyone one approach and was a little caught by surprise when she heard her name.  She snapped her head around to see who was there.  "I do," she replied when the woman asked her Inna remembered her. "You come to visit," she added.  Then the woman asked what she had.  Inna turned her head back to the water, "A puppy there in the water.  It won’t come and play," she answered pointing at the puppy in the water, "I don't understand," she said looking back at Naia.

Then to Inna’s great surprise Ori appeared her tail swishing vigorously at the sight of her brother. "It's another puppy Ori and it keeps doing what I do," she explained to him. "Can you make it come out and play?" She asked hoping her brother would be able to do something about the puppy that wouldn't play with her.  In her mind Ori could do anything to make her happy.  He had when they had played why should this be any different.

(This post was last modified: Jul 27, 2015, 03:43 AM by Inna.)
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Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you.


 
Played by Alace who has 323 posts.
Inactive Deceased
Naia Aegina
“That’s right!” Naia told the girl, grinning at the fact that Inna had remembered her from the moon before. That particular visit hadn’t been the happiest, Naia recalled –all serious business with Kisla and no fun for her children-- and she decided that she would make this meeting much more exciting for the girl.   “A puppy, hmm?” Naia said, fighting to keep her expression straight despite an amused smile threatening to twitch across her face. The Timber lady glanced up at the morning sun, which was peeking over the tops of the trees just enough to shine onto the water at an angle, creating a glare across the surface.  Naia did not explain this trick of the light right away though— it was better for the girl to investigate the phenomenon herself, so she could generalize it to other situations later. “Use your nose, Inna. Can you smell the puppy?” the scout coached. “Smell is the greatest tool you have. Your nose will always give you the truth, even when your eyes are tricking you.”  

@Orren appeared then, grinning and also seeming to be in a good mood. Perhaps he had some time this morning to go on a little adventure with them? “Morning, Orren.” Naia answered, “I’m glad you’re here. I was hoping to show something to the two of you.” She shared a small, knowing smile with the older Baranski as Inna explained her problem. “Show your brother.. I think with his help you’ll figure it out.” Naia nodded for Orren to join his sister by the water. She couldn’t wait to see the child’s surprise when a much bigger wolf who looked exactly like Orren appeared behind the “trapped” puppy. 
(This post was last modified: Aug 01, 2015, 04:08 PM by Naia. Edit Reason: tag orren! )
[Image: hashtags-inalinaia.png]
Played by PuppyThief who has 157 posts.
Inactive No Rank
Orren Baranski
Short but (hopefully) sweet :D @Inna you're up <3

The prince shared a warm glance with his mentor, tail waving high behind him as they greeted each other. Naia's comment made his ears perk, one, dark brow arching in interest. "Of course! Am always up for a lil' adventure!" He grinned, curious to see what the crafty scout had in store for her students today. Then his attention was drawn by Inna, her voice full of excitement and hope, eyes wide as they drifted from him and back to the water. His brows furrowed, for a moment not understanding what the dark girl was talking about, but Naia came to his aid, directing his attention at the water, where Inna's reflection stared back up at her with equally wide, cerulean eyes; Ahh I see!  A fresh smile cracked the copper yearlings lips, and unlike the scout, he did not try to hide it; "'Nother puppy you say? Let me see!"

In a few steps of his long, yearling legs, the lad moved over to his sister's side, looking down into the river with her. As he sat down on the bank next to her, his reflection appeared next to hers in the water, a looming, bulky figure in contrast with the small, black pup. Mirror-Orren smiled up at Inna, his tail waving merrily behind him. Then he bowed down to put his nose next to the mirror-pup's ear, and at the same time, Orren whispered to his little sister; "Well would ya' look at that, seems she's not alone."

Word count: 250

Thoughts ”Speech”

Played by Kai who has 786 posts.
Inactive No Rank
Inna Baranski
Definitely sweet. :)

The woman seemed pleased that Inna had remembered her which cause her to give the woman a smile.  Though she didn’t understand why the woman had some to the den that day she did remember her face and now she knew her as aunt Naia.  When the woman spoke of the puppy which Inna had told her about the girl nodded, “I just don’t understand,” she said the confusion she felt clear in her voice.  Then Naia gave her some instruction about using her nose to which Inna obeyed and tried sniffing at the puppy in the water as she listened to the rest of what Naia had to say.  It was something to think about. “It smells like water so that has to tell me something about the puppy, right?” she said looking back at the woman.  That bit of information she had gotten from the scent of the puppy only added to her confusion about what was going on.

Soon Orren had arrived and Inna was happy to see her brother again and glad that he was there to help her with this problem she was having.  Inna watched the exchange between the two older wolves till Orren had asked about the puppy.  Inna nodded and indicated the water.  Soon he was beside her and Inna saw in the water as another wolf appeared next to the puppy that looked just like Ori.  She felt his breath against her ear as he whispered to her.  “That’s you Ori,” It had to be, she was sure of that and if the larger wolf was her brother, “Which would make that me?” she added with a note of surprise in her tone. “But how did we get in the water?” She asked glancing between Naia and Orren..

(This post was last modified: Aug 06, 2015, 08:19 PM by Inna.)
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Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you.


 
Played by Alace who has 323 posts.
Inactive Deceased
Naia Aegina
“That’s right, Inna.” Naia’s tone was encouraging as she answered the girl. Watching the young princess puzzle out the problem brought a very small smile to the older woman’s features. The child reminded Naia very much of her oldest brother Aleksei, full of determination and curiosity even as a little pup. Orren would have gotten frustrated with the issue by now, and Karina would have laid down and given up. So much could change within a year! Orren had stepped in a mature responsible role as a big brother and hunter, and his brother who had been groomed from birth to lead was nowhere to be found. And Karina.. who could ever tell what was going on with Karina?  Such a sensitive, emotional girl.. and consequently so very vulnerable. Naia’s expression darkened for the briefest of moments as she thought of @“Kjors”.

The worry vanished from her face with the arrival of the youngest Baranski prince. It warmed the scout’s heart to watch Orren help his sister along so patiently. Even after Inna was able to determine that the second wolf who had appeared was Orren, she still struggled with grasping the concept. Taking pity on the child, Naia moved forward to the edge of the water to give her the answer she was desperately seeking.   “Your brother is a very talented hunter, Inna.. he knows a lot about smells. Orren, what would you think if you saw something with your eyes but it didn’t have a smell?” Everything that exists has a scent, she was certain she had told that to Orren at some point when he was no bigger than Inna.

After Orren answered, Naia moved forward again so that she was hovering over the water. “What you’re seeing is a trick of the Light. Both Water and Light have many tricks even when separate, so when they combine they can be especially devious. Watch, here’s another trick.” Naia held her leg out straight so that Inna could get a good look at it, and then she dunked her entire leg into the still water so her paw was resting on the river bottom. The overheard light refracted around her leg beneath the water, making it look like it was bent at an unnatural angle.

After a moment Naia pulled her leg out of the water to show Inna that it was still straight and intact. “I want to show you something else that I think will help you understand. Orren, you’ll find me when you two are ready?” She gave the both of them a parting nod, then began following the river northward. She knew it would be more fun for the two of them to track her scent rather than just trailing mindlessly behind her, and perhaps it would give Orren a chance to teach Inna about one of his favorite activities.

[Image: hashtags-inalinaia.png]
Played by PuppyThief who has 157 posts.
Inactive No Rank
Orren Baranski
Sorry for the wait guys @Inna @Naia

Delight rushed through him as Inna recognized his image, realizing that the reflections in the water were pictures of the two of them. Surprise and confusion in her tone, she looked between her brother, and the delicate scout, clearly dead-set on figuring out the mystery. Orren was amazed to see only wonder and determination in her face, no sign of the frustration that he remembered feeling when he himself had once struggled with the same problem, almost a year ago; Has it really not been more? But Inna was of a different mind it seemed, stubborn like he youngest brother, but with the steeled determination of the oldest. It made a strange mixture of feelings bubble up inside him, to recognize Aleksei in their younger sister.

Naia was not giving it up easily, turning now to Orren to assist in her lesson. The brash yearling remembered how he had resented her for attempting to teach him this way when he was at his youngest, all he had wanted was the answer, and back then, he didn't see the wisdom in avoiding shortcuts; He still didn't all of the time. "Well," He started, looking back down at Inna as he answered the question, knowing that this was all for her benefit; "Ya' see Lightning-bug, everything has a scent. Sometimes your eyes, or even your ears, can play tricks on ya', tha's when ya' need to use your nose! That will tell ya' what's real and what aint." He winked, glancing up at Naia to see if she approved of his explanation. Of course he was biased! As a blossoming tracker, Orren had learned to rely on his nose above all else, trusting in his strongest sense to guide him whenever he was unsure. Though, given that it was largely the nimble scout who had taught him this, he doubted that she would say anything against it.

And she did seem to support his words, moving forwards to finally supply Inna with the last piece of the puzzle. The black-saddled boy smiled at her, stepping aside to allow her access to the water next to the ebony pup. Naia explained, touching on the same thing he had about tricks of the light. "It's a reflection." The hefty lad supplied, coming up on his sister's other side, muzzle lowered to be next to hers; "What you see in the water is an image of the things above it." Then he lifted his eyes a little to look at Naia over the pup's head, smiling warmly. He watched as the agouti woman demonstrated another trick, persimmon eyes shifting down to see Inna's reaction. After giving the girl plenty time to see, the adult then turned, asking the two younger wolves to 'find her when they were ready'. Orren smiled knowingly, nodding in agreement, then turned his attention back to Inna, while Naia moved away.

Speaking in a confidential tone, the boy glanced out at the river, then sought to meet his baby sister's bright, cornflower eyes; "It's strange eh? Bu' light really loves to play games! Tha's why I don't like trustin' my eyes too much." There was a teasing glint in his eyes, but his smile was gentle and loving. He knew this all must be confusing to her, but hopefully it wouldn't be too much; I guess she has to learn... The yearling wasn't entirely sure his baby sister was ready for this lesson, but he trusted that Naia knew best, after all she had a lot more experience in teaching than him. A sudden impulse made him add: "This' a good thing to remember when you're fishin', the light will bend like that, makin' it look like the fish is somewhere else." It was natural for him to draw on his own experience in this, whenever it came to hunting and tracking, he was more than eager to share what he knew. It was highly possible that Inna would forget this again before she ever needed it, if she had even understood it in the first place, but that didn't matter much to him.

Straightening up, Orren glanced in the direction Naia had gone, checking that she had gotten a sufficient distance away, then he looked down at Inna; "Ok Lightning-bug, s'time to use your nose!" A broad grin was spread across the hunter's face, excitement aglow in his eyes; Now THIS is gonna be fun! Another glance was cast to the north, than attention returned to Inna; "Ya' know what Naia smells like, right? See if ya' can find 'er!" He would be ready to assist if she needed any more help finding and following the trail, full of joy to be introducing his sister to this, the most interesting of all things he knew; TRACKING!

Word count: 796

Thoughts ”Speech”

Played by Kai who has 786 posts.
Inactive No Rank
Inna Baranski

Excitement rose up in Inna when Naia told her that she was right in her deduction about the smell telling her something about the puppy.  The thing that she had to figure out was what exactly it told her about the puppy.  She looked back at the puppy and sniffed it once more thinking that might help her to figure out what she was missing.  Inna knew that she was missing something but she didn’t know what it was as she tried to sort out the facts in her mind.  The appearance of her brother beside her and the puppy though did help her a lot by giving her one more clue as to why the puppy wouldn’t come out and play with her.  It was then that she figured out that the puppy wasn’t another puppy but her.

Inna turned her attention back to Naia as she spoke about Orren and how he knew a lot about smells because he was a hunter.  Perhaps her brother could help her to put the clues that she had together to figure out the problem that she was now facing.  When he spoke she turned her head to look up at him and listen as he spoke about her eyes could play tricks on her but her nose would always tell her the truth about a thing. “My nose is my best friend when it comes to figuring things out,” she stated to show that she did understand what the older wolves were telling her. “But what if I can’t figure out what my nose is telling me?” she asked looking between the two wolves.  For instance now, she smelled water when she sniffed what she now realized was her.  Shouldn’t the other her smell like her and not water?  Inna shook her head in the confusion that she felt.

Naia explained that the water and light could play tricks on the eye, Inna wasn’t sure that she fully understood what the female meant so when she moved toward the water she watched intently as the woman showed her straight leg before plunging it into the water.  The youngster could see that her leg which had been perfectly straight a moment before was now bent and as Naia pulled it back out of the water her leg was straight once more.  Then Orren supplied her with the answer to the problem, “Reflection?” she said curiously. Went on to tell her that the water showed what was above it, “Which is why that me,” she pointed at the Inna in the water with her paw, “Smells like water and not me?” She was sure that she was right in that but she wanted to confirm it with her brother and Naia.

She decided that the advice about trusting her eyes that Orren gave her was good advice that should be committed to memory, she could tell by the way that he spoke that it was important.  “Like how the water made Naia’s leg look?” She asked curious to see if she understood exactly what Orren was saying as he spoke about fishing.  Inna’s attention was drawn once more to the older woman as she explained that she had another lesson she wanted to teach. Inna was excited to be learning another lesson and watched a moment while Naia moved away from them before turning to her brother questioningly.  She didn’t understand how the older female was going to teach the lesson if she wasn’t there until Orren supplied her with the answer, she would have to use her nose.  Inna nodded when he asked if she knew what Naia smelled like.  Inna’s confusion about what Orren meant was clear on her face, she knew that she had to use her nose but she wasn’t sure how so she tried to sniff the air, “Like this?” She asked her brother.

(This post was last modified: Aug 17, 2015, 09:34 PM by Inna.)
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