Grizzly Hollow with your feet on the ground you're a bird in flight

Set by the tree where Prudence lives, near to his old birth den. AW, but special notice for @Oula? :)

The world looked so different upside down, with the sky falling out beneath your feet and solid ground to your back. Such a small physical change and yet such a profound effect when you really stopped to look at it, to appreciate that feet were reliably glued to the ground and never randomly disconnected and let you fly away among the clouds. Would you ever stop? Was there another floor somewhere up there you would land on and then you could look up and see the cedarwoods far above you, its clouds blue in a green sky, as the lake and rivers of the world laid over the forests and meadows. It was easier to imagine after climbing that mountain, the perspective from so high utterly unique and eye-opening.

These revelations had to be shared, but Prudence didn't seem particularly impressed by any of them. She was busying herself in her burrow, presumably rearranging whatever knickknacks burrowing owls liked to keep. Every now and then Tomen would offer another new profound thought and she might titter in response, if she deigned to react at all. Eventually, his eyes peeled off the vast blue sky and all its wonders and sought out her small round shape, her butt wiggling as she stuck her head in her burrow and fussed about with something.

"You know, if you're not interested anymore you could just say so," he said, bringing his forelegs up against his chest, paws limp. "I'm try'na pour my deep thoughts and feelings out here, have some decency."

Hooo! came the muffled reply, but she did back out of her den rear-first and about-turn to fix a single beady eye on the wolf. He opened his mouth to thank her for her gracious attention when she suddenly snapped up a tiny twig laid on the ground and promptly disappeared back into her hole.

"Well fine, if that's how you wanna be," Tomen sniffed. Shifting his shoulders to get more comfy, he turned his eyes back to the clouds, nevertheless contented by the small sounds of the nearby owl going about her business. At least some things were still normal in a good, comfortable way.

@Tomen x_x this post is poop but didnt want to keep you waiting any longer

Oula Whitebark
cover me with salt now, show me how

A steady pace brought the Whitebark woman through the territory, her black nose twitching over the snow as she searched for prey. Her stomach angrily grumbled at the thought of some succulent squirrels or delectable deer. Oula hadn't been this hungry since she'd been wandering the wastes alone last summer. With the pack she never had to go long without food. Indeed, that very morning she had just picked clean the remains of frozen flesh from the carcass of last week's cached hunt. She'd felt bad finishing the last of it off, hopefully no one else had been planning on eating it, but she really couldn't help herself. The growing pups in her needed the nutrients and she found she was much more even tempered when she kept herself topped up.

The sound of talking caught her attention, and from voice alone she could tell it was Tomen. But she couldn't hear anyone talking back in response. The peculiarity of it made her curious, but as she trotted up to find the boy laying on the ground looking skyward, she could see not another soul with him.

"Are you... talking to yourself?" She asked as she stopped, her pale green eyes flicking as she looked for anyone else the boy could possibly speaking to, even following his gaze up, but finding no one. She couldn't help the look of concern that settled over her rounded face as she focused back on Tomen. Having conversations with oneself really wasn't normal, had he gotten into Veho's stash?

<3

Floating in a sea of contented cloud watching, and safely within the pack's territory, Tomen barely reacted to the initial sound of someone walking nearby; it would just be a packmate, and he had nothing to fear from any of them. An ear had twitched towards it by the power of instincts, but his eyes were lost in the sky. It was only when someone spoke out loud did he really realise they'd actually stopped to pay attention to him - and Tomen jerked about slightly to look at who was there, surprised by the interruption.

Oh, it was @Oula. He felt a little numb at the sight of her, though on some level was aware that that wasn't entirely fair. Besides, what she'd asked had been, um... "No," he said slowly, not sure why he sounded guilty, or was it embarrassed? The existence of - and Tomen's relationship with - the burrowing owl wasn't a secret, per se, but nor was it exactly broadcasted. Tomen had the distinct impression that his father didn't really approve, maybe he thought it was childish.

"With Pru," he explained, still that strange tone in his voice which signalled that yes, I know it's pretty weird but at the same time I don't care. It wasn't like he made a habit of talking to birds. Prudence was an entirely unique exception. Still on his back (unsure whether or not Oula wanted him to be submissive in her presence, he was already showing his belly so... mission accomplished with overkill?) he jerked a paw in the direction of Prudence's little den at the base of the tree he laid by, though the owl was tucked away out of site.

Then the little creature popped her head out and stared straight at Oula for several long seconds, fearlessness in her expression. The owl knew perfectly well that she was safe, so long as Tomen had anything to say about it. Oooooooo, she said, then ducked back inside the hole.

Sheepishly, Tomen looked back at Oula, waiting to see whether or not this was better or worse than if he had really been talking entirely to himself. Was it bad that he kinda wanted to laugh?

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

@Tomen

Oula Whitebark
cover me with salt now, show me how

The wolves in this land were strange. Very strange. Hardly a day went by that she was not surprised by how differently things were done here. She didn't know what to say when the boy said he wasn't alone, she had been satisfied with her assessment that they were the only wolves here at the moment. And most definitely nobody named with the peculiar title of 'Pru'. Oula's jaw worked as she tried to determine whether he was playing a prank on her. It wouldn't have been entirely unexpected, sort of waltzing in and taking up such a rank as she had while the boy had likely grown up here.

Her eyes followed the waggle of the boy's paw, and almost on cue, a little bird emerged from a hole in the ground. Oula's small brown ears perked up directly atop her head, green eyes widening in surprise, nearly mirroring the huge yellow orbs staring straight at her. Was that... Pru? Somewhere else, that little owl would have been eaten. But here, Tomen was seemingly speaking with it.

"You..." Oula said, staring at the dark little hole the owl had just disappeared into before slowly pulling her gaze back to Tomen, almost reluctant to look away in case the bird made another appearance. "You can talk to... it?" She asked, a little befuddled. But maybe in a way it made sense. If Veho could speak with ghosts, talking to an owl didn't seem too far outside the realm of possibilities. "What did it say just then?"

 

The paw which had been used to gesture at Prudence immediately flew to his mouth at the sight of @Oula's stunned expression, grinning as he desperately stifled a giggle. Her face! Okay, that was totally worth her thinking he was a little loopy.

The moment her head started to turn towards him, Tomen's paw jerked back onto his chest, his expression snapping to something resembling composure, breathing in a very controlled manner to suppress laughter. Her questions were very reasonable! "Um," he said, edges of his lips curling, "it's not quite as simple as that, it's more - um, I just know what - what she means? It's a tone and body language thing, uh, you kinda have to know how to read her." Did that make any sense? "She," he said a little pointedly, "just said hello, you know, it's a nice day, nice to meet you. But she's kinda in a mood and I'm not sure why? I think it might be something I said. She does take offence pretty easily these days."

Ooooooooo! came the strong, sharp retort from inside the burrow, and Tomen's restraint failed; biting back laughter, he flopped his head back onto the ground and grinned lopsidedly at Oula from upside down, feeling very comfortable with his own eccentricities.

"Do you want me to translate that, too?"

@Tomen

Oula Whitebark
cover me with salt now, show me how

Oula listened with earnest curiosity as Tomen explained just how communication between bird and wolf was possible. Any dreams of utilizing the winged creatures as scouts or messengers were crushed as it was revealed the understanding was more rudimentary than that. It was interesting none-the-less that Tomen could somehow gauge Pru's reactions even with the species gap.

Oula watched as the raptor retreated back into her burrow with what seemed like a rather disgruntled hoot. As loathe as she was to admit it, Oula still didn't quite catch the nuances that Tomen must have.

But still, Oula's rounded head tilted as she considered the little owl-den, slightly too distracted to be put off by the boy's somewhat flippant remark. Just what in the world did an owl need a den for, anyways? Didn't they live in trees?

"She..." She said, momentarily contemplating how he could tell whether the owl was in a 'mood'. She could only take his word that it was indeed a she-owl. Given Oula's own fertile state, a thought occurred to her. If harboring growing cubs could make her irritable, why couldn't it for owls as well? "Perhaps she has eggs in there?" Oula asked, her attention flicking towards Tomen. She wasn't sure she could safely stick her snout in there without losing an eye, but perhaps he would know?

Grinning casually at his leader, Tomen watched her process what he'd said, amused by her bemusement. It wasn't unusual, he was just used to it, and didn't really care about any judgements. It was harmless and made him happy, so who did it hurt? Besides, it led to entertaining encounters like this. In order to be the sort of wolf suitable for Grizzly Hollow, you had to have a kind of empathy or understanding, which was proven by the fact that Tomen had never really needed to protect the owl from attack. Not by a packmate, anyway. Even if they thought it was weird, his clear attachment had been enough for Prudence to live deep within the pack's territory in relative safety.

But then Oula said something which gave him pause. The goofy smile slipped as he processed her suggestion, eyes glazing over for a moment, and then the suggestion was serious enough that he rolled back onto his front, eyes searching for that tucked-away little den entrance. How had that thought never occurred to him, not once? It made sense, he supposed, but... he'd never even entertained the notion. "Pru?" he called, and moments later two beady black eyes appeared in the hole, staring expectantly at him - and impatiently? His mind swam wildly with the possibility as he berated himself for not figuring it out sooner. "Are you... having babies?"

She stared at him, then made a little tutting noise, wiggling her brown little shoulders, stare unending. Tomen's mouth opened and closed a few times as he failed at knowing what to say. Perhaps in a bad judgement call, he pushed himself up and began to walk towards her burrow, but she shrieked disapprovingly until he froze and stepped back, eyes wide and ears back.

Well. That was that, then. "I guess you, uh, you must be right," he muttered, looking back to Oula as Prudence vanished once more, it now his turn to look lost. His rump fell to the ground heavily, as though the surprise had caused his back legs to give up - it felt almost as though he'd just learned he was going to be an uncle, or something... but that was ridiculous. "Is that - does that normally happen? The, uh, moodiness?" Oula was a woman, she might know... and it didn't yet occur to the boy that it might not be the most tactfully-put question, nor that the typical behaviours of mothers-to-be were necessarily shared between burrowing owls and wolves.

@Tomen omg sorry for the wait!

Oula Whitebark
cover me with salt now, show me how

While it was an obvious conclusion to Oula, it seemed to be the first time Tomen had considered the possibility that his avian companion might be expecting, plain in the hesitancy that seemed to wash over his expression. Oula watched the darkened entrance of the burrow as the boy called the bird... Pru, she had to remind herself. Oula couldn't say she was entirely surprised when Pru shrilly cried, keeping her wolfish friend from coming any closer.

Oula's smallish brown ears twitched, a little caught off guard by Tomen's question but unable to help the quirk of amusement at the corners of her mouth. "Well, I can't say that I'm an expert on the subject, particularly not in regards to birds." Being pregnant herself only gave her so much insight to how things went, it was such an individual experience she was sure there was some variation here and there. The heat had been far worse for her, she had to count herself lucky that she hadn't maimed any of Pip's siblings on their unexpected visit in the month prior.

"But it's certainly not outside of the ordinary, for wolves, at least. My mother nearly tore someone's tail off for bringing her ptarmigan instead of venison," She said with an amused swish of her tail. Shed still remembered the look on the poor hunter's face as he scurried off with tail between his legs. But to be fair, her mother was terrifying enough even without the added hormones.

To Oula's great credit, she took the tactless question for the innocent one it was. If anything, she looked amused, but Tomen was too bewildered by how bizarrely significant this news felt to really notice. He was still staring at the spot where the little bird had vanished as Oula spoke, but slowly his brain caught up with matters and his gaze shifted back to his leader as she mentioned her mother.

The image was amusing, and Tomen smiled before once more his brain caught up and read a little too much into it. "Heh, I think Pru's more likely to poke an eye out," he said nervously, and if he'd been human he would have been adjusting his collar, suddenly feeling rather warm and uncomfortable. "But she doesn't like it when, uh, I get too close anyway so... I guess I'll just be more careful with that..." Now he was staring at Oula, and seeing in his mind's eye a wolf very much like her ripping off some poor soul's tail, and resisted the urge to fidget. "Um. So, if I do something wrong, um... annoy you, I uh... just let me know, I don't want to, uhhh..."

Be violently separated from any limbs, that is.