Stonewatch Timbers You're With Stupid

Dragons were sneaky and fast and strong, and he still didn't have a clue about what they were or how they looked but he was okay with that for some reason. He could just imagine a weird creature made up of all the best parts of an animal. Like the quick and nimble paws of a rabbit, the slithering form of a snake, and somehow a muskox and bear would fit into that description because those animals were plenty strong. It made for a disturbing and confusing mental image and he bet it would be a really hard animal to slay.

But Tumblebelly did and that made the boy even more cool in Cottongrass' mind. Even if the other boy somehow didn't know what the qalupalik was. It sounded like one big, made-up story that wolves told for fun. But he supposed it was only fair because he didn't know dragons were a thing until just now. And besides, it just meant he could be the sort-of-smart-one for a change!

"She's a wolf who lives under the ice, and she takes puppies who wander away from their families." He explained, tail wagging and body wiggling away in the snow. And while he said what could be considered the worst part of the qalupalik myth, he hesitated at what he was about to say next. "I heard the humming once, you know. The humming that means she's nearby." He said, gaze intense on the other boy's face. It was something he considered a secret. Especially because of what happened before and after his almost encounter with the monstrous she-wolf.

(This post was last modified: Feb 04, 2017, 05:41 AM by Cottongrass.)

His skin crawled at the description that @Cottongrass gave him. He pressed a paw on Cotton's face, "Shh," he whispered (but loudly, so it probably didn't count as a whisper). Tumble's ears swiveled around, trying to see if there was a quatlatip-whatever around. Priding himself in good hearing, the rusty colored boy gave a firm nod when he'd deemed them both safe. Not that they were puppies, or that they had families to wander away from. Or at least he didn't. But anything living under the ice was bad news. Who was to say what she did with wolves that she pulled away from them... Tumble imagined she probably ate them. It seemed like the type of thing that a wolf that lived under the ice would do. "Well, I don't hear anything, so I think we're pretty safe."

Finally getting off of his new Best Friend, he shook the skin-crawly feeling off and decided to finally figure out where he was. "Where are we, anyways? I was following the river, but I don't really know a lot about the place. Except that it's a lot colder than it is where I come from," he sort of missed the warmness of the Misty Isle. But you could only splash around in the same puddle so many times before you just got bored doing it. Plus, he was having fun. Not including the nearly dying bit (he still wasn't completely certain you could freeze to death).

ty, friend, for being so patient

"Shh." Said Tumblebelly loudly, and before Cottongrass could even blink, there was a paw being shoved in his face. He blinked up at the other boy in confusion, yellow eyes curious as he watched Tumblebelly twist and turn. And while he wanted to ask the now silent boy more questions and nibble at their paw—it was right there!—he did as told. Which was to shh. He fell silent and still, holding his breath with his head cocked and ears perked forward.

And—oh. The qalupalik, Tumblebelly had been listening for the qalupalik even though he didn't need to do that. Cottongrass was pretty sure they were safe from being stolen away, even if the monstrous she-wolf had been around. He had grown up being told that she only took bad puppies, the kind that didn't listen to their parents and wandered away and got lost on the ice for their trouble. None of that applied to either of them! (Well, it might've applied to Cotton a little, but Tumblebelly's meritoriousness would keep them safe.) "It was a long time ago." He explained as he smiled up at his friend, tail swishing away in the snow.

Finally he rolled onto his paws and shook the snow out of his coat. His stint as being Tumblebelly's chair was over and he sort of wished it wasn't. Sort of. One of his ears twitched when the other boy started speaking, and he was thankful for the distraction. Even if his brain immediately drew up nothing but blanks. "Uh..." He started off, trying to think of anything remotely helpful.

"Round Stone Crest?" That's what Lorcan called it. But Cottongrass had given the healer a vague description and in return, he had gotten an equally vague respone and a general direction. He squinted the more he thought about it. Where were they? The only thing he really knew was that it was rocky, there were a lot of slopes he seemed to always fall down on, and it was the last place he had seen his traveling buddies. He looked back to Tumblebelly with a frown forming on his features.

"Or maybe a part of it is Round Stone Crest? I uh, I dunno..."

(This post was last modified: Apr 01, 2017, 05:20 PM by Cottongrass.)