Red Fern Forest Smells like trouble

Forward dated to the 4th   Askan, you accidentally walk through a patch of skunk bush.
All welcome!

Disgusting, absolutely disgusting.

Askan scrambled along with watery eyes as he held his breath, he had to do something, anything to get this damn, horrific smell off his coat! It was like...bleh. As though  he'd rolled in a rotting skunk, that had also somehow managed to spray him from beyond the grave. Yeah, it was that bad. And you know what had gotten him in this damn mess in the first place? A plant, a bloody plant!

Nature was evil. It had to be, because if not then why oh why would it have something so disgusting, so stomach curdling disguised as the mundane? Who would suspect a bush of sensory assault?  Not Askan, that's for sure! He'd only just walked past it, how was he supposed to know that it would end up like this? He was innocent, no one could convince him otherwise.

What was he to do? He couldn't return to Reyes like this,which wasn't to say he'd ran up to him smelling of gross things before, but that was aside the point. The point was...It was just awful, he wouldn't make anyone have to deal with this shit unless he had to. This was a mess he'd have to fix himself. But how?

He'd headed further south than usual, the ferns were teaming with life and so were the perfect location for a bit of hunting. He'd passed through this area once before, when he'd visited the Bend, but other than that? This place was new to him, just as Secret Falls had been all those days ago.

Still, he couldn't wander about hoping he'd find something to fix his problem. The sooner he sorted this shit out the better, so without further ado he dropped to the floor and started rolling about like a maniac, tossing his legs this way and that as he tried to rub the scent away.

Decorum be damned, the situation was that dire.

(This post was last modified: Nov 01, 2017, 07:03 PM by Askan.)

Hawthorne was slinking behind the brown male like some sort of....sneak! Yeah, that was it.

She wondered just how far she was gonna have to keep ducking into large ferns or dodging behind baring trees. The young girl had thought up a few good excuses for following him out this way. One was that she could totally impress him with her spying skills and the other was that she could very easily pounce him - whenever he stopped moving.

It was like he read her mind. Freaky! Of course, he hadn't totally stopped moving. He was on the forest floor flailing and rolling. She peered out from behind a tree. Orange eyes were narrowed with confusion. Had she not followed Askan? He didn't really seem like the flailing type from what she knew. Maybe the falling off logs type but that was different.

The young girl crept forward slowly. "Hey!" She hollered louder than necessary. A deep breath through her nose quickly changed her mood, face crinkling with disgust at the bitterness of the smell. "Groooossss!!!" Deep down she wanted to laugh at him being so smelly but it was hard when he smelt like an old meal turned sour. "You smell awful, Askan!" The Riverflow declared as if that wasn't already obvious enough.

Her head shook back and forth as she took a few steps back. Perhaps she was being overdramatic but she was only a child and this smell was entirely new. Disgusting but new.

Hawthorne was fine. He liked the girl well enough, but when she stated that he stunk, well it was hard for him to resist the urge to say 'yeah, no shit.'

He didn't blame her for the overly dramatic response, hell he would have probably done the same. But it didn't feel so good to be on the receiving end of it. He knew he stank, he was doing his damnest to get rid of it. But apparently flailing around like a mad man wasn't working, or at the very least it wasn't getting rid of the stink fast enough.

With a huff, he rolled onto his side and his legs hit the floor with a muffled thud. This was awful. What was he supposed to do? He didn't want to be like this forever. That would be a fate worse than death surely, Askan Selwyn the skunk wolf. Ugh. He cringed and hid his face beneath his paws.

"Yeah...I know. Walked into a stinky bush."He shifted his paw a little and peeked out from behind it, a single bright yellow eye peered over at Hawth."Got any ideas how to get rid of it? Rolling didn't work, clearly."

Once she was done being a drama queen about his smell she heard him out. Well, at least he knew he smelt so bad! She would have honestly been shocked if he didn't know.

A stinky bush? Oh...what if she had walked through a stinky bush while trailing after him? Luckily the smell wasn't radiating off of her but that didn't mean she was in the clear yet. Hawthorne was going to avoid touching Askan until he was stink free again. No tag, chasing or tackling. It was all off limits now!

"Ya gotta find water." Her head turned around over her shoulder to glance around the ferns and trees. They were not in a familiar place which meant they were away from the falls. Surely this place had some kind of water source too. Maybe a puddle or small stream. "Or mud!" She suddenly chirped with energy. Mud had always caked her fur down and while it was messy she usually felt sorta clean afterward. However that possibly worked. "I used to squish my paws in it but you're gonna need more than that." A wry smile tugged on her dark masked features before she bounded off in search of something to help Askan. This time she was careful of the bushes and ferns she walked through.

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity

"Mud?" Askan asked, already grimacing at the thought. He'd never been a mucky pup, he much preferred keeping his coat neat and clean. His fur was already brown, there was no use in trying to make it any darker."That's pretty gross Hawth."

That being said he was willing to do anything to get rid of his awful stink, even if it meant following the advice of a kid.

With a hefty sigh, he pushed himself to his feet and- just managed to stop himself from shaking off his coat. Not only would he just spread the stink about but there was a strong chance he'd just waft it Hawth's way. As salty as he was for her pointing it out he wasn't that vindictive.

"Mud then water?" At least then he could smush the smell away and then wash himself clean. He didn't like to think he was fussy, but the prospect of wandering about caked in filth and slime wasn't a nice one."I think I saw a stream on the way here, maybe we can backtrack, try and find the plant again so we know to avoid it next time?"

The last thing he wanted was for the bush to become a repeat offender every time someone wandered down south to the ferns.

"You uh...Wanna lead so I'm downwind?"

She snorted and rolled her eyes at his comment about mud being gross. "Says the guy who smells like something died." Maybe that was harsh but Hawthorne was just proving a point. Mud should have been the least of his concerns!

The young girl's head nodded up and down. The mud then the water. Yeah, she supposed that could work too. "You're probably gonna need to really soak. Maybe you can find a log or rock to scrub yourself against." Her tail easily swayed behind her as she took the lead. "I dunno that I want to find the plant, though. I don't wanna wind up stinky but..." Hawthorne shrugged her shoulders as she weighed Askan's words. It was a smart choice really. "I guess we can try to find it. Only to avoid it next time!" She firmly assured.

She stayed ahead of him in order to avoid the wind wafting the stench into her nose. "What were ya doin' out here, Askan?" Her ears swiveled to catch his answer.

"Oi!"Askan scowled, giving her a reprimanding shoulder bump. Before he'd wanted to stay clear of her so she didn't get stinky as well, but if she kept this up he'd tackle Hawth and make her just as smelly as he did. That'd serve her right!"You don't have to be rude."

He'd changed his mind, he was going to lead the way now. With long strides he quickly caught up with her and once they were walking side by side he stuck out his tongue before averting his gaze ahead. If she didn't want to deal with his stink then she could leave, though honestly he didn't want her to. Childish bouts of backchat aside,she was a good girl, sort of what Percy had been like when she'd been small. Except a little less brazen and moody.

Her question was a good one though, but he wasn't going to answer it without a little sass on the side.

"Oh wouldn't you like to know, huh? You spying on me?"The gleam in his eyes were devious, like he was the cat who had eaten the canary. He let out a barking laugh, short and sharp, before he turned to answer her question."I was doing a bit of scouting, checking out old scent trails, seeing if they amounted to anything of interest."He shrugged. Clearly that was a lost cause now."What about you? Exploring?"

Hawthorne knew her place when the "Oi!" was chided. The smelly shoulder bump only a gross reminder. Her ears briefly falling against her skull, head ducking down as a quick show of apologies. Of course, the politeness didn't last long as he moved in front of her. She bounded forward to try and regain the lead. She might have been a little rude but not deserving of smelling his funk the whole walk! Hawthorne was totally going to tell on him. Maybe to Reyes or anyone else. She'd figure it out when they got back to the Falls.

Her tail whipped behind her at his mischevious question. The girl hadn't trailed him this whole way to not know what was happening! Then the question was turned on her. Hawthorne allowed a silent moment to pass so she could seem like she was thinking about her answer. "Was actually practicing." She chirped finally. "Following your trails, trying to stay sneaky." A wide grin spread across her face. "I did pretty good, huh?"

Askan couldn't help but huff in amusement as she tried to trot on ahead. She'd learnt her lesson, there was no need to be a dick about it.He wasn't her Father, or even related to her in any way, but if she needed a firm hand to keep her on the straight and narrow then Askan was happy enough to step in. She was a good kid, but even those misbehaved sometimes. It was just the way things were.

Yeah he wanted her to behave but he wasn't gonna snap her into submission either. Askan would rule, yes that was true, but he wasn't going to do so with an iron fist.

Sneaky sod. Askan shook his head and tutted, though his eyes crinkled in amusement. He honestly hadn't noticed her on the way, not until she revealed herself. So yeah, she'd done a pretty damn good job of it , there was no denying that. Not being one to hand out compliments though, Askan pursed his lips as he tried to think of a way to put it a little less... you know, complimenty.

"You did okay."He said, as he came to a stop in front of a gloriously messy patch of mud. This would do, surely? "For all you know...I knew you were there the whole time. Just played along."He smirked, coy and smug. But it was a pretence, he hadn't even noticed the shadowy pup. She was that good.

"Think this will do?"He asked, gesturing to the slosh with a paw.