Shallows Edge Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous

RE: Shallows Edge, the aftermath of salmon spawning has drawn hungry bears to your local water source.
@Reyes @Remington @Phoenix @Hawthorne @Sachiel

It was always something, wasn't it?

Askan had only just made his way through the trees when he spotted them, a handful of black bears all standing around the river that led to the Shallows. For a moment he didn't believe his eyes, thought that he was still half-asleep. He blinked once, then twice and yep, they were still there, real as anything.

The smell of blood was thick in the air and his hackles rose along the line of his back. Black bears were pretty timid by nature, but a bunch of them in his home was no laughing matter.

What the hell were they even doing here? Askan squinted as he watched them from a safe distance, they were yanking wriggling salmon from the river. Which...explained a lot actually. A feast like this was no doubt worth risking the wrath of a pack of wolves, especially with winter nipping at their heels. Shouldn't they be hibernating now anyway? And wasn't it a bit late for salmon to be...doing whatever salmon did?

Whatever. The whys and hows were irrelevant, Askan wanted them out of his land and he wanted them gone now. Tilting his head skyward, he let out a long, bellowing call. There weren't many of them, but he was sure they could handle a few cowardly bears.

(This post was last modified: Dec 17, 2017, 03:55 PM by Reyes.)

Sachiel had heard about bears before but never, in his short life, had he ever encountered one before. He'd been told to steer clear of the dopey creatures, as they wouldn’t bother him as long as he didn’t bother them. Supposedly. He’d seen their scat before and committed the scent to memory in the STAY AWAY FROM… category in his mind. He’d stumbled upon some in the Shallows recently but hadn’t thought anything of it. Just one of them passing through, minding their own, most likely. Truthfully, he had forgotten about it. Until Askan’s call rang through the trees, beckoning the small group forward.

The dynamic duo was quick to abandon their patrol, their gangly legs maneuvering through the dense forest as quickly as possible. It was in that moment that the boy recalled the bear poop he had encountered the other day. Oh no, oh no— He pedalled faster, determination fuelling his awkward limbs.

Skidding to a halt the boy padded, hesitantly, toward his yellow-eyed leader. His mismatched gaze swept the river before them, a lump forming in the back of his throat. So these were bears. Overgrown wolves with shorter, fatter snouts and massive paws. Paws that screamed trouble if a wolf met the wrong side of them. The corners of his mouth fell into a concerned frown, his gaze returning to his large leader. What do we do? His expression read, his tongue slack between his jowls as he heard Pumpkin Eyes saunter up behind him. The tip of his tail burned as he recalled the feline he had stumbled upon in the south. These things were much bigger than a cat...

@Hawthorne PP ok'd by Becca <3

(This post was last modified: Dec 13, 2017, 11:06 PM by Sachiel.)

ridge is a mature character

aka he curses a lot due to his frustation with his memory loss

x

ridge associates colours with moods/feelings & uses them to describe others

Hawthorne wasn't back to herself yet but the almost constant company of Plant Boy soothed her mind. She was even busying herself with a patrol with him. That was until the call went up from Askan. The Edge wolf was hot on her companion's trail. It never took the duo very long to get somewhere.

She pushed her heels into the ground to keep from running into Plant Boy's halted rear. Her nose twitched at the heavy musk of the bears and tinge of blood. Hawthorne less than gracefully pushed her way to the front past her friends. They were munching away on fish, something she didn't think were still hanging around, and seemed to not have a care in the world. The creatures kinda looked like smooshed wolves and Hawthorne had to fight back a smirk.

"I can get 'em." She said with determination, crouching as orange eyes set contently on the fat creatures. There were too many to take on by herself but she was no doubt lacking self-preservation skills.

anyone is welcome to physically/verbally stop hawth from bein' a dumb and launching herself at bears :P

And then you get up and get up and get up again

Remi had unfortunately been napping lazily in the sun when Askan's voice reached her. Jerking up with a snort, a good shake, she swayed into a run. Eventually, blinking herself awake with the chill of the air. Something was up, and she wasn't eager to see what.

The river is where she found herself. Eyes widened, and jaw dropped. BEARS?! She was awake now. Who did they have to help? The youngest. Argh. She was gonna hurt today.

Then Hawthorne had to open her mouth.

"Whoaaaaa." Remi shot out in front of her, worry evident in her gaze. Which quickly shifted to Askan, yeah what were they gonna do? Bark, and snap at them and hope they leave? Even though the bears weren't the ones outnumbered.

(This post was last modified: Jan 30, 2018, 09:32 PM by Remington. Edit Reason: typo )

Dios mio, thank fuck Remington was here. Hawthorne had promised she wouldn’t be a pain in his ass – apparently she didn’t think dumb, awful choices fell in that category. Whatever. The older leader circled up against his group, noting the absence of Pheonix and Cottongrass both – but they’d deal with that later. When there weren’t bears. Bears.

Cussing under his breath, the wolf drew to a halt, tail arched up high over his haunches as he glanced at his small group. A fight wasn’t going to help. They just had to sound big, and maybe the bears would leave – almost time for them to sleep, wasn’t it? It wasn’t worth them risking getting hurt, hopefully.

“We gotta be loud. Loud as possible. Make ‘em think there are way more of us than there are.” He turned his pale eyes to Hawth specifically then. “And no runnin’ at ‘em. We stick together, like a big wolf swarm, unless they makes us do something different. Comprende?”

@Phoenix gave us permission to skip to keep it moving <3
Feel free to PP the bears if you feel like it.

Askan snapped his jaws when Hawthorne offered to handle the bears. If Remington hadn't stopped her then he would've. Wouldn't have been gentle about it either, running at bears was stupid she had to learn that sooner rather than later. That sort of cocky attitude had gotten Askan into all sorts of shitty situations when he was young-and to an extent it still did- so he was being somewhat hypocritical, but whatever.

Askan had rumbled with bears before but not so many, he liked to think of himself as a bit of an expert. Reyes was right, it was all about spooking them into submission. Even with their small numbers they could-probably- do it, they just had to make a massive racket and move as one. Moving to Reyes' side, Askan brushed along his flank as he stepped forward to lead the charge, so to speak.

"Get too close and I'll kick your arse if the bears don't." Askan warned, shooting Hawth another scowl. They didn't have any healers in their ranks, and whilst Lachesis wasn't too far away the Edge Lord didn't want anyone to take any unnecessary risks.

With that said, Askan eyed his subordinates once more. If this went badly then all they had worked for had been for nothing, all that time wasted, and for what? Askan gritted his teeth as he took a heavy step forward, a snarl ripping from his throat. He was loud enough on his own, but together their growls could drown out a storm. He inched closer, emerging from the treeline with his tail held high and rigid as he snapped at the air.

Shallow water has trapped several fish in a small pond. Hunt Opportunity

I can get ‘em. His brows shot up in alarm as he stepped forward, his vision filled with crimson and black. No! Bad idea! Very, very bad idea! Luckily Remington had moved quicker than the tawny boy, tossing her dark body in front of the greyscale girl in an attempt to stop her from launching herself at the collection of bears in front of them. Sachiel would have likely chased after her if she had managed to slip past the yellow-eyed subordinate, for he would not allow his friend to face off the bears on her own. Even if it meant becoming bear food.

His ears twitched as he turned toward Reyes, his brows pinching tight as he listened to the dark Edge Lord’s instructions. Be loud. Huh. He’d thought it be more difficult than that. But there were not many of the Edge wolves—the bears would have the upper paw if the small pack decided to charge. Being loud and tricking them into believing there was more of them was definitely a better option. He nodded to show that he understood, his mismatched gaze falling upon the feeding bears once more. If they kept eating all the fish there wouldn’t be any for the Edge wolves! His body wiggled in determination as he mirrored Askan’s growl the best he could, for his voice was still struggling to adapt to his growing body. But he didn’t care. They needed to scare away the bears—he’d worry about his changing voice later.

ridge is a mature character

aka he curses a lot due to his frustation with his memory loss

x

ridge associates colours with moods/feelings & uses them to describe others

Good. Good. Everyone seemed to be listening.

Because Askan was right (even if Reyes hadn't developed the ability to read minds just yet), there were no healers residing within the Edge territory. If the bears actually tried to fight with them, he had no doubt the small pack would end up on the losing side. His co-leader and Sachiel had started to bark, ranging in tone and size. He wasn't sure if the young boy had done that in purpose, but it was actually a pretty good idea. The variation would make it sound like different individuals, and as long as they all stayed clumped together, it would be difficult for the bears to make out just how many wolves there were.

The echo was working in their favor, too.

"Good job, kid," he told Sach. "Keep it up."

And then he lifted his chin, adding his own deep, rasping bark to the symphony - altered it sometimes, added a howl here and there. Anything he could do to make it ring and bounce. From the corner of his eye, he could see the bears had stopped fishing now, were watching the group. Sizing them up. Good. Don't stop, he willed the others, adding a particularly aggressive note to his song. They were almost there!

@Hawthorne @Remington
;tldr -- bears are moving and paying attention now.

She didn't need anyone else hollering at her or blocking her way. She got it. The girl simply huffed at Askan's sharp words. She knew that it was true so she'd behave. In her eyes, she was only trying to help when no one had seemed to know what to do.

When everyone else began to bark, she followed their ways. Hawthorne couldn't reach the similar deep tones of her superiors but she did her best to sound strong and intimidating with the occasional high pitched sound to really drive the point home. She stuck near Sachiel in order to mix her tones with his. Together they could maybe sound like a bigger wolf or even maybe two wolves! Hawthorne hoped he'd catch onto her idea. It wasn't like she could really stop and have a chat with him.