Jasper Rocks [s] rent free

Overcast Clouds —  32 ° F, 0 ° C @Incus

She took a deep breath.

Arcus had waited a long time to come back. While nothing looked familiar just yet, she was sure that would come. Why, she was only a cub when her parents fled the coyotes, feeling unsafe even in a large pack like Charred Ash Draw. They didn't care about how she protested, and honestly Arcus had come to terms with the fact that her parents had their reasons.

They just weren't good enough reasons.

And now that Arcus was grown into a tall, lean woman she had reasons of her own and she could actually act on them. It was exciting. Did she miss them? Dearly. Not being able to talk to her mother was tough. Unbidden, the girl felt the urge to say "hey ma—" at every bird on a branch, thorn in her paw, or squirrel looking for acorns, before she realized that her short, amicable mother was not there. Had Arcus been a human teenager, there would be a thousand texts shared between them. Now there could only be late night, asynchronous howls that would not reach their other half. Arcus knew she was being a bit dramatic, but it could hardly be helped.

Coming to a little rock-laden creek, she stooped down to see if there was any liquid water.  Though it was an unseasonably warm day even in late winter, and while she was hoping the ice on the water might have melted entirely it was still coated and frozen. With a little harumpf! the girl bounced down onto the pooled surface with her forepaws, making a satisfying crunch. There was only a little water though. "Ugh."

(This post was last modified: Mar 06, 2021, 08:50 PM by Arcus. Edit Reason: swear words )

The amount of times she’d wondered why she’d let her sister convince her to tag along was becoming innumerable. Instead of being out in the cold, well it was rather warm compared to how the temperature had been, she could have been snuggled up against the furnace that was her father’s side. While Arcus was a Mama’s girl, Incus was Daddy’s girl through and through. She loved romping around with him and going on strolls in comfortable silence, hearing him tell stories about her grandmother or stories about how he and her mother had met. She knew aaaalll about it, which had really been part of the reason she’d agreed to go. Incus had wanted to see where they’d grown up and her older sister had been born, but she hadn’t known it would be so boring.

The silver girl watched with disinterest eyes as her sibling hopped onto the ice laying over the frozen creek. “You’re gonna get wet and cold, then you’re gonna be annoyed,” she said matter-of-fact, her brows raising in challenge to her statement. Arcus always managed to get herself into trouble, one way or another.

The little rivulets of water still streaming under thin, shattered panes of ice trickled through her toes—which sounded way cuter than it actually felt. Cold was all it felt like, so impossibly cold that it actually felt like it was... after several seconds the thought finally rang through her head: burning her?! Immediately she ripped her paws from the water. How awful! How annoying!

And there was Inky Stinky, right behind her and trying to be a know-it-all again. Exhaling sharply, noting with some distaste that the air was warm enough that she could not see her own breath and her sister would not get the full dragon effect of her ire. Turning around, Arcus put on the fakest looking grin that she had managed to date. So much travel and still she had not mastered the look. "If you're going to be a little twerp, like I said, you can turn your ass around," she demonstrated this by twirling one of her wet paws in the air, flinging little ice-droplets at Incus, "And go have absolutely no fun back at home."

Going back to the water she leaned in for a nice, so-there drink. The water was so cold she thought she could feel her eyes freeze and her whole brain melt. "The only annoying thing here is you.". But this was incorrect. All three things were annoying, Arcus being one of them.

(This post was last modified: Mar 03, 2021, 04:56 AM by Azra.)

A young fawn has gotten separated from its herd. Hunt Opportunity, +8 Health

The young Leigh could see it the moment her words became truth when Arcus sprung back from the frozen surface, her paw held up to her chest and her posture tensed in definite displeasure. She knew her sibling, after all. The eldest sahino child was an open book when it came to her emotions, never having mastered the art of the poker face quite like their father. Another way that she was similar to their mother, Incus supposed. The yearling wondered absently how their parents and other siblings were fairing with their absence as Arcus turned, her face warped into what she supposed should have been a grin, but really just made her look like she needed to poop.

Her silvery paw rose to her chest and she emoted her face into mock shock when the other told her to go home. ”Language Archie. Mama would keel right over if she heard you talking like that,” she chided, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “And sorry to break it to you for the millionth time, but my ass isn’t turning around anywhere. If you wanted to get rid of me so badly, you shoulda dropped me off that ravine a couple days ago,” she said with a snicker, remembering their trek across the treacherous slopes, her sister’s clumsy paws and her empty threats when Incus simply couldn’t miss the opportunity to give her a jibe.

Arcus made a noise somewhere between a groan and a scoff at Inky Stinky's insistence on language. Her tongue was definitely a vice, and Arcus' sister had loved to seize every opportunity to remind her of their mother's disapproval during their travels. This was frustrating because she knew that Incus didn't really care. Back home Incus—and all the siblings—loved to see each other at the tail end of their parents stern glares and gentle reminders. Arcus was realizing that when she had imagined this grand sisterly journey with no parentsshe had forgotten they were each toting with them imaginary copies of Mom and Dad's authority to keep each other in check. Dad would NOT like that or, When we get home I willbe telling mom, were some of the most powerful threats they had.

Yet there was no mom or dad in for miles.

The Ravine. Arcus grumbled: she should have left her back there. It would have been easy for Incus to turn around and go home at that point. Now they had travelled too far and the way back was... hazy. Too many left turns and rights, too many twisting rivers to cross. "Well like.. can you just be cool? You're my baby sister you don't have to be such a killjoy all the time. We can have fun here. And we're going to."

Arcus had a number of ideas—good and bad—on how to accomplish this.

(This post was last modified: Mar 03, 2021, 06:11 PM by Arcus.)

A pleased expression slid onto Incus’ face when her sister groan-scoffed at her comment about their mother. Just because she was a daddy’s girl didn’t mean she didn’t love her mom. Sahalie was cool, like a retro-mom who tried to ‘get on their level’ even though it just made her cringe sometimes. Still, she tried really hard and listened to their problems and gave good advice. She was dedicated to them and to their dad and even though their parents fought a lot, she could tell they loved each other more than anything else in the world. Arcus, Incus, Jasper, Juniper, Oak and Aspen had all grown up not wanting for anything. They’d all curl up together at night and listen to stories and laugh and make jabs at each other, and even though they didn’t always see eye to eye they all loved each other with the same passion. They were all each other had, after all.

“I know you are but what am I,” she retorted, screwing up her eyes and sticking out her tongue in an amusing fashion. But, she knew she’d probably gone far enough with teasing her sister and before long she’d end up in a headlock, so she decided to back off. “Fine, I’ll, like, take a chill pill or whatever. But can we, like, find some food? I’m totally starving,” she said with a dramatic sigh. Another thing she missed about being back at Autumn Ridge: dad hunting for her.

"I know you are but what am I."

Still facing the water, Arcus' eyes bulged. She felt another groan about to slide out of her but she swallowed it. Almost mechanically, the dark girl turned around, face stony to find her sister making some ridiculous face: tongue sticking out, eyes squinty like she was a cub of only a week. Immediately, Archie's expression softened and she allowed herself a chuckle. Incus knew how to bring out the best and the worst from her sister. She burrowed into her coat like an incessant little flea, only to turn up the charm and goofiness when Arcus had reached her limit. Already, Inky stinky was agreeing to take a chill pill—whatever that meant. So she let the flea ride along with her and tried to make the best of it.

Being the eldest of several, Arcus had previously shouldered a lot of responsibility for supplying the family with ample food. They were lucky to live on a particularly plentiful land but chasing every pheasant, rabbit, or deer down was absolutely exhausting and it had resulted in some amount of bitterness and back-talk. Incus, Jasper, and Juniper were helping now, sure, but they were not all as seasoned as Arcus—at least, that's how she saw it. So to hear that the next thing out of her little sister's mouth was food Arcus felt her blood pressure beginning to spike.

However, Archie couldn't deny that she, too, was pretty hungry. And there was the scent of deer on the breeze. Perhaps, they would be able to work together—this thought occurred to her with some misgivings—and score themselves some breakfast. "Alright,", she was already turning towards the direction the breeze had indicated, "Let's see why you're daddy's favorite, then."

Then she trotted off.