Fool's Gold Chasm there's something there

Random Event: Woya, there are signs of a bobcat having been here recently; they might still be around.
All welcome! Woya is howling to @Adelard, @Saga, @Rhaegara and @Riven. Probably need 2 more adults at least to make this safe, Woya isn't very formidable.

Woya spat out dirt and scuffed at the ground angrily. She'd followed some vague but strange paw prints to a mess of day-old scat with a familiar scent. One she particularly hated. Fuckin' cats. Could be worse than a bobtail, but it wouldn't make a difference to the pups. Despite growing like weeds, they were still no match for a rival predator.

She tilted back her head and sent up a howl, strong and direct, intended for the pack's adults.

Bobtail. Let's kill it.

Woya knew better than to attempt this by herself, but she would be surprised if their substitute alpha at least didn't come give her a paw.

I’m Done Putting Out The Fires You Start

The girls had been getting up to their usual antics that day, hide and seek, tag, keep the gold rock away. Really anything that they could think of that would beat the boredom, and also keep them out of trouble. That last bit may have not been Enera’s choice, but it was certainly Marrah’s. She was growing to be very mild mannered to put it nicely, an absolute coward was probably more realistic.

But, when Woya had called, Marrah had been more than happy to follow her sister-friends lead and go towards it. While it had sounded urgent and had been intended for the adults, Marrah couldn’t resist the urge to spend some time with her favourite Aunt. It was the best of both worlds, Enera got some excitement, and Marrah got to see one of her favourite bigs.

Her sister-friend was faster than the dark girl, who was only getting plumper as they aged, a little too much indulgence, and a little too little running and roughhousing. Marrah huffed and puffed as she did her best to keep up, but by the time they reached Auntie Woya she had a serious stitch in her side and could only throw herself down in the dirt to try and catch her breath. She had wanted to ask what the call was for, but couldn’t manage to get the words out around the panting.

When The Cranberry Vodkas Hit A Little Too Hard

Enera had been doing her favorite thing when Woya called: playing with Marrah. Sometimes Marrah didn't want to do what Enera thought sounded fun, but that was okay. Enera would lead the way, but only so far as Marrah - or Aweho, when they were together - was willing to follow.

At the sound of the adult's call, Enera was up and running, urging Marrah to follow her. Woya sounded urgent, and Enera was still a <I>little</I> scared of her, but that's why she wanted to help her so much! So off she went, following the call and only curbing her pace enough for Marrah to stay within sight.

It didn't take long to reach Woya, and as Marrah flopped up next to her, Enera planted her butt and looked proudly up at the adult. <b>"What is it?"</b>

Adelard was heading to the heart of the pack territory when Woya's call reached him.

Bobtail. Let's kill it.

Short and simple. Efficient. Typical.

Where the Gerau clan had come from, bobcats were a rare sight but formidable foes. In all the years the pack had been in the Copse, there had only been one bobcat in the area. Its trespassing was the reason his grandmother had a scar along the bridge of her muzzle.

Adelard reoriented himself, heading out towards Woya's voice had come from. His eyes immediately fell upon the two girls before finding the silver-coated sentry. While his immediate reaction was to scowl, he said nothing. Perhaps it was about time the cubs had some real-world experience. At 5 months old and nearly grown, they were more than capable enough to handle themselves.

A low rumble sounded from his throat in greeting.

         

ADELARD

heat stroke, bring the fire black smoke, I take it higher

Woya remained alert as she circled the vicinity, checking for further evidence while waiting for back up to arrive. A soft whomp behind her announced Marrah's entrance, preceded by a more willowy Enera who was already seated by the time Woya turned to face the girls. It was one of those moments when the children's presence did not bring her joy. As such, she regarded them with a relatively flat affect.

"Nothin' for you two to get mixed up in," she answered the green-eyed pup, a clear dismissal in her own eyes.

Another adult, thankfully, wasn't far behind. Woya greeted her superior with a similarly-toned growl, the fur beginning to lift along her nape. She was ready to tear into this damned thing.

"You know where Saga and the boys are?" she asked Adelard.

(This post was last modified: Nov 07, 2021, 03:48 AM by Woya.)

I’m Done Putting Out The Fires You Start

The plump girl was finally catching her breath when Adelard showed up and glanced a scowl their way. Marrah straightened herself up into a sitting position under his stoic gaze, though her ears folded back unhappily. It made her feel like she had made a mistake by coming to Auntie Woya’s call, and she looked to her sister-friend for direction on what to do. She had not spoken with the leader much, he was usually busy doing ‘big’ wolf things, and when she did see him he almost always had a serious expression and she didn’t want to get in his way.

Which it seemed like she was not doing a very good job of doing right now.

Pressing against Enera after her aunt spoke she whispered in her ear, ”Maybe we should go….they don’t want us here….” That was a sure sign that whatever was to come would probably be scary. Her tail waived slightly behind her, an attempt to appease her sister-friend to listen to her and they could go disappear and be out of the way. She looked to Auntie Woya and Adelard apologetically, she should have known better than to answer a call that was for the adults.

When The Cranberry Vodkas Hit A Little Too Hard

Enera had been pleased to arrive with Marrah before any of the other adults arrived, but when Woya and Adelard saw them they seemed unhappy. Like her sister-friend, Enera was taken aback and her ears flicked uncertainly. After the encounter with the bees all that time ago, Enera hadn't been as afraid of Woya as she had been as a little pup, but the woman still intimidated her. With her dismissal, Enera very nearly got up and left. Marrah's urging in her ear didn't help, but Enera decided to stand firm.

"Can we watch if we stay outta the way?" she asked, backing away from the adults and nudging Marrah along with her to demonstrate that she wouldn't get involved, just wanted to see what was going on.

Adelard found his greeting returned in kind. He swore he could feel her fury rolling off her in waves. It set him into sentry mode.

"You know where Saga and the boys are?"

There was something of a shrug that moved his shoulders. Then, with a jab of his nose at the air to the right, he gestured that they were 'back there somewhere, safe and sound.' His golden eyes focused on Marrah first as she whispered to her agemate. One brow rose, half in disappointment, half in question. She should have known better by now than to answer a call meant for the adults.

But, then there was Enera:

"Can we watch if we stay outta the way?"

Rhaegara's cub had already had her first tastes of adventure if this was what this hunt could be called. Adelard gave her a stern glance with a flash of teeth - a well-intentioned warning - before turning his full gaze to Woya. She had honed in on their target and, assumingly, had a better handle on the situation. This was her call.

As for the cubs, however, the Leader very much preferred for the girls to keep their distance.

         

ADELARD

heat stroke, bring the fire black smoke, I take it higher

Woya couldn't blame Enera for being hopeful. She'd been the same at her age - in fact, she'd been a lot more like the spare pup than she'd likely ever admit. They were getting so big and indepedent, and they likely didn't even know what a feline was. She supposed she had a few seconds to explain.

"No," she answered, her tone unchanging.

"We got a bobcat around, and it'll kill ya without a second thought."

The girls had zero experience in anything outside of play wrestling (and one attempted murder...), as far as Woya was aware - there was no way they'd know what to do when a hissing ball of muscled fury latched onto them.

"Y'wanna help, go tell yer moms," her brown gaze shifted to Marrah, "then go find your brothers. Not the other way around, got it?"

Last thing they needed was the kids finding the oversized vermin first by trying to be heroic, especially when the mild-mannered boys were likely, as Adelard had gestured, just fine.

(This post was last modified: Jan 01, 2022, 11:04 PM by Scully.)

Consider this Marrah's exit. Also note to @Saga that she would have gone to find her.

I’m Done Putting Out The Fires You Start

Marrah shrunk unhappily when Enera declared we’ll stay out of the way. Yeah, she wanted to stay, all the way out of the way, unheard from and unseen all the way out of the way. Maybe even taking a nap out of the way. The plump girl shuffled backwards after her sister, but her eyes remained on her Aunt, pleading apologies even though she said nothing to dissuade Enera.

Adelard said nothing, and Auntie Woya’s tone was the final straw for Marrah, who let out a little sniffle unhappily, holding back tears. She didn’t like defying the bigs, but she also didn’t like Enera thinking she was a scardey-cat-baby. In the end, not wanting to defy the adults won out and she turned away just as the tears started to fall, ”Enera, let’s go!” Then took off back through the territory, not waiting to see if her sister followed her. She was going back to get her mom, and then her brothers, exactly as she was told.

When The Cranberry Vodkas Hit A Little Too Hard