Hidden Grotto Fishing for one

There were up sides and down sides to joining Midnight Plateau. He hated heights, no there was not any kind of fear. It was because he had been so clumsy as a yearling and even though he was fully in proportion he still was not that agile and disliked climbing up and down rocks all day. A forest or even a river home would have been perfect - but here in Relic Lore there was not a chance of that ever happening, not one that would accept him. He nearly did once, however that was with both Ruiko and Indru out of the picture and he would have been second with Ioni ruling the pack.

The benefits of the Midnight Plateau meant that he was closer to the waterfall, one of his favourite places. A small smile etched over his lips as he neared the bramble falls but instead of continuing down to well worn trail he peeled off into the dense woodland ticket meandering his way around the rocks from the base of the Dire Mountain. Finally he came out into an opening, glad to see that the water had flowed back into this area too he had found himself in front of the small pools of the Hidden Grotto. Wasting little time he slunk his large body into the shallows searching for small fish to snap up and attempt to catch as he went.

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<blockquote>After winding her way down the mountainside, Atiris found her way toward the waterfall where she had earlier met Vlarindara and Borden, searching for a plant to help cure a yearling. She revisited the place now, quite fond of its proximity to the mountain and because of its beauty and usefulness. Prey always lingered near a water source and the water flowing from the waterfall trailed further and further away from the mountain, easy enough to follow both to and from her new home. She had hopes to catch something to eat, perhaps something large enough to snack on and stash the rest for later, but anything would do for now.

What she did find, however, was not prey at all, but a predator like herself, knee-deep in the water, fishing. It was Weldering and for a few moments Atiris kept herself out of his line of vision, watching him. With the water so high, his black markings were not visible, safe for his face and tail, and he looked the picture of concentration. Atiris smiled wryly and, carefully picking her way down the slope toward the pool of water in which he stood, she called out: <b>"Marco!"</b></blockquote>

Fishing was the only time when Weldering seemed to use his brain before doing anything. It was because this was not a skill he acquired on his own naturally. He'd been taught to fish by an old friend as a kid. A motherly figure whom had also been a lone wolf known as Tzigane. The fact that she had been a lone wolf however was because she had been a maned wolf. But that never stopped Weldering for treating her like an adoptive mother of sorts. Every time he fished he thought back to the techniques he had learned that day. Once he found a spot he wanted to fish in, his body draped in the water up to his sides. Muzzle lowered down slightly dipped into the cool fresh pool. With patience a fish would swim close and that was when he snapped pulling a small fish up in his jowls.

He was feeling rather happy with himself. Holding the fish and admiring the small rock pools of water when a familiar voice called out. 'Marco!' A single black ear twitched as he spun around with a grin. Yet he was not entirely saw why he was grinning at her, still with the fish between his teeth. Did she just... did she forgot his name and think he was called Marco? His muzzle wrinkled up briefly for a moment before drifting closer a few steps. If she wanted to play like that then fine, he'd pretend he had forgotten her name as well. <b style="color:#0d5b8c; font-family:geogia; font-size:13px">"Lillie!" He called back, though his voice was a little muffled holding a fish. Wading to the edge of the rocks he set his catch down on dry land. <b style="color:#0d5b8c; font-family:geogia; font-size:13px">"How are you doing?"

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<blockquote>He turned around at her call and she lifted her swaying tail-end playfully, wrinkling her cinnamon nose and flicking her ears forward when she saw that he'd caught a fish. He called back with a name that hardly resembled anything Atiris had been expecting. Obviously he didn't understand the Marco-Polo game, or he was just choosing to be a prudent spoil-sport. She didn't mind terribly, and snorted in jest, ears turning back for a second. Lillie? She wasn't nearly girly enough to be a Lillie, but she didn't really care. He was acting like a fool and she liked it.

She found her way toward the pool and he seemed up for company, and while she didn't believe he really cared about her well-being, his interest in small-talk was encouraging. She plonked her thin bottom down on the ground and rolled her shoulders beneath the russet cloak of her pelt. <b>"Eh, not too bad, can't complain,"</b> She quipped. Her ears perked forward as her stomach grumbled. <b>"Bit on the peckish side though, I was just on my way down along the river to find something to nibble on when I decided that annoying you would be more fun."</b> She said. <b>"You?"</b></blockquote>

Water polo or Marco was definitely something he had never heard of. In fact that was a lot about life he was not familiar with and perhaps was not as bright as an educated pack wolf might have been. A wolf who had parents or family to bring them up and teach them. or even siblings to play and grow up with, the problem was that Weldering never really grew up. As she replied to his question the silver and black male rose from the rock pool, lifting himself up so that he now stood up on the rocks beside her. His ebony fur dipping wet as he sat down letting a paw glide forward to prod the fish. Just to test to see if it was really dead.

So in short she was hungry, looking for a nibble but found him instead. A sly grin creeping over his muzzle as he used the paw that was placed over the small fish to push it toward her instead. <b style="color:#0d5b8c; font-family:geogia; font-size:13px">"Here, nibble on this." Giving the fish for her to eat, she seemed to be more hungry then he was and Weldering knew that he could always catch more. <b style="color:#0d5b8c; font-family:geogia; font-size:13px">"Don't want you getting too hungry and nibbling on me." He murred with amusement. As for how he was doing he simply shrugged, more or less in the same fashion she did. <b style="color:#0d5b8c; font-family:geogia; font-size:13px">"I'm fine, just came here to fish and swim. It's a lot quieter then the falls."

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<i>Sorry for the wait, lovely! <3</i>

Atiris watched Weldering as he came toward her, only to bring the fish with him and set it down, nudging it toward her. As hungry as she was, she heard him out completely to make sure he was actually offering it to her, and when he did she laughed, baring her teeth playfully. "And if I would rather nibble on you?" She asked with a silky voice, leaning over to comb her teeth quickly through the silvery fur of his shoulder. "I think you might taste nice," She hummed and grinned a cheshire grin before she pulled back and, at his bidding, made short work of the fish that he had caught. It had been an offer and Atiris, while not a beggar, did not make the rejection of kind offers a habit. She needed to survive like everyone else.

When she finished she licked her lips and opened her mouth to speak but quickly clamped her mouth shut to quelch a burp. She "My compliments to the fisher," She said after, with a smile that was anything but guilty. "Swim, you said?" She asked, ears perked and she looked toward the water. She wrinkled her nose. "I bet you can't swim any better than a rock." She scoffed.

When he actually wanted to be Weldering could really come across as a charming gentleman type. He always did have a soft spot for the ladies but his entire life had been one embarrassing imbroglio after another. To say that actually he was a hopeless romanticist was a gross understatement. Yet most of the time it was just harmless flirting, just like he was doing with Atiris at the Hidden Grotto. Yet as her teeth could be felt nibbling on his length silver strands of fur he could feel his IQ dropping rapidly. He never understood what happened to his confidence when talking to those of the opposite sex. But it was not just the lack of ability to talk through flirty situations or keep his cool, there was also a sting of guilt. He could not help remembering Lore, the white wolf that even a year on since he last saw her alive he still had a soft spot in her heart for. Not to mention the fact that he had a fetish for white wolves. Atiris was lucky that she did not have an arctic pelt - otherwise she would have had Weldering stalking her.

As for the reference of whether or not he tasted nice he grinned back to her. <b style="color:#0d5b8c; font-family:geogia; font-size:13px">"I didn't know that Midnight Plateau allowed cannibals in the pack!" Of course he was only messing around, he knew she was not. As for the fish he did not mind giving his catch to someone else. He was skilled at hunting them in these small pools of water especially. He had already eaten a few himself that day so he was not as hungry as she was. Pack mates also had to look out for one another also, least that was how he saw it. Slinking away from her side Weldering begun to slip back into the cool water of the pool and moving to the slightly deeper waters. <b style="color:#0d5b8c; font-family:geogia; font-size:13px">"I might be grey but I'm no rock." He quipped back as he begun to lift his paws swimming around in a tight circle in the small pool. His blue gaze every so often looking over to see if she would join him.

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For Atiris, the chance to tease someone else was something that was always a welcome opportunity. She had pegged Weldering as the type of wolf who could handle it and he didn't seem to get too uncomfortable with her drawling sarcasm and the closeness of her muzzle to his fur. Atiris rarely tested out the proverbial waters with another wolf- she wasn't exactly inconsiderate, but she was not incredibly empathetic either. She'd felt punishment for her boldness before and she'd felt rejection too- though neither had fazed her and nor had they discouraged her from acting in a like manner in the future. For Atiris, the opportunity for imbroglio was just as good as an opportunity for fun.

She laughed and grinned at Weldering's feigned surprise and ran her tongue across her teeth. "There's a lot you don't know about me," She said and clicked her teeth together. He moved away from her then, toward the water and secretly hoped that he might look somewhat awkward or uncoordinated in the water. Instead, he looked perfectly fit and collected, and moved without making a great deal of ripples or splashes. Atiris sniffed and smirked at his comment, as he had proven his point- he could swim quite well. As though her dignity was hurt, Atiris stood, curled her tail a bit and walked away, out of sight.

Only a brief second of skittering paws over rocks and gravel would have warned Atiris who, coming toward the clear waters from a different angle, was able to pick up a good amount of speed and launch herself from a rocky precipice that hung low over the water, into the air and unceremoniously, into the pool of water not far from Weldering with an impeccably giant slash for such a small wolf.

'There's a lot you don't know about me'. She laughed out toward him, the words sent an intriguing shiver down his spine, ebony black ears lifting alertly. <b style="color:#0d5b8c; font-family:geogia; font-size:13px">"Oh? Like what?" he asked, the words rolling easily from his tongue as he eyed her up. he was pondering if there really was anything mysterious about her - or whether it was all just a game. As he swam around in tight circles in the pool she then decided to walk away.

At first Weldering believed it was something that he had said. Had asking her to say what else she was like after her nibbles somehow insulted her perhaps? The large male spotted his idle circles and slowly he found himself standing in the shallows looking out into the woodlands. He was just about to waltz after her to check to see if Atiris was ok when a familiar face charged toward him leaping into the pool beside him and sending a giant wave of water over his back and head soaking his once dry upper body. Weldering chuckled, his fore quarters lowering to allow his hing to raise playfully. His sopping wet tail lashing from side to side as he he stamped one of his forepaws trying to splash her back. <b style="color:#0d5b8c; font-family:geogia; font-size:13px">"Looks like you're the one that swims like a rock!"

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Atiris felt the water hit her paws and stomach like a slap and she sank below the water for a moment, enjoying the sensation of sinking downward slowly like a ship full of water before she used a few strokes to bring herself back to the surface. She blew air out through her nostrils and sucked in a breath of clean, fresh air, shuddering as the shock of cold water finally passed and left her grinning like a fool as she paddled through the water. Atiris enjoyed swimming and like Weldering, she could swim quite decently, though only if she took her time. Otherwise, she swam quite quickly.

She snorted at his comment. "I don't swim like a rock." She said, whirling in a circle to indicate that she was perfectly buoyant when she wanted to be. "I just like to make a big splash," She grinned, and flicked a paw out of the water hoping to splash some water back at him.