chance discovery

For @Nineve!

Tucked among the tangled roots of an ancient willow tree, Iseldir had found a rock. A very special rock! The boy's paws were red with dust from digging it loose, but he had taken care to clean the stone by rolling it in the grass after he had pried it free at last.  It was vaguely round and irregularly smooth, reddish chocolate in color. As he had admired his discovery by the light of the sun, he'd seen that there was a faint cloud-like, blueish white band running through it, which let the light pass through the stone. He'd never seen anything like it! Or maybe he had, but not any rocks, at least.

He held his prize carefully in his jaws as he marched back home toward the den. The boy's tail wagged with excitement, and he was grinning, not knowing exactly what he had found but knowing that it was something quite special.

As he entered the area near the den, he looked about to see if anyone had taken notice, before secreting the stone away into under a small pile of dried leaves. His task done, he turned and sat on his haunches next to it, giving a very casual yawn before barking softly. His tail continued to thump against the earth beside him. Izzy was wondering where his sister, Eve, was at the moment.

The newest generation of Archers had already grown much in their three months of life. Iseldir and Nineve taking more specifically to their father before them. They both held the rich brown fur, hers lighter then her brother. Their puppy blue eyes only growing lighter, Eve's to that of the clear skies and her brother to newborn grasses of early spring. It would not be long before the children would prowl the Archer claim as many had years and years prior to their existence.

This day, Eve was returning towards the rocky formation which thry called their communal den. She had returned from the gentle flowing creek to the south for a drink, although filled with much disappointment when she realized the waters had yet to return to it, even after the rain. Was finding water always this difficult? Licking a dried mouth, she peers into the hollow at the little bark of one of her brothers within.

"Wot?" She huffed.

Iz looked up at Eve as she peeked into his hiding spot, beaming at her. She looked disappointed as she appeared, and his heart sank just a little, his tail wagging back and forth uncertainly. What was the matter, he wondered? Perhaps, he thought, he could cheer her up a little bit.

At her question his grin returned, and he beckoned her into the hollow with a nod of his head. Come and see, he seems to say as he bends to push the stone with his nose into the beam of light streaming past Nineve from the opening. The umber-and-sky stone lay there glinting faintly in the dim light, and the boy turned back to his sister, seating himself behind it and glancing from one to the other. It really did match her coloring remarkably.

Her brother's grin and excitement was met with perked chocolate ears and eagerly did Eve come to her brother to see what all the fuss was about. He was willing to show his prize to her, without fear she might steal it away like she had done the white squirrel. She wouldn't. After all, he had found this first.

"Izzy, how pretty!" She spoke as she looked over the pretty rock, moving it with her paw to see the rays of light sparkling through its pale center. "Where ya find it?" She would wonder. Maybe there was more!

Drawing back as she bent to look at the prize, Izzy waited so his sister could properly inspect the stone, too. Her exclamation brought his grin back full force, the boy was proud that she thought it was pretty, too. "For..."He started and then stopped, even as she wondered aloud about where he had found it.

Gesturing with a nod away toward the woods, Iz turned back to Eve. He was happy enough to share his excavation site too, but first he wanted to be sure that she understood him. "For... you."

He grinned again, this time there was a slyness to his features as he dipped into a play bow. If she wanted to go look for more at his secret dig site, she'd need to keep up, and be ready to get her paws dirty! His tail waved over his back excitedly.

He spoke slowly and Eve impatiently waited to know what he was saying. They were both young so their words were limited but Eve could only assume she was learning faster because she was smarter then her brothers. By the way she saw her mother, females apparently were just all smarter then the boys.

"For me?" To be gifted by her brother pleased her, this much was obvious by the shaking of her tail and rump. However, she would not take something so pretty as this rock without first trying to find something in return for her sweet brother.

"Izzy, tank you!" She noses and playfully nips at her brother's scuff. "Let's keep it secret." She spoke, taking it and shuffling it away within the dirt. She didn't want Daegal trying to steal it from her, not like he had the white squirrel!

"I'm ready!" She would then yell out with excitement, ready to spring into action the moment Iseldir did.

His sister moved quickly, always. Izzy was only glad that she did pause and listen, and that he managed to get the words out. It was important that Nineve understood, and now his tail wagged in satisfaction.

"Ya!" he nodded exuberantly, duly pleased by her obvious happiness. At her thanks he ducked his head for a moment, a brief and slightly bashful <i>you're welcome</i> before her playful nips and suggestion return his excitement and present-mindedness. Before leaving, the boy paused to scatter a few dead leaves over the disturbed dirt, adding to the scene. His joy was not so much at having a secret from Dae, though he did not exactly mind that either, but more at having something to share between himself and Nin. To share a secret, it made this all the more special. Like the leaf game he had played with his brother, now he shared something with his sister too. All the more, she seemed appreciative of the gift.

Tail wagging with fervent excitement, Izzy answered Nineve's yell with a ringing bark, bounding out of the den and leaving a tag on her ear as he went. Excitement was, after all, very contagious. Catch me if you can, then! The Archer youth was ready to race away into the woods, leading his sister on a merry chase back to the tangle of exposed roots and rocks he'd been digging at earlier.

(This post was last modified: Sep 17, 2022, 10:41 PM by Iseldir.)

A playful growl rumbled from Eve's throat as her brother 'tagged' her ear and went dashing off through the forest of their home. The Drooping Willows was a quite open forest, dotted in smaller deciduous trees though predominantly so the type which the land was named for. They easily could find full speed while sprinting through the lands they called home.

Soon, they came upon Iseldir's dig site, piles of dirt over turned and tangled roots exposed. She would skid herself to a halt and moved forward to investigate, but not before tagging her brother back by a tugging to his tail.

Sun dappled the forest floor as they raced, playing tag through the trees. Izzy lead the way as fast as his legs could carry him, confident that Eve could not only keep up but give him a proper race as they darted along toward the exposed section of embankment he had been digging out.

By the time they arrived he was panting. Izzy paused to shake his umber fur out after the run, before trotting forward to paw at the ground. "See?" he intoned. Several other pebbles lay strewn haphazardly about, cast aside, but this was where he had dug out the treasure. Beneath an old toppled willow, the exposed bit of terrain was punctuated with layers of different colors of earth, some of the bands full of rocks or sand or clay. Fresh erosion had exposed the band holding the gemstone, just so that it caught Izzy's eye in the shifting sunlight.  The earth itself was hard, dry and coarsely compacted, but who knew what else they might find if they looked?

"Shhh, 'kay?" he ventured a sound like hushed wind with a grin. He moved back to nip at Eve's ear again, now that he had shown her his dig-site, it should be their secret.

(This post was last modified: Oct 05, 2022, 11:16 PM by Iseldir.)

Eve growls, a playful reaction to her brother tugging at her ears. "OK, ok!" Spoken as she lifts a paw and bats towards her brothers legs and chest. "I won't tell." She insists and then finds herself moving forward, sniffing and snooping at the layers of ground exposed after many, many years now that the old willow tree had finally wilted and died. Sad really. But not sad for Nineve and her brother, who sought the opportunity to seek out the treasures from underneath.

"Maybe we find one for mama?" She then thought and began pawing at the wall of dirt and rock.