Larkcall Lowlands i'll use you as a warning sign

RE: Spring showers have come early, resulting in heavy downpours throughout parts of Relic Lore.
For @Phoenix -- if parents want to throw in a post you can, but Merys will be a good boy. :)
(sorry for the long post)

Merys had thought it rained a lot where he came from, but in his experience the further south you went, the more that came. His northern pack received more snow, but less rain than Relic Lore. His soaked pelt hung on his frame like twenty pounds extra weight as he strode home from the Larkcall Lowlands. At least this time it wasn't blustering thunderstorms with lightning and hail and everything evil. His bitterness for the storms and how it forced him to help those who got stuck out in them was still lingering. It was like he was drawn to situations of aid, the kind he hated being a part of yet still couldn't force himself to walk away from. He was beginning to wonder if his whole life down here in Relic Lore would be full of these kinds of surprises everywhere he went. His last pack had been monotonous and easy. No surprises. Yet here we was, scoping outside his new pack's borders again. 

When would this mid-life crisis end? 

It had been a few hours of walking in the rain, the Lowlands squishy and unprotecting as always. The lack of tall vegetation that grew up here just really did not do it for him. Not when White Fir Notch was plagued with lushness and beauty; it made it hard to compare. Hence why he had bantered with that angry spider of a wolf that had set himself up in a pack further North. He sincerely could not understand why anyone would want to live in a place like this. The rain that dripped into his eyes and soaked his ears to droop were on cue to help fuel his distaste for these lands. It was time to take a break; he had made the mistake before of thinking he could wait out the storms up here, and while he was more stubborn than the average wolf, why not treat himself?

The thought only crossed his mind as a raised area came into view, easily missed by someone not looking for shelter. The heavy rain masked and dampened the scents around him, any trace of others lost from his nose at the moment. He bumbled to a slow walk, not pausing before he stuck his nose into the small shelter. He wished it hadn't been raining, because otherwise he would have known to keep on walking. No sooner had he begun placing himself into the dry den that the thick scent of "very occupied" entered his snout. "Jesus fucking christ, are you-" he began swearing up and down as he quickly removed himself from the den back into the rain. He back-pedalled quickly, looking around him for the trouble that he had just found himself. There was a god-damned CUB in there. And she was.. alone, as far he could tell. Merys calmed his displeasure and did his best to find a scent of parents around but the rain was playing its best cards. The terrain did not offer too much to mark, either, he considered. She wasn't truly alone, right? Her mother just out for a bite? Though, in this weather? He looked around once more before his curious side pulled at his attention.

No, do NOT put your nose back in there. She is dry and safe. Her parents will return. She'd be dead if she had nobody, he assured himself. He had stopped for every other helpless jamboree that he stumbled upon in inclement weather, and he was never pleased with the outcome. Why shouldn't he learn from those mistakes this time? She is dry. She is safe. Her parents will be back. He reminded himself. Nope, he wasn't going to do it today. He had a better plan. He shook his pelt thoroughly, removing as much excess water and as much memory of this as he could from his pelt so that fresh rain could replace it. He turned to leave before this bad idea turned into a good one.

(This post was last modified: Jun 18, 2016, 07:39 PM by Merys.)

founding member | 2016

The girl had been sitting at the entrance to the den under the oak, blue eyes blinking at the wet that fell from the keye, even the birbs were nowhere to be seen on a day like today. Ma told her to stay put, to stay dry and warm in her little den but she had recently learned that inside was boring. She could hear the wide creek gurgling over the pitter-patter of rain hitting the leaves overhead and see the ripples course over the puddles that had come to claim her play space. She supposed her parents had gone for a hunt, or perhaps they weren't far at all, but maybe just maybe she could have a quick romp and be curled up by the time they got back (not quite comprehending how the wet and mud of the outside would come back inside with her).

She had been about to make her escape when she spotted the grown up having first mistaken the distant grey blob for her mother she quickly scooted back. She was a good girl and did as her parents told her. Yes, she was inside. Already her tail waved anticipating her mothers warm presence, what came instead was a strange face and a startled shout. "Jeebie fuh-kin!" the girl parroted back, completely oblivious to the threat a stranger might pose. As the adult hastily retreated she pranced after him with a giggle, that sacred doorway crossed as mud and puddles splashed her underside, the staccato of her tail waving betraying her excitement at having some company. "Jeebie fuh-kin!" she called again, excited giggle lacing her words as she pursued. "Crips!" She was sure that was the other word. Wasn't she clever? "Arryoo?"

(This post was last modified: Jun 18, 2016, 10:11 PM by Phoenix.)

The tiny girl's squeaks would have gone unnoticed by Merys, who had been more concerned with being caught around a lone pup and getting soaked by the overhead rains. His nature not to involve himself in unwanted drama would have sent him for the hills, but his nose was forced to travel downwards as the sooty cub emerged from the opening of the den. She parroted him, splashing herself with the wetness that he had so convinced himself was the only reason he wasn't staying. He lowered his nose to her blabbering fluff and quickly nudged her back inside. "Oh no you don't, get outta here," he paused once she was back in the safety of her den. He locked eyes with her, hoping to portray seriousness, though the unsureness of the whole situation was sure to seep through his expression. "Stay."

There. No harm done, other than a bit of new vocabulary. She would dry soon enough. He eyed her judiciously. Okay.. now what? Surely the fluff would attempt to follow him again. They were dumb like that, puppies were. Adorable, but dumb. He heaved a sigh, and decided to clear the air. "Kidding me. Are you kidding me. That's what I was going to say," he told her matter of factly, as though he were talking to another adult. He narrowed his eyes again at the child. "Stay there," he commanded, then took another look around the forest. He wasn't sure if he did or didn't want the parents to show up right now, both likely proving for an evening that he had not planned on getting himself into. The rain settling anew into his pelt again, and he sighed again as he turned back to the little cub. Well then.

founding member | 2016

She had played tag before, with her mother and father, and she could only assume this was the intention of the stranger now. When he rounded on her she hastily retreated, giggling all the while until he dared to say that terrible word. Stay. Dark face rapidly fell, brows drawing down as she pouted at the big stranger. Always stay. "No!" she dared to chastise him, small paws stamping through the puddles just outside the hole from which she had retreated to. "Jeebie Fuh-kin stay!" she demanded, before he went on again. Kid-ee? Was that his name? Not Jeebie Fuh-kin? Maybe she would have to introduce herself to get to the bottom of this?

Yet to fully master her own impressive name (tongue still struggling to make a decent Fff), she would just have to manage as best she could. "Pee-niks...Pee...niks..." No that wasn't quite right was it? "Purr-see." There that was better! Very pleased with herself she tried again. "Me Purr-see! Jeebie Fuh-kin? Kid-ee?" she tried again. Was he Jeebie Fuh-kin or Kid-ee? No matter what is name was he was not allowed to tell her to stay. She got more than enough of that nonsense from her mother and father.

(This post was last modified: Jun 20, 2016, 02:40 AM by Phoenix.)

Why was it doing that!? You insolent little pile of fluff, he glared as she defied him boldly. While it may have been entertaining for Merys to have instilled the smut coming from child's mouth, the fact that she failed to say it correctly stifled his amusement. God, they really couldn't do anything right, could they? How old did they need to be before they came of use and not just a burden? She stomped around in the puddle, ruining his whole plan of escape. How did you make something stay where it didn't want to be? He could block the door? Knock her out? Give her a mouse to eat and run? Would a stronger threat work? They weren't completely without fear, were they? 

He reclined to his haunches, considering letting the soot ramble dumbly until she realized on her own that the rain was an unpleasant place to be. Oh, but then what? She dies of hypothermia and end of story? That wasn't how this ended. He clued back into the conversation the pup was clearly trying to have with him, having missed most of her jumbled english anyway. "What are you even saying," he mumbled mostly to himself, as he picked up her scruff to place her at the entrance of the den once more, and gave her a body a shove with his head so that she was once more returned to the safety of her shelter, albeit with a bit more mud in tow. "Do you mind? I'm actually trying to help you," he asked the squirming cub, a condescending tone to his voice. He spoke as though she would manage his words like an adult, though she had clearly only picked up the one important one. 

"Stay!" He said again, in a sterner voice this time. "I'm not even leaving, so just stop.. being a dummy and just stay," he encouraged her, though there was a meek pleading undertone to his words. What a crappy situation; how did parents convince their children to not be assholes? Compromise? Oh! An idea! "Here," he said, as he stomped a foot inside the door of the den beside the pup. "Now we're both staying, see? Now you don't have to prove you're an independent woman or whatever bullshit you're trying to run here." Oh see, this was good. He was just a nonpareil of resourceful thinking. Surely this would avert the crisis once and for all. Genius.

founding member | 2016

The big wolf didn't answer her questions and this made the small girl cross. To add insult to injury he picked her up like some baby and set her down right outside the one place she was trying to escape from! As his head came near to push her away she wrapped small paws around his muzzle and used small milk teeth to clamp down on the bridge of his nose, a adorable ferocious growl only diminished by the happy wave of her tail. This was the best game yet!

His firm Stay was met with another rebellious bark of "NO!" He pushed a foot into the dry beside her another word catching her attention. "Booshi! Jeebie Fuh-kin Booshi!" she laughed, wrapping her forepaws around the limb that had crossed the dry line to enter the den. Teeth worried the length of the limb, gums interspaced with needle-like milk teeth first up the leg and then down. She dropped to her stomach, holding onto the limb for dear life. She was lonely and bored and Jeebie Fuh-kin was fun. Why couldn't her parents stay and play with her too? What about the other big that was somewhere nearby? When would they be back? She was starting to get hungry.

Her rebellious streak continued. She was a ferocious little thing. Merys wondered just how quickly cuteness wore off with puppies like this; he imagined he was pretty fast. Even parents couldn't ignore their innate zeitgeber instinctual love forever, right? His eyebrows raised at her sharp bark, "Oh, I am never having one of you," he promised to the both of them. That was just a world of hurt waiting for someone else to deal with. Her violent tail lashing when he had shoved her inside had been sort of cute - but, mostly in a large killer rat kind of way. His nose twitched from where her tiny teeth had pushed in his whiskers. She parroted back some more colourful words, and Merys could not help the roll back of his eyes in his head. They quickly returned to the situation once he felt her tiny body wrap around his paw savagely. "Ow! Look at you, you're like a little demon!" He exclaimed at the wild animal now attached to him. She even looked like a little demon, all black and.. and, evil-looking.

"Your grip is.. impeccable," he stated in genuine awe. Her little teeth were totalling his lower leg like a corn on the cob. He did his best to shake her off like he would a rogue slug, but she persevered. Every now and then her tiny teeth would break through his fur and actually cause pain. He would give an extra hard shake then, though silently he was happy she was at least occupied. He attempted to lift his paw from her, but somehow she even held on so that he body lifted from the ground momentarily. "This is fuckin' ridiculous," he said, partly out of annoyance, partly out of being impressed. "I want you to know you're not funny," he explained calmly, to clear the air between them. This didn't make them friends. He gave her an extra hard shove into the den, hoping to dislodge her in a game of one-sided tag, where only the milk-teeth won. He anticipated her malicious sense of tiny humour would be all over it. 

founding member | 2016

Jessie did not want to leave Percy behind in the den but it was cramped being in there most of the time and the fresh scent of rabbit was in the air. The scout and huntress within her simply could not ignore the pull of prey and so with a quick promise to her daughter to return, the mother set out. There was nothing like the wind rushing through her fur as she ran across the expanse of the land, her legs pumping as she raced for the prey that would soon be hers. This was what she missed most of all. She would be lying to herself if she said that she would trade the weeks of being in the den with Phoenix. She was the future for Jessie and Drestig and she loved the look that her lover got in his eyes whenever he looked at her. Now, however, was not the time to think of such matters. Her nose was filled with the hunt and the need to kill. It was only a little while later that she was on her way back to the den, a rabbit firmly grasped within her jaws for her daughter to nibble on and share with her. The scent of rabbit so strong in her nose, she did not notice the scent of a stranger so strong on the wind and it was only the tidbit of conversation she head that stirred up her attention. Heart beating erratically in her chest and prey forgotten, Jessie raced towards where their voices were coming from, her hair on end as she took in the form of the strange man and her small daughter. The male was shoving her daughter. No one deserved to treat her that way and the use of language in front of her at such a young language was unacceptable. A snarl formed on her lips and reared up her chest as she glared at the newcomer, stepping towards her daughter and closer to the white male. The pepper-and-salt colored woman should have known not to leave the small child alone, especially without a pack around to stabilize her. Her blood-stained lips still curled back into a malicious snarl, spit out harsh words, ”I tend to agree. Get away from my daughter.” Cold, emerald eyes glared at the newcomer and for the first time in forever she was glad that @Drestig was not here to witness this display and disappointed that Percy had to see her mother this way. The man smelled of others and that, indeed, spoke dangers of itself. Jessie was all too familiar with pup snatchers and she would take no chances with anyone when it came to the safety of her little girl. Jessie Tainn

feainne-stock & Dawnthieves.de

I'm happy if you guys want to wrap this up in the next few posts <3

"Fuh-kin Eedikulos," she liked it when the big ones spoke, she liked to learn new words (even if she had very little to associate them with). Wide blue eyes looked up at him with some semblance of innocence, Of course she wasn't funny, she was very, very serious.

His shove did manage to dislodge the child, sent tumbling back into the den but she gathered her feet with surprising dexterity for one so small. He wasn't going to get away so easily. Her laughter cut through the dark as she barreled out into the rain only to find herself caught up in the legs of her rather cross looking mother. Her giggle may have faded but her tail never ceased its waving as she used the peppered wolf as yet another barrier from the rain and danced towards the big wolf with a bark. "Jeebie Fuh-kin Aska Fran!" she tried to explain to her mother, readying herself to pounce yet again. She didn't understand that perhaps she might be getting @Askan in trouble if her parents thought this wolf was Askan's friend rather than a friend like Askan, or that Jeebie Fuh-kin wasn't his name at all. She was having fun, and there was no reason for her mother to be so cross.

(This post was last modified: Jun 29, 2016, 03:57 AM by Phoenix.)

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity