White Fir Notch dust off and try again

@Ryker
Dated for 19 Jun.

The five year old shook his pelt as he waited for the rabbit to wilt in his jaws, his teeth sunk deep into his throat. It had stopped screaming some ago, but every now and then it gave one last twitch of defiance. He trotted through the forests of his pack borders, a heavy lope to his steps. The hunter thought to bring back a rabbit to the birthing den for Raela and her pups. He typically tried to always return to the pack with gifts so that his absence was not the only thing that they had on him. Between him and the other pack wolves, they always made sure the caches were full. He made never to leave without ensuring that, causing him to add prey frequently, as he enjoyed exploring.. a lot. Luckily, he had made it quite far into the territory without seeing anyone this time, a welcome quiet. Hell, he would hang out here a lot more if it was going to be this peaceful.

The dark-furred bear slowed to a walk once he came upon the birthing den. Well, he'd made it this far without pause, he'd best turn tail before anyone caught him. He creeped forward, doing his best to avoid a jamboree of twig cracking or leaf shuffling, making haste to drop the rabbit at the entrance of the den and leave before he was caught doing something nice. It had his scent on it, that was all he needed for credit. @Raela was likely inside or nearby with the pups, their scent thick around here, so it was time to go. He had some lingering burrs in his fur that had some much needed tending to.

@Merys

Sitting inside the den and happily nipping at a leaf that had blown into the den, Ryker was not paying any attention to the entrance to the den at first. The leaf was a fun thing! He had seen plenty in the adventures out into the Outside with his sisters but his sisters were off doing their own thing in the den, leaving Ryker to play on his own. And the young prince was full of energy at the moment, having had a nap not a long time ago. But the scent of something coppery caught his attention. His ears perked up slightly, forgetting his play thing and sniffing the air. It smelt like his mother did after leaving the den and coming back sometimes. Did that mean was Mama back than? He was getting a little hungry...

Scrambling towards the entrance, he had to blink as the burst of light from the sun nearly blinded him. But once that faded, his eyes fell on the rabbit that lay before the den's entrance. Tilting his head to the side, his large ears flopping with the movement, he wondered what it was. Leaning forward, his little nose nudged its fuzzy side and he nearly jumped back, thinking it was going wake up due to the slight movement it made when he nudged it.

But all it did was make his still somewhat uncoordinated legs catch on themselves, causing the pup to yelp as he tumbled back into the den. He rolled a few times before coming to a stop on his side, the breath nearly knocked out of him as he gave a little whine. It wasn't out of pain but due to the fright he had given himself. Ryker decided he didn't like whatever creature that was, pouting slightly as he managed to right himself.

Still pouting, the pup poked his head back out and huffed at the rabbit angrily. "S'uped. (stupid)" He declared the thing to be, still pouting as he glared at it as best a small floppy eared puppy could.

(This post was last modified: Jun 19, 2016, 08:52 AM by Ryker.)

There it was. The sound he had been loathe to hear. Company. He was too late. This was how it ended. How his beautiful solitude ended.

Merys had only turned his head away for a moment, his fore paw raised to take his body elsewhere and away from this den. But alas, a squeak emitted from the opening of the birthing den, giving Merys pause. He turned around to see what he knew was waiting for him. One of the puppies' snouts was sticking out of the edge of the den, investigating the rabbit he had dropped there. Next time, we're chucking it right down the hole and sprinting out of here, he promised to himself. That idea made him feel slightly better about the current failure. The image of a cub, or even Raela at that, taking a flaccid rabbit carcass to the face brought a happy smirk to his features. 

His attention returned from his wishful thoughts and back to the problem at hand. Had the pup even seen him? They weren't at the age of being brave enough to leave the den, right? They had just gotten here like.. last week, right? Merys gave one last look around him for any other suitors that could hold him here, you know, adults, and decided that he still had a chance to sneak away. Puppies were nonpareils when it came to neediness. No thank you. The little snoot was pointed down at the rabbit still, the tiny grumbles directed at it. Uh, excuse me boy. That is a good rabbit, don't you grumble at my gifts, he wanted to scold, but had to refrain if he wanted to have a chance at sneaking out.

He turned quietly back to the direction he was headed. They were blind when they were young too, right? Maybe they couldn't see far distances, and his pelt would just blur into the rest of the forest backsplash and he would be just fine. He took the first steps to freedom, banking on a lot a 'maybes' to get him out of this potential social hour.

founding member | 2016

Movement caught Ryker’s eyes and as he lifted his attention from the rabbit to whatever was moving, @Merys would find he wasn’t going to escape so easily. What was the big blur near the den? Ryker wondered, tilting his head again. The blur had similar coloring to his mama but the wind was blowing the scent away, so Ryker couldn’t tell it wasn’t actually his mother. But it didn't stop him from chasing after Merys.

“Ma!” He cried cheerfully, stumbling over the rabbit and waddling after the figure. He was around the age where his sisters and he could go shorty distances from the den, as long as an adult was with them.Though so far, it had only really been with either of his parents and not one of the pack members, though he couldn’t recall it being anyone other then his parents. “I’m gone with!” His vocabulary was still growing,as he still had much to learn as his voice was filled with determination as he toddled after Merys, still thinking he was his mother. It’d be a funny story to tell the boy when he was older, and to the pack now if it was shared around.

“Oof!” The pup had bumped into the back legs of his ‘mother’, his nose hitting the leg first and causing him to fall back onto his rump. “Ow! Mah nose hurts!” Scrunching up his nose, that had only gotten a small bump to it and was perfectly fine other wise, Ryker blinked up to the towering figure above him. “Where we going?” Ryker was still somewhat clueless, despite being right next to Merys now.

(This post was last modified: Jun 20, 2016, 01:09 AM by Ryker.)

Merys had heard it before he felt it. He had heard the distance squawk of notice, and the soft shuffle of paws galloping across the forest floor. Just don't look at it. Don't make eye contact. Maybe it'll realize it's mistake and know it's not wanted, he hoped silently. Mud brown eyes forward, he continued striding assuredly away from the den. Unfortunately the tiny gallops got closer, and Merys looked down to his right to see the tiny zeitgeber of a shadow right before he felt the solid twin ram into the back of his leg. 

Merys finally stopped. He craned his neck around, lifting his back leg to unsure he didn't step on the cub after the fact. It sat on its rump, scrunching its small nose. Merys just looked at him for a moment. "Uh, we are not going anywhere. You are staying here," he informed the small cub, his low voice a sure indicator for the pup that he had indeed, made a grave mistake in judgement. The tawny markings made the little male look like his mother, curiously enough. He hadn't gotten too much of a good look at the cubs since they were born. He knew there were three, and he was pretty sure there were black ones too. The brawny male lowered his head to closer to the cub's level, nose twitching at the air between them. "Which one are you, then?" 

founding member | 2016

As a deep voice told him that he wasn’t going anywhere, Ryker quickly realised it wasn’t his mother he’d been chasing after. It was a completely different wolf! Ryker tilted his head to look up at the other, his face becoming clearer as Merys leaned closer. Not to mention the pup could now the smell of the wolf and noticed that while he smelt similar to his parents (he thought only his ma and papa smelt like that!), the older wolf still had his own smell that Ryker had missed. The wolf then asked which one was he? making Ryker perk up.

“Rai-ka!” Ryker pronounced proudly, beaming up at wolf. He might not be his mother but he was a new face so Ryker was both happy and curious. Who was this wolf? Why did he smell like his parents but not at the same time? Going up onto his hind legs, his front legs swinging in front of him, Ryker managed to bop @Merys on the (snoot) nose, giggling as he rested his small paws on the larger male’s muzzle. “You?” Was he the one who left the fuzzy out in front of the den? He still didn’t like that fuzzy. It had frightened him. “Fuzzy yours?” Ryker asked, referring to the rabbit as he kept his front paws on Merys’ muzzle, tail wagging excitedly behind him.

He. is. so. cute. ;__; <3

Did all puppies wag their tails this much? Did Merys wag his tail this much when he was a cub? Dear god, he thought. The pup had probably wagged its tail back and forth more times in these few moments together than he had since he had come to Relic Lore. He pronounced his name poorly but proudly, and Merys deduced that it was probably Ryker that he was going for. "You look like your mother, Ryker," he said smoothly in response. "Doubtful that means anything to you though, since you just mistook me for your mother. I don't know which one of us should be more offended," he admitted thoughtfully, his eyes drifting upwards in consideration. 

His eyes flicked back to the little fluff's movement, and while he immediately tucked his chin in concern, Merys was forced to catch the cub's forelegs on his muzzle. Did he just boop my snoot?! God damnit they were cute -- god he hated his instinctual draw to the little things. His eyes met the blue ones, almost blurry due to his proximity. "I.." he began, thinking of introducing himself but felt silly for following conversation with such a tiny brain. He shook Ryker off his muzzle gently and stood taller to sit back on his haunches. He cleared his throat. "Ahem, yes. That fuzzy is mine. Well no, it's yours now, you can have it," he said, attempting explanation of the sniglet, "To eat, I mean. You eat it. Like with your teeth. Rrr," he explained dumbly, making a half-assed tearing impression with his teeth bared, suddenly unsure how much life had to be explained to the little cubs. Merys didn't friggin' know what their brains could handle yet, or their stomachs for that matter. He felt almost as stupid for struggling to figure out which level to bring his intelligence down to. 

founding member | 2016

There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

When Merys shook himself gently, Ryker tumbled back onto his own paws before settling on his rear end, letting out a small “Oof!” as he blinked in slight confusion. He was not hurt however and bounded back up to Merys with a grin back on his little maw. As he spoke, Merys’s own paws were soon assaulted by little ones as Ryker batted at them in wonderment, trying to figure out how they were so much bigger than his own. Merys’s paws were huge! At least in comparison to his own. And they were fuzzy like the thing back at the den. An idea dawned on Ryker as he flopped on the elder’s feet, deciding he liked this wolf as, his grin grew wider as he rolled onto his back and peered up at Merys.  The older wolf would possibly regret not giving his own name to the pup....

“You Fuzzy!” It was decided that is what Merys’s name was to Ryker - Fuzzy - and until he learned any different, nothing would change the boy’s mind. Ryker giggled as Merys let out some funny noises and faces, trying to expalin that the thing at the den was something to eat. Not that Ryker was paying much attention, focusing more the Merys’ faces and noises as Ryker tried to copy him by pulling his lips back and baring his tiny little teeth. It was more cute than threatening when the pup bared his teeth, a full teeth grin showing on the pup’s face. “Fuzzy fun! I like Fuzzy.”

(This post was last modified: Jul 13, 2016, 11:25 PM by Ryker.)

Finish up soon? :)

The thing about puppies was that they were difficult to discourage. Largely in part by the want to preserve their innocence, so you could never give it to them straight; but, also largely due to the fact that they were too dumb to recognize social cues yet. Times were trying. He held him chest broadly back as he glared down at the pup seemingly entranced with paws again. But why? Why must they? He tucked his chin just enough so that his dark browns could see Ryker's blue. His expression was unimpressed, contrast to the pup's gleeful dorky one. 

"Oh no. No, no," he said, stopping the boy's misunderstanding immediately. He was not the fuzzy. "Dear lord, I can't believe I have to justify such a fact," he muttered tiredly aloud. He used his paw to push the upside-down pup away from him, hiding his amusement at the cub's pitiful attempt at a snarl. Personal space reacquired, he stood then, dwarfing the boy, and walked past him back towards the den. "Fuzzy is over here, and he is delicious. And you will eat him, and you will stay here," he explained, matter-of-factly. Merys had gone to all the trouble to bring this ambrosial meal to him, and he would eat it. He did his best to thwart any of the pup's darting and lunging at his paws again. "I have to go find my own meal now, so you're staying here. Got it?" He said again for emphasis, his voice more stern now, planning to end this encounter finally.

founding member | 2016