Red Fern Forest wrapped up in blankets

sorry if this is kinda bleh but wanted to get something up before i nap more @Namir || Afternoon, Light snow, 31 ° F, -1 ° C

Mathuin had given @Astrid a good nudge before telling her that he was gonna explore south. He had made it clear that she was welcomed to trail after or if she stayed at the falls he'd be back as soon as he could. Either way, he was already excited to get back to her the moment he had left. Often times on these lonesome adventures he'd fill his head with thoughts of what the honey-coated girl could be doing. Did she think about him too or was that buzzing mind too crowded for him?

The snow was back today, his eyes scanning over the dusted forest and ferns around him. Mathuin had to wonder why spring wasn't here yet. He was positive things were already sunny back home. It wasn't that he wanted to go back home (he often thought about if there even was a home to go back to) but he wished that they same nice expected weather was here. Maybe once he got back to Astrid they could discuss moving on to somewhere else. The falls were getting old for adventure now anyway.

His green eyes swept across the snow-dusted forest. He wondered if coming out here had been worth it. The large Whitebark didn't see any places worth bringing Astrid to or even a trail to follow for food. What a waste of his time.

Well, the fen had been shit.

Namir felt like she’d been cold for days following, like the dirty water had crept into her very core and made a home there.  Made her heavy, filled up hollow bones and made it impossible to fly away.  To fly back home.  Idly, she wondered if she could still call Crow’s Crossing home.  How long would she be welcome?  How long before Orin’s other children saw fit to chase her out with gnashing teeth and sharp names?

The girl snorted softly, continuing her jog further north.  All she wanted to do was find somewhere warm – and in the absence of dinkum sunshine, she’d accept shelter.  Anything to keep her out of the snow that insisted on falling, on her back, on her face, on her heckin’ snout.

A frozen nose wasn’t going to find her any food – and hell, was she ever hungry.  Her stomach gurgled loudly as if to make the point and Namir grumbled softly, increasing her pace as she blindly marched through the forest, head down, eyes all but shut--  And marched right into the large form of another wolf.  The youth squalled, backpedaling as her ears plastered against her narrow skull.  “Watch it, jerk!” she snapped, fur bristling as she waiting for the inevitable assault.

(This post was last modified: May 11, 2017, 01:02 AM by Namir.)

A lynx has left behind the remains of a deer. +5 Health

Perhaps his thoughts had swallowed him whole or his eyes merely weren't focused enough to see everything around him because there was a firm bump into his body. Not one he associated with Astrid either. He gave a soft oof and stumbled back lightly. Before he could even try to apologize or ask if they were okay the small female gave him a familiar retort. Granted her words had been more gentle than @Iyes proclaim of him being an asshole. Did smaller females just naturally have an issue with him? It seemed everyone but Astrid had. She wasn't like anyone else, though.

"My bad." Her sarcastically sneered. Green eyes stared at the tawny girl. She was about his age but like most she wasn't built like him. Shorter but leggy and a more saturated coat than his own. Not to mention her eyes were a flowery yellow that stood out amongst her face. "Do you call everyone a jerk or just wolves that you bump into?" He made sure to emphasize that she had indeed been the one to run into him. Mathuin had merely been standing still in the woods so there was no way it was his fault. Which also meant he mostly certainly wasn't a jerk. Right?

"speech"

mathuin whitebark

TEMPLATE © NDA OF RCR & RPG-D

Astrid & Mathuin
The Adventuring Peanuts

Oh, this one was nasty. Mean.

It reminded Little Crow of her father’s other children, in a way. They were not her siblings, half or otherwise. They were Orin’s heirs, and the future of Crow’s Crossing – she was simply a tool to be used. If they felt like being unkind to her, they were not scolded, not in the way Ori was for pulling on Orisa’s tail. The dusty female ground her molars, tail slowly hugging her hocks as she lowered her head, making it all the more difficult to latch onto her jugular if the stranger had the notion to.

No one had ever tried to kill her outright, but her father made sure she knew what that was. What it meant, how permanent it was. (What was going to happen to her mother). A dead runner wasn’t very useful, after all.

“Nah!” she hissed, weaving back and forth on her front limbs. Her claws dug into the fallen fern frons beneath her toes. Shit. Shit. “I wasn’t doin’ nothin’ wrong. Lookin’ for dinner.” Like any normal wolf, obviously. That she might not have been looking where she’d been going was certainly not her fault – if she were to admit to the crime, that meant she committed it. Deny, deny, deny! He couldn’t pin anything on her if she didn’t own up to it! “Y’all weren’t usin’ yer damn eyes. Heck.”

She was a fidgety little thing, wasn't she? The large male watched her dance on her front limbs like some kind of imp. In denial of the whole thing too. His brows furrowed as he listened to her reason. Then came forth another accusation that he hadn't been using his eyes. It caused a soft snort to rise from him.

"Well I'm not dinner." His voice wasn't as sharp as one might expect but nor was it soft and kind. "So go look elsewhere and use your eyes because I sure as hell use mine." Mathuin's chest puffed out the slightest bit and his tail ached to raise. There was that nasty trait of pride he had gotten from his father. Times like now were when it flared up the most. Truthfully, the large Whitebark hated to be wrong. He was no stranger to using force to be right and get what he wanted. That was something he had been taught back at Crooked Stream. When he left home he promised not to be like that but he couldn't help it if someone else brought it out of him.

"What's your name?" He asked as green eyes stayed locked on the dusty girl. Maybe Astrid knew of her and he could go gossip about this whole thing with the honey-toned girl.

Astrid & Mathuin
The Adventuring Peanuts

“Duh.”

Namir gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes. Anyone knew you didn’t eat other wolves. That was gross – but maybe more importantly, it was one of the very few things that was wrong. There were rules, but then there were…there were… Well, Little Crow didn’t know a word for something that was bigger than a rule, but she knew that particular thing most certainly fell into that category. And her mind might have rambled on in that general direction, had the other yearling not spoken back up.

The dusty female paused, ears straight out to the side as she eyed the other loner warily. He certainly hadn’t been winsome moments before. Why did he suddenly care to be nice now? Her tail gave an exaggerated flick before she opened her mouth. “Lil’ Crow,” she drawled, tail flicking again. It was truth as much as it wasn’t, heck. She almost preferred it to the name her mother had given her. And speaking of her mother… “‘m lookin’ fer a Namid. ‘er a Kaa-geee-kah. ‘er a Des,” she huffed, well aware it was a long shot. But shit, if someone didn’t point her in the right direction soon, she was gonna turn around and head back home.

He could have scoffed or rolled his own eyes when she gave that "Duh", he could have snapped his teeth or attempted to shoo her away but he didn't. Mathuin was trying his best to the best wolf he could be. The yearling was surprised how hard the was. More so how it was so hard to be a friendly face with Astrid. He wondered if she had some kind of contagious disease that made others as happily and bubbly as she was. Somewhere in the back of his mind rang the voice of Iyes saying "No, Mat, things like that don't exist". In this moment he couldn't have agreed more with that statement despite how it was originally used in a very different scenario.

"Lil Crow..." He tried the name out. She didn't really seem all the Lil but then again she wasn't as big as himself and in her own way she was little to him. The crow part didn't seem to hold true either. She had yellow eyes and there was only peppering of black in her coat. So where had the name come from? Why crow? Why not robin, duck, or even owl? He didn't openly ask that of course. She didn't seem to be fond of this whole thing by the way she fidgeted. Mathuin figured she could have just had something wrong with her..."I'm Mat." He addressed a bit softer.

The names didn't sound very familiar. "I'm not sure I know any Namids, Kageeks or even a Des." His face seemed to grow thoughtful for a moment. "This place is big, though. They could be nearby - or real far." It wasn't very hopeful of him to say but at least it was honest.

Astrid & Mathuin
The Adventuring Peanuts

The name would make more sense if Mathuin understood the pack she came from – or even the name of the place. But he didn’t say anything, so she didn’t offer it up, and kept the name her mother chose for her safely tucked away. Until she figured out who Namid was, who this wolf her mother liked so much that she was named for her, that she was left for her was, she wasn’t keen on parading the name around like some sort of stupid title. That’s all names really were in the end.

Shit, the other wolves could call her ‘Orin’s Fake Daughter’ or ‘Thief’ and she’d still know who they were talking about.

“Well, shit,” she sighed softly, ears drooping a bit as she was given the unwelcome information. Maybe some small part of her was relieved she didn’t have to face those wolves yet, but she’d have to, eventually. That the forest was ‘very big’ probably wouldn’t play into her favor. She glanced back up at Mathuin. “What about a…” What did her mother whisper? “Fallen Tree Cove? Nah, that doesn’t make sense. Fallen Tree Cave maybe? Ever heard of that?”

It was a long shot, but a direction was better than nothing.

"Sorry Lil Crow, haven't heard of any Fallen Tree Cave." Oh, but he did know of caves and maybe he could share of that. "Cross the mountain and stick south and you'll find a system of caves. Empty last time I was there but hell, someone could be there now." He shrugged casually. It wasn't that long ago but he didn't know how long the tawny yearling had been searching for these Namids, Kaa-geee-kah, Des or Fallen Tree Cave. Maybe if Astrid was here she'd know but it was very obvious the honey coated girl wasn't around. Otherwise there likely would have been lots of prancing and excited squeals about the company Mathuin had found.

Ah..speaking of Astrid. "I should get going, though. Told my friend I wouldn't be gone too long." He shrugged and offered a half smile to the smaller girl. Slowly he began to move away from her back towards where he'd left Astrid. "Good luck on your search! Hope you find Namid and Kaa-geese-ah and Des! Along with that Fallen Tree place!" He hollered back over his shoulder before he picked up his pace into a brisk trot. Mathuin highly doubted that Lil Crow would miss him or be upset with his exit. They hadn't exactly gotten off on the best paw anyway.

-mathuin's exit-

Astrid & Mathuin
The Adventuring Peanuts