Fool's Gold Chasm masquerade

RE: Fools Gold Chasm, a small creature seems to be lurking near the pack den at night.

June 16th; Evening; Scattered Clouds; 51.8 ° F, 11 ° C

Adelard had been following a peculiar trail all evening. Neither predator nor prey, the more the wolf followed, the more he figured it was more of a nuisance. Its path was erratic, frantic, as it scurried across the forest floor and scrambled up and over rocks. Once or twice, Adelard thought he smelled fish or berries in its wake.

Had the creature been anything else and gone anywhere else, he might have left it alone. But, it had chosen to hang about the pack den. Little black claws found the stony entrance of the Chasm, ripping moss and vines from their roots. Adelard assumed it was after the pack's hideaway for shelter or warmth. After the sudden summer rainstorm (which had manifested as a snow squall in the north), it was a prime choice. Inside the cavern, there was security and easy access to drinking water.

The Gerau gave a loud snort as he eyed the cracks and crevices around the pack den. At the bases of the ferns he squinted. There was a trespasser about, and he was not pleased about it.

         

ADELARD

heat stroke, bring the fire black smoke, I take it higher

Woya squeezed her way through the crevice, her small size to her advantage but the passage still uncomfortable. Claws scraped against stone and the flora shuddered away from her emerging form. She popped out of the cover of ferns and locked eyes immediately with the pack's guardian. She blinked once, twice, then a frown etched deeply across her muzzle as her pale eyes narrowed.

She of course assumed his glare had been meant for her, even when there was no good reason why.

"What?" Woya demanded, tone just as shitty as she felt being greeted with that face.

(This post was last modified: Jun 28, 2021, 08:50 PM by Woya.)

Adelard's nose kept twitching, the whiskers on either side of his face quivering as he thought. He knew this scent but couldn't quite put a paw on what it was. His moment of concentration was broken as an irked "What?" was tossed his way.

Already furrowed brows didn't budge and he regarded the new recruit with a subtle tilt of his head. His gaze did not linger on her for long, though, as the sound of scrabbling claws snagged at his ears. Black-lined lips curled upward enough to show his teeth for a second.

"Did you hear that?" he didn't even look back at her. "There's someone else here."

         

ADELARD

heat stroke, bring the fire black smoke, I take it higher

She did, in fact, hear that, ears flipped upward as something sounded to have scrabbled somewhere above her head. When Adelard spoke, she finally looked, eyes nearly crossed as she stared straight upward.

"... yeah. Some thing."

Her nose twitched and scanned, but none of the scents available seemed particularly threatening. Just another animal, right?

"So what?"

Woya's tone was a lot less petulant, but it was clear she was nowhere near as perturbed as Ad by the presence.

"So what?"

Again, he ran down a mental list of potential pests: martens, squirrels, stoats... Rabbits were frivolous but nervous. Wild boars wouldn't think to even scale the rocks, at least, to begin with. It had to be something bold enough to be impish or flippant... to think of the Chasm a lodestone, a treasure to behold.

"I can't think of the scent," he admitted, tone still solemn and reserved. "It's been all over the area." His fur bristled further. Harmless or otherwise, he did not appreciate how nonchalant it seemed to be.

His head turned, eyes latching onto the sight of two, small glowing orbs to the left of the entrance. In the gathering dark, its stark black nose appeared, then two forepaws with long black nails. The wolf merely stared as a young raccoon emerged from behind a fern. It chittered at him through a snout full of moss, and all the Leader could do and say was bark: "THIEF!"

         

ADELARD

heat stroke, bring the fire black smoke, I take it higher

Woya cocked a brow as she watched the thoughts shift and churn behind his fool's gold eyes. They slipped down his throat and onto his tongue, and he began musing aloud. She thought to make a smart ass comment about there being other animals in the world, but her attention was stolen once it was noticed that Adelard's searching gaze had frozen. Curiosity caused her to follow his lead, honeyed sights settling on the beaded eyes and twitching whiskers of a coon.

THIEF!

The sheer outrage in her alpha's voice, in the face of what looked to her to be a relatively benign, if oversized, rodent struck Woya as, well, fairly hilarious. A snort of laugher ripped up her throat, and she tried to choke it back and keep the dual-toned man from recognizing it.

"Got it!" she cried out while charging forward and after the plump beast, another attempt to hide her humor and take this more seriously.

The little raccoon's beady eyes widened and it started to scamper up the side of the den entrance. Surely, there was no harm done, but Adelard had an issue with what was theirs and what was not... Woya might've laughed but she was on it. She leaped forward, sending the tubby gray creature into such a panic that it let go of its grip on the vines. With a thud into the leaf litter, it darted into the den itself.

The Leader followed after them, skidding down the darkening depths. He came to a stop as his front paws splashed into the rippling underground pond. A few good blinks of his dim yellow eyes failed to reveal where the punk had gone.

"Little or not, it better not be making itself comfortable in here."

         

ADELARD

heat stroke, bring the fire black smoke, I take it higher

At least it dropped what it had stolen, Woya thought as her dancer's paws passed the cut vines in pursuit. She was quick, but the varmint had an advantage in what it could scale. She hit the pool with a sigh, turning to regard Adelard as he appeared at her side swiftly after. No wonder Hudson had taken him on to protect the pack.

"Yeah?" she replied with a crooked smile and raised brow, "And what're we gonna do about it?"

If she got a hold of it, she'd kill it, of course - but unless that happened, Woya didn't really know of any rodent-proofing methods, especially in a place like this. Her natal pack had been far more keen on sharing their space with other animals than this guy appeared to be.

(This post was last modified: Dec 14, 2021, 07:21 AM by Woya.)

"Yeah?" it sounded like Woya was teasing, inviting among them the idea of play. "And what're we gonna do about it?"

In the dark, his grin was but a trace of shadow. A glint of ivory in wolf's eyes against pitch black. A small splash was the only audible sign that he had turned to face her. "We'll get it out."

A chuckle dared to bubble in his throat, but he stifled it with a small tilt of his head. An invitation of his own before dashing off with several splashes into the cavern depths. "Whoever gets to it first will have a lovely pelt for the winter season!"

(This post was last modified: Jan 14, 2022, 12:02 AM by Adelard.)

         

ADELARD

heat stroke, bring the fire black smoke, I take it higher

Her own smile spread wider to see that she'd gotten one out of the other wolf. The challenge that followed was unexpected, but wholly welcomed. She blinked after him a second, before grinning devilishly and lunging after. The water was cold, and came much further up her frame than it did Adelard's, but that wouldn't stop her from trying her damnedest to beat him.

"You're on!" she shouted into the darkness ahead, where she could hear him splashing along. It was good to know that while taking his role seriously, the pack's staunch protector also knew how to have fun.

/ Fade

(This post was last modified: Jan 16, 2022, 04:14 AM by Woya.)