Heartleaf Creek Make due with what you got

For @Isla

There was a certain calmness that seemed to envelop this new and strange location as Claw found himself laid near the edge of a creek while Mother made an effort to secure their next meal elsewhere. The quiet bubbling of the flowing water source with its dusting of heart-shaped leaves that twirled their way down along the weaving water's surface was quite quaint in his opinion. On occasion, his pale green eyes would hone in on a particularly eye-catching leaf begging to be swatted. After a couple of rounds of swatting the leaf, Claw's concentration steadily grew to the point his relaxed posture shifted to a more serious one.

Ivory licked haunches tucked beneath his frame in a position that almost mirrored the stance he had seen his mother take on before pouncing on an unsuspecting rabbit. There was a small gap between floating leaves, but soon enough Claw's next victim started its journey downstream. "Steady..steady..." Claw coached himself, his rump giving a concentrated wiggle while his lids narrowed. This leaf wasn't gonna get past him!

Let the record state, she had not meant to come upon the boy.

Isla hardly meant to do anything ever. It was far easier to be lazy and waited on. These moments of wandering would be far and few between, even if they increased more lately. Always mindful of strange adults.

However this was a boy.

Who seemed to be...telling a leaf to stay put? She could not pretend to understand. Nor did she. However Isla had developed well into apparently interrupting hunting lessons! Once more, she had not intended it. It just seemingly happened.

So before he could pounce —

"Hey!"

So consumed in his own concentration the sound of an approaching stranger had gone undetected by the normally observant pup. It was the harsh life of a rogue and knowing only the presence of his mother after the death of his sibling at such a young age that had molded the boy to be so. Pale green eyes continued to monitor their intended target as it glided closer, muscles coiled and ready to spring at just the right...

Hey!

If there was one thing Claw was not expecting to encounter it was a stranger, let alone a stranger while he was attempting to show yet another leaf who was boss. Spooked by this unexpected guest the young boy ended up leaping forward into the shallow edge of the creek with a plop, droplets of sprayed water settling on his crown. There was a look of pure bewilderment plastered across Claw's face as his gaze shifted from his current position in the creek to that of this mysterious stranger.

"Who are you?!"

She rolled her eyes as she seated herself near the creek.

Wolves around here sure did have a lot of stupid questions to ask. Although it was only better about half the time at home too. So.

"A Valle, duh." The Backwater was full of them, so why wouldn't anybody out here know of them too? Especially so close to home. If she squinted real hard, she wondered if he might be one too.

A wayward cousin or sibling maybe. Maybe he was a brother more into bad stuff than Nix! A good idea to stash away for now.

"What are you doing with that leaf anyway?"

Whatever it was hardly seemed any form of productive.

His sincerely posed question was met at first with a roll from blue-tinted eyes before a less than useful answer was given after this strange girl made herself comfortable near the creek his rump still remained planted within. Claw had no idea what exactly a Valle was and clearly, it seemed to have offended this Valle by not knowing.

"Playin, Valle." Claw retorted with a smidge of attitude to his voice as if what he was doing wasn't obvious enough, plopping his paw in the water in front of himself to splash about as another leaf floated past him. Having lost his only littermate at a young age due to being too weak to handle the rugged life their mother had chosen for them and not being exposed to others his age to socialize with, the dark-marbled boy had to use his imagination to come up with things to keep himself busy.

Playin'.

Uh-uh. Sure did look like bad play, but she kept that part to herself. Uncertain why he'd want to go splashing through the cold creek just for some leaves. They weren't even shiny! Not even fun like a bone or antler. She decided there was no way this lost boy was a Valle. Not smart enough, or good enough eyes for what things were fun.

"I got a better game in mind."

She didn't, not yet. However a lazy nature made her incredibly well fit to make things up on the fly. Always jumbling out lies or new ideas to make it seem like she had been thinking real hard about them.

And he'd be none the wiser!

"I got a better game in mind."

Claw scoffed internally for a moment. What could be more fun than what he was already doing? Of course, he could have done without the getting wet part, but that was neither here nor there. Although, the prospect of a new game was rather tempting to the young boy. It was in that moment that Claw contemplated his options. He could play his game still, or take this Valle up on her offer for something better, but something about admitting she might be right irked the boy for some reason. If there was one thing his mother had taught the boy, it was that he had to be smarter and stronger than others. At least that's what he too believed had allowed him to make it this far and not his sister.

And that's when the lightbulb turned on. He would agree to whatever better game she had in mind, but he'd have to make it sound like it was all his idea. Yeah, that'll work!

"Doubt it." Claw spoke, finally deciding he had enough of sitting in the water, and rose to his paws while giving his pelt a good shake before stepping out of the creek and back onto dry land. "What's this game called?"

(This post was last modified: Oct 03, 2022, 10:16 PM by Claw.)