Cut Rock River lilac daze

For any CRR wolf-- come play with little Karina!

These were the days Karina loved the most. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the sun was so high that its rays filtered through the cedarwood canopy and brightened Karina’s spot on the ground below. It was only on this sort of day that timid pup would even think about venturing out alone, and of course she was only a hop away from the den in which she was born. She was close enough to hear her family breathing inside while they napped, as her mother liked—perhaps Orren and Aleksei occasionally needed a firm reminder to stay near the den, but Karina took comfort being near Kisla. For a pup she was extraordinarily uncurious about the outside world, yearning for the days when she spent every moment curled up in the den with her family. She would most certainly have been there now if not for the entrancing, colorful, smelly toy that had recently appeared here right outside the den. The pup was currently fixated on the purple flower, batting at it occasionally to watch it swing back and forth.

When she first noticed the pretty toy outside the den, Mother had called it something, but the name had quickly slipped her mind. She called it the only word she knew for such a thing—a word that she and her siblings had learned quickly and used quite often. ”Mine,” she told the flower softly. ”Mine.” She rarely used her voice at all, preferring Aleksei to do her talking for her, but when she did speak her words and sentences were neat and coherent. No barely comprehensible, childish garble for this pup.

   

    
 

Since the birth Lachesis had busied himself with his medic duties; he was constantly searching for more herbs to add to his inventory, as he wanted to ensure he would be prepared for anything situation. His time within the Cut Rock dens was often brief, but XIX was sure to stop by his leaders’ den to check up on the pups. The presence of puppies often reminded him of when he had first arrived in Pitch Pine Trail and Anastasia had to tend to Shade Slayer’s motherless litter. It was strange to think how long ago it had been since he had asked Shade if he and his companion could join his band of rogues… so much had changed since then. Lachesis especially. He had molted into a completely different wolf, and was far more confident than the wolf who had arrived in Relic Lore many moons ago.

Some things had remained the same – he still shared a home with Capella, the Slayer children, and Naia, who had also been a part of Pitch Pine’s short life. The absence of Anastasia was the biggest change the slender medic had to endure, and was still struggling to cope with. His love for puppies had also not changed, and Lachesis could hardly contain his excitement at the thought of having puppies only a few paw steps away from his den.

It was the milk-laced scent that pulled XIX away from his duties. Without a second thought the young male redirected his route, his long legs carrying him quickly his leaders’ den. Outside sat a small, fluffy bundle of tawny fur observing a purple flower. A soft smile fell neatly across his maw as he approached, his pear-coloured gaze focused on her frail body. “What do you have there, Karina?” He greeted in a soft voice, his long tail wagging gently behind him as he sat down several steps away from her.

stick with those who stick with you

Karina looked up with a grin, searching for the source of the familiar voice. She barked with delight when her eyes fell on Lachesis, the wolf who had been her doctor since she was born. She wanted to yell out his name to him as she did with her father, Daddy! when Maksim appeared in their den but the medic’s name was so long that she had forgotten it. So she settled with just a bark, toddling over to lick Lachesis under his pale chin. He had asked her about what she was playing with, and she echoed the word ”What?” in response. She assumed the grown –up was asking her as part of a lesson and not simply to make conversation. Certainly Lachesis knew better than her the answer to his own question—she often saw him with a mouthful of smelly plants himself. So she answered him as a curious student might, waiting for him to inform her of what sort of plant she had found.

Now that the image of Lachesis the plant collector was in her mind, a worry sprouted up in her brain (as worries often did with this little pup). What if the medic wanted to collect her plant? What if he grabbed it up and took it away and ate it? Possessive, childish anger churned in her stomach as she thought of her brothers, who took from her and ate everything that was lovely. Pearly white animal bones, scraps of soft fur, plants with bright colors—they chewed up everything. Of course Karina chewed too, but she knew the difference between say, a gnarled old root and pretty purple flower. She ran back to her flower then, standing in front of it with suspicious blue eyes trained on the medic. ”Mine,” she said again, so softly that Lachesis might not even hear her.

The slender healer found puppies fascinating; he adored them and doted on them, but would always remain envious of them. His own puppyhood had been stolen from him. After XIX was born he had spent many months under the care of the two-legs, which had delayed his development considerably. Luckily he had been able to catch up quickly, or else Lachesis would still be stuck in his teenager mindset. He still occasionally fumbled, as he did not have the same upbringing as the wolves he encountered in Relic Lore, but he had improved drastically since first arriving.

His pale eyes continued to observe the small girl as she moved back to her flower, her movements frantic as though she was worried that Lachesis was going to take it from her. A soft, lazy smile was perched across his maw as he stretched his forelegs out so he could lay down. Although he could not quite make out the word that slipped off Karina’s tongue, XIX was positive that she had said ‘mine’ as her baby blues fell on his lanky body. He inched closer, his stomach still pressed against the ground, as he continued to observe the small child. “Pretty,” he commented once he ceased his movement. He kept a comfortable distance between them, as he did not want to startle Karina and cause her to run off. “May I see?” He asked, voice soft as he offered her a warm smile. He did not want to take it from her, he simply wanted to determine what type of flower it was.

Being a medic meant that XIX was a complete plant nerd, to put it simply. The long-legged youth enjoyed discovering new plants – especially ones that had a medical use. Even if they weren’t medicinal, Lachesis still enjoyed sifting through plants and seeing if he could recall their names.

stick with those who stick with you

”Pretty,” the medic commented, and Karina blinked. Yes, it was pretty, and it was hers. She fought the urge to grab the plant and run far, far away from the pale man. She had tried that before, hiding pretty plants in deep holes around the den. It never failed; every beautiful flower she had hidden this way had turned brown and withered when she dug it back up the next day. Beautiful plants only stayed beautiful if you left them out in the open where you found them. It was a strange and counterintuitive concept for Karina, who only felt safe underground in the dark, cozy den snuggled up with her family. Perhaps if she stayed out in the sun like the flower, she would become beautiful too.

Karina reluctantly moved aside at her elder’s request, still watching him with large, unblinking eyes. He was lying down and smiling... probably not an immediate threat to her flower. ”Be nice,” she said, finding the only words she knew to request that Lachesis not hurt the plant. They were the words her mother used when Orren bit too hard and Karina cried too loud. Though she had no problem talking to her siblings in jumbled puppy-garble, she had found that it was easier to communicate with adults if you parroted their own words and phrases. If Lachesis listened close he would likely hear Kisla’s tone and intonations in the pup’s spoken words. ”What?” she asked the man again, a little more insistently. Now that he had brought it up, she felt she had to know the name of her new treasure.

Her concern over the well-being of the plant reminded the slender healer of himself when he was close to her age. As soon as he was thrown out into the enclosure Lachesis had taken an immediate liking to all the fauna that resided within their fenced territory. His desperation to learn about the plants only increased as he grew, which fueled his desire to learn about their medicinal qualities. Luckily for Lachesis, his mother had been pursued the same passion when she was younger and was able to teach him everything she knew. Being able to heal others was one of the few things that the awkward, lanky youth was actually good at, and he took pride in his abilities. It was not a role commonly pursued by wolves, and Lachesis was proud to fill that role within Cut Rock River.

‘Be nice.’ A smile creased his maw at her words, and he nodded softly in response. He shuffled forward in order to get a closer look at the flower, although he already knew what kind it was. The spider-legged medic avoiding touching the flower, as he did not want to upset Karina and have her believe that he had damaged her treasure. The Cut Rock princess’ interest in the flower was most likely simple puppy curiosity, but XIX couldn’t help but hope that it would blossom into the same interest he had for plants. The idea of training another, like his mother had done, excited the medic – after all, someone would have to replace him eventually.

“It’s a lilac flower,” he answered in response to her question as he leaned back, away from the flower. “All yours,” he added with a wag of his tail, indicating for Karina to reach forward and retrieve her flower.

stick with those who stick with you

”Lilac flower,” Karina echoed with an air or reverence. When the medic told her that the flower was hers, she graced the man with one of her rare smiles. He nodded toward the plant as if she should take it, and the smile fell away as she turned toward the lilac with confusion. Perhaps Lachesis, who she often saw carting around all manner of strange plants, had learned how to take a flower home and preserve its beauty.. but every time Karina picked a flower it shriveled and turned brown. Even if she buried it again somewhere new. She stared at the lilac for a long moment, finally turning to the moonlight-pelted man with her decision. ”Yours,” she told him, giving away her treasure with a single word. Perhaps he would teach her his secret, and she would never have to worry about this flower or any other plant of hers withering ever again.

Excited by this notion, the pup began rolling around in the grass and barking, for all the world looking like she had forgotten she was in the presence of another. She paused her antics for a moment as she noticed a flash of yellow at the edge of her vision. Leaping to her feet, she stumbled over to her new attraction, attempting to focus her dizzy vision on the new plant. ”Whaaasiis?” she asked Lachesis, so wound up that she forgot to use her adult speech. She brought her face close to the dandelion, sniffing at the bright, golden flower. There were a few other curious flowers surrounding her yellow treasure—little puff balls as soft and pale as Lachesis’s fur. Karina sneezed, scattering the dandelion seeds into the wind, and she began barking with renewed excitement as the seeds took flight all around. "Lookiit! Deese ones fly!”

He couldn’t help but wonder if he had sounded similar to Karina when he had been her age. The slender medic couldn’t remember much from his childhood – most of it was spent in a cage in a bright white room with the two-legs poking and prodding at him. There had not been much talking; it wasn’t until he was fully released that he had begun to speak more. Luckily, his speech had developed quickly although it had been delayed, although he could not recall what he had sounded like.

As she repeated the new world Lachesis nodded encouragingly as a soft smile had fallen onto his maw. However, when she told him that the flower was now his XIX cocked his head in confusion – but he dared not argue with her. Arguing with puppies, especially over something so fickle, was pointless. “Thank you,” he responded with instead while flashing a warm smile; he would cherish it for her, as long as it remained full and vibrant. And then he would probably replace it, just to show Karina that he was caring for it.

Her attention wavered once more, and she began rolling around in the grass. The slender male couldn’t stop the chuckle from falling past his lips – he was bemused by her actions, and desperately wanted to know what was going on in her imaginative mind. As her focus was stolen once more, the small pup scrambled over to a new plant, her curiosity sparked as she asked him what this one was. Just as his mouth propped open into a small ‘o’ to speak, her frail voice called out once more after she had sneezed on a dandelion. “Those are dandelions,” he answered as he watched the seeds fly through the air, “and those are seeds. They will make more dandelions.” He knew that she wouldn’t fully understand what he was saying, but he didn’t care. XIX was just glad she was taking an interest in the plants, something that Lachesis was passionate about.

stick with those who stick with you

@Karina @Lachesis - hope you don't mind Aleksei barging in!

“Riiiiinaaaaa,” the soft voice of a young, rather sleepy sounding cub called out, “where you go?”

Aleksei plodded out of the mouth of his birth den, squinting into the light as he emerged and blinking rapidly. He had only just now noticed that, goodness, Karina wasn't by his side! The pup had fallen asleep alongside his siblings, with sister squished between brothers comfortably, and he had awoke to the lack of life beside him. If it were Orren who had run off, the eldest wouldn't have been so bothered—the middle born liked to charge off and leave their sister behind (which he felt was rather not-nice), so it'd be his own fault if he hurt himself or got into trouble with ma and pa!

There was barking—it sounded happy! Fun! Alek's puppy blue eyes danced around before falling on the figure of his youngest sibling—this filled him with relief—before noticing the figure of a larger wolf near her. It was Lachesis, the nice man who always smelt like outside and smelly stuff. Good smelly stuff! Tottering over, the eldest Baranski gave a yip. “Rina. Lah-chee,” he wasn't too great at names, yet, so two syllables would have to do. “Hi!”

Sniffing his sister's cheek and giving her a playful and loving nip, Aleksei looked up to Lachesis with a smile, as if to say “thank you for looking after her”. Returning his gaze to Karina, the boy tilted his head with an “ah-oo?”.

“Wha' doing?” He questioned his sibling and bonked her nose gently with his. “Tell?”

Somewhere in the back of her mind she heard the medic’s lesson about dandelions, but the floating seeds had captured her rapt attention. Most drifted down into the grass, but a few caught the breeze and rose up into the cedar branches. ”Seed! Seed! SeeEEEeed!” she shouted encouragement to the little wisps, enjoying how easy it was to say the word “seed”. When all the seeds had floated away, she turned back to the other grey-headed dandelions that were still intact-- but not for long. The blue-eyed pup lowered herself to the ground, stalking the flower the way she had seen Orren and Aleksei play. The hunting instinct didn’t seem to run as strong in the sister as the brothers, and it was the first time she had attempted to “stalk” anything. Once she was making the movements though, they felt right... the pup didn’t know it, but her actions were channeled through two million years of evolved instinct. She pounced on her target, barking happily as the seeds took to air.

Karina was usually opposed to attacking plants, but if Lachesis’s words were true then this one little dandelion would send its zillions of seeds away and make zillions of dandelions somewhere else. Karina hadn’t been taught her numbers yet, but she had come to the conclusions that spreading seeds around was a good thing. And if she kept some for herself.. that was probably okay too right? She began rolling on top of the haggard little weed, trying to stick the seeds to her pelt.

Karina jumped to her feet when she heard Aleksei’s voice. ”Lach—eee!” she echoed her brother, excited to finally remember the medic’s name. Aleksei nipped at her cheek and she ducked away giggling, giving him a playful pawswipe in return. His question reminded her of her latest endeavor, and she craned her neck to see if any seeds had attached to her pelt. ”Flyyying!” she answered, her face breaking into a grin. She had imagined that if she could collect enough seeds, they might make her into a dandelion like Lachesis had said. And then she would fly. She rubbed against Aleksei to give him some of the flying seeds, and then ran to Lachesis to do the same. ”We all seeed-es! We fly!” Lachesis was so smart, and he knew so many wonderful things about plants! After they were done flying today she would have to spend more time with him, and then he could teach her all of his plant magic.