Post by Pavane on Sept 2, 2010 12:39:07 GMT -5
Setting:
Cactus Patch - Mid Autumn (RL day 11)
Characters:
Niyt - Female Juvenile Wolf
Lexus - Male Wolf
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Lexus is on the hunt! He's sniffed out a rodent of some kind. Scent's a little old though so while he's being quiet as he's following the trail he's not in any rush so far. He's spent more time hunting than hanging around the pack lately, he's restless. His mind's elsewhere as he enters the cactus patch, not even noticing until more of them start to pop up and he nearly steps on a small one. He huffs at the little one after backing off to give it some room, like it's all it's fault.
In the time since Niyt's disappearance, things have settled down just enough that her parents are no longer constantly vigilant. Some days - like today - she can slip off without them noticing. It's a beautiful day for it, too, clear and bright and perfect for exploring. So that's what she's doing - with frequent pauses to listen to the wind, and sniff the air for interesting scents. She pauses near the cactus patch, peering at the vague shapes. Are those... trees? No, they can't be - this is the desert! But... they kind of look like it.
Lexus circumnavigates the little cactus and several larger ones with more care. Now is definitely not the time to let his mind wander among the clouds. He's forgotten his scent now though. An irritated sigh at himself and he shakes to wake himself up...which just means he's now in the middle of a cloud of dust that was formally hidden in his fur. Oh that's just trying his patience. He grumbles under his breath and resumes sniffing, working his way further into the patch.
Niyt squints at the shapes, but she can't quite make them out - at least, not from here. So she starts down towards them, at a cheerful trot that covers the ground pretty well, kicking up little puffs of dust as she gets closer. Maybe that dust is why she can't quite see them right - they're sort of foggy, even when she squints at them. She's just about to the first of them, though, so soon she'll be able to take a closer look!
Lexus is starting to get uncomfortable with the sheer amount of cacti! He's got the scent again but whatever that rodent is he's smart living in a place like this. Spiky plants on all sides...Lex starts to back up again, careful, careful. Now where did he come from? Er...That cactus looks familiar, maybe. He flops down into a sit. Drattit. Stupid hedgehog plants.
What are these things, anyhow? Niyt can see them, now that she's up close, but that doesn't answer her question - they're big, some of them - or small - like funny rocks, maybe? They're more like that than trees, anyhow... She leans in to a small one, sniffing curiously, and touches it with her nose - and then yelps! It bit her!
Lexus perks his ears and straightens. Was that a yelp? That sounded a lot like one of the pups yelping! He sure hopes one didn't follow him in. Or they could have run into one, or something worse! Or, or. The thought that he could be charging off to give a coyote or something the shock of it's life doesn't cross his mind. It's decided there's a pup in danger and his imagination's getting away from him. So that's why after only a split second to decide on the right direction, Lex charges. He dodges most, springing round them, not stopping even when he does hit one and making a good bit of noise in the process. He exits the cacti a dozen feet from Niyt, partially knocking down a cactus that wouldn't move out the way to let him through.
Niyt whines softly, pawing at her nose. She's too distracted by the stinging there to notice the sounds of Lexus charging through the cacti towards her at first - so when she finally does, the sound is right on top of her! Oh no - is this some sort of monster? Did she just wake it up... is it going to come eat her? She backs up a few steps, shaking her head from side to side as she tries to see what's going on, who's there - and whether it's something else that's going to hurt!
A second later and it is on top of her and it's growling too! Lexus has spotted her and with her looking scared he sprints over so far he may as well have come out of nowhere. He totally doesn't get that he's the scary thing so he's snarling at thin air, growling as he turns and tries to see whatever the threat is.
With her gaze all foggy from the pain, all Niyt can make out is that there's smething looming up at her! She yipes again - if she could scent her relative, she might realize the problem, but with her nose stung by that cactus, her sense of smell isn't helping out either! She scrambles back, half-falling into a little hole in the sand - the abandoned burrow of some mystery rodent, maybe - and then wriggling further into it with a whimper!
Lexus can't see anything out there, maybe it left? He doesn't see Niyt move but his ears pick up on something in the ground! Oh, and it's Niyt. He stops growling and does a quick look to either side, double checking before he leans down towards the pup "Niyt? You're alright, everything's safe now"
Niyt whimpers softly, cowering in the hole - the only monsters around are the ones in her imagination, and the rather unmoving ones of the cacti. Not that it's easy to convince a puppy of that! Her ears do perk at the sound of a familiar voice, though, her whine softening and going silent as she blinks again, trying to convince her eyes to clear enough to actually show her what her ears are telling her is there. "It... it bit me!"
Lexus gets a bit closer to sniff at her, well he doesn't really smell blood, the small amount he can smell he'd chalk up to him currently acting as a pincushion but he's trying not to think about that yet. He aims a few licks at her between words, all the while trying to find somewhere sensible to pull her back up out of the burrow "What bit you and where?"
Niyt slowly relaxes at the calming words and the licks. Her nose is starting to swell up a little - it's not a particularly bad prick, but anything at a sensitive spot like that is bound to cause a reaction. "It..." Yeah, what did bite her? Not that it was a bite, exactly, but that's the closest word she has... She starts trying to scramble out of the hole, paws raising more dust as she wriggles. "It got my nose. I was just trying to smell it..."
Lexus also starts to relax as she calms down. She's alright, that's good. His ears remain on the alert though as he tries to inspect her nose even is she is scrambling about. He can see a little lump where it's swollen up but it one, can't even see where it poked her. It doesn't look like any bite he's ever seen. He steps back a bit to let her get out while he sniffs at the air...nothing. Sniffs around at ground where Niyt was, still nothing. Sniffs around in a slightly wider circle and nearly walks into the exact same cactus. He quickly jerks backwards from it and gives it a little glare before the idea dawns on him "...Niyt, were you trying to sniff a cactus?"
Niyt manages to wriggle her way out of the hole - though her fur is coated with dust and dirt, all mussed up and out of place. She sniffs, just a little, and makes a half-voiced, 'Ow,' as it makes her nose sting. But it's not too bad, now... just enough that she won't make that mistake again in a hurry. She tilts her head to Lexus, padding forward a couple of steps. "A... cactus?" she asks back. "It... is that a cactus?" And she gives a little gesture with her nose towards.... yup, that very one.
Lexus moves back away from the cactus, they've poked him enough for one day "Yeah, that's a cactus. Some sort of weird hedgehog plant as far as I can tell. They hurt if you touch them that's all" he goes to give her another lick between the ears "You'll be fine" his slight words are slightly distracted. With the threat of mysterious danger no longer there he's relaxed and is starting to feel all those little spikes sticking in him, so he's trying not to move too much.
Niyt peers at the cactus again - but from a safe distance, this time. Some small part of her wants a closer look - the rest, though, is quite firm about wanting nothing of the sort! They might bite again, after all. She nods softly, looking up to her great-uncle... and splaying her ears as she catches the slight distraction, the odd look on his face. "Did... did they get you, too?"
Nope, staying still isn't really working "Just a few" Lexus replies. That's a few cacti too, there's a lot more spikes from the few he did his. His ears go back, staying still is definitely not solving the problem. He huffs, trying to make it sound just a little annoying more than anything "Just got to get them out" his calm words are a bit betrayed by his actions as he's quickly twisting about, trying to reach some on his shoulder then trying to scratch them out with his back paw and yelping when that accidentally angers a few on his side. They're ganging up on him!
Niyt gets wide-eyed as Lex writhes from the cacti spines - she knows just how much they hurt, after all! And... it's her fault he got stuck with them, too... if she hadn't been wandering out here, she wouldn't have run into one and yelped to summon him. Well... maybe she can do something about it. He can't reach right - but she can... maybe if she can get her teeth around the spines, tug them out... She has to at least try! "Hold still!" she barks, sounding for a moment somewhat older than her half a year.
Lexus tries to get out the ones in his side and that time he succeeds with a couple, with just accidentally poking himself in the cheek with one and then stepping on another when he finally gets it out. He hears her, it's just hard to stop, little voice in his mind says calm too though so he must be calm. He manages to keep mostly still as he gets the spike back out of his paw.
Okay, so these things are sharp, but... only at the tips. So if she can just snag one around the side... When the bigger wolf is busy extracting one from his paw, Niyt leans up - there's one she can see, right next to the ones Lexus got out, and she lifts up her muzzle towards it, drawing her lips back like she's snarling to snag it, very carefully, with her teeth and give a little pull...
Lexus gets even stiller as Niyt takes the thing and he stares at her, watching very closely. His ears twitch as it does still hurt a bit but it doesn't result in him just poking himself more. He tries to just relax and let her do it. It takes some effort but he's trying.
Niyt works with almost exaggerated care - but she doesn't want to get stabbed again! Or hurt Lexus any more than she has to, to get this out. She's got the right general idea of how to do it, and the spine tugs out with a little twinge - better than when it went in, though, not that Lexus noticed that under the adrenaline - and she takes it over a couple steps to drop it down into the burrow, where it won't get stepped on.
The mysterious rodent won't be very happy when it gets home tonight! Tracked by a wolf only to get back to it's burrow to discover the wolves have been there, messed with the entrance and then filled it with cactus spines! Lexus expression shows his impressed, he never thought of putting the things anywhere. He quietly lets her work as he controls his few little twitches of discomfort. Soon as she's done with one bit he moves to let her get to another and another and finally all that's left is a couple by one of his ears. He definitely still has lots of little painful spots and now lumps too but it's dulling and better without the spikes. He carefully lies down to let her reach the last ones.
Niyt keeps working - it's slow, being this careful, but her nose is still throbbing to remind her why she needs to be! A more experienced wolf could probably do this faster and better, but sometimes, you've just gotta make do with what you've got. That rodent's definitely not going to be happy - but then, living this close to the cacti, it's probably pretty used to spines, if not ones put right into the burrow. But they're out of the way of anyone Niyt cares about, in there, and so that's good enough by her! The last couple of spines, right by the ear, require even more care than the rest - ears are sensitive things! She already knows one wolf with them all torn-up... she doesn't want another! They take slow tugging, with little pauses when it turns out to be too sensitive for Lex to avoid twitching a bit, before she finally gets those out as well.
Lexus' ears twitch like crazy no matter how much he tries to be still! He starts considering that it might be better to leave them there instead. Then they're out, good...it feels like they're all gone. While she's dumping the last one down the hole he experimentally rolls over, stretches and finally springs back onto his feet. Yeah it hurts but it's a relief compared to earlier "Much better!" he declares, wagging. Everything still seems in working condition anyway "How's your nose?"
Niyt gives it a little wiggle. She'd nearly forgotten about it, in the intense focus of trying to get all those spines out - now that she's thinking about it again, yeah, it hurts... just a little, though. Enough to make sure she won't forget that lesson anytime soon. "Much better!" she repeats, wagging her tail back.
Lexus leans forwards and down to aim a final quick lick between her ears "Cacti are evil. Come on, we'll get away from them and, er, hopefully your nose stops being all swollen before your parents see it"
Niyt smiles at the lick, and nods. Oh, she hadn't even thought about her parents' response to her getting scratched up! She definitely hopes that cactus-prick swelling doesn't last long... or they'll never let her go off exploring again. "Let's take the long way back... okay?" she says, smiling up at Lexus - not that more time spent wandering with him isn't fun on its own merits, too!
Lexus isn't too keen on being seen and thought of as silly enough to charge through cacti either. He chuckles "Yeah, the long way sounds good. Maybe we can catch something to distract them" made even longer because he's trying not to anger his lumps and walking at a very relaxed pace as he leads them off on the scenic route.
Cactus Patch - Mid Autumn (RL day 11)
Characters:
Niyt - Female Juvenile Wolf
Lexus - Male Wolf
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Lexus is on the hunt! He's sniffed out a rodent of some kind. Scent's a little old though so while he's being quiet as he's following the trail he's not in any rush so far. He's spent more time hunting than hanging around the pack lately, he's restless. His mind's elsewhere as he enters the cactus patch, not even noticing until more of them start to pop up and he nearly steps on a small one. He huffs at the little one after backing off to give it some room, like it's all it's fault.
In the time since Niyt's disappearance, things have settled down just enough that her parents are no longer constantly vigilant. Some days - like today - she can slip off without them noticing. It's a beautiful day for it, too, clear and bright and perfect for exploring. So that's what she's doing - with frequent pauses to listen to the wind, and sniff the air for interesting scents. She pauses near the cactus patch, peering at the vague shapes. Are those... trees? No, they can't be - this is the desert! But... they kind of look like it.
Lexus circumnavigates the little cactus and several larger ones with more care. Now is definitely not the time to let his mind wander among the clouds. He's forgotten his scent now though. An irritated sigh at himself and he shakes to wake himself up...which just means he's now in the middle of a cloud of dust that was formally hidden in his fur. Oh that's just trying his patience. He grumbles under his breath and resumes sniffing, working his way further into the patch.
Niyt squints at the shapes, but she can't quite make them out - at least, not from here. So she starts down towards them, at a cheerful trot that covers the ground pretty well, kicking up little puffs of dust as she gets closer. Maybe that dust is why she can't quite see them right - they're sort of foggy, even when she squints at them. She's just about to the first of them, though, so soon she'll be able to take a closer look!
Lexus is starting to get uncomfortable with the sheer amount of cacti! He's got the scent again but whatever that rodent is he's smart living in a place like this. Spiky plants on all sides...Lex starts to back up again, careful, careful. Now where did he come from? Er...That cactus looks familiar, maybe. He flops down into a sit. Drattit. Stupid hedgehog plants.
What are these things, anyhow? Niyt can see them, now that she's up close, but that doesn't answer her question - they're big, some of them - or small - like funny rocks, maybe? They're more like that than trees, anyhow... She leans in to a small one, sniffing curiously, and touches it with her nose - and then yelps! It bit her!
Lexus perks his ears and straightens. Was that a yelp? That sounded a lot like one of the pups yelping! He sure hopes one didn't follow him in. Or they could have run into one, or something worse! Or, or. The thought that he could be charging off to give a coyote or something the shock of it's life doesn't cross his mind. It's decided there's a pup in danger and his imagination's getting away from him. So that's why after only a split second to decide on the right direction, Lex charges. He dodges most, springing round them, not stopping even when he does hit one and making a good bit of noise in the process. He exits the cacti a dozen feet from Niyt, partially knocking down a cactus that wouldn't move out the way to let him through.
Niyt whines softly, pawing at her nose. She's too distracted by the stinging there to notice the sounds of Lexus charging through the cacti towards her at first - so when she finally does, the sound is right on top of her! Oh no - is this some sort of monster? Did she just wake it up... is it going to come eat her? She backs up a few steps, shaking her head from side to side as she tries to see what's going on, who's there - and whether it's something else that's going to hurt!
A second later and it is on top of her and it's growling too! Lexus has spotted her and with her looking scared he sprints over so far he may as well have come out of nowhere. He totally doesn't get that he's the scary thing so he's snarling at thin air, growling as he turns and tries to see whatever the threat is.
With her gaze all foggy from the pain, all Niyt can make out is that there's smething looming up at her! She yipes again - if she could scent her relative, she might realize the problem, but with her nose stung by that cactus, her sense of smell isn't helping out either! She scrambles back, half-falling into a little hole in the sand - the abandoned burrow of some mystery rodent, maybe - and then wriggling further into it with a whimper!
Lexus can't see anything out there, maybe it left? He doesn't see Niyt move but his ears pick up on something in the ground! Oh, and it's Niyt. He stops growling and does a quick look to either side, double checking before he leans down towards the pup "Niyt? You're alright, everything's safe now"
Niyt whimpers softly, cowering in the hole - the only monsters around are the ones in her imagination, and the rather unmoving ones of the cacti. Not that it's easy to convince a puppy of that! Her ears do perk at the sound of a familiar voice, though, her whine softening and going silent as she blinks again, trying to convince her eyes to clear enough to actually show her what her ears are telling her is there. "It... it bit me!"
Lexus gets a bit closer to sniff at her, well he doesn't really smell blood, the small amount he can smell he'd chalk up to him currently acting as a pincushion but he's trying not to think about that yet. He aims a few licks at her between words, all the while trying to find somewhere sensible to pull her back up out of the burrow "What bit you and where?"
Niyt slowly relaxes at the calming words and the licks. Her nose is starting to swell up a little - it's not a particularly bad prick, but anything at a sensitive spot like that is bound to cause a reaction. "It..." Yeah, what did bite her? Not that it was a bite, exactly, but that's the closest word she has... She starts trying to scramble out of the hole, paws raising more dust as she wriggles. "It got my nose. I was just trying to smell it..."
Lexus also starts to relax as she calms down. She's alright, that's good. His ears remain on the alert though as he tries to inspect her nose even is she is scrambling about. He can see a little lump where it's swollen up but it one, can't even see where it poked her. It doesn't look like any bite he's ever seen. He steps back a bit to let her get out while he sniffs at the air...nothing. Sniffs around at ground where Niyt was, still nothing. Sniffs around in a slightly wider circle and nearly walks into the exact same cactus. He quickly jerks backwards from it and gives it a little glare before the idea dawns on him "...Niyt, were you trying to sniff a cactus?"
Niyt manages to wriggle her way out of the hole - though her fur is coated with dust and dirt, all mussed up and out of place. She sniffs, just a little, and makes a half-voiced, 'Ow,' as it makes her nose sting. But it's not too bad, now... just enough that she won't make that mistake again in a hurry. She tilts her head to Lexus, padding forward a couple of steps. "A... cactus?" she asks back. "It... is that a cactus?" And she gives a little gesture with her nose towards.... yup, that very one.
Lexus moves back away from the cactus, they've poked him enough for one day "Yeah, that's a cactus. Some sort of weird hedgehog plant as far as I can tell. They hurt if you touch them that's all" he goes to give her another lick between the ears "You'll be fine" his slight words are slightly distracted. With the threat of mysterious danger no longer there he's relaxed and is starting to feel all those little spikes sticking in him, so he's trying not to move too much.
Niyt peers at the cactus again - but from a safe distance, this time. Some small part of her wants a closer look - the rest, though, is quite firm about wanting nothing of the sort! They might bite again, after all. She nods softly, looking up to her great-uncle... and splaying her ears as she catches the slight distraction, the odd look on his face. "Did... did they get you, too?"
Nope, staying still isn't really working "Just a few" Lexus replies. That's a few cacti too, there's a lot more spikes from the few he did his. His ears go back, staying still is definitely not solving the problem. He huffs, trying to make it sound just a little annoying more than anything "Just got to get them out" his calm words are a bit betrayed by his actions as he's quickly twisting about, trying to reach some on his shoulder then trying to scratch them out with his back paw and yelping when that accidentally angers a few on his side. They're ganging up on him!
Niyt gets wide-eyed as Lex writhes from the cacti spines - she knows just how much they hurt, after all! And... it's her fault he got stuck with them, too... if she hadn't been wandering out here, she wouldn't have run into one and yelped to summon him. Well... maybe she can do something about it. He can't reach right - but she can... maybe if she can get her teeth around the spines, tug them out... She has to at least try! "Hold still!" she barks, sounding for a moment somewhat older than her half a year.
Lexus tries to get out the ones in his side and that time he succeeds with a couple, with just accidentally poking himself in the cheek with one and then stepping on another when he finally gets it out. He hears her, it's just hard to stop, little voice in his mind says calm too though so he must be calm. He manages to keep mostly still as he gets the spike back out of his paw.
Okay, so these things are sharp, but... only at the tips. So if she can just snag one around the side... When the bigger wolf is busy extracting one from his paw, Niyt leans up - there's one she can see, right next to the ones Lexus got out, and she lifts up her muzzle towards it, drawing her lips back like she's snarling to snag it, very carefully, with her teeth and give a little pull...
Lexus gets even stiller as Niyt takes the thing and he stares at her, watching very closely. His ears twitch as it does still hurt a bit but it doesn't result in him just poking himself more. He tries to just relax and let her do it. It takes some effort but he's trying.
Niyt works with almost exaggerated care - but she doesn't want to get stabbed again! Or hurt Lexus any more than she has to, to get this out. She's got the right general idea of how to do it, and the spine tugs out with a little twinge - better than when it went in, though, not that Lexus noticed that under the adrenaline - and she takes it over a couple steps to drop it down into the burrow, where it won't get stepped on.
The mysterious rodent won't be very happy when it gets home tonight! Tracked by a wolf only to get back to it's burrow to discover the wolves have been there, messed with the entrance and then filled it with cactus spines! Lexus expression shows his impressed, he never thought of putting the things anywhere. He quietly lets her work as he controls his few little twitches of discomfort. Soon as she's done with one bit he moves to let her get to another and another and finally all that's left is a couple by one of his ears. He definitely still has lots of little painful spots and now lumps too but it's dulling and better without the spikes. He carefully lies down to let her reach the last ones.
Niyt keeps working - it's slow, being this careful, but her nose is still throbbing to remind her why she needs to be! A more experienced wolf could probably do this faster and better, but sometimes, you've just gotta make do with what you've got. That rodent's definitely not going to be happy - but then, living this close to the cacti, it's probably pretty used to spines, if not ones put right into the burrow. But they're out of the way of anyone Niyt cares about, in there, and so that's good enough by her! The last couple of spines, right by the ear, require even more care than the rest - ears are sensitive things! She already knows one wolf with them all torn-up... she doesn't want another! They take slow tugging, with little pauses when it turns out to be too sensitive for Lex to avoid twitching a bit, before she finally gets those out as well.
Lexus' ears twitch like crazy no matter how much he tries to be still! He starts considering that it might be better to leave them there instead. Then they're out, good...it feels like they're all gone. While she's dumping the last one down the hole he experimentally rolls over, stretches and finally springs back onto his feet. Yeah it hurts but it's a relief compared to earlier "Much better!" he declares, wagging. Everything still seems in working condition anyway "How's your nose?"
Niyt gives it a little wiggle. She'd nearly forgotten about it, in the intense focus of trying to get all those spines out - now that she's thinking about it again, yeah, it hurts... just a little, though. Enough to make sure she won't forget that lesson anytime soon. "Much better!" she repeats, wagging her tail back.
Lexus leans forwards and down to aim a final quick lick between her ears "Cacti are evil. Come on, we'll get away from them and, er, hopefully your nose stops being all swollen before your parents see it"
Niyt smiles at the lick, and nods. Oh, she hadn't even thought about her parents' response to her getting scratched up! She definitely hopes that cactus-prick swelling doesn't last long... or they'll never let her go off exploring again. "Let's take the long way back... okay?" she says, smiling up at Lexus - not that more time spent wandering with him isn't fun on its own merits, too!
Lexus isn't too keen on being seen and thought of as silly enough to charge through cacti either. He chuckles "Yeah, the long way sounds good. Maybe we can catch something to distract them" made even longer because he's trying not to anger his lumps and walking at a very relaxed pace as he leads them off on the scenic route.