Post by avalikia on Jan 17, 2010 22:48:09 GMT -5
Characters:
Ojalo - Male Elk
Niabi - Female Elk
Frond - Female Elk
Catori - Female Elk
Roscoe - Male Whitetail Deer
Aylen - Female Elk Calf (NPC)
Setting:
Trickling River
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Well what a surprise, two cows in one spot and Ojalo smiles wide, hiding it shortly after as he nears the river. He comes in slow gaze toward the ground but also upwards not just to see where he's going but to see where exactly the cows where. Hearing his name the bull stops for a moment, "Hello Frond." It hasn't been that long and yet he seems to already know her voice. "Niabi too, if I am not mistaken." Could of sworn he herd her voice as he was coming in.
Niabi smiles and visibly relaxes when she spots Ojalo. "Yes! Good to see you again so soon," she replies, "I seem to have found everyone else." And that 'everyone else' includes new faces makes her even happier. Aylen, on the other hand, suddenly ducks fully behind Niabi again; she'd only just started warming up to Frond, and the arrival of someone else it too much!
Frond says, "Good evening, Ojalo. How has your day been?"
How has his day been, where should he begin. A light smile to Niabi, "Thats good; all went well I assume." Of course they did, why wouldn't they. Turning to Frond, who happens to be the easiest to see at the moment and comes up with some sort of answer to her question. "It has been tiresome." Oh wow, thats real interesting. "How about yours, good I hope?" While he waits for an answer he dips his head to the waters where he now stands. A drink at least.
"Of course," is Niabi's only reply, because after that she takes a moment to fuss over Aylen again. Just because she's patient with her offspring doesn't mean that she isn't eager for her to be over this phase. After that she's content to watch the exchange between Frond and Ojalo, her thoughts hidden by a passive expression.
Frond says, "Its been going well ... I actually haven't seen you in a few days. My hoof is well on the mend, thanks to Catori." She pauses. "Niabi mentioned there are actually whitetailed deer in this ... herd of ours?" she asks.
It isn't /too/ drastically long before the cow in question returns to the other two cows, and the added on Ojalo. In between her muzzle are a few random herbs, some for stress, some for antiseptics, some for inflammation.. the only thing that they all have in common is that Catori found them all by herself, knowing the purposes of each and every one of them. Quite proud of herself for this, the prance in her step is easily explained as she trots back triumphantly, ears perked forward and tail flicking happily behind her.
Ojalo thought he mentions that, oh well. "Yes, many in fact." He actually lost count if that gives and indication. "I would not be surprised if you have not run into one of them already." If she has not, he is sure that will change soon enough. Saying this after he had gotten a drink, the bull steps back, a light shake of his head trying to ward off the urge to just flops down right where he stands.
Niabi is about to comment more on the whitetails, but Catori's arrival interrupts her thoughts. "Hey, good job!" Niabi compliments when she sees what Catori is carrying. As she recalls, Catori didn't know much of anything about herbs when she'd left, but it seems that someone's picked up a new skill while she was away and Niabi couldn't be more pleased by that.
Frond shakes her head. "I haven't seen them ... I guess the herd isn't really together." Her ears flit and perk as she hears more hoofsteps approaching. She smiles warmly as Niabi puts a name to the hoofsteps before Frond can even see her. "Good evening, Catori," she says.
Ojalo is pretty much in his own little world at this point, managing to catch Catori by chance as he looking over and down the way. He'd muster a smile but he doesn't, instead slowly drops himself to the ground. 'Oh, hello ground' passes through his head as he shuffles about some trying to get comfortable.
Call it vanity, but Catori is a bit disappointed in the lack of.. well, recognition by the only male in the area. A frown appears, and she lowers her head to put the herbs on the ground. The frown remains longer than she wants it to, and she forces a grin to both the cows. "Oh, yeah. Thanks." She said, and nodded her head. "That's all for you, Frond. Gnaw on that stuff for a while, and you'll feel better." She said, and let out a tired-sounding sigh.
Niabi frowns; first at Frond's saying aloud what she's been suspecting about the relationship between the two halves of the herd, then at Ojalo's tiredness, then at Catori's frown. Privately she blames all three of those things on herself, but outwardly she eases the frown away. So, what should she do first? "Are you okay, Ojalo?" she asks, walking towards him while Aylen struggles to keep Niabi between herself and all three other elk.
Frond canters over to Catori and nuzzles her. "I really, really appreciate all the work you've been doing for me, to help me recover from my own stupid clumsiness." She grooms her herd sister's neckruff a bit before nibbling at the herbs. She doesn't know what's going on between Ojalo and Catori, but ... disharmony isn't good, especially when the elk are so few as it is.
Who's to say that anything is going on.. right now, however, Ojalo could care less whats running through the minds of others, he can't even figure out whats going through his own at the moment. Eyes drooped, he looks up as if to say 'I wasn't sleeping, really.' when Niabi speaks out to him. "Oh." He smiles innocently toward her. "Heh, yea. Just been a long day." he says, "I think I've circled the area at least five times hoping something new would show up but.." he shrugs taking in a deep breath, "..nothing." In a way it was a good thing; the four of them didn't need the trouble.
As far as Catori is concerned, there's nothing going on with her and Ojalo. He's just another stubborn male who she'd rather not deal with now that she has the much preferred social company of other cows. In fact, she doesn't even bother greeting him. He was obviously tired, and pretty obviously didn't want to talk to her. Still, she did feel a little twinge of disappointment. They had gotten along so well before everyone else showed up.. or so she thought. Unless it was just him forcing a pleasant attitude. With her ears lowering, Catori blinked, and nodded at Frond. "It's not a problem.." She said, tiredly, and took a step away.
"As soon as Aylen's okay enough with someone else that they can watch her for me, I'm going to be helping you patrol," is Niabi's reply, an unspoken 'and you're not going to change my mind' implied by her tone. After all, she did it before she left, and she'll do it again if Ojalo's going to exhaust himself otherwise. She also makes a mental note to have a nice, long talk with him too; it's suddenly become apparent to her that they need to talk over some things that they both don't really want to talk about. But perhaps that can wait until after she's done assuring all of her other friends of her continued existence.
Frond flits her tail a bit, looking after Catori, noticing her step away. She hopes her herd sister won't disappear for a couple days again ... she doesn't like being left alone anymore, because when she's alone, she's alone with her thoughts ... and whenever she's alone with her thoughts, the memories that come to mind are not pleasant. The real newcomer of the herd isn't sure what's going on, aside from whatever it is, the herd is not in harmony.
Well there a sign of relief if he knew one. Ojalo didn't mind doing the patrols by himself but he wasn't going to stop Niabi from taking some of the weight off his antlers either. "Then I welcome you to join me when that time comes." Turning away from Niabi some now, he looks over to the others; he didn't mean to actually neglect them when he arrived, he just wanted to settle himself first. "Everything alright Catori?" He says suddenly having noticed her frown.
Catori's head turns back at everyone, having taken a step away from everyone beforehand, wanting to take a walk further up stream or somewhere around there. Walks around the river had always been a pastime of hers, whether she was upset or not. Why she was upset was silly, and she blamed it on pre-rut ..jealousies, or something. The rut was rather long off, but it was still on her mind. Flicking her ears forward again, she shakes her head, and chuckles nervously. "No, no. I'm fine." She said, and smiled broadly. "Just.. I think I'll go have a walk." She nodded, and picked up her pace as she began to trot away from everyone again, though she stayed within sight. She wasn't in a hurry, by any means.
Pleased that Ojalo wasn't going to argue about it, Niabi finds herself passively observing her herdmates interact with eachother. She'd been gone a rather long time, after all, and things change. And it didn't help that she had the feeling that some of her herdmates weren't being completely honest with the others. Could turn into just the sort of complicated mess that she'd rather avoid, especially in such a small herd. Something must be Done. But for the moment she shakes her head and says, "Same old Catori."
Frond starts walking after Catori, but ... doesn't know if that meant she wanted no company or what. The elk winds up turning away before going all the way down Catori's path, and just starts pacing around in a large circle. She looks between Ojalo and Niabi. "Shouldn't we stick together?" she finally asks aloud, nervousness back in her voice, almost as strong as when Ojalo and Catori first encountered her just after her very hoof-biting escape from that cougar.
Ojalo nods slowly to her words, not really sure he believes them but decides to the question her. "Would seem so." He echos in with Niabi. "Please do be careful out there Catori." He says showing that he does indeed care for her safety.
Not bothering to look back at any of them, Catori's pace quickens, and she speaks up before she is completely out of their sight, "Yeah, yeah I know. I can take care of myself." The words weren't meant to be rude or anything like that; she could! She'd done it for a long time. Though she /preferred/ company, she didn't /need/ them. Not on her walks, anyway. Muttering a few things under her breath that were meant for Catori's ears only, she soon faded off into the distance, to be back sooner or later.
Seeing Frond's nervousness, Niabi tries to show her that it isn't necessary by showing the cow how completely unconcerned about it she is. "Oh, of course we /should/ stick together, but who's going to force her to stay if she wants to take a walk by herself? I'm not. In fact, I've been known to break that rule myself more than I should. But odds are she'll be back, safe and sound," she says, before adding much more quietly, "And probably in a much better mood too."
Frond snorts. "Maybe ... but I feel less safe with fewer around," she complains. The cow is again nervous, but remembering Niabi's foal, she tries to force herself to look less nervous ... doesn't work perfectly, of course, because she still feels nervous. She tries distracting herself by nibbling on a nearby alder sapling's leaves.
Ojalo can hope Niabi's words to be right. As silence takes him, he watches the cow depart until he can no longer see her, then looks away toward the others. "That is not a bad thing Frond." He suddenly says tilting his head some for a moment then straightening it. "Being in a herd means strength and protection, so it is only right to feel safer amongst the many."
Fortunately, Aylen doesn't appear to take any notice of Frond's worry. Actually, the calf seems relieved that there are now two not-moms instead of three. "Well, I count as ten, so there's nothing to worry about," Niabi says confidently, "Five because I know how to fight, and five because I'm a mother with a calf to protect. Nothing would dare mess with me." Hey, if she can inject a little humor into this to lighten the mood, she will. And if she can't, she'll try.
Frond would argue with that, given her sister, mother and aunts all fell to hungry cougars who were actually hunting cooperatively ... but she thinks better of mentioning that in front of the calf, and knows the last thing the herd needs is an argument to further fracture the harmony. Instead, she paces over to Ojalo and stands near the bull, not sure what to say or not say next.
Ojalo has pretty much gone to watching now, cracking a smile to Niabi's self-proclaimed number. Being the male of the group he was clearly the highest, but he keeps that to himself, he'll let her have her moment. Keeping an eye on Frond as she moves over to him; something he's not quite understood just yet, he raises a brow. With her silence he returns it.
From the thick cover of the glade to the open breeze of the river, Roscoe enters the area with a bit of shock. The wind had been against him this entire way, having only faintly smelled a few oddities in the area. Then again, with his reputation of not getting enough sleep, he could've just completely missed their scent all together. Either way, the large buck, though small in comparison to the gigantic Elk scattered about the river bank makes his way slowly but proudly over to them, a smile given. Not forced. One of them is easily recognizable, and he is thrilled to see her alive and well. "Niabi," he calls out calmly, and flicks his ears forward, regarding the rest with a respectful nod of his head, his velvet-covered antlers dipping and then jabbing the air again. "It's very nice to see you again.. you had us all worried sick." He said, and his crimson eyes drifted down to see the calf. Was it hers? He blinked, and then looked over to the bull in the area, his smile faltering just a bit at the sight of the larger, more dominant, more capable male. For a moment, he fell silent.
Well, that didn't go as well as she'd hoped, but it was worth a shot, right? And in the silence she's not sure what to do. Fortunately, the arrival of a certain buck solves that problem for her, "Yes, I've only just returned. I was planning on tracking you down - are you still mostly at the glade?" Niabi looks extremely pleased to see Roscoe, perhaps more than he'd expect, and she's quick to add, "This is my daughter Aylen." She's about to go on when she notices how Roscoe looks at Ojalo. Hmm, this could be interesting! Aylen for her part continues to cling to Niabi, but she looks marginally less scared and more curious about him that she was of the others. Is she getting used to meeting new deer or is it something else?
Frond is out of place here, as she only just found out there even were white-tails in the herd ... and hasn't a clue who this fellow is. Sensing discord between buck and bull, the new cow in the herd scoots away and shoes herself over near Niabi. She flits her tail and ears nervously.
One can never get any rest around here can they. Minding his own business, Ojalo only picks up that something is amiss when everyone starts giving a strange look toward him and... Following their gaze, ears flicking to the sound of another's voice, and a males at that, he turns the very moment Niabi speaks and it sounds very much so that she knows him. Turning and taking eye of the Buck he follows the same silence that is given to him. So this is the leader buck of the whitetail; to think they are only meeting now. Still remaining on the ground for the time being the bull surely looked like nothing to bother with even though he was clearly larger than the male standing before them.
Clearing his throat at the lack of response from the other male, Roscoe rose a brow rather judgmentally, and looked back to the calf before him, who had taken a slight interest in him. The new fawns on his side of the forest liked to sniff at him as well, for some reason. A light chuckle is given, and he nods. "Nice to meet you then, Aylen." He says, and looks over to the other cow. He knew that he didn't know her.. probably. Maybe. Niabi had another female with her at times that he'd never bothered to meet properly, so he didn't know, and nor did he care much if this was the one from before. Simply nodding in her direction, he looks back to the familiar female Elk, and takes to conversing with her instead. "Yes, the glade is our main territory." He says, and thinks about it for a moment. "Though, there have been quite a few new Whitetails in the area, and the herd's territory has expanded. It now goes into the woods, the forest, giving us both better access to each other in case of an emergency." Coughing a bit, the Prince took another brief look over at the bull, and blinked. Saying nothing to the other male, he just flicked his ears and tail once more, the awkward silence consuming yet again.
Though she listens to what Roscoe is saying, Niabi's paying far more attention to how the two males are reacting to eachother. Carefully keeping her expression neutral, because it's trying hard not to be at this point, Niabi turns to the cow beside her, "This is Frond," she introduces with a nod, "And have you met Ojalo?" Roscoe doesn't know it yet, but if the answer to that question is 'no' then, well... Aylen does her best to investigate the buck while remaining well behind Niabi, which is an interesting feat to watch.
Frond stays close to Niabi, bows a bit as she introduces her to the buck whose name she doesn't yet know.
To Ojalo, silence allowed observation; it helped him learn about the things one would ordinarily miss by lending ones voice. He didn't talk much and when he did was stern and meaningful. He made it a point to know all he could before actually opening his mouth and making a fool of himself. As he did watch, and Roscoe's attention does shift for a moment to the cows, Ojalo makes to a stand. When he is looked to once more he doesn't even now he just says, "No, though I am certain it is an honor to be doing so." It was certainly for him.
"Frond?" He questioned, and nodded. "Well then, nice to meet you, Frond." This one was not the one he'd heard about. The name was wrong, that much he knew. Shaking his head a bit at Niabi's second question, the buck lifts his head a bit higher, stands up straighter, and attempts to puff his chest out conspicuously to look at least as big as he can. Among Whitetails, he is a giant. Among Elk, even among the female Elk, he was dwarfed. It was downright embarrassing. With his ears folding back in his vanity-induced turmoil, Roscoe blinks, and forces a polite grin. "Ojalo.." he begins, searching for the right words. "An.. honor to meet you as well." There! A bit of a stumble, but he did just fine.
"No," Niabi repeats, then she goes silent for a moment and allowing the two males to greet eachother, but during that moment she allows the anger inside of her to boil to he surface and, though she doesn't raise her voice even slightly, her tone makes it clear that she is Not Happy. "That's strange, because in my absence he has taken upon himself the responsibility of watching over the elk. Certainly you'd have noticed that I went missing, and if you'd cared at all for the safety of the elk, you would have at least looked in on them and would have met him. Instead it seems that your only care has been for your own kind. I certainly was not that way, as I'm sure you well remember, and I expected more of you." Having said that, Niabi goes silent in order to allow anyone who wants to respond to that to do so; while she feels she's got something to be upset about, it's not like she's going to say all that and not give Roscoe the chance to defend his actions. And, if he feels the need, to question hers.
Frond stamps a forehoof in frustration, turning to Niabi. "Dammit, isn't /he/ the one who came /here/ while /we/ sit here and don't talk to /them/?" she asks. "And why the heck hasn't anyone decided his name was important enough to mention to me?" The cow is upset. She knows she just stepped way over the line, being the new recruit and on bottom-rung, but ... this drama and tension was making her angry. They needed to bring the herd together, not keep pointing hooves at each other and refusing to get along!
And he didn't even have to think on that one.. then again Roscoe could of just been being nice. Watching the buck buff himself out, he to try not to leak a smirk; it was actually kind of amusing. Taking a few steps forward, Ojalo stops suddenly as if Niabi's words were a form of binding. Looking to her, she did have a point, but in truth he took up the responsibility on his own. "You sound as if we need them..." Course he means nothing by that and knows Niabi would never insinuate such a thing but to him thats what it sounds like. "Though he should have helped, it is clear that his assistance was not needed." The Elk are few, and Ojalo certainly had things looked after. Hearing Frond next, he looks to her a tad amazed. Indeed the bucks name was not mentioned. "Frond, your concerns are noted, but truly now is not the time to raise your voice. There are other means of filling your inquiry."
Hm. So much for friendliness. And here he was, trying. So much for that. Rolling his eyes at the comment that Niabi spat at him, the buck narrows his eyes and glares up at her. "You should know that not everyone shares your compassion, or your pity." Taking a step forward, he continues to glare, and looks to Frond only briefly, with a mere amount of surprise across his features.. but it didn't help. The fact that he was supposedly responsible for the Elk as well was absurd. Whitetails didn't care for Elk. They didn't herd together. The only reason he'd even accepted Niabi's help formerly to begin with was because as far as he knew, there was only one of her, and about four Whitetails. Plus, she knew medicine. In a way, he was just using her talents. He cared about the Elk minimally. Roscoe's concerns were on the Whitetails, just as their concerns were on the Elk. Letting out a scoff at Ojalo's comment, he smirks a big smugly. "We've done just fine without the Elk as well. Better, in fact." Turning on his hind legs, the buck had just about enough of the brutish Elk. So what if they were larger? No brains, all brawn, as far as he was concerned.
Thrown off by the outburst from, of all elk, Frond, Niabi mutters meekly, "I've scarcely had time to get here, let alone get to the glade, and I was planning on going there next. And I'm kind of traveling with a calf. And his name is Roscoe." As far as Niabi is concerned, it's every elk's place to say what they think whenever they feel the need, even in this sort of situation. Clearing her throat, she adds more confidently but with much less anger, "Need? Well of course we don't need them. But we most certainly want them. It's beneficial to both halves of the herd for us to be together. Tix would be dead without me, Roscoe. And remember when you were patrolling for both of us? Perhaps you have done fine without the elk, but it's a lie that you've done better than you would have with us and you know it whether your pride will allow you to admit that or not. Regardless, since you are unwilling to trouble yourself about whether or not the elk are safe, I'm asking Ojalo to do so. Even so, you can expect a visit from me in the next couple days, and we will have much to discuss." And she'll end it there; clearly she's reached the end of Roscoe's patience.
Frond shakes her head. "Four elk? Four elk is not a strong herd that couldn't use an allied herd. We /do/ need them, unless you think standing against cougars as four is good odds for us. I tell you, with experience, it is not! Did he screw your daughter or something?" she says. "What did he do that makes it worth putting the herd at risk because of pride?!"
Ojalo had slowly made his way up to Niabi, a short distance behind her he stops; if she was anything like the cow he met those many moons ago she didn't need him but within those moons he had grown fond of those he traveled with, past and current alike. As Roscoe returns the spat, the bulls steps forward. He cared just as much about unity and cooperation as the next but there was only so much he could take. Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of those who stood here, Ojalo suddenly felt like he was between a rock and a hard place. This isn't what he signed up for when he made that promise to stick around. So he just stands there, mediator to all this bickering. Back and forth he looks, a kink in his neck starting to form, and he is quiet. Yep at a time like this he says nothing, he wishes to say nothing even when he is knowing appointed as safety officer of the Elk. This was going to be a long night...
In his eyes, the bull's silence only further proves his theory of 'no brains, all brawn.' Nostrils flaring just a hint in his own budding anger, Roscoe looks back up to Niabi and shakes his head. "Of course I remember, Niabi. I've thanked you for taking care of Tix." He's really trying to at least see eye to eye now, and the cow should at least give him credit for that. Were this argument taking place last year, he would've blindly ignored the facts and defended his own species to the end, no matter if he was wrong or not. But now, he knew that he was not wrong. Letting out a heavy breath, he shifted his weight around a bit. "In the absence of the Elk, the Whitetails have grown in number, and that's a /fact./" Pinning his ears back further, he looks to Frond with a bit of a disgusted look at her perverse comment, but ignores it. "You may want us around or need us around to be your shields for the real predators, or to have someone to look down on.. but the Whitetails do not need the Elk." Letting out a gruff snort, he rolls his eyes once more. "We are not your children, Niabi. Quit acting as though you need to check up on us. We've managed very well without any intervention from any of the Elk as well, and we do not need anyone intervening now." Turning his back fully on the larger species of deer, Roscoe began the trip back to the Glade. /His/ Glade. /His/ woods. "There will be nothing to discuss." He says this loud enough to hear, but his pace is quick as the Prince wanders back to the Whitetail territory.
Ojalo - Male Elk
Niabi - Female Elk
Frond - Female Elk
Catori - Female Elk
Roscoe - Male Whitetail Deer
Aylen - Female Elk Calf (NPC)
Setting:
Trickling River
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Well what a surprise, two cows in one spot and Ojalo smiles wide, hiding it shortly after as he nears the river. He comes in slow gaze toward the ground but also upwards not just to see where he's going but to see where exactly the cows where. Hearing his name the bull stops for a moment, "Hello Frond." It hasn't been that long and yet he seems to already know her voice. "Niabi too, if I am not mistaken." Could of sworn he herd her voice as he was coming in.
Niabi smiles and visibly relaxes when she spots Ojalo. "Yes! Good to see you again so soon," she replies, "I seem to have found everyone else." And that 'everyone else' includes new faces makes her even happier. Aylen, on the other hand, suddenly ducks fully behind Niabi again; she'd only just started warming up to Frond, and the arrival of someone else it too much!
Frond says, "Good evening, Ojalo. How has your day been?"
How has his day been, where should he begin. A light smile to Niabi, "Thats good; all went well I assume." Of course they did, why wouldn't they. Turning to Frond, who happens to be the easiest to see at the moment and comes up with some sort of answer to her question. "It has been tiresome." Oh wow, thats real interesting. "How about yours, good I hope?" While he waits for an answer he dips his head to the waters where he now stands. A drink at least.
"Of course," is Niabi's only reply, because after that she takes a moment to fuss over Aylen again. Just because she's patient with her offspring doesn't mean that she isn't eager for her to be over this phase. After that she's content to watch the exchange between Frond and Ojalo, her thoughts hidden by a passive expression.
Frond says, "Its been going well ... I actually haven't seen you in a few days. My hoof is well on the mend, thanks to Catori." She pauses. "Niabi mentioned there are actually whitetailed deer in this ... herd of ours?" she asks.
It isn't /too/ drastically long before the cow in question returns to the other two cows, and the added on Ojalo. In between her muzzle are a few random herbs, some for stress, some for antiseptics, some for inflammation.. the only thing that they all have in common is that Catori found them all by herself, knowing the purposes of each and every one of them. Quite proud of herself for this, the prance in her step is easily explained as she trots back triumphantly, ears perked forward and tail flicking happily behind her.
Ojalo thought he mentions that, oh well. "Yes, many in fact." He actually lost count if that gives and indication. "I would not be surprised if you have not run into one of them already." If she has not, he is sure that will change soon enough. Saying this after he had gotten a drink, the bull steps back, a light shake of his head trying to ward off the urge to just flops down right where he stands.
Niabi is about to comment more on the whitetails, but Catori's arrival interrupts her thoughts. "Hey, good job!" Niabi compliments when she sees what Catori is carrying. As she recalls, Catori didn't know much of anything about herbs when she'd left, but it seems that someone's picked up a new skill while she was away and Niabi couldn't be more pleased by that.
Frond shakes her head. "I haven't seen them ... I guess the herd isn't really together." Her ears flit and perk as she hears more hoofsteps approaching. She smiles warmly as Niabi puts a name to the hoofsteps before Frond can even see her. "Good evening, Catori," she says.
Ojalo is pretty much in his own little world at this point, managing to catch Catori by chance as he looking over and down the way. He'd muster a smile but he doesn't, instead slowly drops himself to the ground. 'Oh, hello ground' passes through his head as he shuffles about some trying to get comfortable.
Call it vanity, but Catori is a bit disappointed in the lack of.. well, recognition by the only male in the area. A frown appears, and she lowers her head to put the herbs on the ground. The frown remains longer than she wants it to, and she forces a grin to both the cows. "Oh, yeah. Thanks." She said, and nodded her head. "That's all for you, Frond. Gnaw on that stuff for a while, and you'll feel better." She said, and let out a tired-sounding sigh.
Niabi frowns; first at Frond's saying aloud what she's been suspecting about the relationship between the two halves of the herd, then at Ojalo's tiredness, then at Catori's frown. Privately she blames all three of those things on herself, but outwardly she eases the frown away. So, what should she do first? "Are you okay, Ojalo?" she asks, walking towards him while Aylen struggles to keep Niabi between herself and all three other elk.
Frond canters over to Catori and nuzzles her. "I really, really appreciate all the work you've been doing for me, to help me recover from my own stupid clumsiness." She grooms her herd sister's neckruff a bit before nibbling at the herbs. She doesn't know what's going on between Ojalo and Catori, but ... disharmony isn't good, especially when the elk are so few as it is.
Who's to say that anything is going on.. right now, however, Ojalo could care less whats running through the minds of others, he can't even figure out whats going through his own at the moment. Eyes drooped, he looks up as if to say 'I wasn't sleeping, really.' when Niabi speaks out to him. "Oh." He smiles innocently toward her. "Heh, yea. Just been a long day." he says, "I think I've circled the area at least five times hoping something new would show up but.." he shrugs taking in a deep breath, "..nothing." In a way it was a good thing; the four of them didn't need the trouble.
As far as Catori is concerned, there's nothing going on with her and Ojalo. He's just another stubborn male who she'd rather not deal with now that she has the much preferred social company of other cows. In fact, she doesn't even bother greeting him. He was obviously tired, and pretty obviously didn't want to talk to her. Still, she did feel a little twinge of disappointment. They had gotten along so well before everyone else showed up.. or so she thought. Unless it was just him forcing a pleasant attitude. With her ears lowering, Catori blinked, and nodded at Frond. "It's not a problem.." She said, tiredly, and took a step away.
"As soon as Aylen's okay enough with someone else that they can watch her for me, I'm going to be helping you patrol," is Niabi's reply, an unspoken 'and you're not going to change my mind' implied by her tone. After all, she did it before she left, and she'll do it again if Ojalo's going to exhaust himself otherwise. She also makes a mental note to have a nice, long talk with him too; it's suddenly become apparent to her that they need to talk over some things that they both don't really want to talk about. But perhaps that can wait until after she's done assuring all of her other friends of her continued existence.
Frond flits her tail a bit, looking after Catori, noticing her step away. She hopes her herd sister won't disappear for a couple days again ... she doesn't like being left alone anymore, because when she's alone, she's alone with her thoughts ... and whenever she's alone with her thoughts, the memories that come to mind are not pleasant. The real newcomer of the herd isn't sure what's going on, aside from whatever it is, the herd is not in harmony.
Well there a sign of relief if he knew one. Ojalo didn't mind doing the patrols by himself but he wasn't going to stop Niabi from taking some of the weight off his antlers either. "Then I welcome you to join me when that time comes." Turning away from Niabi some now, he looks over to the others; he didn't mean to actually neglect them when he arrived, he just wanted to settle himself first. "Everything alright Catori?" He says suddenly having noticed her frown.
Catori's head turns back at everyone, having taken a step away from everyone beforehand, wanting to take a walk further up stream or somewhere around there. Walks around the river had always been a pastime of hers, whether she was upset or not. Why she was upset was silly, and she blamed it on pre-rut ..jealousies, or something. The rut was rather long off, but it was still on her mind. Flicking her ears forward again, she shakes her head, and chuckles nervously. "No, no. I'm fine." She said, and smiled broadly. "Just.. I think I'll go have a walk." She nodded, and picked up her pace as she began to trot away from everyone again, though she stayed within sight. She wasn't in a hurry, by any means.
Pleased that Ojalo wasn't going to argue about it, Niabi finds herself passively observing her herdmates interact with eachother. She'd been gone a rather long time, after all, and things change. And it didn't help that she had the feeling that some of her herdmates weren't being completely honest with the others. Could turn into just the sort of complicated mess that she'd rather avoid, especially in such a small herd. Something must be Done. But for the moment she shakes her head and says, "Same old Catori."
Frond starts walking after Catori, but ... doesn't know if that meant she wanted no company or what. The elk winds up turning away before going all the way down Catori's path, and just starts pacing around in a large circle. She looks between Ojalo and Niabi. "Shouldn't we stick together?" she finally asks aloud, nervousness back in her voice, almost as strong as when Ojalo and Catori first encountered her just after her very hoof-biting escape from that cougar.
Ojalo nods slowly to her words, not really sure he believes them but decides to the question her. "Would seem so." He echos in with Niabi. "Please do be careful out there Catori." He says showing that he does indeed care for her safety.
Not bothering to look back at any of them, Catori's pace quickens, and she speaks up before she is completely out of their sight, "Yeah, yeah I know. I can take care of myself." The words weren't meant to be rude or anything like that; she could! She'd done it for a long time. Though she /preferred/ company, she didn't /need/ them. Not on her walks, anyway. Muttering a few things under her breath that were meant for Catori's ears only, she soon faded off into the distance, to be back sooner or later.
Seeing Frond's nervousness, Niabi tries to show her that it isn't necessary by showing the cow how completely unconcerned about it she is. "Oh, of course we /should/ stick together, but who's going to force her to stay if she wants to take a walk by herself? I'm not. In fact, I've been known to break that rule myself more than I should. But odds are she'll be back, safe and sound," she says, before adding much more quietly, "And probably in a much better mood too."
Frond snorts. "Maybe ... but I feel less safe with fewer around," she complains. The cow is again nervous, but remembering Niabi's foal, she tries to force herself to look less nervous ... doesn't work perfectly, of course, because she still feels nervous. She tries distracting herself by nibbling on a nearby alder sapling's leaves.
Ojalo can hope Niabi's words to be right. As silence takes him, he watches the cow depart until he can no longer see her, then looks away toward the others. "That is not a bad thing Frond." He suddenly says tilting his head some for a moment then straightening it. "Being in a herd means strength and protection, so it is only right to feel safer amongst the many."
Fortunately, Aylen doesn't appear to take any notice of Frond's worry. Actually, the calf seems relieved that there are now two not-moms instead of three. "Well, I count as ten, so there's nothing to worry about," Niabi says confidently, "Five because I know how to fight, and five because I'm a mother with a calf to protect. Nothing would dare mess with me." Hey, if she can inject a little humor into this to lighten the mood, she will. And if she can't, she'll try.
Frond would argue with that, given her sister, mother and aunts all fell to hungry cougars who were actually hunting cooperatively ... but she thinks better of mentioning that in front of the calf, and knows the last thing the herd needs is an argument to further fracture the harmony. Instead, she paces over to Ojalo and stands near the bull, not sure what to say or not say next.
Ojalo has pretty much gone to watching now, cracking a smile to Niabi's self-proclaimed number. Being the male of the group he was clearly the highest, but he keeps that to himself, he'll let her have her moment. Keeping an eye on Frond as she moves over to him; something he's not quite understood just yet, he raises a brow. With her silence he returns it.
From the thick cover of the glade to the open breeze of the river, Roscoe enters the area with a bit of shock. The wind had been against him this entire way, having only faintly smelled a few oddities in the area. Then again, with his reputation of not getting enough sleep, he could've just completely missed their scent all together. Either way, the large buck, though small in comparison to the gigantic Elk scattered about the river bank makes his way slowly but proudly over to them, a smile given. Not forced. One of them is easily recognizable, and he is thrilled to see her alive and well. "Niabi," he calls out calmly, and flicks his ears forward, regarding the rest with a respectful nod of his head, his velvet-covered antlers dipping and then jabbing the air again. "It's very nice to see you again.. you had us all worried sick." He said, and his crimson eyes drifted down to see the calf. Was it hers? He blinked, and then looked over to the bull in the area, his smile faltering just a bit at the sight of the larger, more dominant, more capable male. For a moment, he fell silent.
Well, that didn't go as well as she'd hoped, but it was worth a shot, right? And in the silence she's not sure what to do. Fortunately, the arrival of a certain buck solves that problem for her, "Yes, I've only just returned. I was planning on tracking you down - are you still mostly at the glade?" Niabi looks extremely pleased to see Roscoe, perhaps more than he'd expect, and she's quick to add, "This is my daughter Aylen." She's about to go on when she notices how Roscoe looks at Ojalo. Hmm, this could be interesting! Aylen for her part continues to cling to Niabi, but she looks marginally less scared and more curious about him that she was of the others. Is she getting used to meeting new deer or is it something else?
Frond is out of place here, as she only just found out there even were white-tails in the herd ... and hasn't a clue who this fellow is. Sensing discord between buck and bull, the new cow in the herd scoots away and shoes herself over near Niabi. She flits her tail and ears nervously.
One can never get any rest around here can they. Minding his own business, Ojalo only picks up that something is amiss when everyone starts giving a strange look toward him and... Following their gaze, ears flicking to the sound of another's voice, and a males at that, he turns the very moment Niabi speaks and it sounds very much so that she knows him. Turning and taking eye of the Buck he follows the same silence that is given to him. So this is the leader buck of the whitetail; to think they are only meeting now. Still remaining on the ground for the time being the bull surely looked like nothing to bother with even though he was clearly larger than the male standing before them.
Clearing his throat at the lack of response from the other male, Roscoe rose a brow rather judgmentally, and looked back to the calf before him, who had taken a slight interest in him. The new fawns on his side of the forest liked to sniff at him as well, for some reason. A light chuckle is given, and he nods. "Nice to meet you then, Aylen." He says, and looks over to the other cow. He knew that he didn't know her.. probably. Maybe. Niabi had another female with her at times that he'd never bothered to meet properly, so he didn't know, and nor did he care much if this was the one from before. Simply nodding in her direction, he looks back to the familiar female Elk, and takes to conversing with her instead. "Yes, the glade is our main territory." He says, and thinks about it for a moment. "Though, there have been quite a few new Whitetails in the area, and the herd's territory has expanded. It now goes into the woods, the forest, giving us both better access to each other in case of an emergency." Coughing a bit, the Prince took another brief look over at the bull, and blinked. Saying nothing to the other male, he just flicked his ears and tail once more, the awkward silence consuming yet again.
Though she listens to what Roscoe is saying, Niabi's paying far more attention to how the two males are reacting to eachother. Carefully keeping her expression neutral, because it's trying hard not to be at this point, Niabi turns to the cow beside her, "This is Frond," she introduces with a nod, "And have you met Ojalo?" Roscoe doesn't know it yet, but if the answer to that question is 'no' then, well... Aylen does her best to investigate the buck while remaining well behind Niabi, which is an interesting feat to watch.
Frond stays close to Niabi, bows a bit as she introduces her to the buck whose name she doesn't yet know.
To Ojalo, silence allowed observation; it helped him learn about the things one would ordinarily miss by lending ones voice. He didn't talk much and when he did was stern and meaningful. He made it a point to know all he could before actually opening his mouth and making a fool of himself. As he did watch, and Roscoe's attention does shift for a moment to the cows, Ojalo makes to a stand. When he is looked to once more he doesn't even now he just says, "No, though I am certain it is an honor to be doing so." It was certainly for him.
"Frond?" He questioned, and nodded. "Well then, nice to meet you, Frond." This one was not the one he'd heard about. The name was wrong, that much he knew. Shaking his head a bit at Niabi's second question, the buck lifts his head a bit higher, stands up straighter, and attempts to puff his chest out conspicuously to look at least as big as he can. Among Whitetails, he is a giant. Among Elk, even among the female Elk, he was dwarfed. It was downright embarrassing. With his ears folding back in his vanity-induced turmoil, Roscoe blinks, and forces a polite grin. "Ojalo.." he begins, searching for the right words. "An.. honor to meet you as well." There! A bit of a stumble, but he did just fine.
"No," Niabi repeats, then she goes silent for a moment and allowing the two males to greet eachother, but during that moment she allows the anger inside of her to boil to he surface and, though she doesn't raise her voice even slightly, her tone makes it clear that she is Not Happy. "That's strange, because in my absence he has taken upon himself the responsibility of watching over the elk. Certainly you'd have noticed that I went missing, and if you'd cared at all for the safety of the elk, you would have at least looked in on them and would have met him. Instead it seems that your only care has been for your own kind. I certainly was not that way, as I'm sure you well remember, and I expected more of you." Having said that, Niabi goes silent in order to allow anyone who wants to respond to that to do so; while she feels she's got something to be upset about, it's not like she's going to say all that and not give Roscoe the chance to defend his actions. And, if he feels the need, to question hers.
Frond stamps a forehoof in frustration, turning to Niabi. "Dammit, isn't /he/ the one who came /here/ while /we/ sit here and don't talk to /them/?" she asks. "And why the heck hasn't anyone decided his name was important enough to mention to me?" The cow is upset. She knows she just stepped way over the line, being the new recruit and on bottom-rung, but ... this drama and tension was making her angry. They needed to bring the herd together, not keep pointing hooves at each other and refusing to get along!
And he didn't even have to think on that one.. then again Roscoe could of just been being nice. Watching the buck buff himself out, he to try not to leak a smirk; it was actually kind of amusing. Taking a few steps forward, Ojalo stops suddenly as if Niabi's words were a form of binding. Looking to her, she did have a point, but in truth he took up the responsibility on his own. "You sound as if we need them..." Course he means nothing by that and knows Niabi would never insinuate such a thing but to him thats what it sounds like. "Though he should have helped, it is clear that his assistance was not needed." The Elk are few, and Ojalo certainly had things looked after. Hearing Frond next, he looks to her a tad amazed. Indeed the bucks name was not mentioned. "Frond, your concerns are noted, but truly now is not the time to raise your voice. There are other means of filling your inquiry."
Hm. So much for friendliness. And here he was, trying. So much for that. Rolling his eyes at the comment that Niabi spat at him, the buck narrows his eyes and glares up at her. "You should know that not everyone shares your compassion, or your pity." Taking a step forward, he continues to glare, and looks to Frond only briefly, with a mere amount of surprise across his features.. but it didn't help. The fact that he was supposedly responsible for the Elk as well was absurd. Whitetails didn't care for Elk. They didn't herd together. The only reason he'd even accepted Niabi's help formerly to begin with was because as far as he knew, there was only one of her, and about four Whitetails. Plus, she knew medicine. In a way, he was just using her talents. He cared about the Elk minimally. Roscoe's concerns were on the Whitetails, just as their concerns were on the Elk. Letting out a scoff at Ojalo's comment, he smirks a big smugly. "We've done just fine without the Elk as well. Better, in fact." Turning on his hind legs, the buck had just about enough of the brutish Elk. So what if they were larger? No brains, all brawn, as far as he was concerned.
Thrown off by the outburst from, of all elk, Frond, Niabi mutters meekly, "I've scarcely had time to get here, let alone get to the glade, and I was planning on going there next. And I'm kind of traveling with a calf. And his name is Roscoe." As far as Niabi is concerned, it's every elk's place to say what they think whenever they feel the need, even in this sort of situation. Clearing her throat, she adds more confidently but with much less anger, "Need? Well of course we don't need them. But we most certainly want them. It's beneficial to both halves of the herd for us to be together. Tix would be dead without me, Roscoe. And remember when you were patrolling for both of us? Perhaps you have done fine without the elk, but it's a lie that you've done better than you would have with us and you know it whether your pride will allow you to admit that or not. Regardless, since you are unwilling to trouble yourself about whether or not the elk are safe, I'm asking Ojalo to do so. Even so, you can expect a visit from me in the next couple days, and we will have much to discuss." And she'll end it there; clearly she's reached the end of Roscoe's patience.
Frond shakes her head. "Four elk? Four elk is not a strong herd that couldn't use an allied herd. We /do/ need them, unless you think standing against cougars as four is good odds for us. I tell you, with experience, it is not! Did he screw your daughter or something?" she says. "What did he do that makes it worth putting the herd at risk because of pride?!"
Ojalo had slowly made his way up to Niabi, a short distance behind her he stops; if she was anything like the cow he met those many moons ago she didn't need him but within those moons he had grown fond of those he traveled with, past and current alike. As Roscoe returns the spat, the bulls steps forward. He cared just as much about unity and cooperation as the next but there was only so much he could take. Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of those who stood here, Ojalo suddenly felt like he was between a rock and a hard place. This isn't what he signed up for when he made that promise to stick around. So he just stands there, mediator to all this bickering. Back and forth he looks, a kink in his neck starting to form, and he is quiet. Yep at a time like this he says nothing, he wishes to say nothing even when he is knowing appointed as safety officer of the Elk. This was going to be a long night...
In his eyes, the bull's silence only further proves his theory of 'no brains, all brawn.' Nostrils flaring just a hint in his own budding anger, Roscoe looks back up to Niabi and shakes his head. "Of course I remember, Niabi. I've thanked you for taking care of Tix." He's really trying to at least see eye to eye now, and the cow should at least give him credit for that. Were this argument taking place last year, he would've blindly ignored the facts and defended his own species to the end, no matter if he was wrong or not. But now, he knew that he was not wrong. Letting out a heavy breath, he shifted his weight around a bit. "In the absence of the Elk, the Whitetails have grown in number, and that's a /fact./" Pinning his ears back further, he looks to Frond with a bit of a disgusted look at her perverse comment, but ignores it. "You may want us around or need us around to be your shields for the real predators, or to have someone to look down on.. but the Whitetails do not need the Elk." Letting out a gruff snort, he rolls his eyes once more. "We are not your children, Niabi. Quit acting as though you need to check up on us. We've managed very well without any intervention from any of the Elk as well, and we do not need anyone intervening now." Turning his back fully on the larger species of deer, Roscoe began the trip back to the Glade. /His/ Glade. /His/ woods. "There will be nothing to discuss." He says this loud enough to hear, but his pace is quick as the Prince wanders back to the Whitetail territory.