Post by avalikia on Feb 2, 2010 0:16:27 GMT -5
Characters:
Catori - Female Elk
Niabi - Female Elk
Ojalo - Male Elk
Aylen - Female Elk Calf (NPC)
Setting:
Trickling River
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Catori sure had been in a bit of a huffy mood the past few days. For reasons that she still couldn't quite explain. Regardless, she returns to the site of the river with her head carried lowly, not bothering to be alert after she can't smell the scents of any predators, as usual. With her ears tucked back a little further than what is considered normal, the cow takes heavy, quick steps to the bank of the river, her tail flicking irritably, muscles twitching away random bugs that felt like landing on her coat. All the while the mid-day summer heat beating down on her back. Ah, that must've been it! The heat. The heat was getting to her, to a great extent, apparently.
One cow elk the heat isn't getting to is Niabi, who found herself unconsciously wandering back in the direction of the river and decided that she might as well go all the way despite the temperature. After all, nothing like a trip to a river on a hot day. Aylen is by her side, of course, though the calf doesn't seem quite as determined to be as close to Niabi as she can possibly get as she was before. Very pleased to observe this change, Niabi is in a genuine good mood, even though she knows that she ought to be thinking about other things.
Around the right side of one tree and then around the left side of another; that was the pattern Ojalo had chosen to take as he walked the boundaries of the river. It was quiet, or at least no more as quiet than it normally was, and he paid little attention to what the wilds had to bring until it was brought. Weaving around the last of the trees in his path, the bull becomes the third to make for the river; perhaps there was something for him there, or perhaps there wasn't. Either way, a good drink would prove useful to him.
After having lowered her lips to take a long drink of the cool water, the cow lifts her head and takes quick steps into the deepest area, which isn't very deep at all. It comes up to /maybe/ around the middle of her foreleg, which does all the more to irritate the cow. The river ran a long course throughout the forest though, and if she had to walk down the middle of it to cool down in the way that she wanted to, then so be it. Moving toward the west, Catori waded through the water with almost a stomp-like quality, before she heard something from two different sides. Smelled them, too. The mother and daughter pair, and Ojalo. While her mood improved fairly at the notion that they were around, she was still peeved, and still /way/ too warm.
A smile reaches Niabi's face when the river comes into view and Catori is walking in it. Just the sort of distraction she needs! Leading Aylen down the bank, Niabi doesn't stop there and instead joins Catori in the river. "Mind if I steal your good idea?" she asks instead of saying hello. Aylen is slow to follow her mother for once, and stops abruptly at the river's edge. For a moment her eyes go between the water and Niabi, but eventually she follows, being extra careful of where she puts her feet.
Not even reaching the river, Ojalo finds a moist spot in the bank, sinking just a tad. Raising her legs one by one till a sudden smirk crosses his face, the bull drops down and begins to roll rather childishly in its cool muck. Not minding about being quiet about it, he tries to get the mud all over before rolling to a side and slowly heaving himself back up onto all four.
"Huh?" the cow calls out, turning her head to see Niabi and Aylen, and she blinks, but doesn't smile. She's too warm and irritated to smile. "Oh, nah, go ahead." She says, and lets out a heavy sigh. "I -hate- this weather.." This comes in a mutter, and she lets out some sort of gruff sound, before she throws her head in the direction she was heading. "I'm going to where it's deeper.. take a swim or something." Though she didn't verbally invite the lead cow, she didn't mind if she came or not. Though she can't see Ojalo at this point, she knows he's around because she can smell him. Lifting her head slightly, she takes a whiff of the air, and blinks. "..You seen Ojalo?"
Taking a sniff of her own, Niabi comments, "No, but he's definitely nearby." Now the question is, would she rather join Catori for a dip in deeper water, or find Ojalo? Difficult choice! But just walking in the river is relief enough for Niabi, especially since she knows Aylen would be unhappy about going deeper, so she sides with the latter. "Perhaps I ought to see what he's up to," she comments as she turns in the direction of the scent and starts to follow it.
Ojalo was never to hard to find, though he wasn't often in plain eye sight either. Now completely cover in mud, except for his head presses to the river looking up and down it once there. It seemed relatively empty but wait... three darkened figures are seen and he needs to not even guess who they are. Motioning to call out, he decides against it and instead turns from the river and back into the trees. Lets play hide-n-seek shall we.
Nodding her head, she blinks as suddenly the scent in the air becomes more.. earthy than usual. Though she /really/ wants to cool down, she also /really/ wants to see the bull, for her own odd, female reasons. Stopping in the water, she turns to look toward Niabi and Aylen walking away, and lets out a huff of breath and follows. "I'll go with you.." She said, though she didn't sound too pleased about it. With her ears tucking back again, she looked downright pissed off, but she wasn't. Not that much. She was actually pretty excited to see her favorite male again.
If only Ojalo knew how bad Niabi is at tracking! Really, you'd think she'd be better at it given her age and her skill in other areas, but no. So when she reaches the riverbank again, she's only nearish to the mudpatch and doesn't notice that it's been recently rolled in, so she has no idea just how close Ojalo is or that he's covered in scent-obscuring mud. If only she knew he was hiding; that would have made things easier. As it is, she doesn't get more than a few steps away from the river before she loses the scent entirely. "Ojalo?" she asks hopefully, for the scent had been strong enough that he seemed to have been right there! She glances helplessly back at Catori, hoping the other cow had more luck. Aylen merely follows her mother, glad to be out of the water and not paying much attention to what Niabi is actually doing.
Back out into the trees, Ojalo peers out through the shadows, hoping for a good gust of wind while he stood there. Sure the mud was keeping him cool, but is wasn't enough to drown the heat forever. Spotting Niabi close be, he smirks, trudging around the trees in hope to pass her up before being spotted. Hearing his name, the bull chuckles, "Over here." he calls out, changing his position the moment he does.
Unlike Niabi, Catori had connected the dots of the earthy mud scent to Ojalo's, as she figured that he'd used a different technique of cooling off. It would've been too odd for his smell to just.. disappear. At Niabi calling his name, the bull finally appeared, and he was completely filthy! The cow's muzzle wrinkled a bit, and she shook her head. "Typical male.." she muttered, jokingly. There'd be no way that she'd roll in the mud, no matter how hot she was. She'd take being hot over being stinky anyday.
Niabi sees nothing unpleasant about mud, provided that there's nothing /in/ the mud. If it's just wet dirt then it washes right off, so why not cool down that way? Well, personally she doesn't like the way it feels, but she can see the appeal. "There you are!" Niabi says with a chuckle, "And making yourself difficult to find, I see. And here I thought you liked us! Well, I see how it is..." Her attempts to appear offended are lacking at best with that smile stuck on her face. Aylen peers around her mother at Ojalo with an extremely confused look on her face.
Ojalo wasn't stinky, besides it was nothing the river couldn't take care of. Laughing this time, he stops in his tracks when being spotted and turns to face the females. "Aww, you caught me." he sounds all disappointed, but in reality he is far from it. Shaking himself once more; mud flying from his pelt, he moves over keeping a short distance between them. "Whats a little fun between friends." he says looking to each separately then as a whole. "And I do like you guys."
A scowl forms along Catori's face as some of the mud from his pelt is flung onto her own, and she takes a quick and harsh step back, all the while letting her frustrations be known. "Hey! Watch it!" She says, and flattens her ears, in no mood for the game that he was trying to play. He was usually serious and quiet, it was strange for him to be in this.. playful attitude. Lowering a brow, she stared at him inquisitively, and blinked. "What's your problem, anyway?" Perhaps not the nicest way to put it, but she wasn't in her normal mood herself, either.
Given Niabi's attitude towards mud, she doesn't try to avoid the bits that get flung in her direction; she was planning on going into the river again anyway. But her smile gradually fades at Catori's reaction. Well, /she/ thought it was fun. Well, actually it was more confusing than anything, but it was confusing in a good way. Instead of replying she looks at Ojalo and shrugs, not knowing what's gotten into her herdmate. Aylen ducks behind Niabi when the mud flies in her direction and comes out mostly unmarked, save for a small bit on her hindquarters. Turning to look at what it was that hit her, she leans precariously as she attempts to get her eyes closer to her back end.
Ojalo blinks at the sudden retort from Catori, looking to her in a self curiosity. "No problem here." He remarks, looking around himself as if trying to find this said problem. Yea, sure he was often kept quiet and serious, but even ones like him have moments of playful outbursts. "You seem to have one though; whats up?" Him asking what the matter was rather than observing it was unlike him too; can't always be the sideliner now can he.
Taking another step back out of defense at the looks that the both of them gave her, she forces her ears forward, and rolls her eyes. Yes, the heat certainly does bring out the worst in this particular cow, but it can't really be helped. Not until she finds some relief, that is. "N-nothing.." She said, defensively again, and lowered her eyes to the ground. "It's just hot.. really hot.. I hate it." She muttered, and flicked her tail in a frustrated manner.
Frowning at Catori's answer, Niabi hesitates a moment before saying, "That's true... But are you sure it's that and not something we could help you with? You need only ask, you know." It certainly seems to be more than just the heat; Niabi doesn't remember Catori having this much of a problem with it last summer. Of course, they were also very hit and miss when it came to seeing eachother a year ago too, so... Aylen, misjudging her balance, suddenly falls over and lands on her side, legs flailing uselessly.
Well of course its hot, its the middle of summer, what did she expect a winter breeze. Now that he think abouts it, a such a breeze would be great. A momentary frown crosses his face looking to the river. The mud was starting to dry on his body and cracking, starting to make him stiff. "I purpose we all head back to the river." Something good had to come from that afterall. Hearing a thus, Ojalo peers over to find little Aylen tumbled over.
Catori's features wrinkle again as she gives the other female a bit of a dirty look, though it is very unintentional. "No! It's just the heat, alright? Jeez.." She muttered the last bit, as if aggravated by the help that she and the bull were trying to offer her. With the sun bearing down on her already fairly heavy coat, Catori certainly was making an ass of herself. Before things escalated further, the usually comedic and tomboyish cow turned herself on her hooves, and readied herself to make a break for it. That's when Aylen tumbled over, and she shook her head with a 'tsk' sound. "See? Even she can't take it much longer!" She shouted, making at least one joke before she bolted off with not even a warning or a 'goodbye' to either of them. So much for wanting to see them all.
Blinking in surprise, Niabi can only comment "That was not just the heat." in the direction of the retreating cow well after Catori is out of earshot. She glances at Aylen to be sure that the calf is okay, then looks at Ojalo with a puzzled expression. "This is unlike her, I don't know what to make of it," Niabi says, her mind drawing blanks as she tries to guess what the cause might be. Aylen is, of course, perfectly fine and manages to find her feet quickly. Giving herself a shake, she looks around with the standard 'Nobody saw that, right?' look on her face.
Ojalo hrms and just shrugs. Whatever the reason for her oddness was certainly going to have to wait. "Not sure myself." He says starting to head toward the river.
Lingering for a moment in her confusion, Niabi eventually follows Ojalo, wanting to rinse off the bits of mud clinging to her fur. She's silent at first, but eventually she says, "I don't know enough about what's going on anymore. All that I missed while I was away - I'm sure I'd have a guess about what was going on if I'd been around for Catori." Her voice doesn't make her sound regretful at all, just sad that she doesn't understand. "Maybe she just had a bad day," Niabi adds after another moment.
Catori - Female Elk
Niabi - Female Elk
Ojalo - Male Elk
Aylen - Female Elk Calf (NPC)
Setting:
Trickling River
----------------------------------------
Catori sure had been in a bit of a huffy mood the past few days. For reasons that she still couldn't quite explain. Regardless, she returns to the site of the river with her head carried lowly, not bothering to be alert after she can't smell the scents of any predators, as usual. With her ears tucked back a little further than what is considered normal, the cow takes heavy, quick steps to the bank of the river, her tail flicking irritably, muscles twitching away random bugs that felt like landing on her coat. All the while the mid-day summer heat beating down on her back. Ah, that must've been it! The heat. The heat was getting to her, to a great extent, apparently.
One cow elk the heat isn't getting to is Niabi, who found herself unconsciously wandering back in the direction of the river and decided that she might as well go all the way despite the temperature. After all, nothing like a trip to a river on a hot day. Aylen is by her side, of course, though the calf doesn't seem quite as determined to be as close to Niabi as she can possibly get as she was before. Very pleased to observe this change, Niabi is in a genuine good mood, even though she knows that she ought to be thinking about other things.
Around the right side of one tree and then around the left side of another; that was the pattern Ojalo had chosen to take as he walked the boundaries of the river. It was quiet, or at least no more as quiet than it normally was, and he paid little attention to what the wilds had to bring until it was brought. Weaving around the last of the trees in his path, the bull becomes the third to make for the river; perhaps there was something for him there, or perhaps there wasn't. Either way, a good drink would prove useful to him.
After having lowered her lips to take a long drink of the cool water, the cow lifts her head and takes quick steps into the deepest area, which isn't very deep at all. It comes up to /maybe/ around the middle of her foreleg, which does all the more to irritate the cow. The river ran a long course throughout the forest though, and if she had to walk down the middle of it to cool down in the way that she wanted to, then so be it. Moving toward the west, Catori waded through the water with almost a stomp-like quality, before she heard something from two different sides. Smelled them, too. The mother and daughter pair, and Ojalo. While her mood improved fairly at the notion that they were around, she was still peeved, and still /way/ too warm.
A smile reaches Niabi's face when the river comes into view and Catori is walking in it. Just the sort of distraction she needs! Leading Aylen down the bank, Niabi doesn't stop there and instead joins Catori in the river. "Mind if I steal your good idea?" she asks instead of saying hello. Aylen is slow to follow her mother for once, and stops abruptly at the river's edge. For a moment her eyes go between the water and Niabi, but eventually she follows, being extra careful of where she puts her feet.
Not even reaching the river, Ojalo finds a moist spot in the bank, sinking just a tad. Raising her legs one by one till a sudden smirk crosses his face, the bull drops down and begins to roll rather childishly in its cool muck. Not minding about being quiet about it, he tries to get the mud all over before rolling to a side and slowly heaving himself back up onto all four.
"Huh?" the cow calls out, turning her head to see Niabi and Aylen, and she blinks, but doesn't smile. She's too warm and irritated to smile. "Oh, nah, go ahead." She says, and lets out a heavy sigh. "I -hate- this weather.." This comes in a mutter, and she lets out some sort of gruff sound, before she throws her head in the direction she was heading. "I'm going to where it's deeper.. take a swim or something." Though she didn't verbally invite the lead cow, she didn't mind if she came or not. Though she can't see Ojalo at this point, she knows he's around because she can smell him. Lifting her head slightly, she takes a whiff of the air, and blinks. "..You seen Ojalo?"
Taking a sniff of her own, Niabi comments, "No, but he's definitely nearby." Now the question is, would she rather join Catori for a dip in deeper water, or find Ojalo? Difficult choice! But just walking in the river is relief enough for Niabi, especially since she knows Aylen would be unhappy about going deeper, so she sides with the latter. "Perhaps I ought to see what he's up to," she comments as she turns in the direction of the scent and starts to follow it.
Ojalo was never to hard to find, though he wasn't often in plain eye sight either. Now completely cover in mud, except for his head presses to the river looking up and down it once there. It seemed relatively empty but wait... three darkened figures are seen and he needs to not even guess who they are. Motioning to call out, he decides against it and instead turns from the river and back into the trees. Lets play hide-n-seek shall we.
Nodding her head, she blinks as suddenly the scent in the air becomes more.. earthy than usual. Though she /really/ wants to cool down, she also /really/ wants to see the bull, for her own odd, female reasons. Stopping in the water, she turns to look toward Niabi and Aylen walking away, and lets out a huff of breath and follows. "I'll go with you.." She said, though she didn't sound too pleased about it. With her ears tucking back again, she looked downright pissed off, but she wasn't. Not that much. She was actually pretty excited to see her favorite male again.
If only Ojalo knew how bad Niabi is at tracking! Really, you'd think she'd be better at it given her age and her skill in other areas, but no. So when she reaches the riverbank again, she's only nearish to the mudpatch and doesn't notice that it's been recently rolled in, so she has no idea just how close Ojalo is or that he's covered in scent-obscuring mud. If only she knew he was hiding; that would have made things easier. As it is, she doesn't get more than a few steps away from the river before she loses the scent entirely. "Ojalo?" she asks hopefully, for the scent had been strong enough that he seemed to have been right there! She glances helplessly back at Catori, hoping the other cow had more luck. Aylen merely follows her mother, glad to be out of the water and not paying much attention to what Niabi is actually doing.
Back out into the trees, Ojalo peers out through the shadows, hoping for a good gust of wind while he stood there. Sure the mud was keeping him cool, but is wasn't enough to drown the heat forever. Spotting Niabi close be, he smirks, trudging around the trees in hope to pass her up before being spotted. Hearing his name, the bull chuckles, "Over here." he calls out, changing his position the moment he does.
Unlike Niabi, Catori had connected the dots of the earthy mud scent to Ojalo's, as she figured that he'd used a different technique of cooling off. It would've been too odd for his smell to just.. disappear. At Niabi calling his name, the bull finally appeared, and he was completely filthy! The cow's muzzle wrinkled a bit, and she shook her head. "Typical male.." she muttered, jokingly. There'd be no way that she'd roll in the mud, no matter how hot she was. She'd take being hot over being stinky anyday.
Niabi sees nothing unpleasant about mud, provided that there's nothing /in/ the mud. If it's just wet dirt then it washes right off, so why not cool down that way? Well, personally she doesn't like the way it feels, but she can see the appeal. "There you are!" Niabi says with a chuckle, "And making yourself difficult to find, I see. And here I thought you liked us! Well, I see how it is..." Her attempts to appear offended are lacking at best with that smile stuck on her face. Aylen peers around her mother at Ojalo with an extremely confused look on her face.
Ojalo wasn't stinky, besides it was nothing the river couldn't take care of. Laughing this time, he stops in his tracks when being spotted and turns to face the females. "Aww, you caught me." he sounds all disappointed, but in reality he is far from it. Shaking himself once more; mud flying from his pelt, he moves over keeping a short distance between them. "Whats a little fun between friends." he says looking to each separately then as a whole. "And I do like you guys."
A scowl forms along Catori's face as some of the mud from his pelt is flung onto her own, and she takes a quick and harsh step back, all the while letting her frustrations be known. "Hey! Watch it!" She says, and flattens her ears, in no mood for the game that he was trying to play. He was usually serious and quiet, it was strange for him to be in this.. playful attitude. Lowering a brow, she stared at him inquisitively, and blinked. "What's your problem, anyway?" Perhaps not the nicest way to put it, but she wasn't in her normal mood herself, either.
Given Niabi's attitude towards mud, she doesn't try to avoid the bits that get flung in her direction; she was planning on going into the river again anyway. But her smile gradually fades at Catori's reaction. Well, /she/ thought it was fun. Well, actually it was more confusing than anything, but it was confusing in a good way. Instead of replying she looks at Ojalo and shrugs, not knowing what's gotten into her herdmate. Aylen ducks behind Niabi when the mud flies in her direction and comes out mostly unmarked, save for a small bit on her hindquarters. Turning to look at what it was that hit her, she leans precariously as she attempts to get her eyes closer to her back end.
Ojalo blinks at the sudden retort from Catori, looking to her in a self curiosity. "No problem here." He remarks, looking around himself as if trying to find this said problem. Yea, sure he was often kept quiet and serious, but even ones like him have moments of playful outbursts. "You seem to have one though; whats up?" Him asking what the matter was rather than observing it was unlike him too; can't always be the sideliner now can he.
Taking another step back out of defense at the looks that the both of them gave her, she forces her ears forward, and rolls her eyes. Yes, the heat certainly does bring out the worst in this particular cow, but it can't really be helped. Not until she finds some relief, that is. "N-nothing.." She said, defensively again, and lowered her eyes to the ground. "It's just hot.. really hot.. I hate it." She muttered, and flicked her tail in a frustrated manner.
Frowning at Catori's answer, Niabi hesitates a moment before saying, "That's true... But are you sure it's that and not something we could help you with? You need only ask, you know." It certainly seems to be more than just the heat; Niabi doesn't remember Catori having this much of a problem with it last summer. Of course, they were also very hit and miss when it came to seeing eachother a year ago too, so... Aylen, misjudging her balance, suddenly falls over and lands on her side, legs flailing uselessly.
Well of course its hot, its the middle of summer, what did she expect a winter breeze. Now that he think abouts it, a such a breeze would be great. A momentary frown crosses his face looking to the river. The mud was starting to dry on his body and cracking, starting to make him stiff. "I purpose we all head back to the river." Something good had to come from that afterall. Hearing a thus, Ojalo peers over to find little Aylen tumbled over.
Catori's features wrinkle again as she gives the other female a bit of a dirty look, though it is very unintentional. "No! It's just the heat, alright? Jeez.." She muttered the last bit, as if aggravated by the help that she and the bull were trying to offer her. With the sun bearing down on her already fairly heavy coat, Catori certainly was making an ass of herself. Before things escalated further, the usually comedic and tomboyish cow turned herself on her hooves, and readied herself to make a break for it. That's when Aylen tumbled over, and she shook her head with a 'tsk' sound. "See? Even she can't take it much longer!" She shouted, making at least one joke before she bolted off with not even a warning or a 'goodbye' to either of them. So much for wanting to see them all.
Blinking in surprise, Niabi can only comment "That was not just the heat." in the direction of the retreating cow well after Catori is out of earshot. She glances at Aylen to be sure that the calf is okay, then looks at Ojalo with a puzzled expression. "This is unlike her, I don't know what to make of it," Niabi says, her mind drawing blanks as she tries to guess what the cause might be. Aylen is, of course, perfectly fine and manages to find her feet quickly. Giving herself a shake, she looks around with the standard 'Nobody saw that, right?' look on her face.
Ojalo hrms and just shrugs. Whatever the reason for her oddness was certainly going to have to wait. "Not sure myself." He says starting to head toward the river.
Lingering for a moment in her confusion, Niabi eventually follows Ojalo, wanting to rinse off the bits of mud clinging to her fur. She's silent at first, but eventually she says, "I don't know enough about what's going on anymore. All that I missed while I was away - I'm sure I'd have a guess about what was going on if I'd been around for Catori." Her voice doesn't make her sound regretful at all, just sad that she doesn't understand. "Maybe she just had a bad day," Niabi adds after another moment.