Post by hahtalekin on Apr 30, 2010 21:02:02 GMT -5
Curling Creek
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Upon this strip of land the water changes once again, running off from the brook and slanting first to the east and then back to the west, creating a sharp corner of bank on the western side that leads into some thick undergrowth. The area, unlike most others, is fairly open - the creekside is clean and littered with gentle blades of short and sweet grass, creating something more akin to a beach than a forested waterway. A few large boulders left here long ago by the world changing are planted in various spots, providing both vantage points and sunning spots.
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[East] to the Lawn [Northwest] along the Stream
[Southeast] to the Path [Southwest] along the Stream
[West] to Dense Undergrowth
========================================================
[IC] Ciqala
[IC] Aularuq
A frustrated round of barks rings out through the trees, the quiet forest making the sound all the more distinct. At the edge of the creek, a skinny young dog bounces on the ice, rearing up and smacking her forelegs against the hard sheet of frozen water. The brown and white canine scrabbles her black claws, digging thin furrows which she makes a failed attempt to bite, the frantic snap only causing her to smack her nose against the ice. Uttering a dismayed whine, she aims a few last weary scratches before she flops down onto her rump to stare at the fish frozen deep in the ice.
That noise. Ciqala had absolutely no intention of wandering this far, but the barking is absolutely and completely unlike anything he has heard before. Canid, yes. It is so far away from being like the barks his family, his pack sometimes use, though... He couldn't help but be drawn by the sounds, which are just familiar enough to keep him from running in fear. The whining, too, is familiar, and much more personally so, and when the young wolfdog comes within sight of the frozen creek, he stops most abruptly, and completely without grace. In his approach, he makes no attempt to be stealthful.
The voice of the dog is sharp and abrupt, not the long and deep-voiced one of the wolves, who's rare barks even hold a hint of a howl. Her whimpering continues as she hoists herself to her feet, pacing along the edge of the creek with her curled tail held briskly in the air. The approach of Ciqala is impossible to miss, despite the tempting sight of the fish, and Aularuq jerks her head to face him. Her reaction might be comical, were it not notably frightened. The youngster's age doesn't seem to register on the slightly older canine, and she retreats several steps, ears flat and the brass tag about her neck jangling with her hurry to get some space between them. "..d-d-don't think you can eat me!" She says with a poor attempt at bravado.
Ciqala does not laugh at the young, though still somewhat older than he is, dog, although his sudden relief nearly makes him do so. He has never met anyone, not even prey, that has seemed as frightened as him, and nothing has ever removed any fear from him so quickly as seeing that fear echoed in another. As she retreats, he nearly leaps forward, eager to speak to this creature, this... non-wolf... who is clearly not going to hurt him. With a puppish yip, he assures her, "Hey, don't go! I'm not gonna eat you!" As though he /could/ The thought is another thing that almost makes him laugh. "Please?"
Aularuq blinks as she flicks her ears forward, her dark eyes looking to the wolfdog with a bewildered and apprehensive look with her head cocked to one side. "...but... don't wolves /eat/ dogs?" She asks, knowing no better he's not exactly a pure wolf. In her eyes, he certainly looks like one, and he is in the middle of the woods. "I bet your eyes glow red too, and you can make your teeth grow bigger and sharper!" She points out like someone accusing a woman of being a witch because they have a wart, her voice purely matter-of-fact as if -everyone- knew wolves grew to be the size of bears and could melt into shadows.
Dog. /This/ is a dog? Ciqala can't keep himself from taking a step forward, from sniffing at the air. By the whispers and shouts he has heard about dogs, they have earned a spot in his head as one of the many faceless monsters in his dreams, and even Jage's occasional presence in these lands has not taken that from him. "I don't... um... I'm not a wolf." That seems the easiest way to reassure her, and it's not a complete lie, besides. He's different from the wolves that make up the majority of this pack, in personality if no other way. And, oddly, he seems very much like this... dog.
Aularuq continues to look both suspicious and confused, though, she doesn't look on the verge of bolting so that's an improvement. "You're... not? Huh. You kiiinda look like one.. I guess..." She's never seen a live one, only the pelts, so it's hard to judge. "...so, what are you? I didn't smell any dogs out here, and you're not a fox, or a wolverine, or a caribou! Are you a coyote? I heard about those from the southern dogs! They're supposed to be reeeally sneaky!"
Ciqala continues taking slow, steady steps towards the female. He stops after a few of them, though, and glances behind him, back towards his pack's territory, before looking back to her to answer. Not a wolf. Not like any of them, and he is certainly not any of those other things she has mentioned. And though he knows his mother, his packmates, would call him a wolfdog, he just told her he /wasn't/ a wolf. He doesn't want to scare her away by saying that he is, after all. Even if only half. "I'm, um. I'm a dog. Like you?" Clearly, he is none too certain of himself.
"You are?" Aularuq cocks her head to the other side with an expressiveness that would make an owl jealous, and with a breathy huff she flops back onto her rump. "Huh. I'm Aularuq!" She says, the foreign name coming out in a sudden enthusiastic rush, the worries apparently set aside now that the younger canine is apparently of her own kind, and her further words come out in an equally fast pace. "Hey, you know of any humans around? I'm /starving/. I was heading home to find my master because someone /stole/ my teammates and me and I coulda sworn he was near here but I can't find him."
Humans? The word causes Ciqala to lay his too-large ears back, as even his mother, his loving, forgiving, kind mother does not have a high opinion of humans, and for as much as he and this dog originally seemed alike... That distaste is evident, in his expression. "We don't have... them... around here. But maybe... The wolves here don't eat /me/. I promise. I don't think they'd eat you, either, and maybe... Well, you see... That's where I get my food." Ciqala winces as he speaks. He really doesn't expect this to go over well.
The look of alarm on the dog's face appears to border on panic, and even if her rapid heartbeat might not be audible beneath her thick pelt her breathing is. No humans here? Then it's true, she is lost, and maybe she'll never get home. A loud whine escapes the dog who restlessly gets back to her feet, pacing this way and that. All the while, she shoots nervous glances to the juvenile as she clearly struggles with a decision. "Why would wolves help you? Wolves hate dogs." But they have food, and she's clearly thin, maybe even thinner than said wolves. "...I wish I could dig out this fish...I miss fish. We ate them all of the time. ...are you /sure/ they wouln't eat me?"
"Maybe... Maybe, if you didn't leave, I could go and, um. Ask them. First. Or maybe... just bring you something?" Ciqala can't say that his pack would sgree to feed this dog. His mother probably would, but his mother does not seem to do any hunting, anymore. He may be able to sneak off with some little bit of food, though, and it would be better than nothing, right?
"Ask them?" Aularuq echos him with her ears perking up in a faint, hopeful expression. "I.. I guess I can stay here. I guess I can't get more lost, eh?" She says with a sad, forlorn attempt at a laugh. "...I'll eat anything right now. I'd even eat the stupid hay they put in our crates." With a grunt, she turns a circle three times before flopping down onto her stomach with her curled tail resting at her side. "...um... what's your name, anyway?"
Ciqala seems surprised when she asks what his name is. Surely, he has not forgotten /all/ of his manners. And yet... No, he didn't introduce himself, in all of his confusion and worry about saying the right things. "Oh! I'm, ah. I'm Ciqala." With that, he takes a step back, keeping his gaze on her, as though to reassure himself that she isn't leaving. "So. I'll, um, go, and try to bring something back. Okay?" As he speaks, he continues walking backwards, though very slowly. He doesn't want to lose the possibility of making friends with her, when they do seem so much alike. When he has no reason to fear her, unlike with most of the others in his life.
"Ciqala?" Aularuq says, her tweak on the name rolling it off her tongue like her own. "Yeup, sounds like a dog name." It appears a compliment as she lolls out her tongue and seems to contend herself with settling into the snow by the brambles and patiently wait. At least she seems more comfortable. "I'll wait here. I got nowhere to go!" And even the fading hope of finding home takes a back seat to the promise of food.
Once she promises she'll stay, Ciqala finally turns around, so he can move with more speed. Of course, he has no idea what he'll say, if he should meet up with one of the adults of the pack, or whether he'll find food when he gets back to the den, but... well, critical thinking and planning ahead is not exactly his style, so he'll probably stumble his way through it when he gets that far.
========================================================
Upon this strip of land the water changes once again, running off from the brook and slanting first to the east and then back to the west, creating a sharp corner of bank on the western side that leads into some thick undergrowth. The area, unlike most others, is fairly open - the creekside is clean and littered with gentle blades of short and sweet grass, creating something more akin to a beach than a forested waterway. A few large boulders left here long ago by the world changing are planted in various spots, providing both vantage points and sunning spots.
===================================
[East] to the Lawn [Northwest] along the Stream
[Southeast] to the Path [Southwest] along the Stream
[West] to Dense Undergrowth
========================================================
[IC] Ciqala
[IC] Aularuq
A frustrated round of barks rings out through the trees, the quiet forest making the sound all the more distinct. At the edge of the creek, a skinny young dog bounces on the ice, rearing up and smacking her forelegs against the hard sheet of frozen water. The brown and white canine scrabbles her black claws, digging thin furrows which she makes a failed attempt to bite, the frantic snap only causing her to smack her nose against the ice. Uttering a dismayed whine, she aims a few last weary scratches before she flops down onto her rump to stare at the fish frozen deep in the ice.
That noise. Ciqala had absolutely no intention of wandering this far, but the barking is absolutely and completely unlike anything he has heard before. Canid, yes. It is so far away from being like the barks his family, his pack sometimes use, though... He couldn't help but be drawn by the sounds, which are just familiar enough to keep him from running in fear. The whining, too, is familiar, and much more personally so, and when the young wolfdog comes within sight of the frozen creek, he stops most abruptly, and completely without grace. In his approach, he makes no attempt to be stealthful.
The voice of the dog is sharp and abrupt, not the long and deep-voiced one of the wolves, who's rare barks even hold a hint of a howl. Her whimpering continues as she hoists herself to her feet, pacing along the edge of the creek with her curled tail held briskly in the air. The approach of Ciqala is impossible to miss, despite the tempting sight of the fish, and Aularuq jerks her head to face him. Her reaction might be comical, were it not notably frightened. The youngster's age doesn't seem to register on the slightly older canine, and she retreats several steps, ears flat and the brass tag about her neck jangling with her hurry to get some space between them. "..d-d-don't think you can eat me!" She says with a poor attempt at bravado.
Ciqala does not laugh at the young, though still somewhat older than he is, dog, although his sudden relief nearly makes him do so. He has never met anyone, not even prey, that has seemed as frightened as him, and nothing has ever removed any fear from him so quickly as seeing that fear echoed in another. As she retreats, he nearly leaps forward, eager to speak to this creature, this... non-wolf... who is clearly not going to hurt him. With a puppish yip, he assures her, "Hey, don't go! I'm not gonna eat you!" As though he /could/ The thought is another thing that almost makes him laugh. "Please?"
Aularuq blinks as she flicks her ears forward, her dark eyes looking to the wolfdog with a bewildered and apprehensive look with her head cocked to one side. "...but... don't wolves /eat/ dogs?" She asks, knowing no better he's not exactly a pure wolf. In her eyes, he certainly looks like one, and he is in the middle of the woods. "I bet your eyes glow red too, and you can make your teeth grow bigger and sharper!" She points out like someone accusing a woman of being a witch because they have a wart, her voice purely matter-of-fact as if -everyone- knew wolves grew to be the size of bears and could melt into shadows.
Dog. /This/ is a dog? Ciqala can't keep himself from taking a step forward, from sniffing at the air. By the whispers and shouts he has heard about dogs, they have earned a spot in his head as one of the many faceless monsters in his dreams, and even Jage's occasional presence in these lands has not taken that from him. "I don't... um... I'm not a wolf." That seems the easiest way to reassure her, and it's not a complete lie, besides. He's different from the wolves that make up the majority of this pack, in personality if no other way. And, oddly, he seems very much like this... dog.
Aularuq continues to look both suspicious and confused, though, she doesn't look on the verge of bolting so that's an improvement. "You're... not? Huh. You kiiinda look like one.. I guess..." She's never seen a live one, only the pelts, so it's hard to judge. "...so, what are you? I didn't smell any dogs out here, and you're not a fox, or a wolverine, or a caribou! Are you a coyote? I heard about those from the southern dogs! They're supposed to be reeeally sneaky!"
Ciqala continues taking slow, steady steps towards the female. He stops after a few of them, though, and glances behind him, back towards his pack's territory, before looking back to her to answer. Not a wolf. Not like any of them, and he is certainly not any of those other things she has mentioned. And though he knows his mother, his packmates, would call him a wolfdog, he just told her he /wasn't/ a wolf. He doesn't want to scare her away by saying that he is, after all. Even if only half. "I'm, um. I'm a dog. Like you?" Clearly, he is none too certain of himself.
"You are?" Aularuq cocks her head to the other side with an expressiveness that would make an owl jealous, and with a breathy huff she flops back onto her rump. "Huh. I'm Aularuq!" She says, the foreign name coming out in a sudden enthusiastic rush, the worries apparently set aside now that the younger canine is apparently of her own kind, and her further words come out in an equally fast pace. "Hey, you know of any humans around? I'm /starving/. I was heading home to find my master because someone /stole/ my teammates and me and I coulda sworn he was near here but I can't find him."
Humans? The word causes Ciqala to lay his too-large ears back, as even his mother, his loving, forgiving, kind mother does not have a high opinion of humans, and for as much as he and this dog originally seemed alike... That distaste is evident, in his expression. "We don't have... them... around here. But maybe... The wolves here don't eat /me/. I promise. I don't think they'd eat you, either, and maybe... Well, you see... That's where I get my food." Ciqala winces as he speaks. He really doesn't expect this to go over well.
The look of alarm on the dog's face appears to border on panic, and even if her rapid heartbeat might not be audible beneath her thick pelt her breathing is. No humans here? Then it's true, she is lost, and maybe she'll never get home. A loud whine escapes the dog who restlessly gets back to her feet, pacing this way and that. All the while, she shoots nervous glances to the juvenile as she clearly struggles with a decision. "Why would wolves help you? Wolves hate dogs." But they have food, and she's clearly thin, maybe even thinner than said wolves. "...I wish I could dig out this fish...I miss fish. We ate them all of the time. ...are you /sure/ they wouln't eat me?"
"Maybe... Maybe, if you didn't leave, I could go and, um. Ask them. First. Or maybe... just bring you something?" Ciqala can't say that his pack would sgree to feed this dog. His mother probably would, but his mother does not seem to do any hunting, anymore. He may be able to sneak off with some little bit of food, though, and it would be better than nothing, right?
"Ask them?" Aularuq echos him with her ears perking up in a faint, hopeful expression. "I.. I guess I can stay here. I guess I can't get more lost, eh?" She says with a sad, forlorn attempt at a laugh. "...I'll eat anything right now. I'd even eat the stupid hay they put in our crates." With a grunt, she turns a circle three times before flopping down onto her stomach with her curled tail resting at her side. "...um... what's your name, anyway?"
Ciqala seems surprised when she asks what his name is. Surely, he has not forgotten /all/ of his manners. And yet... No, he didn't introduce himself, in all of his confusion and worry about saying the right things. "Oh! I'm, ah. I'm Ciqala." With that, he takes a step back, keeping his gaze on her, as though to reassure himself that she isn't leaving. "So. I'll, um, go, and try to bring something back. Okay?" As he speaks, he continues walking backwards, though very slowly. He doesn't want to lose the possibility of making friends with her, when they do seem so much alike. When he has no reason to fear her, unlike with most of the others in his life.
"Ciqala?" Aularuq says, her tweak on the name rolling it off her tongue like her own. "Yeup, sounds like a dog name." It appears a compliment as she lolls out her tongue and seems to contend herself with settling into the snow by the brambles and patiently wait. At least she seems more comfortable. "I'll wait here. I got nowhere to go!" And even the fading hope of finding home takes a back seat to the promise of food.
Once she promises she'll stay, Ciqala finally turns around, so he can move with more speed. Of course, he has no idea what he'll say, if he should meet up with one of the adults of the pack, or whether he'll find food when he gets back to the den, but... well, critical thinking and planning ahead is not exactly his style, so he'll probably stumble his way through it when he gets that far.