Post by Pavane on Aug 4, 2010 23:46:09 GMT -5
Setting:
Merging Tributary - Late Summer (RL day 11)
Characters:
Bristlecone - Male Juvenile Coyote
Zalia - Female Coyote
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It's a quiet sort of afternoon, the place where the rivers meet calm and nearly empty. Even the wind is still, not even rustling the tall grasses that grow near the river. That job is left for a coyote pup who's practicing his stalking. He's not trying to rustle them, but... he's still working on those skills, and rustle they do as he moves through them slowly.
It's been a while. Again. Just as she'd promised to stay last time, Zalia had disappeared again without a trace. Without a word to her dad, her mom - the coyotess was a wandering spirit at heart. If she wanted to leave, she left, quite apparently! And just as suddenly as she had disappeared, Zalia had now reappeared, as if out of nowhere, and looking quite nonchalant as she did so. Everything looked the same, unsurprisingly. The 'yote's narrowed, pale eyes scanned the area, halting at the opening of the den in which she knew her parents would be resting, if not up and about elsewhere. Then she paused suddenly - what was that /noise/? Her eyes shifted towards the unobstructive patch of grass near the water's edge. Suspicious, the way they were moving on their own. Zalia took a silent pawstep forward, her ears crooked, as she chuffed a faint sound - just loud enough to alert anybeast to her presence, yet not loud enough to surprise them if caught offguard.
Bristlecone pauses as he hears a sound. There's someone here! He doesn't recognize the voice, though. Another pup might go to hide, or run to seek out mom and dad. Not Bristlecone. He lifts his head up - nope, still not tall enough to see over the grass, though a watcher might see the tips of his reddish ears peeking out - and then steps forward, the grass rustling again as the coyote pup makes his way out into the shorter stuff, where he can actually see, and be seen. He gives a cheerful, friendly-sounding whff back, his tail giving a wag as he looks around.
Oops. /That/ she wasn't expecting. Zalia watches as a small coyote crawl out of the brush - at least he doesn't looked displeased to be surprised. She stares at him momentarily, utterly still even while watching his joyful expressions, and then suddenly breaks into a faintly warm smile, if Zalia could be capable of such an expression. Her eyes softened as they studied the youth carefully, making interesting observations, and she lowered her head nearer to the ground to be level with the juvenile's should he decide to creep closer, asking softly, "Do you live here?"
Bristlecone grins. He got a smile back, so it must be good! He pads closer, his tail wagging cheerfully, and nods. "Uh-huh. With mom, and dad, and my sister... and we play games and go swimming and have lotsa fun. Are you here to visit?" His parents know a lot of people, after all - and he doesn't know that this one is actually related!
Zalia's neck cranes back towards the den pointedly, curious where Rye and Satinka were right now. They never /were/ around when she decided to make her random familiar-territory rounds. Huff. And now what was she supposed to do about /this/? Zalia peers at the young male intently, unsure what to do with this information. It almost seemed wrong to just leave him here.. even if he DID belong here. And he seemed to be doing fine before she came along, eh? She smirks as he comes closer, and makes a shrugging gesture in response to his questions. "Perhaps.. I still have to find out if I'm welcome, yet." The coyotess winks at him uncharacteristically, then changes the subject back abuptly with another question that she knows she must already have the answer to, "Is your daddy named Rye?" The pale yellow eyes continue brushing over the pup's form subtly - this /must/ be Rye's newest litter. That old man just couldn't stop his gears from turning.
Bristlecone nods, tilting his head to the side as the older coyote's hesitation over her welcome. He can't imagine why she wouldn't be, with the combination of his inexperience and friendly disposition, but he doesn't pursue that bit, distracted by her change of subject. "Yeah!" he says enthusiastically. And that makes him start thinking - this stranger's a coyote, after all, and she knows his dad... maybe, just maybe, there's something going on there. He's heard mom mention other pups already gone, after all... so he tries to figure it out. Subtly. Well, with puppy levels of subtlety. "How d'y'know him?"
Subtly, schubtly; Zalia decides to make things easy for the pup. She /knew/ it, anyhow. "You know.." the older coyote clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as if suddenly realizing something for the first time, then grinned broadly at the youth. ".. I do believe I'm your big sister." Crazy, isn't it? Zalia raises her eyebrows curiously, inclining her head slightly. "I'm Zalia." she offered, watching him with a prompting expression. This could be the start of a very interesting time during the duration of her stay here, eh?
Curiosity - yeah, Bristlecone's got that. He leans in as Zalia draws out the revelation, and then makes a little 'O' with his mouth. His sister! And a big one, no less, one that's all grown up! There's definitely a resemblance... of course, he hasn't met any coyotes yet that aren't his relatives, so it's hard to say just what counts. At any rate, it seems perfectly plausible to him - and he knows he heard that name before, though he's forgotten that the context was a warning about potential viciousness. He wags his tail, and grins. "Neat! 'm Bristlecone!"
She couldn't help but be amused at his excitement. It wasn't all that often she got such a pleaseant reception! Zalia dips her head towards him, tail swaying faintly behind her in a friendly fashion. "Well met, Bristlecone." She gestures back towards the den with a subtle motion, glancing from it to him inquiringly. "Have you seen him around anywhere, by any chance? Or Satinka, for that matter?" It occurs to her then that Satinka may not be the mother, in fact, of Bristlecone. Shrugging it off lightly, she leaves the question standing as it is and without any addition - family is family either way, is it not?
Bristlecone follows the glance back to the den, but then shakes his head to the question. "Nuh-uh, not recently. I think he's probably out hunting... and mom went off with her fox friend to talk or something." He shrugs himself - the affairs of parents are of little interest to a pup his age when they don't involve him directly. But that answer, or at least the lack of clarification for it, does seem to indicate that Satinka is his mother.
She chuckles faintly, nodding as she does so. Fox friends were abundant, or at least they were since last time she was here. Heck, everything was abundant around here. "Thank you for your help, sir." With a gentle nudge of her paw, Zalia takes a step back towards the den and glances back at her brother once more. "I better go get some food of my own.." Or maybe she just doesn't want to be caught with a little coyote sibling alone when her parents get back home? "I'll be around, so I'm sure I'll see plenty more of you, eh?" Zalia offers another wink, flashes one last smile, and then - she's gone again.
Bristlecone outright beams at the sir. He was helpful! Not only that, he's being thanked by a real grownup... even if she is his sister, apparently. "Okay! Bye for now, I'll see you... later?" He has /got/ to learn to sneak like that! She was there just a moment ago...
Merging Tributary - Late Summer (RL day 11)
Characters:
Bristlecone - Male Juvenile Coyote
Zalia - Female Coyote
----------------------------------------
It's a quiet sort of afternoon, the place where the rivers meet calm and nearly empty. Even the wind is still, not even rustling the tall grasses that grow near the river. That job is left for a coyote pup who's practicing his stalking. He's not trying to rustle them, but... he's still working on those skills, and rustle they do as he moves through them slowly.
It's been a while. Again. Just as she'd promised to stay last time, Zalia had disappeared again without a trace. Without a word to her dad, her mom - the coyotess was a wandering spirit at heart. If she wanted to leave, she left, quite apparently! And just as suddenly as she had disappeared, Zalia had now reappeared, as if out of nowhere, and looking quite nonchalant as she did so. Everything looked the same, unsurprisingly. The 'yote's narrowed, pale eyes scanned the area, halting at the opening of the den in which she knew her parents would be resting, if not up and about elsewhere. Then she paused suddenly - what was that /noise/? Her eyes shifted towards the unobstructive patch of grass near the water's edge. Suspicious, the way they were moving on their own. Zalia took a silent pawstep forward, her ears crooked, as she chuffed a faint sound - just loud enough to alert anybeast to her presence, yet not loud enough to surprise them if caught offguard.
Bristlecone pauses as he hears a sound. There's someone here! He doesn't recognize the voice, though. Another pup might go to hide, or run to seek out mom and dad. Not Bristlecone. He lifts his head up - nope, still not tall enough to see over the grass, though a watcher might see the tips of his reddish ears peeking out - and then steps forward, the grass rustling again as the coyote pup makes his way out into the shorter stuff, where he can actually see, and be seen. He gives a cheerful, friendly-sounding whff back, his tail giving a wag as he looks around.
Oops. /That/ she wasn't expecting. Zalia watches as a small coyote crawl out of the brush - at least he doesn't looked displeased to be surprised. She stares at him momentarily, utterly still even while watching his joyful expressions, and then suddenly breaks into a faintly warm smile, if Zalia could be capable of such an expression. Her eyes softened as they studied the youth carefully, making interesting observations, and she lowered her head nearer to the ground to be level with the juvenile's should he decide to creep closer, asking softly, "Do you live here?"
Bristlecone grins. He got a smile back, so it must be good! He pads closer, his tail wagging cheerfully, and nods. "Uh-huh. With mom, and dad, and my sister... and we play games and go swimming and have lotsa fun. Are you here to visit?" His parents know a lot of people, after all - and he doesn't know that this one is actually related!
Zalia's neck cranes back towards the den pointedly, curious where Rye and Satinka were right now. They never /were/ around when she decided to make her random familiar-territory rounds. Huff. And now what was she supposed to do about /this/? Zalia peers at the young male intently, unsure what to do with this information. It almost seemed wrong to just leave him here.. even if he DID belong here. And he seemed to be doing fine before she came along, eh? She smirks as he comes closer, and makes a shrugging gesture in response to his questions. "Perhaps.. I still have to find out if I'm welcome, yet." The coyotess winks at him uncharacteristically, then changes the subject back abuptly with another question that she knows she must already have the answer to, "Is your daddy named Rye?" The pale yellow eyes continue brushing over the pup's form subtly - this /must/ be Rye's newest litter. That old man just couldn't stop his gears from turning.
Bristlecone nods, tilting his head to the side as the older coyote's hesitation over her welcome. He can't imagine why she wouldn't be, with the combination of his inexperience and friendly disposition, but he doesn't pursue that bit, distracted by her change of subject. "Yeah!" he says enthusiastically. And that makes him start thinking - this stranger's a coyote, after all, and she knows his dad... maybe, just maybe, there's something going on there. He's heard mom mention other pups already gone, after all... so he tries to figure it out. Subtly. Well, with puppy levels of subtlety. "How d'y'know him?"
Subtly, schubtly; Zalia decides to make things easy for the pup. She /knew/ it, anyhow. "You know.." the older coyote clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as if suddenly realizing something for the first time, then grinned broadly at the youth. ".. I do believe I'm your big sister." Crazy, isn't it? Zalia raises her eyebrows curiously, inclining her head slightly. "I'm Zalia." she offered, watching him with a prompting expression. This could be the start of a very interesting time during the duration of her stay here, eh?
Curiosity - yeah, Bristlecone's got that. He leans in as Zalia draws out the revelation, and then makes a little 'O' with his mouth. His sister! And a big one, no less, one that's all grown up! There's definitely a resemblance... of course, he hasn't met any coyotes yet that aren't his relatives, so it's hard to say just what counts. At any rate, it seems perfectly plausible to him - and he knows he heard that name before, though he's forgotten that the context was a warning about potential viciousness. He wags his tail, and grins. "Neat! 'm Bristlecone!"
She couldn't help but be amused at his excitement. It wasn't all that often she got such a pleaseant reception! Zalia dips her head towards him, tail swaying faintly behind her in a friendly fashion. "Well met, Bristlecone." She gestures back towards the den with a subtle motion, glancing from it to him inquiringly. "Have you seen him around anywhere, by any chance? Or Satinka, for that matter?" It occurs to her then that Satinka may not be the mother, in fact, of Bristlecone. Shrugging it off lightly, she leaves the question standing as it is and without any addition - family is family either way, is it not?
Bristlecone follows the glance back to the den, but then shakes his head to the question. "Nuh-uh, not recently. I think he's probably out hunting... and mom went off with her fox friend to talk or something." He shrugs himself - the affairs of parents are of little interest to a pup his age when they don't involve him directly. But that answer, or at least the lack of clarification for it, does seem to indicate that Satinka is his mother.
She chuckles faintly, nodding as she does so. Fox friends were abundant, or at least they were since last time she was here. Heck, everything was abundant around here. "Thank you for your help, sir." With a gentle nudge of her paw, Zalia takes a step back towards the den and glances back at her brother once more. "I better go get some food of my own.." Or maybe she just doesn't want to be caught with a little coyote sibling alone when her parents get back home? "I'll be around, so I'm sure I'll see plenty more of you, eh?" Zalia offers another wink, flashes one last smile, and then - she's gone again.
Bristlecone outright beams at the sir. He was helpful! Not only that, he's being thanked by a real grownup... even if she is his sister, apparently. "Okay! Bye for now, I'll see you... later?" He has /got/ to learn to sneak like that! She was there just a moment ago...