Post by awinita on Jun 13, 2011 23:09:39 GMT -5
Bristlecone - A male Coyote
Iktomi - A Juvenile female Fox
Zihna - A female Dog
Zalia - A female Coyote
Felix - A male Fox
This RP changed direction more times then Tiger Woods changed women, but this one has a happy ending. At least no one was beaten with a golf club. Yet.
Zihna and Bristlecone meet Iktomi, a young fox with a strange past. After she stumbles off, the two decide that maybe it's time to remove the dog's collar as a symbolism of her new life at the tributary, before they are interrupted by Bristlecone's unique[scary sadistic!
] sister - Zalia. Left alone, Zihna and Zalia don't exactly hit it off right away, but eventually the coyote helps her discover that - deep down - there is a bit of bravery after all, and of course Felix gets a few romantic quips in. After all is settled and peachy, Iktomi makes her adorable re-entrance, and exposes a possible soft spot in Zalia's tough exterior.
All's well that ends well!
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With a song in his heart, Bristlecone is prancing his way through the forest. Dignity? He has no need for dignity. He has better things than dignity. He should be hunting, but it's hard to stalk prey quietly when your feet want to dance instead, and he's not /so/ hungry as to actually make his attention focused on his hunt. Tt would be sad if he ended up entirely without dinner, but his attempts to keep from frolicing have not met with much success, thus far. But he's got to find something, or else he can't bring it back as a present for Zihna!
Hunting is easy for adult critters! They're big, they have the jaws to snap and the stregnth to take things down... but for small, barely juvenile beasts, other methods must be taken. Here, where the two rivers merge, there are occasional pools of slower running water, as with all rivers. In these pools, fish fry gather, to escape the great torrents that would otherwise sweep them away. And it is into one of these pools that a little fox kit is staring thoughtfully; ears erect, and scrug of a tail twitching side to side. She knows they're food. But how to get them? She lifts a paw and swipes at the water, trying to see if that will work. When all it does is scatter the fish, she frowns.
The day has cleared up, though it may have felt like rain earlier, the clouds have been swept away. Today is too important a day to storm, and no one could rain on Zihna's parade! The dog is stretching in the sun, tail wagging on its own accord - and she's given up trying to still it. She's got a song in her heart, baby. Her mind briefly touches the subject of eating; she's not quite hungry enough to go racing off into the brush, but - then again - she's so pumped full of airy happiness there really wouldn't be much room left for something as simple as hunger. At the sound of a small splash behind her, the dog turns and spies the little fox kit and her head tilts curiously. She doesn't think she knows her...but then again she's always seeing foxes around here. Maybe she has met her. "Hello!" She calls out cheerily.
Bristlecone gambols past a rabbit, and sends it scampering off through the brush. He stares after it, and shakes his head. This one actually was a rabbit! It shouldn't be so hard to tell these things apart. Still, there's bound to be something nearby - and, indeed, after a few more steps he catches sight of a lizard on a rock before it catches sight of him, and manages to pounce it and give it a vigorous, snapping shake. It's not much, but it's enough to be an excuse to head back. So he turns, heading toward the riverbank and den at a quick lope.
Ears twitch in surprise, and the kit yaps, leaping to her feet, slipping on the rocks, and splashing into her pool of would-be lunch head first. She sits there, blinking and soggy, before she shakes her head, and looks toward the voice and-- oh! It's just a dog. She blinks a little, then asks, "... Do you know my momma?" curiously, before she pitters her way out of the pool of fish and water, and then shakes her entire frame free of said water-- only managing to make herself look a little floofy in the process.
Zihna oofs, and her ears prick forward as she watches the kit tumble into the water. "Sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you!" She apologizes, though with a smile on her muzzle. She remembers being young, clumsy, and easily suprised...took her awhile to grow out of it, actually. "Your momma? I dunno..." She settles onto her belly to appear less imposing, though the fox obviously isn't too frightened by her. "What's her name?" One ear flicks towards the sounds of someone approaching and she peers at the brush before she catches a scent on a convenient gust of wind. She knows that smell! The dog grins before turning back to the kit.
Bristlecone arrives back nearly to the den, and then makes the detour from there toward the river, where he finds Zi - and a strange fox. He's pretty sure he knows all the foxes around here - at least well enough to know if any of them had kits this season! This fox, however, he doesn't recognize at all. Still, maybe it's a distant cousin or something. He has a happy grin for the dog, but then his attention turns mostly to Iktomi as he lopes into view, lanky coyote with reddish fur and a lizard dangling from his jaws
"Ikkie," The foxkit first says, "I mean, Iktomi." She corrects herself, tail flecking. "You look kinda like momma did." She says, thoughtfully, as she takes a seat-- only to squeak noisily in surprise at the coyote appearing out of ZOMG NOWHERE with a lizard in his mouth, fur bristling as she does a cat-like leap to her feet and into the air, jumping backwards-- and once again landing on the rocks at the edge of her fish pool, slipping a moment, and splash! Falling in. She blinks a few times as before, and then looks about her paws at all the first scattering, before trying to slap a paw on one.
Coyotes have a tendency of popping out of zomg nowhere. It's part of their charm. Zi happily pushes herself into a sitting position to greet Bristle - but it seems Iktomi takes a different view as she topples out of sight again! Zihna stands and, concerned, trots to catch sight of the little fox splashing after fish in the shallows. "Nice to meet you Iktomi. I'm Zihna, and he's Bristlecone. He's not as scary as he looks, I promise!" She teases, turning to shoot a look over her shoulder to said not-scary coyote. "So where are you from, and where's momma?" lost foxkits are a problem. A cute, fluffy problem.
His attention mostly on the very, very WET young fox. Oh, and easily startled, too. That part isn't too surprising, though - even when not trying to hide, Bristlecone has had enough lessons in stealth drilled into him that it's all instinct now. Such is the way of being a coyote. He drops the lizard, and nods. "I'm not scary at all," he adds. "My best friend is a fox." Well, his best friend that isn't Zi. She falls into another category entirely, and he grins as he nuzzlegreets her.
"Dunno," Iktomi says, watching the fish, one wet paw raising, as she tenses, then slaps at the water, trying to pin the fishie down. "The two-legs left me here," she says, as casual as pie," though showing some dismay when her first attempt at fish pinnery fails, before she tries again, "And then they went away. I thought maybe they were going to bring Momma here, too, but I guess not." She says, amazingly calm now that she figures the Coyote isn't scary. "Two-Legs are funny like that."
After happily returning the affectionate greeting, Zihna's ears perk as far forward as they can go. "Oh, the two legs? I used to live with the two legs, too." She doesn't know enough about their costums, however, to guess at why they'd let the little fox loose. She never left the yard befre she escaped. "Well you'll be safe here until your mom finds you, if you need a place to stay?" She's not gonna make a little fox kit leave! She's not heartless. Quite the opposite. Leaning gently against the coyote, she asks "What's your mums name?"
The two-legs? Bristlecone glances to Zi, since the dog has a much closer perspective on such things than he does. All he knows is second-hand stories and rumors. Still, it doesn't seem likely that their influence on this young fox's presence here is a good thing. From what his parents have said, they'd be more likely to kill a fox than save o- ... oh. His face falls, as he takes that to a logical conclusion as far as Iktomi's mother goes. Ears and tail droop, for a moment, before he puts on an attempt at a friendly, upbeat expression again. It's rather more fake than earnest, though. "Yeah. Stay a while, that's... we'd like to have you."
"Uhh.." Iktomi blinks a few times. What was her mom's name? ".. Mommy?" She says, blinking a little. Well, what do you expect a little'un to call their mom? "Uhm.. The two-legs called her.. Something like Beeyoola." She says, looking from Zihna to Bristlecone, and then back to the fish, finally slapping a paw down on a minnow, and then attempting to duck her head in and catch it with her mouth. Except.. she tries to breath beforepaw, and ends up coughing and sneezing instead, her minnow escaping. "But I never really listened to them much when they weren't making angry noises or saying angry things. Why would I? They were two-legs, silly creatures. Although sometimes the male one was scary."
Zihna returns a grave look to Bristle. Her firsthand knowledge of the humans is limited, however she has seen enough of them toting their kills past her fence to know that they enjoy senseless attacks. They don't even eat the whole thing! However, why would they have named them if they were hunting? Maybe they kept them as pets like they did Zihna. "O-Oh? Well...they can't get you now." A desire to change the subject away from a possibly-dead mother, she continues: "There's plenty of foxes here that you can make friends with. And the Coyotes are nice too." At this she nuzzles at Bristlecone. Young love - can't go more than five minutes without some sort of physical contact.
Bristlecone might melt, or have his ears fall off, or something. Wait, no, the melting is what he does when he _does_ get nuzzled. His ears and tail perk up again, and he wags a bit as he leans back at Zi. "Yeah. And the dogs are nice!" he adds, and grins. Everybody's nice, apparently.
".. Why not? I mean, why wouldn't they come back for me? Momma's gonna be angry with them, and then they'll have to come back," Iktomi says, matter of factly, as she stands, spinning around a little in a drippy droopy fashion, watching the fish, before trying to pounce with both paws-- and managing to catch one tiny minnow, she shoves her face into the water to snap it up, and comes up with a fish! TRIUMPH! ... Until she sneezes from water on her snout, and her fish goes flying, only to land on the ground, where it flops about vigorously in pitiful display. She stares at it, before she splishsplash trots that way, and unpon reaching land, shakes all the water from her fur again. Whupps, floofed out again. She lays down, pulling the fish closer with her snout by the tail, before she begins trying to pin it in place with a paw. "Bein' nice is good! And I know she's a dog, Momma was a dog, too!" She says, grinning at the coyote smugly. See? She knows!
Now she's just confused. The humans do weird things, but this is one of the weirder. The foxe's words distract her from the nuzzling coyote and her brow furrows. "Oh? Well...us dogs are very good at being versatile and...such." Her confusion is obvious, but she shakes it. Maybe this fox was with the nicer humans. Maybe her mum was hurt or something and they took her in...whatever the case, Zihna has an inkling that the humans aren't coming for her. Either they released her or they lost her - they are good at misplacing things - and if they are coming back for her then...do they want them /here/? But, no. She's not going to turn a kid away on the off chance that the humans could come. She thinks about the collar at her neck...if they do come, what if they see it and take her away? She wouldn't let that happen. She assures herself that they are /not/ coming...she hopes.
Bristlecone grins as Ikkie finds some success in fishing. He remembers when he was learning those same tricks! "Good job!" he tells her. Then he blinks at her revelation. Momma was a... dog. A dog. Okay, Bristlecone knows he's not an expert on biology, and he's certainly no stranger to a bit of cross-species love, but... he didn't think the way his fox friend flirted with the coyotes and dogs could actually go somewhere! He's still not certain he believes it, though. "Well..." he says. "I'm sure your mama will want to come find you, but you know how stupid two-legs can be. It might be quite a while."
Nodding, Iktomi adds, "Yeah, Two-Legs are stupid." She says, with a smirk, as she finally catches the fishi's head and begins gnawing on it. Sure, it's just a fishie, but considering she appears to be on her own, she's doing well for being self-sustaining! "They kept calling me weird things like 'stupid fox' and 'worthless hunk of fur', but those aren't my name! My name's Iktomi, my mommy said so!" She beams proudly! Then she licks her lips. "Mommy also told me that two-legs like stupid tricks like chasing sticks and stuff. That's silly!" She grins. Then gnaws s'more on fish. "So you two seem nice, maybe I'll stick around here till they come and get me. Besides. They never let me eat fishies like this. They always just gave me this yucky stuff called bread."
Zihna frowns. The young fox may not understand the names, but the dog's heart sinks for her. "Yes the two legs are...very stupid. They walk on two legs so they don't bump their noses on the floor." Something her neighbor always told her."They probably would just forget your name. They're silly like that." She's certainly not going to elaborate on the - "Bread? Thats not too healthy. You'll be better here. If the two legs are too dull to find you, you can be a big, strong, wild fox." She smiles. "I used to be owned by the two legs, but now I'm a wild dog and I got along just fine. With a little help of course." Mushy coyote nuzzle. "You should stay here with us! You'll be much happier then with the stupid two legs. They can't even walk proper!"
If Bristlecone has learned one thing, growing up with foxes, it's that gentle persuasion and nudges in the right direction work far better than arguments. So he grins a bit, as Iktomi agrees about human stupidity, and nods. Her further explanations of how the humans treated her act to confirm his suspicions, and he nods his agreement with Zi as she responds, returning her nuzzle with affection. The two-legs are definitely not good news... and almost certainly not coming back. "Fish are tasty," he agrees to Iktomi. "You should try some lizard, too." He picks up the lizard he caught and drags it closer. Yeah, okay, it was meant for his and Zi's meal, but... he can always catch another one. And so could the dog. Iktomi's gotten lucky to have caught herself a fish, but little foxes aren't exactly the best of hunters, and she could probably use a good meal.
"Wild fox?" Iktomi tilts her head, licking a few scales from her snout. "Wild Dog? Is there a difference?" She asks, curiously, "I mean, you're still a dog, right? You don't call Coyotes wild, right? Or ar eyou a wild coyote?" She says, looking to Bristlecone curiously. "Lizard? I dunno, they look all kinds of pokey and stiff." Though she does lick her lips as she snaps up and crunches the rest of her little moresel, "Although maybe I might try a little bit, but only if you two are done." She smiles, tail flecking in a lazy wag most certainly picked up from a not-fox.
Zihna watches the Coyote give up his meal and shoots him a soft look that translates into something along the lines of 'you'll get a reward for sweetness'. Or something like that. "I'm still a dog, but I'm not the same dog I was when the humans kept me locked up. They always called the non-collar dogs 'wild dogs'." She nods sagely, and can't help but smile a bit as the fox wags her tail. Such a familiar gesture in an unfamiliar medium! "Lizard is better then it looks. The outside is crunchy, but the inside is good!"
Wild coyote? Only when he - ahem. Not in front of the kid. Bristlecone smiles cheerfully. "Oh, yeah. Just extra. It'll be good to not have it go to waste, if you happen to want it." He's not doing it because of potential rewards from Zi, of course - not that he's likely to mind them! Rather the opposite. He nods. "It's fun to chew on the crunchy bits, too. Like a toy and a meal, all in one."
Yeah he did. Watching the little fox trundle off into the brush with the lizard, Zi sighs. Poor thing. "She'll be fine..." She assures no one in particular, and nuzzles at her interspecies boyfraaan. History dictates they get into hijinks when left unsupervised, but - c'mon - they're not /that/ love wild!
Bristlecone watches the disappearing fox, and nods. "She's already catching fish, after all," he says. More or less. "I couldn't manage that until I was somewhat older." He grins, and leans in against Zi, his tail swaying back and forth and swishing against hers as he nuzzles back. Surely they'll be perfectly reasonable and mature... not that kind of mature. This time.
Zihna nods. "At least the two legs taught her /something/ useful. Or her mom did...curious case that one." She leans right back against him, resting her cheek against his neck. Of course they're reasonable and mature! Nothing that has happened has proved otherwise. Except the pouncing and the tickle fight among other things. Though they did them in very mature, and adult ways. Not that kind of mature and adult. "So...how you feelin'?" She asks after a moment of comfy leaning.
"They're definitely strange..." he says, considering on it for a moment and then shaking his head. Two-legs. He'll never understand them. But they're not all terrible, given that they're kinda connected to the existence of his girl. The one he's currently leaning against, tail making a happy sway. "I'm good. Really good," he replies, and then chuckles. "Kinda hungry, though."
"They make funny noises. /All/ the time." She smiles. It's hard to get worked up about something when you're leaned up against a warm and cuddly Coyote. "Same here...that was sweet that you gave her your lizard." She croons, nuzzling at his cheek.
Bristlecone nods, considering. "I hope they don't come back here." They're a little intriguing, sure - and maybe he'd go peeking around their lands, someday - but he'd rather they stay out of _his_ territory. "Ah, she needs it more than I do," he replies with a shrug. To him, it's just plain as simple as that.
She nods a hasty agreement. "I'd be afraid if they did. They'd use the thing on my neck to bring me back to John." And she has too much fun here! With the coyote who gives his food to kits. "Well...it was still very sweet." She reiterates with a smile. "All...noble and stuff." Good word, noble.
Bristlecone turns his head a bit, peering at the neck-thing. He mostly doesn't think about it, having gotten used to it as a part of Zi, but... "We could try to get it off you?" he suggests. "I mean... it doesn't look that tough. I could maybe try chewing at it..." He blushes a little, as his actions are complimented. Awwww.
"I...never really thought about getting rid of it." She straightens up, lifting a paw to scratch at it. "Just so used to it but -" Confusing words like 'new beginnings' flash through her head. "- it could be the symbolism to my 'fresh start'." She muses on it. She was getting a bit big for it - she notices its tug when she turns her head. "Yeah, I would like to et rid of it." She answers at last, nuzzling at his cheek.
Bristlecone waits as Zi considers, his head tilted to the side, and then he nods, nuzzling back warmly. "Okay. Let me see if I can..." And he nudges his nose against her neck, trying to see if he can catch that collar between his jaws and get a good grip. Of course, it's rather challenging, with how tight around the dog's neck it's gotten...
Zihna cranes her neck in an attempt to allow more room for teeths. Really they could have made her life a whole lot easier by just typing a rope around it. /Really/, people. "Maybe we can call a favor on those bunny friends of your parents -" she suggests. "They have smaller teeth that could go at this..." Though hr voice positively drips appreciation for the effort so far.
Bristlecone leans in close to Zi, his muzzle nestled against her neck. Out of context, it probably looks like something rather different than just an attempt at collar-removal. 'Necking' given a whole new meaning. It doesn't help that impression that he's using his tongue to lap in under it, trying to catch at the leather and pull it out enough for his teeth to give it little nibbles. "Mmh. Maybe. Just gotta..."
Zi hates that she can't help this along - it is her collar after all. However, there isn't anything she can from this angle except sputter encouragements that doesn't help an out-of-context viewing. "You're getting there - oh, the tongues a nice touch." Well, maybe that last one was just teasing. Kind of.
Bristlecone grins at the tease, his tail giving a thump, but keeps on working on the collar. It's starting to show tooth marks, now, from when he's actually managed to sink his jaws around it for a moment. He's trying to be gentle, but it does end up making little tugs against Zi's neck as he slowly worries at it, using his jaws to get where Zi simply can't. Coyote teeth are sharp. And coyote tongues are skillful!
Usually she doesn't pay much attention to others. She's fairly apathetic, really, when it comes to those around her. To be honest, she doesn't even care much about herself; she's just Zalia. The coyote is walking back to the den where she knows her parents still live, still accept scores of random guests and live-in friends, still are their happy-go-lucky, generous selves. Usually Zalia can't handle it. But it's time to go home for once, and she's irritable and tired. It's not the best time to come upon the sight before her, then, where her little brother (well.. to her he's little..) and.. some stranger. A dog. And.. he's /nuzzling/ her /neck/? Suddenly she cares desparately to settle this distracting curiosity. Instead of saying a word, however, Zalia simply sits.. and stares at them for a moment, fully in the open, as if utterly perplexed and skeptical.
Zihna can vouch for that last part. Awww yeah. Tugs are ultimately worth it - and not too much of a pain. A millisecond or two of breath cut short here and there is nothing serious. She giggles occassionally - it's already been established that she's notoriously ticklish - but her little nose begins twitching up a storm when she catches a new scent on the wind. Unable to fully turn to see who it is - as her neck is otherwise occupied - she points it out to Bristlecone. "Hey, Bris - I smell another coyote. Friend of yours?" Its casual. She has yet to meet an unfriendly occupant in this area...but she hasn't truly met Zalia yet.
Bristlecone has got a little bit of that collar torn open, a break in the leather that goes about a quarter across it. He totally misses the scent, what with the noseful of german shepherd, but hmms as Zihna says something, making little pffs to get the loose fur out of his mouth as he looks up to see. Then he grins, his tail starting to wag. His big sister! Bristlecone looks at her with a gaze that has no small amount of hero worship. Zalia is totally his definition of cool. She's the big bad coyote that he's always looked up to, even if he's never quite dared to follow in her wild footsteps. "Zalia!" he yips happily.
Hell /no/, Zihna hasn't met Zalia yet, and that's exactly what's bugging the traveler-come-home at the moment. For a moment her gaze flickers to her brother, but her mouth merely twitches slightly as she arches an eyebrow with a stare directly obviously at the accompanying canid. ".. New friend?" Zalia finally remarks in a snide way, not /entirely/ unfriendly.. just.. not /friendly/. Ahem. In the back of her mind, it's really not because of any particular reason that she's so critical - besides, well, the fact that she hates strangers and this one is apparently enjoying a good random bro-slobber.
Zihna strikes up her friendly-face. She's twitchy around strangers, though less so recently as she's grown used to strangers being - well - friendly and not...potential things that want to eat you. The dog stands and pivots to face Zalia, grinning with all the dignity of someone who has not just been caught with someone's nose in their neck. "Hullo! I'm -uh- Zihna." Even now she can notice subtle similarities between Bristle and the exclaimed 'Zalia'. "Are you too related?" And another distraction comes in the form ofher favorite, fancy fox! "Morning Felix."
Tail still a-wagging, Bristlecone grins to Zalia. So cool. That standoffish thing is just... so his sister. He nods to her, expression earnest. "This is Zihna," he tells her. "She's..." Cue coyote-blush. "...my girl." He grins, and nods to Zi. "Zalia is my big sister. She's not around very much." Mostly because, every time she comes back, it culminates in her stalking off again, snarling about their parents and those same ways that have made Zihna feel so welcome here.
Silently, Zalia studies Zihna a moment more, eyebrow yet quirked, as if utterly nonplussed with her casual introduction. Her brother speaks up for her, and Zalia directs a quick look of critical contemplation at Bristlecone. The look in her eyes perfectly relays the message that she thinks he's quite high, but a sense of intense curiosity lurks behind. Not one to shy away from communicating her real feelings, Zalia smirks, "Dog, eh? A walk on the /wild/ side, eh, Bristle?" Maybe it's just the heat, but could that be the potential for approval in her tone? Perhaps not, for she takes a brief pace forward, then cocks her head skeptically as she eyes the dog once more. "Where you from?" Sister-girlfriend drill time.
Zihna keeps up a friendly grin. His sister! Yay, more family! Her own tail thumps pleasantly against the ground. "It's great to meet you." She says politely and earnestly - and is taken back by her tone. Okay, she's good. She can handle this. "I'm - well - um I was in yard for a long time, but I jumped the fence and just kept running till I wound up here. Not really sure w-where specifically though." She's being grilled, now she's getting nervous. She hasn't quite reached dad-walking-in-on-them nervous levels, or even the meeting-mum nervous levels, but her confidence has certainly slipped from the level it was at about five minutes ago. An hour ago she was simply over the moon! Oh how things change.
Felix looks confused for a moment, then approaches the other cool canines in the area. "Hello, everyone."
Bristlecone meets Zalia's gaze evenly. He may occasionally worship the ground she walks on, but he's not scared of her. "Yeah. A dog," he replies, firmly but with a grin. Sure, Zi's a dog, not a coyote, but at least she's still in the same broad class. Still a canine. It's not so bad as all those friends of their parents! And, hey - who is he to argue with having found sexy, no matter what species it ends up taking? He nods a greeting to Felix, and remains by his girl's side while Zalia grills her, but he doesn't say anything to interfere or defend Zi directly. Parents are one thing. Awesome big sisters? Are another thing entirely.
She 'hmms' audibly and with purpose as she maintains a healthy (in HER opinion) stare on Zihna. There ain't gonna be no soft-paws in HER family, thank you very much! So far, at least Zihna hasn't fled. I mean, that's a plus. Zalia's eyes draw to the dog's neck in response to her history and gives an ever-faint nod in acknowledgement. "Well, least you know it, even though past doesn't matter much," Zalia inconsequently mutters, pacing to the side vaguely. "You're here now, though - how'd you meet Bristle?" She looks over at her brother pointedly, and her lips quickly purse into a mildly amused expression as she eyes him with such determination in his posture. Has he really grown up so much since she's been gone? Maybe there's hope for him yet..
And Zihna brings the sexy. More so recently. Sensing some sort of subtle, unspoken tension she swallows those insecurities threatening to bubble to the surface; She straightens her own posture a little, noting the change in the coyote next to her. "Yes, a dog." She nods as everyone seems intent on affirming that she is, in fact, a dog. "We met awhile back...we were both younger and I had been just walking, trying to find a place to kip down in and he was on the other side of the river." She hadn't thought about how they met for a long time, in fact. She always remembers the tree incident. "We talked for awhile, then I swam over and we became friends. I was afraid of most strangers but I felt comfortable with him." Sweet and innocent, yet it gives her the traveller's edge. At least that's what she's going for. 'Cause she's exotic and stuff beyatch. Aaaaand there goes Felix. The dog smothers a laugh for his pride's sake. Normally, she'd mutter advice out of the side ofher mouth. Unfortunately, she's too intent on gaining approval today.
Bristlecone is an adult and everything! Well, at least, by age and physical maturity. He's still not entirely sure of himself sometimes, but... he's getting there. He smiles as Zihna starts on story-telling time, and grins as Felix makes his (doomed) romantic advances, then is distracted by his stomach grumbling. "I'm going to go get something to eat," he says, and nuzzles at Zi's cheek. "You two have fun getting to know each other." Clueless coyote, about those looks and the nature of his sister? Well, maybe not entirely - because he walks past Zalia, on his way to departing, and says softly, "No mauling her too much. She's _mine_." Then he's loping off into the brush, leaving the three behind for now.
The older sister utters no reply until /after/ her brother has exited following his patient, yet serious comment. /After/ he's gone, Zalia flickers her attention fully upon Zihna, as if seeing her for the first time. Technically, it's different when there's no romantically-devoted emotional bodyguard, right? "Oh, yes, my brother, ever the friendly, generous one, just like our /parents/, and yet.." Zalia pauses, letting herself size up the canine, "He's still young." She lets the words sit for a moment and stands, considering quietly. Suddenly the fox breaks into her concentration, and she delivers unto him a startlingly fierce glare of faint surprise. She stares at him for a full moment in utter silence, not deeming a reply worthwhile until it was perfectly chosen, and then shooting back, "If you ever call me 'sunny' again, I'll eat your snout off your face." Okay, maybe she's just a tad tense at the moment. After a moment of composition, Zalia finally returns her gaze to Zihna, muttering gruffly, "He likes you. A lot. Too much, I think, but he's.. easily attached." Hell, everyone's more easily attached than her, but whatever. Her eyes grow more serious. "How much you like him?"
Felix looks utterly stunned by this response... and kind of wanders off a little. He suddenly finds himself thinking a lot about his snout.
Zihna totally made a man out of him. That constitues adulthood, or at least an excuse to get Mulan stuck in my head. "Have fun!" She offers with a constitution and confidence that she -with a sinking feeling- can tell are fleeing with her security rock of a boyfriend. Swallowing again and stiffening up she forces a steady eye contact. "We're both young, but we know what we're doing." She slips into the pause between comment and malicious reply to Felix. She shoots her foxy friend a sympathetic grin, mouthing 'Don't worry. I thought it was hot.' to him before returning to her steely eyed opponent. But...how much does she like him? It wasn't something she'd ever stopped to think about, more of an impulsive feeling she's been continuously acting upon. But she knows the answer, even if she doesn't know the words to put it in. "More then you can know. I could give you a long mushy speech but I can tell you'd rip my snout off as well." A vocal tip of the hat to Felix. "I'm a nervous sort-" That much can be seen already "But...I feel safe with him. You can't understand how wonderful that is."
Well. She /has/ to give it to the canine for not going off into the romance, which was.. admittedly tanget-prone here, but not at ALL what Zalia's point was. Kudos to the kid. And so naive. Zalia /loves/ naive. It's soft and chewy. Nomnom. "You may not know what you're doing, but so headstrong doing it," Zalia tosses out, offhand. There at least appears to be a lack of /malice/ in her words for once, though the critical tone lingers. Suddenly she changes direction. "If you're, especially admittedly, the 'nervous sort', I must inquire: what makes you think you're worthy of him? Tell me, runaway," Zalia glances away, looking in the direction her brother had taken away from them. "Why are you not a stumbling block for Bristlecone? Friendly, sweet, accepting, yes.." She snorts wryly, licking her lips. "My brother could find many of /those/ females. In other words, how, Zihna, are you /strong/?"
Felix finally recovers from the threat and looks back over at Zalia. "Don't you think you're being a bit harsh?"
Zihna agrees wholeheartedly with Felix. On the inside, she's freaking out. This chick is asking questions that just can't be answered! At least not by her. But she can try to BS her way through if she has to. Though she decides to try the honest thing one last time. If this is a battle of wills and strength, she's going to lose, but maybe Bristlecone is worth getting a few emotional bumps and bruises for. "I'm not 'worthy of him'." She replies, ears pinning back. The name 'runaway' is one she hopes does not stick. It's been muttered through fences and its not a title she'd like to return to. "I'm not brave, I'm not strong, I'm not a fighter." Might as well get it all out there. "But what I /am/, is in love. And you can question me and snarl at me but even though I'm not brave I won't run away. Some things run deeper then a harsh word or a cruel name." Hopefully Felix's comment can distract her from the speech Zihna had not wanted to make, but had wound up spewing anyways.
The fox irritates Zalia. "I'm quite /aware/ of being 'a bit harsh'," She replies in a low tone, her lips rising over her teeth. "She's soft, she's weak - she's /not/ for my brother." The coyote's eyes flare as she stares off into the distance again, temper roused. Without looking at the female, she listens quietly as if distracted, though her ears twitch indicatingly at the sound of Zihna's voice. Zalia doesn't appear swayed in the least by her attempt at blunt honesty, but perhaps it's not the fault of the dog's that the flame burns away in her expression. A thin snicker emits from between closed teeth, but she doesn't react in fury this time as much as undisguised judgment. "My parents are weak, Zihna, weak and unable to read the characters of others accurately, and they accept all," Zalia sniffs into the wind, mentally breaking away from the thick atmosphere. "They didn't know how to raise me, and I raised myself the hard way. And Zihna," the coyote glanced sideways her way, "I can't have Bristlecone going through the same things. My parents are a lost hope; my siblings are yet able to be saved. And I will do that. And I don't mind doing all that I can to do so - do you understand?" The female tilts her head ever so slightly, her face now emanating a stoic patience.
Felix looks frightened. "Wait... you weren't raised by your parents?"
Poor Felix... But something in the way she snaps at the fox brings out something different in Zihna. "Unfortunately, that's not for you to decide." She speaks up, finally, a hint of anger in her voice. The coyote's seeming obsession with turning Bristlecone into some sort of...mindless, scathing clone disturbs her - and it's this thought that pushes her fear of Zalia momentarily to the back burner. Seriously, there's one in every family. She probably has a crazy sibling running around somewhere, foaming at the mouth and biting at children. After listening with an almost-glare to Zalia's hateful rant, she nods once. "I understand - but I don't agree." Rattling off on noble speeches didn't phase her, maybe short and to the point is the best approach in this case.
The coyote purses her lips patiently first.. then becomes slightly more thoughtful before responding to Felix. "Raised into puphood, yes.. raised into maturity, into /reality/, into /life/, no." She seems to be considering a particular thought, though doesn't deem it worth adding, for she changes topic swiftly. Then Zihna begins to speak again, and there's something new to her tone. Zalia picks it up at once, and her eyes shift from the vagueness of the horizon over to the speaker, an unreadable expression on her face. Her eyebrow quirks again, like at the first sight. "Tell me, with what don't you agree?"
Felix eloses his temper. He doesn't like arguing with females who aren't his sister, but... "You're just a prude!"
"We have a very different view on -" and here she quotes the coyote "-maturity, reality, and life." Her voice is almost cold. Bristlecone's sister or not, there is something seriously wrong here. "I do not know what problem you have with your parents, and I don't -want- to know. But you keep talking about 'saving' your siblings, and if you're trying to make them like you..." she moves her eyes over Zalia. "Then you wouldn't be saving them at all. You're...dark and apathetic. Bristlecone is happy, and from what I can see, you're intent on crushing that." She frowns. "Your opinion of me, good or bad, will not affect my relationship with your brother. When this conversation started all I wanted was approval, but now I don't care either way. I want happiness, and that I find with Bristlecone the way he is - not warped by you." She cannot help smile, however, as Felix retorts. You tell her.
Alll the noooise noise noise noise. A hiccupy squeak comes from a nearby bush, before it rustles and then out pops a head-- followed by a body. A tumbly little fox body. Iktomi, with bat-ears erect (Man, kids at that age are all ears and paws and NOOOOooooo grace or charm sometimes) and brown eyes blinking. "Wow, another coyote! Is this one wild, too?" she asks, curiously, not really greeting anyone, but wagging her tail eagerly like a dog or wolf pup more than the fox she really is. She trotta-trots toward the little arguing company.
God, /finally/. Zalia's eyes crease faintly, her gaze level and staring at Zihna for a short time longer, penetrating, then both eyebrows lift in a display of amusement as she lets her eyes fall to the ground thoughtfully. "So you /are/ a fighter," she muses quietly, her paw steps taking her another pace in an attempt to stretch her tensed muscles. "Impressive." The coyote uttered a harsh barklike laugh. "And brave." Zalia glances again out of habit in the direction of the den, and she inhales deeply, apparently intently curious about something. Then she murmurs vaguely, "Make him strong, aye? He's a gentle little 'yote.." Her eyes flicker about, as though lost, then immediately shoot over to the newcomer - another little one? They're coming out of the woodworks now. Instead of reply, she merely squints a lightly pleasant expression (can Zalia even DO that?), quite enveloped in her /own/ thoughts at the moment.
What, just like that? Was all Zalia wanted was for Zihna to stand up to her. He calms down. He remembers his teachings and realizes he failed in a few of them just now.
Zihna returns the gaze, unaware of her own hidden backbone. But it's there, afterall...huh. She can't think of what to say to that realization, so she merely stands stoically until Zalia finishes before her expression softens and she nods. "I will." She raises an eyebrow before finally smiling. "Thank you." She turns at the sound of the crackle of leaves and - oh, its the little one from before. "Hello again, Iktomi!" She chirps plesantly, shooting a smile to Felix. "Hey, stop looking confuddled and meet this lovely little young thing."
With no confirmation of wether Zalia is wild or not (Iktomi is still tryign to decide how anyone can be 'wild' anyway,) the little fox kit sniffs at Zalia's leg if allowed, then trots on past for Zihna, sniffing at her, too. "Man, why do you all smell the same? It's soooooo weird. But kinda cool. I smell like water! Oh, and berries, c'os I found some yummy flowers and they tasted like berries, so I ated them."
The whole 'soft' moment doesn't sit especially well with Zalia, who, though not necessarily /disturbing/, is truly not emotional. Like, at all. Like, yeah. So she shifts slightly, avoiding the others as they begin to pay attention to the little kit, until she too feels comfortable enough again to look over at the girl thoughtfully. Yeah, she'll probably never be a /mom/ (doesn't that require.. maternal insticts or something? Or a soul?) but she can appreciate the cute little things, as long as someone else owns them. Zalia lowers down to sniff at Iktomi with a subtle smirk on her face as she's sniffed in return, though the expression immediately dissapates once realized.
Felix peers over at the kit and goes to investigate. And then Zihna uses her name. "Well, uh... hello."
Unsure of how to explain the wild/not wild to a young kit raised in some...strange circumstances, Zihna lets the question slip by. "We smell the same 'cause we're all in the same place. As you get older you get better at figuring the scents from one another." She watches Zalia out of the corner of her eye and smirks. There's something down in there somewhere - deeeeeeeep deep down. Very deep. Under 200 feet of rubble and guarded by men with machine guns - but its there! The mood has changed, in part with the introduction of a kit, and in part with the sudden acceptance on the dog and coyote's part...the day has once again turned nice. All in all, it's been great for the dog.
Felix causes Iktomi to stop, but, she wags her tail eagerly shortly after. "Oh, hey, you look just like me! That's cool!" She beams! And then sits down, scrubby tail patting the ground. Weird fox. "Yeah? You really think so? That's cool I like smelling different things, smelling things is fun, except when you're smelling, like, cat poop, or chicken poop. But I only smelled chicken poop once and then the Two-Legs chased me back to momma in the .. Hoooowwwwwse. They didn't like me looking at the chickens."
"You mean I'm a fox like you?" Felix wonders in the direction of the younger fox. What is she doing here and who are her parents?
Zalia stares wordlessly at the kit, as if totally lost by her exuberance and yet doesn't care at all to feel the same excitable emotions. And then... she's just so taken. What IS THIS THING? IT'S SO CUTE. GET AWAY.
"Then you're gonna love it here. Lots of different things to smell!" She's not quite sure what a 'chicken' is, but she understands the concept of two legs and their random, made up rules. Like the whole no-peeing-on-the-porch thing. She never understood that one. Anywhoodle. Zihna watches the kit in amusement, though that amusement grows when she sees the expression on Zalia's face. She does have a soul! It's a miracle. Finally she shakes the dust from her fur, yawns and stretches, and turns to Zalia. "I'm going to go find my Coyote and go to bed...it's been a long day." She grins. "It really was nice meeting you - and you too!" The second, directed to Iktomi, is a pitch higher and reverts to the natural puppy/kit/cub speak. "I'll see everyone some other time." And with that she's slinking off into the brush, intending to return to the den, possibly with company. Scandalous!
-RP probably continued but this is as far as I have logged, as that was my pose out. Bed time!-
Iktomi - A Juvenile female Fox
Zihna - A female Dog
Zalia - A female Coyote
Felix - A male Fox
This RP changed direction more times then Tiger Woods changed women, but this one has a happy ending. At least no one was beaten with a golf club. Yet.
Zihna and Bristlecone meet Iktomi, a young fox with a strange past. After she stumbles off, the two decide that maybe it's time to remove the dog's collar as a symbolism of her new life at the tributary, before they are interrupted by Bristlecone's unique[scary sadistic!
] sister - Zalia. Left alone, Zihna and Zalia don't exactly hit it off right away, but eventually the coyote helps her discover that - deep down - there is a bit of bravery after all, and of course Felix gets a few romantic quips in. After all is settled and peachy, Iktomi makes her adorable re-entrance, and exposes a possible soft spot in Zalia's tough exterior.All's well that ends well!
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With a song in his heart, Bristlecone is prancing his way through the forest. Dignity? He has no need for dignity. He has better things than dignity. He should be hunting, but it's hard to stalk prey quietly when your feet want to dance instead, and he's not /so/ hungry as to actually make his attention focused on his hunt. Tt would be sad if he ended up entirely without dinner, but his attempts to keep from frolicing have not met with much success, thus far. But he's got to find something, or else he can't bring it back as a present for Zihna!
Hunting is easy for adult critters! They're big, they have the jaws to snap and the stregnth to take things down... but for small, barely juvenile beasts, other methods must be taken. Here, where the two rivers merge, there are occasional pools of slower running water, as with all rivers. In these pools, fish fry gather, to escape the great torrents that would otherwise sweep them away. And it is into one of these pools that a little fox kit is staring thoughtfully; ears erect, and scrug of a tail twitching side to side. She knows they're food. But how to get them? She lifts a paw and swipes at the water, trying to see if that will work. When all it does is scatter the fish, she frowns.
The day has cleared up, though it may have felt like rain earlier, the clouds have been swept away. Today is too important a day to storm, and no one could rain on Zihna's parade! The dog is stretching in the sun, tail wagging on its own accord - and she's given up trying to still it. She's got a song in her heart, baby. Her mind briefly touches the subject of eating; she's not quite hungry enough to go racing off into the brush, but - then again - she's so pumped full of airy happiness there really wouldn't be much room left for something as simple as hunger. At the sound of a small splash behind her, the dog turns and spies the little fox kit and her head tilts curiously. She doesn't think she knows her...but then again she's always seeing foxes around here. Maybe she has met her. "Hello!" She calls out cheerily.
Bristlecone gambols past a rabbit, and sends it scampering off through the brush. He stares after it, and shakes his head. This one actually was a rabbit! It shouldn't be so hard to tell these things apart. Still, there's bound to be something nearby - and, indeed, after a few more steps he catches sight of a lizard on a rock before it catches sight of him, and manages to pounce it and give it a vigorous, snapping shake. It's not much, but it's enough to be an excuse to head back. So he turns, heading toward the riverbank and den at a quick lope.
Ears twitch in surprise, and the kit yaps, leaping to her feet, slipping on the rocks, and splashing into her pool of would-be lunch head first. She sits there, blinking and soggy, before she shakes her head, and looks toward the voice and-- oh! It's just a dog. She blinks a little, then asks, "... Do you know my momma?" curiously, before she pitters her way out of the pool of fish and water, and then shakes her entire frame free of said water-- only managing to make herself look a little floofy in the process.
Zihna oofs, and her ears prick forward as she watches the kit tumble into the water. "Sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you!" She apologizes, though with a smile on her muzzle. She remembers being young, clumsy, and easily suprised...took her awhile to grow out of it, actually. "Your momma? I dunno..." She settles onto her belly to appear less imposing, though the fox obviously isn't too frightened by her. "What's her name?" One ear flicks towards the sounds of someone approaching and she peers at the brush before she catches a scent on a convenient gust of wind. She knows that smell! The dog grins before turning back to the kit.
Bristlecone arrives back nearly to the den, and then makes the detour from there toward the river, where he finds Zi - and a strange fox. He's pretty sure he knows all the foxes around here - at least well enough to know if any of them had kits this season! This fox, however, he doesn't recognize at all. Still, maybe it's a distant cousin or something. He has a happy grin for the dog, but then his attention turns mostly to Iktomi as he lopes into view, lanky coyote with reddish fur and a lizard dangling from his jaws
"Ikkie," The foxkit first says, "I mean, Iktomi." She corrects herself, tail flecking. "You look kinda like momma did." She says, thoughtfully, as she takes a seat-- only to squeak noisily in surprise at the coyote appearing out of ZOMG NOWHERE with a lizard in his mouth, fur bristling as she does a cat-like leap to her feet and into the air, jumping backwards-- and once again landing on the rocks at the edge of her fish pool, slipping a moment, and splash! Falling in. She blinks a few times as before, and then looks about her paws at all the first scattering, before trying to slap a paw on one.
Coyotes have a tendency of popping out of zomg nowhere. It's part of their charm. Zi happily pushes herself into a sitting position to greet Bristle - but it seems Iktomi takes a different view as she topples out of sight again! Zihna stands and, concerned, trots to catch sight of the little fox splashing after fish in the shallows. "Nice to meet you Iktomi. I'm Zihna, and he's Bristlecone. He's not as scary as he looks, I promise!" She teases, turning to shoot a look over her shoulder to said not-scary coyote. "So where are you from, and where's momma?" lost foxkits are a problem. A cute, fluffy problem.
His attention mostly on the very, very WET young fox. Oh, and easily startled, too. That part isn't too surprising, though - even when not trying to hide, Bristlecone has had enough lessons in stealth drilled into him that it's all instinct now. Such is the way of being a coyote. He drops the lizard, and nods. "I'm not scary at all," he adds. "My best friend is a fox." Well, his best friend that isn't Zi. She falls into another category entirely, and he grins as he nuzzlegreets her.
"Dunno," Iktomi says, watching the fish, one wet paw raising, as she tenses, then slaps at the water, trying to pin the fishie down. "The two-legs left me here," she says, as casual as pie," though showing some dismay when her first attempt at fish pinnery fails, before she tries again, "And then they went away. I thought maybe they were going to bring Momma here, too, but I guess not." She says, amazingly calm now that she figures the Coyote isn't scary. "Two-Legs are funny like that."
After happily returning the affectionate greeting, Zihna's ears perk as far forward as they can go. "Oh, the two legs? I used to live with the two legs, too." She doesn't know enough about their costums, however, to guess at why they'd let the little fox loose. She never left the yard befre she escaped. "Well you'll be safe here until your mom finds you, if you need a place to stay?" She's not gonna make a little fox kit leave! She's not heartless. Quite the opposite. Leaning gently against the coyote, she asks "What's your mums name?"
The two-legs? Bristlecone glances to Zi, since the dog has a much closer perspective on such things than he does. All he knows is second-hand stories and rumors. Still, it doesn't seem likely that their influence on this young fox's presence here is a good thing. From what his parents have said, they'd be more likely to kill a fox than save o- ... oh. His face falls, as he takes that to a logical conclusion as far as Iktomi's mother goes. Ears and tail droop, for a moment, before he puts on an attempt at a friendly, upbeat expression again. It's rather more fake than earnest, though. "Yeah. Stay a while, that's... we'd like to have you."
"Uhh.." Iktomi blinks a few times. What was her mom's name? ".. Mommy?" She says, blinking a little. Well, what do you expect a little'un to call their mom? "Uhm.. The two-legs called her.. Something like Beeyoola." She says, looking from Zihna to Bristlecone, and then back to the fish, finally slapping a paw down on a minnow, and then attempting to duck her head in and catch it with her mouth. Except.. she tries to breath beforepaw, and ends up coughing and sneezing instead, her minnow escaping. "But I never really listened to them much when they weren't making angry noises or saying angry things. Why would I? They were two-legs, silly creatures. Although sometimes the male one was scary."
Zihna returns a grave look to Bristle. Her firsthand knowledge of the humans is limited, however she has seen enough of them toting their kills past her fence to know that they enjoy senseless attacks. They don't even eat the whole thing! However, why would they have named them if they were hunting? Maybe they kept them as pets like they did Zihna. "O-Oh? Well...they can't get you now." A desire to change the subject away from a possibly-dead mother, she continues: "There's plenty of foxes here that you can make friends with. And the Coyotes are nice too." At this she nuzzles at Bristlecone. Young love - can't go more than five minutes without some sort of physical contact.
Bristlecone might melt, or have his ears fall off, or something. Wait, no, the melting is what he does when he _does_ get nuzzled. His ears and tail perk up again, and he wags a bit as he leans back at Zi. "Yeah. And the dogs are nice!" he adds, and grins. Everybody's nice, apparently.
".. Why not? I mean, why wouldn't they come back for me? Momma's gonna be angry with them, and then they'll have to come back," Iktomi says, matter of factly, as she stands, spinning around a little in a drippy droopy fashion, watching the fish, before trying to pounce with both paws-- and managing to catch one tiny minnow, she shoves her face into the water to snap it up, and comes up with a fish! TRIUMPH! ... Until she sneezes from water on her snout, and her fish goes flying, only to land on the ground, where it flops about vigorously in pitiful display. She stares at it, before she splishsplash trots that way, and unpon reaching land, shakes all the water from her fur again. Whupps, floofed out again. She lays down, pulling the fish closer with her snout by the tail, before she begins trying to pin it in place with a paw. "Bein' nice is good! And I know she's a dog, Momma was a dog, too!" She says, grinning at the coyote smugly. See? She knows!
Now she's just confused. The humans do weird things, but this is one of the weirder. The foxe's words distract her from the nuzzling coyote and her brow furrows. "Oh? Well...us dogs are very good at being versatile and...such." Her confusion is obvious, but she shakes it. Maybe this fox was with the nicer humans. Maybe her mum was hurt or something and they took her in...whatever the case, Zihna has an inkling that the humans aren't coming for her. Either they released her or they lost her - they are good at misplacing things - and if they are coming back for her then...do they want them /here/? But, no. She's not going to turn a kid away on the off chance that the humans could come. She thinks about the collar at her neck...if they do come, what if they see it and take her away? She wouldn't let that happen. She assures herself that they are /not/ coming...she hopes.
Bristlecone grins as Ikkie finds some success in fishing. He remembers when he was learning those same tricks! "Good job!" he tells her. Then he blinks at her revelation. Momma was a... dog. A dog. Okay, Bristlecone knows he's not an expert on biology, and he's certainly no stranger to a bit of cross-species love, but... he didn't think the way his fox friend flirted with the coyotes and dogs could actually go somewhere! He's still not certain he believes it, though. "Well..." he says. "I'm sure your mama will want to come find you, but you know how stupid two-legs can be. It might be quite a while."
Nodding, Iktomi adds, "Yeah, Two-Legs are stupid." She says, with a smirk, as she finally catches the fishi's head and begins gnawing on it. Sure, it's just a fishie, but considering she appears to be on her own, she's doing well for being self-sustaining! "They kept calling me weird things like 'stupid fox' and 'worthless hunk of fur', but those aren't my name! My name's Iktomi, my mommy said so!" She beams proudly! Then she licks her lips. "Mommy also told me that two-legs like stupid tricks like chasing sticks and stuff. That's silly!" She grins. Then gnaws s'more on fish. "So you two seem nice, maybe I'll stick around here till they come and get me. Besides. They never let me eat fishies like this. They always just gave me this yucky stuff called bread."
Zihna frowns. The young fox may not understand the names, but the dog's heart sinks for her. "Yes the two legs are...very stupid. They walk on two legs so they don't bump their noses on the floor." Something her neighbor always told her."They probably would just forget your name. They're silly like that." She's certainly not going to elaborate on the - "Bread? Thats not too healthy. You'll be better here. If the two legs are too dull to find you, you can be a big, strong, wild fox." She smiles. "I used to be owned by the two legs, but now I'm a wild dog and I got along just fine. With a little help of course." Mushy coyote nuzzle. "You should stay here with us! You'll be much happier then with the stupid two legs. They can't even walk proper!"
If Bristlecone has learned one thing, growing up with foxes, it's that gentle persuasion and nudges in the right direction work far better than arguments. So he grins a bit, as Iktomi agrees about human stupidity, and nods. Her further explanations of how the humans treated her act to confirm his suspicions, and he nods his agreement with Zi as she responds, returning her nuzzle with affection. The two-legs are definitely not good news... and almost certainly not coming back. "Fish are tasty," he agrees to Iktomi. "You should try some lizard, too." He picks up the lizard he caught and drags it closer. Yeah, okay, it was meant for his and Zi's meal, but... he can always catch another one. And so could the dog. Iktomi's gotten lucky to have caught herself a fish, but little foxes aren't exactly the best of hunters, and she could probably use a good meal.
"Wild fox?" Iktomi tilts her head, licking a few scales from her snout. "Wild Dog? Is there a difference?" She asks, curiously, "I mean, you're still a dog, right? You don't call Coyotes wild, right? Or ar eyou a wild coyote?" She says, looking to Bristlecone curiously. "Lizard? I dunno, they look all kinds of pokey and stiff." Though she does lick her lips as she snaps up and crunches the rest of her little moresel, "Although maybe I might try a little bit, but only if you two are done." She smiles, tail flecking in a lazy wag most certainly picked up from a not-fox.
Zihna watches the Coyote give up his meal and shoots him a soft look that translates into something along the lines of 'you'll get a reward for sweetness'. Or something like that. "I'm still a dog, but I'm not the same dog I was when the humans kept me locked up. They always called the non-collar dogs 'wild dogs'." She nods sagely, and can't help but smile a bit as the fox wags her tail. Such a familiar gesture in an unfamiliar medium! "Lizard is better then it looks. The outside is crunchy, but the inside is good!"
Wild coyote? Only when he - ahem. Not in front of the kid. Bristlecone smiles cheerfully. "Oh, yeah. Just extra. It'll be good to not have it go to waste, if you happen to want it." He's not doing it because of potential rewards from Zi, of course - not that he's likely to mind them! Rather the opposite. He nods. "It's fun to chew on the crunchy bits, too. Like a toy and a meal, all in one."
Yeah he did. Watching the little fox trundle off into the brush with the lizard, Zi sighs. Poor thing. "She'll be fine..." She assures no one in particular, and nuzzles at her interspecies boyfraaan. History dictates they get into hijinks when left unsupervised, but - c'mon - they're not /that/ love wild!
Bristlecone watches the disappearing fox, and nods. "She's already catching fish, after all," he says. More or less. "I couldn't manage that until I was somewhat older." He grins, and leans in against Zi, his tail swaying back and forth and swishing against hers as he nuzzles back. Surely they'll be perfectly reasonable and mature... not that kind of mature. This time.
Zihna nods. "At least the two legs taught her /something/ useful. Or her mom did...curious case that one." She leans right back against him, resting her cheek against his neck. Of course they're reasonable and mature! Nothing that has happened has proved otherwise. Except the pouncing and the tickle fight among other things. Though they did them in very mature, and adult ways. Not that kind of mature and adult. "So...how you feelin'?" She asks after a moment of comfy leaning.
"They're definitely strange..." he says, considering on it for a moment and then shaking his head. Two-legs. He'll never understand them. But they're not all terrible, given that they're kinda connected to the existence of his girl. The one he's currently leaning against, tail making a happy sway. "I'm good. Really good," he replies, and then chuckles. "Kinda hungry, though."
"They make funny noises. /All/ the time." She smiles. It's hard to get worked up about something when you're leaned up against a warm and cuddly Coyote. "Same here...that was sweet that you gave her your lizard." She croons, nuzzling at his cheek.
Bristlecone nods, considering. "I hope they don't come back here." They're a little intriguing, sure - and maybe he'd go peeking around their lands, someday - but he'd rather they stay out of _his_ territory. "Ah, she needs it more than I do," he replies with a shrug. To him, it's just plain as simple as that.
She nods a hasty agreement. "I'd be afraid if they did. They'd use the thing on my neck to bring me back to John." And she has too much fun here! With the coyote who gives his food to kits. "Well...it was still very sweet." She reiterates with a smile. "All...noble and stuff." Good word, noble.
Bristlecone turns his head a bit, peering at the neck-thing. He mostly doesn't think about it, having gotten used to it as a part of Zi, but... "We could try to get it off you?" he suggests. "I mean... it doesn't look that tough. I could maybe try chewing at it..." He blushes a little, as his actions are complimented. Awwww.
"I...never really thought about getting rid of it." She straightens up, lifting a paw to scratch at it. "Just so used to it but -" Confusing words like 'new beginnings' flash through her head. "- it could be the symbolism to my 'fresh start'." She muses on it. She was getting a bit big for it - she notices its tug when she turns her head. "Yeah, I would like to et rid of it." She answers at last, nuzzling at his cheek.
Bristlecone waits as Zi considers, his head tilted to the side, and then he nods, nuzzling back warmly. "Okay. Let me see if I can..." And he nudges his nose against her neck, trying to see if he can catch that collar between his jaws and get a good grip. Of course, it's rather challenging, with how tight around the dog's neck it's gotten...
Zihna cranes her neck in an attempt to allow more room for teeths. Really they could have made her life a whole lot easier by just typing a rope around it. /Really/, people. "Maybe we can call a favor on those bunny friends of your parents -" she suggests. "They have smaller teeth that could go at this..." Though hr voice positively drips appreciation for the effort so far.
Bristlecone leans in close to Zi, his muzzle nestled against her neck. Out of context, it probably looks like something rather different than just an attempt at collar-removal. 'Necking' given a whole new meaning. It doesn't help that impression that he's using his tongue to lap in under it, trying to catch at the leather and pull it out enough for his teeth to give it little nibbles. "Mmh. Maybe. Just gotta..."
Zi hates that she can't help this along - it is her collar after all. However, there isn't anything she can from this angle except sputter encouragements that doesn't help an out-of-context viewing. "You're getting there - oh, the tongues a nice touch." Well, maybe that last one was just teasing. Kind of.
Bristlecone grins at the tease, his tail giving a thump, but keeps on working on the collar. It's starting to show tooth marks, now, from when he's actually managed to sink his jaws around it for a moment. He's trying to be gentle, but it does end up making little tugs against Zi's neck as he slowly worries at it, using his jaws to get where Zi simply can't. Coyote teeth are sharp. And coyote tongues are skillful!
Usually she doesn't pay much attention to others. She's fairly apathetic, really, when it comes to those around her. To be honest, she doesn't even care much about herself; she's just Zalia. The coyote is walking back to the den where she knows her parents still live, still accept scores of random guests and live-in friends, still are their happy-go-lucky, generous selves. Usually Zalia can't handle it. But it's time to go home for once, and she's irritable and tired. It's not the best time to come upon the sight before her, then, where her little brother (well.. to her he's little..) and.. some stranger. A dog. And.. he's /nuzzling/ her /neck/? Suddenly she cares desparately to settle this distracting curiosity. Instead of saying a word, however, Zalia simply sits.. and stares at them for a moment, fully in the open, as if utterly perplexed and skeptical.
Zihna can vouch for that last part. Awww yeah. Tugs are ultimately worth it - and not too much of a pain. A millisecond or two of breath cut short here and there is nothing serious. She giggles occassionally - it's already been established that she's notoriously ticklish - but her little nose begins twitching up a storm when she catches a new scent on the wind. Unable to fully turn to see who it is - as her neck is otherwise occupied - she points it out to Bristlecone. "Hey, Bris - I smell another coyote. Friend of yours?" Its casual. She has yet to meet an unfriendly occupant in this area...but she hasn't truly met Zalia yet.
Bristlecone has got a little bit of that collar torn open, a break in the leather that goes about a quarter across it. He totally misses the scent, what with the noseful of german shepherd, but hmms as Zihna says something, making little pffs to get the loose fur out of his mouth as he looks up to see. Then he grins, his tail starting to wag. His big sister! Bristlecone looks at her with a gaze that has no small amount of hero worship. Zalia is totally his definition of cool. She's the big bad coyote that he's always looked up to, even if he's never quite dared to follow in her wild footsteps. "Zalia!" he yips happily.
Hell /no/, Zihna hasn't met Zalia yet, and that's exactly what's bugging the traveler-come-home at the moment. For a moment her gaze flickers to her brother, but her mouth merely twitches slightly as she arches an eyebrow with a stare directly obviously at the accompanying canid. ".. New friend?" Zalia finally remarks in a snide way, not /entirely/ unfriendly.. just.. not /friendly/. Ahem. In the back of her mind, it's really not because of any particular reason that she's so critical - besides, well, the fact that she hates strangers and this one is apparently enjoying a good random bro-slobber.
Zihna strikes up her friendly-face. She's twitchy around strangers, though less so recently as she's grown used to strangers being - well - friendly and not...potential things that want to eat you. The dog stands and pivots to face Zalia, grinning with all the dignity of someone who has not just been caught with someone's nose in their neck. "Hullo! I'm -uh- Zihna." Even now she can notice subtle similarities between Bristle and the exclaimed 'Zalia'. "Are you too related?" And another distraction comes in the form ofher favorite, fancy fox! "Morning Felix."
Tail still a-wagging, Bristlecone grins to Zalia. So cool. That standoffish thing is just... so his sister. He nods to her, expression earnest. "This is Zihna," he tells her. "She's..." Cue coyote-blush. "...my girl." He grins, and nods to Zi. "Zalia is my big sister. She's not around very much." Mostly because, every time she comes back, it culminates in her stalking off again, snarling about their parents and those same ways that have made Zihna feel so welcome here.
Silently, Zalia studies Zihna a moment more, eyebrow yet quirked, as if utterly nonplussed with her casual introduction. Her brother speaks up for her, and Zalia directs a quick look of critical contemplation at Bristlecone. The look in her eyes perfectly relays the message that she thinks he's quite high, but a sense of intense curiosity lurks behind. Not one to shy away from communicating her real feelings, Zalia smirks, "Dog, eh? A walk on the /wild/ side, eh, Bristle?" Maybe it's just the heat, but could that be the potential for approval in her tone? Perhaps not, for she takes a brief pace forward, then cocks her head skeptically as she eyes the dog once more. "Where you from?" Sister-girlfriend drill time.
Zihna keeps up a friendly grin. His sister! Yay, more family! Her own tail thumps pleasantly against the ground. "It's great to meet you." She says politely and earnestly - and is taken back by her tone. Okay, she's good. She can handle this. "I'm - well - um I was in yard for a long time, but I jumped the fence and just kept running till I wound up here. Not really sure w-where specifically though." She's being grilled, now she's getting nervous. She hasn't quite reached dad-walking-in-on-them nervous levels, or even the meeting-mum nervous levels, but her confidence has certainly slipped from the level it was at about five minutes ago. An hour ago she was simply over the moon! Oh how things change.
Felix looks confused for a moment, then approaches the other cool canines in the area. "Hello, everyone."
Bristlecone meets Zalia's gaze evenly. He may occasionally worship the ground she walks on, but he's not scared of her. "Yeah. A dog," he replies, firmly but with a grin. Sure, Zi's a dog, not a coyote, but at least she's still in the same broad class. Still a canine. It's not so bad as all those friends of their parents! And, hey - who is he to argue with having found sexy, no matter what species it ends up taking? He nods a greeting to Felix, and remains by his girl's side while Zalia grills her, but he doesn't say anything to interfere or defend Zi directly. Parents are one thing. Awesome big sisters? Are another thing entirely.
She 'hmms' audibly and with purpose as she maintains a healthy (in HER opinion) stare on Zihna. There ain't gonna be no soft-paws in HER family, thank you very much! So far, at least Zihna hasn't fled. I mean, that's a plus. Zalia's eyes draw to the dog's neck in response to her history and gives an ever-faint nod in acknowledgement. "Well, least you know it, even though past doesn't matter much," Zalia inconsequently mutters, pacing to the side vaguely. "You're here now, though - how'd you meet Bristle?" She looks over at her brother pointedly, and her lips quickly purse into a mildly amused expression as she eyes him with such determination in his posture. Has he really grown up so much since she's been gone? Maybe there's hope for him yet..
And Zihna brings the sexy. More so recently. Sensing some sort of subtle, unspoken tension she swallows those insecurities threatening to bubble to the surface; She straightens her own posture a little, noting the change in the coyote next to her. "Yes, a dog." She nods as everyone seems intent on affirming that she is, in fact, a dog. "We met awhile back...we were both younger and I had been just walking, trying to find a place to kip down in and he was on the other side of the river." She hadn't thought about how they met for a long time, in fact. She always remembers the tree incident. "We talked for awhile, then I swam over and we became friends. I was afraid of most strangers but I felt comfortable with him." Sweet and innocent, yet it gives her the traveller's edge. At least that's what she's going for. 'Cause she's exotic and stuff beyatch. Aaaaand there goes Felix. The dog smothers a laugh for his pride's sake. Normally, she'd mutter advice out of the side ofher mouth. Unfortunately, she's too intent on gaining approval today.
Bristlecone is an adult and everything! Well, at least, by age and physical maturity. He's still not entirely sure of himself sometimes, but... he's getting there. He smiles as Zihna starts on story-telling time, and grins as Felix makes his (doomed) romantic advances, then is distracted by his stomach grumbling. "I'm going to go get something to eat," he says, and nuzzles at Zi's cheek. "You two have fun getting to know each other." Clueless coyote, about those looks and the nature of his sister? Well, maybe not entirely - because he walks past Zalia, on his way to departing, and says softly, "No mauling her too much. She's _mine_." Then he's loping off into the brush, leaving the three behind for now.
The older sister utters no reply until /after/ her brother has exited following his patient, yet serious comment. /After/ he's gone, Zalia flickers her attention fully upon Zihna, as if seeing her for the first time. Technically, it's different when there's no romantically-devoted emotional bodyguard, right? "Oh, yes, my brother, ever the friendly, generous one, just like our /parents/, and yet.." Zalia pauses, letting herself size up the canine, "He's still young." She lets the words sit for a moment and stands, considering quietly. Suddenly the fox breaks into her concentration, and she delivers unto him a startlingly fierce glare of faint surprise. She stares at him for a full moment in utter silence, not deeming a reply worthwhile until it was perfectly chosen, and then shooting back, "If you ever call me 'sunny' again, I'll eat your snout off your face." Okay, maybe she's just a tad tense at the moment. After a moment of composition, Zalia finally returns her gaze to Zihna, muttering gruffly, "He likes you. A lot. Too much, I think, but he's.. easily attached." Hell, everyone's more easily attached than her, but whatever. Her eyes grow more serious. "How much you like him?"
Felix looks utterly stunned by this response... and kind of wanders off a little. He suddenly finds himself thinking a lot about his snout.
Zihna totally made a man out of him. That constitues adulthood, or at least an excuse to get Mulan stuck in my head. "Have fun!" She offers with a constitution and confidence that she -with a sinking feeling- can tell are fleeing with her security rock of a boyfriend. Swallowing again and stiffening up she forces a steady eye contact. "We're both young, but we know what we're doing." She slips into the pause between comment and malicious reply to Felix. She shoots her foxy friend a sympathetic grin, mouthing 'Don't worry. I thought it was hot.' to him before returning to her steely eyed opponent. But...how much does she like him? It wasn't something she'd ever stopped to think about, more of an impulsive feeling she's been continuously acting upon. But she knows the answer, even if she doesn't know the words to put it in. "More then you can know. I could give you a long mushy speech but I can tell you'd rip my snout off as well." A vocal tip of the hat to Felix. "I'm a nervous sort-" That much can be seen already "But...I feel safe with him. You can't understand how wonderful that is."
Well. She /has/ to give it to the canine for not going off into the romance, which was.. admittedly tanget-prone here, but not at ALL what Zalia's point was. Kudos to the kid. And so naive. Zalia /loves/ naive. It's soft and chewy. Nomnom. "You may not know what you're doing, but so headstrong doing it," Zalia tosses out, offhand. There at least appears to be a lack of /malice/ in her words for once, though the critical tone lingers. Suddenly she changes direction. "If you're, especially admittedly, the 'nervous sort', I must inquire: what makes you think you're worthy of him? Tell me, runaway," Zalia glances away, looking in the direction her brother had taken away from them. "Why are you not a stumbling block for Bristlecone? Friendly, sweet, accepting, yes.." She snorts wryly, licking her lips. "My brother could find many of /those/ females. In other words, how, Zihna, are you /strong/?"
Felix finally recovers from the threat and looks back over at Zalia. "Don't you think you're being a bit harsh?"
Zihna agrees wholeheartedly with Felix. On the inside, she's freaking out. This chick is asking questions that just can't be answered! At least not by her. But she can try to BS her way through if she has to. Though she decides to try the honest thing one last time. If this is a battle of wills and strength, she's going to lose, but maybe Bristlecone is worth getting a few emotional bumps and bruises for. "I'm not 'worthy of him'." She replies, ears pinning back. The name 'runaway' is one she hopes does not stick. It's been muttered through fences and its not a title she'd like to return to. "I'm not brave, I'm not strong, I'm not a fighter." Might as well get it all out there. "But what I /am/, is in love. And you can question me and snarl at me but even though I'm not brave I won't run away. Some things run deeper then a harsh word or a cruel name." Hopefully Felix's comment can distract her from the speech Zihna had not wanted to make, but had wound up spewing anyways.
The fox irritates Zalia. "I'm quite /aware/ of being 'a bit harsh'," She replies in a low tone, her lips rising over her teeth. "She's soft, she's weak - she's /not/ for my brother." The coyote's eyes flare as she stares off into the distance again, temper roused. Without looking at the female, she listens quietly as if distracted, though her ears twitch indicatingly at the sound of Zihna's voice. Zalia doesn't appear swayed in the least by her attempt at blunt honesty, but perhaps it's not the fault of the dog's that the flame burns away in her expression. A thin snicker emits from between closed teeth, but she doesn't react in fury this time as much as undisguised judgment. "My parents are weak, Zihna, weak and unable to read the characters of others accurately, and they accept all," Zalia sniffs into the wind, mentally breaking away from the thick atmosphere. "They didn't know how to raise me, and I raised myself the hard way. And Zihna," the coyote glanced sideways her way, "I can't have Bristlecone going through the same things. My parents are a lost hope; my siblings are yet able to be saved. And I will do that. And I don't mind doing all that I can to do so - do you understand?" The female tilts her head ever so slightly, her face now emanating a stoic patience.
Felix looks frightened. "Wait... you weren't raised by your parents?"
Poor Felix... But something in the way she snaps at the fox brings out something different in Zihna. "Unfortunately, that's not for you to decide." She speaks up, finally, a hint of anger in her voice. The coyote's seeming obsession with turning Bristlecone into some sort of...mindless, scathing clone disturbs her - and it's this thought that pushes her fear of Zalia momentarily to the back burner. Seriously, there's one in every family. She probably has a crazy sibling running around somewhere, foaming at the mouth and biting at children. After listening with an almost-glare to Zalia's hateful rant, she nods once. "I understand - but I don't agree." Rattling off on noble speeches didn't phase her, maybe short and to the point is the best approach in this case.
The coyote purses her lips patiently first.. then becomes slightly more thoughtful before responding to Felix. "Raised into puphood, yes.. raised into maturity, into /reality/, into /life/, no." She seems to be considering a particular thought, though doesn't deem it worth adding, for she changes topic swiftly. Then Zihna begins to speak again, and there's something new to her tone. Zalia picks it up at once, and her eyes shift from the vagueness of the horizon over to the speaker, an unreadable expression on her face. Her eyebrow quirks again, like at the first sight. "Tell me, with what don't you agree?"
Felix eloses his temper. He doesn't like arguing with females who aren't his sister, but... "You're just a prude!"
"We have a very different view on -" and here she quotes the coyote "-maturity, reality, and life." Her voice is almost cold. Bristlecone's sister or not, there is something seriously wrong here. "I do not know what problem you have with your parents, and I don't -want- to know. But you keep talking about 'saving' your siblings, and if you're trying to make them like you..." she moves her eyes over Zalia. "Then you wouldn't be saving them at all. You're...dark and apathetic. Bristlecone is happy, and from what I can see, you're intent on crushing that." She frowns. "Your opinion of me, good or bad, will not affect my relationship with your brother. When this conversation started all I wanted was approval, but now I don't care either way. I want happiness, and that I find with Bristlecone the way he is - not warped by you." She cannot help smile, however, as Felix retorts. You tell her.
Alll the noooise noise noise noise. A hiccupy squeak comes from a nearby bush, before it rustles and then out pops a head-- followed by a body. A tumbly little fox body. Iktomi, with bat-ears erect (Man, kids at that age are all ears and paws and NOOOOooooo grace or charm sometimes) and brown eyes blinking. "Wow, another coyote! Is this one wild, too?" she asks, curiously, not really greeting anyone, but wagging her tail eagerly like a dog or wolf pup more than the fox she really is. She trotta-trots toward the little arguing company.
God, /finally/. Zalia's eyes crease faintly, her gaze level and staring at Zihna for a short time longer, penetrating, then both eyebrows lift in a display of amusement as she lets her eyes fall to the ground thoughtfully. "So you /are/ a fighter," she muses quietly, her paw steps taking her another pace in an attempt to stretch her tensed muscles. "Impressive." The coyote uttered a harsh barklike laugh. "And brave." Zalia glances again out of habit in the direction of the den, and she inhales deeply, apparently intently curious about something. Then she murmurs vaguely, "Make him strong, aye? He's a gentle little 'yote.." Her eyes flicker about, as though lost, then immediately shoot over to the newcomer - another little one? They're coming out of the woodworks now. Instead of reply, she merely squints a lightly pleasant expression (can Zalia even DO that?), quite enveloped in her /own/ thoughts at the moment.
What, just like that? Was all Zalia wanted was for Zihna to stand up to her. He calms down. He remembers his teachings and realizes he failed in a few of them just now.
Zihna returns the gaze, unaware of her own hidden backbone. But it's there, afterall...huh. She can't think of what to say to that realization, so she merely stands stoically until Zalia finishes before her expression softens and she nods. "I will." She raises an eyebrow before finally smiling. "Thank you." She turns at the sound of the crackle of leaves and - oh, its the little one from before. "Hello again, Iktomi!" She chirps plesantly, shooting a smile to Felix. "Hey, stop looking confuddled and meet this lovely little young thing."
With no confirmation of wether Zalia is wild or not (Iktomi is still tryign to decide how anyone can be 'wild' anyway,) the little fox kit sniffs at Zalia's leg if allowed, then trots on past for Zihna, sniffing at her, too. "Man, why do you all smell the same? It's soooooo weird. But kinda cool. I smell like water! Oh, and berries, c'os I found some yummy flowers and they tasted like berries, so I ated them."
The whole 'soft' moment doesn't sit especially well with Zalia, who, though not necessarily /disturbing/, is truly not emotional. Like, at all. Like, yeah. So she shifts slightly, avoiding the others as they begin to pay attention to the little kit, until she too feels comfortable enough again to look over at the girl thoughtfully. Yeah, she'll probably never be a /mom/ (doesn't that require.. maternal insticts or something? Or a soul?) but she can appreciate the cute little things, as long as someone else owns them. Zalia lowers down to sniff at Iktomi with a subtle smirk on her face as she's sniffed in return, though the expression immediately dissapates once realized.
Felix peers over at the kit and goes to investigate. And then Zihna uses her name. "Well, uh... hello."
Unsure of how to explain the wild/not wild to a young kit raised in some...strange circumstances, Zihna lets the question slip by. "We smell the same 'cause we're all in the same place. As you get older you get better at figuring the scents from one another." She watches Zalia out of the corner of her eye and smirks. There's something down in there somewhere - deeeeeeeep deep down. Very deep. Under 200 feet of rubble and guarded by men with machine guns - but its there! The mood has changed, in part with the introduction of a kit, and in part with the sudden acceptance on the dog and coyote's part...the day has once again turned nice. All in all, it's been great for the dog.
Felix causes Iktomi to stop, but, she wags her tail eagerly shortly after. "Oh, hey, you look just like me! That's cool!" She beams! And then sits down, scrubby tail patting the ground. Weird fox. "Yeah? You really think so? That's cool I like smelling different things, smelling things is fun, except when you're smelling, like, cat poop, or chicken poop. But I only smelled chicken poop once and then the Two-Legs chased me back to momma in the .. Hoooowwwwwse. They didn't like me looking at the chickens."
"You mean I'm a fox like you?" Felix wonders in the direction of the younger fox. What is she doing here and who are her parents?
Zalia stares wordlessly at the kit, as if totally lost by her exuberance and yet doesn't care at all to feel the same excitable emotions. And then... she's just so taken. What IS THIS THING? IT'S SO CUTE. GET AWAY.
"Then you're gonna love it here. Lots of different things to smell!" She's not quite sure what a 'chicken' is, but she understands the concept of two legs and their random, made up rules. Like the whole no-peeing-on-the-porch thing. She never understood that one. Anywhoodle. Zihna watches the kit in amusement, though that amusement grows when she sees the expression on Zalia's face. She does have a soul! It's a miracle. Finally she shakes the dust from her fur, yawns and stretches, and turns to Zalia. "I'm going to go find my Coyote and go to bed...it's been a long day." She grins. "It really was nice meeting you - and you too!" The second, directed to Iktomi, is a pitch higher and reverts to the natural puppy/kit/cub speak. "I'll see everyone some other time." And with that she's slinking off into the brush, intending to return to the den, possibly with company. Scandalous!
-RP probably continued but this is as far as I have logged, as that was my pose out. Bed time!-