Post by Curiosity on Jun 25, 2011 17:31:24 GMT -5
Anoki isn't supposed to wander far from the pack lands; not with his mom so sick, and his sister so distracted, and the rest of the pack distraut over the loss of a possible member in Keaugh. But... he misses the grass of the lowlands, and so the little pup has struck out in search of the place where he was born and spent much of his life, despite the warnings not to stray. He's okay, he's got a friend with him! ... Well, okay, the ghost of a dead mouse counts as a friend, right?
Spying from her perch at the southeastern edge of the mountain, along where it slopes down to the lowlands below, a marbled grey bobcat rises from its seat of observation to begin casually slinking its way down the rocky incline towards the pup rolling about on the open plains. Sniffing lightly at the air for scent trails of any protective nearby relatives, the feline continues to daintily pad its way across the warm sandy prairie, not stopping until its come to settle down right next to the little wolf. "Hello there, puppy. Are you lost?" she croons in a silky smooth tone.
Stopping to sniff at a cluster of low-lying scrub, Anoki utters a yap of surprise as someone's voice attracts his attention, and he whirls, at first afraid it's one of the adults, come to drag him back home. When he sees it's a Bobcat ... wait, what IS a bobcat? It's a strange lookin' critter, that's for sure, not one he's seen before. His ears cup forward, but he remembers his bigger sister's words: "I'm not s'possa talk to strangers," he mumbles, starting to crouch a little low to the ground.
"My name is Pauwau," the bobcat replies, her lips curling up into a very catlike smile. "Now I'm not a stranger. What's your name, puppy?" She remains settled easily on her haunches, and compared to her larger mountain-dwelling cousins or even a fully-grown wolf, she hardly looks intimidating.
"Pauwau. that is /so/ a weird name," Anoki says, looking at the cat warily. ".. My name's Anoki, but I dunno if that makes us not strangers, c'os you're definetly /strange looking/." He says, with a squint of eyes, but.. not daring to go closer to sniff at the cat. He might another wolf, but.. only if someone he knew was around. "Whatcha doin' here, lookin' for mouses?"
Pauwau chuckles down at the young wolf boy. "What, you've never seen a feline before?" she inquires, before shaking her head at his own question. "No. Not for mice," she clarifies simply before cryptically adding: "But looking for something." The bobcat smiles once again. A few seconds later it asks a seemingly unrelated question while quicksilver eyes flit about the horizon: "Are you out here all alone, little Anoki?"
"..." Somehow, his baser instinct means he's uncomfortable answering that question with the truth; but Anoki also remembers how his momma said to never lie. And since he's trying to make his momma VERY proud of him before she goes to be with the wind, he is at a loss for an answer. Then he decides to look about for his ghostly mouse friend.. which, in his mind's eye, has appeared upon his head; leaving him looking up. "Nope, my Moosie is here too," he says, as he peers up at it, "But you probably can't see him c'os only my sister can see him besides me for some reason," he says.
"Moosie?" Pauwau repeats, tabby-brow cocked at the name. A quick glance over the flat surroundings doesn't reveal anyone of note, and so she isn't concerned. Must be the young one's imaginary friend. "Well, he can come too," she states simply in response, finally rising from her seat and lightly batting a paw at the pup's hindquarters to try and usher him along. "Come take a walk with me, lonely little Anoki."
... Yeah, this is starting to feel like the equivalent of the nice man down by the river with free candy in his van to Anoki. His ears lay back a little, and he frowns. "Maybe I should stay here, I mean, my ma's kinda sick right now, and I don't wanna make her angry, c'os then she'll just get all worse and stuff.." he frowns a little, ears back. But he does admit.. he is intrigued. This .. cat thing, is interesting. "... Will I get in trouble..?"
"Don't worry about any of that, little Anoki," Pauwau simply deflects any of the young boy's concerns, as though they were nothing at all to be worried about in the slightest. "Just come with me, puppy," she repeats once more, before starting to pad back towards the slope, and expecting the wolf pup to follow. "I wonder, have you been up the mountain before, Anoki?"
A wary glance is given back to the direction of the pack, as Anoki considers. Well, if the cat says there won't be any trouble, maybe there won't be. "The mountain? No.. But we live in the rocks and among the stones!" She points toward the Butte, and then says: "And my Aunt Em is like, the best digger ever so she probably has been." He stands and starts following.. but at the same time, seems to be keeping his gaze skyward in an odd manner, looking about. "You haven't seen any scary birds around, have you? My sister said that I'm supposed to bite them and run if I see them."
Pauwau's matching grey eyes flit back to the small canine at his question, ensuring he is still following along behind her. "What do these scary birds look like, hmm?" she answers a question with a question of her own, bob of a tail flicking about absentmindedly as she begins to pad up the incline.
"They're big, and black. And they make a noise like, "Craw craw craw." But I only see them at night, always chasing a rabbit. My sister says they're looking for food, but she won't tell me what they eat. I guess rabbits, like we do. And Moosies, but I wouldn't ever eat my moosie." Anoki follows; faintly aware of the ghost on his head starting to become agitated; being only a spirit, though, there's not much it can do.. and once they leave the scrublands, it fades away, unable to go much further. "My sister said I'm supposed to tell them that because I'm a wolf, I eat them not the other way around."
"Hmmm..." Pauwau seems to take a moment to consider before finally replying. "No, there aren't any big black birds where we're going." Nope, that big brown bird she knows definitely isn't black. "But we should hurry, little Anoki," the ashen bobcat murmurs, casting a brief glance towards the evening sky that's beginning to fade towards a nearly moonless night. "Before your big black scary birds /do/ come in the darkness." With that, the feline dips her head down, grabbing the pup by the nape of his neck. Though he's a bit larger than a kitten of her own would be, she's still able to manage carrying him along this way with a bit of effort, escorting him up the mountain and away.
Spying from her perch at the southeastern edge of the mountain, along where it slopes down to the lowlands below, a marbled grey bobcat rises from its seat of observation to begin casually slinking its way down the rocky incline towards the pup rolling about on the open plains. Sniffing lightly at the air for scent trails of any protective nearby relatives, the feline continues to daintily pad its way across the warm sandy prairie, not stopping until its come to settle down right next to the little wolf. "Hello there, puppy. Are you lost?" she croons in a silky smooth tone.
Stopping to sniff at a cluster of low-lying scrub, Anoki utters a yap of surprise as someone's voice attracts his attention, and he whirls, at first afraid it's one of the adults, come to drag him back home. When he sees it's a Bobcat ... wait, what IS a bobcat? It's a strange lookin' critter, that's for sure, not one he's seen before. His ears cup forward, but he remembers his bigger sister's words: "I'm not s'possa talk to strangers," he mumbles, starting to crouch a little low to the ground.
"My name is Pauwau," the bobcat replies, her lips curling up into a very catlike smile. "Now I'm not a stranger. What's your name, puppy?" She remains settled easily on her haunches, and compared to her larger mountain-dwelling cousins or even a fully-grown wolf, she hardly looks intimidating.
"Pauwau. that is /so/ a weird name," Anoki says, looking at the cat warily. ".. My name's Anoki, but I dunno if that makes us not strangers, c'os you're definetly /strange looking/." He says, with a squint of eyes, but.. not daring to go closer to sniff at the cat. He might another wolf, but.. only if someone he knew was around. "Whatcha doin' here, lookin' for mouses?"
Pauwau chuckles down at the young wolf boy. "What, you've never seen a feline before?" she inquires, before shaking her head at his own question. "No. Not for mice," she clarifies simply before cryptically adding: "But looking for something." The bobcat smiles once again. A few seconds later it asks a seemingly unrelated question while quicksilver eyes flit about the horizon: "Are you out here all alone, little Anoki?"
"..." Somehow, his baser instinct means he's uncomfortable answering that question with the truth; but Anoki also remembers how his momma said to never lie. And since he's trying to make his momma VERY proud of him before she goes to be with the wind, he is at a loss for an answer. Then he decides to look about for his ghostly mouse friend.. which, in his mind's eye, has appeared upon his head; leaving him looking up. "Nope, my Moosie is here too," he says, as he peers up at it, "But you probably can't see him c'os only my sister can see him besides me for some reason," he says.
"Moosie?" Pauwau repeats, tabby-brow cocked at the name. A quick glance over the flat surroundings doesn't reveal anyone of note, and so she isn't concerned. Must be the young one's imaginary friend. "Well, he can come too," she states simply in response, finally rising from her seat and lightly batting a paw at the pup's hindquarters to try and usher him along. "Come take a walk with me, lonely little Anoki."
... Yeah, this is starting to feel like the equivalent of the nice man down by the river with free candy in his van to Anoki. His ears lay back a little, and he frowns. "Maybe I should stay here, I mean, my ma's kinda sick right now, and I don't wanna make her angry, c'os then she'll just get all worse and stuff.." he frowns a little, ears back. But he does admit.. he is intrigued. This .. cat thing, is interesting. "... Will I get in trouble..?"
"Don't worry about any of that, little Anoki," Pauwau simply deflects any of the young boy's concerns, as though they were nothing at all to be worried about in the slightest. "Just come with me, puppy," she repeats once more, before starting to pad back towards the slope, and expecting the wolf pup to follow. "I wonder, have you been up the mountain before, Anoki?"
A wary glance is given back to the direction of the pack, as Anoki considers. Well, if the cat says there won't be any trouble, maybe there won't be. "The mountain? No.. But we live in the rocks and among the stones!" She points toward the Butte, and then says: "And my Aunt Em is like, the best digger ever so she probably has been." He stands and starts following.. but at the same time, seems to be keeping his gaze skyward in an odd manner, looking about. "You haven't seen any scary birds around, have you? My sister said that I'm supposed to bite them and run if I see them."
Pauwau's matching grey eyes flit back to the small canine at his question, ensuring he is still following along behind her. "What do these scary birds look like, hmm?" she answers a question with a question of her own, bob of a tail flicking about absentmindedly as she begins to pad up the incline.
"They're big, and black. And they make a noise like, "Craw craw craw." But I only see them at night, always chasing a rabbit. My sister says they're looking for food, but she won't tell me what they eat. I guess rabbits, like we do. And Moosies, but I wouldn't ever eat my moosie." Anoki follows; faintly aware of the ghost on his head starting to become agitated; being only a spirit, though, there's not much it can do.. and once they leave the scrublands, it fades away, unable to go much further. "My sister said I'm supposed to tell them that because I'm a wolf, I eat them not the other way around."
"Hmmm..." Pauwau seems to take a moment to consider before finally replying. "No, there aren't any big black birds where we're going." Nope, that big brown bird she knows definitely isn't black. "But we should hurry, little Anoki," the ashen bobcat murmurs, casting a brief glance towards the evening sky that's beginning to fade towards a nearly moonless night. "Before your big black scary birds /do/ come in the darkness." With that, the feline dips her head down, grabbing the pup by the nape of his neck. Though he's a bit larger than a kitten of her own would be, she's still able to manage carrying him along this way with a bit of effort, escorting him up the mountain and away.