Post by Pavane on Apr 20, 2012 1:55:45 GMT -5
Ahiga - male wolf
Ikuna - male adolescent wolf
---Creek Overhang---
Yup. Spring is DEFINITELY somewhere in sight. Ahiga just knows it! The thought of grass and flowers and sweet smells and returning herds and warmth and jumping in the river and basking in the warmth of a shiny sun and hearing birds chirping is making Ahiga feel giddy. The wolf can't keep still. All of his energy would be very useful in a hunt, but he's not about to go try taking down a deer by himself and anyway, goofing off seems like a better idea to him. And so of course he finds himself back at the creek's overhang, which makes for a perfect slippery slide with the snow and ice that'll be melting (he knows!) oh so very soon. The young wolf is making quite a spectacle of himself as he runs forward, leaps, and slides down the snowy slope on his hindquarters, mouth open and widely grinning. "Woooohoo!" A slight indention in the snow shows that he's been sliding down, climbing up, and sliding down quite a few times already. And apparently, it hasn't gotten old.
Somewolf is not being subtle, nor stealthy. Somewolf is, in fact, being loud and boisterous. Ikuna has heard somewolf. Ikuna is, in fact, trotting in the direction of somewolf with his ears perked. For all spring is totally going to come real soon now honest, today is... not particularly showing it. Winter's not done yet. At least the snow has melted and refrozen enough that it's got a decent crust under Ikuna's paws as he pads along toward the sound of whooping and thumping only to find... Ahiga! Somewolf, indeed. He grins, tail swaying slowly as he pads closer and perches beside the other wolf's iceslide to peer down. "Gone and turned otter?"
Floomph! Ahiga's slide ends in a snowdrift that doesn't look as if it was made naturally... if the clawmarks wihtin a nearby ditch of snow is any indication. His pillow-like landing has him laughing, and it's just then that he hears a voice from above. Ears perk as he looks up at Ikuna. Otter? "Otters got it figured out. They've been doin' this slidin' thing all their life. Why'm I /just/ now figurin' out how fun it is?" Grinning, he stands and gives himself a rigorous shake before stepping out of the line of fire. "C'mon, slide down. You know you want to," he calls up. If any awkwardness remains from a semi recent discussion they've had, he's not showing it. The adrenaline of fun puts everything else on the backburner!
Ikuna snorts at Ahiga's response, shaking his head. Dignity! Grace! Adult ablomp! Maturity and responsibli... well, okay. He scrapes one paw against the snow like he's preparing to charge, then takes a bound forward onto the snowslide! Okay, maybe not a perfect one, because he swoops from side to side of it as he wooshes down, and when he lands, it's in a sprawl on his side with his legs stuck out crazy-like and clumps of snow stuck to his fur, but... he laughs!
Mwuaha! Peer pressure always prevails! Ahiga bows, rump in the air and tail waving playfully as Ikuna makes his wild slide down to the bottom. He bounds towards him and circles around, kicking up snow in the process before abruptly pouncing on his fallen form. Dignity indeed! What's needed here is a good ol' wrestling match. A test of strength! A battle of might! Who is the alpha male! .. Ok, well, possibly it's something with a little less pomp than that, but nevertheless the pounce happens and Ahiga seems in the mood for an old fashioned tousel. His paws wrap around Ikuna's shoulders and he his jaws go for the kill! The ears, of course!
Peer pressure nothin'! Ikuna's got just as much peer to press. He wurfs at the pounce from Ahiga, and his tail thumps the ground a second later as his hindpaws kick up at the other wolf, play-growling as he wriggles about toward (hopefully) a position with better leverage and tries to dodge, weave, nooooooo his ear is caught, he has to wrap up a forepaw at Ahiga and bapbapbap at the other wolf's ears in revenge!
No, not the ears! With Ikuna's ear still in his mouth, Ahiga tries to duck and cover. But to no avail! He's forced to release his prize in order to save his own head. Growling, nips at the leg of the offending bapping paw, trying to fend off his kicking hindlegs by sitting on them. So really, his mode of defend is just .. to flop! for now he has his full weight on his pall, though it's not like Ikuna is making it easy with all the wriggling and movement. He grins, feeling himself beginning to slide. "Hey, stay still! You're like a fish!"
Thumpathumpa goes Ikuna's paw. Also, goes his tail against the ground. He grins, wrestling about until... squish. He's sat upon. Oof! After a moment, he starts rocking his hips from side to side deliberately, making for an extra super mega squirmy surface for Ahiga. "An' you're an otter!" he retorts, poking Ahiga's chest with his paw. "Ottaottaotta!"
Nope. Not gotta fall off. No way no how! "Hey, at least otters have paws!" he retorts before taking a snap at his poking paw. Snap! Miss! Slip! Ikuna's too wiggly to stay on, and the ice on his fur that's by now melted to snow with their combined body heat doesn't make things any less slippery. Ahiga slides off of him and comes to a soft halt on the snow at his side. He aims one last kick before grinning and flopping onto his stomach. "Too bad this thing isn't slippry in the spring. How cool it'd be to slide of an' land right in the river."
Ikuna opens and closes his muzzle with fishy faces, and grins as he pawbats and wriggles! Hah, there it is! He's displaced Ahiga, with a thump to the shoulder and a taste of victory. ...and a him continuing to sprawl in the snow on his back, staring up at the clouds as the brawl settles down. "Well. You could use mud, I guess? That gets pretty slick." Also messy, but hey. Can't be perfect.
Mud. Hmmmm.. Ahiga turns his head to glance up the slope, then turns to eye the river. It's not too far. The slope isn't extremely high... "That's an idea.." he says, nodding to himself as he pictures it in his mind. A river of mud. Sliding earth-caked wolves. Then *splash!* into the river. Heh. Awesome. His grin slowly begins to grin as the imagery becomes more colorful, and when his attention turns back to Ikuna, he promptly swats the side of his head. "You're a genius! We'll do that this spring. Maybe summer, when it's even hotter an' we'll /need/ to cool off in the water." His tail thumps against the snowy ground, though at a thought it begins to slow. "Hey.. You heard about Skahla's pup?"
That will be Ikuna's legacy to the ages. Mud-caked wolves and splooshing. He grins at Ahiga's enthusiasm, stretching his paws up above his head and out behind him and making indents in the snow. At the question, he tilts his head, peering sidewise at his friend. Skahla's pup? Uh... "Which one?"
"Uh..." Gosh. What a question. This is what happens when he doesn't spend much time with the pups! Well, no. That's not true. Ahiga had spent some time with both Hadir and Althaea before recent days. He taught Hadir how to say "'Sup" after all! He honestly didn't realize there was a third one. "Uh...So..yala?" A pause. "Soyola?" He looks apologetically at the other wolf. "Sorry man, I know she was your niece 'n all, but really, I never saw her. I guess she was sick. Sicker than Hadir is, if you can believe it," he says, head ducking a bit. "She's with the spirits now, I heard."
Huh, goes Ikuna. He's quiet for a moment, considering, and then rolls around onto his belly again, sitting partway up in a more dignified pose. "I saw her. Not since the pups started leaving the den, though. She never... quite made it, I guess." He frowns, but glimpses into the den do not a strong familial relationship make, and after a moment, he sighs. "Poor Skahla. At least Althaea's doing good."
Ahiga exhales a breath and nods in agreement. "Yeah. I mean, can you think how it'd feel to have only one good pup outta three?" He wrinkles his nose a little and flops against his side, leaning and sharing warmth. As much as he dreams of spring, winter is still here in full force...and it's cold! "Bad luck for him, I guess. But you're right, Althaea's alright. Tala and I brought her an' Hadir down here a little while ago to play for a bit. Hadir was acting' sort of ... weird. LIke." He pauses, searching for the word. "Careless. Like it didn' matter that his sister was gone."
"Wonder if it's... him," says Ikuna softly, almost to himself. It'd be one thing if the pups had been injured, but with sickness taking them... what if something's wrong with Skahla? Something passed on to his pups? Or with Shawnee, and the same? The young wolf frowns deeply, and then gives himself a bit of a shake, listening to Ahiga again as he leans back against the other wolf. "Hadir _is_ weird," he says with a little laugh. "He made friends with a rabbit." The smile fades again. "Maybe he's just... ignoring it. Pretending it's not there so it can't hurt him." A glance to Ahiga, questioning. After all, Ikuna wasn't there to see.
How awful would that be, to be the bearer of...eh...sickly pups? Knowing that your offspring will have something wrong with them? Though the words were softly spoken, Ahiga is close enough to hear them and he nods just slightly, brows furrowing. "That's bad. If he can't have good pups..." Well, that's got to be a bad thing. Ahiga has a feeling that being Alpha and producing strong offspring go hand in hand. Ikuna's words regarding Hadir has him pausing in thought, and after a moment he makes a slight face and slowly shakes his head. "I dunno if that's it. It was more like...he was just kind of, taking it. Like dying didn't matter to him. He said everything dies and there's nothin' anybody could do about it."
Such is the traditional role of the Alpha, after all. Producing the next generation of the pack. If a wolf can't do that - or won't - then what sort of Alpha do they make? What sort of future can they bring to the pack? Ikuna tilts his head, listening to his friend. He hmms. "It's true, sort of, but only sort of. Everyone does die, but it still matters. If we just give up... that's no good. Life is short. We gotta take it for all we can, because death... really, really sucks."
"Yeah.. I think Tala was tryin' to tell him that. We all have a purpose. But I don't know if he was really hearin' what she was saying, though. What I think, personally, is he's sittin' around waitin' for death to take 'm." Ahiga flicks an ear, eyes squinting a bit. "He's a depressin' kid to be around. Tried cheering him up a bit, but I think that jus' lasts for the moment, then it's gone. Can't blame him though. He's got it rough." He falls quiet for a moment, but can't help but smirk at the last bit. "An' you know because...you've died?" he teases, pushing against him a bit. "What if it's like, really awesome? I bet the spirit world is like this but, ten jillion times cooler, with no winters."
"Least he's got a mom and dad still," says Ikuna with a frown. Life's tough all over, it is. Sure, Hadir's got a rough deal... but he's not the only one who's suffered. He huffs a bit, then gives himself a shake at Ahiga's teasing. "So that's why everyone's been rushin' there, huh? Parties and flowers all around?" He grins, and leans over to nip for the other wolf's shoulder.
"Yup. S'gotta be." Ahiga snickers and leans away from the nip, though is unsuccessful in avoiding the playful bite. "You're right. We've all got it rough, but that jus' means that we're gonna have it real good sometime soon. All this badness can't last forever. I jus' hope Wachiwa doesn't take it too bad when she gets back an' finds out," he adds in a gentler tone. "I feel kinda bad. Like I let her down or somethin' cuz the girl didn't make it through winter. She told us to take care've them.." He flicks his tongue out, licking over his own nose, though lightly shrugs a shoulder. "Hey, c'mon. Let's go to the den where it's actually /warm/."
Ikuna nods to Ahiga, and considers for a few moments. "Chewy's tough," he says. "She'll hurt, yeah, and she'll be real sorry to Skahla that she left, but she'll make it. Just like she did back when you all thought maybe I was dead." As for the other... He sighs. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't think there's anything else we coulda actually done, though. We been bringing back food, and keepin' things safe... and if there /was/ anything more we coulda done, Skahla would have told us." Right? Okay, so maybe Skah doesn't have the best track record with asking for help. "Or Shawnee would've, at least. And if there was, we woulda done it." He looks out past the frozen creek, then nods. "Yeah. Let's go."
Ahiga bobs his head a few slow times, agreeing. "Yeah.. I thought the same thing as you. We did what we were supposed to do. She'll feel the same way...I hope..but still feel a little bad." Hopefully death won't visit the Ute again anytime soon. They've been plagued by that dark shadow long enough. It's taken both the healthy and the young. Surely their time of loss can get no worse? After a slight shudder, he rises to his paws and gives his body a good rough shake. "Yeah, let's get outta here. Too much negative stuff. Maybe Tala's in the den, and we can all find something fun to do together in there." Smiling a bit, he gently headbuts him and begins back to the den, moving slowly til he's up and moving too.
Ikuna rises to his paws as well, leaving the snow-slide behind. Fun as it was, the young wolves have gone and infected this place with gloominess now. It's no good. He lopes up to reach Ahiga, and then settles into a comfortable pace beside him. "We can all plan that trip we're gonna take come summer. You figured out yet what direction we should start in?" Hey, it's a topic, and a fun one at that. Planning a trip means none of the sore paws of actually taking it!
Ikuna - male adolescent wolf
---Creek Overhang---
Yup. Spring is DEFINITELY somewhere in sight. Ahiga just knows it! The thought of grass and flowers and sweet smells and returning herds and warmth and jumping in the river and basking in the warmth of a shiny sun and hearing birds chirping is making Ahiga feel giddy. The wolf can't keep still. All of his energy would be very useful in a hunt, but he's not about to go try taking down a deer by himself and anyway, goofing off seems like a better idea to him. And so of course he finds himself back at the creek's overhang, which makes for a perfect slippery slide with the snow and ice that'll be melting (he knows!) oh so very soon. The young wolf is making quite a spectacle of himself as he runs forward, leaps, and slides down the snowy slope on his hindquarters, mouth open and widely grinning. "Woooohoo!" A slight indention in the snow shows that he's been sliding down, climbing up, and sliding down quite a few times already. And apparently, it hasn't gotten old.
Somewolf is not being subtle, nor stealthy. Somewolf is, in fact, being loud and boisterous. Ikuna has heard somewolf. Ikuna is, in fact, trotting in the direction of somewolf with his ears perked. For all spring is totally going to come real soon now honest, today is... not particularly showing it. Winter's not done yet. At least the snow has melted and refrozen enough that it's got a decent crust under Ikuna's paws as he pads along toward the sound of whooping and thumping only to find... Ahiga! Somewolf, indeed. He grins, tail swaying slowly as he pads closer and perches beside the other wolf's iceslide to peer down. "Gone and turned otter?"
Floomph! Ahiga's slide ends in a snowdrift that doesn't look as if it was made naturally... if the clawmarks wihtin a nearby ditch of snow is any indication. His pillow-like landing has him laughing, and it's just then that he hears a voice from above. Ears perk as he looks up at Ikuna. Otter? "Otters got it figured out. They've been doin' this slidin' thing all their life. Why'm I /just/ now figurin' out how fun it is?" Grinning, he stands and gives himself a rigorous shake before stepping out of the line of fire. "C'mon, slide down. You know you want to," he calls up. If any awkwardness remains from a semi recent discussion they've had, he's not showing it. The adrenaline of fun puts everything else on the backburner!
Ikuna snorts at Ahiga's response, shaking his head. Dignity! Grace! Adult ablomp! Maturity and responsibli... well, okay. He scrapes one paw against the snow like he's preparing to charge, then takes a bound forward onto the snowslide! Okay, maybe not a perfect one, because he swoops from side to side of it as he wooshes down, and when he lands, it's in a sprawl on his side with his legs stuck out crazy-like and clumps of snow stuck to his fur, but... he laughs!
Mwuaha! Peer pressure always prevails! Ahiga bows, rump in the air and tail waving playfully as Ikuna makes his wild slide down to the bottom. He bounds towards him and circles around, kicking up snow in the process before abruptly pouncing on his fallen form. Dignity indeed! What's needed here is a good ol' wrestling match. A test of strength! A battle of might! Who is the alpha male! .. Ok, well, possibly it's something with a little less pomp than that, but nevertheless the pounce happens and Ahiga seems in the mood for an old fashioned tousel. His paws wrap around Ikuna's shoulders and he his jaws go for the kill! The ears, of course!
Peer pressure nothin'! Ikuna's got just as much peer to press. He wurfs at the pounce from Ahiga, and his tail thumps the ground a second later as his hindpaws kick up at the other wolf, play-growling as he wriggles about toward (hopefully) a position with better leverage and tries to dodge, weave, nooooooo his ear is caught, he has to wrap up a forepaw at Ahiga and bapbapbap at the other wolf's ears in revenge!
No, not the ears! With Ikuna's ear still in his mouth, Ahiga tries to duck and cover. But to no avail! He's forced to release his prize in order to save his own head. Growling, nips at the leg of the offending bapping paw, trying to fend off his kicking hindlegs by sitting on them. So really, his mode of defend is just .. to flop! for now he has his full weight on his pall, though it's not like Ikuna is making it easy with all the wriggling and movement. He grins, feeling himself beginning to slide. "Hey, stay still! You're like a fish!"
Thumpathumpa goes Ikuna's paw. Also, goes his tail against the ground. He grins, wrestling about until... squish. He's sat upon. Oof! After a moment, he starts rocking his hips from side to side deliberately, making for an extra super mega squirmy surface for Ahiga. "An' you're an otter!" he retorts, poking Ahiga's chest with his paw. "Ottaottaotta!"
Nope. Not gotta fall off. No way no how! "Hey, at least otters have paws!" he retorts before taking a snap at his poking paw. Snap! Miss! Slip! Ikuna's too wiggly to stay on, and the ice on his fur that's by now melted to snow with their combined body heat doesn't make things any less slippery. Ahiga slides off of him and comes to a soft halt on the snow at his side. He aims one last kick before grinning and flopping onto his stomach. "Too bad this thing isn't slippry in the spring. How cool it'd be to slide of an' land right in the river."
Ikuna opens and closes his muzzle with fishy faces, and grins as he pawbats and wriggles! Hah, there it is! He's displaced Ahiga, with a thump to the shoulder and a taste of victory. ...and a him continuing to sprawl in the snow on his back, staring up at the clouds as the brawl settles down. "Well. You could use mud, I guess? That gets pretty slick." Also messy, but hey. Can't be perfect.
Mud. Hmmmm.. Ahiga turns his head to glance up the slope, then turns to eye the river. It's not too far. The slope isn't extremely high... "That's an idea.." he says, nodding to himself as he pictures it in his mind. A river of mud. Sliding earth-caked wolves. Then *splash!* into the river. Heh. Awesome. His grin slowly begins to grin as the imagery becomes more colorful, and when his attention turns back to Ikuna, he promptly swats the side of his head. "You're a genius! We'll do that this spring. Maybe summer, when it's even hotter an' we'll /need/ to cool off in the water." His tail thumps against the snowy ground, though at a thought it begins to slow. "Hey.. You heard about Skahla's pup?"
That will be Ikuna's legacy to the ages. Mud-caked wolves and splooshing. He grins at Ahiga's enthusiasm, stretching his paws up above his head and out behind him and making indents in the snow. At the question, he tilts his head, peering sidewise at his friend. Skahla's pup? Uh... "Which one?"
"Uh..." Gosh. What a question. This is what happens when he doesn't spend much time with the pups! Well, no. That's not true. Ahiga had spent some time with both Hadir and Althaea before recent days. He taught Hadir how to say "'Sup" after all! He honestly didn't realize there was a third one. "Uh...So..yala?" A pause. "Soyola?" He looks apologetically at the other wolf. "Sorry man, I know she was your niece 'n all, but really, I never saw her. I guess she was sick. Sicker than Hadir is, if you can believe it," he says, head ducking a bit. "She's with the spirits now, I heard."
Huh, goes Ikuna. He's quiet for a moment, considering, and then rolls around onto his belly again, sitting partway up in a more dignified pose. "I saw her. Not since the pups started leaving the den, though. She never... quite made it, I guess." He frowns, but glimpses into the den do not a strong familial relationship make, and after a moment, he sighs. "Poor Skahla. At least Althaea's doing good."
Ahiga exhales a breath and nods in agreement. "Yeah. I mean, can you think how it'd feel to have only one good pup outta three?" He wrinkles his nose a little and flops against his side, leaning and sharing warmth. As much as he dreams of spring, winter is still here in full force...and it's cold! "Bad luck for him, I guess. But you're right, Althaea's alright. Tala and I brought her an' Hadir down here a little while ago to play for a bit. Hadir was acting' sort of ... weird. LIke." He pauses, searching for the word. "Careless. Like it didn' matter that his sister was gone."
"Wonder if it's... him," says Ikuna softly, almost to himself. It'd be one thing if the pups had been injured, but with sickness taking them... what if something's wrong with Skahla? Something passed on to his pups? Or with Shawnee, and the same? The young wolf frowns deeply, and then gives himself a bit of a shake, listening to Ahiga again as he leans back against the other wolf. "Hadir _is_ weird," he says with a little laugh. "He made friends with a rabbit." The smile fades again. "Maybe he's just... ignoring it. Pretending it's not there so it can't hurt him." A glance to Ahiga, questioning. After all, Ikuna wasn't there to see.
How awful would that be, to be the bearer of...eh...sickly pups? Knowing that your offspring will have something wrong with them? Though the words were softly spoken, Ahiga is close enough to hear them and he nods just slightly, brows furrowing. "That's bad. If he can't have good pups..." Well, that's got to be a bad thing. Ahiga has a feeling that being Alpha and producing strong offspring go hand in hand. Ikuna's words regarding Hadir has him pausing in thought, and after a moment he makes a slight face and slowly shakes his head. "I dunno if that's it. It was more like...he was just kind of, taking it. Like dying didn't matter to him. He said everything dies and there's nothin' anybody could do about it."
Such is the traditional role of the Alpha, after all. Producing the next generation of the pack. If a wolf can't do that - or won't - then what sort of Alpha do they make? What sort of future can they bring to the pack? Ikuna tilts his head, listening to his friend. He hmms. "It's true, sort of, but only sort of. Everyone does die, but it still matters. If we just give up... that's no good. Life is short. We gotta take it for all we can, because death... really, really sucks."
"Yeah.. I think Tala was tryin' to tell him that. We all have a purpose. But I don't know if he was really hearin' what she was saying, though. What I think, personally, is he's sittin' around waitin' for death to take 'm." Ahiga flicks an ear, eyes squinting a bit. "He's a depressin' kid to be around. Tried cheering him up a bit, but I think that jus' lasts for the moment, then it's gone. Can't blame him though. He's got it rough." He falls quiet for a moment, but can't help but smirk at the last bit. "An' you know because...you've died?" he teases, pushing against him a bit. "What if it's like, really awesome? I bet the spirit world is like this but, ten jillion times cooler, with no winters."
"Least he's got a mom and dad still," says Ikuna with a frown. Life's tough all over, it is. Sure, Hadir's got a rough deal... but he's not the only one who's suffered. He huffs a bit, then gives himself a shake at Ahiga's teasing. "So that's why everyone's been rushin' there, huh? Parties and flowers all around?" He grins, and leans over to nip for the other wolf's shoulder.
"Yup. S'gotta be." Ahiga snickers and leans away from the nip, though is unsuccessful in avoiding the playful bite. "You're right. We've all got it rough, but that jus' means that we're gonna have it real good sometime soon. All this badness can't last forever. I jus' hope Wachiwa doesn't take it too bad when she gets back an' finds out," he adds in a gentler tone. "I feel kinda bad. Like I let her down or somethin' cuz the girl didn't make it through winter. She told us to take care've them.." He flicks his tongue out, licking over his own nose, though lightly shrugs a shoulder. "Hey, c'mon. Let's go to the den where it's actually /warm/."
Ikuna nods to Ahiga, and considers for a few moments. "Chewy's tough," he says. "She'll hurt, yeah, and she'll be real sorry to Skahla that she left, but she'll make it. Just like she did back when you all thought maybe I was dead." As for the other... He sighs. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't think there's anything else we coulda actually done, though. We been bringing back food, and keepin' things safe... and if there /was/ anything more we coulda done, Skahla would have told us." Right? Okay, so maybe Skah doesn't have the best track record with asking for help. "Or Shawnee would've, at least. And if there was, we woulda done it." He looks out past the frozen creek, then nods. "Yeah. Let's go."
Ahiga bobs his head a few slow times, agreeing. "Yeah.. I thought the same thing as you. We did what we were supposed to do. She'll feel the same way...I hope..but still feel a little bad." Hopefully death won't visit the Ute again anytime soon. They've been plagued by that dark shadow long enough. It's taken both the healthy and the young. Surely their time of loss can get no worse? After a slight shudder, he rises to his paws and gives his body a good rough shake. "Yeah, let's get outta here. Too much negative stuff. Maybe Tala's in the den, and we can all find something fun to do together in there." Smiling a bit, he gently headbuts him and begins back to the den, moving slowly til he's up and moving too.
Ikuna rises to his paws as well, leaving the snow-slide behind. Fun as it was, the young wolves have gone and infected this place with gloominess now. It's no good. He lopes up to reach Ahiga, and then settles into a comfortable pace beside him. "We can all plan that trip we're gonna take come summer. You figured out yet what direction we should start in?" Hey, it's a topic, and a fun one at that. Planning a trip means none of the sore paws of actually taking it!