Post by Pavane on Apr 24, 2012 14:34:33 GMT -5
Tala - female adolescent wolf
Ikuna - male adolescent wolf
Ahiga - male wolf
Althaea - female juvenile wolf
---Creek Overhang---
There is a sound somewhere distant, something that is slowly working its way into Tala's still somewhat numb and soggy mind. Its the sound of a bird, spring is truely just around the bend if the birds have started to return. A faint whimper escapes her while she slowly shifts, her muscles ache, throb, refuse to move at first until she makes them. Her head lifts, sluggishly while her eyes slowly open, that steel gaze of her's looking pale, weak something she can't recall before feeling like this. A half hacking cough escapes her once she manages to push herself up onto her haunches, head still held low and ears pinned back. For a moment her head spins and then it starts to slowly drift away. She licks across her nose, and eyes her front paws, her claws have been worn down from the franic digging at the idea, a few even bled once her body was warm enough to get blood moving. "So it wasn't a dream.." She really thought she dreamed it all.
Oh, if only it had been a dream! That would be far more pleasant than the reality that has left three wolves battered and exhausted. Ikuna still sleeps, pressed against his friends for warmth; for all that he didn't fall in, he worked himself to his limits with helping to save his friends, and the dull throb of pain that is his tail has ensured he still didn't manage to actually sleep well. Jus' five more minutes...
Ahiga hasn't moved an inch. A centimeter. A millimeter. Not since yesterday when he fell asleep here with Tala, Ikuna, and Althaea. His dreams were haunted by icy bubbles and a watery grave, though oddly enough he was not the subject of his own dream. It wasn't his grave. It wasn't him that was being mourned. He twitches in his fitful sleep, not able to really rest. He's startled out of his rest by Tala's cough, and his eyes open suddenly, unfocused, confused. His head jerks up, and he blinks rapidly. "Wha-.." Blink blink. He shakes his head, then winces. Ow...headache. "Tala?" he squints, eyeing her, guilt rushing back immediately upon looking at her. "You feelin' ok?"
Tala ears slowly twitch forward, her gaze drifting towards Ikuna. She owes him a lot at the moment, he did save her life.. Her head presses against his a few moments. "Thank you Ikuna." Is said softly, though she doesn't want to wake him, knowing that he must be worn out. She looks over to Ahiga and smiles to him now, leaning close to the other wolf, her head soon pressing against his shoulder. "I'll be alright, just tired." She doesn't blame him at all mind you. Another cough soon escapes her which makes her eyes close. "How you feeling?"
Ikuna's ears tremble slightly at the sound of voices, but sleep is a long time being fought off, today. It's like he has to claw his way up to wakefulness, scrabbling his way out from underneath a sheet of ice, drag his leaden limbs to race through icy waters... all that, and he's not even having good dreams. More alternate-history versions of yesterday, which tend to be very bad dreams. If he wakes up, really wakes up, which history will turn out to be the true one? He mumbles something in his sleep, starting to stir.
Keeping a wolf warm is hard work, especially for a pup. Infact it was so hard that Althaea wasn't at her aunts side anymore but in some brush. She's been running in and out all day chasing mice and even a rabbit that did quite the number to her face. Nothing like a good kick to the noggin to make you think twice about them. She's got a cut over her right eye from the creature but the pup hardly notices it digging through the brush until finally she catches a mouse still with its winter fat. Carrying it in mouth, still alive, Thaea heads back to the group.
"I'm ok," Ahiga answers, feeling guilty about even that. He /is/ ok. Tired, yes. Hating the ice, of course. But not injured or sick, like his two friends. And how is that fair, when it was he who caused the ice to break in the first place? Her cough has the edges of his mouth curving downward a little deeper, and as her head presses to his shoulder, he lightly leans his against hers. "I really messed up. I shouldnt've been runnin' around on that ice. Do you need something? Food or..." He trails off, eyeing the approaching Althaea. Looks like food has been taken care of! An ear turns to Ikuna now, hearing his murmur. He noses him a little, ears pricking.
Tala ears perk towards her brother, her tired gaze moving towards him, watching him a few moments before she hears Ahiga. "Its not your fault.. Should have been played on the ice to start with." She offers softly. Seems good 'ol Skahla was right about the ice. A faint sigh escapes her while her head stays pressed against Ahiga's shoulder, a faint wheeze escapes her ever few breaths, which wasn't really noticeable until she was moving around more. "I just want to stay here at the moment." Here, being more whom she is leaning against then actually where they happen to be.
Ikuna is nosed. That's good, yes. In the worst of the alternate histories, that couldn't be happening. He smiles sleepily, and thumps his tail against the grou-ow! He's wide awake now, head jolting up with a yelp. Yow. Tail. Tail does not wag, tail is very much not with the wagging. Owwwww. He takes a deep breath, blinking back the pain. That part, not so good... but there's Tala, and there's Ahiga. There's even Althaea, coming toward them. That combination puts this as - if not the /best/ of the alternate histories - at least one of the better ones.
In decent time, Althaea reaches the trio with her mouse. Giving it a good crunch, killing it, she drops the rodent infront of them, then takes a seat with a half smile. Not a word spoken, she looks at everyone before standing, stepping to her aunt and giving a light nuzzle. A glance is then posed to Ahiga who was awake aswell; shortly later her uncle. Everyone made it through the night, thats a good thing.
Ahiga snorts just a little. "It's not /your/ fault either, Tala. An' now you're sick. I'm sorry. I'm really, /really/ sorry." He's glad to let her lean as she is, although he doesn't feel very worthy of any of it. But she's alright, right? Out of the woods and all that because she's talking and such. That wheeze and weakness...will go away. Right? He's jostled out of his thoughts by Ikuna's yelp, and his head ducks down. More hurting! "Hey Ikuna.." he greets, ears folding back. "..Tail still hurtin'? Hey, Althaea brought you guys somethin' to eat. Nice, Thae."
"I'm fine." Tala offers softly to Ahiga, trying to prove that she is alright, an perhaps trying to tell herself. She did take in a good amount of water when under, and then of course the fighting to get herself out of the cold water which did take a bit longer then Ahiga. It just spells problamtic. A ear twitches towards Ikuna, yet her eyes remain closed for now. "What is wrong with your tail Ikuna?" She can't recall that Ahiga and dragging it around like a chew toy the night before. A faint hum escapes her at the nuzzle, her eyes crack open and she smiles to the pup. "Hello there little one.. Did you you did the mouse all by yourself?"
Ikuna flits one ear back. "Yeah," he says to Ahiga, in that awkward way of a guy admitting he's hurt. He noses gently at the other male, then at his sister. The other ear flits back briefly at her question. "Er. It kinda got messed up some on the ice." His gaze goes briefly to Ahiga. How much does this want to be explained? Uhm.... oh, look. Here's Althaea, complete with prey. Distraction! He smiles to her.
Althaea smiles all big at the mention that she brought them something to eat. That wasn't the first thing she had in mind for the mouse but it would look real greedy if she kept it to herself now. Turning about to peer at the mouse, her gaze stopping on Tala, she nods. "Yup, it was easy." After her last enounter with its kind she's picked up a few tricks that seemed to of helped. She doesn't say anything about the rabbit that got away.. an embarrassment that was. However, she cant hide the mark it gave her.
Kinda messed up, heh. The soreness should be gone by now, right? Maybe he bit down harder than he thought. The other day, he thought he say a slight crookedness to it, though perhaps it was just at the angle it was resting. He eyes Ikuna searchingly. How much is he downplaying his injury? Meh. He certainly didn't mean to cause him harm! Maybe in a little while, the pain will be gone. -.- Althaea serves as a good distraction for a bit, and he looks at her, putting a light grin on his face. "Hey, that's awesome, but did it get ya?" he asks, nodding to the cut above her eye. "Must've been one mean mouse."
Tala lets her eyes close once more, a ear twitching between Ikuna and Ahiga at the talk of his tail. "You might as well just go on and tell me Ikuna, I'm going to find out somehow. I always do." She points out, another cough escapes her an once it has passed she is quiet for a few moments. "Thank you for the mouse Althaea, that very nice of you."
On closer inspection, that slight crookedness is still there. Not much; but enough to be noticeable. Enough to say that a tail shouldn't quite be bending that way, not unless it's being caught in mid-wag rather than resting gingerly against the ground. Besides... what sort of minor injury or light bruising wakes a wolf out of sleep with a yelp? Yeah, maybe there's a bit more than 'kinda messed up' there. At Tala's words, he looks back to her, and gives a little shrug. "That's pretty much it," he says. "Ahiga was helpin' pull, and my tail got messed up."
Althaea perces her lips and shuffles her paws. She remembers being hit but the mark on her head was an utter mystery. She didn't even know she had it. Now that she does though, she can feel it sting and her eye twitches. Looking between them all now, she head tilts hearing about Ikuna's tail. She knew exactly what happened to it and why it hurt but it wasn't for her to say. Keeping her silence about it, she reverts back to the topic of the mouse. "It.. uh.." How to explain... "Your welcome aunt Tala."
Ahiga licks against Tala's neck fur once her eyes close, doing his best (he hopes) to bring her a little bit of comfort through grooming. But then there's that tail issue again, and, yup, the pang of guilt stabs him in the chest once more. He knows that /he/ did it, though saying sorry again just doesn't seem useful. But, guess what? "Sorry.." He says it, anyway. "..Want me to take a look at it? Maybe I can fix it.." He looks apologetically at Ikuna.
Tala smiles at the grooming bit from Ahiga, is does help her relax somewhat at last. "Oh. Alright.." She isn't sure why she didn't understand that, though her head is a little foggy at the moment. "Ya.. Let Ahiga help. Maybe it just needs to get pulled the other way?" HA.. not a smart idea, don't listen to the sick wolf!
Ikuna ducks his head briefly, and noses at Ahiga's cheek. "Y'were just helping," he says. The tail just... got in the way, that's all. Incidental damage. For a good cause. He hesitates a moment at the offer of help, but when Tala joins in he nods. "All right." He settles down to a stable sort of position, peering back to see just what is to be done about this tail of his.
Turning to the mouse fully this time, Thaea moves to and and noses the carcass forward some, stareing at afterward head tilting. What was this thinking offering one lone mouse to three wolves. Apparently she wasn't. Looking up to the older wolves she hmms then darts off. Watch out mice.. here comes Althaea, mighty mouse huntress.
Wait...what? Pull his tail /again?/ Didn't he learn that that was a bad idea already? Ahiga perks his ears a little, glancing between brother and sister to see if...heh, maybe they're kiddindg. Nope. "Woah...really? I don' think.." he says, sounding rather unsure. He nearly drowned his girlfriend. Cracked Ikuna's tail. With his luck, he'll rip Ikuna's tail right of, and there will be no fixing it! He glances to Althaea as she runs off, leaving behind her kill. "Hey, don' go too far," he calls after her. "And uh, no. I'm not pullin' your tail again," spoken to Ikuna.
"I.. dono.." Tala offers after a moment atthe question on Ikuna's tail, her eyes open to peer out at them. "Maybe.. we should wait? I don't want anything else to happen.." Not after last night. She's had enough really!
Ikuna's ears flick back briefly. "I didn't say that." Well, he didn't! "Just... look at it. Maybe you can see somethin' wrong or... something." Yeah. Something. He doesn't know what to look for! It's just... his tail. Which hurts when he moves it, in one particular little spot of it that nevertheless manages to send pain shooting along the whole length.
Althaea hears Ahiga just in time before she is to far out to even pick up their voices. Back at the brush she found the first mouse she seaches out, sniffing the ground and keeping an eye out for that rabbit that gave her a facial scar.
Ahiga inhales a breath, holds it ... then lets it go. Looking couldn't hurt, right? Still, he seems a bit hesitant and is a little more inclined with the "leave it alone and wait" idea. But maybe he should look. If it was him, he'd kinda want to know what was wrong with it. "Ok..." he relents. He gives Tala one more nuzzle before he slowly stands up, stretching. He carefully moves around to Ikuna's backside to eye his tail, squinting a bit as he leans in closer. Looks normal..up to a point. Then...it doesn't. Geeze, did he pull that hard? "It's jus' a little..crooked, kinda at the middle-endish part.."
Tala hums softly as Ahiga nuzzles her and gets up, her ears perking forward tiredly as she watches Ahiga and Ikuna curiously a moment. "That.. is a rather interesting sight.. " She offers, a crooked grin seen. Perhaps she is feeling a wee bit better if she is cracking jokes at there expense.
Ikuna peers back, trying to see for himself... not that he really can. He mostly sees his own butt, that and the vague fluff of tail. "...crooked?" he says, and glances to Tala's tail for comparison purposes. No, tails aren't supposed to be crooked. "Oh."
Ahiga snorts and looks at Tala, exaggeratedly rolling his eyes at her, though a supressed grin can be seen fighting its way on his muzzle. "Whatever Tala." He sits up and sighs. Yes, a crooked tail. That what he's done to his best friend. "...I... I bet it'll straighten out, Ikuna. Bet it jus' needs to rest a little bit and then...bam, straight again. Just try not to move it too much, huh?"
Tala grins faintly as she hears Ahiga, at least she made him grin for a moment. Her tail sways a few times in the process. "Ya.. It is sorta crooked. Maybe it will fix itself with some time?" She questions with a hopeful tone.
Crooked. Tails are not supposed to be crooked. "Well, maybe..." says Ikuna, and then he's rising up to his paws, holding the tail carefully so it doesn't bump against the ground in the process. "Just so long as it stops hurting, I guess it'll work."
Ahiga nods in agreement with Tala. It'll fix itself! If they keep saying it, then it'll come true. He watches as Ikuna stands, eyeing the tail apprehensively, though seeing him stand does make him feel better, reminding himself that he truly /is/ ok. The tail will come along in due time. "Plus, it doesn't look /bad/" he says helpfully. "Watch, everyone's gonna want to have a tail like that once they see it. You'll be like, a trendsetter." He reclaims his spot beside Tala.
Tala chuckles softly and slowly shifts so she is a but more curled up, her head settling against a frontleg. With Ahiga back at her side she leans back against him while her eyes close once more. "Trendsetter indeed.. All the wolves will want one."
Ikuna laughs as the others claim him as trend-setter - because, on the whole, he is okay. The tail doesn't much hurt so long as he neither moves it nor hits it with anything, and the rest of him is - if still rather tired - fine. Even if it stays like this forever... well, his father carried worse scars, like the one that roughened his voice. So does Chewy, blind in one eye. He'll survive. "All goin' around, yanking each others' tails, huh?"
"Yeah, til in the end we're gonna be known as: Ute, the pack of crooked tails," Ahiga replies in a voice that's supposed to sound sage and serene. Heh. "It'll be our new initiation or something. Come spring, we'll have so many new wolves wantin' to join it'll be one way to tell who's in an' who's out."
Tala ears perk as she hears Ahiga and she chuckles once more. "Sure.. There be runing in to join us because of the new look huh?" She questions with an amused tone heard in the process.
Ikuna grins, and he leans down to chomp-and-tug Ahiga's tail! ...or at least, that's what he makes the gesture be. In reality, his jaws barely even touch Ahiga's fur, let along the flesh beneath, and they slide along it smoothly instead of actually pulling. He's wrestled harder before, he just... well, with his tail this sensitive, he doesn't wanna right now!
Ahiga nods to Tala. "Yeah, why not? Look how good it looks on Ikuna," he says playfully, poking her with a paw. His ears perk at the touch to his tail though, and he glances at Ikuna who play gnaws at the appendage. Snickering, he flicks his bushy tail up to whap it against his nose and muzzle. "Pft, I'm not gonna let /you/ do mine. I'm the best tail decorator around. I'll bite my own." Now /that'd/ be a sight to see!
Tala chuckles and smiles to Ahiga. "Yes well.. I suppose it does look good on Ikuna.. Though would not look right on me AT all." There is a pause and she cracks open an eye to peer at Ahiga and just grins. "Well.. Bite away at it. I want to see this!"
"Gotta look your best, huh?" asks Ikuna with a grin. "What, you think you gotta impress /other/ girls?" His tone is teasing, and he carefully takes himself a seat. Tala's suggestion makes him laugh, and he too looks to Ahiga!
Who, what? Who said anything about other girls? Ahiga blinks owlishly, face innocent. "Girls? Heh, what?no! But you got a point, Ikuna. I'd better not do anything to my tail, cuz if I /did/, I'd just look even better and then I'd be chased around by crazy females. Tala would be dead tired chasin' them all out all the time," he says, tone just as teasing. His tail thumps against the ground once before he plops his head down across Tala's neck, grinning against her fur. "By the way, anything'd look nice on you."
Tala chuckles softly. "I don't think Ahiga would do that.. He knows I would.." She pauses and soon grins as she hears him. "Do just that.. An then chew off his tail so it wouldn't happen again." One shouldn't put it past her doing it either! A soft murmur escapes her as she hears and feels Ahiga aginst her, which does make her feel better. "Why thank you dear.. Buttering up are you?"
Ikuna grins as Ahiga and Tala flirt (shamelessly!), though... it's a slightly awkward grin. After all, there's those romantic feelings of his, too... and while he most certainly loves (not like that) Tala and wants her to be happy, he also loves (like that!) Ahiga and... yes, wants him to be happy. Also wants to be happy with him. Ahem. After a bit, he kinda looks away, staring out over the broken-iced water.
Ahiga forgot. Not about Ikuna's feelings. There's nothing in the world that could make him forget that even if he wanted to. But he forgot about the hard thinking that he did after that, and how he could still keep them both without anyone feeling left out, sad, or awkward. And the top thing for him to remember is to keep his outward show of affection to Tala subdued. Not doing things he wouldn't otherwise naturally do if they were not "together". At least when Ikuna is present. And it is hard because Ikuna is usually present, and Tala makes him feel like doing silly affectionate things more often than not. And in this moment he forgot and rolls his eyes at the term "dear" while all the while nuzzling and nipping her fur. "Me? Butter up? Pft, no. This is just me and my usual awesome self talkin'." But then he remembers with a very faint furrowing of his brow. And he gently lifts his head from her and glances to Ikuna, who is glancing off somewhere else. A pause. "Probably not a good idea for us to stay out here again, right? Think we should get to the den soon. S'warm, and .. no ice."
Tala hasn't really been told how Ikuna feels about Ahiga, so seems she isn't up to date on everything! A soft murmur escapes her as she is rather happly relaxed, cuddling here with Ahiga. At the talk of moving, her nose twitches and she just stays put a bit longer before drawing in a slow breath. "Ya.. I suppose we should.." She murmurs out softly before starting to slowly sit herself up, which takes a few long moments.
Don't mind Ikuna, he'll just... uhm... sit over here. He doesn't want to stop anything, not him. If Ahiga'd gone and /told/ him this great plan, he'd have told the other wolf not to do it. It's /his/ job to suffer the awkwardness, right? Because that's just what has to happen here. Suffering in awkward silence. They'll pass around the martyring stick until this gets solved. When the mushy stuff seems over, he looks back to his two best friends, and nods. "Yeah. I think we can all use more rest..." They'll just take it easy for a while, that's all. Easy as that.
Ahiga definitely has no plans of telling Tala about Ikuna's...uh...difficult situation at any point in the near future. It's been /handled/ (sort of) so why worry her about it? Plus, this moment of forgetfulness has only happened once! In his humble opinion, all is good. Relocation is now the current matter on his mind, and he's quicker to get to his paws than Tala is. He's patient though, giving her time. "Yeah, we can jus' hang out for a while. It'll be easier to keep an eye on Thaea and Hadir when we're all in there, anyway." Not that Hadir has ever been much to keep an eye on. Althaea, on the other hand, is always up and about.
Tala nods a moment whiel she moves along after the two, the more movement she does her muscles do seem to feel better at least. "Sounds good to me actually. Maybe curling up in the den would be a better idea with my two boys." A wink is offered to both Ahiga and Ikuna. SURE.. don't tell her.. evil boys..
Ikuna will tell! Just as quickly as Tala and Ahiga told /him/ that /they/ were together. With just as much speed, and at just as soon an opportunity. Shouldn't be long now, right? ... So, anyway, up he stands, grinning over to Tala. He ducks his head briefly, looking at her sidewise. "Different kinds of warming," is all he says, with maaaybe just a bit of warm to his ears in the form of a blush. Ahem.
Ahem indeed! Ahiga trips over something. A rock maybe? A hidden stick. Likely just his own paws as he glances back at Ikuna, giving him an incredulous look. Oh gee thanks man! The last thing he needs to think about is...warming up while pressed up between the both of them, wondering just who is thinking about warming up who! He kicks his hind foot back, aiming to spray him with snow before snickering and trotting ahead a little to gather Althaea from her nearby hunting and usher her along with them. It'd be foolhardy to leave her behind!
Tala chuckles softly as she hears Ikuna. "I don't even want to know what you two do that involves warming anything up." She offers while she moves along at a slow pace towards the den.
Ikuna can't help it! /He's/ thinking it! Such warm distracting thoughts. Of warmth! And... distractingness. And, uhm... okay. Ears go a bit pinker, and he ducks his head as Ahiga showers him with white snow. Tala's so not helping, either. Now he's thinking all about 'them two', and warming things up and... not helping. Oh, wow, the epic levels of not helping. So. Not. Helping. ...in the best of all the possible alternate histories, Ahiga was so overcome by passion after Ikuna's daring rescue that, well - NOT HELPING.
"What? I...what? We....what?" It's the word of the day! what what what? Ahiga looks at Tala, then Ikuna who has this rather... /questionable/ look on his face. Just what is that wolf up to? He gives him A Look. A 'you better not be thinking about what I think you might be thinking about!' look. Actually, he has no idea what Ikuna is thinking about. He could be fantasizing about rainbows and springtime, but he has a feeling that that's not quite it. Exaggeratedly he rolls his eyes, snickers, and just heads on back to the den.
Tala is soon asleep once she is in the den. She is curled up, a ear twitching now and then before she is soon dreaming. Unlike the night before it is at least a bit more restful.
Ikuna is so thinking about what Ahiga thinks he might be thinking about. Admittedly, some of the details are a bit glossed over, because he lacks in practical knowledge and *cough* experience. But... it starts with kissing, and it goes from there. It... goes quite a ways from there, to be honest, and at Ahiga's Look Ikuna drops his head and splays his ears. ...not that he can stop thinking about it. He'll, uhm... he'll just take the way back to the den slowly. Maybe he can... distract himself from these thoughts. Yeah. ...not that he minds them, exactly, which makes them rather hard to get rid of. He just... doesn't want to make Ahiga unhappy with them. (Oh, no. He'd much rather make Ahiga very, very, /very/ happy!) ...ahem. His paws drag slower and slower, though he's still heading denward. He'll get there eventually.
Ikuna - male adolescent wolf
Ahiga - male wolf
Althaea - female juvenile wolf
---Creek Overhang---
There is a sound somewhere distant, something that is slowly working its way into Tala's still somewhat numb and soggy mind. Its the sound of a bird, spring is truely just around the bend if the birds have started to return. A faint whimper escapes her while she slowly shifts, her muscles ache, throb, refuse to move at first until she makes them. Her head lifts, sluggishly while her eyes slowly open, that steel gaze of her's looking pale, weak something she can't recall before feeling like this. A half hacking cough escapes her once she manages to push herself up onto her haunches, head still held low and ears pinned back. For a moment her head spins and then it starts to slowly drift away. She licks across her nose, and eyes her front paws, her claws have been worn down from the franic digging at the idea, a few even bled once her body was warm enough to get blood moving. "So it wasn't a dream.." She really thought she dreamed it all.
Oh, if only it had been a dream! That would be far more pleasant than the reality that has left three wolves battered and exhausted. Ikuna still sleeps, pressed against his friends for warmth; for all that he didn't fall in, he worked himself to his limits with helping to save his friends, and the dull throb of pain that is his tail has ensured he still didn't manage to actually sleep well. Jus' five more minutes...
Ahiga hasn't moved an inch. A centimeter. A millimeter. Not since yesterday when he fell asleep here with Tala, Ikuna, and Althaea. His dreams were haunted by icy bubbles and a watery grave, though oddly enough he was not the subject of his own dream. It wasn't his grave. It wasn't him that was being mourned. He twitches in his fitful sleep, not able to really rest. He's startled out of his rest by Tala's cough, and his eyes open suddenly, unfocused, confused. His head jerks up, and he blinks rapidly. "Wha-.." Blink blink. He shakes his head, then winces. Ow...headache. "Tala?" he squints, eyeing her, guilt rushing back immediately upon looking at her. "You feelin' ok?"
Tala ears slowly twitch forward, her gaze drifting towards Ikuna. She owes him a lot at the moment, he did save her life.. Her head presses against his a few moments. "Thank you Ikuna." Is said softly, though she doesn't want to wake him, knowing that he must be worn out. She looks over to Ahiga and smiles to him now, leaning close to the other wolf, her head soon pressing against his shoulder. "I'll be alright, just tired." She doesn't blame him at all mind you. Another cough soon escapes her which makes her eyes close. "How you feeling?"
Ikuna's ears tremble slightly at the sound of voices, but sleep is a long time being fought off, today. It's like he has to claw his way up to wakefulness, scrabbling his way out from underneath a sheet of ice, drag his leaden limbs to race through icy waters... all that, and he's not even having good dreams. More alternate-history versions of yesterday, which tend to be very bad dreams. If he wakes up, really wakes up, which history will turn out to be the true one? He mumbles something in his sleep, starting to stir.
Keeping a wolf warm is hard work, especially for a pup. Infact it was so hard that Althaea wasn't at her aunts side anymore but in some brush. She's been running in and out all day chasing mice and even a rabbit that did quite the number to her face. Nothing like a good kick to the noggin to make you think twice about them. She's got a cut over her right eye from the creature but the pup hardly notices it digging through the brush until finally she catches a mouse still with its winter fat. Carrying it in mouth, still alive, Thaea heads back to the group.
"I'm ok," Ahiga answers, feeling guilty about even that. He /is/ ok. Tired, yes. Hating the ice, of course. But not injured or sick, like his two friends. And how is that fair, when it was he who caused the ice to break in the first place? Her cough has the edges of his mouth curving downward a little deeper, and as her head presses to his shoulder, he lightly leans his against hers. "I really messed up. I shouldnt've been runnin' around on that ice. Do you need something? Food or..." He trails off, eyeing the approaching Althaea. Looks like food has been taken care of! An ear turns to Ikuna now, hearing his murmur. He noses him a little, ears pricking.
Tala ears perk towards her brother, her tired gaze moving towards him, watching him a few moments before she hears Ahiga. "Its not your fault.. Should have been played on the ice to start with." She offers softly. Seems good 'ol Skahla was right about the ice. A faint sigh escapes her while her head stays pressed against Ahiga's shoulder, a faint wheeze escapes her ever few breaths, which wasn't really noticeable until she was moving around more. "I just want to stay here at the moment." Here, being more whom she is leaning against then actually where they happen to be.
Ikuna is nosed. That's good, yes. In the worst of the alternate histories, that couldn't be happening. He smiles sleepily, and thumps his tail against the grou-ow! He's wide awake now, head jolting up with a yelp. Yow. Tail. Tail does not wag, tail is very much not with the wagging. Owwwww. He takes a deep breath, blinking back the pain. That part, not so good... but there's Tala, and there's Ahiga. There's even Althaea, coming toward them. That combination puts this as - if not the /best/ of the alternate histories - at least one of the better ones.
In decent time, Althaea reaches the trio with her mouse. Giving it a good crunch, killing it, she drops the rodent infront of them, then takes a seat with a half smile. Not a word spoken, she looks at everyone before standing, stepping to her aunt and giving a light nuzzle. A glance is then posed to Ahiga who was awake aswell; shortly later her uncle. Everyone made it through the night, thats a good thing.
Ahiga snorts just a little. "It's not /your/ fault either, Tala. An' now you're sick. I'm sorry. I'm really, /really/ sorry." He's glad to let her lean as she is, although he doesn't feel very worthy of any of it. But she's alright, right? Out of the woods and all that because she's talking and such. That wheeze and weakness...will go away. Right? He's jostled out of his thoughts by Ikuna's yelp, and his head ducks down. More hurting! "Hey Ikuna.." he greets, ears folding back. "..Tail still hurtin'? Hey, Althaea brought you guys somethin' to eat. Nice, Thae."
"I'm fine." Tala offers softly to Ahiga, trying to prove that she is alright, an perhaps trying to tell herself. She did take in a good amount of water when under, and then of course the fighting to get herself out of the cold water which did take a bit longer then Ahiga. It just spells problamtic. A ear twitches towards Ikuna, yet her eyes remain closed for now. "What is wrong with your tail Ikuna?" She can't recall that Ahiga and dragging it around like a chew toy the night before. A faint hum escapes her at the nuzzle, her eyes crack open and she smiles to the pup. "Hello there little one.. Did you you did the mouse all by yourself?"
Ikuna flits one ear back. "Yeah," he says to Ahiga, in that awkward way of a guy admitting he's hurt. He noses gently at the other male, then at his sister. The other ear flits back briefly at her question. "Er. It kinda got messed up some on the ice." His gaze goes briefly to Ahiga. How much does this want to be explained? Uhm.... oh, look. Here's Althaea, complete with prey. Distraction! He smiles to her.
Althaea smiles all big at the mention that she brought them something to eat. That wasn't the first thing she had in mind for the mouse but it would look real greedy if she kept it to herself now. Turning about to peer at the mouse, her gaze stopping on Tala, she nods. "Yup, it was easy." After her last enounter with its kind she's picked up a few tricks that seemed to of helped. She doesn't say anything about the rabbit that got away.. an embarrassment that was. However, she cant hide the mark it gave her.
Kinda messed up, heh. The soreness should be gone by now, right? Maybe he bit down harder than he thought. The other day, he thought he say a slight crookedness to it, though perhaps it was just at the angle it was resting. He eyes Ikuna searchingly. How much is he downplaying his injury? Meh. He certainly didn't mean to cause him harm! Maybe in a little while, the pain will be gone. -.- Althaea serves as a good distraction for a bit, and he looks at her, putting a light grin on his face. "Hey, that's awesome, but did it get ya?" he asks, nodding to the cut above her eye. "Must've been one mean mouse."
Tala lets her eyes close once more, a ear twitching between Ikuna and Ahiga at the talk of his tail. "You might as well just go on and tell me Ikuna, I'm going to find out somehow. I always do." She points out, another cough escapes her an once it has passed she is quiet for a few moments. "Thank you for the mouse Althaea, that very nice of you."
On closer inspection, that slight crookedness is still there. Not much; but enough to be noticeable. Enough to say that a tail shouldn't quite be bending that way, not unless it's being caught in mid-wag rather than resting gingerly against the ground. Besides... what sort of minor injury or light bruising wakes a wolf out of sleep with a yelp? Yeah, maybe there's a bit more than 'kinda messed up' there. At Tala's words, he looks back to her, and gives a little shrug. "That's pretty much it," he says. "Ahiga was helpin' pull, and my tail got messed up."
Althaea perces her lips and shuffles her paws. She remembers being hit but the mark on her head was an utter mystery. She didn't even know she had it. Now that she does though, she can feel it sting and her eye twitches. Looking between them all now, she head tilts hearing about Ikuna's tail. She knew exactly what happened to it and why it hurt but it wasn't for her to say. Keeping her silence about it, she reverts back to the topic of the mouse. "It.. uh.." How to explain... "Your welcome aunt Tala."
Ahiga licks against Tala's neck fur once her eyes close, doing his best (he hopes) to bring her a little bit of comfort through grooming. But then there's that tail issue again, and, yup, the pang of guilt stabs him in the chest once more. He knows that /he/ did it, though saying sorry again just doesn't seem useful. But, guess what? "Sorry.." He says it, anyway. "..Want me to take a look at it? Maybe I can fix it.." He looks apologetically at Ikuna.
Tala smiles at the grooming bit from Ahiga, is does help her relax somewhat at last. "Oh. Alright.." She isn't sure why she didn't understand that, though her head is a little foggy at the moment. "Ya.. Let Ahiga help. Maybe it just needs to get pulled the other way?" HA.. not a smart idea, don't listen to the sick wolf!
Ikuna ducks his head briefly, and noses at Ahiga's cheek. "Y'were just helping," he says. The tail just... got in the way, that's all. Incidental damage. For a good cause. He hesitates a moment at the offer of help, but when Tala joins in he nods. "All right." He settles down to a stable sort of position, peering back to see just what is to be done about this tail of his.
Turning to the mouse fully this time, Thaea moves to and and noses the carcass forward some, stareing at afterward head tilting. What was this thinking offering one lone mouse to three wolves. Apparently she wasn't. Looking up to the older wolves she hmms then darts off. Watch out mice.. here comes Althaea, mighty mouse huntress.
Wait...what? Pull his tail /again?/ Didn't he learn that that was a bad idea already? Ahiga perks his ears a little, glancing between brother and sister to see if...heh, maybe they're kiddindg. Nope. "Woah...really? I don' think.." he says, sounding rather unsure. He nearly drowned his girlfriend. Cracked Ikuna's tail. With his luck, he'll rip Ikuna's tail right of, and there will be no fixing it! He glances to Althaea as she runs off, leaving behind her kill. "Hey, don' go too far," he calls after her. "And uh, no. I'm not pullin' your tail again," spoken to Ikuna.
"I.. dono.." Tala offers after a moment atthe question on Ikuna's tail, her eyes open to peer out at them. "Maybe.. we should wait? I don't want anything else to happen.." Not after last night. She's had enough really!
Ikuna's ears flick back briefly. "I didn't say that." Well, he didn't! "Just... look at it. Maybe you can see somethin' wrong or... something." Yeah. Something. He doesn't know what to look for! It's just... his tail. Which hurts when he moves it, in one particular little spot of it that nevertheless manages to send pain shooting along the whole length.
Althaea hears Ahiga just in time before she is to far out to even pick up their voices. Back at the brush she found the first mouse she seaches out, sniffing the ground and keeping an eye out for that rabbit that gave her a facial scar.
Ahiga inhales a breath, holds it ... then lets it go. Looking couldn't hurt, right? Still, he seems a bit hesitant and is a little more inclined with the "leave it alone and wait" idea. But maybe he should look. If it was him, he'd kinda want to know what was wrong with it. "Ok..." he relents. He gives Tala one more nuzzle before he slowly stands up, stretching. He carefully moves around to Ikuna's backside to eye his tail, squinting a bit as he leans in closer. Looks normal..up to a point. Then...it doesn't. Geeze, did he pull that hard? "It's jus' a little..crooked, kinda at the middle-endish part.."
Tala hums softly as Ahiga nuzzles her and gets up, her ears perking forward tiredly as she watches Ahiga and Ikuna curiously a moment. "That.. is a rather interesting sight.. " She offers, a crooked grin seen. Perhaps she is feeling a wee bit better if she is cracking jokes at there expense.
Ikuna peers back, trying to see for himself... not that he really can. He mostly sees his own butt, that and the vague fluff of tail. "...crooked?" he says, and glances to Tala's tail for comparison purposes. No, tails aren't supposed to be crooked. "Oh."
Ahiga snorts and looks at Tala, exaggeratedly rolling his eyes at her, though a supressed grin can be seen fighting its way on his muzzle. "Whatever Tala." He sits up and sighs. Yes, a crooked tail. That what he's done to his best friend. "...I... I bet it'll straighten out, Ikuna. Bet it jus' needs to rest a little bit and then...bam, straight again. Just try not to move it too much, huh?"
Tala grins faintly as she hears Ahiga, at least she made him grin for a moment. Her tail sways a few times in the process. "Ya.. It is sorta crooked. Maybe it will fix itself with some time?" She questions with a hopeful tone.
Crooked. Tails are not supposed to be crooked. "Well, maybe..." says Ikuna, and then he's rising up to his paws, holding the tail carefully so it doesn't bump against the ground in the process. "Just so long as it stops hurting, I guess it'll work."
Ahiga nods in agreement with Tala. It'll fix itself! If they keep saying it, then it'll come true. He watches as Ikuna stands, eyeing the tail apprehensively, though seeing him stand does make him feel better, reminding himself that he truly /is/ ok. The tail will come along in due time. "Plus, it doesn't look /bad/" he says helpfully. "Watch, everyone's gonna want to have a tail like that once they see it. You'll be like, a trendsetter." He reclaims his spot beside Tala.
Tala chuckles softly and slowly shifts so she is a but more curled up, her head settling against a frontleg. With Ahiga back at her side she leans back against him while her eyes close once more. "Trendsetter indeed.. All the wolves will want one."
Ikuna laughs as the others claim him as trend-setter - because, on the whole, he is okay. The tail doesn't much hurt so long as he neither moves it nor hits it with anything, and the rest of him is - if still rather tired - fine. Even if it stays like this forever... well, his father carried worse scars, like the one that roughened his voice. So does Chewy, blind in one eye. He'll survive. "All goin' around, yanking each others' tails, huh?"
"Yeah, til in the end we're gonna be known as: Ute, the pack of crooked tails," Ahiga replies in a voice that's supposed to sound sage and serene. Heh. "It'll be our new initiation or something. Come spring, we'll have so many new wolves wantin' to join it'll be one way to tell who's in an' who's out."
Tala ears perk as she hears Ahiga and she chuckles once more. "Sure.. There be runing in to join us because of the new look huh?" She questions with an amused tone heard in the process.
Ikuna grins, and he leans down to chomp-and-tug Ahiga's tail! ...or at least, that's what he makes the gesture be. In reality, his jaws barely even touch Ahiga's fur, let along the flesh beneath, and they slide along it smoothly instead of actually pulling. He's wrestled harder before, he just... well, with his tail this sensitive, he doesn't wanna right now!
Ahiga nods to Tala. "Yeah, why not? Look how good it looks on Ikuna," he says playfully, poking her with a paw. His ears perk at the touch to his tail though, and he glances at Ikuna who play gnaws at the appendage. Snickering, he flicks his bushy tail up to whap it against his nose and muzzle. "Pft, I'm not gonna let /you/ do mine. I'm the best tail decorator around. I'll bite my own." Now /that'd/ be a sight to see!
Tala chuckles and smiles to Ahiga. "Yes well.. I suppose it does look good on Ikuna.. Though would not look right on me AT all." There is a pause and she cracks open an eye to peer at Ahiga and just grins. "Well.. Bite away at it. I want to see this!"
"Gotta look your best, huh?" asks Ikuna with a grin. "What, you think you gotta impress /other/ girls?" His tone is teasing, and he carefully takes himself a seat. Tala's suggestion makes him laugh, and he too looks to Ahiga!
Who, what? Who said anything about other girls? Ahiga blinks owlishly, face innocent. "Girls? Heh, what?no! But you got a point, Ikuna. I'd better not do anything to my tail, cuz if I /did/, I'd just look even better and then I'd be chased around by crazy females. Tala would be dead tired chasin' them all out all the time," he says, tone just as teasing. His tail thumps against the ground once before he plops his head down across Tala's neck, grinning against her fur. "By the way, anything'd look nice on you."
Tala chuckles softly. "I don't think Ahiga would do that.. He knows I would.." She pauses and soon grins as she hears him. "Do just that.. An then chew off his tail so it wouldn't happen again." One shouldn't put it past her doing it either! A soft murmur escapes her as she hears and feels Ahiga aginst her, which does make her feel better. "Why thank you dear.. Buttering up are you?"
Ikuna grins as Ahiga and Tala flirt (shamelessly!), though... it's a slightly awkward grin. After all, there's those romantic feelings of his, too... and while he most certainly loves (not like that) Tala and wants her to be happy, he also loves (like that!) Ahiga and... yes, wants him to be happy. Also wants to be happy with him. Ahem. After a bit, he kinda looks away, staring out over the broken-iced water.
Ahiga forgot. Not about Ikuna's feelings. There's nothing in the world that could make him forget that even if he wanted to. But he forgot about the hard thinking that he did after that, and how he could still keep them both without anyone feeling left out, sad, or awkward. And the top thing for him to remember is to keep his outward show of affection to Tala subdued. Not doing things he wouldn't otherwise naturally do if they were not "together". At least when Ikuna is present. And it is hard because Ikuna is usually present, and Tala makes him feel like doing silly affectionate things more often than not. And in this moment he forgot and rolls his eyes at the term "dear" while all the while nuzzling and nipping her fur. "Me? Butter up? Pft, no. This is just me and my usual awesome self talkin'." But then he remembers with a very faint furrowing of his brow. And he gently lifts his head from her and glances to Ikuna, who is glancing off somewhere else. A pause. "Probably not a good idea for us to stay out here again, right? Think we should get to the den soon. S'warm, and .. no ice."
Tala hasn't really been told how Ikuna feels about Ahiga, so seems she isn't up to date on everything! A soft murmur escapes her as she is rather happly relaxed, cuddling here with Ahiga. At the talk of moving, her nose twitches and she just stays put a bit longer before drawing in a slow breath. "Ya.. I suppose we should.." She murmurs out softly before starting to slowly sit herself up, which takes a few long moments.
Don't mind Ikuna, he'll just... uhm... sit over here. He doesn't want to stop anything, not him. If Ahiga'd gone and /told/ him this great plan, he'd have told the other wolf not to do it. It's /his/ job to suffer the awkwardness, right? Because that's just what has to happen here. Suffering in awkward silence. They'll pass around the martyring stick until this gets solved. When the mushy stuff seems over, he looks back to his two best friends, and nods. "Yeah. I think we can all use more rest..." They'll just take it easy for a while, that's all. Easy as that.
Ahiga definitely has no plans of telling Tala about Ikuna's...uh...difficult situation at any point in the near future. It's been /handled/ (sort of) so why worry her about it? Plus, this moment of forgetfulness has only happened once! In his humble opinion, all is good. Relocation is now the current matter on his mind, and he's quicker to get to his paws than Tala is. He's patient though, giving her time. "Yeah, we can jus' hang out for a while. It'll be easier to keep an eye on Thaea and Hadir when we're all in there, anyway." Not that Hadir has ever been much to keep an eye on. Althaea, on the other hand, is always up and about.
Tala nods a moment whiel she moves along after the two, the more movement she does her muscles do seem to feel better at least. "Sounds good to me actually. Maybe curling up in the den would be a better idea with my two boys." A wink is offered to both Ahiga and Ikuna. SURE.. don't tell her.. evil boys..
Ikuna will tell! Just as quickly as Tala and Ahiga told /him/ that /they/ were together. With just as much speed, and at just as soon an opportunity. Shouldn't be long now, right? ... So, anyway, up he stands, grinning over to Tala. He ducks his head briefly, looking at her sidewise. "Different kinds of warming," is all he says, with maaaybe just a bit of warm to his ears in the form of a blush. Ahem.
Ahem indeed! Ahiga trips over something. A rock maybe? A hidden stick. Likely just his own paws as he glances back at Ikuna, giving him an incredulous look. Oh gee thanks man! The last thing he needs to think about is...warming up while pressed up between the both of them, wondering just who is thinking about warming up who! He kicks his hind foot back, aiming to spray him with snow before snickering and trotting ahead a little to gather Althaea from her nearby hunting and usher her along with them. It'd be foolhardy to leave her behind!
Tala chuckles softly as she hears Ikuna. "I don't even want to know what you two do that involves warming anything up." She offers while she moves along at a slow pace towards the den.
Ikuna can't help it! /He's/ thinking it! Such warm distracting thoughts. Of warmth! And... distractingness. And, uhm... okay. Ears go a bit pinker, and he ducks his head as Ahiga showers him with white snow. Tala's so not helping, either. Now he's thinking all about 'them two', and warming things up and... not helping. Oh, wow, the epic levels of not helping. So. Not. Helping. ...in the best of all the possible alternate histories, Ahiga was so overcome by passion after Ikuna's daring rescue that, well - NOT HELPING.
"What? I...what? We....what?" It's the word of the day! what what what? Ahiga looks at Tala, then Ikuna who has this rather... /questionable/ look on his face. Just what is that wolf up to? He gives him A Look. A 'you better not be thinking about what I think you might be thinking about!' look. Actually, he has no idea what Ikuna is thinking about. He could be fantasizing about rainbows and springtime, but he has a feeling that that's not quite it. Exaggeratedly he rolls his eyes, snickers, and just heads on back to the den.
Tala is soon asleep once she is in the den. She is curled up, a ear twitching now and then before she is soon dreaming. Unlike the night before it is at least a bit more restful.
Ikuna is so thinking about what Ahiga thinks he might be thinking about. Admittedly, some of the details are a bit glossed over, because he lacks in practical knowledge and *cough* experience. But... it starts with kissing, and it goes from there. It... goes quite a ways from there, to be honest, and at Ahiga's Look Ikuna drops his head and splays his ears. ...not that he can stop thinking about it. He'll, uhm... he'll just take the way back to the den slowly. Maybe he can... distract himself from these thoughts. Yeah. ...not that he minds them, exactly, which makes them rather hard to get rid of. He just... doesn't want to make Ahiga unhappy with them. (Oh, no. He'd much rather make Ahiga very, very, /very/ happy!) ...ahem. His paws drag slower and slower, though he's still heading denward. He'll get there eventually.