Bugs, Burrs, Foxes - and Greenness

[asrohc]

Characters:

Aeron, female wolf pup, Lazuli
Halidari, female adol. wolf, Lazuli
Johari, female juve. gray fox, Lazuli
Lykaios, male wolf
Miakoda, female wolf, Lazuli
Riko, female wolf pup, Lazuli
Seven, male wolf

Synopsis: Lykaios and Seven pay a visit to the Lazuli den. Miakoda isn't very happy to see them; Aeron's a bit suspicious, while Riko just wants to play. Halidari wakes up in time to see Miakoda leave, Lykaios follows suit, Seven's in and out and in again, and Johari shows up for a discussion of bugs, the color green, and a group wrestle.

Dense Undergrowth
================================================================================
The dense undergrowth is smothering - almost impossible to navigate without some sense of where you want to go. Misshapen bushes surround the beaten path on all sides, overgrown, thick with ivy vines, thorns and a multitude of bitter white berries and stinging nettles.

In an area where the ground slopes slightly above the normal level, a partially-hidden hole can be seen, likely leading into a den.

Lykaios has spent a couple days more or less off on his own, ever since he last talked to Seven, mostly for desire not to venture too near the den and risk the conditional welcome he was given to these lands. Now he travels through the area closer to the den, though. He treds lightly, listening carefully and keeping his attention on his surroundings rather than drifting into thought, as he might otherwise. he has spent enough time thinking the past couple days, and now he's rather more interested in something to take his mind off of thinking.

As usual, Riko takes sunset as her cue to go out and play rather than sleep. For the moment, she hasn't gone far from the entrance - the dark pup is occupied with some sort of beetle. The hapless bug was trying to go somewhere, but keeps getting pounced at no matter which direction it trundles in. It's probably all manner of disoriented by now. Her ears twitch at the sound of something moving in the undergrowth, but she has to get in one last pounce! before even considering checking it out.

The return of disease-free, healthy days and nights for Aeron finally allowed her the opportunity to catch up on the activities she'd been waiting to do during that long and miserable time of feeling sick. One of said activities involved a thorough investigation of every nook and cranny in the den to make absolutely sure that the disease wasn't hiding somewhere... waiting to strike again. A full evening had been devoted to such an important task, and only after the task was completed did Aeron feel safe enough to resume her normal life. "Riko, what's you got?" she calls out from the other side of the den, noticing her sister's preoccupation with something.

Dusk. Sleeptime, usually, but this evening is Miakoda's night-watch, and so as the sun goes down and the shadows come out, the Beta female emerges from the den, looking half-asleep. Things are looking up! Diseases are gone, once sick wolves are now healthy again, which has lifted Miakoda's spirits. It's never fun to have a sick baby, especially for one who adores the cubs as much as she does. But before she can properly keep an eye on things outside of the den ... she needs to wake up. Yaaaaawn! She stretches while yawning widely, ears pressing against her skull.

Lykaios is still none too eager to meet Hali's packmembers, but the majority of his fears about doing so have been laid to rest. Still, he approaches the den, and sounds of movement, very cautiously. When the nearest waking wolves are just in sight, he stops. He was given plenty of warning about how protective mothers can be of their pups. Perhaps if he were smart, he would walk away and wait for a more advantageous time to meet these members of Lazuli, like... Oh, after armageddon, or something. He can't just slink about here and watch them, though, while he waits for one of his friends to appear, so he sits and offers a greeting that is a little on the quiet side. "Hey." No. He's not nervous at all. Really.

Distracted again by Aeron, Riko lifts her head and turns towards her sister, tail held high. "S'a bug!" she proclaims, for all the night to hear. And it's going to get away from her, too. Can't have that. Focusing on the escaping beetle, Riko crouches and prepares to pounce - wait, what, who's that? Straightening, she studies Lykaios. "Hi!" Nervous? ...Not in the slightest. Abandoning the beetle, Riko bounces over to Aeron - which is also a little closer to the stranger. "Who're you?"

A bug... maybe Riko will need some backup in handling this one! But wait--her sister is abandoning the chase, the pounce, the victory? Oh. Stranger. Going from friendly to aloof almost without realizing what she's doing, Aeron gives the newcomer a cautious gaze. The expected questions come to the pup's mind: who's this, why's he here, and... is he a disease? But her sister's boldness causes Aeron to reconsider. If Riko isn't afraid of him... then neither is she.

Puppy voices. That's always a nice thing to wake up to .. Granted. It's the only thing Miakoda's been waking up to lately, but it's still nice. Blinking a few times and straightening up from her stretch, Mia scans the immediate area in search of the youngsters, finding them easily. But hey. one of those voices doesn't belong to a pup! And one of those figures isn't familiar at all. Head turning, her attention strays to Lykaios, who the girls seem interested in, and with her ears raised she heads towards the three, nose wriggling as she tests the air. "Very good question," spoken to Riko as she glances towards the pup, moving near enough to them to nose them both before turning her vaguely narrowed gaze to the young male. "Who are you?" Not /entirely/ unfriendly, but not exactly welcoming with opened arms, either.

Lykaios remains where he is, not moving any closer to the pups or Miakoda. He answers their collective question with very little hesitation. "I'm Lykaios. I'm Halidari's, uh, boyfriend." Which explains what he's doing here, right? Lyk watches the two pups, smiling lightly at the way the hunted the bug, before looking back up to Miakoda to judge exactly how well he's welcome in the area.

That words does hurt. Boyfriend, it's not something Seven will ever get used to hearing. It's Hali after all, the one he loves. Seven comes pacing from the log's direction to the gathering point of Lazuli's pack, which for him, would be here, where everyone else is, not far from the den. Silent is the male as he heads to Lyka's direction, tilting his head up and looking at Mia and her pups, or someone else's pups, same thing. He remembers that female, the one who almost wanted to eat his face just because he was in the wrong place at a wrong time, he hopes she's not mad or anything.

Riko nudges Aeron with her nose, because... she's there. Then she looks back at Lykaios, ears pricking up when he mentions her older sister. "You know Hali?" So he said that already, but she's asking anyway. The pup starts to move closer to him, giving Miakoda a sidelong glance to see if the adult's going to frown on that. Just a couple steps later she pauses abruptly, eyeballing Seven's approach. More visitors! He gets delivered the same greeting: "Hi! Who're you?" Oh, wait. There's one more part to introductions, isn't there? "I'm Riko!" she adds, tail waving cheerily.

Aeron nudges back at her sister, tail wagging. If it wasn't for the visitor--wait.. /two/ visitors?--she'd most likely pounce on Riko, wanting to start a game of wrestling or something. But now that these newcomers are starting to increase in number, playing can wait. Once again, her expression turns to one of caution, especially now that they're in danger of being outnumbered. The fact that the first newcomer says that he's a friend of Hali does help to gain Aeron's confidence--after all, a friend of Hali is a friend of hers, too! Her name isn't given /just/ yet... at least not until she knows more about the second stranger. Maybe he's also a friend of her bigger sister?

Uh, ew. Miakoda looks less than impressed by Lykaios's introduction, and if nothing else his given position has her expression flattening. Minus cool points. "Which means little to me. Have you spoken to Storm or Felstride?" replied to him with a flick of an ear as her attention moves down to the pups again. Riko is given a look as she ventures nearer to the young male, and she shakes her head a little. "You do not approach strangers, Riko. Not all wolves are kind." Her eyes drift to Seven as he appears, and her expression to him is no different than her first to Lykaios.

Ok, we all know Seven is nice and tries to bahve, but sometimes, when ticked off, he can be a total jerk. The wolf lays down next to Lyka, giving him a nuzle before looking at the pups, ignoring Mia for the moment, "My name is Seven, or Sev..." He offers warmly with a smile, warmer smile, "I'm a close friend of Hali too..." He tilts his head to Lyka's direction, but still looking at the pups, "We both are. You don't need to be afraid..." Mostly to Mia, yeah, "I know your mommy, Storm. She lets me stay here with your sister." Sort of.

Lykaios smiles to Riko and nods at the question. Yes, he knows Hali. He looks back to Miakoda when she speaks, though. More solemn, he says, "I've met Felstride, yes." He is not at all surprised or upset with the questions that they ask. Then he looks to Seven beside him, and offers a genuine smile to the older wolf, glad he's back in the area and, for the time being, safe.

When she fell asleep last night Hali had never guessed that it would take her this far into the day; seems she was more tired than she thought. Still sleeping, however, shifting herself slightly, the voices around her slowly begin to make their way into empty dreams. After a moment, the young wolfess stirs stretching out; her eyes opening soon after. Keeping her head on the ground Hali looks around with half open eyes blinking a few times. When a yawn escapes her gazes falls upon blured figures. Not quite sure who they are yet, she rolls to her stomach giving herself a moment to awaken fully before checking things out.

Riko angles her ears back a bit at Mia's injunction, but /does/ refrain from declaring 'he's not a stranger'. She also loses interest in the interrogation of the males quite quickly; she's out here to play! Which means Aeron's shoulder gets another nudge, more forceful this time, and the pup gives her sister a hopeful look. The grownups are being boring again. Play with me? Riko has to make up for all the daytime hours her siblings spend having fun without her, after all.

The second stranger's name is.. Seven? A number? For whatever reason, Aeron finds that absolutely fascinating. Even more amazing, he said it could be 'Sev' for short. Aeron's mind immediately jumps to the possibility of other numbers being shortened... four become fo... five becomes fi.. or would it be fiv? Ooof! She's promptly knocked off her paws by her sister, and she goes tumbling to the ground. No fair! She wasn't paying attention! With a puppyish growl, she scrambles back to her paws and pounces back at Riko... all thoughts of strangers and numbers and short-numbers gone from her mind.

The Beta female's eyes drift from Seven to Lykaios, a mild look of disdain held for the first, though the second she isn't quite as judgemental towards for the time being. A vague smirk quirks a single edge of Miakoda's muzzle in response to Seven's words regarding himself as a close friend, and she slightly cocks a brow while elevating her muzzle. "Seems like Halidari has grown into quite a little ...hoar-der, hasn't she?" A softly snorted sound is heard afterwards, and as she spies Halidari awakening, she snorts softly again. She turns then and departs in an elegant walk, allowing the shadows of the falling night to consume her.

Is that so? Seven turns his head to half glare-half smile to Mia, nodding slowly at her words, "She's always told us that Mia has been a great example for her life." So like, he's defending and trying to insult a Beta at the same time, "At first I thought it was just a joke, but now I see that she didn't lie about. . . Well, you. The always said you were a 'B', I don't suppose that only stands for Beta, huh?" He won't let anyone talk about Hali that way... The wolf keeps his gaze fixed on the female's, smiling, genuine smug bastard smile.

Lykaios is supposed to be getting along with Hali's packmates, right? He's really not surew he wants any part of this at all. Glancing between Seven and Miakoda, the young wolf appears uncertain about what's going on here. He new things had been tense within the pack, or so he had heard, but he didn't hear any kind of specifics. Finally, nudging Seven slightly, he says, "Come on, Sev. I'm not sure this is worth it." Lyk /really/ isn't as passive as he's pretending to be, but he is really trying to stay on the good side of the wolves in Hali's pack.

With a few minutes come and gone Hali has become well enough awake to stand, stretch out once more and head toward the group. Its only then that she realizes who is actually out there that she becomes hesistant in her approach. Sure there was nothing to worry about but Miakoda and her have had their disagreements in the past. Keeping her distance fair, Hali moves around till she sees the pups; she had played with Riko not to long ago, seeing Aeron there should only make things better. Going to play with them she notices Mia's sudden mark is departure. Altering her direction Hali moves over to try and catch up with the Beta but ten she hears Seven and stops. Why was he defending her, again, she can take care of herself, besides if Hali ever wants to get back on the good side of Mia, she got to step up and make account for it. "Miakoda wait... please." She calls out, hopeing she's not listening to Seven for her sake. "I want to talk with you." Now if only she'll be given the chance.

That was an unexpected (but lucky) result! With Aeron toppled over by her nudge, Riko doesn't hesitate to press the attack - only to collide with her sister's counterattack. Well, it wouldn't be the first time. The dark pup yips at the collision, the sound segueing into a growl as she attempts to wrestle Aeron to the ground.

Owwoowow! Aeron's own yipping clashes with her sister's. It's the light pup versus the dark pup... the forces of good versus the forces of evil... she must WIN! Okay, so maybe it's just Riko, but still... aaaah! Aeron is caught underneath of her sister, nearly pinned. No no no! Fight! Her paws flail wildly as she tries her best to get out from her sister's advantageous position. This.. grr.. is not... grr.. good! The unfriendly and possibly even hostile voices nearby catch her ear, but not her attention. Sensory multitasking has not yet been mastered by this small pup, and Riko is receiving the whole of her attention right now.

Miakoda likely hears Seven. She is a wolf, afterall, but he gains no reaction from the Beta, who has departed, hence the consumed by shadows bit. Maneuvering through the undergrowth, she heads for clearer parts of the forest to patrol, though pauses a moment as she hears Halidari calling. She glances back for the better part of a few seconds, looking as if she may be considering going back. But with Seven's apparently undesired presence near, she feigns deafness, looks forward, and moves on to do her job.

Seems there's no need for him to stop, Mia is leaving after all. Once she's gone, or at least far from him and Lyka, the wolf takes a deep breath, looking at the younger wolf, "Beta or not, she can't talk about Hali that way..." He tells him serious, sighing before he shakes his head. Lyk is right, it's not worth it. The wolf rests his head on the ground, looking at Hali as she announces herself, but knowing she won't be happy with him his gaze turns to the pups, how the play, oblivious to what's happening around them... He envies that.

Lykaios stands as Hali arrives, but he doesn't approach her, yet, as she appears eager to speak with the female wolf who has just taken off. With several moments of no response in that direction, though, Lyk walks towards Hali. He's quiet, for now, not sure what history is behind the attitudes he just witnessed and not wanting to say anything he might regret.

Halidari has been looking for the chance to meet up with Miakoda for quite a while now, since she has been back. She also wanted to speak of it with her father, but there were other things on her mind that day; like introducing Lykaios has her bf to him, just not in so many words; then Riko came and they played just leaving her and her sister. Right now, however, its the Beta before her thats going to be the challenge. How to make it sound like she wasn't just her to cause more trouble then leave... cause thats not what she wanted. Moving up to the Beta, even if she disaproves of it or keeps walking, Hali was bound to get what she had to say out and understood. However, it doesn't seem like that is going to happen today as Mia makes herself impossible to reach. A huff escapes the young female as she turns around and heads back; why does she always have to make a mess of things, why is she never alone in times like this. Eyeing Seven for a moment she turns to Lyka as he nears. Giving a soft smile then nuzzle, Hali turns to the pups with more time then hoped to play with them.

Riko doesn't seem to stand much chance of pinning Aeron, with the way the other pup struggles; her sister turns the tables in short order. It isn't much longer, though, before Aeron's earlier exertions catch up with her, and she calls off to sleep for a while. Riko isn't pleased by the idea, but curls up with her sister... at least until Aeron falls asleep. Riko doesn't look at all sleepy, herself - and when Halidari looks her way, the dark pup's ears prick forward.

Call it sixth sense or just obvious sensation, but Seven knows that things only got worse because of him. He doesn't have to turn, he doesn't have to look at Hali to know what she's feeling, what she's thinking. With a sigh, the wolf slowly stands up, just giving a tilt of his head as he says, "Suddenly I'm hungry..." With no other words, the wolf starts walking away, looking at the pups with a smile for a moment before he continues walking.

Lykaios return's Hali's nuzzling, then looks back to the departing Seven. As far as Lyk knows, the older wolf just got back after going to search for Kasim, as that's what Seven told Lyk he intended to do, and now he's leaving again. Sure, just to hunt, this time, but... Lyk takes a deep breath, then turns back to Hali and Riko, forcing a smile. At least no one left here is going to snap at Riko if she should choose to approach Lyk again.

Halidari knows Seven is leaving, its her fault she knows it.. hunger is just a way to make it look like it isn't right? Looking to Seven as he departs she frowns; why does she always have to screw things up; why does her life always appear to be wrong? Was trying to fix things really the right thing to do? Taking a seat and looking to the ground, her whole expression just goes south.

Seeing Halidari's expression fall, Riko's ears tilt back. She sets her muzzle across Aeron's shoulders, watching the older wolves with confused uncertainty. Something's bothering them, clearly. After a good deal of consideration, Riko decides she just can't figure them out. Maybe Aeron had the right idea: sleep.

Lykaios nuzzles Hali lightly, not liking seeing her upset. Unless Hali is really upset about what Seven said to Miakoda, which is entirely possible, he supposes, he has missed something in the time he was off on his own. Sitting beside Hali, brushing up against her to let her know he's there, he asks, cautiously, "Is there anything I can do?" If there is anything within Lyk's power that could make Hali happy, he would do it.

Halidari looks to Lyk once more and doesn't know what to tell him. If he could change the mishaps in her life, then sure she'd tell him that; but only she can do that. Silent, she shakes her head. "Not unless you can change the past." Closing her eyes, a single tears runs down her cheek. Whiping it, Hali reopens them and stands to make for the pups. Right now she needs a smile put on her face and shes about ready to do anything to make that happen.

Unfortunately, Riko just isn't sleepy. So she squirms away from Aeron's side and goes in search of the beetle she'd been playing with earlier. It's not where she left it... Snuffling at the spot, the pup... fails at tracking. But she sticks her muzzle under the bushes anyway to try and find it. Intent upon finding her 'toy', Riko doesn't notice Halidari's approach until her older sister gets too close to miss. At which point she looks over her shoulder at Hali. "Th' bug's gone."

Lykaios remains sitting after Hali stands, frowning. If he could change the past... He probably would have alreayd done so, many times. Alas, that's not within his power at all. only after Riko speaks does Lyk stand to approach Halidari and the pup who can't find the bug she was hunting earlier, silent for the time being.

He didn't take much time away, he couldn't sllow things end up like that. The wolf comes back with a quick pacing, looking directly at the female and sort of ignoring everyone else, "You can't let her talk to you that way!" Apparently yes, he's not pleased at all with the talk he had with Mia, "I don't care what you say or think, you let her talk to you that way again, and /I/ /WILL/ do something about it." The wolf is serious, he's not really smiling this time.

Feeling much better from the previous night's events, Johari was happily bounding around the undergrowth and just having a fun time. She had been chasing after bugs and leaves, and even tried to climb some trees but she didn't do a very good job. She was about to go find something else to do when her ears perk up at the sound of yelling. She looks over to the source of it and sees Seven, looking very upset about something. Wondering what's going on, Johari makes her way over towards the wolf. "What's going on?" she asks once she reaches him.

"It is..." Hali says softly, hmming to the pups mishape. "Lets see if we can find it, ok." Approching the bushes she begins to look around; it was like nothing from earlier was pushed aside and ever happened. Nose to the ground she asks, "What did the bug look like?" of Riko before the whole 'lets forget about it' is short back into her head and she looks up from the bushes. Seven's abrupt return as totally unexpected and what he has to say just about confuses Hali. "What?" she says first looking to her sister for a moment then back up to the wolf. "You don't understand Seven. I'm not trying to make an enemy out of her. Sure she can be rude and over the line, but theres a point to all she's said. There are lies too, but I'm not going to confront her with something I'm not even sure I can handle myself." Back to the ground Hali continues looking for that bug.

"It's big... and..." Riko frowns in concentration. "Kinda like that rock," she concludes, pushing the pebble in question with her paw. Though the color comparison isn't actually accurate, it doesn't matter, as the beetle's /long/ gone. "Except not /that/ big." She moves over to look with Hali - only then Hali isn't /looking/ for it. Riko turns to Seven, too, shrinking back a bit at his tone, ears flattening against her skull. That's not a good voice, she knows that much. What's /wrong/ with everyone today?

Lykaios perks his ears back as Seven returns, frowning. Speaking up, he tells Seven, "Let Hali decide how to handle her pack members, Sev." Lyk is really trying not to take any side, but rather to make peace between the two of them. After speaking to Seven, Lyk closes the distance between himself and Hali and moves to nuzzle her before saying, "I'm going to go hunt." With that, he turns to head southward to attempt to find food for himself and Hali, at least.

Yes, that sounds like a good idea... Seven calms down after hearing what the younger wolves have to say, but more likely he calms down when he sees the pup's reaction, looking down at the ground and shaking his head, "You're wrong... There's no point in her words, she doesn't even know what you're thinking, what you feel..." Considering the first time he talked with Mia, "But whatever..." The wolf turns around, pacing away again, "What's the point trying." Once he's turned, he keeps his head from looking at the kit, but knowing she's there, not far from his paws, "Me sticking my nose where it's not needed, that's going on..." He continues on his way.

Well /that/ was certainly a good greeting. Something must be up with him. Johari decides not to press the matter and lets Seven go on his way. She walks over to where Hali is and rubs up against her, smiling up at her. "What's wrong with Seven?" she asks, slightly concerned. It's only now that Johari notices that there's a pup close to her. Wow, they've really grown since she's seen them last. Smiling down at Riko, Johari says cheerfully, "Hey there!"

[asrohc]

Its big and like a rock... well that doesn't help much; there are tons of things out here like match that description. Looking to the rock notioned by her sister, Hali still finds the situation hopeless, but she looks anyway. Tilts her ears back when spoken to by another, Hali looks up and nods. Okay food.. yea.. her mind is definitly distracted. No... no... hey wait theres one! Walking up to the beetle, Hali puts a paw on it and calls Riko over. "Riko, is this it?" Crouching down into the brush, Hali looks under her paw and practically giggles as the bug tickles her. The next she hears is Seven; boy is he in for a surprise. It doesn't seem to bother Hali much that Mia doesn't know what she's thinking or how she feels, cause apparently no one else does either. Sure she care about redeeming herself and working to reconnect the relationship between them; its just Hali will have to go about things differently than she is. Next is Johari who os obviously confused about Seven and so heads over to her. Nuzzling the girl, Hali looks up and thats when she sees him walking away /again/. "Seven is just being Seven." Is her reponse to the fox. With her other paw, Hali hurls a small rock at the wolf and misses. She can't throw and the rock didn't go far to begin with. "Hey you!" she calls out to Seven. "Know anything about bugs?" Best change his mind set and topic before its to late. "Cause I got one and I'm not sure if its the right one?"

At least /someone/ around here is in a good mood. Riko smiles back at Johari, her own concern promptly dissipating. "Hi!" She leans closer and sniffs at the fox's coat. Hm. Puzzle. "You're... not like me?" the pup concludes, tilting her head curiously. For about a grand total of two heartbeats. Then she's distracted by Halidari's find, bounding over to see what her older sister's caught.

The rock lands not far from the wolf, rolling ahead of him, making him stop. There's a moment of silence, Seven looking at the rock and listening to what she has to say. A or B, that's the problem... The wolf turns hi head a bit, enough so he can see the others behind. With the pups around, he wouldn't try to go for plan B because he doesn't want the pups to be scared or upset, "What's it like?" The wolf softly asks, keeping his gaze on the pups.

The rock lands not far from the wolf, rolling ahead of him, making him stop. There's a moment of silence, Seven looking at the rock and listening to what she has to say. A or B, that's the problem... The wolf turns hi head a bit, enough so he can see the others behind. With the pups around, he wouldn't try to go for plan B because he doesn't want the pups to be scared or upset, "What's it like?" The wolf softly asks, keeping his gaze on the pups. He would love to be on their place, looking for bugs and trying not to think or get stucked in the whole fight like the 'gronwups'. He wonders what kind of bug they're looking for, and more important, why are they looking for a bug, but since this is no longer about his nose being on the wrong place, the wolf turns around and pads back to them, "You should try to chase down butterflies, they're a lot more fun." He offers to the pups with a smile.

Johari takes a small glance back at Seven when he starts to walk away, feeling a little worried. She's never seen him like this before and she's only caring for her friend. Hali's words confuse the foxgirl a bit, but they help ease her worrying. She nuzzle back at her and smiles down at the pup again. Awww it's so cute. "No, I'm not. I'm a fox," she replies. She looks down at Hali's paw when she says that she caught a bug. Oh she loves this game! Looking back over at Riko, she asks with a hint of excitement in her voice, "You like chasing after bugs too?!"

Once done calling over Seven's assistence, Hali turns back to the beetle held captive under her paw. It was starting to escape, but she only needed it for a while longer before letting it run free. Flicking an ear over to Riko as she interacts with Johari she blinks. Well of course she wasn't, shes a fox, but lets her sister learn that on her own. Moving onto the next thing, Hali finds her sister bounding over to examine her findings. Waiting a moment, she raises a brow to the question asked of Seven in response to her own. "Well.. its.. uh.." Poking her nose under her paw again she gives the bug a quick sniff then gets back to the wolf. "It smell real bad, and uh..." Caging the bug in her paw and forearms, she gives the beetle a good looking to. "Its green, kinda of like the rock I threw at you, and round." Her desciption of rather vague, but its a bug.. Turning to Johari once more, she smiles. "What do you think?" Her curiousity directed to both fox and pup.

Riko looks up at Seven, considering him for a moment before she responds. "Butterflies?" the pup echoes. Not many of those out after sunset, like now; she doesn't get to play with them. But she has to look at Hali's bug, too, so Riko turns back to her sister and sniffs at it. "Ooh. It /does/ smell /icky/," she agrees, recoiling. "Tha's not it." Johari receives a grin. "Bugs are fun! 'Cept this one." Followed by another questioning echo: "Green? Greeeen." Apparently Riko likes the word.

He really hates talking about the bug knowing there ARE more important things to talk about. With a nod, the wolf settles down on his belly, resting his crossed paws in front of him and looking at the pups, "You girls shouldn't be playing with bugs, there are 'some' bugs that are quite dangerous. You gotta be careful on what they look like, that green one is not a problem, and they taste funny." He offers with a smile. They may smell funny, but those actually taste like. . . Different, weird, not an aggresive flavor.

Johari looks up at Hali and then at Riko as everyone starts sniffing the bug, then recoiling because of it's smell. Well now she /has/ to smell it to confirm it. She walks over to the bug and leans her head down to sniff it, only to pull her head away instantly. Uck! "Ewww, it smells really bad!" Her very good sence of smell certainly doesn't fail her. She looks over at Seven when he comes back and lays down, happy that he stayed. She tilts her head slightly at her words and asks, "Really? Like what?" She's never heard of a dangerous bug before. At Riko's repeating of the word green, Johari looks back up at the bug, then over to Riko, slightly curious. "Yeah. Don't you know what green is?"
Well thats disappointing; and here she thought she had found the bug. "What wrong with this one, besides the smell?" She wonders, giving the bug another sniff, Hali shakes her head asking herself why she did it again. Turning an ear to Seven, Hali chuckles. "Let the girls be. Their just having fun. You can't tell me you've never played with bugs before." Hali has plenty of times when she was younger; their all she had. Letting the bug go, she watches it crawl away before looking to Riko and Johari. "I like green. Its the color of the grass and the leaves." she says enthusiasticly. "Some animals even have green eyes, can you believe that."

The wolf doesn't look back at Hali, shaking his head at her words, "Playing with bugs is one thing, being bitten by a dangerous one is different." He knows he has a point, not all bugs are green and just crawl, some are really dangerous, specially those that sting or whatever it is they do. The wolf is out of words, he's just there waiting to see if something happens, not really enthusiastic about how pretty the word green is.

Riko glances over at Seven, then goes right back to studying the bug. From a nice, safe, un-smelly distance. She isn't worried about it being dangerous, just about getting near its stink. Then the pup proceeds to study the grass. And the bug again, watching it trundle away. "They're /not/ th' same," she states, looking quizzically up at Halidari. A moment later, Riko looks to Johari. "Guess no'?" She flicks her ears, then studies the ground. Picking a rock that looks (to her eyes) about the same color as the beetle, Riko nudges it. "So this's green, too?" Except it's pretty definitely gray.

The prospect of not knowing what colors are is a little suprising to Johari. After all, color is all around them so how could Riko not notice it. Ignoring everyone else for the moment, the foxgirl walks over to the wolf pup and sits next to her, her curiosity rising. When Riko asks about the clearly gray rock, Johari is slightly baffled. "No silly, it's gray like my back." She turns her head around and nods at her gray fure, then looks back at the pup, head tilting slightly. "Don't you know what colors are?"

Halidari isn't to venturous on the word green either, but she's with the pups, so she has to pretend that she enjoys it. Besides, she does like the grass and leaves that just so happen to be green. Watching the two, Hali looks rather astonished as Riko says that the grass and the beetle aren't the same. She can't really object to the fact they are, cause bug green and grass green are two different things. Blinking nearly confused, Hali looks to the grass, then the bug that disappears into the brush, then back to Riko. "There two different..." she stops in mid sentences when she looks over to the rock Riko is refering to and clearly shakes her head. Okay, its one thing to say one green isn't like the other, but to mistake it for a whole nothing color completely... "Yupe, thats grey alright." Looking closer at the rock she points out one thing... "But look.. there is some green on it." Ha, thats got to make the girl feel less like an idiot right.

Riko studies Johari. "Huh-uh," she protests. "Is /green/!" the pup declares, thumping her tail on the earth. Halidari said so! And now Hali says not, but Riko's right. She knows she is. Her ears take on a stubborn angle. "Hali's green too!"

Another set of young pup ears pick up the strange new word as Aeron wakes up from her short nap. It's really simple to her: when you're tired, sleep. So what if its several times a day or only for a few minutes? But this new word... 'green'? Blinking, she gets to her paws, sorting out what all has changed in the time she's been asleep. Huh? What's that? Her eyes study Johari carefully, not sure /what/ she's looking at. It's alive... but it's definitely not a wolf. "That's a green?" she asks softly, more to herself than anyone else in the area. What if greens are dangerous?

Ok, this is just weird. It's one thing to mistake two different types of greens for each other but a totaly different matter to mistake a wolf and a fox as being green. That's just weird. "Hali's not green either. And I'm /gray/!" she repeats to the confused cub. She's about to say something else when she catches something out of the corner of her eyes. She looks over at the new pup walking towards them and catches the gaze from it. "I'm a /fox!/ not green!" Ugh! How many times does she have to say it!!

Halidari can just laugh right now as shes called green; its actually quiet amusing. Looking to herself, then to Johari she laughs. "Come on now Johari. There's nothing wrong with bring green. I'm green, all over." She states playing along with idea of mistaking the color for something other than what it is; its rather fun. Looking to Riko she raises a brow and asks. "Are you green Riko?" Looking over in the direction Joha seems to be giving remark to about her color, Hali notices another sister. "Hey Aeron." Standing up she heads over to her other lil' sister and gives a light nuzzle. "Our sister things we are green." say states then chuckles.

Riko turns at the sound of her sister's voice. "Aeron!" And bounds over to lick her face. "Issa Jo-har-i," the darker pup explains, with careful pronunciation of the name. "Hali says grass an' bugs an' rocks are green." A beat. "Well, one rock," Riko amends. "An Hali' an' Jo'ri, too," is her stubborn conclusion, ears angling back as she eyes the protesting fox sidelong. Her ears perk up again once Halidari agrees, and Riko grins. See? /Told/ you so. The pup proceeds to glance at her own coat. "No, I don' think so."

Information overload! So that thing is not /a/ green, but /is/ green. But it's actually a Joe-harr-ee. But then... what is green? Wait... Hali is green too? Giving a halfhearted lick back at her sister, Aeron tries to process this strange new concept. What's something that Hali has in common with grass and bugs and rocks and Joe-harr-ees? Aeron flops down into a sitting position, trying to sort this out. She has absolute confidence that she'll figure it out... it just might take some time.

"But... Hali," the foxgirl soflty protests at her being called green. Johari is positive that she and Hali are /not/ green so why is Hali playing along with it? Ugh everything is so confusing!! Giving a small sight, Johari walks over to the two pups and sits down near them. "My /name/ is Johari," she corrects to Aeron. "It's nice to meet you Aeron." She doesn't say anything to Riko about her constant beleif that everything is green. Just let her have her fun, right?

Halidari did agree that they were green, but not because she had to, but because she wanted to. Course is probably looks like she is siding with her sister, but she's not.. or is she. Chuckling once more, she begins to feel sorry for her sister.. the look on her face is so confused. Turning her ears back to Johari as she comes over and speaks she nods. "Johari is a fox and isn't green." she says to Aeron before reaching over to the fox and giveing a light hug. She knows their not green but why try to make someone think that when its more fun to have then think otherwise.

Riko blinks at Halidari. "Bu'... /is/!" she states forcefully. Her ears tilt back again, the dark pup acquiring a look very like her littermate's - confused. With a dash of offended in there, too. They are too green - and mean to boot!

At least /sleep/ makes sense, if nothing else! Aeron stares at the.. /thing/.. that just sat down. Okay. Riko says that it's green, but Hali says that it's not. Riko also says that it's a joe-harr-ee, but Hali says that it's a fox. The /thing/, which amazingly can talk--no bug she's ever seen could do that!--says that her /name/ is Johari. Why do things have to be so confusing? Aeron stares back at the whatever-it-is, then turns to offer a consoling whimper to Riko. At least she's not the only one puzzled by all of this.

Despite the strange situation, Johari returns the hug and remains like that for a while, thinking. How could Riko think that everyone here is green? The grass and the bug were green, sure, but Johari is obviously gray, red, and white. Not a hint of green on her. Could something be wrong with her eyes? Is there even such a thing as eyes that are wrong? So many questions! Giving a small sigh, Johari leans against Hali and looks at the pups. The gaze from Aeron is slightly unsetteling so Johari only says, "What? You've never seen a fox before?" Ok, stupid question. They're pups and probably haven't seen much of the world yet. Duh

Halidari has so confused Riko, she knows it. Looking at her, she smiles. "If you want me to be green, I'll be green just for you." She doesn't want to see her sister upset over the fact she really wasn't. The look on her other sisters face was more or less the same, though she didn't know which parts of all this were confusing and which parts weren't with out any real response besides the blank expression on her face. Looking down to the fox, Hali head shakes. "Be nice Johari. Their just pups. Mom and dad probably haven't taken them out yet." Which is more than likely a fact. Turning back to Aeron and Riko, Hali take a moment to arranging things in her head before saying. "Johari is a fox, not a wolf, or something green." Trying not to laugh as she says that. "Me on the otherpaw, are green, cause I've been rolling in the grass." Its the only excuse she can think of to imply that she was indeed green and not grey. Now that she has said this, Hali really doubts it helped anymore, but the hope is there.

Riko scowls at Johari and Hali, and flops down in the grass next to Aeron, whom she leans against in shared bewilderment. The dark pup just grumbles briefly and fails to respond to the older wolf - aside from a yawn she can't quite stifle. She doesn't seem likely to relent in her convictions anytime soon, but all this confusion is wearing.

Aeron finally smiles, now that something makes sense. So 'green' is something /other/ than a wolf... or a fox. And this particular fox is named Johari. Okay. The young girlpup can understand now, and she likes that. "Un'erstan'?" she asks her sister, turning to see the end of a yawn. Oh nononono.. does Riko think Aeron is going to let her /sleep/ right now? "Riko, now's not time for sleep!" A slight headtilt. "Play with fox?"

Even though she's still not sure why Hali keeps saying she's green when she's obviously not, Johari just lets it go. She must have her reasons if she's saying something like that. She gives another small sigh and looks back over at the pups, only to see that one of them is tired. She's about to say something when Aeron gets to it first. Hearing the prospect of playing quickly brings back Johari's happy mood and she smiles at both the pups. "Sure I'll play! What do you want to do?"

Halidari chuckles softly as Aeron finally understands somewhat. Turning to Riko, she gasps.. nooo, she can't go to sleep now.. the funs not over yet. Droping down to her stomach, making sure not to throw Johari from her in the process; if she was even still there, she gives a slow nod to the idea of playing with the fox. She hasn't done that for days, but she knows it was ment for them to not her...

Riko bestows the scowl upon Aeron, too. "Unnerstan' /fine/," she declares. Fine, fine, fine! So there. "Not tired," is her second declaration. But 'grouchy' would probably describe her current state quite well. Nonetheless, the dark pup is willing to consider play, her ears tilting forward. But she withholds actually /agreeing/ until hearing what the others are actually going to play. Because if it's this green/not-green game again, she'll pass.

Yay! Aeron is successful in her mission to get everyone to play! However, the fox's question causes her to realize she's forgotten one slight detail. "What to play?" she repeats, crouching down and looking suddenly embarrassed at all this attention focused on her. "I dunno and I jus' thought that..." Everybody stop looking at her already! Her ears slick back and she crawls over toward Riko, hoping for a little comfort from her sister. She just wanted to play, not get /stared/ at!

Actually, Johari was hoping someone else had an idea of what to do. The thought of tree climbing had popped into her head but she knew she couldn't do that because they were only pups. Heck, even she was still struggling with it a bit. Hmmm... ok she's got nothing. Shooting a slightly confused to the pups, then to Hali, she asks, "Do you have an idea Hali?" Any idea would be good at this point.

No ideas.. well that was surely boring. Looking at everyone, more some than others, Hali tilts her head when she is asked if she had any ideas. Being the eldest of course she had some idea, but were they up to it. "Hmm. How about wrestle." Oh yea, something they always do, but the she adds. "You three against me." That should be fun right.

Riko rests her muzzle against Aeron's coat, but otherwise stays put. She's not helping them, oh, no! She just looks from one to the next as they try to think up ideas. When Halidari finally reaches one, the dark pup lifts her head. She can do that. Wrestling doesn't involve green.

"Wrestle!" Aeron understands that quite well, and gives Riko a grin and nudge. "C'mon, Riko.. let's get 'er!" Hmm.. do foxes wrestle? Aeron gives the vulpine a curious glance, wondering if she's worth the effort. She /looks/ like she could wrestle, but then again, the wolfgirl knows nothing about what they're like.

Johari smiles widely at the suggestion of wrestling Hali and even more so when she notices that Aeron is excited about it too. She catches the pup's glance at her and gives him a small, reassuring nod. Of course she wrestles! "C'mon," is all she says before Johari launches herself towards a side of Hali, letting out a playful growl in midair, trying not to giggle along the way.

Halidari looks all excited when its seems they all look forward to her idea, but then she begins to wonder what it really is she has gotten herself into. She knew how Johari wrestled but the other two, she had no idea what they were capable of. Keeping low, making it easier to brace herself should something unexpected happen, Hali waits looking rather worry-some. Her first encounter is with Joha and of course she falls to the ground on purposely.

With the game agreed upon, and Aeron's prodding, Riko clambers up to her paws. She yips as Johari apparently bowls Hali over, tip of her tail dusting the air for the moment before she ventures into the fray. Her target? Any part of Halidari she can manage to grab.

... readysetgo. So much for announcing the beginning of the wrestle-game. Aeron isn't one to be left behind, so it doesn't take but a moment for her to form a battle plan and spring into action. Pounce! Grab! Nip! Pawpawpaw! Pounce again! Hmm... if she can be brave enough to challenge her big sister, then... can she summon up enough courage to wrestle this new fox thing? With a whispered "Wrestle the fox now!" in Riko's ear, she turns and leaps at Johari, half-exhilerated at this new dimension to the wrestle-game, and half-terrified that Johari will grow enormous teeth and eat her up... or something to that effect.

Yes she did it! The foxgirl smiles widely when she sees that she's sucessfully toppled Hali over. "Gotcha!" she says happily. However, her happy moment is short lived when Aeron suddenly leaps up at her. Hey, the game was to wrestle /Hali/ not her! She gives a small yelp when Aeron hits her off of Hali and onto the ground. Still, she'll be damned if a /pup/ gets the best of her. Giggling slightly, Johari tries to use the momentum of the fall to roll over on top of the pup, using her hind legs to try to push the pup up and off of her.

Pounced, grabed, nipped, pawed, pounced again, Hali had expected them all once she had been pushed to the ground. She was fair game there, and all she could do was laugh, even with the plot to gang up on the fox. Doing nothing at first, Hali later reaches up and bats softly at the nearest to her face but is ultimately stoped the sudden lose of two of her wrestling party. Looking over, Hali keeps a close eye on the two. Joha was infact larger than Aeron, and the tumbling sister was a favorite. Roki not forgotten, however, she reach up and tickles the little pup.

Riko would join Aeron in the ambush of Johari, but her plans are interrupted by something large and devious. Not /again/! The dark pup yelps as Halidari starts tickling her, squirming and kicking to try and get free even as she dissolves in helpless giggles.

Hah! Foxes /are/ pounceable! It's a wonderful feeling--victory!--as Aeron lands on top of her prey, using her amazing strength and hunting prowess to subdue this formidable foe and save--whoa, it's /rolling/! Yikes! "Riiiikooo!" she shrieks as now the tables are turned and /she's/ the one being pinned. "Help meeeeee!" Hali's moving away from the group of youngsters isn't noticed quite yet.

Johari starts to giggle loudly as her plan turns out to be a sucess. Grinning down at the now pinned pup, Johari says excitedly, "Ha! Gotcha!" That's what you get for turning on her like that. As Aeron starts calling out to her sister, the foxgirl looks over to Riko to make sure she didn't get suprised or anything by her. She says nothing to Riko, watching to see what she does.

Released from Halidari's tickling, Riko would get back at her, but is distracted by Aeron's call for help. She stands up and shakes the dust from her fur, looking right back at Johari for a long moment. Subtlety not being much of a puppy inclination, when Riko moves, she bounds straight for the fox with a playful growl. She'll either bowl Johari over or chase her off Aeron - or so the dark pup thinks.

Hah! Here comes her sister to save the day! Aeron yips triumphantly, still struggling to get out from underneath the fox-monster, though without much success. "Lemme up!" she orders, as though Johari is under her authority. But then again, Aeron is a wolf, and this is wolfland, so... she can tell all foxes what to do, right?

No, apparently she can't since Johari doesn't take any notice to Aeron at all. Instead, she grins over at the charging Riko and doesn't move from her spot, letting the pup bowl her over and off of Aeron. Giggling even more as they roll, Johari again tries the same tactic as before to try and get on top of Riko. She's bigger so she should end up winning this... right?

"Oof!" Even if colliding with Johari was her intent, that doesn't mean Riko was entirely prepared for it. More enthusiasm than planning, truly. The two canids roll off Aeron and into the dirt, making her earlier effort to shake dust from her coat completely futile. What else is new? And while Riko does her best to keep Johari from pinning her, it's pretty clear the dark pup is starting to tire. She didn't ever stop for a nap.

Aeron is free, and yips excitedly to let everyone know about it. Even the now-sleeping Halidari, who abandoned her younger sister in her darkest hour of need. If Riko wasn't in such terrible danger from the fox-monster at the present, Aeron would see to it that Hali would never again forget her responsibilities to protect and serve the younger siblings! But that can wait. First, it's Riko who needs saving now, and Aeron, now that Hali is asleep, knows that it's all up to her to save her sister from imminent doom. With a ferocious and mighty... yip, she charges at the fox, much with the same mindset of her sister. Plan? No.. just RAM it!

Even though Johari can tell that Riko is trying, it's just simply not enough as Johari finally manages to come out on top. Being older has it's advantages but she's starting to get a little tired to from all the getting pounced at and rolling around. The foxgirl grins down at Riko but, before she can say anything in her moment of victory, she gets interupted as Aeron slams into her. Johari lets out a yelp of suprise as she's suddenly thrown off of Riko by someone she had just pinned. The foxgirl tries her best to quickly regroup and try her tactic once more, but the suprise pounce was just so sudden that she didn't have enough time, and so she comes out underneath the wolf pup. Grrr, she's going to get it later.

First there's a Johari on top of her - and then there isn't. Riko rolls over to watch Aeron and Johari land, grinning at her sister's success. The grin soon turns into a wide yawn, and she shifts a bit to get more comfortable on the dirt. 'Cause she doesn't want to get up again. No... a nap sounds pretty good about now, so that's what she'll do.

She certainly hadn't thought any further than just knocking the fox off of her sister, and now that she's tumbling over top of it, Aeron suddenly realizes the value of planning an attack. Surprised at her success but not really sure about what to do with it, Aeron gathers her paws under her and hops off of the fox, dashing over to Riko. "Riko, Riko! Didja /see/ me! I saved you 'cause you saved me!" She's so excited, bouncing and hopping around in front of her sister.

Well, she was almost asleep. Riko peers up at her sister, tail waving in the dirt. "Saw. Thanks!" But then she yawns again, cutting off any further comment. She offers Aeron a sleepy smile, then settles back in to nap.