Bearclaw Valley BCV-04 "ULVA"
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All Welcome 
 
radio collar thread!  all welcome, but paging @Xan for visibility.

There she was, sitting in her usual spot — BCV-04, given the affectionate nickname "Ulva" by the project.  They had flown low over the valley today, and the woman's heart began to thrum in her chest at the thought of working with such magical, wild creatures.

It was time.  The 'copter doors blew open, and quickly their rifles were positioned on the wolf, chosen for her constant presence at the border — they figured she would be easy to aquire but she did not think so.

The first of the darts hit the dark wolf square in the shoulder, another in the neck, and she stood too quick, tumbling off her rock as the drugs took effect.

The men bustled from behind the woman, and she turned to her equipment, grabbing the collar with trembling fingers.  This was her first wildlife expedition; she had never been this close to wildlife and the thought brought heat to her cheeks and tears to her eyes — quickly, she brushed them away.

She watched as they approached Ulva.  Though the wolf was still, not enough time had passed.  The feral thing lashed out wildly, though she was incapable of moving from her spot, and another dart was shot.  The woman watched as the wolf's legs buckled, and her chin sank to her chest.

They brought the wild creature back to the helicopter, limp in their arms.  Unceremoniously, she placed the collar around the breeding female's neck and stroked across the dark pelage of her cheekbones before the wolf was whisked away, returned to her home.



they placed her body on the ground, and there she stayed.

3/3
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#2
A soft whine escaped Blondine's maw as she noted Reigi's absence at the boulder. A short conversation with the woman had been the only reason she'd come this close to the border; to find her missing was incredibly disheartening! She can't be far, Blondine thought, her nose lifted high to try and catch the missing girl's scent.

Worry didn't begin to build until after Blondine realized that the scent trails had gone cold, the same way they had with Indra. Not again, she thought, speed picking up as she began to search for another lost companion.
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Laurel was feeling unusually chipper that morning, but she had yet to realise why, exactly, it was that she was feeling so well today. When she woke up beside @Indra that day, stretched her legs and departed their usual sleeping venue to take a stroll along the borders she found that someone was already there. She didn't instantly realise how worried Blondine was acting — but vaguely recognised her from the rescue mission & Indra mentioning they were friends — until Laurel drew closer and Blondine picked up her pace outside of the borders.

"Hey, wait up," she called out to Blondine. "Is anything wrong? You look rushed." Laurel wasn't normally that friendly, but she knew that Blondine was a friend to Indra and that was what earned her such friendliness today. If anything were the matter to her, Laurel'd gladly repay her sister's friend with some help of her own.

tag for visibility :)
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Huh? For a moment, Blondine was able to calm herself enough to acknowledge Laurel with a friendly nudge, though her nose was quickly turned back to the ground. I, uh, she began with a shake of her head, as if the motion would clear all of the hazy possibilites roaming through, It's — have you seen that girl? That...the mute one, Xan's friend. Her words came rushed and unclear, despite it being the best she could have done to try and communicate, given the circumstances.

That girl, Xan's girl, as she would have liked to have called her, wasn't necessarily a friend, but she was someone who Blondine cared about. She was someone who she had taken under her wing, with or without the other's permission. To have lost her the same way she'd almost lost Indra would not do, not again. I can't — she's missing.
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Laurel caught up with Blondine, who acknowledged her briefly before turning her attentions back to the ground. Luckily she'd just awoken beside her sister so she knew that it couldn't be about Indra. Was Xan gone? What else could be making her this distraught?

Soon she found out that it was only Xan's ex-girlfriend that she was so worried about. "Oh," Laurel said, all sense of urgency leaving her face. "Missing? Are you sure she didn't just run away again? She does that." When she and Indra had been with Xan she'd dramatically run away, and, well, pretty much every time Laurel remembered meeting her she also remembered seeing her dramatically run away. It was pretty much her thing. Why was Blondine so worried about her now?
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The deaf girl did have a knack for disappearing, this was true. However, the nonchalant tone of Laurel's voice and the dismissal of any other possibility was unsettling. For a moment, Blondine's brow was furrowed in thought, though she was quickly back to tracing trails. And what if she's not just run away? I've been running all over hell's half acre trying to make sure that everyone is accounted for, and up until now, they have been. I'd like to keep it that way, thank you.

Although Blondine's voice was soft and low, one could tell how angsty she was. For whatever reason, she had given herself the title of keeper; it was her job to keep everyone safe, even if she was doing a shitty job at it. Not to mention, only having one eye to keep a look out wasn't the most ideal situation. Help me look, would you? Everything in her expression was pleading for Laurel to soften herself for only a moment, even if it was only for Blondine's temporary satisfaction.
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Blondine seemed like the kind of wolf who just needed a bit of extra chill, Laurel thought. If it were Indra then she'd be worried, but the dumb girl had the tendency to run away all the time. Blondine almost instantly continued looking for her, though Laurel didn't at all feel like joining in. She thought it kind of rude that Blondine would just continue to look for the dumb girl even though Laurel'd just explained to her why she didn't really have to.

There was an exasperated sigh and a roll of her eyes when Blondine asked Laurel to help look for the dumb girl. "Fiiiine," she said, "But if I'm right, you owe me big time." She lowered her nose to the ground and started sniffing around, sort of hoping that they wouldn't catch the girl's scent at all and sort of hoping that they'd find her real quick and Laurel was right all along.
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Mindlessly, Blondine nodded along to Laurel's conditions. The lack of enthusiasm didn't surprise her, as she hadn't tacked her as one to follow the path of empathy and emotion. The two of them didn't know each other very well, but from what Blondine had gathered, Laurel was quite different from her sister. 

That wasn't her main concern, though. There were no reliable scent trails to be followed and Blondine doubted that travelling out much farther would have changed that. She continued to sniff around in vain for another few minutes before taking the time to compose herself. I'm supposed to watch over her, she said to Laurel, voice low and somber, and somehow, she's gotten right past me.

It wasn't just Reigi who had slipped through the curtain, but Indra had, too. Maybe watching over Reigi had given Blondine the reassurance that she needed to feel like she was capable of protecting Indra, but it seemed like she wasn't good at either. I'm gonna hand this over to Xan, I think. Looks like I owe you.
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Laurel couldn't really find much in the form of Reigi-scents herself, though she was happy about it. She hadn't really been looking forward to this journey to start with, after all. Laurel huffed at Blondine's mention of being supposed to watch over her. "Isn't that kind of weird?" she said with a quirked eyebrow. "I mean, that there's someone who's gotta watch over her to make sure she doesn't run away again?" But Laurel decided to give the subject a rest after that, considering they weren't really getting any results anyway. "Weird, I can't find any good scent leads." Almost like she'd been gone for a bit, or something. Laurel couldn't quite put a finger on what was going on, but she found it altogether odd.

As Blondine gave up, Laurel let out a sigh. It wasn't entirely clear whether it was a sigh of relief or frustration on coming up empty-handed. "Oh well, we gave it a shot," said Laurel. "Maybe Xan will know how to deal with her better." Laurel wouldn't be surprised if she was hiding just because Laurel was there, anyway. Maybe Blondine'd have more luck later on.
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she awoke, her eyes snapped open alongside her jaws, her teeth clashed together in a frightened flurry.  she was not far from the valley but she did not know where she was, and her head whipped around wildly as her heart began to pound in her chest.

those soft pink creatures were gone, but there was something new she noticed with the craning of her head.  she let out a terrified yelp and tried to work her jaws beneath the heavy collar that lay around her neck.  no no no no no.

she used her nose to guide her closer and closer to the valley until the women were in sight.  she did not want to show this weakness in front of laurel, she did not want the woman to know that she had been othered but she didn't know what else to do.

she barked at them, still quite the distance away but hurrying towards them both — blondine in particular.

3/3
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Yeah, Laurel was nothing like Indra. Indra was warm and sweet and gentle, while Laurel could piss off the pope. Did it matter why there was someone watching over Reigi? Everyone deserved a guardian and seeing as no one else was willing to do the job, Blondine had stepped up to the plate. What was so wrong with that? Had the dark-furred girl not been in the making of her speedy approach, Blondine might have Laurel a thing or two about common decency. 

Blondine's head whipped around as her eye grew wide with both shock and relief. Reigi was safe, but she was different. The thing around her neck was unlike anything Blondine had ever seen, and she had seen a lot. Dove, she called as she moved to meet Reigi halfway, nuzzling her and trying to comfort her as best she could, You alright, hm? You sure smell bad enough to gag a maggot, I'll tell you that. You okay?
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Just as they were about to give up, their search turned up some result. Not exactly the result she had hoped for, and Laurel watched with a smidge of irritation how the dumb girl came closer; mute as ever. Of course, all attention had to be on her, unable to withstand anyone else socialising together.

As she drew closer, Laurel's contempt and a defensive ready-to-snap tenseness was quickly replaced by something akin to wonder and suspicion as she eyed the thing 'round dumb girl's neck. She didn't care much for the heart-felt reunion between Blondine and the dumb girl (and felt a sting of betrayal on Indra's behalf because Indra spoke so fondly of her friend Blondine, who was now collaborating with the enemy) and so she did not hesitate to poke her nose between them and say, "What's that?!" as she stared wide-eyed at the collar. Her scent was all off too, but the more imminent threat was the weird thing 'round her neck.
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Normally, Blondine might have scolded the likes of Laurel for being so rude and straight-forward, but she had a point. Reigi had returned seemingly safe and sound, sans recognition of the thing around her neck. While trying not to bother or hurt the deaf girl too much, Blondine began sniffing around the rim of the collar and gently prying at it to see if it would budge. As she had assumed, it didn't.

You ever seen sumn' like this? Blondine asked of Laurel, confusion as clear as day, I don't think even I can help.
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she bristled at laurel's probing nose coming between her and the medic, but it was obvious it was more from shock than aggression.  her wide, frightened eyes found blondine's as she tried to assess whatever this thing was that lay heavy around her neck, and she whined desperately.

fix it!  she fixed reigi's leg and xan's neck, surely she could fix this, too.  please.

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The weird thing around the girl's neck didn't seem to budge. Laurel'd never seen anything quite like it. She frowned and looked suspiciously at the girl, but she seemed genuinely confused and afraid so Laurel didn't think that she had anything to do with this. What could it possibly be, though? "Never," said Laurel. "Maybe if we pull really hard we could get it off...?" She didn't start with her idea yet, though, figuring that probably the girl would find reasons to fault her for it and she waited to see what the medic thought of the idea. Meanwhile, Laurel backed off a little, seeing no further use in prying around the weird thing as it tasted weird anyway.
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The idea wasn't the best, but it was the only one that they had. Based on Reigi's desperate gaze, Blondine knew that the two of them ought to do something, even if it didn't work. I'm afraid it might hurt her more than anything else, she said low, eyes still scanning to run of the collar. If it went below the skin, the two of them could kill Reigi. While Blondine didn't doubt that that was less of a concern to Laurel, it was all that she could think about. 

I don't know, I'd like to take her to Xan and see what he thinks before we do anything that might damage her.
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as if she knew what they were saying, reigi placed her paws on the bottom of the collar, writing her head back and forth in an attempt to dislodge it from her neck.  it was fixed tightly; she could not move it and the fact only frustrated her.

her lip raised in a snarl — though it was obviously not directed at either of the women.  her gaze was cast to the side, down at the snow, and her ears flattened across her skull.  

she was fresh out of ideas.  her eyes sought both of the girls' again, almost desperately searching for any kind of comfort or solace.

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Her idea was quickly dismissed by Blondine, though the collared girl tried to apply Laurel's idea herself. Yet it seemed not to work and Laurel wasn't about to tug at the collar without Blondine being on board with this idea so there was little else to do then. Blondine suggested they ask Xan and Laurel shrugged. "I guess. I doubt he'll know what to do with this." She bit back her next suggestions -- but maybe it will at least calm her a bit -- as she looked at the distressed woman and felt a twinge of anger and resentment. She looked to Blondine then, not knowing what to do other than what she'd already suggested.