Dragoncrest Cliffs quick but not in a hurry

for sis @Blixen, but anyone welcome!

Bobby lounged on a big rock by the lake, sunlight warming his black pelt the way it did the blood of a lizard. It was getting colder and colder outside, and Bobbin hated it. He much preferred the warm months of the year, where there was plenty of prey to hunt, the trees weren’t dying or bare, and the sun stayed out longer. Nowadays he was barely even given the joy of sunlight! But not today, today was a blue sky, bright, warm day, perfect for lounging about.

He could be out hunting but instead the boy decided to be lazy. It was easier after all, and he could always go work on his trade later. With Nomi gone so often he didn’t think too much about his duty. Perhaps he should, but it rarely crossed his mind. As much as he loved Drageda, he didn’t love its rules and ways.

blix may not be competitive the way artaax is, but she takes her duty to drageda seriously and expects everyone else to do the same. in a way that makes her the harshest of the siblings - unconcerned with besting others so much as ensuring everyone else is doing what they need to do. or - the other children, at least.

bobby is the only one of their trio that hasn't earned an adult rank yet - and neither has dalia, but she finds she can't bring herself to be stern toward the grey-spotted girl. 

bobby has no such luck.

she finds him lounging in a warm spot and slows her brisk pace, sighing. "bobby, what are we gonna do with you?" the gona asks, coming up beside him to nudge him with her nose. "shouldn't you be training?"

Bobby’s eyes opened slowly to see his sister, Blixen standing beside him. He watched her with an unamused expression as she spoke, then rolled over. With a loud relaxing sigh, mostly to taunt her, he grinned and spoke, though he was now facing the other direction. I don’t really need to do anything right now. I hunted yesterday. That was all he said to his sister, before yawning and stretching out all of his legs lazily. He then turned his head over his shoulder to look at her and said, You want to nap with? and patted the stone he lay on. 

Oh Bobby.

blix rn

she is unamused by bobby's attempts to undermine her and unimpressed with his offer to nap. she sighs. "there's always something to do," she tells him and promptly goes to throws herself on top of him, intending to lay like a dead-weight across his prone form. the gona may take after their slight mother size-wise but her training with nomi has caused her to bulk up a bit - nowhere near artaax but heavy enough to be uncomfortable, most likely. "what you need," she announces cheerfully, ignoring any discomfort her brother may display (and fully intending to climb back on top of him should he successfully squirm away), "is someone to keep you on target. you wanna be a hunter, right, bobbin?" blix lowers her face to speak directly into his ear. "so let's get to hunting."

There’s always something to do. Bobby heard Blixen say. He was in the midst of mocking her silently when she flipped her entire body down onto him. UGHFFF! He exclaimed as the air was knocked out of him. She continued to speak and tell him what he should do and whatnot, but he only listened a little. He was mostly concerned with squirming away, which he almost did before Blixen caught him and was on top again. He rolled onto his back to look up at her, a scowl on his face.

She leaned down to whisper in his ear, and the black wolf wriggled a paw free to bat at her face. Ugh fine you win! But whatever I hunt, just for me. You don’t get any of it you demon. He said, attempting again to removed himself from her grasp. He did so effectively this time, however he also slid over the edge of the rock and onto the ground. He landed with an oof, and got up quickly. He looked at Blixen again, with his eyes narrowed.

she laughs and slides off him, her tail wagging when he finally gives in. "good! this is for your own good, you know," the gona tells him, looking only a little bit maniacal. he states his condition and she nods, expression turning serious, and says, "i agree to your terms, bro." she's never actually seen him in action - nor artaax, really, but she knows artaax hunts with dio and has proven himself worthy of the hompleia title. bobby isn't very competitive - but she wonders secretly if he's any good at all (for his sake she hopes so). the gona straightens up. "well, lead the way," she instructs, waiting to follow her sweet sweet hopeless baby brother's lead.

LOL he failed

Bobby snorted at Blixen’s comment, Own good my ass crack... he mumbled, though he very much hoped she heard. She agreed to his terms, and Bobby groaned. He really had been enjoying his Bobby time, and this was just an inconvenience. However, he knew that it wouldn’t be all bad, otherwise he wouldn’t have, under any circumstances, agreed to go. She ushered him forwards, Sheesh, patience please. He said, turning his head to give her a snappy glance.

With a sigh he started off in the direction of the redwoods, the forest usually was full of prey. Once he and his drill sergeant sister made it far enough away from Hougeda for prey to possibly be milling about, Bobby bent down to start tracking. He could smell a squirrel nearby, and so he decided that it would be his game. He followed the trail until he saw it, sniffing at the ground, looking for those nuts it’d buried. He turned to look at Blixen with a smug smile, confident that he’d get it.

He took one step forwards and he stepped on a stick. It cracked. The squirrel turned around, saw him and bolted up a tree screaming bloody murder. Bobby felt a felt the heat of frustration, embarrassment, and anger, but refused to let it boil over. He stood where he was, staring at the spot where the squirrel had been. He paused, then, Well fuck.

"i'm very patient," she informs him with a rather toothy smile, tactfully ignoring his complaints. he's doing what she says, after all, she doesn't care if he curses a blue streak. the gona lets bobby set the pace as they head toward the forest - mostly she just wants to observe, see her brother in action for herself. besides, she isn't a hunter anyway. bobby better know what he's doing.

for a moment she thinks he does as he leads them on the trail of a squirrel. blixen meets his smug look with a raised eyebrow: well?

and then he steps on a stick. blix can't help herself - she bursts out laughing as the squirrel takes off, leaving her hapless brother empty-handed. "bobby," she wheezes, then takes a deep breath and straightens out. "aren't you supposed to, like, watch out for sticks?" she may not be a hunter but, c'mon, that's gotta be rule number one. the ginger sighs, still smiling, and gestures with her nose. "try again, bro."

WOW BOBBY GOT SOMETHING! I’m so proud <3

Bobby turned his head after a moment of his frustrated staring to look at Blixen, who was laughing hysterically at him. She pointed out his miserable failure and how he should’ve seen the stick. The fur on his nape bristling, he replied, Yeah well I didn’t see it. His tail twitching side to side, he turned and started walking back the other direction. Blixen told him to try again, and he turned his head to snap, Yeah I’m going! I’m a good hunter I swear. 

He walked back to the lake, and there, as he had hoped, were the ducks. Lots of them had been passing through lately for migration or whatever, but Bobby had never been successful at catching one. But this time, this time he was gonna do it. He was gonna show Blix that he didn’t suck. You know what I’m bout to do Blix? He said, waiting at the tree line, I’m gonna catch a duck. Even more determined than before, he broke from where he crouched out into the crowd of beached ducks.

A lot of them glided towards the lake, but the one Bobby had zeroed in on was too slow. She raised her wings but Bobby was fast, and this time he did have the element of surprise. He grabbed her foot and pulled her down, then he leapt upon her, closing his pearly whites around her throat. He bit down hard until she was dead, and stood there breathing heavily. Had he seriously just done that?! He’d caught one of the ducks! He dropped his score and whirled around to see Blixen, a look of excitement and disbelief written across his face.

Blix! Did you see that? I just caught that! This duck, went in my mouth, I got it. He said, jumping up and down where he stood. Then remembering that he was a cool, laid back guy, he stopped and corrected himself, Yeah, wasn’t that hard either.

with the patience of saint (or just that of a sister) blixen nods and smiles encouragingly. it's fun to tease but she really isn't here to undermine him - she wants him to succeed or she wouldn't have started hounding him in the first place. quietly the gona follows her brother to the lake, an eyebrow raised but staying wisely silent. 

"go for it," she cheers him on, glad to see that determined spark - he's lazy but he is her brother and their bloodline is tenacious. the ginger settles against the earth, watching him move once again - her eyes widening in surprise and then in lighting up in triumph as he gets his teeth around a duck and drags it down. she whoops with him, dissolving into giggles again as he stumbles over himself to act casual. "i know," she teases, "it looked real easy too. bet anyone coulda taken it down, huh?"

her tail wags behind her good naturedly as she speaks, and after a moment she gets up and pads out to where he stands, bumping shoulders against him. "c'mon, wanna take it to the cache?" blix asks, gesturing to the duck with her nose and looking at bobby expectantly.

Blixen’s taunts prompted a snort from the coal colored child, but he nothing more. He was too happy to complain about much at the moment. When Blix asked him if he wanted to take it to the cache, she shook his head. Bobby loved his sister a lot, though he never wanted to show or admit it. That’s how siblings were right? But this time, Bobby felt inclined to spread a bit of love, he did it with an offering. Nah, we’re gonna eat it. And I know I said that I was gonna eat everything myself but, I guess I’ll cut you some slack. You’d be hopeless without me anyway.

He sat down with a joking smirk, pulling the duck between the both of them. He waited expectantly for his sister to join him, his tail wagging with his pleasant mood.

wanna wrap so you can go get that  trade? >:p

she grins at him, feigning surprise as he offers to share. "why, bobby," blix says, holding a paw against her chest, "how kind to think of me." then the ginger snorts and rolls her eyes good-naturedly. she feels the sting of regret for having snapped at him when they first got back from the caldera -- but the moment to apologise without making everything awkward has long since passed, even if she's not the best at letting these things go. at least bobby's easier to get along with than artaax, even if he is lazy (he just needs someone who will provide structure, she thinks, and is a little pleased with herself for doing exactly that). 

her own tail wagging to match her charcoal colored brother's, blixen settles down and digs in alongside him.

Bobby snorted at Blixen’s jokes, scooting over to make room for her. He was so glad to have her back, he hadn’t realized it but while she was a way something was different, something missing. He needed his family, they were a part of him no matter how much he pretended to be an independent boy. With a smile piercing his cool boy exterior, Bobby dug into the duck, relishing in every bite.

Thanks for the thread!