Stavanger Bay Why is the rum gone?

Some wolves were gifted with an intellect, some wolves excelled at combat, some were great hunters and the rest were either bastards or plain boring. In a tiny dark nook of that gray zone Foxglove had found her particular niche that she felt comfortable at. A trash-dog born and raised and no matter, how many years lived and how many miles walked, and how many better foods eaten a trash-dog stayed the same. True to it's nature, habits and upbringing. You can take the dog away from the trash dump, but not trash dump away from the dog - something along those lines.

Though, while Foxglove was scavenging the latest supply of sea-weeds, rotten and dead things (most of them frozen) and garbage, she did not think any of those complex things. No. She was standing knee deep in the mush and with a wagging tail was excitedly making her way through the pile. Some would say she was treasure-hunting, some would simply distance themselves from the scrawny, stinky wolf, no matter, what great stuff she would find there.

Engelhard had gone off in the territory of Ironsea, he knew he still had a few others to meet in the pack. So that's what he aimed to do, to share his knowledge of the arts of song and rhyme. And he had been practicing, a lot. So once he found another of the pack, he didn't even think to see if they were busy and immediately went into singing.

"Somewhere, beyond the sea. Somewhere, waiting for me. My lover stands on golden sands, and watches the ships that go sailing.

Somewhere beyond the sea. She's there watching for me. If I could fly like birds on high, then straight to her arms, I'd go sailing

It's far, beyond the stars. It's near, beyond the moon. I know beyond a doubt, my heart will lead me there soon."

Foxglove apparently was not the only one, who was so absorbed in perfecting her talent and knack for a certain activity, that she hardly noticed people around her or cared, what they were doing. Usually she would ignore them, however, this was one hard to, because he was loud. 

Her head shot up the moment the first verses reached her ears and she regarded the agouti male with a look that was full of surprise, wonder and good shot of irritation for being disturbed. The bone that she had been holding between her jaws, snapped with a quiet "knack" and fell on the ground. She paid it little notice, trying to understand, whether the other wolf was addressing her in any way (his choice of words was very, very peculiar) or he was just another weirdo that should not be spared any more time.

Engel paused in his singing as he stopped short of the other. He noticed they were a female as he got closer, stopping a distance off. "Hello there..." He saw the bone on the ground, snapped. Then back to the female. Had he disturbed something? "I didn't disrupt something, did I?" he asked, giving off a slight grin towards her.

There was a look of relief in Foxglove's face for the man had stopped his loud performance and addressed her like a normal human wolf being. She recalled the remnants of common courtesy and returned his greeting with a nod, but forgot that she was expected to provide answer to the next question. Instead she snatched one half of the bone, then regarded the other half on the ground with a puzzled look and attempted to grab it as well, while the first half was still in her jaws. This proved to be no easy task and some 30 seconds later she had got nowhere further of how to carry away both parts of her treasure. Here she cast a questioning glance in the man's direction. If he was smart, he may help her.

Engel watched the other as she gave a silent nod in his direction. Then instead of answering she went to picking up half of a bone. She struggled for quite a long while, or at least to him it was a bit of a while to pick up two bones. She gave a glance, and he understood what exactly she wanted. So Engel walked over and went to pick up the other half, but not before asking,

"So where we taking these?" he asked to her. Then he picked it up, lifting his head up.

Foxglove stiffened a little, when the singing man came close to her and lay his teeth on her half of the bone. The look she gave him was scrutinizing and full of mistrust, because even if she was in need of help as in this case, she did not like other people being in any contact with her stuff. To put it politely. 

However the half of the bone was already in his jaws and he seemed to be expecting some directions from her. And she obliged - beckoning him to follow first and then leading him towards the woods. A while later they had come to a pit were several other bony bits and pieces of animals long dead were stored. There she put her bone down and waited for the man to do the same.

Engelhard froze under the gaze that lacked any trust. Who would even trust him to handle a bone, he couldn't even handle his own. She beckoned him towards the woods, and he couldn't help but grin a little. The last time someone ever beckoned him toward any woods...he shook his head, now was not the time for that.

Then they came to a pit. There were a lot of bones. He carefully placed the half he had in there, then turned to the female grinning a bit. "You don't plan on adding me in there, eh?" he asked with a joking tone.

If Foxglove had been able to read minds and see, what was going on in Engel's, when he followed her into the woods, she would have laughed. If she had understood the implication and the joke. Since she would not laugh, she would simply be confused and scoff at all the rubbish that was going on in other people's heads. Life should be plain and simple and not be littered by too many thoughts. That was, what she firmly believed.

She watched him put the bone down, only to snatch it away from him a second later and put it elsewhere, thus showing that he had no idea of the order in the chaos that was going on around them. Then he asked something, she listened, she got the meaning, a long silence followed (though it is silly to add this - with Foxglove all was about silences nowadays) and then something akin to an amused grin appeared in her expression. 

The proposed idea was silly in itself, yet if Engel decided to kick the bucket at one point and she would happen to be around before everyone else, he could be asured that his bones would be scattered among the myriad of others in this pit. And this rare moment of imagination made Foxglove smile for the first time in many months if ever in her life.

Engel placed the bone, than just stood there silent and still as the suddenness of her movements to snatch the bone away. She placed it elsewhere, and he glanced over at it. Engelhard then turned his gaze to her face after his question had been asked. She did not speak...but she did smile.

He smiled back at her smile, tipping his head slightly. He assumed she smiled at his attempt at a joke. "Do you...do you talk?" he then asked.

In reply to Engel's question, Foxglove flicked an ear and looked away. Boring. Why was everyone so concerned for her lack of speech, was beyond her. She got on just fine and thought that the world would be a lot better place, if people preferred to speak less and do more. Most of the time things they said were of little importance in the face of greater things and problems, therefore if possible (and unless the person was among those few she favored) she did not answer.

Instead she crawled out of her bone-pit, shook her coat and looked around, as if preparing herself for some action. Then she cast a quick questioning glance to the singing man - you coming? - and after a little hesitation to understand, what he intended to do, set out to the coast again. There were more bones to find.

The lack of response and how she looked away gave him the answer he sought. "I-I mean, nothing wrong with that. Not always the voice that is beautiful." His eyes went wide as he realized, not the best choice of words. "I mean, it's not just the voice that makes someone." 

He kind of stood there awkwardly, then she gave him a glance. Engel kind of stood there for a little, then she started moving just before he understood what she meant. "Oh, yeah sure. I can come along." He scurried out of the pit, being mindful not to disturb it. He had seen that she must have cared for the pit.

Hexe listened to Engel's speech with half an ear and actually stopped and turned to face him, when she heard him falter. The man was graced with her attention for few seconds, then she huffed, as if his speech had bored her, and continued her way. 

They had almost reached the shores, when something barely visible lying in the sand dunes made change to her plans. After a little digging, she pulled out the wellington boot she and Raptor had found months earlier. She gave it a good look over, stuck her muzzle in the bootleg and sniffed around. With this done, she picked the boot up and tossed it by Engel's feet. He was welcome to have a look as well.

Engel just stood there, most very awkwardly as the female glanced over at him, then huffed at him. The male wolf remained tightlipped after murmuring to himself at how silly he must have been. Soon, the pair started off on a little journey, continuing on. And then he stopped as she started digging again. She must have enjoyed digging, or burying stuff. 

Then....something was tossed at Engel's paws. What...what was that? "Uh...what...what is that?" he asked, taking a step back and sniffing from where he was.

The dappled she-wolf had no idea, what the object was or what was it's intended purpose. Either called a wellies or refrigerators or whatever, the more pressing problem was - what could she possibly do with it? How could it come handy?

Therefore, when Engel asked the very obvious question and was not that quick to give his own suggestions as to the use, Hexe frowned. This was not important, but she still shook her head, then plopped down on her belly and began to gnaw on one end of the boot. Though it was not edible, there was something very relaxing in chewing it.

Engel looked over the object. What ever was it? It didn't smell nice, didn't smell like meat. Yet it looked like...some sort of skin almost? What was this and where did it come from? 

She shook her head. So the silent wolf did not know what it was then? And yet she chewed on it like it was good for her, like she didn't think it harmful or anything. "...All right then..." He glanced away somewhat, though he was still curious to what it was. But while she chewed on it he didn't want to feel like he was intruding, so sat there in silence.

There was little fun in having an object and being only yourself to want it. Therefore Hexe's interest for chewing the boot proportionally to the disinterest of the singing wolf. The only good thing of him in this situation was the fact that he was silent, but he was not playing the role she had wanted him to do (the one of being very eager to have the toy she had) and therefore after a while she left the activity altogether.

She yawned, got up to a sitting position, stretched her neck and then reverted to staring at the man and waiting for him to do something.

Engel looked about the area they sat at. He was usually up for strolls along the beach, but right now he was fine with remaining silent. It wasn't until he glanced back in her direction to catch her staring at him that he felt a bit awkward in how awkward he was being. "So...how's the...thing? Good chewing?"

Not the sharpest stick in the drawer, are you? The dapple female would have thought in those exact words, if she would have been able to. Since she could not, her expression conveyed that message perfectly, accompanied with a roll of her eyes. She took his question as a sign that she should do all the thinking and planning, because he for some reason did not feel confident enough to do it (this was, how she read him being awkward in her presence). 

Therefore she leaned down, picked the boot up by the leg and swung at the wolf.

Engelhard slanted his eyes at the female as she rolled her eyes at him. What was with the roll of the eyes now? Not that he could really complain, many rolled their eyes at him. Then she picked up the boot, and swung towards him. Did she...wish to play? 

He got that message and got into a play bow, wagging his tail back and forth while keeping his eyes to the thing. He pounced forth, aiming to grab at it.

So, that was, how you got this man to work - you had to throw stuff at him! Point taken, lesson learned and saved on the hard drive. Hexe was quick to pounce at the boot as well, get a hold of it at one end and growled in a loud and resonating manner. She tugged it in her direction, assuming that Engel was holding on on the other.

Engel got a grab on the other end, tugging back while growling playfully. The tugging went back and forth, back and forth. But he kept his eyes to hers, watching her as they both tugged on the...whatever this thing was.

Eventually Hexe grew tired and bored with the game - with a hefty tug she recovered her gumboot all to herself, flashed a parting grin (well - as much as you can grin, when your jaws are occupied with a large object) and ran off. She deemed that he had had enough of her charming and enlightening company for today. Maybe - if he were lucky, he would get to see and interact with her another time.

Thank you for the thread!

Engel felt the object leave him as the other took it with her, withdrawing away from him. He watched, toothy grin back at her. And then she was off, and ahe watched as the female left him. "Well...see ya then" he said after her.