Wolf RPG - jar of flies

@Indie

Thorns jabbed her sides, and due to her thinned summer coat, she had little defense against their stinging assault. Her face donned a permanent grimace, small, pointed ears fanned backward and the corners of her lips downturned. Though the pain caused by the blackberry bushes was minor and not intense, Shandra was beginning to wonder if the strawberries were worth all this hastle. However, just after she had decided to ditch the place, the brambled bushes yawned into a small, sunkissed clearing over which grew a layer of ground-covering strawberry plants. She could see the bright red berries distinctly winking at her from amongst their green leaves.

She did not smile, clearing the remainder of the blackberries -- for now. The sun caressed and warmed her back, highlighting the reddish hues sprinkled along the ridge of her back. The she-wolf lowered her snout, gently shoving some of the stems and leaves away from her mouth so that she could pluck the juicy red berries from their stems. The sugary flavor tingled pleasantly upon her tastebuds. She continued on like this, hunting around in the foliage for more of the tasty red gems.

The brambles were not necessarily Indie’s favorite place — in fact, her opinion of the place had severely depreciated since a very similar terrain had harmed her toe in unspeakable ways — but here she was, facing another large thorny patch. Indie huffed in frustration.

It had been an unhappy accident. Indie had never said she was a good tracker, nor a dextrous traveler — nor did she ever pretend to be one, and she would not now! This is what mostly led her in circles during her time traipsing around in the wilds… her own internal, indeterminate compass. It led her here, and now Indie assessed her options. There did not seem to be any way around the bramble, not without adding hours to her trek — not that she had any place to be, of course.

Indie dipped one paw into the thicket, then two — much in the manner she had first stepped into the ocean with the Nereides. Indie attempted to pick her way through, but her plush pelt became entangled with the briars and when she wrested herself from the grips of one branch, she found herself entwined with another. Indie could make it no more than a few feet at a time and her buxom frame did not provide any relief from the raking fingers. There was a rustle of another nearby, and without giving much thought as to why there was another in such an ungodly place, she barked out to the girl who moved so deftly. “What is your secret?” she questioned indignantly, quite clearly flustered by the situation.

The brush hissed with the presence of another creature. Shandra instantly lifted her head, ears twitching around until they found the direction from which the noise had come. Before she could react, a voice ensued, and this was what informed her that another wolf, a female, had entered the scene. Shandra hummed briefly before answering,

Pain tolerance. That was all that came from her before she lowered her snout to the strawberries again, smiling, entertained by the sounds of the stranger's stuggles and difficulties.