he stood at the lake. it was not pouring, but a slight rain drizzled upon his tall back, chilling him to his very bones. the wind blew through his relatively thin fur. he remained unfazed- this was not his first winter. he intended to survive it in the same way he had survived every other winter, by pure persistence.
he took a sip from the lake, neck bowed to the water. refreshing indeed. he could only hope he would not be bothered on this fine cool day by a toothy little pest.
Enter the toothy little pest.
Penn had decided to check in on his territory that morning. The Caldera remained unclaimed and ripe for the taking, which is how he intended to keep it until his time came. He had no real plans for just when that time might be, but that was alright. He believed he would know it when it came. From there, he had decided to wander a bit.
That was when he'd come across a prize of a different sort. Penn's eyes had widened hungrily at the sight of the stag standing at the banks of the lake. The animal was huge--every inch of him made up of delicious meats that the youth was very eager to have in his belly. An older, more experienced wolf would've known that to take such a creature down on their own was completely hopeless. Penn was not old, though, nor was he experienced. In fact, he was a bit of an idiot. So instead of walking away as he ought, he prowled towards it.
"You know why they call this Lake Rodney?" Penn called from his vantage point a few yards down the shoreline, his posture relaxed and welcoming, as though all he wanted in this world was to chat with a deer for a while. Which he did, really. It's just that he had alterior motives for his unlikely friendliness.
of course, it seemed difficult to have a moment of peace. he had seen all the tricks of the sly little beasts, so when a friendly little voice interrupted him, he did not share the same attitude. he turned slowly to face the thing, hot breath creating shapes in the freezing air.
oh, it was a little youth! how funny. he would not let his guard down, of course- these creatures seemed to come in groups. couldn't handle the world on their own, he figured. a light chuckle leaves the barrel of his chest at the sight of the kid, and his deep voice rocks the earth: "i don't know and i'm not bothered enough to care." he laughs.
The deer didn't seem too interested in the story Penn had up his sleeve, though he did seem rather amused by something. The boy swiftly found himself forgetting that he was being friendly and charming as annoyance at being disregarded began to dig its claws into him. He gave his coat a soft shake as if to dispel it and lowered his front half into a casual, almost playful bow.
"Aw come on, it's a great story!" he coaxed as his tongue rolled out of his mouth in a grin, "What're you doing that's so important you can't spare a couple minutes to learn about your local history?" His tail wagged as his eyes gleamed.
the boy shifted his stance and continued his little act of friendliness. well, dasher was not amused in the slightest, but he gave the boy a little smile back as if to play along.
"i'm drinking. and i'm not local. why should i care about the name of some place which i will likely never see again?" he asks the beast, as if rhetorically. but as he waits for his answer, empty black eyes scan the boy, trying to get a sense of his figure and possible strengths or weaknesses. much could be told from one's muscle mass or the length of their legs, or their scars.
Okay, now he was annoyed. Penn's eyes sharpened as his grin tightened. Why was this jack ass not biting? No wonder they never bothered trying to talk to these morons with their stupid hooves and their dumb antlers--it was a waste of time. They had no appreciation of the greater world around them. Better to just kill and eat the damn things.
"So you can tell your family where to find your grave," Penn snarled as he stupidly broke into a run and rushed at the stag.
Now, there are a couple of reasons here why that was stupid of him. The first is the obvious--he's a teenager and that thing was definitely capable of killing him. But he was also stupid because how was the stag going to tell his family anything after he died? He'd be dead, and dead deer can't tell anybody anything. That just doesn't make any sense, Penn. I hope that deer knocks some of the dumb out of you.
ack, i meant to add this before i posted--I don't want him dead, but a well-deserved maiming is super cool with me ;)
lol ok!! would you prefer we do dice rolling, or just play it out and see where it goes? I am also ok with dasher getting some scars or serious wounds :D
he was less surprised than one would expect as the boy's tone changed, threatening him with a bold run at the man. oh, he had lived this many times! this story was too predictable. if the boy was smart he would call for reinforcement before dasher maimed him, but it seemed the kid thought he could take on the elk alone. how unfortunate to kill such a young beast- but if this one was too dumb to be careful, well, then- survival of the fittest.
dasher was not one to run. he did not see himself as a typical prey animal- he would hold his own with the predators, he would slaughter them. could he still call himself prey? therefore he intended to calculate the beast's leap, hoping to meet him with pointed antlers to catch him and use a swing of his head to throw the creature roughly to the ground.
We can just play it out if that's okay! Or feel free to use dice if you want. I'm hopeless at remembering how and generally fine with whatever happens to my chars so lol
Yeah, this had clearly been a bad idea. Unfortunately, Penn didn't realize it prior to lunging at the deer. Otherwise, he might not have found himself tangled in a rack of antlers and discovering by use of his hip just how terribly sharp they could be. The world became a hot, red blur as he was flung back to the ground with a yelp and flailing paws.
Dirt and snow billowed up in a flurry around him as he collided with the earth, which was rather helpful in stimulating a bit more of that
flight instinct he was previously thought to not have been born with at all. The hard part now was figuring out how to get his feet under him in time to use it before he got trampled as well as gored.
ok cool! I'm fine w just playing it out too ^_^
satisfaction coursed through the man as he successfulily caught the little beast in his antlers, pprobably making a punctire here and there as he tossed him back to the ground. the thing yelped as it hit the floor, and dasher laughed.
as the snow flies up arround him, dasher approaches slowly but surely. heavy black hooves seemed to thud with each step as he came closer... and closer... if the beast was smart, it would run now before dasher stomped its spine in.
Penn didn't deserve the luck he was granted, but as foolish as he was, he wasn't foolish enough to squander it when it came. The elk stomped towards him with menace in each clap of its hooves, spurring more and more anxiety in the stupid young wolf that had decided to take him on. The fortunate thing was that its movements were slow, and Penn's had reached a fever pitch despite their lack of coordination that meant he'd lingered, flailing about on the ground longer than he ought to have.
In the end, he found a way to place all four paws beneath him and together, they torpedoed him away from the deer and out of harm's way. It would be a while before he stopped racing at breakneck speed. With a little more luck, it would be an even longer while before he decided to do something so unbelievably stupid again.
He wasn't always granted the luck he needed. Let's just enjoy this moment.
penn out!
the little beast finally seemed to grow a brain. taking his lucky chance, flailing, and then finding his footing. darting off like a mouse being chased by a fox, the child was running off at full speed. dasher followed for a few yards, as to frighten the boy more. but he slowed and came to a halt- he wouldn't be following that thing pack to his pack. he was frightened enough, as he kept going with such speed that he seemed to dissapear from sight immidiately. dasher thought perhaps that short-lived experience would teach him a lesson. don't fuck with me.