Wolf RPG - Treasure island

@Khatera

Totoka river was one of the few places that Osprey had chosen to be her favorite, because most of the time, when she arrived, something good happened. She had met and befriended Blue Willow here, she had been learning, how to fish, she had come here often to have a swim and, whenever her inspiration for new tales and stories was low, sitting at one particular place by the river in peace and quiet, always brought her grand ideas. Even though she knew that the river wasn't alive, she had pretty much started to view it as a living person and a friend, who had to be visited now and then.

For this reason she was here today, having chosen to dwell on the sandy banks, sniffing around and looking for treasures. So far she had been lucky to find some nice shells, feathers and stones, which were neatly collected in a small pile. However, just like in childhood, when she had played game of hidden treasure hunting, she had this feeling to look for more and harder, believing firmly that there had to be something grand lying around, just waiting for being found.

Saw this in the Wanted thread... hope you don't mind me! :D

There was something comforting about the sound of running water. Oftentimes, when Siv was homesick, she was able to find repose if she could find herself at a shoreline or even on the bank of a winding river. Her time in the Teekon wilds had been overwhelming at first. The honey-hued girl had thought that turning tail and leaving would have been a better option than continuing to explore the region and what it might have held. She had, admittedly, never seen a more beautiful landscape, however, and so her perseverance had carried her through the darker parts of the territory with only a minor struggle. Once she emerged on the other side, Siv’s spirit had been rejuvenated. The wilds were vast and magnificent. The scents of packs seemed to fill the air wherever her long legs carried her, though she was not quite brave enough to approach their borders. Instead, as a reward, she had sought out the sound of a quiet river.
Her journey along the bank had not amounted to much, but there was something relaxing about the quiet roll of the river. Siv trotted along, tail swaying behind her, tongue lolling in the autumn air, until her bright blue gaze fell on the figure of another wolf. This stranger was a gorgeous slathering of greys with a dark patch of black along her neckline. Siv watched cautiously for a moment or two, following the movements of the female ahead of her, until she realized that this wolf was doing something curious. Mouth still parted, Siv slapped her tongue against her lips and chuffed quietly to announce her presence to this ashen-colored stranger before blinking with wide eyes and a wolfish grin. “What are you collecting?” she inquired with a tilt of her head.

Osprey was right in her suspicions of something grander lying under the cover of sand. She caught sight of a nice stick, but when she tried to pull it out, it didn't give way that easily. It was heavier than it should be and this, of course, piqued her interest. The girl began to dig the sand around it, now and then taking a brief pause, to push her nose against the stick and have a good sniff at it. This made some sand enter her nostrils and this eventually led to a mighty and very loud sneeze.

After the third one, through tear filled eyes she spotted a curious, yet friendly-looking stranger standing not too far from her and the site of the event. The she-wolf looked beautiful in an unusual kind of way, but it was her interest in Osprey's occupation here that won the Redleaf-girl over. "Treasure," she replied simply, yet excitement laced the word. "Come on - and help me," she beckoned to the half-uncovered stick. "This has to be a big one," and without waiting for a the answer, she resumed her work.

Treasure… at the sound of it, Siv’s rusty ears perked forward and her eyes sparked with interest. This was precisely the type of interaction she had anticipated. There was an invitation from the treasure-hunter to have Siv join her. With a flagging tail, the coywolf darted forward and sniffed at the stick that was buried deep into the sands. Gripping her canines on the bark of the stick, Siv reeled her head back in hopes that she could help to unearth the ‘treasure,’ but she either lacked the strength or the ability to free it from the grasping sand. With a huff, the coywolf darted her eyes towards the grey-coated female. “Jeepers it’s in there good,” she remarked in a hushed voice.
Peering at it with curious blue eyes, Siv circled around half of it before returning back to where she had been a moment before. “What if I keep digging and you try pulling it out?” she suggested with a quick smile. She had no raw strength to speak of, but her legs were thin and she could work quickly with her paws. Sand had been swabbed across her dark nose. If she didn’t look so wildly excited, it might have been comical.

The stranger didn't need to be told twice. She understood with the first take and didn't even ask, what to do. While Osprey was digging vigorously, she attempted to grab it and pull it out, by sheer strength. And failed. Either the stick was buried too deep in the ground (which was true) or the girl lacked energy (which might be true, but Osprey hadn't paid much attention to the looks and capabilities of the girl).

When she offered to dig instead, the grey she-wolf paused, lifted her head and thought the idea through. It seemed quite reasonable. Therefore she nodded, left her digging spot to the girl and went over to the not-underground part of the stick. Then she decided that she wouldn't have much luck in pulling it out either at the moment, therefore, she began to dig on the site opposite from the stranger. "My name is Osprey," she introduced, while focusing on digging. "What is yours?"

Siv often thought that she was capable of a lot more than her wiry limbs would allow for. It was the leading cause for her troublemaking… or getting in to. Still, in spite of the fact that she could up upheave the stick from its location in the sand, she was not going to lose the determination that had set her on course for treasure. Of course, she had the grey-furred stranger to thank for that. Had she not invited the coywolf to join her on her excursion, it was likely that Siv would have passed her by with nothing more than a quick nod and a toothy smile.
Planting her paws firmly in the sand and tugging it out from underneath the large stick, Siv watched as the grey female went around to the other end to begin digging over there. It was a smarter move than attempting to have someone dig while the other yanked on the firmly planted branch. Focusing intently on the task at hand, the coywolf female almost missed the introduction from the treasure-hunter at the other end of their stem. Drawing her head upwards slightly while still digging away at the sand beneath the stick, Siv offered a friendly smile at the newly-met Osprey. “I’m Siv Savoy,” she then introduced herself, tail flagging behind her and she huffed against the quick work. “How long have you been hunting for treasure?”
Siv imagined that she had stumbled upon a young pirate, and somehow she had been lucky enough to be thrown into Osprey’s adventure. After all, the grey-furred stranger seemed as though she knew what she was doing quite well. It was likely that she’d been searching for treasure for her entire life.

Treasure hunting could be viewed from two points - one was direct and the answer to that was "yes" - Osprey loved treasure hunting, ever since she had been a little kid. Looking for and finding unusual objects were one of the most important things to spark her imagination. Fancy rocks, sticks, bones, tufts of fur and others - each found a place in a new story in the most unexpected ways.

Treasure hunting could be metaphorical too - ideas, wise words, tales, legends, knowledge - they were different kind of treasures and of a very important kind. Once you had found them, no one could ever take them away. They were yours to keep as long as you wished to keep them. "All my life," she replied genuinely and smiled. "It would be a very boring life to live, if you didn't have any treasures to find. What about you?"

Treasure was something that particularly intrigued Siv. She had never really found herself to be the type of person that actively sought it, however. She was interested in the same way a young pup would be interested in the idea of magic and adventure. It was something that was unfamiliar to the young coywolf. In a sense, she had the pleasure of finding unique treasures of her own. Oftentimes they were jewels that were not physical; locations or the companionship of others. It all came down to perception. The Savoy girl was an active listener, so she had found stories in her travels, and names that dripped from the tongues of others in peculiar languages that she had never heard of. Life itself was a treasure. For some, it was difficult to see such a thing.
Darting her gaze upwards to peer inquisitively at the grey-furred female, Siv found her answer to be an expected one. After all, Osprey seemed quite fluent in the art of hunting for buried secrets. Still, when the question was posed as to how long Siv had been treasure-hunting, it was something seemed to cast a strange sadness in the girl. “Oh, gee, I guess this is my real first time. Maybe you could teach me some tricks for later on… if I’m any good at it, that is,” she answered with a sheepish expression, curling her lips upwards in a lopsided smile. The girl was persistent, that was for sure, but she found that she was not always as proficient as she would have liked to be in other people’s trades. Still, it made for an interesting life.
Focusing back on her digging, the Savoy girl narrowed her brows in a manner that would have suggested that she was incredibly driven by this task. In truth, her heart was beating faster for the idea of what was buried beneath the log than anything else in the world.

"Well, there is nothing to teach in that aspect," Osprey retorted, who stopped digging, leaned down to inspect her side of the hole with her muzzle. She had managed to reach the base of the branch, but it was clear by now that this one was very big and that they would be able to dig around it, but not pull it out. "I think that we should let it rest here," she informed Siv, as she pulled back and sat down. "Too big to take it out of it's hiding place," she explained, considering that there was more of the branch, that was still hidden underground.

"You just do it. Plus - you can never fail," fool-proof activity, that was a lot of fun and didn't cause any trouble at all.

There was a flash of disappointment on the coywolf’s face as she was instructed to leave the large log buried in the depths of the sand. Siv understood that the two wolves were not fully capable of retrieving the item from its hold, but the hype had been too much for her. She’d wanted to see what mysteries were underneath the rotten bark… what it had been hiding for however long it had been lodged into the bank. With a huff of a sigh, the rusty-eared girl pulled herself away from their shared goal and lowered her rump into the sand behind her, staring at the stick with wide blue eyes that almost begged for it to be pulled out of the dirt for them. When Osprey spoke up once more about the subject of never failing a treasure hunt, Siv tilted her head to the side with a confused expression. Hadn’t they just failed their own? Perhaps not, though… she realized that she had discovered a pleasant form of company in the grey-furred female.
“Sure sounds like a pretty good gig if you never fail,” she remarked with a quick and lopsided smile. “I mean, I definitely know what’s going to be occupying my time for the next little while.” Her tail thumped against the ground as she peered at Osprey with a pleasant expression. “You have to tell me, though… where are the best places to hunt for treasure?” she inquired shortly after, lifting her brows upwards swiftly as though the subject were a great secret that no-one else should know about.

Only when Osprey caught the momentary questioning look at Siv's expression, did she realize, that her statement of "never failing" contradicted the fact that she had decided not to uncover the big tree trunk from the sand. She thought a little and then recovered quickly: "I mean, you can't fail, because the joy of looking for and uncovering the treasure sometimes is worth more than getting the hidden thing. Because - what joy there is in treasure hunting, if you have nothing to hunt for anymore?" She realized that she was rambling at this moment, but it didn't seem that Siv was one to mind.

"Ay... Well... a good treasure hunter never reveals it's secret places," she said slyly and winked. "It's all about the feeling. Have you heard the story about Jolly Jagger and his special sense?" Osprey asked.

Siv had a tendency to trust those she came in contact with. She had, so quickly, been invited by Osprey to join her in her treasure hunt, that all thoughts of hostility had completely vanished from her mind. It was not as though she expected the grey-furred female to turn on Siv and attack her, but – in truth – she knew very little about the stranger she had found digging for things on the bank. Her trust for Osprey had carried her so far that she had not found a reason to disbelieve her when she told Siv that there was no way to fail at a treasure hunt, and therefore, it did not need an explanation. The coywolf girl had simply shrugged it off and accepted it for what it was.
When her companion had made herself comfortable in the sand opposite the Savoy girl, Siv peered at her with an expectant look. Then, when the female revealed that a good treasure-hunter never gave away their best places, Siv nodded her head with a scrutinizing frown and a slightly Mafioso expression on her slender face. “Okay, see, that’s a damn good tip. I’d be sharing my treasure spots all willy nilly with everyone,” she explained to her companion. Then, the subject turned to something that would always interest Siv. Osprey brought up the subject of a Jolly Jagger, and the way she had poised it made it seem as though she was prepping Siv for a story.
“Noo sir-ee-bob, I have not! Bring it on,” Siv exclaimed with several wags of her tail against the earth and a wide grin planted on her tapered muzzle.

"Jolly Jagger was a very unusual wolf from the start - as a pup he couldn't stand still for one moment, he always wanted to go and do something, which, of course meant that he often either got lost or got in trouble. When he was old enough to leave his pack behind, he left it without a second glance and was never seen there again," Osprey paused for a moment to let the first part of the story sink in.

"However the word spread in the wilds about an adventurous wolf, who feared nothing, was eager to test his limits in every kind of way and who lived and breathed just to have another adventure-ful day. Those, who met him in person, thought that he was crazy. Those, who heard stories of him, from which the legends stemmed from, thought of him as a hero," she said. "Do you know why? It doesn't take much to become a good hunter or gamekeeper, you can even become a successful alpha with a lot of effort, but leading a life the way Jagger did, required something extraordinary."

"And he had it. The special sense of finding treasures - cold and shining trinkets, beautiful stones, even a carcass of a recently brought down and forgotten elk. The legend says that there wasn't a thing he couldn't sniff up and find. Whatever people treasured and had lost or hidden - he could find it. Even secrets - buried deep down in one's mind. Amazing, isn't it?" she asked, contemplating about this special sense and whether she would like to have it or not.

"However, this gift had come with a price. The story tells that, when he had been a young adventurer, he had helped out the sea-goddess herself and for that she had let him choose a gift. And after a lot of thinking he had asked for the keenest sense of smell. Yet the goddess wasn't known for being very fair, therefore she had fulfilled his wish and taken the most precious gem he had - his soul - and hid it in a place he would never find it."

"And you need a soul to die and move on - from that day on Jolly Jagger had his special sense of smell, yet he was damned to roam the Earth for many decades, watch his friends and comrades grow old and die, see their children being born and grown up, but he never changed himself," she finished. "Is there anything you want to know more about him?" because a character like this could fit in in many stories.

You could reply once more and get this archived? :)

Siv found herself comfortable in the sand, and with lengthy ears drawn forward, the coywolf girl began to listen intently to the story that was being unraveled. From the beginning, she found herself rather attached to the Jolly Jagger fellow. It very well could have been in the similarities that she felt she had with the character, but it was quite easy to listen to Osprey speak of him. As the grey-furred female continued to tell the tale of Jolly Jagger, Siv grew more and more invested in the man. Her blue eyes were wide with intent and interest, locked on the features of her companion.

As much as she found herself relating to the beginning of the story, the Savoy girl grew more detached as it progressed. It was discomforting, at first, for her to realize that she was losing her ground and all forms of connection with the story's hero. It didn't take long, however, for her to realize that she was coming to a different conclusion. As Osprey continued on, Siv found herself wishing that she was more and more like the enigmatic Jolly Jagger. His abilities and senses seemed almost fanciful to the girl, but not altogether far-fetched. She wondered, only for a moment, if Osprey shared some of the same characteristics as the rogue in her tale.

When the grey-furred woman's words began to fade and her chronicle had come to an end, Osprey then inquired to Siv if she had any further questions about the man that had been described. Blinking a few times - dazed - the coywolf female was not entirely sure she was capable of coming up with an accurate response. "He sounds like a nifty fella," she breathed quietly. "I wish I had more questions about him, but I think you've dazed me enough for one day, Osprey." With a quick flashing smile, Siv hopped to her feet and nodded her head thankfully to the woman. Without the intent, her companion had taught Siv quite a few extraordinary skills.

"I ought to be headed back home, now," the Savoy girl said in a tone that suggested she was quite sad to be leaving behind her newfound companion. "We should go on another treasure hunt sometime, though!" With a few short goodbyes, Siv Savoy's spindly limbs carried her from the waterside back to her home. Her head was full of questions, adventures, and thoughts of Jolly Jagger.

Sometimes stories went well and kept the audience focused to the end, sometimes they didn't. It all depended on, whether people found something in the story to connect with. If they didn't, then the magic didn't work - it twinkled for a moment and then faded away. Osprey had invented Jolly Jagger on the spot and, even though the beginning might not have been the best, the process of developing the character had begun in her mind. She already had plenty of ideas, what would the character do and more important - how could he regain his soul.

However these stories were meant to be made and told another day, because Siv seemed to be in a hurry. Osprey bid her goodbyes, giving a promise to have another treasure hunt in the future and realizing only later that she hadn't asked, where the girl came from. Oh well... only thing left to do in this situation was to rely on fate. If it would have it, they would meet each other again. Not quite ready to leave and head home, she cast a glance around, caught glimpse of a driftfood in the sand and went over to pick it up. After settling down, putting the toy between her paws, she began to gnaw on it, while her mind travelled the world of the Jolly Jagger and his adventures.

ooc: thank you a lot for the thread!