Wolf RPG

Tiger found her leg caught within a leafy trap. She whimpered lowly, not wanting to draw too much attention to herself. The Blackthorn was in some amount of pain, but how severe it was she did not yet know; she dared not look, and could not withdraw her leg from the trap she and Elwood had fashioned. Beneath her paw was a rabbit she'd been in pursuit of, falling in seconds before her own leg had.

What if it was broken? Fuck, she didn't know. It hurt worse and worse as time went on. If it was broken, she'd be useless. As good as fucking dead. Tiger had no idea that this thing was made by her favorite people; unwittingly, they had brought on more from it than they bargained. 

The last thing Elwood wanted to do was be away from Finley, but he supposed that he had to remove himself from her side at some point. It was with reluctance that he kissed her and left their new densite, intending to do a quick patrol and then return to her. But before he could even make it to the borders, he was stopped in his tracks by a peculiar sight.

Tiger was ahead of him -- or, well, half of her. She seemed to be partially submerged into the earth, and Elwood frowned in confusion as he approached. Realization dawned on him as he closed the gap, however; she had fallen into a trap. And not just any trap, but the one that he and Finley had made.

He stifled a grin, deciding to hide his laughter until he was sure she was okay -- there was a chance that she could have actually been injured by the fall. "Oh my gosh, Tiger -- are you okay?" he asked as he drew to a halt next to her, looking down at the mess of leaves and sticks that held her leg captive.

 

Tiger looked very much the part of the defeated wolf. When she had enough of her own sulking, she rose to try and gather herself. However, she was very much wedged in this spot, her ankle caught in some gnarled root from a nearby tree. It had resulted in a sprained ankle, but Tiger had no idea what the heck that was. Only that when she moved it to try and get it free, it hurt too badly to try again. Tiger was the only darn medic here she knew of, so she was pretty much shit out of luck with how to take care of this independently when it was stuck...

She was found sooner rather than later, and her eyes averted from Elwood, much too ashamed of her obvious fail to even look at him. "I fell in some darn pothole," she huffs. "That'll teach me to get too excited over rabbits anymore, huh. Anyway, my ankle, it's stuck, caught in some root that's wrapped around it... I tried to free it but it hurts to move it too much... do you think you can dig the hole wider??" Maybe then she could see it rather than feel it, or he could, and then they could determine what needed to be done. 

Elwood's guilt grew as Tiger explained what had happened. He couldn't believe that someone had actually fallen into the trap, and that -- out of the whole pack! -- it had been Tiger. He quickly decided that he had to come clean about it; there was no way that he could successfully lie and pretend that he hadn't had a hand in the construction of the hole.

"Here, let's get you out of there," he said, moving towards her. He took a moment to assess the situation; she suggested that he try to dig her out, and that seemed to be the best option. So he began to pull dutifully at the soil with his paws, moving away sticks and leaves as he worked. "So, ah, you know what's funny? Finley and I actually made this trap..." he said, trying to keep his voice light. He didn't know her that well, but he thought she might be pissed.

"We obviously didn't mean to catch a wolf in it!" he added quickly as the earth caved in around Tiger's foot, hopefully making it a bit easier for her to pull it out. "Sorry..." Once she had presumably freed herself and stopped fuming at him, he had some pretty big news to share -- so long as she didn't bite off his head first.

He dug and he dug, loosing the earth from around her foreleg. Tiger soon could see the leg, but, yep, it was pretty wedged in that root. But the wider he dug, the more room there was... it took some time, but soon her leg was her own again, and not the holes. She moved to put weight on it, which was a stupid thing; it hurt so terribly she had to whip her leg toward her chest while yelping in surprise, her face appearing as though the very earth had offended her.

And then she heard his words. Him and Finley had made this? She narrowed her eyes, skeptical... but, it wouldn't surprise her, as she thought of it. "Yeah, right, she definitely dug this ditch for me," she accuses, and it wasn't all that baseless; as a kid, they'd pull all sort of shitty pranks on each other. It was why she wasn't mad at her sister, only mad she had forgotten. "That fucker. I'll dig her a fuckin' ditch," her ears slicked back atop her head for a moment, then fanned forward as a devious fire lit in her eye. It was clear as she went to place her foot on the earth again and brought it back to her that it'd be a while yet before she could do such a thing.

His apology was met with a look. "Are you sorry? Really sorry? You won't dig a ditch to trap me in it again?" She presses, and looks at her chest, not really expecting an answer. Tiger doubted it; she and Finley lived life without blame, consequences, or care. They were reckless. That his apology might be genuine was farfetched and, well, yeah right. It was not based on what she knew of him, but if he loved her sister, then surely they shared some "redeemable" qualities, yeah? It was not that she thought little of him; she thought the world of Finley, after all. "I dunno what's wrong with it," she frowns. And then, her eyes light up.

"Oh hey, that rabbit in there is mine!"

Okay, so Tiger obviously knew her sister well. She quickly corrected him and he couldn't argue with her, so he simply shrugged in the midst of his digging. He glanced at her as she made a promise to get back at Finley, and though her tone was aggressive, there was still a playfulness behind her words. From what Finley had said, this was how she interacted with all of her siblings; they were a rough and tumble crew who thrived on taking advantage of one another.

Once Tiger had freed her foot and leaned back, he reclined on his haunches and solemnly drew a paw across his chest. "I'm really sorry. Cross my heart," he swore, and he meant it. From then on, he would stay out of the trickery between Finley and Tiger. It seemed that she had actually injured her ankle, and he peered at it, although with his limited medical knowledge he couldn't pinpoint what was wrong with it or the type of remedy needed.

With a glance down at the rabbit, he offered, "Do you need me to grab anything for you? Herbs, or something to set the bone? I don't know much about healing, but if you tell me what I'm looking for, I can find it." On the inside, he was bursting at the seams to tell Tiger about Finley's pregnancy, but it didn't seem to be the right time to spring it on her. He at least had to try to fix the damage he had partially caused before telling her she was going to be an aunt.

Tiger knew all of her siblings well. As well as they could. But when he mentioned he and Finley dug the trap, she could only assume it was for, well, her. Finley didn't trap rabbits or things; she ran at them like a bat out of hell. It was no use in pretending otherwise, but she couldn't begrudge him it, wanting to be on her good side and all. Tiger was the cool sister after all. His apology she took seriously, even though she never took apologies seriously. Why? He crossed his heart. The Blackthorn promise. "Alright! If you're lying, you owe me your heart!"

His questions, the volley of them, was met with a shake of her head. "Ahm, no, I don't even know what I need. It doesn't look broken, but I definitely can't walk on it right now. I'll just... hang out... maybe just... grab that rabbit...?" It had died in the fall, but not from the fall; from terror. A heart attack. That he had news to share was news to her; Tiger had thought all was great and well in the world as it was.

It turned out that Tiger wasn't even sure what medical attention she needed for her foot. This concerned Elwood a bit, but it didn't seem to ruffle her feathers much. He followed her lead, thinking that maybe she just needed to stay off of it for a little while. If, later on, she tried to walk and it was too painful, he would offer his assistance again.

In the meantime, though...he obliged her and reached down into the hole to snag the rabbit. Its body was limp but still warm, and its spine seemed to be intact. He would have assumed that it was the fall that had killed it, but perhaps it was shock. Either way, Tiger had earned it, although she had done so in a way she probably hadn't expected. "Here you go," he said, placing it directly in front of her and settling back into a seated position.

He leveled her with his gaze, feeling a nervous lump rising in his throat. This would be the opportune time to share his news, but he didn't know how she would react. Would she be happy for her sister? Or upset that Finley wasn't the one to tell her? Deciding that the only way to find out would be to go through with it, he said abruptly, "So...Fin and I have some news to tell you." He blinked at her, then forged ahead without waiting for much of a response. "She's pregnant."

He deposited the rabbit in front of her and she let herself fall onto her hindquarters. She used one paw to slow herself down from sliding abruptly and belly-flopping to lay, but it didn't do that well and she went down faster than intended, letting out an oomph. But! There was that fat, juicy rabbit! Sweet victory... she began to gnaw at it, then licked the fur off, then began to eat it.

Her face was bloodied when she looked at Elwood. "Huh?" the food had distracted her. "Finley's what now?" Did he say pendant? Wtf was that? Beyond her chewing she hadn't heard much of anything, but now she was all ears. 

Tiger replied with such nonchalance that Elwood wasn't sure she had heard him properly. His suspicions were confirmed when she asked him to clarify. He laughed nervously; telling her was already hard enough, but now he had to repeat himself.

When he was sure that he had her full attention -- judging by her lack of chewing -- he cleared his throat and said again, "Uh, she's pregnant. Having a baby." This probably wasn't anything close to what Tiger was expecting to hear, and he anxiously awaited her reaction.

"We're having a baby...?" she whispers smally, adopting the "whats yours is mine" philosophy. "OH MY GOSH WE'RE HAVING A BABY!" She rose to all fours and begins to jump - but is unable to, because her damn paw, and lets out a yelp but then a bark to affirm she was, in fact, happy. "I gotta see her! I gotta give her this gift! DAMNIT ELWOOD WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER I ALREADY ATE THE DARN RABBIT," she huffs, realizing she can't hunt, and then looks to him, eyes big.

"Do you think you could take down a wild boar?" Pause. "I want to give Finley a wild boar, before she looks like one." Sass queen Tiger smiled nice and big.

He held his breath, his eyes locked on her face as she digested the information. Her voice was nothing louder than a whisper at first, but soon she was shouting at the top of her lungs. She even leaped to her paws, although that action was quickly regretted when she put weight on her injured ankle. Elwood leaned back, pleasantly surprised by her gusto and unable to keep a matching smile off his face.

"Sorry, sorry! I would have told you right away, if you hadn't been stuck in that trap," he said between chuckles. She suddenly calmed and looked directly at him, posing a request in the most serious of tones -- though a devious smirk crept onto her features. "I want to give Finley a wild boar, before she looks like one." Elwood snorted. "Oh, come on," he said, rolling his eyes at Tiger. "I don't know if I want to get involved in a sisterly prank war," he protested. Although Finley had a great sense of humor, he anticipated that her hormonal imbalance would probably change her outlook a bit.

"Oh come on, hunt it for me! You owe me this one!" She dangles her paw in front of him, giving him a pathetic "woe-is-me" look. "You were involved the second I hurt mah darn tootin' paw! Ankle! Whatever! COME ON. QUID PRO QUO OR WHATEVER. HAKUNA MATATA. COME ON." She scoots closer and closer with each suggestion, eyes growing impossibly big. "I'll rub myself all over it and she'll know its from me and she'll never know. I can help a brotha-in-law out."
She had become suddenly quite serious about hunting a boar, and getting that boar. Her tail thumps against the earth. This would be the most epic. gift. ever. Even if it was 1% a prank. "Come on, her palette is probably dying for some yummy oinker anyway. Weird pregnancy cravings..."

Grin. Tiger could give two shits less about hormonal imbalances given she didn't know what the flip they were. Just that, well, she wanted to get her sister back in a harmless way. "We both eat our feelings," she looks at the rabbit, "May as well go the whole hog here." Literally.

Tiger presented a convincing argument, and although Elwood shook his head, he didn't feel like he could turn her down. He had been involved in the injury of her paw, and she even assured him that she would leave his name out of it. For a few long moments he considered his options, weighing them carefully against one another, and then he relented.

"Fine, fine, fine," he said with a roll of his eyes. "I'll do it. Then we'll be even, right?" Little did he know that he wouldn't have a chance to complete the task, as Tiger would pass away unexpectedly within the next few days...but for now, he added "boar hunting" to his agenda.

"You gotta swear you'll catch me a boar," she says in a buzzed, excited manner, with her eyes wide. "When you get it..." Was it even steven? No, not really. But, she nods. "Aight. We'll be even." Tiger just wanted the boar, and was sure this was the way to get it. No big deal. As long as she got it.