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+--- Thread: Horizon Ridge Scratch scratches (/showthread.php?tid=14953)
Scratch scratches - Saēna - April 30, 2016
A hushed mumble of wave-on-surface drifted in from a relatively calm sea, paired beautifully with a clear, star-spattered night sky above. The dark air still possessed the slightest bite of winter and Saena's breath steamed in front of her snout as she breathed deep the ocean air. She had no love of it. It was salty and tangy, the exact opposite of her beloved maplewood, yet it made her feel a homesickness so keen she almost believed she was born to the sea somehow. Unbeknownst to her, this would've been her birthplace had her mother and father not sought a stronger and more consistent Alpha, and it was upon this beach she was conceived. Perhaps her blood and brain knew of it.
More likely, however, was that the strong scent, albeit opposite the maplewood's, was enough to evoke in her the memories of her taiga home. She tried not to think on it, and turned her head to gaze at her sleeping pups—nearly one month old now, soon to find their words and capable of hearing, although Saena didn't know any of it. She was saddened by the fact her pups were hitting their milestones in a dangerous place like this, rather than the home they were born into, and she sighed as her red ears pressed back against her skull.
Shifting in place, the Alpha of the displaced Phoenix pack lay her forelegs ahead of her and pressed her back into the nook where her children slept, protecting them. She would sleep too, eventually, but for now she watched and listened to the distant waves. The hum of locusts was still present, but their numbers were diminished somewhat, and there were as many dead bodies as live ones on the ground. Her mind went to the lone wolf that warned of wolves going hungry then, and she frowned, but shook her head as if to physically dislodge such thoughts. She had to hold onto the hope that she was right, and that the plants would grow back before the wolves would miss them. "We will not starve," Saena promised her cubs in a murmur, though she didn't look over at them.
Looking for @Spring if you have time! If not, no biggie, just let me know! ^^
RE: Scratch scratches - Spring - April 30, 2016
There was no green at all in sight. A low whine escaped Spring’s throat as she padded through the now greenstripped Horizon Ridge. If some one got injured how would she treat their wounds? Sure there was cobwebs, mud and honey still, but cobwebs couldn’t do everything, mud could only cool overheating to her knowledge and honey had a likely chance of disappearing do to the bees needing the flowers for pollen, but now there were no flowers because of the Locusts. Curse them.
Spring quickened her pace, suddenly remembering that she should really check on Saena. She hadn’t seen her Alpha since before the Locust hit, it was about time to see her. Now at the pace of a jog Spring scented the air, searching for the scent of her Alpha. Finally she sniffed her Alpha female out and slowed to a trot. Spring really hoped that Saena was alright. Of course the Gamma knew that the bugs didn’t attack wolves, except for maybe chocking one on accident or something like that. She was relieve though when she finally noticed the silhouette of Saena on the beach. She slowed to a walk, quietly padding up to her Alpha female’s side.
She sat. “How are you?” She murmured with the slightest bit of sarcasm, due to the fact that the answer was obvious. The locusts the killed off all the flora within seconds. The wolves of the Teekon Wilds would be lucky if they didn’t starve for crying out loud. She cast an absent glance to the star speckled sky. Jeez, if only life could be simple.
RE: Scratch scratches - Saēna - April 30, 2016
The gentle rustle and crunch of feet on the ground caused Saena to turn her head, but she recognized Spring from a mile away. The woman was an incredible asset to both the pack and the Alpha female, who was more than indebted to the Gamma for her help with the children. More than indebted to most of her wolves, she realized. It was her duty now to find them a good home, although with the locusts she wondered if that was even possible. An acceptable home, perhaps, but they'd be lucky to find anywhere less devastated than the ridge's once-grand forest.
"Well," she mumbled, pulling herself upright to sit with the Gamma in silence. "As well as possible, anyway. How are you holding up?" She watched Spring for a moment, hoping her Gamma was faring all right, and then her gaze panned around to the woods behind them, but even in the falling darkness she knew there was nothing to see. Just bark. The locusts had made quick work of all the greenery in the area, and she could only hope they were localized. "We'll need to move on from here soon. Someone told me there's a good chance food will be scarce after this." She hadn't believed Rexxar at the time and still wanted to feign ignorance, but a little thought on the matter revealed the truth. Even if the foliage came back within a month, the herds would starve if they waited that long. She didn't want to think about what might happen then.
"I would've liked to stay a while to let them grow up a bit more," she said quietly, indicating the children with a sidelong glance, "but this place has been too heavily affected." Sadly, Saena would soon learn that the whole of the wilds fared no better.
RE: Scratch scratches - Spring - April 30, 2016
Spring nodded with a darkening expression for a few moments, silently agreeing with what Saena said about food and moving on from Horizon Ridge. Not only would there be no more herbs, but the prey would start disappearing now due to no flora. The primary consumers needed the plants to survive. Now the plants were gone and the primary consumers would die, then secondary, and then finally tertiary. If the Phoenix Pack didn’t find healthy land with plants and prey soon they would surely die. Quite the grim thought.
“I’ve been doing okay I guess. Well... good enough as I can be in this crisis.” She began, then paused for a moment, taking a breath before continuing. “I’m sure this wasn’t the only place affected though sadly. The only reason I say that is because the bugs had to have come from further inland. I doubt they could’ve crossed the sea, since nothing in the water was really affected. So that means they would have eaten up much more greenery than just Horizon Ridge” Spring pointed out, then added a silent and depressed note to herself. The Maplewood was probably eaten of all it’s greenery too. Maybe it was a good thing that the Phoenix’s had left the Maplewood when they did. So that they could always remember what it’s beauty had once held. “So Maybe if we head in the opposite direction of the sea we can eventually find some land that by miracle wasn’t affected.” Spring then offered with a little bit of doubt. Still at least they had a chance that way. Everything else by the sea had probably been affected too, because of Horizon Ridge being in the shape that it was in.
RE: Scratch scratches - Saēna - May 05, 2016
As a hunter and former naturalist, Saena ought to have recognized the signs of an impending famine. Perhaps because she was too stubborn and bullheadedly afraid of admitting the worst, the Alpha female fought against the inevitable acceptance of that truth. Even Spring's conviction that there was a crisis fell on somewhat deaf ears. "We'll find a way," was all the Alpha could say, and her confidence in that, completely unfounded, was for the moment unshakeable.
But the Gamma had a point that even bullheaded Saena had to agree with. Finding unaffected land would greatly improve their ability to rebuild what they'd lost in Phoenix Maplewood. "I agree," she said at length, turning an eye back on her children to monitor them momentarily. "We'll follow the coast 'til we're clear of the mountains that way and then head away from the sea." Casmir's brief offer of seeking refuge in Donnelaith drifted through her mind, but with Donnelaith as close to the sea as Horizon Ridge and not so terribly far from where they were resting, Saena had doubts that the forest was still in good shape.
Chances were, Lasher couldn't offer her and her pack anything, and the effort seeking them would be wasted. "We will need to be smarter about hunting," she suggested, but of course, Saena didn't know the half of it. That the prey would become next to nonexistent was a tragedy she was unwilling to acknowledge presently.
RE: Scratch scratches - Spring - May 09, 2016
Spring found herself quite proud that Saena actually accepted her idea of heading away from the sea. Even though she found herself doubting the fact about her earlier statement that offered the miracle land. It was quite obvious at this point that their would be no miracle land, even though it was very hard for Spring to accept the fact that the Locusts had terminated all of the greenery in the Teekon Wilds. Saena was also quite right about the hunting too. The pack would need to be much less picky about what they ate.
"You're right about hunting, we will need to be very open as to what we eat," Spring agreed, "maybe we can find a new food source?" As if to prove her point about a new food source, Spring lowered her head and picked up a body of a dead Locust. For a couple seconds she just sat their watching it uncertainly, but then began to chew and it was just purely disgusting. Never had she tasted anything so foul... so rotten in her life. She wrinkled her nose, trying hard to not make a face. Finally she swallowed it all, but she thoguht for sure that she could still feel the little bug feet tickling her tongue and the bug guts spraying into her mouth like a rapid fire machine gun. "Tasty?" She offered Saena in a weak voice.
RE: Scratch scratches - Saēna - May 09, 2016
While Saena was loathe to accept that they might need to eat anything and everything that came their way, she knew Spring was right. They couldn't afford to be picky. The ungulates of the world were a wolf's prime meal, but in the absence of them, they could eat basically anything with meat on its bones. Her mind wandered briefly to a dark and horrible place, one that could arise if the situation became bad enough, but she reined it back and hoped to never think of such a vile thing again.
She watched in both shock and awe as Spring reached out and took a locust's carapace up in her mouth. The squick and crunch of it were simultaneously audible and the Alpha female squinted uncertainly. Gods, what she would do if Spring said it was delicious...
But, of course, the Gamma held to her snack with all the graces of a polite wolf, even though the bug surely tasted like sweaty unwashed asshole, or something equally unpleasant, judging by her expression. The Alpha crinkled her nose. "I can't believe you did that," she snorted with amusement as her ears pinned back in disgust. The very thought of sampling bugs was much too unsavoury, and the imagery was near enough to make her retch. Swallowing thickly, Saena forced herself to think on other things.
And before she knew it, her mind was on a topic that came to it of late. "You could lead," she mused, though where the words came from, Saena couldn't say. What was once a thought now came out unbidden, but she didn't regret it. "With me, I mean. As Beta. I do fear the position is cursed, though, but maybe it was just the wolves themselves," she muttered with a frown. No one had ever held it for long. Not Ukko. Not Tavi. Neither of them had loyalty thicker than their skin, though, if their performance as Beta and subsequent betrayals were anything to go by, and Spring was different, if only she was interested.
RE: Scratch scratches - Spring - May 09, 2016
Spring couldn't wait to lap up some water to get that cursed and unsavory tast out of her mouth. That taste was just horrid. Nothing but. She almost smiled at the amused snort of words from Saena. Almost. The situation was far to serious for smiles at amused snorts. Saena's next words surprised the light out of Spring. She just felt honored. As Saena began with the words: "You could lead." Spring heart seemed to melt with surprise, pride and even more surprise. Her heart seemed to melt on the spot. Did Saena really think so high of her? She must have. She was silent, more so stunned into silence as Saena contiuned on to admit that the position was in fact cursed.
"I-I would love to lead with you Saena, as Beta of c-course." She stuttered, stumbling for words. She took a deep breath in attempts to calm herself. "It would an honor." Spring could barely belive what was happening. If this all followed through she would be Beta. Second in commad. The thought that Saena was even offering up this position to her warmed her heart with gratitude.
RE: Scratch scratches - Saēna - May 15, 2016
For a long moment, Saena thought that Spring would decline the position. Why wouldn't she? The last two Betas of Phoenix Maplewood, in truth the only Betas the pack had ever seen, had both failed their positions so miserably that they'd probably set some records. Tavi's was a case of circumstance, but even a Beta female should know that the Alpha male was completely off-limits, so Saena still whole-heartedly blamed the other woman for that one. It would come as little shock if Spring refused it, after the history.
And yet she stammered out a grateful acceptance and Saena's smile returned. "Good," she said quietly, nodding her acceptance. When they found their footing again then Spring would rise. Saena had nothing to fear from her, she knew. There were many things Saena feared, and she was a craven in truth, but her fellow leaders would never again be unpredictable. She would be incredibly choosy to the point where they could not be.
"The honour is mine," she said at length. "It'll be good to have someone reliable to count on."