+- Wolf RPG (https://wolf-rpg.com)
+-- Forum: In Character: Roleplaying (https://wolf-rpg.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Forum: Archives (https://wolf-rpg.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=11)
+--- Thread: Serpent Lake to the town of agua fria rode a stranger one fine day (/showthread.php?tid=47977)
to the town of agua fria rode a stranger one fine day - Alyx - July 11, 2021
Alyx shuffled her arms forward, stretching her shoulders in the shade of a boulder until she felt a satisfying pop. She'd laid down there a half hour prior to rest and had yet to move. The long grass formed a lovely cushion under her and the breeze and shade both were a welcome relief from the stifling temperature out in the sunlight. Heat waves rippled over the stony ground, and Alyx could almost swear there was steam rising from the nearby stream.
On the other bank milled a group of three pronghorn, which was the other reason she remained. There was something comforting about just watching prey animals living their lives. It gave her a greater appreciation for the hunt and allowed her to learn more about them, too. One young male and two older does. No young ones. Perhaps the male was last year's offspring. Past them, she could see the caldera on the horizon.
Alyx yawned lazily and rolled onto her side, craning her head to check out her surroundings again while she tried to muster enough energy to get moving.
RE: to the town of agua fria rode a stranger one fine day - Val - July 12, 2021
bonehead that val was, that slight “detour” en route to the beach turned into a multi-week affair. it was amazing how the hot summer days seemed to just speed out from under him.
he’d come to a stream for water, unaware of the sole figure basking under a rock across the stream — unaware too, of the trio of long-legged prey items foraging the rich river grass nearby. it wasn’t until he bent his head to sup from the stream that he got the first inkling of company of the herbivore variety. it was then val froze, partly disguised by the reeds as he listened to the telltale sign of pronghorns grazing several dozen meters downstream.
RE: to the town of agua fria rode a stranger one fine day - Alyx - July 13, 2021
Who could say whether Alyx's shade-lounging ennui was the product of long days of travel, or the inevitability of disappointing her family when she showed up on their doorstep with no news? She herself certainly didn't know. The flat top of the caldera in the distance beckoned her, but she would be content to lay there for another full day, if she had a choice. She supposed she did, at that, but getting word back to her family that she hadn't successfully found her mom was pretty important.
Heaving a loud sigh, Alyx rolled slowly to her feet, gave her pelt a shake, and took a moment to limber up. If she had to make her way home, she could at least engage in a chase for the hell of it. Those pronghorns didn't look terribly busy. She sloshed across the stream, swimming the deepest part, and gave herself a quick shake on the opposite bank before abruptly charging the small herd without so much as a sidelong look at the nearby reeds.
She was completely oblivious to Val lurking nearby when she whooped. The pronghorns sprang away, directly toward her concealed friend, with Alyx in hot pursuit. She wouldn't dare try to actually catch one — she just wanted the thrill of the chase.
RE: to the town of agua fria rode a stranger one fine day - Val - July 13, 2021
a whoop -- loud as a gunshot over the trickle of the stream -- was all val knew before hooves (and a set of familiar feet) thundered towards him.
val froze, ingesting the the report of hoofbeats too late. a russet form sped into view, followed by two lookalike shadows. he had time to flinch and that was it; the first maneuvered past, having spotted him in the reeds. the second sprung with a grunt upright in the air to avoid him. the third, having neither x-ray vision to see through her friends or the presence of mind to take into account why her leader might have shied, bowled clear into val with a resounding smack.
he was splendidly sidelined, laid out in the mud without so much as a gasp of shock. meanwhile the pitterpatter of hooves faded away, with or without their pursuer.
RE: to the town of agua fria rode a stranger one fine day - Alyx - July 13, 2021
Pebbles and dust alike were kicked up in the wake of the pronghorns, prompting Alyx to trail a little behind, lest she take something nasty to the face. She laughed carelessly at the way the trio fled. She was only one wolf! How gratifying it was, to be capable of scaring off a group of prey by her lonesome.
Alyx planned to chase them right to the caldera, if they would go so far, but she threw the brakes on when one of the pronghorns ricocheted off something in the reeds and stumbled. Something dark and distinctly not a pronghorn. Something with triangular ears and a long snout that collapsed into the mud while the pronghorns fled.
Oh, shit,she gasped, skidding on the wet ground and, for once, not squealing at the feeling of mud between her toes.
She wanted to rush right over and help, but suspected that her unwilling victim might be just a little bit peeved about this turn of events. Without yet realizing exactly who she'd thrown under the pronghorn, she padded closer, but paused at a healthy distance in case they decided to take revenge.
I'm so, so, so sorry! Are you okay?
RE: to the town of agua fria rode a stranger one fine day - Val - July 19, 2021
oh god that was a bruiser. val laid out in the sand, stunned -- blinking at the suddenly too bright sky and the suddenly too noisy wind and the sound of reeds and feet and --
i'm so, so, so, so sorry! are you okay?
huh? where was that coming from? and that voice..? did he know it?
he shifted upright, amazed at how the silhouette a respectful distance away seemed to bend and retract like a freshly disturbed pool of water. val squinted, slowly coming to what little scanty senses he had.
he was wobbly, but otherwise okay. the egg on his head would probably be there a while, but he felt mostly fine. besides.. he'd just connected the figure before him was female -- win win, right? his vision was still too blurry to pick up the fine details, like it being alyx -- someone he very much knew.
"ughhh.. my head." val groaned, sliding back to his stomach and cradling the fresh knot on his skull with his paws. "i think if you kissed it, it'd make it better."
worth a try, right?
RE: to the town of agua fria rode a stranger one fine day - Alyx - July 21, 2021
Alyx kept her eyes glued to the prone figure, despite the yearning twist of one black ear in the direction of beating hooves. Damnit. She hadn't wanted to hunt the pronghorn, but she felt disappointed by their disappearance like it was a missed hunt. How awesome would it have been to arrive home driving a herd of pronghorn? Everyone would be so proud of her, and Alyx longed for that sort of recognition.
The downed wolf groaned, and it was less the voice — deeper, more masculine — and more the fact that he wasn't angry, so she felt comfortable enough to draw closer, that made her realize it was Val. He continued and her mouth fell open, as much out of shock as disbelief that he was here. This was miles away from Sapphique and there was nothing here to draw him this way, as far as she knew. How did he even get here?
Then heat bloomed in her cheeks when his words really sunk in. Had he really just asked her for a kiss? It wasn't the first time — she remembered, still, with girlish giddiness, that day in the underground tunnel when they both were much younger — but he was so forward about it now. Alyx liked that, in theory, but in practise...
Well, it put her in a right tizzy. She laughed nervously, hesitating for a second before dancing forward on paws buoyed by the explosion of butterflies in her belly. Her movements were shy yet deft as she swooped down to plant a kiss between his ears, just in front of the toes that nursed his sore head, and then she was stepping away with another eruption of nervous laughter.
Oh, Val, you scared me! Are you okay, really?
RE: to the town of agua fria rode a stranger one fine day - Val - August 21, 2021
i suck, sorry for the wait
despite the dizzying fog that still encapsulated his skull, there was no dulling the sensation of brisk whiskers across his forehead, of a soft kiss placed along the new egg of his skull. val's eyes widened as the stranger pulled away, realizing she was no stranger at all just as she danced off in a flurry of nervous giggles.
a big part of val yearned to spring after her joyously, to exclaim with loud and pleasant surprise that it was alyx, not some stranger! yet when he tried to lurch up his head swam and a darkness snarled along the edge of his vision, forcing him back down. "ooof." he grunted, sitting so his hind end was under him out to the side and his front limbs propped him up precariously like a top-heavy thing on stilts. "alyx!!" he breathed, in awe and quiet happiness. "i'm okay now. better. how have you been?" and then, shyly -- "i missed you."
RE: to the town of agua fria rode a stranger one fine day - Alyx - August 25, 2021
Alyx giggled when Val started to rise, only for it to die in her throat at the way he sagged. Oh, no, that couldn't be good. She wasn't much of a caregiver and didn't know the first thing about concussions except that they could be pretty dangerous.
Shit,she gasped, then flushed at her own impropriety. Alyx wasn't opposed to swearing, having called her own mother a bitch on at least two or three occasions whens he was younger, but she wasn't one for that particular word. Or some of the more colourful ones, either. Val seemed happy to see her, but all she could think about was the heavy way his body tilted from the top.
Val, I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were there.I missed you, he said, and she wanted to say it back, but her tongue got tied. She'd hurt him! Now wasn't the time for her girlish giggles and fluttery tummy.
Lie down, please! Let me get something for your head.She cast about rather helplessly before her eyes landed on a lilypad tangled up in the reeds.
Alyx splashed out to it, tore it from the water, and slapped it none-too-gracefully down on the lump forming on Val's scalp.
I might need to take you to Fenn,she murmured.
I don't know how to help with this.