Firefly Glen i tried but i don't think so

@Mal

Augh. The sound of frustration came as Keres found herself needing to wrench her paw from the muck again. At first, this route hadn't seemed so bad with its mostly solid ground under her feet. To say she regretted her choice now was the biggest understatement of the month. If there was an award for stupid, this might have put her in the running. The drizzle that had started was also not helping, but now that she had chosen this path she was sticking to it, come hell or highwater.

ridiculous stupid annoying stupid mud

Her muttered grumblings continued as her mud splattered head swung, the paw that she had just pulled free lifted off the "ground" ("If you can call it that."). Green eyes searched for something solid she could stand on, at least for a brief reprieve.

He'd started following a deer a couple hours prior but something else had scared it and it had bolted off. It wasn't like Mal was going to hunt it on its own, but he wanted to see if that was one of his forest's herd since he'd first crossed its trail close to his own territory. After giving up on that he just.. wandered. Well, his son was still missing. This was about as far as he was going to wander when Miriam was gone -- he had two children solely counting on him right now, after all.

Mal was starting to wonder if the ran had all flowed down here and pooled -- there'd been enough of it, and Mal really hadn't been out here for ages. Wasn't really high priority. So as he was picking his way carefully through the mud, avoiding the dampest spots, and was just about to turn home when he heard someone not too far ahead. His ears pricked forward. About the mud, was it? He wove his way forward, spotting a sort-of-familiar figure. Not having a good time? His tone, as before, was amused, slightly smirking. Mal wasn't back to normal, but at least his sense of humor hadn't entirely faded.

Oh great, someone was here to witness her pitiful predicament. Just what she needed, giving a huff of exasperation as she craned her head around to see just who had happened upon her at the most inopportune moment possible. It took a moment for Keres to realize just who it was, and the second it came to her, she couldn't stop from groaning. It was the neighboring alpha she had met recently.

Because of course it was.

I am having the time of my life. Can't you tell? Mud is my favorite. Sarcasm was, perhaps, not the best way to greet someone who ranked higher than her slash also someone that she barely knew but hey. She was entitled to a bit of frustration at the moment. Don't suppose you'd mind helping me out here? Or you could join me. Your choice.

Had he even gotten her name? Didn't matter too much right this instant, since she was the only one to talk to and things were quite muddy. And then with a stifled laugh, Did you actually manage to get stuck, or did you manage to find a recently dead river and just need a way out? Okay, it'd be hard for Mal to ever approach this sort of thing in a bad mood -- it silly mostly because he wasn't the one getting dirty. Always cheery. Except when he wasn't.

From the way he moved, it was obvious Mal wasn't at least planning on getting muddier than he had to, picking his way across fallen leaves and over bare spots that had been recently stomped and more likely to try and suck in his paws. He came closer, sort of circling around so he could get a better look if she was stuck. Scooting across patches of forest floor was something he was rather good at -- he'd only lived in one the whole last year. Okay, maybe it was a different kind of forest, but there was plenty of plant life and things had been pretty swampy right around the time the snow finally thawed and vanished.

She sneered the tiniest bit at his mirth before answerring his question. Honestly, I don't even know. Lurching forward in a sort of awkward movement, the silver valkyrie moved to place her free paw ahead of her so that she could try and pull herself forward. The shift in weight was promising at first, before it wasn't. It felt like her paws were glued to whatever was underneath all the muck, straining her muscles to try and break free of the stupid swamp that had deemed it fit to hold her captive.

And even better: Now her free foot was stuck again! Huffing, she watched him wind his way closer, jealous of the fact that he was not prey to this nonsense.

As he moved closer, she tried to free herself. Didn't seem to be going too well -- and even if she was a little unhappy about it, he'd still be cheery, Stuck it is. He stopped a moment there to take a look, craning his neck. He didn't want to end up in the muck too. So.. Time to find a plan B.

Unless you want me to fling myself onto you to knock you free, let me see what I can find. He realized how outlandish it sounded and that was kind of the point, if she wanted the former he'd be rather surprised. He carefully stepped around a couple of suspicious spots and started nosing around the underbrush for a stick that wasn't just a twig -- like an actual stick that had some heft to it and wouldn't be instantly cronched. He called back to her, Was it like that the whole way from the mountain? Maybe it had all just run downhill from there and pooled.

His chipper quip only made the valkyrie sigh, not in aggravation towards him, but resignation and self-aimed frustration. This weather sucked and she mentally cursed whatever gods had decided to spill their wraths upon these lands. Whoever had pissed them off needed to be found and forced to make amends.

Oh, are you-- You mean you don't want to join me? Her voice took on a tone of mock offense and, if she could have wrenched a paw free again, she would have touched it to her sternum. Still, he was seeking looking to help her and it was greatly appreciated, even if she did have a grumpy attitude and was currently trying to free herself as he walked away to find... something.

Keres was in the middle of silently hoping that the neighboring leader wouldn't ditch her when he rose his voice to ask a question, which she answered in kind. No. It wasn't like this 'til further in. The ground was okay when I started -- She craned her neck, trying to see where he had gone. I didn't think it would get this bad. It didn't help that she was new to the area, either.

Look, there had to be a fallen branch somewhere, that kind of thing happened -- it just was gonna take a moment to find one buried under all the debris that collected over time and the plants that grew along the glen's floor. Just wait a month and then it'll all be frozen just to do something different.

He did eventually find a stick that maybe seemed sturdy enough -- he saw the end of it sticking out of the ground, inch or two in diameter at the thicker end. Probably a branch that had been downed in the last winter. It took a bit of fussing, but he took a minute or so to snap off the thinner branches, but he was having a little bit of an issue trying to shorten this six foot long thing to something a bit more easily wielded. And now he was starting to step over his own footprints and it was threatening to get muddy beneath him so he wasn't gonna linger about.

Giving up for now, he dragged it back towards where she was "waiting." Mal was starting to pay a little less attention to the earth beneath him, if only because he couldn't dance around while carrying the branch. From where he stood now, he peered around, trying to make sure he wasn't gonna get caught up on anything, So let's see if this works as well as it sounds like it should. He picked it up again and started maneuvering around probably something like trying to parallel park a limousine in order to get the thinner end of the stick out to her.

At this point, she'd have taken almost anything over being stuck in this muck, especially snow and ice. With that, at least she could get up if she managed to slip and fall, even if she did humiliate herself in the process. It was quick, over and done. Her predicament now was prolonged and painful, in an evisceratingly embarassing way. She could only hope that this would stay between them, though she knew of no real reason that he would gossip about it.

The thoughts and internal worries were whisked away for the moment as her savior returned with a hefty branch in tow. Watching intently as he maneuvered around, ears thrust forward in earnest as the sturdy stick stretched out between them. Keres waited until she could lean forward to grasp it with her teeth, not crunching down but holding on, green eyes flickering to him to let him now she was ready.

Okay, no more chitchat apparently. Gotta get her unstuck from the muck. There was a garbled sound that was probably him saying "ok" and then he braced himself and started trying to tug and move backwards to try to help pull her free. Little extra strength combined with her own ability to move should pull her free, right? It made sense to him at least. She couldn't be stuck that bad, it wasn't like she was mired up to her chest or something...

Look, Mal just didn't want to have to go in, attempt to dig her out and then get stuck too. That was like worst case scenario here. He could think of a lot more amusing ways for things to end for sure.

Gripping the stick as best she could without crushing it, Keres held on as her steadily started pulling back, providing leverage that she had not had before. One paw at a time, the silver valkyrie would free her limb and then take a step forward, reaching as far as she could before extracting the next paw. Then the next. The next. So on and so forth until she was no longer foreleg deep in the muck, just ankle deep. But that was something she could handle and did so, chuffing at Mal to grab his attention before slowly releasing the stick, not wanting him to careen back into the mud himself because he let go too suddenly.

Working her jaw for a moment to rid herself of the tension, Keres could only sit back with a forceful sigh, thankful that she was no longer stuck but also exhausted and in desperate need of a plunge into some water. All this grime on her coat was heavy and awful.

Thanks, She said with a slight smile, looking at him again. I owe you big time. What an awful thing it would have been to be trapped there for some extended amount of time. I don't think I ever caught your name? There had been the meeting with herself, Bronco, and Hydra, along with him and one of his wolves, Vallkyrie, but formalities hadn't really been exchanged. Just information.

He tugged, and she did seem to be coming free from what he could tell from the other end of the branch. And at her call, he relaxed, dropping it and yawning to stretch his jaw like a snake. But she did get pull herself free the rest of the way -- and thank goodness he stayed out of the majority of the mud himself.

Oh, I'll have to hang that over your head for something fun. He was a rather cheeky dork, wasn't he? But from his grin and tone, he wasn't some mega serious sort right now anyway. Probably unsurprisingly. She was lucky she'd missed out of enough of the events in the middle of when they'd last crossed paths -- at this point he could at least be normal for a little while. I'm Mal. What about yourself? She'd been a secondary player in the conversation, but he'd known everyone else there, so hadn't been an issue to go trading names around.

Something fun, you say? She quipped back, thinking a moment before standing once more only to turn perpendicular to him and shake her self out. Mud, dirt, grime flew everywhere. Every. Where. And when she was done, she would only grin at the male, mischievous and playful. You mean getting stuck in the muds with me isn't fun? Weilding sarcasm as her temporary shield against the possible ire she would gain from him, Keres sat back again.

Mal. The name was pocketed, stored away as she responded readily. Keres. Hopefully you've found no more fools, I mean spies darkening your doorstep? She yet could not get over the fact that the enormously large, enormously cowardly wolf Nyra had been chosen as a spy.

He gave her a playfully sly glance before Keres made up her mind on her next move. Yeah, fun, y'hear? But what she did didn't qualify as fun at all! HEY! he shouted, backing right the hell up to try to get out of range, lips peeled back in a grimace. Look, Mal was totally not into that, nope! He liked looking nice and she was out to ruin it. Did you just have to do that though? Like forget the rest of what she said for a second there.

With a huff, he shook out his own fur -- if any got flung back right at her he would probably be happy. Still, he'd answer the question at the end, Not yet at least. I still don't know what they thought they'd gain by spying on the pack that probably hated them the least, but then again nothing they've done has made a lick of sense anyway. He still didn't think they were a particularly clever bunch and so far Mal hadn't been proven wrong on that. He was honestly surprised they could keep that many wolves together without them walking off cliffs or something.

Wrapping this up as its kinda dated. We will have to have a new one!!! <3

His outburst drew a laugh from her, having at least the decency to look somewhat abashed. Alpha or not, Keres attempted to treat most wolves much the same, as though they were more than their rank. His response to her antics bolstered this belief, though  she did not test her luck a second time. Once was enough in her book. 

A thoughtful noise came and went as Mal responded to her inquiry, a gentle frown pulling at her dirtied muzzle, for the male was right. With nothing to gain from spying on them (as far as she knew, at least), why risk it? Unless it had been some wild goose chase they had sent the "spy" on. That was possible, she supposed, though it made as much sense as sending her on some legitimate mission.

Whatever the reason, Keres would keep her ear to the ground for anything further, and told Mal as much before thanking him for her rescue. Now, she just needed to find the nearest body of water and take a bath.

Fade