Heron Lake Plateau sherbet head

Tagging @Tegan!
*puts lucca into this situation literally just to use that husky photo*

Oh no. Ohhh no.

He was in deep shit now. Earlier that morning, the eternally hungry Blackthorn had been scouring the grove for apples. The fruits that grew here in the north-eastern side of the territory were unlike anything he had ever tasted and the boy had developed quite a palate for those little red suckers. The only problem being that they were up there and he was down here. The birds that flitted in and around the limbs of the trees taunted him with their shrill, playful cries while they feasted on the fruit. He had spent a great deal of time wandering the dense thicket, trying to find the perfect tree he could scale to reach the upper boughs.

Eventually, he found one, its low-lying branches making for a perfect step up, however that was as far as Lucca got in his plan. The first leg of his climb up the tree had been easy enough and supported his weight — the second was a different story. With a shockingly loud SNAP, the branch gave way and the boy fell with a terrified yelp. He landed heavily on the branch just below and felt the air be forced out of his lungs, leaving him wheezing.

He ended up draped over the thick bough with his legs dangling, toe tips only just brushing the ground. The Blackthorn boy wiggled a few times breathlessly, back legs peddling in the air as he tried to free himself, but it was in vain. This was his life now.

After having lost the tracks for a fox twice, Niamh eventually gave up the task of tracking it, and decided to perhaps pursue that adventure later. Foxes were intelligent things, and while she didn't like to think so, the damn thing had definitely gotten the better of her. It had caught wind of her, and had performed every trick in the book to avoid her- doubling back in its track and leaping off its previous path, going through water, and jumping up off the ground and into the lower limbs of a tree. Niamh had been fooled. 

But she was surprised to see that the fox wasn't the only one who'd been using a tree to its advantage- but perhaps it had done so better than poor Lucca had. While there was a willow tree with long, wide branches that stemmed out horizontally from its trunk on the Roost that Niamh liked to climb, this one...well, it didn't look nearly as easy, and Lucca was caught just below his ribcage by a branch that was thick enough to hold him, and high enough that he didn't look like he was able to un-dangle himself. 

She had to stifle her laughter as she approached him, but it showed in her eyes. "Oh buddy," She said, trying to sound empathetic, but in the end, she let out a small chuckle. "What've you done to yourself?"

A thought-provoking scare, even one as dramatic as nearly being eaten, wasn't enough to keep Svalinn from mischief as he became more and more dissatisfied with the size of his world. He was simply outgrowing the densite he shared with his mother and sister -- familiarity was beginning to feel boring rather than safe, and his interests were ever-expanding, swelling each day he learned the name of something new.

He made a daring escape from beneath Caiaphas' sniper-glare, and further attributed his freedom to his own skill, rather than her generosity -- which was more likely the case. The boy had busied himself among some fronds by a drying stream, rolling about and getting a nice lather of wet dirt across his shoulders before a nearby yelp took him out of his enjoyment.

Svalinn flinched and hesitated to make his next move. Clubbed with indecision, he debated scurrying home -- for he was getting quite good at navigating that alone -- but in the absence of any more distressing sounds, he chose instead to investigate. He clamored up through the bushes, giving them a hellish tremor as he squeezed forward along his belly and then picked up his head when he was free of the branches to watch today's form of entertainment: an odd scene unfolding between Niamh and an unfortunately-positioned young male.

Sorry for the hold up! Was originally waiting for Tegan to join but there was a change of plans >:D

As if this day couldn't get any worse, a girl had suddenly come across his awkward predicament. While he wouldn't say no to the help should she offer it, Lucca was beginning to wish it was one of his siblings who had found him. Their taunting and the inevitable jokes afterwards would be nothing compared to the sheer shame he now felt. He remembered encountering Niamh just after they had arrived at the Plateau, and he had run from her in terror after words failed him. She was beautiful — a golden ray of sunshine and buttercream with legs for days (and way out his league, who was he kidding).

He felt heat rush to his cheeks in embarrassment, and he gave a pathetic little pedal of his hind legs once more at her comment. Her chuckle was like a knife through his heart; his honour had forever been tarnished by this moment. "I'm..." he wheezed before faltering. Stuck was the word he was looking for but his mouth refused to cooperate. To say it was to admit defeat, and he would not be defeated by a dumb apple tree. "...just hanging out."

Raising his head to meet her gaze, Lucca offered a pained smile, though his eyes silently screamed please help me.

While Clover and Fiadh seemed to be cut from the same cloth, Tegan and Lucca were definitely quite different. While Tegan definitely would've had some smart remark instantly, she could tell that Lucca was embarassed. She didn't ant him to feel awkward around her, though, and truth be told, he did make the most of the situation by making a remark that Niamh found to be kind of charming. As bashful as Lucca was, there was still something sweet about his softness that she knew would always be a redeemer for his shyness. 

He smiled at her, but his eyes weren't smiling- they were begging. She'd have to help him out of that position- but how? He was big, and heavy, and in an awkward position. Only he could get himself out of it...So there was only one way to go about removing Lucca from the tree- she needed to give him the spook of a lifetime in order to get him to back himself out of that position completely.

She nodded silently, and moseyed forward, tail swishing from side to side. She gave him a warm, friendly look- perhaps a bit more friendly than she ever had. It was safe to say that the gaze she gave Lucca was much closer to the sort of look she gave Colt- but she ruthlessly directed it straight toward Lucca. "Then you're right where I want you," She said, voice smoothe despite the fact that her heart was beating furiously in her chest. None of this made sense to the logical part of her heart- which wanted nothing to do with this. But Niamh had devised the plan based around logical thinking nonetheless. Lucca was likely too big and heavy for her to move- and she wasn't going to crack or lose another tooth on a branch. Instead, she simply put on her most alluring gaze, softened the tone of her voice to a coo, and knew that the only way to get him out of that position would be to make him get out of it by himself. And nothing, she knew, would spook him like this.

She reached forward, pausing just a moment with her muzzle next to his, before she gave his cheek a kiss- and pulled back just slightly to allow her plan to take effect.