Grouse Thicket Birds flying high

@Phox 

Today she found the thicket, the smell of birds grabbing her attention. She immediately brightened and tracked down the birds, spotting a nest with eggs inside. There were feathers everywhere and she turned her head, spotting a lifeless bird laying nearby. She blinked once and poked at it with a paw "little bird?" she whispered. No response or movement was given and she furrowed her brow, picking it up gently and placing it on its nest "Warm babies. Careless mother" she scolded, understanding death. She had never seen death, never heard of it, never been taught what happened when the cycle of life had ended. For this sheltered woman, everything had been hidden from her, every prey delivered to her already dead and some explanation given that twisted why it didn't move.


She wondered why a mother would be so careless as to fall asleep and not warm her babies. She had done what she could for the family and as such wandered away, finding a bush of berries to snack on. She used her lips to pry the sweet fruit off the branches, wagging happily as she made note to bring some to Mars.

The conversation with Raven had been far from perfect, but it was what it was, and at least Phox could continue to live on the plateau while he scouted out nearby territories. He really did think it was the right move. Not just for him, but for Quixote, Raven, and probably Tegan, too. Good thing they hadn't crossed paths since that whole fiasco, yikes.

With Towhee (or whoever) watching after the kids, Phox made his way north of the plateau. He didn't think this particular forest would do for Fennec. It was much too dense. Still, there might be something beyond it more fitting, and he planned to branch out at least a little further over the next couple of days.

His nose eventually led him to a wolf chowing down on some berries, which he thought was a pretty great idea. Phox had never been overly friendly toward strangers, but he knew he'd need to get used to it if he planned on leading a pack. He wanted to prove (mostly to himself) that he could do a better job than Quixote.

With his scar-side facing her–something he rarely gave much thought–he began to chomp down on his own selection of fruit. These aren't half-bad, he remarked. Gods, small talk with strangers was the literal worst.

She happily munched away, even as a stranger came up and began to munch too. She gave him a glance, a warm smile that would probably come across as too welcoming spreading across her features. She paid no mind to his scar, Mar's had a whole eyeball missing and she was pretty sure he was the most handsome wolf she'd ever seen. Not to say that this guy wasn't cute, she just didn't see these things in other wolves. She gave a very chipper hum of agreement as she swallowed "Good yes! Better...could be" she said and gave a wag of her tail, the delight at finding another wolf besides her brother starting to set in. "pack wolf yes?" she asked and sniffed at him openly, smelling the smells of other wolves all over him and starting to full body wag "Ah! Pack wolf! How many? Packs?" she asked excitedly, ecstatic at the idea of making friends. It never once occurred to her that strangers may not be so friendly.

Closing this one out since it's over a month old.

He nodded, though she'd already figured it out by her sense of smell. How many packs? he repeated, not quite understanding how he could possibly know how many packs there were in total. Just one for me, but there's lots around. Hopefully, he and Towhee would be able to find some land without too many others around. He'd never been keen on being super close to other packs... even the Firebirds.

Phox took a step back from the berries, swallowing a big bunch of them in a single gulp. You looking for a pack? he asked. Might as well start to groom those recruitment skills.

Before she could answer, Phox heard a howl from the plateau, and he figured that would only happen if the kids needed him. Sorry, gonna have to cut this one short, he said apologetically, then rushed off to figure out what Figment and Fennec had gotten themselves into this time.