Lost Creek Hollow Pickled Hot Peppers

@Breccan

It had been a while the leader of the Pepper Squad had properly visited the newly appointed (few months ago, but Nuna was flexible with timelines) Cubanelle, but today she happened to have time (wasn't busy with attempting not to freeze to death) and mood (which meant that her no.1 choice Merrick was out of town) to do so.

She found the place he was staying with ease, but did not have him in sight right away, therefore she meandered around the area, sniffing the ground, making mental notes about the cadet's tracking patterns and, eventually decided to seek him elsewhere. But not before, she had left a pee-mark by a tree. In her language that meant: "You have a new message on Facebook!"

And then she set off somewhere in the forest.

Nuna's message was very effective -- when Breccan strolled by that particular tree a short time later, he noticed the smell and stopped to sniff carefully. He was able to discern that his friend had passed by recently, and in which direction she had gone. With a grin, he set off to track her down, moving swiftly through the trees with sure-footed steps.

He knew he was going in the right direction, but after a few minutes of travel, he still hadn't laid eyes on her yet. He continued trotting briskly, but, on the off chance she was within hearing range, called out, "Nuna?"

Though Nunataq's author always reminds that the girl is incapable of understanding or generating speech, it was not that she had not deciphered over time that certain sounds did have certain meanings. And her name was one of them. Nuu-naaa! She had learned to react to the particular combination of letter and tone that was similar to the howls canines used to call and find each other. And it was no wonder, that once she heard someone following her and saying her name, she stopped, turned and waited.

It was her faithful Pepper Cadet and she greeted her both as his superior and as she would a good friend, an old mate. Smiling, tail wagging, she did a brief preliminary inspection of his well-being and state of health, allowing Breccan to do the same. Once the ritual was finished, she stretched, shook her coat and was ready for action. Let's do something! Her expression, perked up ears and swaying tail seemed to say. With this she beckoned Cubanelle to follow and led him further in the woods.

The game was on!

A few more paces, and Breccan was rewarded with the sight of Nuna, apparently waiting for him. Her expression was friendly and expectant, and, as usual, she greeted him without words but with a series of sniffs and nudges. His tail began to wag too as he returned the favor, now recognizing the scent of Merrick faintly woven into her fur, along with those of other wolves she had visited with recently.

His examination was perfunctory; he stepped back after a moment, orange eyes searching Nuna as he waited for her to explain herself. She seemed ready for something; the air was charged with understated excitement. Only a moment later, her ears stood tall on her head and she turned away from him with an understanding that he was to follow -- and follow he did, trotting quickly at her heels.

Frankly speaking, Nunataq had no idea, what exactly they were going to do. She had the simple joy that dogs have of the expectation of "doing something" without going into particulars. Adventure would find them along the way. It usually did and the mute girl was good at making it so.

For fifteen minutes or so she led her subordinate confidently through the forest, stopping here and there to leave some very important messages for others to find. Once she came to a halt and with alert gaze and perked up ears scanned the area thoroughly. But, whatever had caused her suspicion to rise, did not show up. So, she did the doggy equivalent of "oh-well"-shrug and continued to walk.

This was interrupted by a very loud caterwauling in the vicinity and Nuna, who heard this sound for the first time in her life, stopped and turned to look at Breccan with the most confused expression. Any idea, what that is?

Their silence was companionable and Breccan was happy to follow in Nuna's wake. She was only a few months older, but she seemed so worldly and knowledgeable. She had much to teach him, and she would do it all without using words. For this reason, he looked up to her; she was probably one of the coolest wolves he knew (aside from his dad, of course).

Naturally, he imitated her and paused to leave his own messages on trees and shrubbery, hiking a back leg or using a forepaw to scratch at the bark or dirt. When she halted and listened intently, he did too; and when nothing came of this, he was quick to resume trailing her as she moved along.

The loud noise that stopped them in their tracks was just as surprising to Breccan as it was to Nuna. He exchanged a surprised glance with her, then frowned thoughtfully, ears pressing forward as he tried to make out just what could be emitting such a weird sound. He gestured with his snout and raised his brows, indicating in a questioning way that they should keep going and investigate -- right?

There was only one correct answer to her inquiry - yes, let's go and investigate! Had Breccan shown signs of fear, he would have been demoted from a pepper cadet to an onion. And, who in their right mind want to be an onion, huh?

She nodded eagerly and with her friend in tow, headed towards the source of the sound. Despite being bold in every other aspect, she was a little less carefree than during the earlier part of their walk. Nunataq made short stretches in rapid, half-crouched position, then stopped, straightened herself and with her head tilted to the side, listened. When the coast seemed clear, she resumed this again.

Until they arrived at the culprit and much to their surprise, found there a...

Throw something crazy and pepper-squad-worthy in their way! :D

Their last adventure had resulted in their getting tangled in the bushes, all because of a very small creature. This time, Breccan was a little hesitant, but he was way too curious to turn away. His need to know trumped any trepidation he felt, so he crept along with Nuna, his heart racing with excitement.

The caterwauling sound came again and Breccan peered through the underbrush. He saw something large and brown and he froze in place, his orange eyes wide. He couldn’t quite make it out, so he shifted his weight and his mouth dropped open in surprise.

It wasn’t the craziest looking animal, as its species was rather common in the area, but it was huge. And that sound was so strange! It was a moose, and it seemed to be calling out to its other moosey friends. Breccan giggled, feeling emboldened by their discovery, and in a quiet voice so that it wouldn’t hear him, he imitated the animal’s moaning wail.

Nunataq rarely showed fear and Breccan was one of the few people to see her visibly distraught at the sight of the moose. The encounter with smaller beasts of the deer kind was still vivid in her memory - they had let the young wolf flee with bruised ribs and a "blue eye", where the kick had been particularly well aimed. They had taught her a good lesson she would never forget.

Therefore with her limited faculties at imagination, she still could foresee the pain and trouble, if an animal twice the size of those she had met prior, were to challenge them. She shot a wary glance in Cubanelle's direction, wondering, what would be the best action for a Pepper Squad member. Being bold, brave and stupid or admit defeat even before the potential fight has begun.

Against her "better" judgement, she chose the latter, scooted closer to her team-mate, touched his shoulder lightly and asked him to go somewhere else.

Breccan's mooing dissolved into giggles, but they were short lived when he looked at Nuna for a response. He expected to see her laughing alongside him and was surprised to see that she looked worried in the presence of the moose. His brows drew up in question, and whatever the reason, she used a gentle touch against his shoulder to indicate that she wanted to go somewhere else.

"Why?" found its way to the tip of Breccan's tongue, but he knew it would be pointless to ask as she couldn't tell him. And either way, it didn't really matter; if his friend was uncomfortable, he was willing to remove himself from the situation in order to make her feel better. So with one last glance in the moose's direction -- and luckily, it hadn't noticed them and had dropped its head to graze -- he nodded and acquiesced, creeping back through the underbrush in the direction they had come.

When they had put some distance between themselves and the beast, Breccan looked at Nuna and raised his shoulders, as though asking, "What's next?"

Breccan was not difficult to convince and a good thing it was, because Nunataq would not have asked twice and would have simply left her fellow pepper cadet to fend for himself. That's, what life in the squad was - every person chose their own trouble to get involved in and mess to clear up.

The longer they put between themselves and the moose, the more relaxed and confident was Nunataq in her movements. And pretty soon there was no sign of the scared yearling of earlier, but a proud, motivated and fearless youth instead. So great was her relief that in response to Breccan's wordless question, she leaped up, grabbed and broke a small branch of a nearby fir tree and holding it as a trophy she pranced around the boy proudly.

The further they got from the moose, the better Nuna seemed to feel. Breccan could see it reflected in her body language, even from his peripheral vision as he ambled along beside her. After he paused to "ask" her what she had in mind, he took a step back when she suddenly leaped into the air. He watched as she seized a low-hanging limb between her teeth and gave a fierce tug to loosen it from its tree.

She waved it triumphantly as she danced in a circle around him, and he grinned and spun to keep her in his line of sight. Bowing slightly with his front legs, he waved his tail and snapped his teeth playfully in her direction. When the opportunity presented itself, he reached out in an attempt to grab the other end of the branch and start a game of tug.

Cubanelle had not earned his place in the Pepper Squad's ranks for nothing. He had a spark of creativity that the crew looked for in all it's recruit's and he did not disappoint this time either. Nunataq had not had any long-term plans in regards of showing off with her twig, therefore, when the Frostfur boy initiated a different game, which both of them could play, he was given a quick look of appreciation. Cool, why not!

Once he had had taken hold of his end, Nunataq did a sharp and strong tug in her direction, growling loudly to add more weight to the endeavour.

He managed to wrap his jaws firmly around the opposite end of the branch and sunk his teeth into the tree's soft flesh. His eyes danced with a grin that he couldn't quite express with his mouth, as it was currently occupied. Nuna displayed her approval of this impromptu game with a look that spoke volumes, and Breccan dug his feet into the ground to act as an anchor as she gave a hearty yank.

Her pull was strong enough to jerk his shoulders forward, and, surprised, he clamped down harder with his teeth and tried to rock back on his haunches. In response to Nuna's growl, he issued a snarl of his own, sounding much more serious than he really was; a casual observer might think that the two young wolves were fighting with each other rather than playing. He tugged again, his paws seeking purchase in the dirt as he hauled backwards on the tree limb.

Breccan had grown in strength the last time he and Nunataq had engaged in a similar game. She quickly realized that this tug-o-war was not going to be an easy win, because the opponent on the other side of the stick was tough and heavy. For five to ten minutes there was no obvious progress on either side - a step in one direction, a step in the other, a concerto of growls, snarls and snorts, muscles strained in effort and neither of sides intended to give up.

Then, however, Nunataq's grip loosened a bit and she began to give. Little by little the stick slid out of her jaws and eventually she let it go alltogether.

Would you want to wrap this one up and have a newer thread in a neutral territory? Breccan will be missing Nuna since she left!

Although Breccan was larger than Nuna, they were pretty evenly matched in this endeavor; what she lacked in strength, she made up for in determination. It would not be easy for Breccan to wrench the stick from her grasp. He continued to pull and tug, managing to keep a hold of his end of the branch despite the urge to laugh that bubbled up occasionally.

After a few minutes had passed, he noticed that she was beginning to loosen her grip. Had she not done so, they might have continued playing this game for thirty minutes -- maybe even an hour! Once the limb fully slipped from Nuna's mouth, Breccan swung it up and overhead with a great upward motion of his neck. He gave a triumphant bark around the mouthful of bark and pranced away from her, tail flagging happily behind him.

Then, he lowered Nuna's side of the branch to the ground and used a forepaw to steady it as he began to gnaw at it, turning their tug-of-war rope into a chew toy.

Nunataq watched enviously, how Breccan pranced off and away with the branch, leaving her empty-pawed. She let him, however, enjoy the victory for a while, respectfully allowing him to chew on the trophy, while she did her best to give a false appearence of complete distinterest.

But Nuna was a creature that could not lie or deceive, even if her life depended on it. She decided to be smart about the problem, got to her feet and scanned the immediate vicinity for an object that would match the coolness of the toy Breccan had. And she found it - a brick-sized and shaped rock.

She picked it up and winced slightly at the odd feeling, when her teeth grazed against the solid surface. Then she walked over to her friend, giving him a look of "see, what a cool toy I found, and you do not have it" and then walked off, as if she was a royalty. It did not matter really, what stuff you had, the marketing strategy did.

They can definitely meet. What will Jalapeno be without her Cubanelle? :) Btw - Nuna and her stone - real life experience - I once met a very important looking German Shepherd, who was carrying a brick in his jaws as if it was no big deal. I got a feeling that this was kind of GSD thing. Just as tree-sized sticks are for staffies.

Haha! I'll tag you in a new thread tomorrow! :)

Breccan was perfectly happy to sharpen his teeth on his prize, and dedicated his full attention to it for a few seconds. But when he glanced up to make sure that Nuna was watching, he was surprised to see her walking away. He paused in his gnawing, his jaws agape with the stick wedged between his back molars, and his gaze followed her as she picked up a rock and then presented it to him as though it was better than his branch.

He blinked and gave a few thoughtful crunches on his limb. The tug-stick was a great reward for his efforts, but the stone that she held seemed to be super cool. He hesitated, unsure of the best course of action for a few moments -- should he abandon his limb and pursue her in order to try to have a turn with the rock, or should he keep enjoying the item he had already won?

Ultimately, he dropped the stick and hastened after her; after all, the grass was always greener on the other side.