Moonstone Quarry polymorphing

Weather: 21°F, overcast. Snow (6–9 in.) starting this afternoon.

The weather had remained tame through the night, so Dune had slept comfortably out in the open on the terrace. Instead of heading back directly to Moonspear, he decided to take a look further north simply because he had never been there before. He would be gone only a few days if things went according to plan, but he was curious about the land that surrounded his home. Dune knew now that a storm was heading his way, based on the clouds above him, but it didn't stop him in his quest.

He would hunker down through the worst of it and continue his journey tomorrow. He set to that (hunkering down) right now, as he began to search for a decent crevice in the west side of the quarry. When the storm let up, he would continue north.

corinna branched from moonspear-- momentarily-- to do some herb hunting. it was still cold out, though the spring weather was growing much more bearable and many more plants were beginning to sprout through-- and she figured she'd have a better chance of finding things outside the territory. and corinna was not opposed to leaving the pack for a day or so, so long as she came back.

it was then with great surprise that she spotted... had she learned his name? she forgot. but there he was, the wolf who'd returned her sass easily, without  a second glance, and then just gone off. her brow furrowed, briefly, and then she barked, calling out to him. what was he doing around here and... wait... what was that? on his neck? she began padding towards him, tail swinging.

A bark distracted Dune from his plans, and he turned to see a familiar (but not too familiar) face. He squinted, and he would have put a finger to his temple if he'd been a human bean. Instead, he chuffed in her direction and ambled toward her, trying to remember the scenario in which they had met. It didn't take him too much longer to realize they'd had a brief and not quite pleasant encounter weeks before he had joined Moonspear.

The real twist of events was revealed when he took in her scent, which was laced with the rest of Moonspear's. He supposed she must have joined in the last few days, or he would have run into her already. If he had been a wolf to hold a grudge, he would have scoffed at her and turned the other way, but she was pack now. "Meet again," he said, a smile present on his lips. There was a distinct lack of sarcasm or hard feelings behind his words, and Dune wagged his tail.

corinna half expected to be chased away, but to her surprise the pale wolf returned her greeting very amicably. it was good to see he didn't hold a grudge, as corinna's sarcasm and sass had made her come off a bit too rude, and therefore made their first encounter rather unpleasant. she herself had been agitated about it for the rest of the day but, truthfully, she'd forgotten about it rather quickly. by-gones should be left by-gones. and... oh? what was this? the closer corinna got the more she realized that the collared wolf smelled... well, like her! he must've been moonspear, what a coincidence.

"we do! how are you?" she asked, stopping before him and sweeping her head down in friendly greeting, "you're in moonspear?" 

He was not sure exactly how she would react, but it turned out to be pleasant, and whatever tension he had been holding washed away in a flash flood. It seemed that she, too, had the same idea when it came to her pack mates, and so Dune relaxed instantaneously. "Good," he replied, and she asked another question. "Yes." He was making his mark there, no doubt, and he did not plan on stopping that trend anytime soon. He was eager to have another among their ranks, provided she didn't get in the way of his achievements.

"Stop for night," he explained, then gestured toward the incoming clouds. "North tomorrow. Few days. See coast." He would return home after, no doubt. Dune had found a home on Moonspear, and he liked it there. Sure, half the folks he'd met there had uprooted and gone off, but he still liked those who had stayed. Besides, wolves seemed to come and go all the time, so he wasn't going to get into a tizzy about it.

she followed his gaze, looking to the sky. "you're a scout?" she asked curiously, her head tilting gently to one side, "the coast is nice, i've seen part of it." she couldn't tell him which part, but indeed part of the coast she'd seen. it was good to hear he'd be headed back to moonspear soon, corinna liked the idea of having a friendly face-- even if their first meeting hadn't been so great. she figured it was all up from here. "i'm looking for herbs, thought it'd be easier to find things outside the territory-- more variety," she explained with a small smile.

Dune shrugged with a little "idk!" smile when she asked if he was a scout. In truth, he was too attached to Moonspear to be a useful one, even if he did enjoy exploring the nearby territories. The girl mentioned that she was looking for herbs, a word that Dune didn't quite comprehend. He assumed it was some kind of animal she was hunting. Maybe she had meant "hares." Dune was no stranger to the hunt, so perhaps he could help her.

"Name?" he asked, tilting his head to one side. "Mine Dune." Pausing to listen to her own name, he offered his help. "Help hunt?" he asked, always trying to find ways to contribute to the pack, even if it was by proxy of another member. Besides, with Wraen gone, he could use a reliable hunting partner!

oh that's right, they hadn't gotten to such pleasantries last time they'd met. corinna smiled. "like sand! i love it," she beamed, and dipped her head, "my name is corinna." suddenly he wanted to hunt? corinna was very confused, honestly, to begin with, but nodded slowly. "do you want me to help you hunt?" she clarified, trying not to sound mean but very visibly confused, "what were you tracking? i will help you." she hoped the second part would sound more friendly and less judgey-- but she had no idea hunting was even in the question. what was with this guy and hunting, anyway?

Dune had, at some point during his nearly two years alive, been told that his name meant sand hills, but he had never given it much thought. To him, it was just a name. He wondered now if his parents had even known where the word had come from. She offered her own name, which he thought sounded pleasant. He could not say if the name meant anything in particular, though.

When she spoke again, confusion surfaced in his expression. She was now offering to help him, which did not make much sense, considering he had just offered to help her. Man, this language barrier could be a real pain in the patootie sometimes. "You say find hares, yes?" he asked, trying to clarify and get to the bottom of the misunderstanding (wherever it had been).

oh, so he had misheard her. corinna shook her head. "herbs," she repeated, slowly this time, "like, plants, used in medicine. i am a healer, i need them to heal. i want to start a garden." she hoped her explanation would do her some justice. it was, though, nice of him to offer to help her hunt-- corinna tilted her head gently to one side, hoping he understood. truthfully, it never occurred to her that someone wouldn't know the word herbs.

Well that explained the misunderstanding. Corinna was looking for plants, not rabbits. His mouth made an "O" shape when the realization dawned on him, and he shook his head sheepishly, a bit embarrassed by his mistake. "Help look for plants?" he now offered, hoping that he could at least be of some assistance to her quest. Besides, maybe he would learn a thing or two. And maybe she could help Gannet!

"Gannet hurt leg. Plants help?" he asked, not really sure how any of that worked. In fact, he was not really sure how many plants they would be able to find this time of year. The only green he'd seen for months was pine needles. But maybe those would help somehow.

he was still eager to help, and corinna greatly appreciated that. though, just as he was thinking, she worried they wouldn't find much. on the surface... at least. snow was still present in the territory but it was thinning-- slowly melting as time went on. soon enough, it would be green all over. 

"aren't you just so sweet," corinna purled, her tail wagging at her hocks, "gannet? i haven't met him-- but they might, depends on what's wrong with him." she motioned for the male man to follow her-- though she only moved but a few feet away-- and then shoved her nose into the snow. brr! she did a little wiggle before bringing her head back up to look at dune. "if we'll find any, they'll be under the snow, you might not be able to see them." 

"Sweet" was not a word Dune had ever been called before, but he liked it! He wagged his tail, missing most of what she said before she suddenly shoved her head into the snow. Well that was bizarre, but maybe plants were like mice and she could hear them scurrying in tunnels below. Dune cocked his head to one side, then the other, but he didn't hear a dang thing. Corinna brought her head back up, and Dune looked at her with bewilderment.

"Hear them like mice?" he asked. Maybe he just wasn't in the right place to locate them with his ears. Sticking his face into the snow didn't seem like a terribly pleasant (or wise) idea, but he supposed he would buck up if that was the only way to help her.

hmm.. how to explain? "not quite," corinna said sweetly with a shake of her caramel tipped head, "but smell-- maybe? and certainly see... it's a lot of trial and error, just have to dig and see if anything is growing!" she hoped that was a better explanation(and so do i because i'm not even sure if that's accurate). perhaps sticking your nose into snow wasn't the smartest idea, but it wasn't like it was buried there for minutes and minutes on end, just a few seconds! she didn't think frostbite would be any concern. 

she tried again, a little bit further away, and shuffled her nose through the snow. with a wag of her tail, corinna gave a hard sniff to free the ice and snow from her nostrils and motioned again to dune. "here!... watch," she said, and using a dainty paw, delicately swept away the snow to reveal a bright green leaf.