Sun Mote Copse A concatenation of locusts

"Don't you dare, Bronco. Don't you dare leave too."

They'd spent a few nights searching the borders for any signs of his sister, but had found nothing. She'd been quiet, didstant- and Bronco felt now that he hadn't tried to reach out to her or to see if she was alright. Their Mom was so busy with pack stuff- spending all her time hunting and patrolling, and whatever spare time she had she complained about being the one in charge of those things and having so few others to help her. It was a thorn in Bronco's side, as he too was trying to do those things as well. He was able to catch small prey, and buried them in marked caches, as he was told to. He patrolled the borders and reinforced the markings as he was told to. He was being more obedient now than he ever had- but he felt he was getting no recognition for it, especially from his own Mom. So he decided that he wanted some more space, a place of his own- and had found an old den that apparently his Mom had used for a while, and had declared that that would be his new home. He marked the area, claiming it as his, and set off to find something to eat. 

Naturally, he ended up meandering along the borders, deciding to kill two birds with one stone- do a bit of hunting if he found the trail of something, and to reinforce the borders as he was told to do. His Mom didn't like the fact that he'd moved out and into his own den- but she seemed to understand his need for space...And as long as he wasn't going to go off and leave for real- like Nellie had- she seemed at least somewhat willing to let him go and make his own home in a den not too far from the rendezvous area. He felt more mature now, but it was a hollow win. At the end of the day, he still had a bitchy mom, a dead dad, and a sister who had seemingly disappeared into thin air.

if you don't mind, gonna just hand wave and say this is after she is here bc I really want this <3

Fennec was learning.  After her run in with Pox, she was left to wonder if more of Sugar's family were like her or her brother... but she didn't really go out of her way to find out.  Mostly, she walked circles around the corpse, until slowly but surely she had a simple understanding of the forest.

She knew enough now to know she was close to the borders when she heard the other wolf, and that caused her head to lift and ears to circle.  Honestly, with her gangly build, she likely resembled a startled deer, though she wouldn't know to draw the comparison.  She couldn't tell right off the bat if the wolf was from outside or within, and if they were from outside, probably she'd need to prevent them from crossing.  If she called, Towhee wouldn't...

Her mind checked itself and shook that off, though a bit of the ache lingered.  Probably they were a packmate.  It didn't sound like they were trying to slip past unseen, or in any hurry, judging from the pawsteps.  She remained where she was, stock still, listening carefully as they moved closer and closer.

YESSSSS

Bronco sneezed as his sniffing along the borders made him nearly inhale a few tufts from a dead dandelion. He lifted his head to see if there was anything else in the area that might've heard him- as surely he would've made a rabbit or a deer bolt- and at first, he missed the fawn-coloured female who stood stock-still, ears cupped forward and nose quivering. It was only once he'd lowered his head again to continue sniffing around that the image of those two faded blue eyes, and large ears came into his mind's eye, and he lifted his head again, mostly prepared to see nothing at all- when his eyes landed upon the vacant gaze of the female. 

He startled, exhaling his breath sharply and side-stepping quickly, the fur along the nape of his neck bristling as the pre-teen defensively lowered his centre of gravity and pointed his vulnerable haunches away from the stranger. He gazed at her for a moment with an accusational glare- and prepared to launch into a defensive flurry, as this female was a stranger, and she was probably trespassing- but then he remembered. His Mom had mentioned that they had a new addition to their pack- someone his age; supposedly, this new addition was Towhee's kid. 

"Who're you?" He called out, an edge of accusation to his voice. He still wasn't one hundred percent sure if this stranger was indeed their newest member, or if she was simply trespassing. Just a little bit of him hoped for the latter- as she looked like a wolf he could easily handle.

It was definitely another wolf. They didn't sound suspicious, and their movements seemed to be slow and relaxed.  At least, as much as was normal.  Still, Fennec felt her heartbeat pick up in that nervous way it often did when presented with a stranger.  It was still always hard for her to tell intentions without words.

He didn't sound particularly nice when he yelled, something that immediately made her step back.  Well, she wasn't doing anything wrong being here.  So he definitely shouldn't have a problem if he knew that.  The similarity to her meeting with Pox made her guess he was one of Sugar's brothers.  What were their names again?

Fennec.  Who're you?! she asked back, just as abruptly, but with a little less edge.  Her ears tipped towards him but her eyes didn't move.

She looked like what could have been a much younger version of his mother, though perhaps a bit paler. Her face looked different- she didn't have the same sharp look to her muzzle or bearish, rounded tips to her ears as his mother, but they did bear a resemblance in terms of her coat colour and the fact that she was a leggy thing. The oddest thing though, was that though she was staring in his direction, she wasn't actually looking at him. Sort of...Past him, though he felt as though if she was to turn her filmy gaze directly toward him that he'd feel more like she was actually looking through him. As soon as she spoke her name, his ears flicked forward. She seemed a bit cautious, but he'd be able to put her at ease soon enough. He'd heard her name spoken before- and he knew what the vacancy of her gaze meant, as he had been told about that as well. 

"You're one of Phox an' Towhee's kids then, eh?" He asked, hoping that mentioning those familiar names might make her drop her guard down a bit; he'd relaxed as well, knowing now that this girl belonged here, and that even if she hadn't been brought over to their pack, that she would have been welcome anyway. After all- the wolves of Asterism Grove were their neighbours, and welcome ones at that. "I'm Bronco," He said, moving forward to close the distance between them, so they could get properly acquainted. He was curious about her, if she'd be anything like Towhee or Phox- her sense of humour would be the first indication of any similarity. He grinned, and even though he knew she wouldn't see it, he felt it would be audible in his voice. "I'm one of Niamh's brats." He joked quietly, hoping that at least one of the two names would ring a bell.

Yep, confirmed, he was one of them.  It would have been real nice to have some introductions so she didn't have to do this whole sorting it out herself thing... but no matter, it was fine.

Yeah. Normally she'd have followed it with some shot at how she was the only one that mattered, but somehow, making fun of her brother hadn't been much on her mind since she'd been separated from him.  Doing it just made it worse.

It was weird to hear someone call themself a brat.  She was going to need him to back that one up because she wasn't going to take his word for it.  Oh yeah? Brat according to who? There was a hint of challenge to it.

Her answer was a bit more abrupt that he'd expected. He thought she might brighten up a bit at the fact that he at least knew where she came from, or about who her parents were...But the boy had forgotten the fact that she'd been more or less stranded here with the sister-pack due to the landslide that had blocked off access to her home. Unable to recall that incident, he wondered if maybe she was a bit stuck-up, or maybe if she was just a bit shy. Maybe she didn't like being associated with her parents- he liked that idea, because it was something that he himself understood. Not that he disliked his Dad- his Dad had been the best- but his Mom was a bit of a pill. 

Still, he didn't count her out completely, because there was a bit of an edge to the tone of her voice, and he liked that. He moved forward a bit, closing the distance between them, as clearly, there was no reason for either of them to be frightened of the other wolf. He puffed out his chest and uttered a haughty laugh, giving her a rogueish and cheshire grin. "Prolly according to everyone," He drawled, rolling his eyes. "My Mom thinks I'm a total brat, but she's the one who's a total drag...And a nag. And a mean ol' bag." He said, impressed with himself for having been able to string along a sentence of rhymes like that. Not that it was a really cool thing to do- but given the fact it was full of insults, he figured it didn't make him look like too much of a dork. 

"So," He shot, changing the subject swiftly. "You apprenticing here with someone?" He asked, given the fact that being an apprentice was now all the rage. Unfortunately, this meant that he was more or less stuck with training with his Mom, but if it meant that someday he'd get to be a guardian- and someday be able to kick her ass into tomorrow in a sparring session, he'd put up with it.

Despite herself, she couldn't help smiling when he called his mom a hag.  The rhymes sounded nice when he said it, first off, and second, it vibed with the type of relationship she and Fig had with their parents.  Not necessarily that Towhee was a hag, just that casual lack of hero worship other kids sometimes seemed to get.

No, I'm just here until I can finally go home.  Something happened there and it's blocked.  She still didn't fully understand how her home could just be impassible, but she'd never seen it herself.  Apprenticing in what?  That wasn't a concept she was super knowledgeable in.  She'd trained, but hadn't gotten to the point to consider trades.

Bronco's confusion showed itself in a sharp tilt of the head when Fennec mentioned some sort of blockage- but then he remembered hearing something about that. Right- the pass was no longer open, leaving the wolves inside trapped there, and the wolves who were outside of it- like Fennec here- were blocked out. "Right, sorry," He said softly. "Well...You're safe here. An' if there are any trades you wanna learn, you can learn 'em here while you're here, right?" He suggested. He wasn't terribly concerned with the entrance to the Grove being blocked- but he also failed to consider the fact that the wolves would be trapped in there without any way to get out and hunt out prey that wasn't also trapped down in there. 

"You could be a...." Wait, the girl was blind. So what could she do? "Like...A medic, maybe? Or a counsellor," He suggested, a bit more enthused about the second- as a medic who was blind might not be able to see what she was supposed to be treating. "A storyteller, maybe, if you like that sort of thing," He said. He was trying to only list off things that he thought would be possible for her- which, of course, likely set some inappropriate limits by assuming she wouldn't be useful at things like hunting and guarding. "I dunno, what do you wanna do?"

Yeah, I guess.  A lot of the trades he named off were the same ones Wraen had listed, and even though she'd never tried them, a part of her rebelled.  She'd wondered a few times if things like healing were all she'd be good for, nothing too hard, and she hated the idea of it.  Incorrectly, for some reason she associated healing with giving up and avoiding training.  She wasn't ready to throw out the idea of being great just yet.

Exciting bunch of options there, she said, a little dryly.  There was no inflection to denote sarcasm, but they didn't mean it wasn't there.  Towhee was teaching us to fight, before.  And I can sometimes hunt.  What are you training for?  Do you do medic stuff?  She was dubious anyone with other options would choose it... it seemed so boring to her.

She didn't seem terribly interested in the options he had listed and he didn't blame her. Being a medic seemed to suit Sugar Glider, as she was a gentle-hearted creature, but it wasn't something Bronco was interested in whatsoever. He tilted his head back when Fennec mentioned that of all things, she'd been learning how to fight, and this surprised him. A blind wolf, learning how to fight? Well, that was interesting...But then again, he shouldn't have expected much less from a pupil who was in training with Towhee. 

"Nah," came his somewhat callous reply. "I'm training to be a mercenary; guarding, patrolling...Sparring," He added, lashing his tail from side to side. "Might be kind of nice to have a new sparring partner here...If you wanna keep up your practice," He baited.

Of course he was.  Just like Fig.  He had that intense confidence that made it just make sense, and she figured she probably should have guessed he was going for fighter.

When he asked if she wanted to spar, her hesitation probably showed on her face.  Sparring against her brother and Towhee was one thing, but embarrassing herself in front of Bronco didn't really appeal to her.  She couldn't refuse either; that wouldn't be cool.

Yeah, okay.  It might have shown, but there was no trace of that hesitation in her voice when she answered.  I need the practice, and you seem alright.  Offhand, casual, as if he had just made the cut for 'acquaintance'.  She could've been all 'yeah let's be best friends k' but that wasn't really Fennec's style.  Seemed more of a Sugar thing.  

Now?  She had to clarify, since she couldn't really tell if he was prepping for a spar or not.  She could do it now, she guessed, but he might be busy with border stuff or something.

She didn't look too keen, but she didn't refuse the invitation. She also didn't seem too sure about sparring, and asked if they really had to do it now- so Bronco decided to try and make things easier- if that was even a possibility. "Well, yeah, if you want?" He asked. Exactly how much had she been trained, he wondered? And exactly how tough should he go on her? His own mother was ruthless with him when they sparred- she wanted him to experience pain, fear and anger so that he could defend himself properly in a real fight, rather than just sparring with nothing to lose. 

"Here," He said, straightening up a bit. "Would it help if I like...Made noise the whole time? Like...I dunno, I could growl the whole time, so you could hear where I am?" The offer was honest and well-intended, but probably unnecessary. Though Bronco was a decent fighter, he was still a very heavy breather, and was not light on his feet. Even a blind wolf with some hearing loss would be able to hear him.

Saying yes to his question would make it easier.  If he made noise the entire time on purpose she was less likely to embarrass herself, but she couldn't do it.  She didn't like the idea of anyone doing things differently to accommodate.

Just fight like you usually fight.  She said, then squared off and turned her head, ever so slightly, sideways and down.  She would need to know the instant Bronco made a move, unless she moved first?

Instantly she decided and moved forward, if he hadn't moved, she aimed to lightly grasp where his scruff might be, and tossed a paw up to catch his back.  If she could get in close and orient against where he was, she might be able to off balance him.

It was a risk.  What if he was bigger than she was?  She wouldn't know until she got alongside.

Bronco huffed and lifted his chin at her retort. He failed to see how that might teach her- but he did like her pride, even if it did mean that the fight would p[ossibly be tougher for her. Luckily for Fennec, the boy was heavy on his large feet and was a noisy mouth-breather so even if he didn't growl the whole time, he certainly had never put any thought into how noisy he was, and how that could give him away, especially when sparring with a blind wolf. 

She lunged, but Bronco didn't take her very seriously. He leaned in to thrust the angle of her shoulder toward her mouth, so that the paw she'd aimed for his back did hit him- but he used his weight and height advantage to lean into her attack and potentially throw her off balance- or at least, to surprise her. He chuffed happily, even though the  impact of her teeth against his shoulderblade did ache, but he had enough loose skin and fur there- especially with the winter coat he'd been putting on- to protect him from major damage. Besides- they were sparring, right? He could only hope she wouldn't try to hurt him in earnest, the way his mother did. So he underestimated the slight female, and still considered her handicap to be a sign of weakness. 

He lowered his head and lunged into a crouch, before he abruptly jerked his head up- hoping to catch her right in the soft part of her underbelly between her ribs and her hips, to flip her hind end into the air the way a bull might toss a matador around. A fairly harmless move, as he could do no real damage- but a fair warning for her to make sure she didn't let anyone get too close to her hind quarters.

Bigger.

She marked it silently as her paw caught him higher than expected, and all at once her position was turned against her.  She managed to catch his shoulder but didn't keep hold - she didn't spar roughly.  Some part of her knew her aim was not as true, and looking to injure could turn out far worse for a packmate than if someone who could see did so.

He had the advantage of surprise and definitely overbalanced her with his move.  She hit the ground and immediately rolled over, but smiled.  She could keep track of where he was easily, thank goodness, and knew now how to measure him.  

One advantage of blindness was, with no sight, her eyes would never betray her intentions.  She honed in on where he was and lunged for a hind leg, then made to spin aside, hoping to catch a glancing blow to his hind leg to throw him off and then dart away quickly.  She'd marked where the surrounding trees were, and that the ground was relatively clear.  There was always the risk of a rogue root or branch, but she trusted her own intuition.

CRIPES this goes back all the way to Octoberish...How about we tidy this up with a fade and have a new one? <3

Bronco chuckled slightly when the sandy female's hind end was tossed in the air, forcing her into a roll, from which she recovered quite neatly. He didn't want to hurt her, after all- and as far as he was concerned, this was more of a play spar, than a training spar, and he was trying to help Fennec out. He didn't realize it was a bit patronizing to assume he simply should go easier on her due to her handicap, but the feling did at least come from a good place- he didn't want to abuse an unfair advantage, nor did he want to deliver or incurr a brutal beating, like one he might get from his mother should they be training. 

He'd stepped back slightly, so when she came at him again, she ended up grabbing one of his front legs, and as soon as she had it, she twisted, causing him to cry out "Woah!" in alarm ash she spun. To avoid having his leg twisted around, he did his best to spin with her, but ended up stumbling. He wanted to grab her and pull her down with him- but she swiftly darted away, so he hit the ground with a thud, and scrabbled as he tried to regain his footing, before he darted toward her with another smile on his face.

cool by me!

She flinched slightly when she heard him yell out, but there was no pain in the shout, only surprise.  Seeing no reason to stop, she continued to playfully spar, enjoying it potentially even more than lessons with Towhee.  There was just something different about taking on someone your own age.

By the end he'd have bested her, but she'd have learned a thing or two about his style and perhaps even picked up a pointer along the way.  He was a good partner, and while she wouldn't outright say it, the genuine smile she displayed as they parted would show it well enough.  As would her parting words - Next time I won't go so easy.  It was clearly a joke, but also a promise that she'd hit him up for another lesson sometime soon.

Unlike when he had to spar with his mother, he was able to enjoy practicing with Fennec. There was no fear that she'd bite him too hard, and no pressure to defend himself against any cheap moves. He had the physical advantage of size, plus the fact that he was able to see, but at the same time she surprised him numerous times with her ingenuity and speed. At the end of it all, he was breathless from trying to keep up with her movements, and from laughter. "Yeah, sure," He agreed, when the two finally ceased their game of mock-warfare, and he gestured. "C'mon. I need a drink. Let's go to the stream," He invited, so that rather than parting ways, they might spend a bit more time together, but without having to put so much physical effort into the works.