Jade Fern Grove taste the dreams of distant lives

Open! Maybe a trade thread? Maybe an internal discovery? 

With the desire to earn a trade now well implanted in his mind, Tryphon wanted to explore. He wanted to go outside of the territory limits and test his fortitude, first and foremost, but a part of him was still resistant to that part of things. So instead, he chose to map out the forest as best he could. The grove was thick with vibrant plants, and the ferns which lent the area its name were prolific; the boy had been wandering for about an hour and his pelt was already matting with grains of pollen, or netting smaller fiddleheads in his belly fur. It was pleasant here, though. It wasn't as big, wide or open as the chilled north, and the pack would be less exposed with all of these trees, so that afforded some sense of safety. 

Tryphon paused in his exploration for a break, and that was when he heard a plop. Curious, and growing bold, he stepped between the trees - and nearly fell in to a small pond, where green water sat suspended. He caught himself at the last second and only plunged one paw in to the shallows, which he instantly pulled out again, slick with slime. With a look of utter revulsion, Tryphon tried to shake the gunk off of his paw as he sank back upon the grass. Around the edge of the pond - at least around his side - there were massive ferns overhanging a rocky ledge, which itself was choked by moss. Aside from the scum on the surface, it was actually... kind of nice.

I hope you don't mind me and Juju! :p I'd be up for a trade thread! c:

Jorunn's focus had been on his earning the warden trade and ...little else. Beyond that he had yet to give much thought towards the two other trades he could hold and which he would choose. Would things not have happened they would have he might have claimed Outrider (or rather screamed it) without any second thought or hesitation. Now, however, there was a hesitation towards taking that on as a trade. He was not afraid to explore ...but in truth he had little desire to currently leave the safety of the Grove, which likely had everything to do with the glimpse of the bear he'd seen. He felt the press of guilt that he had not spoken up about it, but given his monochromacy couldn't say that it hadn't been anything more than a large or distorted shadow, and it had not been close when it had passed, either. Or surely Bazi would have noticed it, though he was under the impression that she was aware of the bears that roamed the area, or else she wouldn't have made her threat.

With her and Scimitar, so long as he did all that he was asked, he was safe. He was welcome. His stomach had given a slight rumble and he had stepped away from his patrols (which he realized should have likely been done with an adult present) to chase down a rabbit. He'd eaten his fill and tucked away the rest of it into a little self made cache figuring that maybe someone else might need a snack, or could use the bones or whatever they did with the leftovers. He'd shoved the last bit of dirt over the hole he'd dug, prancing on the earth to pack it down when the noise of something falling into water. It was a small noise — not a whole body but it'd caught Jorunn's attention, nevertheless.

Cautiously he moved towards the noise, shrugging through the monotone colored plants, Caribbean blue eyes with rings of silver around the pupils studied the undefined mass of gray as the sunlight hit his eyes, causing the boy to squint as he worked to make out the finer details that he could only decipher if he was closer. The figure was not that of a bear, that much he knew, and the scent was of the Grove and wolf, but it was not one that Jorunn readily recognized. “Hey,” The teen greeted the older male, with a hint of suspicion. “What are you doing?” He asked, pausing by the outskirts of the area, not wanting to ghost forth just yet.

Juju! :D If you want to use this for warden, they could spar or something?

After wiggling his paw in the air like a fool, Tryphon tried dragging it against the moss. Some of the pond scum came off, but there was still a mucus-like film clinging to his toes, wedging between them. For a few minutes he was too preoccupied by the strange feeling to notice the boy as he approached, and he even missed the sound of his voice through the stillness when Jorunn spoke his greeting; it wasn't until a heartbeat later, when he posed a question, that Tryphon seemed to take heed of him.

His ears twisted back for a split second out of surprise, and then he turned to look at the boy, wide-eyed and alert. It wasn't often that Tryphon found himself in the company of others, let alone anyone younger than himself. Thus far he'd only really spent time with Scimitar and Kaskara, and even that had been limited.

"I was exploring," the young man explained, idly settling his gooey paw next to the clean one, "and I thought I heard something fall in the pond." Aside from himself. With that thought re-entering his mind, Tryphon looked to the pond surface and tried to get a good look at the deeper sections - but they were hidden by shadow, or too dark with reflected green for him to see properly. "I thought there might be fish in there, or something. So far there's just this stuff -" he lifted his paw and flicked it, and a chunk of slime dripped from his paw and flung through the air.

We can do that! lol, Ju's gonna get his butt kicked, haha. :P

The older boy explained that he was exploring ...though admittedly to Jorunn it looked like he was just standing by a pond. Despite Jorunn's cynical internal monologue he did not give voice to it, instead replying with a breezed ”That's cool,” because in reality, he had no reason not to believe the older boy. Jorunn himself liked to explore, though he was definitely more conscious about it these days, though unlike old Jorunn he didn't have the luxury of doing whatever he wanted because he simply could. Though Jorunn's memory of Thistle Cloud was tragically fading in the little bit of her he did remember he couldn't recall her ever reprimanding him for doing what he wanted (not that it would have worked anyway, even if she had); as cruel as it was to his birth mother Bazi was his mother now and Jorunn tried not to spend too much time thinking about before. Before didn't matter anymore. 

“Maybe it was a frog,” Jorunn suggested craning his neck to peer into the muck filled water though he didn't see much of anything. Just the gray water and darker muck that floated on it's top. He drew back when Tryphon flicked the slime off of his paw and it flew through the air, splattering Jorunn on the face. “Hey!” The word burst from Jorunn's lips followed by a disgusted grunt as he lifted a paw in attempt to get the gross slime off of his forehead. “Aww man,” Jorunn whined as he ended up unsuccessfully smearing it instead. “I think I made it worse. Did I make it worse?” He asked the older male, lip lifting to expose the pearly whites of his teeth in a wolfish cringe.