Blacktail Deer Plateau Chase the wind and touch the sky

(just to get a new thread going, and for Pearl to get to know the rest of the pack @Malachi @Siren @Eilidh @Casmir )

Pearl was ran steadily through the forest that was slowly, leaf by leaf, changing to the vibrant colors of fall. The weather also felt slightly cooler, as it would steadily and slowly drop over the next month into the much frostier temperatures of winter. The sharp scent of underfoot leaves being broken by her dainty-looking but strong paws tickled her nose. She stopped and bent her head down towards the ground in an effort to find any game close by. Detecting only few squirrels, she sighed and thought of the easier game of prairie chickens that didn't know how to climb trees. She picked herself up again and started running again until she came across a clearing in the many trees. As much as she liked the forest, she longed to be under the open sky. The girl flopped over on her back with her black paws in the air and her eyes closed as she soaked up the warm sunshine of the beginning of autumn.

outrider. the role would be his. he had decided this on his last foray outside the borders. his father had seemed -- off as of late, and Connie was no fun. Eilidh was his chosen companion, but she had wanted to stay close to their mother, and so it fell again to Cas to travel alone.

today, however, he was still within the plateau's limits. the fragrance of autumn flickered crisply in his nose; he rounded a bend to see that white-furred girl from the hunt there, toppled happily onto her back. "hey," the Mayfair boy grunted, taking a step toward her with a friendly wave of his tail. "Pearl, right?"

A voice called her out of her state of quiet contentment, and she opened her eyes lazily to the dark furred boy. She smiled at him, rolled over to her belly, and sat up. He looked to be one of Lasher's sons, but she hadn't caught any on his children's names. Pearl friendly returned the gesture with a wag of her tail. "Yes, that's right. What's your name? I didn't catch it at the hunt. I meant to talk to more of the pack afterwards, but...you know." She said, ending off with a more awkward note then she meant to. "How is your dad doing, anyway?" Her head cocked to the side slightly in question.

"Casmir Mayfair," the boy answered, flicking his eyes idly over a curvaceous body that sadly he was much too young to appreciate. to him she seemed odd; silly. in response to her tail-wag, the boy waved his own plume. somehow she reminded him of shego, though not in appearance at all. "he's doing much better; thanks for asking," he said in answer to Pearl's query, ever mindful of the manners drilled into him by his proper mother.

"what are you doing?" asked the curious bantling, much too intrigued by her rolling about to leave well enough alone. "you've got leaves stuck to your coat," he added, tongue lolling in a grin at the girl's antics.

She chuckled internally when she saw the boy's eyes flicker. He wouldn't  be thinking anything, he was too young yet. At his comment about the leaves came, she turned her head to look at her coat, sure enough tangled here and there with leaves. Pearl grinned and said "I'm enjoying the sunshine without the trees in the way, it's way better. Where I come from, there weren't many trees, and a lot of tall grass. I think of home when I'm in the clear sunshine and can see the clouds." She didn't know if he was old enough to hear her story, and doubted he wanted to sit and hear it. It was safer to assume the latter, and she had just met Casmir.

"I think I'd like to climb to the top of something just to feel the open air. You should try it sometime, it's very invigorating, and you feel like you can do anything." It was a safer subject to move to.

he was not too young to know that she was pretty -- Lasher may have been living in a bit of denial when it came to the subject of the pups' development -- but the boy felt a light sort of flutter in his heart as he listened to Pearl speak. "sometimes i go to the very edge of the plateau and look over," he revealed, pulse rising as he remembered the dizzying height, the threat of plunging to his very doom over the precipice.


"and sometime i run in the tall grass at night, and it's the same sort of feeling," the Mayfair added, though beneath his dark fur he coloured. "but like, whatever," he hurried on, shaking out his ruff. "wanna find something to eat?" he asked, changing the subject abruptly.

Pearl silently noted the edge of the Plateau. She would have to visit there sometime. She chuckled internally at the attempt to sound masculine and undeterred by the current topic, and she wasn't surprised when he changed it. Pearl nodded in response to getting some food. The girl wasn't that hungry, but it would do some good in filling the caches. She turned her light green eyes to the sky, closing them and enjoying the sunlight for a moment before looking to the forest. "What would you prefer? I personally could go for some rabbit." The rabbit of this land were significantly fatter, but less muscular and lean than a the jackrabbit she grew up with. They didn't have prairie chickens either, those would be missed most of all, besides bison. Oh well. She would have to let go of her homeland sooner or later, but the meat kept lingering. 

The pale girl smelled the air, raising her black tipped tail and ears in alertness, hoping to catch the scent of prey.

Cas watched with a growing affection as Pearl's eyes caught the light, the twist of her hips as she raised her tail a light movement that brought a lump to his throat. "uh," he stammered grandly, "rabbit is fine." he himself knew where some warrens were, but decided to save the display of his prowess once they had actually located one of the fluffy jumpers. "so...how long have you been around?" he inquired, seeing as how he had only just met her at the pack hunt. 


small talk was stupid. he wanted to ask her if she had a boyfriend, not that he knew what that was, really, or if what he would even do with the info.

His voice startled her almost, mostly because it had changed significantly from a pretend roughness to a stammer. She looked at him quizically, realizing that he probably wasn't as young as she had originally thought. Well then. It came only as a small surprise, although she didn't know how to handle this, so she felt a little awkward. Almost thankful for the small talk, the pale furred girl continued normally. "I've been here for about two or three months now, thanks." Great. Now what? "So what trade are you going to go towards?" Inwardly she cringed.

small talk. it was stupid, he reiterated to himself. "outrider. i like to explore a lot, and roam pretty far." i was born here, he wanted to add, but felt like it would be redundant as hell. that question was still there, burning like an untreated flame-wound, and it was actually pretty difficult for him to not ask "do you have a boyfriend?"

(fuck)

he had stumbled and the words flew out of his mouth, assuredly hitting her in the ears like two hard bricks: painfully and he was sure they wouldn't be welcome. "'m sorry," he mumbled. had his cheeks been visible, they would have been red as that proverbial reindeer's nose. or a freshly swatted butt.

(This is too adorable)

Pearl's head swung around, eyes wide. Did he just say that? Did he know what that is? Dang it all. "No, I don't, uh, it's ok, really," She wasn't sure if the heat on her face was visible or not through her white fur. Her mind was full of mixed emotions for this boy. On the upside, she now new someone that shared her talent for making things impossibly awkward. But now, he was noticing his eyes. Why were they so yellow? Her insides were churning ever so slightly. Suddenly a need to either kiss him or run, or maybe both. 

He reminded her of a cinder from a fire, his eyes the remained of heat. Before she knew what she was doing, she was walking towards him and giving him a lick on the cheek. "It's ok, cata." What in the actual hell was she doing. Her heart knew, but her brain certainly wasn't following along. She turned and motioned for him to follow into the woods.

omg totally. also i posted this from mobile so sorry about any errors

Cas' face was afire from his stupid little faux pas, but it seemed that Pearl did not share his opinion of hinself. the tense moment was broken by the approach of the pallid girl. Holding his breath, the Mayfair boy watched her, eyes widening as she drew ever closer.

Her warm breath felt like a rill of volcanic air; her eyes seemed large as moons; her lips were soft as spring's last rose, followed by the steady kiss of her tongue.  

tl;dr she totally Frenched him and he had no fucking idea what was going on.

Pearl motioned for him to follow and at first Cas stood rooted to the forest floor, staring dumbly after the sashay of her hips. However, his legs began to move of their own accord, and with a few swift paces he brought himself alongside her.

now what?

LightenthemoodohgoshwhatdoidoWhatdididogahhhhhhhhh was what was going through Pearl's head. She had seen a small pond on the way; that's where she was headed. Both of them needed to act normally again to talk, and a water fight didn't seem like a bad idea. As Casmir finally uprooted himself from his dumbfounded state and caught up to her, she changed direction slightly to head for the pond. Her emotions were in a jumble still -- her brain was trying to process what she had just done. They plodded along together, matching strides through the color-tinged forest. 

Upon the arrival to the pond, there had been no talking. She had enjoyed the silence, but she didn't know about Casmir. She paused at the shore, looking at her reflection in the water along with his. We look like an odd couple. She thought, before leaping into the cool water and splashing Casmir in the process. Pearl looked back at him, herself utterly drenched, and gave him the stupidest grin of fun.

he was trying not to stare at her and failing miserably. his brain screamed WHAT THE HELL loudly, over and over again -- it really was the predominant thought in his head. Pearl was silent and so was the Mayfair boy. she had a good two years on him, but perhaps his calm demeanour and height had made her think he was older? Cas couldn't pin down a lucid thought, and only shivered when she splashed water his direction.

however, the playfulness of the gesture was not lost on him; he sent a swathe of creek toward the girl and licked shining droplets from his chin. "hey," he said quietly, once a few moments had passed, his stance inquiring and his ears preening toward her. "c-can we do that again?"

The water cleared her head significantly, and Pearl started thinking through what she was doing with Casmir. It wasn't that unheard of to have a pair with a few years between them, but was she ready to be in a relationship right now? She had just been settling in to pack life again, and still haven't even met some of the pack. There might be someone else, maybe Malachi, that would understand her better (and know how to talk to girls without melting on the spot). She couldn't do this to him, he probably wasn't even a year old yet. 

"Um, what, exactly?" Of course she knew what he meant. She was out of that trance now, and didn't know what to do without hurting his feelings.

she said she didn't know, or acted like it, and Cas wasn't sure how to take that. she had kissed him, after all. he watched her for a long moment, wanting for her to come back to him, say 'oh, yeah, that,' and maybe do it again, but she didn't.

choosing not to clarify, because rejection hurt even when you were young, the Mayfair boy offered her a broad smile that he didn't quite feel all the way down, and lifted a large paw to fling more water at the pale girl. "that!"

She could see her response hurt him. A pang of guilt was felt in her heart. But she played along nonetheless, a momentary splash from her paw was a distraction from seeing the body slam she gave Cas. Knocking him into the water, she nipped his ear and wagged her tail, and indication to play. After all, it was good to have someone to play with. "Come on, let's play!" She said with a glint of mischief in her light green eyes.

Pearl was confusing as hell. no, i won't kiss you or alternately, kissing, what's that? all before she raced at him, tackling his surprised body backward into the water.  he fell with an 'oof' and a massive splash, rolling to his side in the shallows in time to see the pale girl perform a play-bow. "play, huh?" he growled, interested in the romping but also still a little miffed. "sure. let's wrestle. and race. if i win, you have to do it again," he added, gathering himself to his paws with a lash of his tail before launching himself at the girl.

The pale, soaking girl rolled her eyes and sighed inwardly. She was doing a lot of that lately. "Sure. You're on..." was all she could get out before his dark, soaking body smashed against hers. She smiled as she leaped to her feet and returned the body slam, although she being stronger than him for now, Casmir went to the water harder. She jumped on him, playfully nipping his shoulder and jumping off again. How the hell was she supposed to wrestle this guy who wasn't her brother? It seemed weird. She bounded out of the water, stopping at the shore to look back at him. "Well, aren't we going to race? I'm going to win, ya know." She grinned in defiance. Surely this kid wouldn't be able to beat her, with all the experience she had on the plains.

she agreed, and he laughed to himself. they surged against one another again; he slid back but put his full weight into a return shove, catching her ear in a gentle nip as she leapt around him. a plains wolf Pearl might have been, but Cas was lanky and hale, a traveler; he had spent countless days exploring the world around him, and quickly, and often raced against himself in the twilit hours. they were evenly matched, from an outsider's perspective.

"how about we go on three?" he suggested, shaking water from his coat and sidling alongside the pale wolfess. "one ... two ... three!" hindquarters bunched powerfully beneath his dark fur, propelling him forward as his rangy forelegs outstretched to meet the soft earth. the pair had set no rule, no rhyme, no reason for their race -- as far as the boy was concerned, it was 'run until you can't any more.'

On three, Pearl shot like an arrow from her spot. A blur of white nearly evenly matched to a blur of black streaking and weaving through the trees was a fine sight to behold. She felt totally free, just running, the feel of the pads on her feet touching the forest ground and propelling her further. Looking to the side, she saw that Casmir was a few paces ahead of her. Oh yeah, he said he wanted to be an outrider. She thought with no concern. He was still in the lanky stage, not yet filled in, while she had spent hours running with her friends and brother, and had built up some muscle. But then again, that was the wide open plains with no obstacles save for the occasional tree. Here, it took much more focus to run, and she couldn't be fully relaxed. Whatever, I'll beat him anyway. She chose to stick with her fast pace and keep up her stamina. After ten or so minutes, Pearl called out, "Getting tired yet? I could still go for a while."

they were running, truly running, and Cas was finding the tree-crowded course a much bigger challenge than he had envisioned. yet he kept pace with her -- he had been born here, and knew already every causeway and shortcut there was. a leap over a boulder; a slip under a branch hanging at medium height. their paws pounded the earth. Pearl had fallen back a pace or two, but the boy knew she could easily catch up, and shot her a tongue-lolling glance of mockery in answer.

they were nearing the edge of the plateau; soon the two must veer right or left to avoid going over the edge, quite possibly to their doom. Cas readied himself; off to one side of the cliff-face was a tiny deerpath, and this he would take in a snaking run into the flatlands. he wondered what the girl would do.

Well then. Want to end this at the hot springs, maybe?

There was another thing Pearl forgot about Casmir-he was raised here, and therefore knew the land better. Once she saw the end of the Plateau and Casmir disappear down a trail, she skidded to a stop to avoid falling off the edge. Great. How would she get down? She looked about, and with a bark of joy found another path not too far from where she was, and where it went. Though it was smaller, she swiftly traversed the path with her surefooted, dainty paws. When her hind paws finally hit the ground, she looked around for Casmir. When she saw him on the flatlands, in an instant she was bolting towards him, eager to catch up.

sounds good to me!

he had won, and slowed his pace, sides heaving, as Pearl approached, her tread graceful. she looked scarcely perturbed by their race; the boy shot her a purely mischievous glance. "i won!" he exulted, tail flaring up above his hips. "now you have to do it again. that was the deal." whether or not she agreed remained to be seen.

the boy planted his paws and waited for the pale girl to answer with his prize, eyes sparkling as he gazed upon her with a mixture of apprehension and anticipation. now that he was expecting the kiss, it would be better, right?

Pearl rolled her eyes as he talked. Whatever. She smiled and said, "well, you know your way around. I had no clue how to get down." She mock-pouted, tail wagging high. She trotted up to him, barely out of breath, and licked him straight across the face to mess with him. Pausing only to see his expression, her mouth broke into a grin as she exploded in a burst of speed towards what she assumed were hot springs, by the look of the curling traces of steam in the near distance. Laughing uncontrollably and running away was something she mastered a long, long time ago. Casting a quick look at Casmir, she imitated the tongue-lolling  look he had given her earlier. "You can't possibly catch me now, Cata!" She yelled out to him, her voice trailing across the openness of the flatlands. Finally, somewhere she could really run.