Shadewood Adventurous

For @Spring

Laika padded through the barren wasteland, weaving through trees and over rocks. She stood atop a rock, closing her eyes and imagining the forest thick with leaves and plants of all kinds. 

The canopy of branches and green leaves would block out most of the sun, and snow in terms off winter, giving the lower levels a shady feel. The ground would be covered with moss and grasses along with ferns and others bushes and foliage of sorts. She reopened her eyes, gazing at the dead, lifeless area with hope. It seemed to be a promising place. She would probably end up visiting here often in search of prey in the near future.

She leapt off the rock and continued on her stroll, searching into the depths of the forest for any signs of prey. There had to be something somewhere!!

Spring had unknowingly followed her friend... well okay made she had known that she was stalking Laika.  The other female still hadn't noticed her she was pretty sure... yet.  Earlier Spring had seen Laika pad out of Silver Creek.  Now at the time Spring had been fishing, or at least had been trying to fish, when she caught sight of her friends white furred pelt.  It had taken her only seconds to decide what she wanted to do, since so far she was pretty sure that she was going to get absoulety no where with trying to fish, plus wherever Laika happened to be going perphaps there could be some land prey!  So she had took a leap of faith into the water and held her breath for a couple seconds.  When she came back up gasping for breath, making a fishlike o shape as she refueled her breath.  With that she waited about five minutes, then began to sneak off after her friend.  A little bit of playfulness could even help the dire situation possibly.  After all she had constantly teased Laika that she would get revenge on her friend someday.

Now the two were in a pretty cool forest.  Spring almost instantly felt a wave of like when she entered.  The place was beautiful to her... even without any green.  It just kinda just... stood out.  She wondered what it would look like with greenery.  Spring paused and imagined it for a couple moments.  Waving green tree, that swayed like a melody in the wind and a sweet soft breeze that would trail through the leaves of the trees and make them russle like a tambourine.  The place seemed purely gorgeous in her mind.  At last minute she thoguht she caught Laika on cloud nine too.

As Laika leapt from the rocks Spring made an attempt to creep up behind her friend, very unsure whether or not she had been noticed yet.  Soon she was right behind her friend.  "Boo."  She whispered softly.  Still it wasn't as playful as she had wanted it to sound, her tone hung with a little bit of depression from the loss of the plants and how likely it was that everyone was now going to starve.

Laika was already thinning. Her stomach twisted and groaned inside her, begging for food. She hadn't had a single bite since the swarm left, and it left her weaker than usual. Her hips and ribs were beginning to show -- but not too much yet. Her slender frame still remained, light and graceful as usual. 

Then, Spring snuck up on her and whispered that word in her ear. That word. It was the word she never thought would come out of her mouth at this time. At the time that would leave her heart racing. She let out a loud yelp -- almost a scream -- that echoed through the forest. She spun around, hackles raised, blue eyes wild with surprise. She did not know who it was, and she was afraid it was some creepy lone wolf stalker. But, it was Spring, and as the white women huffed and puffed to regain her breath, she gave a playful warning growl to her friend. "Oh.. Spring. You just made a Big mistake my friend." She couldn't help but grin a little bit as her wide eyes grew back to normal size and her heart slowed to the regular rate. "A storm's a comin'." She teased with her tomgue lolling. 

She reached her paw up to boop Spring on the nose, just to emphasize her words then turned around to gaze at the forest around her. "Isn't this place gorgeous? I mean, even without it's green, it seems unique." Her big blue eyes took in everything they could, storing it in her memory for next time. "It's like it calls to you." The light shown down through a patch of thickly entangled braches, greating beams of light that seemed to float down to the ground. There, at the bottom, a single, tiny shoot of grass had poked it's way up from the surface. It was no doubt less that a centimeter long, but Laika cheered with excitement. It was such a tiny thing that created an enormous breakthrough. This... it simbolizes the start of the regrowth of the plants.

Spring flashed Laika a small, yet sad smile as her friend bumped her on the nose.  She then listened as Laika spoke about how this place seemed to call to her and how gorgeous she thought this place would look with greenery or without.  Laika was right on point in Spring's mind, this place was unique.  It also had some nice cool shadey spots too.  Hmm... it was a forest and shadey - probably would have been more shadey with some greenery.  Shadeforest?  Shadowforest?  Shadowwood?  Shadewood?  Shadewood... oh that sounded lovely.  She liked how sneaky and clever that sounded, yet sweet at the same time.

"Look's like a Shadewood wouldn't you say?"  Spring remarked, with a little wag of her tail at the sound of the cool name that she came up with and how it seemed to roll neatly off of her tongue.  "Your right too," Spring contiuned on to express her opinion about the place, "this place is very unique... it seems to call to me to in a way."  Her eyes cloe for a moment, once more trying to imagine what this place would look like with some plants.  When she opened her eyes, she too caught sight of that one grass stem that Laika had noticed and her heart seemed to race with excitement.  It was a start.

Laika pulled her amazed gaze from the blade of grass to look at Spring in wonder. "That's the perfect name for this place!" She exclaimed looked around them once more. Wherever the branches gave way just a little bit, there would be beautiful beams of light shooting to the ground, lighting up the ground beneath it. It honestly created a beautiful display. 

"Hey Spring," She called her friend. "Lets scout this place out. Maybe we could figure out the best places to find food when they all come back. Maybe we can even attempt to catch something." She thought about her agreement with Shreya and sighed to herself. She hoped that other wolves were providing her with food also, otherwise the old wolf might be as skinny as Laika.. maybe even more so. The thought made Laika shudder and she shook her head. She was going to find something, and she was going to bring it back to her.

Laika turned in a random direction and began walking that way, her eyes set on the horizon in determination. She had to find something for Shreya, one way or another, and she was not going to wait to do it... but she was also going to explore this lovely place as much as she possibly could. Hmmm. She'll just have to multi-task. Without waiting to see if Spring was following, Laika sped off into the distance, her big blue eyes taking everything in while staying focused on what was ahead of her.

Spring's excitement levels rose ever so slightly when Laika approved of the name:  Shadewood.  She beamed for a little bit, proud of herself.  She loved this place... and even though she didn't want to admit it now, she even liked it a little more than Silver Creek...  It was just gorgeous to her.  Not perfect of course... but it was still something.  It felt sorta like... home.

Spring's ears perked up at the sound of scouting.  Hmmm... scouting sounded fun.  Hunting too of course!  Then she could bring prey back for Saena and her pups.  She could actually feel... useful now thaat the herbs were gone.  Determined to find prey, Spring fell in line after Laika to go search for prey and scout out Shadewood.

Laika padded through the forest, imagining herself pushing through thickets of bushes and other undergrowth. She smiled in awe as she came upon a large pool. It sat in the middle of a clearing where the branches of the trees thinned, letting in an abundance of light. It reminded her of the pond Casmir and her came across and she smiled even wider at the thought. It had a slightly muddy and Rocky base, but the water was crystal clear. What was it with the water in this place? It was like everything here was pure and natural. She padded up to the bank and squealed with delight. The pond was literally overflowing with fat, glistening fish. The fish survived from all the bugs that had gathered here, trying to consume as much of the algae as possible. At the far end of the pool was a trickling stream that fed the pond that had carved it's way through the ground and over rock ledges. It was purely amazing.

She glanced around once again, her eyes trailing the path of the stream. "Should we follow the stream? Then we can come back and hunt later." She said, her voice obviously overcome with excitement. "Or we could try to catch these fish now." She added. She turned and padded up the stream a little ways, noting that it led deeper and deeper into the seemingly vast forest.

This thread is now making me crave some Salmon.

After chasing after Laika for awhile, the two came upon some fish.  Beautiful, gorgeous fish.  Her mouth began to water at the thought of eatting one of them and crunching on it's sweet taste and gaining those precious calories, protiens and nutrition from it.  As Laika asked whether she wanted to go walk down the stream and explore or hunt, her brain and stomach seemed to go to war.

She quickly considered reasons for both.  Her brain told her that if they explored more of the territory and followed the stream, they could learn more about the territory and maybe even find another hunting spot.  Yet her stomach told her more obvious points.  Fish = Food.  Food = Happiness.  Happiness = Satisfaction.  Satisfaction = Peace.  She would also of course make sure to bring the biggest fish that she caught - if she even caught any - back to Saena and the pups.  Spring finally decided what she wanted.  It was the most important thing at this point in time.

"We should hunt," Spring told Laika, trying to ignore the fact of turning down her friend's eagerness.  Still, it was the right thing to do.  Who knew when they would get a chance like this again.  She decided to mention that to Laika.  "Who knows when we will have a chance like this again."  Spring remarked.  "Food is the main priority in a situation like this.  It would be best to at least try and collect some while we have to chance."  She added.

Lol

Laika cast one last glance towards the stream before padding back down to Spring. Her friend was right. She needed to focus the remains of her energy on finding food not only for herself, but for Saena and the pups, Shreya, and her pack in general. "Okay." She barked. Thinking of food did make her stomach twist with excitement and hunger and the silver female slunk up the the pool. She stayed in a crouch as she surveyed the water, making sure that the fish could not detect her shadow -- just as Casmir had taught her. She definitely didn't want to ruin yet another fish hunt. She turned to Spring, and a thought suddenly hit her. She had never seen her friend fish before.. wait... maybe she did. But that was so long ago -- long before they were even within the Teekon Wilds.  Even so, she didn't ask if the Gamma needed a refresher. If she needed one, she knew she would ask. 

Laika lowered her head and crept forward even more, silently slipping into the shadowy shallows. The water lapped gently as her paws and thick belly fur as she slunk forward, staying within the shadows. Large trout and other fish twisted and shimmered as they swam throughout the water. For a moment, Laika wondered what it would be like to be a fish, swimming along the cool water like they were birds in the air. She shook her head slightly as if to clear her silly thoughts and focused on the fish again. She had to do this.

Want to do this by dice rolls?  I did that for Spring, she rolled a 3, so she failed.

Spring was glad to hear that Laika complied to what she offered.  Her gaze then shifted from her friend to the water or the fish.  Determination fizzed through her pelt and she made sure to hide her shadow best she could.  She had to make this kill, just had too.  She had to do this for Saena and the pups.  To keep the most vital part of the Pack at least kinda healthy.

She waited for a fish to get close enough to the bank, and then without a second thought she flung not her paw into the water... but herself.  Okay, so Spring had never hunted fish in her life and right now she was doing it the wrong way... quite obviously.  As she jumped in a huge splash of water arose from her sudden crash of wieght and all of the fish dissapeared... of course.

Guiltily Spring climbed out of the water, soaking wet.  Why hadn't she been more careful?  Maybe not have jumped into the water?  Spring angerly thought to herself.  She pinned her ears back feeling terrible.  "Sorry."  She whispered quietly.  Head and tail dropping as she sat back on her haunches, guilt swarming her like bee's to a hive.  Still a few fish came back, sadly this time around it was only three of them and they were on the skinnier side.

Laika rolled a 4. Success!

Laika let out an exasperated sigh as she climbed out of the water and flopped onto the bank. She watched Spring in her soaking wet fur and couldn't help but laugh. This must have been how Casmir felt when she literally did the same thing. "You're fine." She mused, blue eyes twinkling with more laughter. 

She he got up and attempted to catch her own fish, following the steps the Delta had instructed to her. She skunk forward and silently slipped into the water, once again letting it lap at her paws and belly fur. She waited there  for quite a while, hoping a larger, more healthier fish would turn up. After several grueling seconds, a large, slippery trout came into view, and despite the female's hunger, she held back until it got closer. She bunches her muscles and leaped, this time aiming for the most probable place the fish would go. Deeper into the pool. She landed into the water. She could feel the fish slapping against her paws, and quickly trapped it between them. However, she couldn't hold it there forever, and she dunked her head, grabbing the fish as best she could without it getting away. She lifted her head, blue eyes dancing with triumph. She bounced out of the water wth a still struggling fish. It wriggled and whipped its tail around, slapping her in the face a couple times before Laika could kill it. 

Breathing heavy, the silver she - wolf set the fish down and flopped down onto the bank, her belly rising and falling in quick,  rythmic breaths.

Woah.  That was all that Spring could think for a few seconds after Laika caught that fish.  Questions swarmed through her mind like wasps to their nests.  Had Laika serious just done that?  How had her friend made it look so easy?  Had it been hard?  How had Laika done that?  This was beyond SPring's comprehension.  How do you just catch a fish like that.  It was even a nice sized one too.

"Wow.  Nice catch Laika."  Spring complemented her friend, disbelief and surprise hinting in her voice.  She paused for a few moments, just staring in awe at the fish.  Laika sure was amazing, her friend could pull off some pretty cool stunts.

"This one's going to Saena." She announced around the fish in her mouth. She couldn't help but laugh as Spring's disbelief and surprise showed up in her face like a glowing light.  "What? You didn't think I could do it? I've been practicing!" She teased, setting the fish down so she could talk properly. And I had a good teacher, she thought. She turned back to the lake once again. Then she glanced at her friend. "Try again! Just wade into the shallows where it's nice and shadowy. Try not to make so many ripples, and stand there until you see one coming closer." She advised. "Just choose one that will be suitable enough to fill at least one belly!" She added, though there was a hint of amusement within her singsong voice.

She turned and sat on her rump, waiting for Spring to attempt to catch another fish. Her stomach growled with frustration, but she pushed it away. She would catch another one! She would!

Spring rolled a 3.  Faillure.

Spring had to admit, she was quite a bit jealous that Laika had pulled off the task, when she had failed, but all that did was push her determination even further.  She could do this.  She had to do this.  Spring listened to Laika's directions as attentively as she could pull off.  In the end she had heard about half of what Laika had said, after being to focused on the water.

She been to wad into the shallows in a nice shadowy spot.  A fish - although it was on the smaller and skinnier side sadly - was swimming closer and closer to her paws.  As soon as she thought it was close enough, she pounced... and missed.  A splutter of angry thoughts filled her head and she lashed her tail with fierce anger.  Why couldn't she just get this right?

Laika rolled a 2. Another success!!

Laika frowned as her friend's fish got away. She tried to figure out what could have gone wrong but she couldn't figure it out. Mostly, it just had to do with luck. Laika had failed many times herself. "Almost there!" She commented, hoping it made her feel at east a little bit better. If Laika caught a next fish, it would go to Shreya. If she caught a third, she would eat it -- sharing with Spring of course. The silver she-wolf padded around the pool a couple times, trying to find where the fish were hiding out now. She was beginning to get the hang of fishing, but she was still a beginner. 

She finally found a cluster of trout hanging out by one edge. They weren't as large as the first one she caught, in fact they were quite skinny compared to the other one, but it was still better than nothing. Laika crouched at the end of the water, watching as the water reached for the shore in tiny little ripples for just a moment before concentrating on her prey. She focused in on one, silently slipping into the water and lowering her head. The fish moved off a little ways, but once Laika was still for a while, they came wandering back. She turned into a white blur as she pounced, pinning the fish the the bottom of the shallows. It was writhing in vain, and slowly making it's way out of her grip. She had to act now! At just the right moment, Laika plunged her head in and snapped it's spine with her jaws. The taste of blood made her mouth water and her stomach screamed for food. Laika closed her eyes and forced the dire need for food down. She needed to feed others first.

8 = Success!

Spring watched with a strong pang of jealousy as Laika caught yet another fish.  She lashed her tail cross with herself and very disapointed that she had yet to master this skill.  It was so unfair.  Why couldn't she just get the bloody fish?  She watched and waited for Laika to come out of the water, before making any move to go back into the water for another attempt at catching a fish.  "Nice catch."  Spring told her friend, trying very hard to hide the hints of jealousy out of her voice.  Once Laika was fully out of the water, Spring began to make her way towards the water without a single word.  She then silently slipped into the water, a single fish on her eye.  It was on the skinnier side, but it still had some meat on it, so it was kinda decent for the circumstances.

Spring dove at that moment and clamped down on the fish with her razor sharp teeth, feeling a sweet squirt of blood and guts squirt into her mouth.  It tasted pretty good, from that one little squirt, but the fish was not done yet.  It began to squirm, wriggling in her grasp as it fought for life, yet nature was cruel, so this fish would die dispite it's fight for life.  Spring swam back to the shore, pushing herself onto the bank, the bloody, wriggling fish still in her mouth and she wore a triumphant, cheesy smile, quite proud with herself.  Although dispite how hungry she was, this fish would surely go to Saena.  Spring clamped her fangs hard, down on the fish and it's life ended quickly after that.  Like water to a flame.

First, Laika rolled a 3 = Fail! Second, Laika rolled a 4 = Success! I'm having her try two times since this will be her last time hunting in this thread.

Laika laughed with glee as she set Shreya's fish next her the other one she had caught earlier. "There you go!" She barked, happy for her friend. "I'm gonna try one more time. I'm beat!" She padded up to her favorite spot again, slipping into the water and feeling it tugging at her fur. She slunk forward, eyeing the perfect fish. It was skinny, but better than nothing. She lowered her head and leaped. Unfourtunately, her aim was horrid and she landed to the right the fish, scaring it and all it's friends away. Stupid fish! She thought with a furious lash of her tail. But she controlled her anger and decided to try again. 

She walked around to a different side -- one she hasn't tried before. This should be a good spot. She waded in, peering about into the depths of the water. Ripples of liquid lapped just above her ankles as she moved forward. Finally, another fish came into view. It was the skinniest one of all! She silently snorted with exasperation in her head as she continues to slither further in. Of course the one she will eat is the smallest. She concentrated hard on this one, standing still for a long while and waiting for it to meander closer. Finally, it was withing shot and Laika lunged for it, grabbing it with her teeth this time and standing back up. The fish must have died on impact because it was not moving like Laika had braced herself for. She smiled with triumph, casting a hopeful glance towards her friend. Then, she spoke as best she could around the fish in her mouth. "You hungry Spring?"

Spring vaguelly listened to her friend, once again jealous with another catch from Laika.  She was about to head back into the water to go after another fish, but as she approached, she accidently slide her shadow over the water and all of the fish swam away.  Disapointment punched her in the gut, but not hard enough to make her lose her appetite.  She did have that fish for Saena after all.  At least that showed something.

Spring accepted Laika's offer, padding over to her friend gratefully.  "Sure, thanks Laika."  Spring answered to her friend, glad to finally have something to eat, besides the Locusts, because they were just beyond disgusting.  Especially after remembering her first Locust with Saena.  That memory lit up the ghost of a smile on her features.

Laika smiled and settled down near her catches, gaurding them from other predators as she prepared to share one of her fish with Spring. She ripped her share from the carcass and gratefully gobbled it down, her stomach quieting for the time being. She grinned from ear to ear, triumph dancing in her eyes as she glanced back at her two other kills. Saena and Shreya would hopefully eat well tonight. Her white tail thumped upon the ground as the silver Delta turned back to her best friend. "Once you're done, we should probably head back. It's getting pretty late. We can explore this place later on though. I still can't get over how amazing it is!" Laika marvelled as she glanced around once more. Then, she turned back to Spring and watched her eat. 

Short post X-X

Fade with your post?

Spring quickly finished eating the fish, so that she wouldn't have to make Laika wait to long, all the while listening to her friend talk.  "Thanks."  She murmured quietly to her friend, grateful that Laika had been kind enough to share the fish.  She then reached down and picked up her own catch.  After they got back, she would most certainly give this to Saena and the pups.  She glanced up at the sky and noted that Laika was right, it was getting pretty late, as the sky was starting the darken.

"We should come back here another time, your right.  For now though I also agree that we should head back, it really is starting to get late."  Spring agreed.  Then with a smile to her friend, she contiuned on.  "Yeah, this place is very beautiful, but after some thought I still like Silver Creek more."  She remarked.  Silver Creek wasn't Phoenix Maplewood, but it was still home, because that was where her pack was.  It was where she belonged.

Sure! <3

Laika nodded as Spring spoke and got to her paws. She could understand why her best friend perfered Silver Creek, just as Laika did the Shadewood. Sure, her pack was within the creek, but she couldn't help but get a chill running down her spine whenever she entered this magnificent forest. It was like this place has a secret it has to tell. 

Her blue eyes glanced up to the sky. She knew it was late but apparently she was too preoccupied to notice how dark it was actually becoming. She nodded once again to her friend with a flick of her tail. Although she was reluctant to leave, she still had her duties she had to attend to by the end of the day. She picked up her catches, ignoring the tantalizing salty taste and began to make her way out of the forest with Spring at her side. She had to admit, it was exciting to see what Saena's reaction would be to her Beta and Delta ariving with two decent sized fish for her and her pups. Hopefully she liked fish!