Broken Antler Fen Good girls Bad guys

anyone is welcome to this, Kareja has been practically non-existent as I was waiting for Horosk and I to finish up our current thread so... Maybe someone she hasn't interacted with, @Embry?

Kareja padded through the woods in hopes of scouting out any struggling plant life that might be returning to the Fen. It was possible that the beginnings of recuperating foliage might be coming back into the marshy forest she called home, the shy girl was determined to find any of it and make sure it grew.

White pelt snagging on a bramble, she turned to pull it out but froze at the sight of a seed clinging to her thick fur. With an excited squeal, Kareja pulled the seed free of her confining coat and lay it down in front of her. 

While Kareja was unfamiliar with the plant, it hadn't grown in the arctic she had called home, it was indeed a seed. She didn't care what kind of a plant as long as it was possible to grow. 

Promptly the female dug a small hole and dropped the seed into it before burying it back under the dirt. She halted in her movements as she determined whether or not she should water it, deciding not to risk it. The Fen was marshy enough and some plants died from over watering, Kareja definetly didn't want to drown the plant, which she nicknamed Planty,  before it could even begin to live.

Sounds great! I really want to broaden Embry's relationships among the pack. :)

     Embry's agile body carried him swiftly throughout the forest, his sea-green optics sweeping across the surrounding territory. Another day with nothing. He thought with a familiar pang of disappointment. He had been hoping to provide more for his pack, hoping that his presence would make even a slight impression on the effects of the famine. So far, the pack went just as hungry. Sighing, the male halted and parted his lips, scenting the air for anything that could be a lead. When he realized that this was a waste of time, he lowered his head and pawed at the ground to suppress his growing irritation. 
     
     As if on cue, something nearby caught his attention. His ears swiveled subconciously towards the sudden break in the lonely silence. His gaze traveled swiftly across the barren terrain until it finally rested upon the soft white coat of Kareja. The sight of the female, who so vigorously worked at whatever it was on the ground, helped somewhat reassure him. His irritation ebbed away as he padded closer, purposefully scattering twigs in his path so as to forewarn his packmate of his presence. "Kareja!" He dipped his head in greeting, a grin playing at his lips. "You look so pleased. What in the world are you doing?" His tone was playful as he circled around the plot of unearthed roots and dirt, sitting across from the arctic wolf with polite consideration of her handiwork.

Kareja was known for being shy, timid, maybe spunky once you got past the social awkwardness that was the small white mass. One thing she was not known for was her grace, rather her clumsy nature was defining.

This was proved as Kareja promptly turned and tripped over her own feet in haste to wrap her paws around the tiny dirt mound covering Planty. Embarassingly enough for her, Embry stopped a foot or so away from stepping on her tiny project and causing her display to only make a fool of herself.

Good going Kar, now he probably thinks you're a freak. Must you embarrass yourself in front of every male close to your own age? At the rate she was going, she would never have a boyfriend! There was the little crush she had had on Horosk for awhile though that had faded quickly due to lack of speaking with him. Embry was one of the younger males of the pack, the only one who either wasn't taken or she wasn't interested in. It was fitting that such a creature as herself would scare boys off like the plague.

Shaking off her thoughts, Kareja sent him a bashful grin as she got up. "Oh er, hi Embry. Sorry about that..yeah that was an accident, let's go with that. I was just afraid you would step on Planty." 

Kareja could have face palmed-if she had palms-for revealing the lame nickname for her plant. She had practically painted the word 'loser' on her forehead. Cringing slightly, she waited for the golden male to make some derisive remark about the name she had bestowed upon her seed.

Embry's grin widened as he watched the female stumble, amusement glittering in his gaze. He stood quickly to assist, but she had herself under control before he could really do anything. So, feeling rather lackadaisical, he sat down and chuckled. "Planty..." He looked down at the small seed with interest. "What a great name. I bet he's a proud little seed." Feeling rather sheepish about his comment, he quickly followed it with yet another content chuckle. He quite honestly needed some light energy to dispell earlier's negativity. Plus, he found the female's clumsiness sort of cute. At least, he thought, she doesn't try to hide this side of herself. The thought reminded him a lot of a past relationship. He wasn't exactly looking for a girlfriend at the moment, but if he wanted one he might as well get the river flowing. 

     The sight of the seed was also quite invigorating. After so many months of such little produce, it was comforting to find something so inspiring. This girl and the hope she brings, he thought. It's been so long since I've been around a fellow youthful spirit, both plant and wolf. He snapped out of his daze when he realized he'd been staring at the mound of dirt, lifting his head to face Kareja. "Uh... W-where'd you find this seed?" He quickly started, hoping she hadn't detected his slip. If so, he at least hoped she could relate.

Since she wasn't much of a people person, Kareja didn't notice much of a mood change in Embry. To her he just appeared to be lost in thought. Just as the thought of giving him a prod to see if he was okay crossed her mind, he seemed to snap out of it as he stuttered out a response. Maybe he's shy too.

"Oh thanks, it's not very creative but eh." Kareja gave a small shrug as if to say 'What are you gonna do?' "Here." She turned her head and gestured to her flank where the seed had gotten caught before realizing that it made no sense.

"Uh well I mean it got stuck in my fur, not that it was there originally ya know.." With a sigh, Kareja gave up on the sentence she was fumbling her way through. Gesturing at the brambles with a jerk of her head, she tried again. "It came from that bush."

Embry watched as the female gestured toward the various locatons, following her gaze as he learned of the seedling's short journey. "Wow! It must like you a lot." Feeling rather emberrassed at his dim comment, the blonde male stood and shook out his pelt, averting his gaze.  You dolt, he chided himself bitterly, stop acting like a pup. You're a grown male.
    
     "It's so rare these days. I trust you'll take good care of it." He sat down once again across from her, still avoiding her gaze. He was acting too squirmish, even for his age. "It's basically the future now." Stating the obvious - it was apparently his shtick today. Sighing, he glanced at Planty and patted the dirt down around it. "There you go, Planty." He said, feeling compelled to make some sort of humurous act. "Nice and tucked in."

"I like to think so. Ya know I had a mentor once back home, she said plants had feelings. She told me she sang to her plants and they grew faster, so maybe Planty does like me in his own way." Kareja plopped down comically as she spoke, cocking her head almost horizontally as she rambled while looking at the plant.

Embry's words seemed to register and she audibly gulped. "Oh yeah, guess it kinda is. That's a big responsibility..no pressure or anything right? I mean its not like the fate of the Fen isn't in your paws or anything.." Kareja mumbled to herself worriedly. Who was she kidding? She was the Queen of Anxiety-what was a little more?

Embry hadn't intended to stir up anxiety. He had just meant that the plant was a rare and inspirational sight. Here I go again. He watched the female's expression change with mounting guilt. "Uh, no. No, I don't think it's quite that important." He said, his voice slurring in his haste. He bent his head to the ground and frowned. No, that was definitely not how he meant for that to come out.
     "I mean, er... I mean it is important - very, very important." He countered his previous statement. "It's just nothing to worry about. This plant can care for itself, too. And there are plenty of others, anyway. Besides, it'll probably die before it reaches maturity." He spoke without thinking, which was quite unusual for Embry. As soon as he said it, he felt his heart drop. "Ugh, I'm saying this all wrong." He laughed, half to himself.

Kareja blinked up at him as he rambled on, obviously feeling bad for the spurt of extra nerves he had caused her. For some reason, Kareja cracked a smile. Biting her lip, she tried to stifle her giggles as it became clear she wasn't the only socially awkward wolf in BAF.

"Hey, Embry? Breathe." Kareja shook her head, chuckling slightly. "Besides, he's not gonna die. I won't let him."

Nodding, the petite she wolf seemed to come to a decision. "I like you." She stated bluntly. "Yep, it's official. We're friends, can't get rid of me now." 

Embry was very surprised at the female's sudden comment. She likes me? Wow. He felt pretty good, considering that only seconds ago he felt as though he could've been anywhere else in the Teekon Wilds. Her words stopped him right in his tracks, his mouth still hanging open as though he simply could not get the words out. Slowly, his gaze reached her own and something strange kicked in. He felt he could definitely trust Kareja.
    
     Standing up, he shook out his pelt yet again and grinned. "Get rid of you?" He scoffed at the idea, his eyes sparkling humorously. "Why ever would I do that?" He glanced at Planty pointedly. "We have a plant to grow." He cocked his head, his grin still just as evident. So this is what it's like to have genuine packmates, he thought with enthusiasm. To have people that actually like you. The idea was very inviting. "You know, I like you, too. So, I guess we're stuck anyway." Feeling slightly emboldened by the new mood, Embry glanced toward Planty's home-bush. "I wonder if there are anymore seeds?"

As he stared at her slack jawed she began to wonder if it was the wrong thing to say. Perhaps he didn't want to be friends? Kareja shuffled a paw in the loose dirt anxiously, glancing up in surprise at the next words to escape his mouth. A huge grin threatened to split her face in two and her tail thumped the ground loudly on happiness.

Broken Antler Fen was a familial pack, one built on relationships amongst its members. When Kareja had joined most of the other wolves were already close to each other which left her like the new kid of a class looking for somewhere to sit at lunch. Besides a few other odd ends-Val,Horosk,and Fallen Star-Kareja had pretty much been her own friend. It was good to finally have one member who seemed to like her hanging around.

Starting for the bush as she tried very conciously not to fall over again, Kareja began to scour it thoroughly. "Dunno. It's possible though. Though I think I'd prefer not to get another one of those stuck in my fur again." 

Embry nodded vigorously. "Those brambles are always a big pain." He commented, shouldering aside a few to make a spot for the female. He felt very happy to have somebody in the pack he could talk to. It made him feel more like everyone else. Together we're not alone. His thought, though seemingly quite obvious, held a lot of meaning to Embry. His past siblings had always kept him company, but even then he'd felt alone. He looked over at Kareja as she was searching and grinned.

     "I'm not seeing any other seeds." He said after a few more minutes of brushing past brambles and pulling them out of his fur. "Planty's a loner for now." He glanced back at the mound of dirt as if it might somehow disappear. He felt very protective of it now, no matter how childish it felt. "He'll produce more seeds himself someday, won't he?"

"Yes, eventually. I'm not sure what kind of plant he is exactly, we didn't have these lying around where I grew up." Kareja gestured to the brambles. "So, I'm not exactly sure when he'll be grown."

A sudden thought hit her. She knew next to nothing about Embry. Just his name, what he looked like, that he could be a bit awkward. "Where did you grow up anyways?" 

Embry stumbled for a moment, having been close to asking her the same question. "Uh, there isn't much to say about that area." He started, feeling a bit guarded. To be honest, he was simply ashamed of his past. "I grew up within the fen, but we were never members of the pack. We left early in my life, anyway." Upon the final word, he clipped his gaze to the side and shrugged. He hated having the attention on himself, especially in this area. He didn't quite feel comfortable enough to dispose such information yet. Hoping he hadn't created a mental barrier, he searched her gaze and sighed.

     "Let's face it, I'm no talker." He said, trying for a playful grin to lighten the mood. "I'm honestly way more interested in your past, actually. Your fur color, for example. It's so... white." His tail wagged gently as he nudged the female's shoulder.

He didn't seem to want to speak about his past-staring to the side uncomfortably as Kareja watched. She wouldn't pry nor push him to speak about it, giving him a sympathetic nudge. 

"Oh, me? I grew up way to the north. It's always cold there and it's almost always winter, that's why my fur is white. So I can blend in." Kareja explained with a fond expression on her face as she remembered her homeland.

"I lived there with my mom and my sisters. When the ice cracks every year there are these huge floods, my dad wasn't around because he drowned in one of them." She said this bit matter of factly, for she didn't miss her father. She had been the only surviving pup of their second litter and a newborn at the time. Kareja hadn't known her father well enough to miss or mourn him.

"My sisters eventually moved away because they found mates and went to carve out their own territory. I stayed with my mom after they left but one year there was this big flood-it came farther inland than I had ever seen. My mom..she didn't make it." Her voice was hushed, posture deflated with grief.

"I headed south after she died..I traveled around for awhile before I turned west and landed on the border." 

Embry was very glad that the female wasn't offended. She understands, he thought warmly. He also found it comforting to not have known a father or mourned for one either. When her voice hushed, though, he allowed himself to close the small gap between them just enough to brush his flank with her's. He knew how it felt to lose a family member.

     "I'm so sorry about your mother." He said, not mentioning that he had purposefully left his own behind. "You have such will in you. Not many wolves could have continued after an event like that. Especially not alone." Stepping away, he stared down at his paws and allowed a small moment of silent vigil to pass between them. He couldn't comprehend how hard it must have been to leave her home like that and come some place so different. It made him feel worse to think that this was the place she had chosen, and all it had given her was a famine and a bunch of locusts.

     "I never really was close with my father either." He ventured, hoping to clear the silence again. "I don't even know what he looks like, or really anything about him. He could be anywhere, doing anything right now." The thought was a bit unsettling. He knew he was being contradictory with his own actions, but who would be so mean as to leave a their wife and pups? Once again, though, he quickly turned the attention away. "How do you cope with living here? After all, your adaptations may not suit you as well here."

She smiled at him as he pressed against her, letting him know she was okay silently. He gets it. He didn't have a dad either and he lost his family too, else he wouldn't be here. "It's okay."

Kareja listened intently as Embry brought up his father, a concerned tone in his voice as he stared down at the ground. She wasn't sure how to comfort him, she couldn't tell him where and what his father was up to nor if he was even still alive. Instead she leaned against him, offering silent compassion. 

The question surprised her but perhaps it should not have, it was a reasonable inquiry.The Teekon Wilds were much farther south than her old home. "When it gets hot I shed much of my fur. I like to swim too, that helps." Despite the flood she had survived, Kareja loved to swim. She had an phobia of deep water and wouldn't go past anything higher than chest level but anything below that was fair game for the arctic wolf.

Embry, comforted by Kareja's actions, listened intently as she explained how she coped. It was actually quite interesting to learn about a different way of life. Swimming, eh? He thought to himself. I bet it isn't too hard. He glanced at Kareja, wondering what he was like from her point of view.

     "Er, swimming sounds... fun." He said after a lull in the conversation. After she had leaned against him, he'd become very tense. Truthfully he was perfectly fine with it, but he feared that if he even moved an inch that she might, too. So, he sat upright and hardly breathed, wanting to relish every moment of the comfort while he still could. Maybe talking will help.

     He bent his head slightly to look at the female, who was slightly shorter than he, and tried for another grin. "I've never tried swimming, to be honest. It looks so strange." As far as he could remember, water was meant for drinking not diving. Nevertheless, the prospect of dipping into something cool and refreshing wasn't appaling.

Kareja nodded, realizing she was still resting her shoulder against his. His muscles had tensed up stiffly from the contact. Oh, maybe he doesn't like to be touched. The small she-wolf had been raised around physical people, she hadn't even thought twice about touching Embry. It was just natural to her.

Kareja moved to the side with a clumsy little scoot, nearly toppling over in the process. "Whoops. Uh..sorry 'bout that." Had she been able to blush she might have, being a wolf she instead settle for ducking her head shyly and avoiding touching Embry again.

Alright, I'm out for the night! It's 3 AM where I am. Have nice dreams!

     "No!" He said quickly, pacing forward. "No it's fine." He brushed past her pointedly, showing it was alright. Too late, he found that perhaps he should have acted less taut. Shifting, he glanced over at her and shrugged. "I, uh, I should probably get going anyway. Plus, I'm sure Sebastion will be more than happy to learn of your new discovery." He summed up a small grin and stepped forwards, parting a patch of brambles for safe passage.
     "I hope we can do this again some time. I really do enjoy hearing your stories." He said, his sea-green gaze glinting with genuity. "Perhaps you could teach me how to swim sometime?"  His tail wagged at the thought. No doubt they'd both be quite clumsy. Together, at least. Not alone.

"Yeah, sure. I'd like that." Kareja gave him a big wolfy grin before he disappeared into the foliage, chuckling at his antics as she replayed them in her mind.

Stopping by Planty, she gave the dirt mound an affectionate pat before continuing on her way. She had a friend, hopefully one that would be around for awhile.

same to you! I'll archive and thanks for the thread