Sun Mote Copse The Hunting of the Snark

Treasure hunt, little minions! @Crow , @Avery , @Pox , @Sugar Glider , @Weejay , @Nellie and @Bronco and any adults, who feel like kids themselves. :) Set for some time next week. There will be 3- 4 rounds and the success of each individual will be dice-rolled and written in Wraen's posts. Let's see, how it works out, if it does not, then the game rules will be adjusted.

Work was the best remedy for sorrow and, when Wraen had come up with a both educational and fun idea for the kids, she was glad to have some distraction for her own sorrows. Ever since Pox had begun to demand presents every time she came for a visit, she had made a nice collection of various items to supply the demand. And one particularly interesting piece was an almost full set of a deer's ribs and backbone, with a creepy skull as a cherry on top of an already tasty cake. Her treasury had limited space to house everything she had accumulated over time, therefore after some thinking she decided to give the kids something to do. 

Wraen walked the whole length of the copse, until she found the best area for the treasure hunt. There she hid and scattered various pieces of the vertebrae and bones, but in such a way that they formed a path. A variation of bread crumbs strategy from Hansel and Gretel, except each individual bone was located several steps away from the other. Often not at the most obvious places and there were some trick pieces as well. To lead of the main path. At the end of it, by a tree that had been uprooted during a storm, in a freshly dug hole she had hidden the skull and just in case the lucky finder was not particularly phased by it, she added some more toys and pushed the sand around it. 

She let it all settle for a day, checked that everything was in place and then carrying a piece of vertebra in her mouth, she went to the rendezvous' site and called the resident kids together. "I saw a Snark in the woods today. Who's up for a hunt?" she asked.

She and her pesky brother had been moved to the rendezvous site not too long ago, and Nellie was enjoying herself there. Sure, the visits from aunty Fin and the nice den had been sufficient enough to appease her a few weeks ago, but now that she had gotten a taste of freedom there was almost no stopping her. The copse was wonderful, everything was so lush and beautiful - there was so much to see! And, as a bonus, she finally got to hang out with kids besides her own brother. She was still a little shy, not so jumpy as Pox nor as talkative as Elfie, but probably a lot nicer than Bronco.

Snark? She questioned softly in a small voice. That word sounded scary, but a hunt sounded so fun. Besides, she was with the older kids now - they probably weren't scared! Maybe, to fit in, she'd just have to go along with it.

Avery was digging when Wraen came to the rendezvous site. It was something she had definitely picked up from Sugar Glider, and she could often be found making little pock marks all around the clearing these days. She had amassed a small collection of items, although she was very picky about what she kept -- so far, she had a snail shell, a plain black rock, and an acorn top in her collection.

She looked up from her current excavation as Nellie was the first to reply to Wraen. She blinked and straightened, then made her way over to the adult. "W-w-w," she began, then frowned and paused. "W-what's that?" she said with some effort, although her brief frustration didn't eclipse her curiosity.

Ever since their arrival, Sugar had been shadowing Bronco and Nellie, curious about these pups she didn't know nearly as well as her litter mates, Elfie and Weejay. Today, she ranged after the towheaded little girl. Despite their age difference, they were close in size. When they passed one of Avery's small holes, Sugar turned her head sideways and shot her sister a smile. When she faced forward again, her pink nose nearly rammed into Nellie's rear.

The younger child had stopped to address a visitor, a she-wolf whose face was familiar to Sugar, if not particularly well-known. Stepping up to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Alpha's offspring, Sugar's black eyes studied Wraen's face. She had been the one to tell Pox stories not so long ago. "Dragons," the puny pup remembered, murmuring under her breath.

Now with being a striking four month old specimen of a wolf Elfie began to look down at his playmates with some sense of superiority. He was bigger than them, he was faster, he could jump up on spaces, where others could not, and all in all... let's face it - he was better at almost everything else. And he enjoyed that small triumph over the rest of the folk, without realizing that in due time they would catch up with him and by the time they all were yearlings, those couple of months age difference would hardly make a difference. 

Wraen was a baby-sitter he met quite often and, though he did not show it outright, she considered her a special friend (but - shush - no telling others; everyone knows that adult friends are bo-o-o-oring and not cool). He assembled with the rest of the crew, taking side by Nellie, of whom he felt something aching to a fondness ever since he had attempted to kidnap her at an early age. "A monster!" he declared and waited for Wraen to affirm that he was right.

Pox, as usual, was down for whatever games his favorite babysitter came up with for them. They were always sufficiently challenging and they filled his imagination to the brim with thoughts and ideas that excited him. He was quickly reaching the age where he wouldn't believe in things like dragons or snarks anymore, and his sitter's games would become boring as he grew too cool for little kid games like this. But for now, he loved them and looked forward to every one of them.

He listened eagerly as Wraen shared the news of her discovery. His eyes widened with surprise and righteous anger. He bumped his shoulder against @Crow (whom I shall be liberally powerplaying with permission), his voice low as he growled, "Bastards..." He didn't notice his brother roll his eyes and look away. Apparently Crow had already reached that too cool for games stage. Not Pox, though. Pox was ready for this.

Round 2 - pick a trail and follow it. You can dice-roll, whether your toon succeeds to find the bone trail or not.

The great thing about Blackthorns (with exception of Eljay) was that you did not need to coerce them for an adventure. You spoke the magic word and they all lined up before you, ready to dart off, the moment you pointed out where to. Wraen was happy and proud to have the attention of 99% of this year's fire-chicks and, once it was clear that no one else was joining them, she went on to explain, what were they doing.

"The Snark is a monster of many faces. Each sees them differently. It can be a bit like a dragon," she looked down at Sugar glider. "Or it can be a bit of a monstery-monster or... in a sense it is a..." she paused, not sure of whether she should repeat the swear-word that Pox used so liberally nowadays, "... a villain, because it steals stuff and makes burrows to hide them."

"Take a good look and sniff at this," she pushed the vertebra towards the assembled Snark-hunters, "I saw his hands full of toys like this and more. So full that some of it scattered around. We need to find and follow a trail and, who knows, maybe we will find the treasure spot as well," she explained.

Once everyone had done their kind of inspection - be it by eye, nose, taste or hefty bite - she led the group of children to the hunting grounds and let them loose. All the while keeping an eye on them, so that no one strayed away too far or get in any other trouble.

Rolled a dice to see if she'd be successful (See tabletop) and she will be! At least, successful at finding the trail.

Her brows furrowed. Bronco! She blurted out, finally knowing what this Snark would look like for her. Sure, he was more annoying than scary, but she didn't really have anything else that bothered her as much as he did. She'd been a bit of a wimp before she understood the copse, but now that she did - even water didn't scare her anymore!

She stuck out her little nose and took a good ol' whiff. It smelled like bone, a lingering "meal smell"... To be sure, she ran her tongue over it, getting a little funky with the vertebra, before planting her nose on the ground. Imma find! She declared, almost as if she was already victorious. With a suspicious look to the other kids, almost as if to say "don't you dare follow me", did she depart on her hunt for this trail of treasures.

Nose pressed closely to the ground, Nellie "tracked" the smell of the vertebra. In reality, she stumbled upon a piece of bone by pure accident, but it still made her feel proud. A bit farther was another piece, then another... Wraen was right, the Snark really was leaving a trail behind! What an idiot, maybe it really was Bronco all along...

Avery's ears tilted back against her crown as her siblings and friends speculated as to what the Snark was. Whatever its true identity, it sounded kind of scary -- especially once Wraen confirmed that it could be any one of the things named. She didn't like dragons, monsters, or villains, so she didn't especially want to go hunt down this Snark.

Rather than set off eagerly like Nellie had, Avery stayed rooted to the spot for a moment. Toys and treasures sounded enticing, and the vertebra Wraen presented did smell good, but she looked nervously at Sugar, Pox, and Crow. She would likely choose to follow her sister or brothers instead of looking for her own trail.

Pox listened close as Wraen explained what snarks were and what their mission was that they were being tasked with. The bastard had apparently stolen their toys, and now they had to hunt him down and get them back. That sounded exactly like something he was going to be awesome at. He grinned and puffed out his little chest, looking around at the other puppies with a haughty smirk on his face. He'd taken on dragons before and won, so obviously a snark was going to be nothing.

He glanced at Nellie as she cried out the name of her brother like a weirdo, but then looked away as Crow whispered to him this is stupid. Pox frowned, uncertainly, then went back to smirking and whispered back, "That's cause you know you're gonna lose." That apparently did the trick for even though Crow rolled his eyes and stepped away from him, he looked a little more determined now. 

For his part, Pox bounded forward to inspect the scent, then bounded forward to tear off down a trail. He did not go the right way, but damnit he would ride that wrong trail straight to hell before he gave up on it.

Diceroll - success!

The activity was fun and the only downside was that Weejay was not here to enjoy it with him. Elfie waited untill all of the assembled people scattered, took his time to examine the bone from all sides and have a good sniff of it as well. With the details he considered important in mind, he stepped back, lifted his head and tasted the air first, found nothing, then decreased a level down.

For a moment there he was not sure of himself, seeing that everyone was hard at work already and tracking something. Pox looked particularly determined, perhaps, it would be easier to trail along and pretend that he had found something as well and it happened to lead in the same direction? But - no - that would not do. Blackthorns found their own ways even if it was not the right one. Doing the same would be boring, right?

So he simply walked ahead, doing some perfunctory sniffs here and there, until the same way as Nellie he came across one vertebra. And then the other soon after. How cool was that? He kept a little distance away, letting the girl to take the lead.

As Sugar grew older, she was less prone to cases of the "whelmies," auditory or otherwise. But as the commotion peaked around her, the youth quickly realized that, however enticing the game, she would rather retreat. She exchanged a look and a nudge with Avery before backpedaling, swiveling and making for a quieter corner of the rendezvous site, where she could observe from afar without being directly involved.

Round 3 - the final one. Arrival at the treasure spot.

Children were all different to their approach to solving problems. Nellie was lucky by finding the correct trail right away and Wraen had to stiffle a chuckle, when the girl gave everyone else a warning glance of not following her. She was similar to her mom - beautiful, no doubt, but fierce and independent as well. 

Avery was a little unsure about, what to do, and Sugar Glider gave up on the problem alltogether. Since this was just a game and the attendance was voluntary, Wraen said nothing. But she did make a mental note on being attentive to this kid during the future lessons. There was no "I won't do this"-kind of bailing out, when it would come to real hunts and working together with other packmates. She made sure that the little Blackthorn girl returned safely to on of the adults and then returned to watching others. 

Pox was enthusiastic and determined to a fault, his excitement was so contagious that it left little room for his other two siblings to think for themselves. Even if they were going the wrong way completely. She let them have their fun for a bit, and, when Nellie and Elfie were within short distance of the actual treasure spot, she got up and padded over to Pox, stopped him in his tracks and told: "I think that I caught a whiff of Snark over there." She beckoned to the direction the other two kids gone taken off. 

Her narrator hopes that she managed to convince Pox that her idea to go the other way was his work of genius all along and that by the end all kids had narrowed down on the correct spot near the base of the uprooted tree. There was plenty of soft sand to dig into and the remaining vertebra and some ribs were scattered all around.

Avery was a little uncertain about the whole thing, and she smiled when Sugar Glider briefly approached and nudged her shoulder, but she frowned as she watched her sister walk away. She was half-tempted to follow, but despite her fears, she was still curious. And it looked like Pox was having fun! The other puppies were searching, too, but her attention was drawn to her bold brother.

She watched as Wraen gently redirected Pox, and then she began to move slowly towards Nellie and Elfie. She still hung back, not wanting to get right up in the action, but her ears were pricked as she gradually closed the gap and peered around them, trying to see what they would unearth.

Pox eventually decided that he had most definitely found the bone. He was no where near where the bone had been buried and had no evidence whatsoever to support his determination, but this had zero effect on his confidence that he had, in fact, found the bone. He began to stab his little paws into the dirt and kick it out of his way, sending clumps of earth shooting in a spray behind him.

I hate to disappoint the narrator, but when Wraen approached and tried to get him to follow, Pox barely even looked at her. He glanced up once to give her a frown before going back to his work. Whether his beloved babysitter knew it or not, there was SOOOOOOOOO a bone buried here, and he was going to find it. Let the other kids go get those loser toys--he was going to dig up the real treasure. Even if it took him all night and he ended up on the other side of the planet--he was going to win in ways no one ever expected!

The sunny child dug up the trail piece by piece, getting followed by two other pups. When she looked over her shoulder and saw them she frowned. Hey! She called. I found Snark first! And they better not forget it. If they were going to share her victory, they better know she was the MVP of it all. She stuck her nose in the sand again, picking up the pace a bit when she finally spotted the tree where the treasure was hidden.

Of course, she didn't know it yet, but the three ducklings, but most importantly Nellie(!), had found the Snark's hiding spot. She sniffled around it for a bit, looking at the others. Trail gone. She informed them if they hadn't figured it out, or perhaps she was talking to herself if the others hadn't followed her all the way here. She turned to the tree again, looking at the last piece of the trail she had found, and back again. It didn't really click for her that she had to start digging, but after a while of being bored she did anyway.

Elfie was a bit taken aback, when Nellie rebuked him and Avery, but said nothing and simply let the girl walk ahead, before trailing along behind her, keeping a safe distance. In case she decided to go from words to actions - he had suffered enough from puppy-teeth not to wish them to spoil his fun this evening. 

He did notice that Pox was on to something as well. His little uncle's determination was so convincing and strong that it radiated from him all around the area and hit Elfie like a wave. Had it not been for Nellie's call - he would have given in and joined Pox. Despite the fact that Wraen had attempted to point the boy in the right direction. What if there was a better treasure hidden there?

He bounded than to the metaphorical red X mark on the map and began to dig excitedly a little distance away from the girl. After all she was the victor and had privileges. However, he was not entirely without a gain either. Soon he had unearthed a set of hare's ears (and a skull dangling underneath, but he noticed that later). He grabbed it, pulled it out with vigour and bounded away proudly. Whatever Nellie would have to say in the matter, he was not gonna give up on this treasure!

Concluding round - last one from me, I will archive it at the weekend.

Planning games was one thing, it was entirely a different thing to see them carried out and learn from them. Wraen did not push Pox away from the task he had immersed himself in so vigorously. Maybe there truly was a bone that she was unaware of and the young Blackthorn had found a jolly extra. She let him have his fun, though she kept a watchful eye and ear open to the place, where the boy was working. 

Nellie on the other hand had found her way to the intended treasure spot, had begun to dig and she was glad to see Elfie there as well. The latter was first to extract something from the clutches of sand and he scurried off with it. He would be fine. She, on the other hand, saw that everyone was a winner in her game and were safely delivered back to rendevouz's site.

Avery paused when Nellie shouted over her shoulder, but after a few seconds of hesitation, she continued forward a few more paces. She didn't get too near her bolder female counterpart and divided her attention between Nellie and Elfie, observing them like someone watching a tennis match -- back and forth. Elfie started digging first, while it took Nellie a bit longer to get to it, but they both eventually successfully unearthed some treasure.

Although she hadn't done any investigating herself, Avery was still excited to see that her friends completed the task -- and that the Snark wasn't all that scary after all, since it was just a bunch of leftover bones at this point. In her quiet, stuttering tones, she told Wraen how much fun she had had as the babysitter escorted her wards back to the rendezvous site.