Blackfeather Woods the palace needs dirt!

All Welcome!

It was The Big Day for Akashingo's royal palace decorator and tutor to the world of flowers. He'd been scoping this forest out for long enough that he swore he had its scent memorized. It was perfect for mixing with the dirt near Akashingo's palace, and perfect for Kind Queen Toula the Great's royal garden. 

Much to his delight, it had rained long enough ago that the wonderful soil was still moist. Not saturated with rainwater, but dry enough to form clumps that paws could bash upon reaching their destination. Haizel had come prepared- a few palm leaves lay delicately by his paws as they raked against the bark of a tree, scooping the dirt up and onto one of the leaves. 

He was under the impression he could carry all of the leaves in his mouth at once, when they were full. That should be enough, right?

There was a nonzero chance the wolf had been moving in circles. It didn’t really matter to him, though, as he had no location in mind. No end goal. He was fine just exploring…the issue was, he’d rather not explore the same thing twice. But without the ability to smell his piss, he couldn’t guarantee he hadn’t been here before. 

He’d figured out fishing, at least, and rivers were plentiful, so he wasn’t relying so hard on his scent to eat. It..wasn’t ideal, and the slimy fucks always seemed to give him stomach problems, but it was enough to make his body stop complaining. 

He’d at least recovered fully in other ways and didn’t seem to have any problems with his leg anymore, but he was losing hope that he’d ever smell again. 

The forest didn’t look familiar..then again, forests rarely had distinguishing features. In that respect, it looked exactly like every other forest he’d been in. But not in a familiar way. 

Aaand it happened again. Without any way to smell others nearby, he just sorta stumbled on to them. And this wolf was very much awake, unlike the last. He wouldn’t be the one to say something first. In fact, he hoped he’d gone unnoticed. He’d wait to see.

Unfortunately for the stranger, Haizel's nose, ears, and eyes were always on the lookout for company. Pair that with his large frame and it was quite certain that he would be spotted in an instant, which he was. The doe-pelted man turned his head and looked at him, a bundle of palm leaves dangling delicately from his dirtied jaws.

Fortunately for the stranger, the warlordly-sized wolf had a marshmallow for a heart and loved making new friends as much as he loved flowers.

Hi! I'm Haziel! Ya mind helping me for a second? his tail wagged.

He could..run, slink off into the brush..if he moved slow enough to not bring attention. The large wolf seemed occupied.

Until he wasn’t. Fenn’s ears fell. Was he carrying leaves? Why? 

And what did he want with Fenn? 

Oh what the hell. He might be able to score food out of this. Real, bloody food. 

He didn’t move closer, but relaxed himself, letting out a breath he’d forgotten he held. 

”That depends on what with,” he replied. He’d offer service, but he had limits.

His smile was friendly. Did he wanna help?! Yay! His tail wagged faster as he nudged one of the palm leaves over. 

I am Haizel, Royal Palace Decorator and Sesh of Akashingo under the Great Queen Toula, he said with pride, though really it was just to explain quickly what else there was and to transition to what he was doing. And I'm on a mission to build a royal garden for everyone back on the mesa! But the dirt there isn't quite good enough for plants where the garden's going to be and I need help bringing some dirt here to put there! 

It was good flower dirt.

He giggled, realizing 'services' did not mean willing without payment, as he was rather well-cared for by Akashingo and freely gave his services to the pack. He didn't have to hunt, as Tuna and the others were more than happy to hunt for him. 

What... sort of reward are you after?

As he feared, the hulking wolf took his limited interaction as an invitation. He said a lot of words, and Fenn quickly began tuning most of it out. He got the gist. Dirt needed moving. 

His ears visibly trained on the wolf at the mention of reward. 

”Food. Fresh, warm blooded food. And information. If you get me that, I’ll help you move your mud. And a place to wash up after,” the wolf tagged on, noting the..general dirtiness of his new acquaintance. 

This was work, sure, but at least the other wolf’s mouth would be occupied for the most part.

Haizel is the quest giver for this man XD

The giant looked overjoyed! He could barely contain himself. This wolf said words that he could do I can take you back to Akashingo! There's always food there and there's places you can wash up, and- 

he... stopped himself from talking and looked a tad ashamed of himself when he realized the wolf did not appreciate his excited yammering. Haizel rephrased - and paraphrased - his words. I can do that, yes. If you put as much dirt as you can on these leaves, that would be helpful.

he went back to dirtying his paws, scooping pawful after pawful onto his own palm leaf.

Fenn could see he’d successfully relayed to the wolf that he’d rather not get invested in whatever shenanigans he was involved in, and he fought the urge to grin. The food alone would be enough to make Fenn work, but it would be a massive plus if Haizel—or whoever Haizel was working for—could give him information on his father. 

The whole thing seemed senseless to Fenn. Why on earth would this wolf be concerning himself with a task like this? He was big, a brute. He could easily spend his time massacring wildlife to feed his pack. 

Whatever. 

Fenn followed his lead, grabbing a leaf similar in size and daintily pushing dirt onto it. He knew he’d need to get dirty, but he’d still try and keep his coat clean of the dark mud for as long as he could. 

”How far?” he asked, though not just asking to see how long this whole thing would take, but out of genuine curiosity.

((Fr lmfaoo, sorry Fenn’s such a dick. Haizel seems so sweet haha))

All good here. Haizel's entire backstory is that he took one look at his father's warlordy brutality and noped right into pacifism.

The man was a complete and total pacifist. He hated killing anything, from a mouse to an elk; a useless hunter. He'd managed to 'Haizel' himself into a cushy job with excellent benefits; a job he loved and devoted himself to... simply by being his big, flower-sniffing self. 

Honestly, one couldn't do much better than that. Just south from here, it's a tad bit of a walk, I admit, but it shouldn't take too long, his tone had dropped its friendly glamour whilst working. It was cordial, and had an air of contentment to it, but it was not overexcited anymore. He had a job to do, this was his job.

He was a dedicated gardener.

Fenn could walk. Hell, he'd been walking. But if the walk concluded in the promise of fresh meat, he had no issue completing it. 

"Good," he replied. 

He continued piling the dark soil onto the leaf, noticing a work wriggling about. He could do the nice thing and return it to the surrounding dirt, but the thought didn't cross his mind. 

"I'm Fenn," he finally said, after much internal debate. The wolf at least deserved to know his name, if he was going to be giving so generously.

((omg shared daddy issues lmfao))

friendship through daddy issues! n. n

Haizel debated whether or not to return a worm in his own pile of dirt to its home and friends. A small ramble could be heard under his breath as he thought this out. On one paw, there probably aren't many worms in Akashingo. Too hot and sandy for them - but it makes more work for everyone involved to keep it cool and I haven't seen it rain there once since I got there. He'd have to aerate the soil by paw while he was mixing it into the garden's dirt. It was better to do the extra step to save the worm's little life. 

After some time, he'd gotten a suitable amount of dirt. Ooo.. Fenn! That's a nice name! How ya doing with the dirt, Fenn?

Fenn looked over, wondering what the wolf was saying.

It was a good name, he agreed. Short, easy to yell. 

"It's uh. I guess I'm almost ready to take it."

Sorry for the wait, got caught up with Coyote Shenannigains down in the lowlands c:

Haizel's large form was all smiles. Yay! his tail wagged as he barked, shuffling his own leaf to be more carryable. 

This should be enough, I think. Let's go! And I'll make sure you can eat and rest! he'd gladly give up his own chamber if he had to. The doe-man was quite comfy just about everywhere.

Fade here + do a backdated thread where they deposit the dirt and eat?

”Please,” the wolf replied, not impatient, but also not hiding his needs. 

He was really looking forward to a full belly of food that didn’t leave a rank taste on his tongue. 

He fidgeted with the lead for a bit, eventually getting a good grasp, and waited for the large wolf to lead. It’d be an annoying walk, trying to juggle this thing without it dropping, but one well worth the proposed reward. 

((I’m totally good with that! Just ping me on Discord with the thread when you have it :3))