Haunted Wood how many freakin’ vampires am i supposed to care about these days?

Frolic exhaled as she padded after @Eljay, reaching up every now and again to tug at the skin wrapped around her throat. It was hot and itchy, though she didn’t dare complain. She was lucky to be alive after her latest escape; for some reason, her elders had decided not to murder her. And this was part of her punishment: she had been tasked with accompanying her father as he collected the season’s last greens and tucked them into the makeshift pouch. At the end of the day, they would be stored in his “medicine cabin” for winter.

She didn’t say a word as he trotted toward the trees that bordered the caldera to the south, keeping her mouth shut when her father led her into the shady wood. The temperature drop was a relief, plus there was more to captivate her interest here. Although she wasn’t particularly invested in what Eljay was doing—what plants he collected and for what purposes—the change in scenery certainly piqued Frolic’s interest.

Something in the treetops caught her eye and she halted to stare upward. She swore she saw a pair of yellow eyes blink down at her before they vanished. Frolic’s brow furrowed. She kept staring, yet the eyes didn’t reappear.

Speaking up for the first time in hours, Frolic asked, Hey papa, did you see—? only to drop her gaze and realize Eljay had moved out of sight.

It was upon eager paws that Glee sped along in the wake of her father and sister, though It was unbeknownst to them both. In her defense, they hadn’t been too far ahead, and @Maia had said it was okay so long as she followed them and didn’t get distracted and wander off. Which was a tall order for the rather easily distracted youth, to be fair. But, she managed it.

What she failed to manage, though, was to slow down before barreling through the brush and plowing right into Frolic. Her eyes widened in surprise before collision, but were shut tight as she tumbled across the ground, breathless with happy giggles.

Despite her experience with the wildcat, Frolic was much more afraid of her father’s anger than any potential predator lurking in the treetops. Sucking in a breath, she scrambled forward to catch up with Eljay before he noticed and scolded her for dropping out of his sight.

She’d just caught a glimpse of his striped back through the brush ahead when Frolic suddenly found herself on the ground. This wasn’t at all unusual for her, though the additional heat and weight of another body was certainly not the norm. Frolic blinked owlishly until Glee’s familiar, merry giggles filled her ears.

Frolic rolled onto her belly with a grunt, then propped herself up on her elbows and grinned over at her sister. She was always welcome company, though particularly right now. Frolic rocked onto all fours, absently brushing leaves, sticks and other such things from her chest and legs.

Was that you? Up in the tree? she wondered, not waiting for an answer before demanding, How’d you get up there?! You gotta show me!

Glee rolled onto her belly beside her sister, beaming brightly as she watched her sister stand. She shuffled to face her, not lifting her body from the forest floor. She fixed her face with a silent, playful snarl, but dropped it swiftly for a look of curiosity when a question was posed. Her gaze darted up to the treetops as she scanned the branches for some sign of whatever had been up there that Frolic thought had been her, but she was unperturbed when she found nothing.

"Yah!" Glee chirruped without hesitation, thinking this must be some sort of game, "An eagle came down and picked me up and it flew me up into its nest in a tree and I got to meet its babies!" She bounced onto all fours, her tail wagging. "I came back down 'cause I saw you guys," she added, "I dunno where Mr. Eagle went, though. We can look for him?"

When Glee concocted quite the explanation for her arboreal perch, Frolic slowly squinted, lips pursed as she gave her sister an entirely playful “sure, Jan” look. Despite this, she couldn’t quite decide if she really didn’t believe the unlikely tale or if it was just plausible enough to be real…

We gotta figure out a way to get up in the tree, she chirped in agreement when Glee floated the idea of looking for the eagle. He’s gotta be up there… right? I wanna see the babies. How many are there? Frolic asked, looking very closely at her litter mate’s face.

It didn't occur to Glee that what she was doing was technically lying. She was at that age where the line between lies and her imaginings was innocently blurred. She meant no harm in telling her tales—she simply knew them to be more fun than the reality, which was that she truly had no idea what actually had been up in the tree. It was more exciting to agree that it had been her, that was all.

"Three!" Glee answered promptly with a nod, as though recounting their just seen faces, "Two girls and a stinky, stinky boy." She scrunched up her nose in disapproval, not making the connection between the imaginary eagle brood and her own litter. "What if I throw you up there? I can try??" Glee offered eagerly, bouncing forward as though to grab her sister by the scruff and fling her to the treetops.

Glee answered readily, not a single eyelash out of place. Frolic continued to squint a moment as her sister even went on to include some convincing detail. Belatedly, it occurred to Frolic that it was strange for the eagle in question to be male. Perhaps that was the hole in Glee’s story.

But she forgot to be skeptical when her litter mate cheerfully offered to launch her into the tree. She didn’t have to ask Frolic twice. The instant her young brain registered the concept, she beamed.

Yeah, let's try that! Frolic exuberantly agreed, bracing to be grabbed and Gleefully yeeted.

Frolic was down with the experiment—no surprise there of course. Glee merrily dug her teeth into her sister’s ruff and with a grunt of effort, whipped her head up towards the tree. Or, she tried at least. Frolic’s weight kept her from being able to move that much or do much other than tug her around a bit, but she tried a few times before collapsing.

”You so heavy!” Glee exclaimed in surprise from the ground, ”Maybe you should jump?”

Glee tried to hoist her, yet Frolic barely budged more than a few inches. In an effort to assist her sister, Frolic let her body go limp. Glee kept on trying, though she only managed to drag Frolic around like a floppy ragdoll. Frolic giggled helplessly all the while.

Eventually, Glee gave up and fell to the ground, dragging a laughing Frolic down with her. When her litter mate released her scruff and exclaimed, the golden pup rolled onto her belly, weight supported on her elbows. Despite their failure, she grinned.

I can’t jump that high! she protested, tugging mindlessly at the wrap around her throat, which had gone lopsided during that ill-fated venture. You know what’s the next best thing, though? R—

Just then, Eljay reappeared. Although his gaze was soft on his daughters, Frolic immediately clamped her mouth shut in a grimace. Was she in trouble? But their papa didn’t scold her, just reminded her that they had a job to do. He asked if Glee would like to join them as a second assistant but only if she promised she could stay on task.

Frolic widened her eyes and bobbed her head at Glee, hoping she would tag along.

Glee giggled and shook her head, astounded that Frolic wasn't even willing to try! How did they know she couldn't jump that high unless she made the effort? She was going to argue the point, but she was distracted with intrigue as it seemed like a Plan C was about to come her way.

She would have to wait to find out what that was, though, for Eljay had appeared to give them a gentle lecture. Glee, having no idea what he and Frolic were doing out here in the first place, stared at him with smiling fascination as he explained. And when Frolic's eyes widened and her head began to bob, Glee leaped forward to stand right at her side, mimicking the motion and the expression as she gazed adoringly up at her father.

Satisfied with his daughters’ response, Eljay turned and moved off through the woods. If Glee made to follow him right away, Frolic thrust out a black foreleg to stop her sister in her tracks, giving her a look. She peered after their father, waiting for him to pad out of earshot, then leaned in close.

It’s so boring, Glee, she hisspered, snorting a giggle before straightening up, adjusting the skin strapped to her throat and saying more loudly, I’m sooo glad you’re coming with us! which was the truth.

Hopefully with her sister to tag along, the whole enterprise would be a lot less of a drag. Eyes sparkling, Frolic bounded in Eljay’s wake. Her wrap momentarily got snagged on a thorn bush, nearly choking her, but Frolic yanked it free, looked around for Glee, laughed sheepishly and proceeded.

I was wondering if you’d like to fade this one in favor of a thread where Frolic takes Glee to visit Seal? :)

Glee was prepared to speed off into the trees to start collecting as many plants as she could (regardless of their medicinal properties) when Frolic stopped her to give her a warning. She blinked curiously at her sister, wondering how on earth such a task could be boring? But she grinned at the compliment, her tail wagging appreciatively.

"Bet I can find more than you!" she said just before they set off, only to pause when Frolic got herself caught in the thorn bush. Thinking that looked like fun too, Glee giggle and dove into it to get herself stuck as well, only without the choking.

Yes, it was going to be a very productive endeavor.

Sounds good to me!