Hoshor Plains The Winds of Notos!

Ohhhh, he's so happppyyyy!

He could feel his tail vibrating as his teeth grinding down blankets of grass! Today was a good day- he could feel it! 

Oh, and he spoke to miss Butterfly, too! She told him all about her day, how nice it was, and what her plans were. The bison weren't so happy to see him, but he thought they were just lovely-

And, oh! Dining! Fine dining! Dew coated the grass, and his smile was cracked right on his lips as he shook the nubs for spikes on his head around. Well, he was just so excited, he couldn't maintain himself!

He went after her but Talisman never found the mysterious woman (@Qiao). It was as if her trail vanished into the ether. Part of him wondered if he’d dreamed the entire encounter—it wasn’t the first time that notion had crossed his mind since arriving in this particular stretch of wilderness—but, in any case, he didn’t die from poisoning, which left him to continue wandering.

After crossing a fair meadow and bedding down in a forest that could only be described as creepy or possibly haunted, Talis rose with the sun and trotted further north. He came to the edge of a great lake and took care of his thirst before roaming along the shoreline. On the far side, the lake emptied into a river. The young coyote decided to follow it.

Unbeknownst to him, he walked along the edge of plain where his ancestors once lived as slaves. He strode along at a steady pace, barely aware of the open grasses, until he came to an abrupt halt and turned his head sharply to the right. The wind sloughed across the dewy plain and he could’ve sworn on his life he heard a voice whisper, “Zafra!”

His auburn ears pressed forward, swept back, then pricked again. Talis squinted, then drew in a breath and prepared to keep moving. Before he could, he abruptly noticed movement many yards away across the grassland. He stared at it a moment, trying to focus his pale blue eyes, and realized it was a deer. It became especially clear when the beast raised its—his, going by the antlers—head and shook it all about like he was doing the Hokey Pokey.

Talis crouched, trying to hide his svelte figure among the long grasses. He was hungry but he wasn’t stupid, no matter what that woman implied. He wouldn’t hunt the stag, though he could certainly watch him for a while to see if he did anything entertaining.

There that little tail went again- all wild and electrified as his bowed head ate. The small nubs on his head pushed roughly against the dirt, uprooting grass seed and soft dirt. Launching it up in the air, puffs of air came out of his nose. Then came up his hoof, beating on the ground in clumsy stomps until he got a proper footing in to start digging! But then he found no fun in that, until his mind was running free with what he could do, and what he'd learn to do.

In large jumps, with seedlings of power he did not have, but one day would sprout into a beastly rush, he was jumping in circles. Head down, he used his spikes to continue digging, digging, digging, as the sun enveloped his back, and a large smile was plastered on a night-kissed, speckled face.

His joy, endless and only harvested by a nursery of grasslands and woodlands that welcomed him. He thought of decorating the tree branches in acorns and dry grasses. He thought of how he could pull off barks and wrap the stumps in ornaments. Well, if he could figure it out! Laughter poured from his lips, cries of herds from a million spirits in his lungs, released in giggles of pure curiosity- rivers of jubilation. His mouth grabbed hold of buried seeds and stashes- ones he hoped were abandoned and that no poor creature wanted for later.

Oh, he would just give back in plenty more, double more! He'd make up for it, they'd see! Anything!

Rearing his head up to the sun to take a large breath of air in through gentle, grinning lips, his eyes turned to honey in the light. Simple joys, simple things, simple acts, pleased him.

Then a wind hit him, and he froze as he then gasped! His head was darting in different directions, staring ahead of him, until he thought that he could see something!

The deer pranced; there was no other word for it. Talisman was riveted, arctic blue eyes tracking every one of the ungulate’s wild movements and wondering to himself, Why? Why did he dance like that? Was he simply giddy? Or was there perhaps some mildly interesting, mundane explanation? Maybe he’d been stung by a bee? It seemed a little late in the year for that, though it was always possible.

All the joyful movement came to an abrupt stop and Talis shrunk even further down into the grass, wary of being spotted. What if the buck noticed him and charged? Talis thought he could probably outmaneuver if not outpace the larger creature… but there was no telling, was there? He could get trampled by those erratic hooves. All it would take was one well-aimed kick and that deer could take his whole self out, Hokey Pokey him straight into the afterlife.

It’s time, Talisman thought to himself, creeping a forepaw across the ground, to turn yourself around. Slowly, methodically, he attempted to rotate his body 180°, with the hope of going undetected as he slunk back in the direction of the riverbank.

He...heard...

HE GASPED AGAIN!

Then, his entire body came to a solid still, stopping to stare ahead of him with a parted jaw. Big, wide eyes, trying to understand the parting movements of grasses and leaves. He was sure, right there, he was sure of it! In silence, he watched ahead, hearing jingling around in his ears as steady, nearly invisible steps tried to scurry away.

Another hop, and his legs sprawled outwards as if he were going to charge! Though, no movement, and instead only a yell with a big smile as he realized- oh, oh, oh, oh, FRIEND! He had to make sure the friend heard him! "HELLO!"

While attempting to twist his body in the opposite direction, Talis tried to keep an eye on the deer, just in case. But it was inevitable that his attention strayed to his own bodily contortions as he attempted to stealthily retreat. Prowling through long grasses required a lot of care and focus; those long, slender blades could produce quite a lot of noise to the ears of the animal kingdom.

Speaking of which, he heard a disconcerting amount of sound coming from behind him. Unthinkingly, Talis whipped his head around and sat up a little to get his eyes back on the stag. He was in a decidedly different pose now—a much more threatening one, to be sure—and he was looking right at Talis.

Oh, the coyote said right as the deer shouted, “HELLO!” Oh dear.

It was a matter of fight-or-flight. Talisman abruptly unwound his body to face the deer again, not bothering to conceal himself. He stood at his full height, blinking at the stag with his stubby antlers. Had he really just shouted that? Was he trying to be friendly? It was one thing for a wolf and a raccoon to fraternize, but a coyote and a deer?

Maybe there really is something in the water here, Talisman muttered to himself.

With a quirked brow and strange stare, it was soon after that Winston burst out into laughter! This friend was so goofy! Duh! "Yeah, silly! I'm a deer! And you're a coyote!"

Well, maybe this poor friend had just not gotten a good look at him. If so, it wasn't like Winston had been hiding... Maybe this Coyote had poor senses! That was okay! Winston didn't notice him either!

 Then, after slightly raspier laugh, he shook his head to try and clear himself out of it. Well, their coat was just so pretty! "Well, hi!" Then, he started to prance his way closer to the friend. Closer, closer, closer, and all the while he kept chattering away, hoping for an answer at some point by the end. "My name's Winston! What's your name? Your coat is beautiful! Why- I've never seen something like that before!"

The deer came closer. Talis tensed and licked his lips, disarmed by the creature’s cordial demeanor but intimidated by his presence otherwise. He was large—even bigger up close—and still moving a little erratically for the coyote’s tastes. The way he kept shaking his head and wielding those antlers made Talis warily think, Hokey Pokey, indeed…

Er, he blurted when the deer repeated an enthusiastic greeting, hi?

“My name’s Winston!” he declared, perfectly understandably, which was also part of what simultaneously enchanted and unnerved Talisman. He said a few other things, even paid the coyote a compliment, and Talis continued juggling the notions that he was dreaming, poisoned or possibly both.

Thanks? Why was everything coming out of his mouth a question? Er, nice to meet you, Winston. I think? Sorry, I don’t mean to be all weird, it’s just… My dad always told me not to play with my food but he never said anything about engaging it in polite conversation! I’ve never talked to a deer before, he admitted, a little wide-eyed, too hung up on that to introduce himself.

"Really?" There was quiet shock in Winston's voice, his nose going to lean down towards the new nice gentleman. From side to side, his nose started to wiggle. "You must not be from the band then!" he decided.

Looking the coyote up and down, trying to level with him to make himself not so big and tall, the young teenaged spike looked as though he was waiting for an answer. Well, he sure wasn't getting one- or at least the one that he had been looking for. Maybe because he had not asked! Then, his smile returned in a grin, his tail up and giving friendly wags before he prompted out his next question, entirely oblivious to the fact that someone could fear him. That was a silly notion! "What's your name?"
Wiggly tail, wiggly tail, wiggly tail..........

Really, Talis said a little faintly, faded eyes cutting side to side when Winston mentioned “the band.” I guess not, he could only agree, not at all sure what it referenced.

The deer moved some more, each flicker and twist causing Talisman’s body to instinctively stiffen. But as he stared at the beast looming over him, something dawned on him slowly. It became particularly clear when he noticed Winston’s waggling tail. The coyote focused on it for a beat before his polar gaze raised back to catch on Winston’s honey-brown eyes.

He was kind of adorable.

Oh, um, my name’s Talisman, the coyote suddenly remembered himself, flashing Winston an apologetic smile even as he finally began to ease into this conversation. You can call me Talis, though. Do you… He paused, turning over the question in his mind to make sure it wasn’t some kind of faux pas, not that he had a frame of reference here. Do you often talk to… predators?

"Predators?!"

A gasp again! Fear overcame his features.

Jumping back up to a full stand, his head darted about to try and capture in his sight this predator. "Bears?!" But he thought even bears were of Mother Ursa! Not all bears were predators, right? He didn't see any bears around, but maybe he was blind, and his new friend, Talisman, was much smarter than he! Then, when no bears were spotted, he leaned down with a bend of his knees and whispered, "bobcats?"

"No, sir, I don't think I speak to predators! Where did you come from?" he whispered again, trying to learn of his friend, the idea of fear escaping him again before it flooded back. "Should I be scared?" What if there were bobcats! Bobcats could be mean!

Winston evidently didn’t consider him a threat, nor a predator, based on the next few words out of his soft-lipped mouth. Talisman’s own mouth hung open a little as the deer jerked and twitched—the coyote tried not to cringe—then muttered something about lions and tigers and bears and bobcats, oh my!

He could’ve pointed out that he was very much a carnivore, though why should he spoil Winston’s delightful illusion? Besides, it wasn’t like Talisman posed any serious threat to the much larger beast. He was hungry but he already found himself balking at the mere thought of trying to hurt Winston.

No, no, it’s fine, Talis said quickly. I’m not from anywhere in particular. My parents were nomads and so am I, he shared with a few twitches of his cinnabar tail.

It was entirely possible he was only feeling this way toward Winston because of his recent loneliness, though he very much doubted it. Anyone who crossed paths with this particular stag would be enchanted. It was as if he’d pranced right off the screen of a Disney film.

His stomach chose that moment to very abruptly and loudly growl. Talisman tensed, then gazed up at Winston, wondering if it would suddenly click that they were mortal enemies. Perhaps he could stave off such a revelation.

Hey, Winston, do you know anything good to eat around here, by any chance? Like… maybe some berries or something?

Matching the speed of his nods with Talisman's noes, Winston tried to quickly convince himself that there were, indeed, no bobcats around. Or lions and tigers that he didn't know about.

Staring intensely at the coyote, he listened carefully, as if he were a guide within the terrifying situation that they had just been through together. Or as if he were a decent therapist through that horrible thought. Now long away from it, Winston quickly lit up at the question that Talisman ended with, already broken away from any concept of danger once more. "Berries?" Rising, he motioned out with his head. "Oh, yeah! I know a great place for that! I think it's the best spot!" He left out how long that it had taken him to find it, and how he'd tumbled through bison in order to get there.

"Come on, I'll show you!" With a prance, he was trotting outwards, a steady pace built for Talisman to keep up, his tail high, and that smile no longer ripped away from his features. He simply felt happy to help him, and happy that someone came to talk to him! He hoped that he would get to see him again when they were to depart.

"They're super sweet!" he commented on his way, careful to look back at times to Talisman with patient eyes. There'd been a nice trail of berry bushes that started to sprout out towards the river! The nutrients in the soil made them so yummy! "Gimme just a..sec..." Where were they again... By now, he'd not given too much attention as to the positioning of Talisman.

Where before Winston’s movements had seemed erratic, he now moved rather adroitly. It was, in a word, impressive. Talisman just stood and watched a moment, admiring his new friend’s graceful bounding and wondering why it was so different than before. Perhaps it was simply because he was moving deliberately now, with purpose and a destination.

Before the deer could get too far ahead, Talis broke into a trot. He considered himself a pretty poised fellow himself, though he felt almost flatfooted compared to Winston. He drew up his head and lashed his auburn tail upward to give himself some flair—he knew he looked striking this way—and dashed after Winston, almost as if giving chase.

But, of course, that wasn’t what he was doing. He caught up and loped alongside the larger beast, patient and quiet as Winston cast about for this particularly favorable and sweet berry patch of his.

I adore Winston and this thread, though I think I need to set this little fellow aside for now. Would you care to fade this to black?

"Here you are, mister! Wayllll, I hope it's good enough! I think they're the best. At least, the best I've had in a while. But if you want me to find more, I can do that, too. These good?"

Winston stayed still in place, only to realize fairly quickly that he was, in fact, blocking the berry bush from his friend. So, he took steps backwards, wiggle-waggling his tail nice and friendly, waiting or Talisman to try them with an anxious look. Winston must have truly taken his likings toward the berries seriously, and oh, boy, he did, because what if they were a bad first impression? He sure hoped not! But he stayed with him all the while, watching Talisman eat, and Winston on his stomach with curled legs with a content expression put across his innocent face.

He was glad to have met Talisman.

He hoped he'd see him again, too.

Of course<3