Blacktail Deer Plateau You said it- I'm losing touch

AW! Pack formation thread

Taking her mother's suggestion into account, Thyra moved inland to scout out the area not far away, so that the journey would be easier on the children, and that the terrain might provide a better place for them to spend the winter. It was lower in elevation, still girdled by dark woodlands and still lightly scented with ocean air, whatever came in with the wind that made its way through the forest. 

Along the fringes of the plateau stood tall aspen, and amid those aspen moved a herd of deer who seemed to take little interest in the lone wolf as they moved toward thicker cover. She could hear the rustling of a river nearby, and when she approached the stand of aspen, she could peer down the stony edges of the Caldera, and out over the flatlands. 

It was different from what they were used to- but still would make an excellent stronghold for the pack, nestled in the embrace of the mountain so that they could survive the winter. 

But there was a problem. 

The territory did not come without its own set of inhabitants, and among them was a family of skunks. The little ones were big enough now that Thyra felt they might also be capable of spraying, but she had no doubts about the Mama skunk, who warned her off with adorable stamps of her hind feet. The wolf whined. She wanted them to move, and leave the territory because for sure, one (or all) of the pack's kids would find the skunk, bother it, and get sprayed. She needed to shepherd them out of the territory before the kids showed up. 

But how, exactly, does one herd a skunk without being sprayed?

He'd begun to put his tracking skills to good use, and Thyra's fresh trail was pretty easy to follow, though she did meander a bit. Unbeknownst to the boy, he was being followed at a distance by his mother, who had sent Thyra off only to notice that her son seemed keen to follow. She allowed him, wordlessly, and he was completely oblivious of the tall shadow that had caringly followed him down the slope and onto the Caldera until she reached out to nip the tip of his tail.

He spun around, surprised, and a bit ashamed he'd been caught. Behave, His mother told him, which he took to mean both forgiveness and permission- and he bolted over to where Thyra had something small, black and white in a bit of a standoff near the edge of the Caldera. 

"What doin?" He asked.

The skunks were less than impressed to have another wolf join them- and while Baldr posed much less of a threat, his ignorance made him risky. Thyra cut him off by sticking one of her dark limbs directly in his path, bringing him to an abrupt halt. "Baldr! What-" She looked over her shoulder just in time to catch her mother's laughter as she headed back up toward the Keep. She looked back toward the skunks. 

The mother stamped her hind feet again, and the three skunk kittens began doing the same. 

"You see this?" She asked. "This means they are angry. It is a warning, Baldr- and when they do this, it is best not to get any closer or they will spray you and you will stink for ages," She explained, wrinkling her nose.

"What is?" He asked, wanting to know the name. 

She directed his attention toward the stomping the skunks were doing, and with a gleeful laugh, he began trying to do the same, but somehow, they managed to out-stomp him by leagues. Every time Baldr tried to balance on his front feet, his little front legs gave out and he tumbled sideways. He heard what his sister said, but he didn't think there was much of a chance of getting sprayed if maybe they just tried to do the same thing the skunks did!

"You do, Thyra!" He said, finally managing to balance on his front paws long enough that he could rock back, and then stomp his back feet against the ground. He bounced on the spot, pleased with himself.

This wasn't going to end well. 

The young babysitter fretted every time Badr toppled over, as there was always a chance he'd topple toward the skunks, and the mom would give in and finally spray them. She reached out to fish him back in her direction every time he bobbled forward a bit too far, until he managed on his own. 

She laughed a nervous laugh, and cast a wary eye toward the skunks who seemed to pause, just to watch what the wolves were up to. She sighed softly, and put very little effort into stomping her back feet, without bothering to lean forward onto her front feet. "There, like that? See, though, it does not bother them."

"Noooooo, like dis!" He said, leaning all of his weight forward so that his hind legs kicked in the air, and his spine came nearly perpindicular with the ground. When he brought his broad hind feet back down, it made a pleasing thud! sound, and when he looked back up, the three little skunks had skittered back, behind their mother. 

"See? Look!" He took a step forward and repeated the action, which caused both the mother and her three kittens to back off, bewildered by the wolves exhibiting nature that was uncomfortably close to theirs.

Thyra wasn't sure she should try it. Her legs were much longer, and if she fell forward, she would be far too close to the skunks...But when little Baldr managed to do it twice, each time sending the nervous skunks back a few paces, she drew in a shaky breath, shook her pelt to try and get some of her nervousness out, and gave it a try. 

She tried very little at first, before she realized that she would have to tuck her head under if she really wanted to be able to lift her hind end very high off the ground. It felt very unnatural- and she wasn't entirely certain how it was that skunks managed to do such a thing, but when she stamped her hind feet back down on the ground, the whole family went skittering off into the undergrowth, and down the side of the Caldera.

He hopped as he watched his older sister attempt to do the skunk stomp, yipping to encourage her until she finally committed, and did it. Like a bronco about to buck, she tucked her head and hauled her hind end into the air, pausing a moment there as though suspended, before she slammed her hind feet back down. He let out a high, childish giggle as the skunks bolted off and immediately, he bolted after them.

"NOPE!"

She reached out and grabbed her ambitious brother by whatever she could grab him by, and managed to catch one of his thick pawpads in her mouth, to bring him to a stop. She pulled him backwards a few feet on his belly, before she dropped the dirty paw out of her mouth and spat out a few pieces of dust and leaf litter. 

"No, we don't go after skunks- remember, they are stinky," She reminded him. "You did a good job, Baldr! Chasing them off without getting sprayed at all!" She said, reaching down to nuzzle his forehead. "You will make an excellent guardian someday brother!"

"Ouf!" With one foot grabbed from beneath him, he fell to his chest, and felt himself being dragged backwards on his stomach. He reached out with both forearms to try and grab onto something, but Thyra was too strong, and in an instant, the skunk family was lost from sight. He considered going after them again when he was released, but then he was reminded that it likely wouldn't be a good idea...Though he'd never smelled skunk before, and was curious to find that out by himself. 

Praise appeased him, and he panted, waving his little, chunky tail as she nuzzled his head. "Let's go s'plorin!" He said, "Do border patrol!" After all, if he was going to be a guardian, he'd have to get to know his new home!

'Well, now that the skunks are gone," She said, casting an eye over the edge of the caldera to make sure she couldn't see or hear them anymore, "Sure, let's go!" She said. 

Alongside her brother, they moved around the borders, through the aspen stands where porcupines chewed the fresh growth off the lower branches, and deer scraped their antlers against the bark of the evergreen. She could hear the shrill cry of elk in the distance, and fresh rabbit droppings could be found in piles in the tall grass. Once they had gone around the borders, she took her thoroughly exhausted brother back up the slope toward the Keep, to report on the first patrol of what would soon be their new home.