Dragoncrest Cliffs this that burn, this aint no perm

the first thing sobeille did when she was certain @Tousaint was not coming back was look for his fox pelt. it was not in the gnarled tree, it was not at the rendezvous, it was not anywhere she thought to look.

foiled and frustrated, the would-be thief turned back to glintwater.

a splash along the bank announced she was not alone. among the partially thawed ice-cover was a beaver, the thing sobeille had mistakenly assumed @Ajei referred to when she spoke of otters. sobeille sighed, throwing a stick in the beaver's otter's general direction as she trudged along its cold banks.

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Walking was supposed to help the arthritis. It was supposed to be good for her.

Whoever had invented walking could shove themselves up her--no, that wasn't the right phrasing. They could go fuck themselves is what they could do.

She limped along, her nose to the ground, because it was supposed to help ease the pain in her joints. Instead, her joints screamed at her even more. Why was she even doing this? What was the point? She should just throw herself into the ocean and die. She'd lived a good life, hadn't she? Or... good enough. Whatever.

She did not notice the young one coming toward her.

as sobeille walked, she became aware of footsteps near her. pausing in the reeds, sobeille listened to the footfalls, analyzing the stiff footfalls.

the crone.

sobeille had something of a reverence for old women, but even that did not stop her pounce from the reeds. SURPRISE!

Astera wasn't far. She noticed the otter, and payed it some heed. It was an odd thing. A muskrat that had been pulled in two directions. She was aware of the newcomer in Sapphique, and had taken notice to the fact that she appeared to walk on feeble legs. Not knowing much of physical decline at older ages, Astera was careful not to cause any unintentional injury.

Sobeille seemed to have no such concerns. Astera sighed as she saw the girl leap out of the reeds, making her way to the scene.

The old woman jumped when the young one came popping out of the reeds, then she felt something in her back pop and she hissed in pain. Get away! she growled, sinking to the ground. She’d be here a while now, stuck until her back stopped spasming. Away! she snapped again. Nasty creature! She did not notice the other one.

sobeille's prank went afoul in short order. she'd managed to scare the woman, but in doing so, had also managed to irritate something in kheviel's back.

sobeille stepped back as the woman began spasming. this was a novel reaction for the girl. in all her pranking, she had never caused convulsion. most wolves might feel the burn of guilt or shame to see their prank run aground and hurt a friend: not sobeille. she watched almost clinically, wondering where in the assembly-line that was kheviel's spine the kinked, broken link sat.

astera came into sobeille's vision then, earning a wag of the girl's tail. she bit back her tongue as kheviel called her a rather deserved epithet. what be wrong wit' your back, kheviel?

Astera bit back a laugh at Kheviel's dramatics. Surely some backache couldn't be as painful as she made it to be. What was wrong with her back? More importantly, what was wrong with her head, to be pitting such a fuss over some petty prank? Be careful, Sobeille! She lightly scolded her, though she failed to keep all of the amusement out of her voice. 

She turned her attention to the old woman, waiting for her reply to Sobeille's inquiry.

Kheviel hated to have an audience to her pain, to the extent of it, especially when something unexpected happened, like her back randomly deciding to give out and spasm on her. Now she was trapped and extremely embarrassed, stuck in this impotent, pain-riddled body, as two young pups pranced about, laughing at her, poking at her, studying her.

She opened her mouth to speak, to shout, to hiss, to hurl insults. Instead, her mouth clamped shut, almost of its own accord. Suddenly, she felt she couldn't speak at all. She wanted to simply sink into the ground and disappear. She wanted to cry. Neither of those things happened. She merely sat there, her jaw so tight that it ached, and stared at nothing, her body ramrod straight and twitching as the spasms ran their course.

there wasn't an answer. sobeille watched with clinical interest as kheviel's body contorted in a curl not unlike that of arachnid death.

sobeille breathed through her nose. where a normal wolf might feel all manner of emotions -- guilt, surprise, remorse -- for a prank gone wrong, sobeille only looked upon the crone with a species of disinterest unbecoming a girl her age.

she grinned to astera and her light scolding. c'mon astera. i t'ink dere be more interesting t'ings den dis lady. sobeille stepped over the spasming woman without another glance back, making her way to bluepeace meadow at a leisurely walk that spoke of how unburdened she was hurting someone else.

Wrapping up since Astera went inactive <3

Kheviel was left on the ground, still spasming, as the annoying little shit pup stepped over her as if she were nothing. What did they teach kids these days? What happened to, Respect your elders? What happened to--oh forget it. She lay and spasmed for a while until her back finally stopped trying to kill her, and then stood with a grimace and limped away, intent on finding somewhere quiet to sleep where no more idiot children would jump out of nowhere and scare her.