Verdigris Ravine paint

set after this! since its so backdated, we can speed thru <3 optional as always!

zoug glanced back as @Koa and @Andanari loped beyond him into their lands. blood painted the ground in dazzling drops which glistened briefly before the sand drank it down.

the wolf had been run out of the oasis; he fled, maimed forever.

rosewater wind drifted past the tall coyote as he turned. wolves could not be trusted. wolves must be removed. 

he held to this as he padded after them, pleased and proud at the scent of wolfsblood which tinged the air of the tribe's territory.

Covered in wolf's blood, Ko'a fretted over her little cousin (who was more like a niece) when the battled was said and won, making certain no serious harm had befallen the girl. 

She would toss her head around a slim shoulder, pale peach eyes seeking Zoug as he trailed behind after. A smile on her lips, she licked her maw and turned back around, with the red arches of home in the distance.

Andi sported some wounds on her torso and her face. The nape of her neck more bloody than ripped.

Her legs had long scratches of cerise. She smelled like something that was not her smell. ANd it discomforted her. She wanted to find a place to take a bath and perhaps hide for a time. 

The battle had been harrowing. Even if it had been small. She had no taste for it. Even now the blood that painted her teeth was harsh and grating and she wanted to eat sand or drink water and make the taste leave. He had been wolf. She felt strange this small blossoming of sadness and she couldn't quite place.

they returned with a prize.

he lifted now a pawful of red mud studded with aloe points. a gesture was given for the girl to come closer.

but a greatly amused look was given to ko'a. zoug was pleased with their success, bonded closer to the hunter than before.

There was emotions stirring in Zoug that Ko'a could see as he turned to her. Such as amusement, pride, happiness... Zoug was a gruff looking man. One scarred eye, displaying and smelling of old dried blood. A symbolism of his warrior status. This day Ko'a saw through this to a deeper being and she smiles. He was one of the cave people, but he was also Tribe. 

Placing a blonde paw on Andi, she urges her to go to Zoug and recieve treatment. They would need to mend her wounds before a long needed rest.

Andi whimpered softly every moment and again. She tried to be brave, really she did. But her shouldres and neck really hurt. And it felt sticky and weird. 

She was pressed towards Zoug and so she moved closer to him. Keeping her eyes on her paws as she walked, fearful she would fall over. But she made it to stand next to him and waited. Unsure what he wanted.

he smoothed the gentle mud over her wounds.

"warrior," zoug grunted. "strong spirit protect you."

water would be given, along with a lick of powdered root he kept wrapped and stored aside in the cave. she would sleep. tomorrow would be a sore day, but the one to follow would be easier.

The golden-blonde coywolf watches her niece be treated, a gentle smile on her face for her. She was still so very young. Too young to be fighting in border scuffles, let alone a fight in lands not belonging to them, away from their claim and against a full grown wolf. 

Yet Andi was not wolf. She was coyote. At least among her family. Coyotes were grown faster, earlier, if they were to survive. The wolf would not give them time. The sand and sun would not. For Andi specifically, like Ko'a, she would learn that too beyond Tribe, there would be many which would shun her of her mixed blood, both by wolves and by coyote. Ko'a would make her strong.

Andanari had not yet fully realized that she wasn't particularly normal. That she wasn't what a coyote was exactly. That she was something different. But eventually that lesson would come.

For now she accepted her healing. And she fought down a wave of nausea from the pain and she wanted to go home. She just wanted her mom.

last for me! <3

onward to home, to healing, to sleep.

before he slept, zoug watched as andanari settled and ko'a did the same.

he watched over them quietly, paws folded as the rays of the sun fell down to the earth.

same!

The desert life was tiring and exhilarating. Ko'a laid to rest quickly when she felt she could, when she knew her neices were rested close to their mother's side. She would only rise when the sun did.