Bearclaw Valley doot noot

@Piper!

Kisses had left the weasel colony at Daffodil Hill and found his way into a large valley, where he hoped to find adventure and fun. He’d always dreamed of exploring the world, of leaving behind the same old same old and seeing everything. Now he was doing it, and boy was it fun. The place smelled like wolves sure, but Kisses wasn’t afraid. He figured if he ran into any, he’d just appeal to their better nature and they’d let him go. Who would hurt him, honestly, look at those big brown eyes!

He’d found a sap filled tree, and had scurried atop a root so he could reach the sap. He sat there, with his front paws on the tree and lapped at the sweet liquid. They didn’t have this stuff back at the hill, he couldn’t wait to tell his brothers and sisters all about the orange goo that tasted like a little slice of heaven.

The Redleaf girl had been spending her time trying to figure out how best to approach the subject of leaving with her family. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed to be an impossible task. Surely, her mother would lose her head if she thought her daughter was leaving her. Piper didn't really think that the reason behind it was all that important when it came to the possibility of losing two of her children. Wyatt was a pain in the ass anyway, so really their mom would have been losing the two best children.

She was pacing, forcing herself to come up with the best way to say what she needed to say when she saw a flash of unfamiliar brown. For a moment, she ignored it and passed it off as having been nothing important. That was until she saw the creature jump onto a stump and stick it's little arms up toward a sap-producing tree. Then, her attention was stolen by the thing. Slowing her pacing, the girl turned toward the weasel and began to march toward it, determination burned on her features.

he was so close! So very close to his molten prize! He reached out his tiny black paws, stretching his long body as far as it would go. But just before he could get to the sap he heard footsteps nearby. His small ears swiveled, and his top half twisted in the direction of the footsteps. His nose twitching he waited patiently for the other to show themself, and when they did he found himself looking at a russety red wolf. She looked serious, like she meant business. Kisses better address this.

d’you want some? I’m so close to getting it and I could give you some! I like sharing! squeaked the young fiery red weasel, facing her with a dumb naive smile.

The closer that Piper got, the more she realized that this creature looked more like food and not a friend. She also noted that the brown of it's coat was tinged in russet, offering him a reddish hue. When he spoke to her, she stopped dead in her tracks and fixed him with a furrowed brow and ears that splayed to the sides.

The Redleaf girl looked from the weasel to the tree with sap oozing down it. Her eyes squinted on it and she darted her gaze between the creature and the sap he was so desperately trying to get. “I don't know what I'd do with something like that,” she admitted with a thoughtful frown.

Kisses’ new friend stopped in her tracks when he spoke to her. She seemed very confused, had she never seen sap before? Oh no! She was missing out so much, sap was one of Kisses favorite things, a delicacy amongst the Daffodil Hill community! He couldn’t wait to show red friend!

You eat it! It goes right in your mouth and it tastes so good! You’re gonna love it! said the small boy, reaching up to run one of his paws over his head. When he was done his face was puffed up, so he shook out his fur with a string of giggles.

The girl scrunched up her nose at the sound of eating the stuff he had his little hand extended toward. It looked nasty, and if she got any closer, she believed it would explain the weird ass smell that seemed to drift up through the air. Either that, or the little weasel was the stinker. One way or another, Piper was smelling something wild and she wasn't sure she'd really ever paid much attention to it before.

“You eat it first,” she tested him, looking down her nose at him with a skeptical expression on her young face. Of course, the creature didn't appear to be made of ill will. She wasn't sure she'd ever really happened across something that meant her harm, she realized. It was best to be wary about everything she wasn't familiar with. Prod it with questions until she had learned it all.

red friend was STILL not convinced. Kisses had thought his advertising had been pretty solid, but she seemed still a skeptical customer. She wanted him to eat first, he shrugged his little weasel shoulders and in a jolly tone replied, Ok! He then turned to the sap and got back to reaching. He stretched his paws out, then has an idea! He can climb! Duh, silly Kisses. He grabbed onto the bark and hoisted himself up closer to the sap, sticking his hind legs in some crevices for footholds and now he was able to lick at the sap!

His little pink tongue eager lapped at the sugary goo, and his tail shivered with delight. He looked back to the red girl, See? Food! he said gleefully, turning back to lick some more.

Piper watched the little... thing scurry up the tree and grip it between his tiny little hands. She was impressed with the climbing capability of something so long and stringy. When the creature started to lick the sap, she recoiled a bit and stuck her tongue out. It didn't look very appetizing. She was convinced that a fresh rabbit would go down much easier with her. The weasel was far too enthralled with his present meal.

“I don't know how you're not barfing all over the place, buddy,” she commented with some obvious shade being thrown toward the small fellow. “That does not look like any food I've eaten before.” Most of her food actually looked a lot like Kisses if she was being honest. She wondered for the briefest of moments if she should have considered trying to eat him, before she cast that out of her mind.

He'd probably taste like sap.

Kisses giggled when his new buddy mentioned barf, it was a funny word. Lol, barf. He listened with wide eyes as she questioned his sap further, saying it didn’t look much like any food she’d had. Well of course! Sap was a delicacy, there was nothing like sap ‘cept sap! His head flopped from side to side as he replied, yeah, doesn’t look much like berries and nuts. I think it tastes great but if you don’t want to try it I respect your decision. He let out a musical hum, a smile on his little face.

The strange little creature seemed to think that her comment was funny. She snorted at his giggle and shook her head, confused. He was peculiar in many ways, but she was still hoping to wrap her mind around his purpose there. Piper was certain she'd never seen something so strange before; not in the valley, anyway.

The weasel commented about how the sap was not like berries or nuts and she sighed with an exasperated expression. “You know, I don't eat berries or nuts...” she informed him with a single furrowed brow. The other seemed to arch over her shimmering gold eye. Maybe this was like the homba that Tadec and Mona had talked about. He wasn't a magic fox, but he must have been a magic... something.

Kisses was having a great time, until he was informed that red friend didn’t eat berries or nuts. WHOA THERE BUCKO! no BERRIES?!! no NUTS!? Kisses looked utterly shocked at this discovery, and frankly a little hurt. Out of the four main food groups, berries and nuts were definitely the best (those groups being, berries, nuts, insects, and leafy stuffs). Was she an bug eater, like his uncle Hershey? Or a leaf eater like grandma Ghirardelli? He ran through all the possibilities, racking his tiny weasel brain trying to figure out why she didn’t eat berries and nuts.

Finally he just had to ask, his eyebrows furrowed neatly above his big black eyes, what do you eat then miss?

kisses is d u m b somebody find the dunce cap

God buddy, she thought to herself with a skeptical frown, this is gonna be rough news.

“I usually eat things like you,” she told him with a knowing shrug. Typically, she didn't talk to her meal before she scarfed it down. She felt like this was something she should tack onto her response. “Usually don't chat with my food, though.” Truth be told, it was a little off-putting for her to look at the tiny prey animal and to imagine him dead, clutched between her teeth. It was with this mental image that she cast aside any possibilities of the little creature possessing magic – of any kind – and pegged him as being a gifted member of his species.

He still looked like lunch to her, but she couldn't bring herself to chow down on something she'd had a talking with. With a soft little sigh, Piper realized that she wasn't going to be getting much out of the experience other than a fun little story to share with Marten. She wasn't even sure if her brother would believe that she'd talked to food that talked back. Still, she was sure she could spin a tale or two.