Lost Creek Hollow So, I guess I saved you from a boring existence

@Breccan

When Nunataq was not out hunting or resting in her den, she would often wander to the borders to see, what the adults, who used to patrol there, were up to. By now she recognized Terance, the dark pelted older female, who had acted so nicely to her weeks earlier, the piebald female guardian, who had looked so stern and serious, when the Bearclaw family had asked for shelter at her pack and an agouti male, with whom she had not yet made an acquaintance. With the exception of the first two, the girl had not approached the others, preferring to keep her distance, when she caught sight of them, or checking out the scent marks they had left along the invisible wall that separated the hollow from the rest of the world.

It was interesting, really, how with the help of few observations, you could tell so much about the person, who had left the marks. She was good now at discerning, whether it had been a female or a male, who had put their message on the board. The thing being that male's urine had a slightly different, bitter odour added to the usually acidic and nitrogenous smell. Now and then she would pick up a hint of blood or crystals in the mark, at other times the smell could differ from very pungent to sickeningly sweet, depending on, what they had had for dinner or lunch the other day.

Today she was continuing her exploratory work in the nature's laboratory by comparing two scents - one left earlier and one left by her now, trying to understand, whether there were differences regarding the time frames. And, when the first experiment had not given her the desired results, she moved on, seeking another mark to discover and test her theory.

Since Rannoch's accident, the normally-outgoing Breccan had been withdrawn and had spent a majority of his time with his mother and sisters. He had no problem with the new wolves that had assimilated into their ranks; he just wasn't all that interested in getting to know them at this point. But eventually, he grew tired of only playing with Deshyr, @Remi and @Wisp (when they would actually play with him, that is), so he slipped away from the densite and prowled through the trees.

He didn't really have a particular destination in mind but eventually realized that he was nearing the borders. His ears pricked when he spotted Nuna; he was somewhat acquainted with her, and had noticed during their previous interaction that she didn't talk. This was odd, but in the non-judgmental way of a child, he had simply accepted it. He didn't know her well enough yet to decide what he really thought of her, but he was intrigued by her behavior -- during his approach, he watched as she sniffed carefully at two different spots, then continued on her way.

"Whatcha doing?" Breccan called after her, pausing at the places she had been smelling and giving them an examination with his own nose.

The resident children of Lost Creek Hollow held no interest to Nunataq, because being their senior by two whole months, she considered them babies, who knew nothing of life. And though she sometimes engaged in the thought of playing and showing them, who was the lead young wolf here, she had decided that this was a stuff that no self-respecting adult would do. Meaning - she was not going to go to them, let them come to her. And then she will show them!

However, she had forgotten about this plan entirely, when one of the kids approached and greeted her. She did not respond right away, finishing her experiment (actually drawing out time by pretending that she was busy) and only then did she turn and instead of meeting him with an air of superiority and condescending aura, she smiled and approached him in an easy-going saunter, sniffing at him curiously. Now, where had he been today...

When he voiced his question, he wondered if she might respond verbally, or if she would be just as quiet as she had been the first time they met. His ears pointed towards her as he sniffed at the marks on the ground, and when he didn't hear a reply, Breccan looked up. She almost seemed to be ignoring him initially, but he quickly surmised that she was only finishing her business first; when she turned to face him, her countenance was friendly and her body language was expressively amicable.

Nuna began to use her nose to gather information about Breccan; naturally, this was a ritual that he was very accustomed to, as a wolf. It seemed more purposeful than usual, though, so he carefully remained very still and allowed her snout to rove a short distance from his body. Her silence caused him to subconsciously hold his own tongue, and his orange eyes watched her curiously as a small smile tugged at his lips. He would wait for her verdict before making any further movements.

Nuna would have passed a verdict "you are fine" eventually, were it not for the sound of breaking twigs and someone's footfalls against the snowy forest floor that diverted her attention. She forgot all about Breccan and went past him with perked up ears and curious look written across her facial features. Whoever was making the noise, did so again, apparently unaware that there were two aspiring big bad wolves there just waiting to meet their own brand of Red Riding Hood.

And it turned out to be... an animal that Nunataq had no name for and had never seen before. Feeling confused for a moment, she looked over her shoulder in order to see, if her partner in crime had any clue, what they were dealing with.

You can come up with, what kind of Red Riding Hood they found. :)

Before their interaction could go any further, there was a rustling of snow that drew the attention of both youths. Breccan turned his head in the direction of the sound, his ears pressed forward and his body suddenly more rigid than it had been before. Nuna quickly moved to investigate, and Breccan didn't waste any time following her.

After a few steps, his gaze landed on a snow-covered bush that seemed to have grown a mind of its own. Its powder-laden branches moved and shifted independently, only to reveal the culprit a moment later: an animal that looked like a large mouse. Breccan blinked; it was smaller than he had thought it would be, considering the noise it was making. It stared up at the two young wolves for a long moment, its whiskers twitching as it seemed to contemplate its next move: run, or return to its hiding place in the shrubbery?

In Nunataq's mind she had come up with a big swamp monster the size of Terance, lanky feet, long claws, 75 pointy teeth and a set of antlers. Why did a bogey man look like this to her, we would never find out. Though a more careful observer might notice that lanky feet were easier to grab than short, the same with antlers. And pointy teeth and claws were added just to spice things up.

So, imagine her disappointment, when they did not get to face and fight the nightmare monster of hers, but a small, plump rodent. She furrowed her brow, feeling it's forms and features as a personal insult, and sat down. Prove that you are cool! She thought. And then I will decide, if I want to eat you.

The pika and the wolves faced off as the seconds ticked by. Nuna lowered herself to her haunches, and Breccan thought he detected an air of disappointment in her slightly slumped shoulders. He continued to stare at the small animal unblinkingly as he contemplated what to do with it. Naturally, his instincts were telling him to catch it and eat it -- but he wasn't very proficient in hunting yet, and certainly didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Nuna.

Still, he figured they could at least have a little fun with the tiny beast. He suddenly feinted towards it and said, "Boo!" It scrabbled backwards with its small paws and ducked back into the underbrush, followed swiftly by Breccan's head as he jammed it between the snowy limbs and leaves.

Breccan was more creative than his Resident Jalapeño counterpart, scaring the little rodent and making it move. In a matter of a second several things happened all at once - Nuna caught sight of the fleeing furball, thought that the other cub's idea had been brilliant (and managed to feel a bit bummed about not comming up with it herself for 1/100 of the second), promoted him to Cubanelle in the pepper hierarchy for it and just as the newly appointed pepper cadet made it's move, so did she.

Needless to say (but I will say it anyway) this did not end well for the wolves. Because Nunataq crashed into/on top off and over Breccan, probably bruising him along the way and fell head-first in the bush, where upper part of her remained burried in the branches, while the hind were balancing in the vicinity of her friend's head and neck.

To sum it up - not a great day to be a wolf, but a spectacular day to be a pika.

Pepper references from Pepper heat chart.

With his head ensconced in the bush, Breccan didn't realize what was happening until he felt the weight of Nuna landing on his shoulders. The force was enough to push him forward and his legs buckled beneath him, catching him on his elbows. The branches scratched at his face a bit -- not enough to leave too many visible marks, but just so that he could feel the sting beneath his fur. He gave a yelp and tried to scramble backward, only to find that it was particularly difficult with the awkward heft of another youth on his head.

"Help!" he cried, although he wasn't really sure what sort of assistance he was expecting. Amidst their own racket, he heard a squeaking sound and realized that it was the little mouse-like animal -- probably laughing at them.

With some more kicking, scrambling and crawling, self-proclaimed senior cadet of the pepper squad managed to free herself from the bush's sly trap and land awkwardly on her shoulder on the other side. She quickly regained her dignity, by springing to her feet and shaking her coat not once, but twice for good measure. She would not admit to anyone that for a moment there she had been spooked.

Then she went around the bush to see, if her friend had regained a more comfortable position than moments earlier. If not, she would not mind to help him dragging him by his tail. It looked particularly tempting and she needed a valid excuse to sink her teeth in it.

After a few seconds more of scuffling, the weight was literally lifted from Breccan's shoulders when Nuna managed to extricate herself from him. He breathed a sigh of relief, but when he moved to back up, he found that his fur had gotten snagged on some of the branches, and he had even managed to get his left foreleg so tangled that he couldn't pull it out without considerable effort.

So again, he said, "Help!" and unknowingly presented Nuna with just the offer she wanted: to grab him by the tail and try to remove him from the bush.

Breccan whined some more, still unable to free himself from the trap in the branches, and Nunataq almost granted her wish to thin his bushy tail, when she reconsidered. Being fair about something was rarely a concept she entertained her mind with, therefore her decision not to drag her friend by his fifth appendage (four being paws and she was yet too young to have any interest in the sixth that she did not have) wasn't based on unselfish act of kindness.

Nunataq went around the bush, peered down, where the tip of Breccan's muzzle was visible, puffed a cloud air in his face, wagged her tail in reassurance (though he probably did not see that) and then moved back to the spot, where Breccan's neck and scruff disappeared in the bush. Some contemplative moments later she grabbed him by his nape firmly and dragged backwards with all force.

He could hear Nuna moving around him, and hoped she was figuring out a way to help him. When she appeared in front of him, he blinked up at her and then flinched as a visible puff of air from her nostrils floated towards his face. While he couldn't see her tail moving from this angle, he noted the movement of her shoulders which indicated that she was wagging, and he was, indeed, reassured as she disappeared from his sight again to go back around behind him.

If this was happening with his sisters, he probably would have been expressing his displeasure quite vocally -- but since Nuna didn't talk, Breccan didn't feel the need to, either. He waited patiently, his body still, and there were a few moments of total silence as he wondered just what she was going to do to free him. Then, suddenly, he felt her teeth sink into his scruff -- and while it didn't hurt, it surprised him into yelping. She gave a hearty tug, and he pushed back with his forelegs, and with their combined efforts she was able to pull him out of his leafy imprisonment.

He toppled back onto his bottom and shook his head, then scratched at his neck with a hind paw, where burrs were embedded in his fur. "Thanks," he said gratefully, glancing at her and then looking around for the pika. The little animal was long gone, having taken advantage of the wolves' distraction to vanish into thin air.

Nunataq succeeded at freeing Cubanelle and momentum made her also fall on her bum. She met her friend's grateful and relieved gaze, grinned in response and placed a lick on top on his nose. Then she got to her feet, did some doggy-yoga, "cracked" her neck left, right, up and down, recharging her batteries for some more action.

And good timing it was as well, because she spotted the little, fluffy-grey rock that pika was running in the distance, Nunataq's eyes lit up in excitement for the opportunity to repay the trouble they had got into. Coming? she shot one inquisitive look in fellow pepper cadet's direction and set off to chase the little rodent and have a round 2!

Last one from me. You can fade it out and archive in your next thread and, if you are up to, I can start a new one for them.

I would love that! :)

Breccan grinned as Nuna licked his nose, then the sight of her stretching inspired him to do the same. He would probably be a little sore later from the awkward position he had been stuck in for a few minutes. He stretched his front and hind legs, and then was rolling his shoulders when Nuna suddenly stood at attention. When he followed her gaze, he saw the animal that had gotten them into that mess in the first place.

She didn't need to ask him twice (although, technically, she didn't even ask him once; he just read it in her expression). He bolted after her without a second thought.