Wild Berry Meadow Berry = Good(?)

Typically, there was something to stare at when one gazed at the sky, but today there were no obscurations. Lonely, the sun was, and in her peerless aggression the tireless, fiery orb sent down its envious rays crashing onto the rolling hills and verdant tufts of lands that laid beneath her grasp. This was certainly no swamp, but instead a land chock full of bushes heavily laden with stems gifting brilliant purples and reds. Cassian currently encroached upon one of these inviting, curious, foreign objects. His head tilted itself off to the left side. Were they safe to eat? Or would they boil and fester from within much like that monochromatic, pungent beast laid off to the wayside of a ditch earlier in the week?

  The sole issue with being reborn (or in his case being forcibly thwarted upon a vassal to roam tirelessly within) was the abundantly clear lack of knowledge. Without it, the world was a terrifying place. Upon first being gifted the prize that was life, Cassian entered it with an emblazoned nuance. The culture, the cuisine, the collective consciousness of other wolves were shareholders of a path in life this wolf paid little mind to initially. Now, thoughts were being born. Thoughts that were his own and with those thoughts came fear. With them, came a bubbling, tightening, centric tug known as anxiety.

Boop. Sniff. Schlurp.

  A three point system developed by the wolf and it passed with flying colors. The boop did not produce anything foreign to protrude from the purple and reds. Sniff brought forth a sweet, tantalizing, alluring aroma. Schlurp? They didn’t taste like much of anything. Their texture was simple, really. Round, soft, bumpy. A few seconds passed by and when nothing immediately happened to the sun-kissed wolf a feast was in high order. One after another, the beautiful hues of the berry bush were laid asunder. Mercilessly. Tirelessly. In a haphazard, hungry, heretical way almost. Seconds turned into minutes and by the end of the tenth there was but the scantest bit of berries left.

  BUUUUUUUUUUURP

  It rang true like a bell of triumph, reaching out and over the nearby hills. Lying down, a goofy grin spread its playful course over Cassian’s maw. It turned out there was nothing to be afraid of to begin with. These sweets, whatever they may be called, were safe to eat. They were good. They were sustenance that could be depended upon at any point in time if they were around.

  “Ughhh….my belly’s so full. Maybe they aren’t actually good for me? I feel so good though. The warmth from the sky spreads evenly on my stomach, too. Ahhhh...perfect!” A breeze blew by, ruffling through his fur like a careless tickle. As a result, Cassian’s tail wrought forth a cloud of dirt into the wind and a laugh curled itself innocently into the air around him. “Okay, maybe everything isn’t too bad. I wish I could stay here for the rest of my life. It’s so pretty! Life would be simple then. So…simple.”

Life went on. Things happened, you know? Sometimes you ended up in these places without nowhere to go, and Bonnie certainly had nowhere to go.

New place. Again. Somewhere funny to go. A sweet smell that called him out from miles and drew him in. Whether or not it was a woman, he had not deciphered, and he hoped it wasn't one. They were everywhere with their..womanly-ness right now, and he did not know what to do about all of that. Made his cheeks all hot, so he didn't ever stick around long enough to approach.

Wait a damn minute.

What the hell was he hearing. Who the hell was he hearing? The wildman stood at the wild treeline and stared blankly at the wolf-boy with sun-touched fur. Talking to himself. He'd never spoken to himself. Why was he speaking to his own self? Something about the way the damn sky was touching his belly, and Bonnie found himself more dumbfounded.

Then, he struck his eyes upon the berries this hobo stuffed his face with, and hobo to hobo, it hit Bonnie. This dude must've been wasted.

Stupidly, he couldn't help but open his mouth. He shouldn't have cared. He definitely didn't. "You good there? Or you talking to yourself or something?"

You good there? Or you talking to yourself or something?

A rich baritone voice curled itself into the embrace of the open, rolling hills that Cassian currently found solace within. Typically, the sun-kissed wolf's ears were capable of picking up on footsteps, but today that too turned a new leaf. Murky brown waters curiously looked to the right first, seeing absolutely nothing there of use save for the now barren berry bush that'd been laid asunder mere moments ago. Then, to the left, and there Cassian saw him.

A disgusting wolf, all things given.

Dusty. Scrappy. A lean figure kissed over with a myriad of deep grays. Oh, and those eyes. Similar in color to Cassian's, but they roared a tempest while Cassian's were a tranquil gush on the fiercest of days. They met, the two now staring at the other, and instead of flopping over Cassian instead opted for a more lethargic, yet comfortable approach of simply staying as he was.

"I'm about as good as can be, haha! Thanks for asking! Talking to myself? Yeah, I guess I was, but now I'm talking to you! You know, since you came over with your freakishly, freaky ninja paws and about made me vomit the things I just ate out of fear! Say, you wouldn't mind coming over, would ya? There's this naaaaaasty little spot on the middle of my stomach that needs a good scratchin' and I can't reach over. Normally I could, but I'm just soooooooo full."

Out lolled his tongue. Covered, coated, and practically caramelized in the tasty purples and reds he'd feasted on mere moments before. That bushy, loving, warm tail of his wagged eagerly on the ground. Would this new stranger come over and rub his belly? Who knew! It was worth asking for, though. What was the worst that could happen? A big, fat no? So be it! Some people knew good manners and others didn't. Maybe this individual would have em!

"While you're thinkin' on that, though, I got some questions for you! Why do you look so dirty? Do you think if I dumped you in a river your fur would come out white? Your eyes are like mine but look super, duper different! Somebody toss some dirt in your eye, maybe? My name is Cassian, and I'd like to know your name, but I don't think it would beat the name I got for you! I think I'll call youuuuuuuu...."

A second for pause and thought.

"...Mr. Boulder! You remind me of boulders. Although, you're more skinny than one, you sure have the voice that I think a boulder would have if a boulder group could have voices, haha! Oh, unless you're a Mrs? I can't really tell! Everything here smells sweet. Although, if you are a Mrs...then, well, maybe Mrs. Pebbles is better for you? What do you think?"

Glee sparkled within Cassian's eyes and never tore away from the new stranger. Instead, they carefully watched. Pinned, always observing and analyzing. New souls fascinated him. It was something that intrigued the spellbound entity since they spawned into this new life alone.

There were thin and few beings he'd crossed paths with in his life. Most of them, he turned his nose up to. Most of them, he left. They weren't worth his time. They had their own lives ahead of them, a family, a lover, whatever that may be and all the whatevers of it. That being said, he didn't have much reason to stick around for much of it. He'd just have to make his own or get by with whatever came his way. Paps wasn't around right now. Doing the whole dead thing. It was better out here, anyways. So, of course, he now wondered why he thought much of this while staring dead faced at a blonde man with murky eyes? Wanting belly rubs? From his own crusted feet?

Bonnie knew why.

This mans face hole didn't shut itself.

Good gods, how did he make it stop? Oh, gods, it kept going. It kept going more. Starclan, whatever the hell he had been pushed to before by that Riverclan kid, please end him now. Oh, gods. "I can't say it was that hard to sneak up on you with my freaky..ninja paws over your talking." He had not even tried. How did he make it stop? After asking him to rub his stomach, he started babbling about how the sky felt on it, and the mans face suddenly felt impossibly hot. What in ever fuck-shit-hell?

And his freaky little ninja paws?

Scrunching his nose, he braced himself backwards.

"No thanks. I'm good. Not a good massage therapist."

Pinned ears, his mouth fell flat and he awkwardly kicked his front foot around. "I, ahh," he motioned his nose towards the (rather empty) bush, "don't know what you ate over there or anything, but it probably wasn't nothing good. You should be more careful."

Then, his appearance was on debate, and he found his ears now officially airplaning as his mouth curved down as much as it could with aggressive bitterness. "No-" Why did everyone think that?! "I'm not- dirty. I just look like that." Dirty. He looked dirty. However, if he had any actual dirt on him, and he was sure he did somewhere, he'd now claimed that, apparently. What was up with everyone and calling him dirty!

Now pried at for his name, he tried to loosen up after accepting some wolves were too stupid to use their eyeballs and see his complexion wasn't actual dirt. How could he blame this Cassian guy? Everyone else seemed to agree with him. Bonnie felt defeated!

His bitter old frown still on his grumpy face, he inhaled stiffly, staring off into space and hesitantly answering as the hobo came up with names for him. "......Bonnie." Then, fixated back on the guy. "You want me to take you to some water or somethin'? You seem pretty out of it." No one who spoke this much had their head screwed on right.

Had to have been the berries.

Thank you so much for your patience, I've been ill as of late!

I can't say it was that hard to sneak up on you with my freaky ninja paws over your talking.

"Okay, that's a fair point!"

What wasn't a fair point in Cassian's eyes was the blunt refusal of what appeared to be a blossoming, lovely little arrangement on the blonde's end. Still, a no was a no and the belly that begged to be scritched would simply go scritchless. While the dirty, harrowing soul across from him continued to speak a simple roll to the left was given. Then, an extensive, prolonged yawn that showed off all of the jaggedly sharp canines that Cassian bore. There were bits of juice still stained into them from the aforementioned ravaging of the local goods and what hadn't been contained seemingly dyed itself into the sun-kissed fur he donned.

"It sure tasted good. Careful? Nah, what's the fun in that! How else would I learn? How else would I get experiences? New memories? Meet new souls? That sounds like a boring way of life, PBBBBBBBBBBBT!"

So boring, in fact, that Cassian spat on the ground simply out of disgust. Now, they were both standing up, and with his focus solely attentive on the new stranger it meant that every single of their movements and decisions were under the finest of "scrutiny". A more keen individual would've been able to perhaps piece apart bits and bobs here from how Bonnie reacted and why they reacted the way that they did, but Cassian certainly wasn't that breed of person. Instead, those murky, brown eyes just watched as his mouth curved down and words fumbled out.

"So, you just look like you rolled around in dirt? Okay, sure! Far be it from me to shame anybody and their past times, yeah? Besides, I think it looks nice. You've got this really rugged, rough, but awesome aura. Big time! Like....GRRRRR, don't fuck with me, I'm capable of doing things! I don't know what kind of things, but things!"


Bonnie

"Huh, Bonnie! Rolls off the tongue nice, but you know what would roll off even nicer? Some of that water that you mentioned! Also, I'm not out of it! Well, I guess it depends on what it is, yeah? Eh, whatever! Lead me, oh grrrrrrrrreat Bonnie! Into greener pastures and yummy water!"


There was no direction given, so Cassian simply walked up to Bonnie. Then, with about a foot of space left, the wolf eagerly awaited for this new stranger to lead the way!

"We can talk about things while we walk! I've got lotsa topics! My first one is....why are you out here? Out here to meet someone? Oooo, I didn't intrude, did I? Far be it from me to keep two wolves apart from each other! Or maybe it's family? You seem like a family guy. You've got that kind of aura to you! Strong, silent, and..."

Cassian's eyes narrowed.

"....secretive. Yeah! Super secret! Tell me some secrets? Ooo, tell me, tell me, tell me!"

Yep. That's me.
You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation.



Or you're not. Either way, if you knew me at all, you would know I looked like an extra hairy dustbunny who's seen a few too many wars.
Might as well have been wars, anyways.

This was going about as well as he thought it was, with all the yapping and the pressing. Somehow, he had went this long without encountering a monster with an unstoppable mouth and an unbearable speech, or was he finding the spit that was flown at his face unbearable? 

"Okay. Let's get going." He had a new child to take care of now. If he wasn't wasted, he was high off his head. So, something needed to be done about it, for now. At least get the dude away from all of fhose berries in his face, or get him to reverse it out of his stomach.

We can talk about things while we walk! "No thanks." He was pretty sure he didn't hear him, but even if he did, he likely didn't care. The dead horse had been beaten, and as he lead him to the stream a ways away, he felt as though now he was the dog.

He looked like he did things, apparently. Probably because he had done things. Maybe it was a good thing? Kept people off his back. Not like it mattered.

"No. No, and no," he snapped his teeth rudely, before his mouth found itself then tame, and his eyes grew just a bit wider. He recoiled and uncomfortably shifted.

"Not out here to meet someone. Ain't got no one to meet. Had no one to meet, until you showed up speaking off about the sky stroking your belly or something," he snorted. Maybe it was a little funny. "You'd be pretty wrong about that, too." That one stung. Some family guy he was.

"If I had any big secrets, believe me, I'd tell you. What you see is what you've got. Plain old and boring." Bonnie knew he was frankly quite.. uneventful.

Bonnie snapped their teeth and Cassian mimicked the motion, all but with a happy, childish glee and a warm, delightful snicker to follow suit shortly afterwards. He wasn’t aware that Bonnie was on the edge of genuine, insurmountable aggression. Cassian just found the noise to be amusing! It was like music, in a way. Chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp!

”Man, I’m just missing all the marks today, huh? That’s okay! I think it’s fine to be a little bit wrong here and then every now and again! You know, I appreciate that! Being told when I’m wrong! Helps me know that when I’m eventually right it’ll feel super, duper, extra good! Also, does that not happen to you? Like, when you’re laying down on the ground, under the sun…it just feels fantastical! You know? Like somebody is just rubbing your tummy for you, kinda!”

Bonnie was one neat guy! A stinky one, though, considering that this man didn’t want to share their secrets! Was it really that simple? What he saw was what he got? Well, the two of them were mirrored souls in that sense, then. Cassian didn’t have any secrets! Even if the man did, it was questionable on just how well guarded they’d be. Were secrets even really that important to begin with? They were just information, weren’t they? What if he could get something better for a secret?

”If you did have a secret, though, would you safeguard it? I’m not sure…what I would do! I guess it depends on the secret and if I would get anything nice out of spillin’ the beans, you know? Oh! You also said that what I see is what I’ve got. So, in a way, you’re kind of like me! Yeah, you’re a lot less chatty, but we’re the same in that regard at least!”

The stream Bonnie led them to was gushing. The native fauna around here was far more lively when compared to a vast expanse of the land they lived on. The winds were gentler, the skies clearer, and the bushes fuller. While the blonde drank, a gust of aforementioned wind curled itself within the man’s fur. Gently, as if it were stroking itself through fields of wheat instead of the dense fur off a solo wolf’s back.

When Cassian’s thirst came to an eventual end, the sun-kissed wolf’s tongue lolled out for several seconds on end. Panting, eagerly, as if he hadn’t breathed the entire time. Knowing Cassian, that was honestly quite simply the case. Seconds later, Cassian’s tail wagged like none other from behind. This stranger did him a nice favor! They didn’t need to lead him all the way out to this river and suffer the wrath of Cassian’s “Mighty Maw”!

”Thanks for the water! Good stuff, haha! You know, for somebody that gives off huuuuuge I don’t care energy, you sure did care enough to drag my butt out here! Soooo…”

Just then, Cassian’s demeanor changed. Friendly, hospitable wolf as he was, the man’s gaze somehow appeared to be just a tad more…honed. Sharper. Observant. Brown, murky waters pinned to the onyx-toned wolf’s own eyes and then the smile that usually stayed on at all times fell off. A step forward was taken, and then Cassian simply plopped down. A yawn fumbled its way out, and while one eye was kept open the other stayed closed.

”I was throwing a bunch of questions at you earlier, but really all I’m interested in is what you’re doing out here! You look super well fed. Not fat shaming! Just an observation, you know? You clearly know how to handle yourself, better than me anyways. So, what’s got you out here? All this land, and only four paws and nobody else striding along with you? I mean, come on, guy like you practically radiates trouble! Again, no offense. You’ve got patience, but it isn’t that of a saint! I don’t expect any of this information for free, by the way. I’m just a chatty, nosey fella who likes to indulge in some gossip every now and again. Keep your secrets to yourself. Just lie down and sit down for a spell, yeah? I wanna know more about you! I don’t know much about this world and if I can live a little bit of it through you then I think that’d be great! What do ya say? I can even hunt down some food with ya and we can talk it over something fresh! A deer, maybe? Sure, I gorged myself on berries, but nothing really fills me up like a fresh slab of meat!”