Sequoia Coast genius party

Anyone! @Onyx , maybe? pack mates preferred, but i'll take anyone B) Also, warning for some foul language.

Under the cover of night and the intermittent light of the moon, Aesop crept along the grasslands beyond the dark of the forest. The days had been warm and never dipped below freezing. There was no snow, and so he lost the advantage of camouflage. Still, he crouched low, the brown grass brushing against his stomach as he crept along in near silence. There was a rabbit not too far away. A rabbit with his name on it. And so he crept closer, closer, until its ears perked up and it caught sight of him.

The chase was on.

For about thirty seconds later when, in a fit of pure grace, Aesop tripped over his own two feet (though there was a branch there, he'll swear until the end of his days) and fell face first to the ground.

"Fuck me! Come back, asshole," he called, resigned though he was to his failure.

Onyx was walking slowly along, her very long legs wandering over the sands. It was night, but sleeptime not yet, apparently. A small flash whizzed by her, another large brown one whizzing by afterward. She gasped in surprise at each thing that raced by, wondering what it was. Her diamond blue eyes turned curious. She ran forward briskly, following the figures, and watching just in time to see the larger one trip over itself and spout out a little foul language. Onyx trotted up to him. Do you need help? She asked quietly in her shy barely-audible voice. Here it was, her chance to help someone and help the pack. She could kill two birds with one stone. Hunting was gonna be her thing, if she could just prove to Ragnar that she was amazing at it.

hello!!! i'm v sleepy i hope that this makes sense,,,

Aesop groaned, deciding he was done. He was going to lay there and just take a break, disregard his failure and become with the earth until it swallowed him whole. Drama queen.

His plans were interrupted by a small voice, feminine and tentative. Immediately, Aesop laid his paws over his muzzle, covering his eyes. "God, how much of that did you see?" he groaned, shaking his head, "I'm alright, just fuckin'... pretend you didn't see that. I'll buy your silence, if you like." It was just... so uncool. That had not been a high point of his, and certainly didn't fit in with his (high) image of himself.

Well, he could only go up from there, he supposed. So he stood up and shook the dirt from his coat, turning to face the stranger. She was lanky, young and awkward. Her eyes pierced the darkness, a bright point on her dark fur. She smelled of the Bay, of brine and earth. A pack mate.

Onyx hoped he was okay when he put his paws over his eyes in what looked like shame. Buy my silence? She murmured in confusion- she didn't understand the term. I saw you miss a catch. It's okay, everybody makes a mistake every little once in a while. It wasn't that bad. She tried to comfort, tentatively reaching out her paw as if she was gonna pat his back or something. She just barely touched him, patted his back for a moment or two, and brought her paw back to the ground in a quick motion. When she'd poked Levi, he'd tried to snap at her. She wouldn't want an adult to be angry at her for a back-pat.

Aesop shrugged, still trying to shake a few stubborn pieces of dried plants off of him. It only took him a few moments to give up, deciding he didn't care much after all. She seemed nice enough, patting his back and attempting to comfort him. Nothing can heal a wounded ego. "Yeah, but, no. Y'see, I'm like-" Aesop sighed through his nose, "y'don't get it, it's cool. I'm fine, a bit embarrassed is all, if I'm bein' honest." Aesop decided to be less interested in his blunder and a bit more interested in the girl herself. "But really, I'm alright. Ain't nothin'. You're a Bay wolf, too, am I right?" He was pleased to meet a packmate who wasn't going to prove herself insufferable shortly after they met (a la Atreyu and Charon.)

Next the pale tan wolf muttered a whole bunch of stuff with no purpose, except that he was embarrassed. Onyx knew what that felt like. It's okay, I'm really bad at a lot of things. Worse than you, I bet. She said quietly to him, until he asked her if she was from the Bay. Yes. My name is Onyx, I'm the Gamma.. And you? What's your name? She asked the other Bay wolf softly and politely, glad she could get the chance to meet another packmate.

Aesop was touched, at least, by how out of her way she was going to comfort him. Admirable, he decided, though he still found it difficult to like someone who seemed so... soft-spoken. Perhaps she was just shy, but she came across as a pushover to him, a decidedly not admirable quality. "We all got our weaknesses, I just don't normally like mine to be so... blatant." He shrugged, surprised to learn that this (apparent) pushover was so highly ranked. With a half bow, he replied, "pleasure, Onyx. I'm Aesop, Kappa. New in these parts, if it wasn't plain. Perhaps you'd like to try n'grab ourselves a meal together?" Two heads are, of course, always better than one, and maybe two wolves would have better luck than he'd had alone.

I'm so sorry!!! I had no muse! I will definitely be more active.

Onyx gave up on comforting the man who was obviously disappointed in his miss. There was no helping a wolf who didn't want to be helped. When he suggested hunting, her tail wagged. Yes! What do you want to hunt for- or just anything that we catch the scent of? She asked. This was perfect! It would give Onyx a great chance to practice her Gamekeeper skills, since she was going to pursue it. She couldn't wait till the day she could tell Sir Jarl Ragnar Loðbrók that she was a gamekeeper!

No worries! <3

The other's reaction to the suggestion was strong, strong enough to suggest a certain passion that Aesop hadn't quite expected of her. If he was being honest (though not very fair,) she had not struck him as the type to enjoy such an active skill. Because there was hunting for survival and there was hunting as an occupation of sorts, and he had not pegged her as the type to be enamored with the latter.

"Let's go with the second one, just go where the wind takes us," he suggested, taking off at a lope towards greener pastures, with the good faith that she would follow.

what should they find? Do you wanna do a dice roll to see if they catch it or just write it out?

The tall teen obediently followed, immediately willing to fall behind Aesop's lead. Her blue eyes scanned the night while her shiny black nose examined every scent that crossed the air. Her shadowy ears were perked forward, twitching every so often if she heard something. Do you smell anything? She whispered very quietly to him, her lips barely moving in case not to scare off any nearby prey. She didn't want to be a reason why they didn't catch anything if they really had that bad of luck.

We can roll! I still don't know quite how to do that, though, so would you mind? And maybe they can go after a mink? I'd say deer, but I feel like their chances are a bit better with smaller game.

Once they were a good deal away from where their original conversation had taken place, he slowed to a crawl, stalking among the bushes and grasses. They were silent, shadow and sand, weaving among the underbrush in search of their meal. He began to follow a faint trail, though steadily grew stronger and stronger. At her question, he nodded. "Yeah, somethin' small. This way." And so he lead her along, slowing as the scent trail became unmistakable and they were near to their prey.

sure, rolled here. Looks like they are unsuccessful! :( Do minks stay in groups and can they be aggressive? Sorry, I don't know much about minks.

Onyx was at first dissapointed that whatever he scented was small, but she figured as long as it was enough to feed at least one wolf they were fine. She continued to follow him, dark shiny nose close to the sand, analyzing the scent. She might have smelled it before, but she wasn't sure if she had ever eaten it. As he began to slow down, her diamond eyes widened. Are we close? Her whisper was so soft it was nearly inaudible. Onyx was a quiet girl, though never the less excited on a hunt.

Bummer for them, lmao. Mink are very territorial! And, like skunks, spray gross smelling liquid in defense. Unlike skunks, though, they have terrible aim. It is weaker and persists for far shorter a time than skunk spray, though, so they should be good no matter what.

Aesop followed diligently, creeping slower and slower as they drew nearer. Now, he could hear the distinct crackle of underbrush, the susurrus of disturbed grass. He knew they were near, and crept ever closer until-

The mink was large, and clearly expecting them. Perhaps they had not been so quiet, or it had seen them coming from some hole they had not seen. It hissed at them, a warning, as it sat at the entrance of its den. The situation was tentative, as he knew of the foul liquid it would spray if it decided it really didn't like them. He was not in the mood to smell for days, but decided to leave it up to Onyx. "What's the plan here, girl? We goin' for it or-" in the end, the mink decided for them. It began to turn, and Aesop knew better than to stick around. He turned just as quickly, hoping to get out of range. "Fuck it, run," he warned her, bolting a few feet away to safety.

[size=large]Onyx was about to explain some smart little plan, but instead he told her to run as the mink hissed and turned towards them, beginning towards them. She noted silently that Aesop sure did use some colorful language quite a bit. Talk like this was very new to the young girl, for she was raised in a very innocent way, her mind preserved and kept clean from several mature topics. Perhaps she would know those topics if her mother had still been alive when she was six or seven months. Instead her mother died when she was four months old and upon some miracle she had survived four months alone, cooped up in a tiny burrow every day, eating scrawny gulls every other day. Knocked back to the present in milliseconds, she spun around and ran, willing the mink to not catch up, and most importantly, not make her stink. She did not want to stink for the next week or two... or three! Who knew who long it might last? She had no time to turn and check if the mink still followed, or if she was running for no reason.[/size]

Wrap up soon?

Aesop bolted with little regard for whether Onyx followed him or not.  She could have fun stinking to high heaven all she wanted, he was going to stay nice and clean.  Fortunately for her, she follows, and he laughs as he runs.  After another minute or so, he slowed to an easy lope.  "It shouldn't follow us this far.  Just wanted to get rid of us, prolly.  Did a good job, eh?" he asked, grinning easily.  He was disappointed with the loss of a meal, but pleased that they had escaped unscathed.

Following their unsuccessful hunt, the two parted ways.  Aesop decided to return to the heartlands of the pack and the peace of his den, and rested until the moon wheeled high into the dark skies.