The Sunspire the nose knows

thread for pump

Fox really had intended to go back to Swiftcurrent Creek after her little chat with Fat Idiot, but halfway there, she'd just decided to turn herself a little to the north and continue following the mountains instead. It wasn't like Lethe was going to keep tabs on her or anything, right? And if she did, it wouldn't matter. If Fox was kicked out of her new home, it really wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, especially with that ghoul walking around with that god-awful stench.

Having trekked along the north side of the mountain which spawned the falls, Fox found herself looking down into a valley. Some might have called it "stunning," but Fox was far too dull for that. Instead of stopping to gaze at it like some fool, Fox simply sniffed in the direction of the valley and continued her way toward the mountain known as The Sunspire. Before long, she was scaling it with no real motivation other than, "Hey, this might be cool."

ooc: I will set this a little after Pump's meeting with Xi'nuata.

The day was coming to an end and Pump still had made no progress in finding her way back to the Horizon Ridge. Meeting Xi'nuata (a very complicated name, if you asked her) was a bit refreshing, but hadn't changed her situation. She was hopelessly lost and no one would come looking for her, because there was enough trouble at home to care for a unfriendly, lost wolf.

Therefore, when she caught sight of a mountain ridge and remembered that her home was near mountains, she changed her course and decided to keep close the "large rocks", how she tended to call them. And that was, when she caught sight of a sneaky, wolf-like creature moving on a path that was some distance away.

Pump froze, her ears perked up and she observed the little rascal, trying to figure out, whether it was dangerous or not. You could never know, what awaited you in the wilderness.

sounds good! this is actually right after fox met xi'nuata, too. she just refers to her as "fat idiot." <__<

Fox continued her ascent, though her path was anything but direct. No, she stopped to dig at things, sniff things, and pounce on the occasional dead leaf. It was on this wandering journey that she felt the presence of somebody watching her. Fox wasn't sure if she'd heard a sound, caught something out of the corner of her eye, or if some faint smell had alerted her to the presence of somebody else, but there definitely was somebody else nearby. The creek member's body stiffened, and her senses went into full-sensing mode. Her nostrils flared, her eyes widened, and her ears swiveled around on her head like tiny antennas.

It took her at least half a minute to finally catch on to what was watching her. Or rather, who. It was a big old black creature which Fox could have easily mistaken for a bear. It was built like a bear, but it had a long tail. What if bears were born with tails, though? Maybe they just fell off once they got to a certain age.

"Hey you!" she called, "Are you a bear?!" Fox paused, squinting her eyes at the big black beast. "Because if you are, this is when I need to scurry on home!" There was still plenty of distance between the two, and Fox was never afraid to make a break for it if it meant saving her own ass.

Pump furrowed her brow and let out a low growl. This one did not seem dangerous at all. This was silly and probably not the sharpest pencil in the drawer. Fueled by this she strode towards the other wolf confidently, closing the distance between them. And the closer Pump came, the more aware she was, how strange this one looked. A wolf-like creature - yes. But it looked like someone had squeezed it through a narrow hole. Too small, too frail to be any match for her.

"No, much worse," she replied to her inquiry. "Are you an overgrown hare? Because if you are - I am going to catch you and eat you right here, right now," she was joking, even though the humor was dark.

Fox scoffed and scowled at the bear's comments. (She still wasn't convinced it wasn't a tiny tail-bearing bear.) "I’m not a hare, you stupid bear-child," she replied, "I’m just small for my species." She was quick, too, though she stood her ground even as the bear moved toward her. Fox was not about to be ousted by some bear-child if she could help it. The Nu's fur bristled as the stranger came closer, making her (hopefully) look a little bit larger than she actually was.

"Besides, you couldn’t catch me even if you wanted to," Fox added with a wry smile. Her tail did a short little three-move dance, as if to entice the stranger to chase her. Fox didn't know what she would do if she got caught, but since that was not in her plan, she wouldn't have to worry about it.

"Wow, that is a relief," Pump continued to play the game - it amused her. She could see clearly now that this was a wolf just like every other, but a lot smaller. And she could not help but tease it, since it did seem that this was a touch subject to the other female.

"Well, I am small for my species too," she explained matter-of-factly. "But I am still a bear and you should not forget that," she added. "You can run fast a short distance, but I can run you to death, if I want to. Don't you forget that," she added with a nasty grin.

The Nu rolled her eyes at the bear-child's comments. She was not about to be bullied by somebody who didn't even know what bullying was. Even if the bear-child could have run a long time, Fox considered herself pretty damn good at hiding from her pursuers. She'd managed to avoid them thus far, so why should she be scared of some bear-child? "Besides, you just said you weren’t a bear, so you probably couldn’t run me down anyway," Fox added, relaxing her stance to show that she had no fear for... whatever this child was.

"But I’m growing bored of this conversation," Fox said, tacking on a yawn for good measure. "What’s your deal for real?" she asked. That is, assuming the bear-child had a deal at all. Fox kind of considered the other a bit of a dunce, and she didn't imagine she would stick around much longer unless things turned around conversationally.

"Yes - I might not be a bear, but you remember telling that I was something much, much worse, didn't you?" Pump continued playing the pretend game and took a bold step towards the small wolf. "I am a bear-wolf and you should beware," she growled the last three words and bared her teeth to intimidate her opponent.

"Well, I am not much of a conversation kind," Pump said slyly. "Therefore - RUN!" she barked and lunged at the small wolf.

Fox didn't flinch when the other once again stated that she was something much worse. Really, Fox did not think that this bear-child was anything to be afraid of. Especially since she still believed she could outrun the stranger. However, being the defiant one that she was, when the other barked at her to run, Fox did anything but. Instead, she faced her opponent head-on, teeth flashing white and pink gums showing from behind her peeled-back lips.

The fur on her back had spiked up to make her look at least a little bigger than she actually was, and her eyes were crazy with a mixture of excitement and just a tiny bit of fear that she was getting in way over her head. But if there was one thing Fox was good at, it was getting herself into trouble when she really should have kept her trap shut.

This was just a gest to test, what the other wolf would be doing. Pump had not the slightest intention of fighting or killing the small creature (unless it tresspassed her packs teritory or worse - raided her secret meat stashes), therefore in the last moment she leaped to the side and positioned her body in play bow, inviting the other to ease the tention and enjoy a game.

It was a while, since Pump had played the last time, therefore her skills could be a bit rusty, but right now she found herself in an unusually good mood. Probably because of her absurd - lost in space - situation and the fact that she was seeing the smallest and the most fearless wolf she had ever met. It deserved a bit of recognition.

The big question was, however, whether she would join in.

fox out! thanks for the thread. :D

Fox's jaw nearly popped open (and not in a "I'm going to eat your face" way) when she realized what the stranger was doing next. Snapping it back shut, the yearling flicked her tail in annoyance. Perhaps there was something wrong with this one. Clearly she had some sort of problem that caused her to be batshit insane. One second she was insulting Fox, and the next she pretended like they were the best playmates the world had ever known. And the Xi would have none of it.

The Creek wolf merely put on her most bored-looking face, yawned, and walked away. If the crazy bear-child tried to follow her, she would gnash her teeth and play keep-away until the thing left her alone. If the stranger simply gave up, it would be Fox's best decision of their interaction. It was what she should have done as soon as she saw the thing.

Usually it was Pump, who judged others, therefore she found it strangely amusing that the small wolf, who had pretended to be so fearless, simply turned her back on her and went away. Apparently she thought that the wolf-dog was acting weird or was not totally sane.

Well... so much for a rough game of chase and playfight. Pump watched, while the other one disappeared in the distance, then shook her coat, that way brushing off the odd encounter, turned around and took her leave.