Neverwinter Forest to the races

hoping for a @Scimitar

Now that the claim was official, Eshe had something she wished to do now that she was back in the Teekon. She wondered if it was too soon to do so, but felt it prudent to get it done. So after patrolling, Eshe followed an older trail left by her mate. With all they had to do they hardly had a moment together beyond when they had first arrived except for when they slept... and she was eager to spend time with him for a little while.

Scimitar? She called, weaving through the trees. His scent was stronger here, and so she hoped it would eventually culminate into his physically being before her very eyes. Her ears twitched atop her head, listening as well as looking.

He had not strayed far from the forest for now – at least, he would wait awhile longer until they were settled. Their numbers were decent for the time being, but he would see them grow more, especially given their troubled mountain neighbors.. and the news of a band of pirates along the shorelines. He would see his family want for nothing – and if that meant that puppies were in the future for Neverwinter Forest (likely Kaskara and Kieran’s), he would wish to see their forces grow only stronger.

And every wolf would learn the art of battle.

Eshe’s familiar voice broke his thoughts for the moment, and as the dark agouti man paused his pacing, his eyes cast upward to fall upon her slender form. She was beautiful – gentle, loving. Everything he was not entirely used to, and he feared he would absolutely break her. “Eshe,” he greeted warmly, allowing a small smile to trace his white-tipped muzzle.

Ah, she found him! She heard his pacing, which could only mean he was deep in some train of thought, or worrying about something, because she paced for the same reasons. Her own thoughts she pushed aside for now, and when he came into her line of sight she beamed, happy as ever to see him. Eshe darted nearer to him so that she might kiss his cheek, tail waving. She could not help but drop every thought at that moment, actually, because she was so darned happy to see him, and happier still that the man before her eyes, the man of her dreams, the man she believed she had loved the very instant she had humiliated herself in front of him, was her mate.

She could burst! The she-wolf seemed to be holding her breath in her excitement as she thought of all that she had accomplished, all of it with him and because of him, too. He had ignited her ambitions, brought them to light. He believed in her, too. And she knew a man like Scimitar did not just believe in anyone; it amounted to so much more. All of the love in her was for this man right in front of her eyes. She was friendly and sweet and happy always, it seemed, but she looked at no one as she did Scimitar. Eshe had only eyes for him, and it was obvious, unquestionable.

The woman pressed closer to him, tilting her head. Whatchu pacin' for, honey? What's goin' on? She moved to slip her slender muzzle beneath his own in affection and comfort, keen on helping him carry the weight of his worries and his thoughts. We share everythin' together, don't we? Now, tell me, she encouraged with a little smile of her own, her soft eyes warm and loving as they looked to him, ears perked forward. Still her muzzle remained tucked beneath his own, feeling very comfortable there. But she removed it so she could look at him better, her head tilting slightly.

She was quick to notice his pace, and his smile broadened. She moved closer to him, and he greeted her properly with a brush of his nose to her cheek, inhaling her scent softly and seeking peace from it. His ears would perk forward, his eyes studying her carefully before he pulled back, offering her and in agreement.
 
“Kaskara and I want to teach the pack to fight – and want to have each wolf carry a mercenary trade,” he offered, waiting to see her reaction to such a thing. She was gentler than he could fully understand or be – his fights had not consisted of words in the past but of brutal blows. “I want us to be prepared if something happens. If the Mountain wolves go back on their word again, or if any of our other neighbors seek us out..” Such as Blackfeather Woods, he thought dryly.

Eshe's eyes were upon him and remained that way, every ounce of her concentration upon him. And when he divulged what was on his mind, she couldn't help but release a teeny breath of relief. It was a terrible thought she had in the back of her mind, and it was something to the effect of him longing for Bazi and thinking that actually, his happiness might be back there. But Eshe also had known that was not it, because they loved one another so fully, and Scimitar was the most pragmatic man she had ever known in her entire life. If he had even a semblance of a doubt, Scimitar would not have left with her at all, and they would not be wed, or standing here. Eshe felt nothing but safe with him in every capacity; the thought was one that only came because of all the trouble they'd seen in getting here, but she remained positive throughout it.

I think with all that's going on, that makes total sense. I like that idea, Eshe nodded, thinking of telling him about the conversation she and Kaskara had and their idea... but since that was something Eshe had promised she'd bring up to Scimitar alongside Kaskara, she held her tongue. That's real smart. I'm all for it, she waited a beat and with a twinkle in her eye that betrayed her excitement, she said, Kaskara's fixin' to teach me to fight, too, and, Jesus, she almost said our babies, too but her tongue lurched and she went on to another truth, And I'd like for you to teach me too, boss man husband of mine!

She'd wanted to bring up other plans, but felt her body move into a quick little play-bow that betrayed her next intent. She sprung upward as though she were a cricket, so that she might pounce the very close at hand Scimitar. Eshe felt she couldn't fail here, but had forgotten Kaskara's lesson of catching the other wolf off-guard. Oops.

Eshe, in all of her jubilant energy, did not fail to assure the Frostfur that she agreed with him completely. She even began to speak of Kaskara teaching her to fight – something that stirred a small smile to the man’s lips. He was about to comment that he felt Kaskara’s own days of battle prowess would be placed on hold soon, given her desire to have a family, when Eshe bowed down.

All intent was seen clearly, but the dark agouti wolf was certainly not in any rush to maneuver away from his wife, and so his jaws clipped shut, and he made to return the play bow when she barreled in to him.

His shoulder managed to roll forward, catching the brunt of her pounce, but he cast a playful nip instead to her ear, his own form trying to hold firm, despite still being knocked back a few paces.

Oof! Eshe grunted as she hit against his shoulder, which had firmly caught her. Dangit, okay. Can't knock over a tree, so why knock over a Scimitar, who is totally like a tree? Makes sense. Should have thought of that before. Eshe bounced away just as his fangs sought for an ear, and she grinned at how quickly she had sprung out of his reach. And that would be her talent! Evading, as opposed to, well, being the bowling ball to his pin. He had stumbled a bit, but certainly not enough for her to feel proud. She was a wolf of an average stature who was more lean than she was muscled. She wasn't made to knock things down. Simply wear them out.

So Eshe, in that line of thought, lurched forward to try and get to his hindquarters and cast a nip there. She was quicker than she herself expected, but wheeled away quickly and spun around, looking quite like a dog that was up to no good. A dog who would zip around the house in the span of .30 seconds, running atop of your new coach, jumping onto your just cleaned table, and sliding all across your freshly mopped floor. Scimitar was the holy grail of her devilry, at the moment, and without wasting a second more she sprinted loosely around him and made a mad dive to kiss his cheek and run off, laughing and stopping to stand still, her tongue lolling out of her face. Did I get ya? Honestly, she wasn't sure if she'd kissed his cheek or his rear-end, she'd been running so quickly! But his rear-end was as pretty as his jawline, and so she'd be satisfied with whatever she got, if anything. Her eagerness and zest... well, it possessed her more than her will to succeed, so she could have easily swung at the ball and missed it.

She evaded him, and he cast her a devilish grin – completely livening up to the joys of a playful spar. She was quick on her paws, and when she lurched, he fell for her tactic and followed, shuffling his own large figure away, but not quick enough. Her teeth would gently graze him in their playfulness – had it been a serious attack, she likely would have indeed opened his flesh.
 
His own reaction was to initiate his own ploy, but before he could, his swift mate was gone from where she had previously stood. The impish grin on her features drew a chuckle from him, and he shuffled, fully coming to terms with how she desired to play this game – with her speed.
 
Her kiss planted on his cheek as expected, but his form remained still. He would have lunged to her, but he knew she would leap away before he could catch her – best to catch her off guard. And with some force, if only to reiterate how quick she needed to be to evade whatever opponent she went up against.
 
He remained, waiting for her next move, his muzzle swinging a bit lower.. his eyes taunting her: come play, Eshe.

His taunt was not missed by her bright eyes, but it inspired a completely different reaction within Eshe than perhaps even she anticipated. Butterflies swept up in her gut and possessed her brain as she veritably flew at him with a wide grin, her tail waving eagerly behind her back as she moved to nip the part of him nearest to her. There was a part of her that wanted to be caught by him, but the other part wanted to prove that she knew how to utilize what little equipment she was blessed with on the 'battlefield'.

Eshe shifted and moved to spring away herself now, but her success certainly depended on his own movements; she didn't know it, but Eshe was on a ride that Scimitar was in control of.

Her speed would be an impressive prospect for the battlefield – he might have had weight on his side, but it would be useless if he could not catch her.. and had this been a true fight, he would not have been able to remain so still, else she could have landed a deadly blow to the man.
 
A part of him was loathe to make any move against her, and yet, in the past he and Bazi had sparred many times. Yet, at one point in their relationship, the friendly spars had turned more serious – and Bazi’s attacks upon him had at one point turned serious.
 
She made to nip at him again, a grin upon her face, and his jaws shot forward, aiming to give a gentle nip toward her ear, though she was about to spring away – whether his target was on point, he did not wait to see, his own form moving forward with her, to keep her within reach of his playful jaws.

Eshe let out a girlish screech at the feel of his fangs against her ear, though he had only caught the very tip of it. Still, he had landed a 'blow'! And then he was after her, but she used her momentum to adeptly bound forward. Eshe played the part of a frightened doe, but then whipped back toward him like a protective stag and moved to playfully headbutt whatever part of him was nearest before attempting to dive away.

The alpha had to laugh, she was having so much fun! Perhaps this was meant to be serious, but it was a thrill to learn the trade with the love of her life. Never would her fangs turn cruel to him, for he was her heart, and to hurt him would be to hurt herself! Love poured forth from her eyes, as did her utter delight at spending such time with him in ways she could not have done at the Ridge. There was nothing forbidden in this, now that their love was proclaimed and known, and she felt such freedom and joy that she veritably soared as she moved.

Sorry not sorry.

The girlish squeal she emitted was enough to downright scare him as the initial thought that he had actually harmed her caused him to completely halt anything, his heart hammering and his eyes wide as he searched her for injuries. His jaws opened as he was about to emit a whine of apology, his ears slicking back to his skull as he made to take a quick step forward and placate her frayed nerves – and then the little devil whipped back around, her head swinging around before her promptly caught him off guard and head butted him.
 
Right in the nose.
 
No sooner did he realize that the squeal had been one of playfulness did the blood begin to stream from his nose, and sneezing, it sprayed out to speckle the ground with crimson before he began to laugh. “You’re a brute,” he declared with a snort, lifting a paw to try to press it to his nose, before dipping his muzzle down to rub it along the length of the soft moss, hoping to stop the flow of blood.

Her head lifted and she looked to inspect the 'damage', hah, like she could deal any damage to her sturdy brick wall of a husba—

Did she smell blood? Eshe stopped in her tracks, leaving skid marks and stumbling over her own long legs. She fell to her side with a light oof, but got up in record time and spun on her heels with wide eyes. As soon as she saw the blood, she nearly swooned. OH NO, she crowed, her eyes wide and panicked. OH NO SCIM, BLOOD! YOU'RE BLEEDING!!!! She stood stock still and watched as he nosed the earth, and her heart rose in her throat. Though he laughed, Eshe was thinking to herself, OHNOIDIDTHAT,OHNO a thousand times over.

I... I can get something... do I know something to stop the blood? Do I???? Seeing him bleeding caught her off guard, but she rushed to his face and began to attempt to lick the bleeding nose as her mind scoured through any herb that could prevent bloody noses.

Eshe was in a panic – something that caused him to continue laughing, and while he tried to stop the flow of blood from his nose, he could hear her reciting in the background of what would help his current predicament. Casting his muzzle upward once more to look at her in what he hoped was a serious matter, given the blood pooling from one nostril to the ground, he gave a light shake of his head.
 
Blinking, she was at him, trying to lick away the blood, causing him to try to pull back a bit. “’M fine, Eshe,” he offered, his words muffled by her ministrations. “It’ll stop on its own,” he offered, his tail giving a gentle wag through the air as if to show her how fine he was. Without waiting for her to fret further on the matter, the large male lunged forward again, his jaws snapping playfully to the air before her before bouncing off, eager to lead her in to a bout of chase for the rest of the afternoon.