Wapun Meadow Krummhorn

@Saucy

The nights had become too cold for Nunataq to hang out in Wapun meadow all the time, therefore her obssessive habit of being here was slowly dwindling. The image of Lucas was fading in her memory and, though she still connected the sadness that surrounded Indra and Laurel with the disappearance of her brother, she was so used to their state that nowadays she hardly noticed it.

And since waiting and doing nothing else soon got too boring for the energetic teenager, she occupied herself with plowing through the yellowing grass and hunting for small rodents. Her skills in providing food for herself were very flawed, but, whenever she was doing, she hardly ever lost focus on concentration on the task. And this was rewarded sometimes, which fuelled her will to continue with the activity.

Today she was found digging up a fresh mole mound, her forepaws removing the earth quickly, revealing the narrow tunnel underneath and the wonderful smell of a prey not too far away.

thanks for starting!

Saucy had made her way all around the wilds, and ironically found herself back at the meadow she’d started in. It had recently snowed, and there were sugary remnants of this sprinkled about the ground. It was a very beautiful and pristine sight, some of the flowers still remained and were sparkling in the dew left behind. The snowy woman stopped to smell at them, and roll in a particularly soft patch of remaining snow. 

While she wandered, she began to remember the first time she’d come to the meadow, how she’d met Indra and tried to help find the woman’s nephew. She wondered if he’d showed up since, she’d felt terrible for not being able to help. She had done some searching for him in the valley, but eventually had to push him from her thoughts and continue her own journey. Now that she returned she pondered going back to Bearclaw Valley just to see if they’d found him yet, just to sate her curiosity.

For today at least, her curiosity was captured by another thing- a young wolf digging at a mole hill. She watched her for a few moments, icy eyes scanning the brown female as well as the dirt she flung up from the ground. Then she let out a loud bark, her tail wagging behind her in a friendly manner.

Just when Nuna was certain that the little king of the underground was within her grasp, she realized that there was a problem. The tunnel did not end at the bottom of the mound. Oh, no, no, no -it went further underground and as far as she could reason, there was no foreseeable quick conclusion to her quest. Brow furrowed and gears of her mind working, she sat down and pondered her next move.

Until this process was interrupted by a loud bark, which made the puppy snap around and regard the approaching stranger distrustfully. Though not fearful by nature, recently there was a certain amount of wariness and suspicion she expressed towards people she did not know well. She got in a crouch and took some steps backwards and growled.

The reaction Saucy got from the girl was a defensive one, and since she did not want to frighten her or seem a danger, she lowered her slightly. She brought it back up to speak, her tail swinging behind her in a good-natured way. What’s up, need any help with the digging? she asked taking a couple steps forward then waiting to see how the young female would respond. She meant her no harm, but if that wasn’t conveyed yet she wouldn’t push it.

She stopped and sat in a relaxed position, a cheerful smile on her face as she began to knead the ground like a cat.

It took some time for Nunataq to read and process all the non-verbal cues the stranger was emitting, before she let her guard down and could view her as an object of curiousity and not danger. She straightened herself up, took few steps closer to the wolf, but kept enough distance between them, so that she could take off at any moment, should she decide to do so.

Sniff, sniff and a scrutinizing gaze, taking in every inch of the other's unusual appearance and, when Nuna felt satisfied with, what she was seeing, and had decided, in which folder she was going to put this person, she finally sat down. And turned her attitude from defensive and curious, to business-like. Now her gaze and facial expression conveyed a polite interest, what could the white she-wolf be useful for.

Saucy watched with amused intrigue as the girl let down her defenses, and became a bundle of curiosity. She allowed her to check her out; Saucy's demeanor was pleasant and her aura was brimming with energy. Nuna seemed to analyze her, then sat down too and looked ready for something- and all of this was done without a word. Hey, that was cool with her, Saucy was adept in and enjoyed using all forms of communication.

She in turn sniff sniffed at the soft brown wolf, she smelled familiar. Like Indra, she realized, perhaps they hailed from the same pack; Bearclaw Valley. Usually she would ask about it, but since her company was at least a year younger than her she didn't think it was really a topic of great interest. Plus the girl had already made it clear that no words were required. So she simply assumed that the valley was where Nuna was from, and moved on.

The white lioness glanced around the youngster at the mole hill, and let out a grumbly bark. She then stood and trotted towards it, gesturing to it with her nose as if to ask whether Nuna was going to finish digging.

A definite "plus" for Nunataq's newfound acquaintance was that she did not press with pointless babbling, as most wolves were prone to do. While the girl had learned to pretend to listen and understand everything, by the third person, who attempted to communicate with her by making sounds, she would get tired and let her boredom on the topic be very evident.

The wolf showed particular interest in Nuna's smell. She furrowed her brow, when close proximity was inflicted, but did not growl, taking the opportunity to get a better idea of the stranger as well. But she was very relieved, when this burdensome part of meet-and-greet ritual was over and they were down for business. She watched, while the she-wolf inspected the excavation site and, when she barked, Nuna's ears went up and she raised to her feet, to have a better look at the place as well. In case the other had spotted something that she had not. The second look did not shed much light on the topic, therefore she peered up at the wolf in question - what was she aiming at?

just wondering, is Nuna full grown at this point or would she still be visibly smaller than an average sized wolf? just wanted to make sure haha

Nuna didn't seem to grasp Saucy's point, the younger wolf looked at the white wolf with questioning eyes. Saucy frowned, then turned back to the digging site. She looked at where the mole hill disappeared into the ground further, where the pup was likely trying to get before she was interrupted. When she saw where the whole went, she saw the problem. It likely went down too deep for either of them to dig. But that didn't mean they couldn't try, if the pup still wanted to.

In order to better get her point across, she started to dig, scraping up the dirt and tossing it behind her. Then she stopped, looked at Nuna and raised her eyebrows as if to say, see?

She kind of is, but has a very childish and innocent look about her, that gives away the fact that she is younger than her looks. I imagine her being lanky and not yet physicall mature.

Aaaah, that's, what you meant! A figurative light-bulb lit up above Nunataq's head, when she realized, what the unknown female had intended to do. This brief look of awe was replaced by a Why did not you say so sooner? expression, and then she got to work as well. Soon Nuna was wholly absorbed in digging and had entirely forgotten, what she was digging for and why. She had the simple joy of removing earth, chewing and tugging out roots that came her way and seeing that her work had an immediate result. A deeper hole. After one of those acknowledgments, she looked up at her partner in crime, as if seeking approval of all the hard work she had done.

ok! Thank you, I love Nuna btw!

When Nunataq finally understood what Saucy was going for, the young girl went madly to work, happily digging away. Saucy joined her, an amused smile on her face as she watched the youthful brown female kick up dirt and roots. She soon became immersed in it as well, her tongue lolling out of her mouth the further the got. When finally it seemed time to stop, they didn’t have a mole but they did have a big ass hole! A job well done in her book.

Hell yeah, she said with an approving nod, looking at their little ditch. She then looked back to Nuna, and smiled, good job lil bro! she said. Saucy sort of forgot that the younger female didn’t really speak that much, so she continued on as usual. So what next? she asked as she turned and started to make her way out of their ditch.

Nuna very quickly decided that she liked this creme-colored she-wolf far better than Laurel, who had an inexplainable aversion to holes and every other kind of mischief. This lady, rather than reprimanding her, stopping the activity and asking to do the opposite (filling in the hole again), worked just as hard and seemed to share the joy and art of digging that Nuna did. Plus, she did not talk much, while they were working, which was a definite checkmark under "good qualities" in the young girl's books.

When they finally took a break, Nuna, who was covered in mud from head to toes, beamed at the lady and wagged her tail in response to her words. You did not have to be a genius to understand, when you were praised. She let the rest of the inquiry pass and, while her companion climbed out of the ditch they had dug out together, Nuna rolled in the mud with pleasure, finishing this activity with a hefty sneeze.

Saucy pulled herself out of their ditch assuming that her little buddy would be following, but when she turned around to face Nuna, she was still down in it, rolling around. Saucy had always liked kids, but something about this encounter triggered a maternal instinct that was yet to be reached in the girl. She was young yes, and she'd never thought of herself being a mother. She was a great warrior, she didn't have time to get fat and raise a kid! But maybe things would change between now and then. Instincts were a powerful force, and Saucy seldom ignored them.

She couldn't wipe the smile from her face as she watched the younger girl, and giggled when she sat up to sneeze. That did look pretty fun, Saucy decided, so she started right back down into the hole, kind of rolling down the small incline. When she'd reached the depths of their pit she started to roll on her back, her legs swimming through the air as she did. She paused in her exploits to glance at Nunataq from upside down, her tongue lolling out in a grin.

Toddlers have this particular stage, when they mimic every single thing they see adults or their older siblings do. In the beginning it is funny, then it gets very, very annoying. But if the situation is reversed - there is no better way to boost a baby's confidence, if you show interest in, what they are doing, and also try to mimic them. Therefore no wonder, that Nuna's face lit up in excitement, when her pale pelted friend got back in the pit and began to roll in the mud as well. She grinned at the lady next to her, then got to her feet, chose another good spot and slid down on her side again, rubbing the dirt and earth in her hair and every pore of her skin. Boy, was this amazing.

Nuna might just pick Saucy up and bring her home and tell everyone that this is my new best friend!

haha! Nuna is precious!

Saucy felt a ball of warmth grow in her chest when the kid grinned back and resumed her rolling. Yeah, maybe she did have those maternal instincts. She could deny it, and say that she didn’t want kids she just wanted to be a badass forever, but she was gonna be a mom someday. Just please don’t tell her that, she would have a panic attack. She was content to roll around in the dirt with Nuna, and that she did, until her entire winter white coat was swampy brown on the ends. Yikes.

She stood up, and gave her body a thorough shake, though she was still a very dusty color. She didn’t care, she was having fun, and maybe she looked cooler all roughed up anyway. She looked down to the already brown pup, the dirt didn’t have exactly the same effect on her.

At the end of this day and for the next following few Nunataq would be caked in a layer of dried up mud, looking more like a parody of an armadillo than a teenage wolf. But beware anyone, who would try to tell her that this was not the coolest outfit ever!

She got up to her feet as well, gave a good head-to-toes look at Saucy and gave an appreciative nod. You have learned well, apprentice! This was the highest praise. Nuna would have come up with some other mischief to involve her new-found mud-buddy, but a call from Bearclaw valley drew her attention away.

Lunchtime!!! Nuna's face lit up and her tail began to wag excitedly. There was a little regret in leaving the lady now and this showed up in the quick apologetic look she shot her, before dashing away. Play was good, but she would kill for a zebra right now.

Thanks! Give Nuna a call, when you are in the town again. :)

I will!

The pup got up and examined Saucy, making sure her levels of dirt passed the test. Then Saucy was given a nod of approval. She gave the girl a nod in return, a soft smile on her face. Then suddenly she heard a faint howl, Nuna’s ears perked and her face lit up. Saucy was shot an apologetic look, and then the girl zipped away. The white she-wolf watched until the girl was out of sight, and realized she’d never gotten her name. Lil bro it was then!

She turned and began to walk away, hoping to find a stream to wash off the dirt and all that motherly instinct.