Otter Creek dancing with demons.
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Ooc — Stevie
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If you didn't have the nose of a wolf, you probably wouldn't have known it was a wolf at all behind the cloud of dirt being kicked up out of the little den. In fact, you probably would've thought it was a badger or a wolverine, based on the snarls that echoed out from the deep. The cause of the dirt cloud however, was not a badger, nor a wolverine. It was a wolf. The snarls, though, those were definitely badger. Or wolverine.

The silver pelted Blackthorn stepped back from the den mouth to catch her breath. She shook herself vigously, waving the black streak along her spine till it wriggled like a snake and sent specks of dirt flying into the air. Finally, Fin plopped onto her haunches to admire her work. The mouth of the den was a good three times the size it had been, and she had gotten a couple feet into the tunnel. Piles of dirt and brambles were everywhere (who builds a den in a thistle thicket, I ask you?) The beast within continued to rumble anxiously even though she had stepped back. The sound made her grin.

"Settle down, little buddy," Finley cooed sweetly, "How many times do I have to tell you--I'm not going to hurt you." The resounding snarl that thundered back at her gave her cause to think that perhaps the critter didn't believe her. It made her laugh and prance forward to bow into a playful stance at the mouth of the den. "You can't hide in there forever... Just come out and play and I swear on my honor as a Blackthorn, I will do no more damage to your den."

Another snarl was her response. She gave a sigh and stood up to pace slowly back and forth before the mouth of the den, furrowing her brow as her grin faded to an inquisitive smirk. "I will get you, little buddy... You WILL play with me..." They always came out to play, eventually...
 
Amnesia may have destroyed my <i>memory</i>, but it will not destroy <i>me</i>.
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Ooc — Isabelle
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Hello! I’m keeping this sort of vague since I’ve got two other threads going that aren’t done yet. Also, no need to match my length. I keep getting carried away with this character.

Red had been up and down The Sunspire Mountains for at least a week and a half now, and she was sure she had seen all there was to see. Her half-coyote blood told her it was time to move on, though the other half of her - her wolf blood - told her it was time to start making a choice about where she wanted to live. It was strange and confusing warring with her two halves all the time. She wasn’t sure which instinct was stronger: the Coyote’s instinct to move and and run free as a nomad, or the Wolf’s instinct to find a pack, settle down, and defend its borders with her life. However, she found that the simple act of moving was sometimes enough to clear her mind so that she could think properly. And so, she moved.

She moved so quickly, in fact, that she found herself outside of the boundaries of the mountain range in a day, and an entirely new area lay before her, just waiting to be explored. She knew she would take it slowly, though, despite her coyote need to go everywhere. A combination of the fear of wolves and the instincts of one told her that she needed to be cautious and take it easy instead of flinging herself into the Great Unknown. She needed to figure out what her skills were. And she already knew what skill would probably save her the most in a place full of her larger and scarier half-cousins: charisma. Even if she only gained a smidgen of it, she still needed enough of it to have the courage to approach other wolves. Without it, she would never be able to join a pack, or the protection of one.

She decided to start small. Why throw herself at a pack’s borders - especially when that could get you killed - when you could instead go somewhere far away from a pack and hope that you stumbled upon someone? In the back of her mind, Red knew she was taking the coward’s way out, but her instinct to survive was stronger than her personal desire to make friends. Besides, wolves and coyotes didn’t usually get along. Of course, that wasn’t always the case. She herself, being a coywolf, was testament enough to that. But those instances were normally few and far between. Normally, wolves killed coyotes. But she had her father’s blood on her side. If she could get a wolf to see that just because she was half-coyote that didn’t make her a threat, then that would be good enough for her.

She scouted out the surrounding area, looking for a good place to start her search, and spotted a creek nearby that began somewhere above her head, in the Sunspire Mountains, which she had so recently left. She made her way toward the place, and as she neared it, began hearing strange sounds. She had never seen an otter, so she had no name to put to the sounds they were making. So fascinated was she by the furry, slippery little things when she reached the creek that she did not even notice the wolf nearby. The smell of the potential prey animals drowned her scent glands as she dropped into a crouch to watch her prospective meal flounder around in the creek…
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Ooc — Stevie
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No problem, I completely understand! Thanks for joining!


A sound nearby and the sudden scent of another wolf gave Finley cause to pause her escapades and turn with curiosity. She tilted her head slightly, wondering who it might be and what they were up to. Fin was not the type of wolf to prefer being alone to being with others, regardless of how the others felt about her company.

"Stay right there, buddy," she said after poking her head again into the hole, "I'll be right back." Fin turned on her heels and trotted out towards the river to greet the whoever it was she had scented, confident that the badger/wolverine wouldn't be going anywhere.

It didn't take Fin long to come upon the other female. For a moment, she thought she was looking upon a coyote. It didn't smell right though. It smelled wolfish.. and looked wolfish. But also coyoteish. Another perhaps would have been more confused, but Fin had been around enough to know a coywolf when she saw one. In the year she had spent on her own, she had stayed with so many different packs across the country. There didn't seem to be a whole lot that she hadn't seen, done or met. So, after only a moment's hesitation, Fin boldly stepped into view and flashed the stranger a grin.

"Pesky little buggers, eh?" Fin remarked with a slight nod towards the otters.

 
Amnesia may have destroyed my <i>memory</i>, but it will not destroy <i>me</i>.
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So I did a tiny little bit of research on otter behavior just to make this seem a bit more realistic and apparently OTTERS WILL ATTACK FULL-SIZED CROCODILES. I didn’t watch the whole thing, but Jesus…

Red was learning. She was learning by sitting and watching the otters. They had, due to her proximity, noticed her long ago, and every once in a while, they would lift up and watch her, much the same way meerkats stand up on their back paws to watch for danger. Other than that, they didn’t seem to mind her, so she saw no point in moving. She wasn’t even sure if she really wanted to go after any of them. More than being hungry, she was simply curious. What were these strange creatures whose fur seemed sleek and shiny even on the ones who hadn’t been in the water recently? Briefly, she wondered if their fur was like a duck’s feathers. Ducks looked constantly shiny, due to their feathers being waterproof. Red figured that might be the answer, though she couldn’t be sure. She would need to study them more before coming to a final decision.

“Pesky little buggers, eh?” came a voice on her right.

And instantly she was up on her paws. She had been previously lying down, half in order to get comfortable and half in order to less frighten away her potential prey. Though she noted in the back of her mind that the second she had sprung up to face her could-be attacker, the otters had all scatted and disappeared below the water in the creek, only to reappear a few moments later way down at the other end of it. Inwardly, she sighed in frustration, but outwardly, she was feeling a combination of fear and aggression.

But then she remembered… She was supposed to be making friends. And how was she going to do that if she ran from every wolf she met? Besides, this one seemed nice enough. The grey-and-white female would have probably attacked her by now if she was going to at all. So, instead of running away, which is what Red really wanted to do, she straightened herself from her crouched, fight-or-flight position and relaxed her body, letting out a whuff to say, ”You scared me.”

She paused, and wagged her tail as a sign of friendship. She let her eyes soften and her mouth open slightly to say, "What did you want? To play? I’d like to play.” Being only a year old meant that, despite being considered an adult by pack standards, she still had a bit of her juvenile-like tendencies when she felt like bringing them out. And, for once, this was one of those times.
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O___O MY GOD otters are terrifying. Did you know that they rape things to death too??

It seemed she had thought too soon, which was typical. She rarely had met a wolf who didn't speak, but it seemed like she had stumbled across one now. Finley tilted her head to the side as she read the other female's body language. It seemed for a moment, Fin's intrusion on the cinnamon-coated wolf was not welcome. Finley's ears fell back and her head lowered apologetically, a sheepish smile still present on her muzzle. Luckily, it seemed to change the other's mind as she bowed down for an invitation to play, which broadened the smile upon the silver lady's face.

"You want to have some fun, huh?" Fin asked eagerly, "Want to come meet a friend of mine? He's being a little grumpy today, but he'll be lots of fun to play with if we can get him to come outside..."

Unfortunately for Red, Finley was a bit oblivious when it came to judging whether or not certain activities were right for certain personalities. Taunting an angry wolverine might be fun for a bold, adventurous Fin, but maybe not so much for a nervous, young Red. OH WELL!
 
Amnesia may have destroyed my <i>memory</i>, but it will not destroy <i>me</i>.
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Holy Sh*t, REALLY? Jesus! They’re like DOLPHINS, except on land. (Dolphins will gang rape females and also kill the female’s offspring and then use the dead body as a toy to whack back and forth in the water…)

Red had no idea what Finley meant by “a friend of hers”. She expected this friend to be another wolf, and so gladly accepted the invitation to go meet them by barking happily and prancing on her front paws. This making-friends thing was a lot easier than she thought it would be. As the remainder of her trepidation passed, she allowed her tongue to loll out of her mouth and began to pant, which then made her realize how hot it was today.

She took a moment to drink from the creek now that it wasn’t being overrun with otters. Then she turned and trotted up to her new acquaintance. She lowered her body slightly and waited, to say, “I’m ready to go. I’ll follow you.” She was excited to meet this other wolf, whoever they might be. Had she known she was about to possibly get into it with a wolverine and/or badger, she would be sprinting away in the opposite direction. Wolverines/badgers were known for being vicious, and their bites and scratches could leave pretty decent wounds, even on a full-sized wolf, let alone a coywolf.

However, Red didn’t know that her new friend here had some kind of a death wish, and thought it was fun to mess with angry badger-wolverines. So she looked up at her guide with wide innocent eyes and just kept thinking about how happy she was to have found a friend…
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Good god that's messed up O_O Adorable animals are terrifying. I totally just looked over at my seven month old pup and she's making the craziest face at me, as if to confirm...

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Success! The other girl was down! Not able to help herself, Fin bowed playfully, her tail dancing happily at her haunches as the other female accepted the invitation with excitement.
Follow me!"
she barked cheerily and turned on her heels to head back the way she came, oblivious to the fact that this was a terrible, terrible idea.

It wasn't that Fin had a death wish. What the Blackthorn really had was a life wish. To her, life wasn't fully lived unless you were pushing boundaries and having the time of your life every step of the way. To some that would mean lounging on a nice rock in the sun. To Fin, it meant wrestling grizzly bears.

Or badgers! Fin was delighted to glimpse its shadowed face poking slightly out into the entrance of its den. "You came!" she cried out in delight, nearly prancing over the last few feet. The little face was gone into the depths by the time she reached it, which stopped her in her tracks and brought a pout to her pretty face.

"Oh come on! I have a friend for you to meet!" Fin frowned into the darkness then turned back, "Sorry, he's shy, but we'll get him!" Oh, how distressingly true it would be.

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Amnesia may have destroyed my <i>memory</i>, but it will not destroy <i>me</i>.
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I knew I was forgetting a thread somewhere! I had to look through my thread subscriptions to figure it out! Lol. Sorry.

Red happily followed her new friend over to some sort of den beside the river. It was here that she became confused. So they were not going to meet another wolf? Who were they going to meet, then? They coywolf hung back as Fin approached the den, wrinkling her nose at the sudden stench of badger. What on Earth? What the heck did the female think she was doing? Badgers were angry little devils, especially when provoked! Did Red’s new friend want to get her face eaten off by a pissed off badger?

She whined in her throat, backing up and flattening her ears against her head. This meant, “What are you doing? Get away! I don’t like this!”

Fin must have been the most insane wolf ever. Red continued whining, and was sorely tempted to grab her crazy friend by the tail and drag her away. She was glad the badger had hidden itself within the depths of its den and not decided to come out and kick Fin’s ass — which it could very easily do. The coywolf gave a high-pitched bark to say, “Come on! Leave it alone!” She waited nervously to see whether or not her friend would actually listen to her.
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Ooc — Stevie
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Not a problem! :)

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A grin trickled across the silver lady's lips as the snarls came rumbling back out of the mouth of the den. Why was the little guy being so silly? How did he not know that Fin had no desire to hurt him? It seemed like none of them ever knew that, but then again it was probably better that way. What fun was taunting an angry animal when it wasn't even angry? That's why she didn't often chase things like rabbits or squirrels anymore. They just got scared, not mad. She wanted something that would fight back. Or at least something that was more challenging to get close to, like birds. Damn birds. They were always so quick to notice her and just took off to the sky like in yo' face, loser! Bastards. If she could fly, they'd be sorry. Why couldn't she fly? It wasn't fair, wolves were so capable in so many ways, but did they have wings? Noooo....

And this is why when Fin heard Red's protests, she was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to correctly translate and instead gave her a quick reassuring wink. "Don't worry," she said, her back to the coywolf as she laid down before the mouth of the den, pondering her next move silmultaneously, "I have yet to fail to get a badger to come out of its den and show us its stripes. I'll get him out for us. I promised you fun and I will deliver!"

The good news is, she had yet to ever get anyone killed. Not for lack of accidental effort, mind you. Fin herself was very good at what she did; after so long of doing it, she had to be otherwise she would've been impaled on a hundred antlers, claws and fangs at this point. Her counterparts usually came through pretty well too! Although they didn't always speak to her again when all was said and done...

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Amnesia may have destroyed my <i>memory</i>, but it will not destroy <i>me</i>.
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Ooc — Isabelle
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First of all, I love Fin! Lol. Secondly, I’m gonna make this my last post. Since I’m trying to play Red realistically, that means ending things where I think she would want them to end, and she would never stick around to watch Fin get her face eaten off by a badger. So yeah. It was nice threading with you! Wanna do another with me soon? She’s going to be an Outrider, so it would make perfect sense for her to go all over the map meeting wolves and hanging out with them.

Red continued to whine and bark in protest as the stupid female in front of her just winked and told her not to worry. She would figure out how to get the angry, growling badger out of its den. Because she was completely bonkers. The coywolf decided right then and there that she was fed up with this nonsense. If this wolf wanted to get into a fight with a badger, that was all on her and Red wanted nothing more to do with any of it!

With a whuff of displeasure, she turned and loped away to go explore some other area of the Wilds that didn’t include crazy badger-loving wolves. She turned once to look back, whining again, and then faced forward and kept going. She wasn’t sure where she would go next, but she knew it was going to be far away from here.
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Ooc — Stevie
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LOL, it's no problem, I figured there was a good chance she'd run for it XD Definitely must thread again! These two are entertaining together! I'll finish this up :)

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"I've got it!" Fin cried out suddenly. The idea was so brilliant and wonderful and perfect, there could be no doubt that she, Finley Blackthorn, was an absolute genius.

"Here's what we do, we go back to the river and collect some berries and shit...," Fin said while spinning back towards the coywolf, "...we set it outside of the den, wait for him to come out, and then we GRAB him by the...." Fin stopped mid-sentence, her mouth hanging open in surprise as she watched her friend spin on her heels and dash off into the woods. What just happened?? Was she... no way... she wasn't.. afraid, was she!?

"Wait, no, come back! It's okay! It's just a silly badger, he's harmless! ...well, if you're quick enough, which I can clearly tell you are!" Fin cried after her, ears and tail dropping sadly. Her brows furrowed in frustration, her brain wondering why on earth this seemed to happen so often.

With a pouty huff, Fin turned back towards the den, muttering to herself. "It's just a stupid..." And that's when the beast emerged, snarling and spitting in rage, and definitely NOT a badger, "WOLVERINE, IT'S A WOLVERINE, RUN!!" Fin shrieked as she nearly stumbled over herself as she shuffled frantically backwards. In a second she gained her feet, whipped around and took off in the other direction as the creature snapped its jaws down onto her tail, ripping a tuft out of the end as the silver lady ran and ran and ran and ran until finally, there was no need to run. After a good ten minutes of full on sprinting, Fin finally stopped in a clearing completely alone, turned to look back at from where she had come, and fell over laughing.

She always got them to come out and play.

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