Heron Lake Plateau Animal Crossing

@Connor

After that incident with the crab, Lokie decided to head inland a bit. While he had enjoyed the coast otherwise, he found out quickly that the water there was not god to drink. He had some to his fill, but after a few hours, he found himself even more thirsty. So, he moved on. 

By the time he reached the fresh water of the lake, he was well beyond dehydrated, and his skin began to sag from lack of fluids. Most wolves might have just crouched down to drink. But, that wasn't enough for Lokie. No, instead, he dove in at a trot and tried to drown himself in the much-needed water. He gulped it down as fast as he could, and, unsurprisingly, began to cough when he inhaled some. He quickly expelled the liquid from his lungs, and began to lap it up, just a little bit slower now. Swimming to the edge, he laid down in the deepest water he could without his head going under.

The male had been having a harder time settling in than he originally anticipated, it seemed that everywhere he went the man would land in trouble one way or another. Although he took some time to rest his limbs again, he was determined to find some unmarked territory and make his home there but he became wary of that idea and was soon to ditch it. He soon came upon the lake and didn't notice anything to his interest quite yet, he instead looked over his shoulder and frowned, so much for starting a new life, all of these wolves are aggressive in some shape or form, can make one lose hope. He sighed sadly and flattened his ears a bit and looked down at his large paws. He felt as though his exploration seemed to be a waste and he felt more and less determined by what he was doing but he had a shred of confidence left.

He was making his way towards the lake when he saw something peculiar, a smaller male who seemed to be driving himself in water by the shore, naturally, Connor was going to investigate but he didn't have to. The grey male seemed to launch his head upward and cough a bit before he made a dive into the lake, the ginger male blinked and stood in awe. Connor stepped a bit closer to the shore but recoiled his large head in surprise a bit when he saw that the wolf had popped his head up and began to what seems like going for a swim. The large man tipped his head to the side a bit and watched with curious eyes as the male look liked a Gardner snake swimming in a lake. His childlike emerald gaze blinked and watched, but his thoughts soon caught up with him, my experiences so far tell me that he could be a pack wolf, and by the time he notices me, he could sound the alarm. Or I could ask him directions to the closest place where I could wallow in my sorrows. He frowned a bit at that last part since he was being a bit overdramatic, but at this point, it could go either way for him.

Lokie rested a moment after taking his fill, a few more coughs needed to clear his airways before they finally settled down. He would never make the mistake of drinking that bad water again, that was for sure. In a display of dramatic tiredness, he threw his body to his side and rested his head in the watery sand that made up the lake's shoreline. 

It was then that he caught sight of the other wolf. He froze a moment, but when it was apparent he was not under attack, his tail made ruffles in the water. Hey, there, he greeted, his friendly voice carrying in the distance. The other male seemed fixed in his place, and Lokie wondered if he was going to come over or not.

The man still watched him with curious eyes as he came upon the shore, looking a bit tired from his exploit in the water. He watched his sagging wet fury flop on the ground as he seemed to be taking a breath, any second now my fate shall be in the hands of this man, I should send a message to my mother that I am going to join my siblings soon. Connor put his head straight and was ready for anything and his muscles tensed a bit when the stranger saw him, he blinked in anticipation on what he could do next. However, his nerves were calmed by a surprising friendly greeting from the man, to this Connor made sure to look relaxed and sure of himself.

Connor made sure that he appeared friendly to him and gave a small tail wag and raised his eyebrows, followed with a friendly smile, "Hey! I just so happen to notice that you were taking a swim and you then flopped on the shore like a fish out of water, everything okay? If you don't mind me asking of course," he replied with a friendly tone as he made his way over to him, but he stopped, giving the male space of course as Connor looked down on him with an amused glance.

The male seemed to relax, for which Lokie was grateful for. His body was not ready to run from another just yet. He had just started to chill, after all. He righted himself, but remained laying on his stomach, as the male came over. Lokie didn't miss that the other was respectful of the space. He was asked if he was alright. 

He nodded, I am now, I think, he said. I was on the coast for a couple days, drinking the water there, but I just seemed to get more and more thirsty, he explained. And then I just started to get weak. Glad I found this lake when I did, he went on. He wasn't sure just how much more time his body could take without fresh water.

He watched him get himself comfortable to which Connor responded with sitting down and continue watching him. The large man listened to him as he explained his situation to him, the fact that he was drinking bad water and getting weaker from it raised alarm. However, he was relieved that he was told that this lake seemed to be doing much better than the previous to which Connor couldn't resist asking, "I am sorry that you couldn't find clean water sooner but it's good that you found this, but I do need to ask, where are those bad lakes? And are other wolves using it?" His curious and adventurous nature was taking over, Connor hoped that the male wouldn't mind it though.

Connor then flared his nose as he remembered his first adventures in this place as he frowned, "well at least you didn't run into territorial wolves and in unmarked places that they will call home, I swear, every piece of grass is probably claimed by someone." He said this with an annoyed voice and an eye roll, but he let himself open up to him about his problems a little too quickly, but he was getting tired and frustrated by all of it.

When asked about the bad water, Lokie motioned his head in the direction of the coast. That way, he directed. It's one big lake, looks like it just goes on and on, he explained. Having never seen the sea before, Lokie was unaware that it was supposed to be a different type of water. The creatures by it are peculiar, too, he added. One had like eight legs and a huge pincher-claw thing and just grabbed onto my lip and wouldn't let go! I hadn't done nothin' wrong to it, he told. Lokie had just been curious about the thing. 

His ears perked when the other told Lokie of his trouble with pack wolves. Well, I tend to steer clear of borders, he admitted. But, there is strength in numbers, if you want to hang out together. Lokie wasn't a fighter, but he supposed it could hurt to have a friend. I don't bite, he said with grin. He supposed that could either be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on who his opponent was.

The man made a mental note on the bad water, he said it was by this place called the coast to which Connor was unfamiliar with. The ginger male was born in the mountains where there were no large bodies of water but small streams and some medium-sized lakes. He nodded in understanding as he was informed about the bad water there. His once glum and annoyed face turned into a curious look, his ears perked up like pine trees as he then began to explain that this weird creature from this coast had grabbed him and wouldn't let go. Connor tried not to laugh but he restrained, "that sounds like quite the predicament you got in, although I'm afraid I know nothing of those types of creatures, I was born and raised in the mountains, that's where my field of expertise is." He said to him, though he was merely joking about being an expert, to further point he had said it with a funny posh accent.

He laughed to himself for a little bit but he stopped and listened to him talk about what Connor was going to rant about, "I would steer clear of borders if there were any," he said with a huff, but his intention was to not be rude to the man. Connor's interest peaked when he offered if they could be friends in a sort, to which Connor was taken back by this since no one so far had offered a hand of friendship to him. His tail thumped on the sand a bit, "Well good friends start with their names, my name is Connor, what's yours?" He said with a bit of happiness and enthusiasm.

The other male admitted he didn't know about those creatures, either, and said his expertise was more of the mountains. Hey! Mine, too! I'm new to these flat lands, he said excitedly. He was always happy to find he had something in common with someone else. It gave him something to build on.

Lokie didn't often take offense to anything, and this moment was no exception. His tail thumped the shallow when Connor, as he introduced himself, accepted the offer of friendship. Nice to meet ya, Connor. I'm Lokie, he replied. So, you don't know anyone else around here? Lokie asked.

He got even more excited that he finally found something in common with someone, being new to these parts was hard as is and he didn't seem to be settling in well with the locals. Connor gave a sigh of relief, "thank goodness that I can actually find some good in this place," he said. The man gave a thankful nod to him as he introduced himself as Loki.

Connor then shook his head to his question, "I am afraid not, the only wolves that I "know" are the wolves that are forming packs and being a little bit... Creepy but I rather not dwell on that." The man remembered back to the wolf that he met in the Vale, his unsettling presence and his speech came back to him but he shook the thought off.

Lokie could not help but beam in the praise of the other wolf, his tail once again thumping in the water, this time making a splash. He stood to shake the water from his fur before stepping fully to shore. Then, he laid the front half of his body on the grass, and pushed himself with his back legs. It felt so gooooood. Switch sides, repeat. Shake fur again. Smell like pretty grass!

Tail wagging, he sat back on his haunches just a couple of feet from Connor. Ah, don't let them get ya down! I'm sure we'll meet plenty of other nice wolves! Lokie had zero doubt that it would be the case. He never worried about the bad stuff, only looked forward to the good. Even if he did meet a bad wolf, he didn't let them screw up his good day.

The man watched with amusement as Loki's tail thumped harder into the lake making larger splashes, he admired a wolf who stayed positive during these type of situations. Connor watched as Loki got out of the water, he then shook his fur and stretched his body both ways, but his water shaking had sprayed onto Connor, who lifted his paw to try and block the spraying from his face. He then looked at Loki after he was done drying himself with a cheeky glare as he quickly flicked his soaked paw at him, lightly spraying the remains of the sea water back onto him. The man then put his paw down and watched as Loki approached him and sat a couple of feet away from him but Connor didn't mind this.

The male's ears perked with interest as Loki seemed to be so positive about not letting other wolves get to him to which Connor looked up at the sky, looking like he was considering what he said, which he was. Connor beamed at Loki his emerald orbs enthusiastic, "well I guess you are right, not everyone isn't as bad as they appear! Not unless you talk to them of course, that's when things can change," he added thoughtfully.

Lokie wasn't paying attention to where his flying water droplets were going, and didn't realize that Connor, his new friend, was in the red zone. At least, not until he was settled down, and then got a few to the face. He chuckled, understanding. My bad, he said with a grin. He might have made more of an apology, but Connor didn't look upset by it. Instead of shaking the droplets off his face, Lokie took a paw and wiped them off instead.

He wondered what was going through Connor's mind. Lokie wasn't exactly one who thought all that deeply about things. He handle things as they came at him, and didn't worry about the outcomes that would come in the future. He lived in the moment, and dealt with things in the moment. If he was more serious, he might have questioned Connor about that. But, he wasn't. Aww, don't worry! I'm the only one here right now, and I'm no threat, he chuckled. 

Lokie turned his gaze to the forest just East of where the pair currently sat, and then turned back to Connor. Wanna go check it out? he asked, already getting restless.

Connor replied to Loki's apology with a chuckle, "Nah, don't worry about it." The ginger male then stood on his paws, he was honestly getting tired of sitting and he just needs to stand. Connor then inched his paws forward and tipped the front half of his body while his rear stayed up, he then felt the stretching of his muscles which eased the man. He then elevated his front body back to be even with his rear, the man shook his ginger, coal and snow white fur because you can't go wrong with a good shake. Connor's ears perked up again as Loki said that he was no threat to which, Connor delightfully agreed, "the only thing that is threatening about you is your eagerness to greet everyone, watch out for Loki, he will kill you with kindness," the big man teased and gave a hearty chuckle.

He watched as Loki got up and began heading East to which Connor gave a raised eyebrow and followed him with his head. But his new friend turned around and invited him to join him on his journey to which he invited him to come along. The large man smiled and trotted up to him and gave him a nod, "you kidding, of course!" His sense of adventure leaked through his words as the pair had turned towards the East and began their journey through the great beyond that is Teekon.