Arrow Lake behind closed doors
190 Posts
Ooc — Talamasca
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#1
All Welcome 
His siblings had grown tired of his incessant physicality — although they hiked nearby and would return to cross his path on occasion, Mesa's eager attempts to taunt them in to a game did not go over well. He was bored, impatient, and hungry for an adventure, and to couple that with his deep desire to prove himself the strongest of the lot, it was a wonder that anyone had the patience to deal with him. He eventually veered off one path and on to another, sulking between the trees until the scent of @Kazimir flooded the area; if his siblings weren't up for a game, then maybe one of the other diasporans? Thus his lazy stride picked up a more insistent gait, and as he angled his hefty self between the trees he began to prowl impatiently for his target.
144 Posts
Ooc — Noah
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#2
She had taught herself how to move faster and how to hop on her foreleg in a certain way to change direction quickly to compensate for the missing leg. For the longest time she hasn't been able to hunt but finally she managed to catch up to a fat gopher and yank him away from his home just in time. She was carrying it toward a cache with her tail held proudly, sense of smell blocked by the fresh death scent of the gopher. She had no idea she was being stalked by a litter hunter, so he would have easy prey for now.
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Ooc — Talamasca
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#3
As he followed after her, his head dropped to the soil and the scent of a fresh kill urged his nostrils to flare; he didn't slow down but he did veer off in a new direction as he followed that smell, then deviated back when it led to a dead-end among the trees. He snorted with his head canted towards a burly shoulder in order to clear his face of that smell, and then retraced his steps to find Kazimir's trail; it was odd, because he anticipated to find a wide path where her body had crushed the grasses or pushed aside saplings. It looked more like her weight was aligned to one side, as if she were overcompensating.

Just over a small rise, he paused and stared. There she was - this broad shouldered adult with a grizzled coat, but there was something off about her. Mesa had not been attentive enough to realize she'd been through some sort of trauma and at first he didn't notice the missing limb; but then as he watched her, silent and barely able to contain the urge to run ahead and snap at her, he noticed the way her weight shifted to one side. The absence of a limb evidently caused that. It was a good study that the boy could one day employ if he was tracking injured prey.
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Ooc — Noah
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#4
The sense of ignorance didn't last long and soon the creeping feeling along the back of her neck caused the hairs to rise. She was patient with whoever was watching her, acting as if she wasn't suspicious as she navigated the terrain getting over a large tree root fairly well. As the slope went downhill she turned and waited until she was down the hill to pause and sweep her gaze around catching sight of the child upon the rise. She froze and lowered her head slowly a bit creeped out that the boy was stalking her so silently, as if she was prey. "Its weird to stalk people" she announced in her Russian accent as she lowered her hindquarters to the ground to give her body a small rest.
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Ooc — Talamasca
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#5
Whether she was suspicious, afraid, or oblivious, something prompted her to pause and then call out. It was deeply satisfying to Mesa that he had managed to catch up to her and stalk after her for such a long time. The boy was not going to quit just because she spoke; if anything, his future attempts would be even more intense and he knew now that there was at least one adult who was susceptible to being tracked. It was a moment of pride for him - and the woman's feelings were, of course, utterly overlooked.

As the element of surprise was off the table, Mesa made no effort to shelter his presence any further. He came racing along between the trees, almost colliding with her hip as he wedged around her down the slope, then turned around to face her, tail arching high and wagging confidently. Then Mesa, with all the awareness and charm of a brick, said, You walk funny it was easy to track!
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Ooc — Noah
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#6
She would have jumped away if she was not uncertain that the movement was too quick for her. So instead she densely cringed as he barreled toward her, turning around as quick as possible. At this proximity he would get to see her pink, semi bald healed over stump. His words made her glance down at her missing limb and she snorted, looking at him and saying in a deadpan tone "I lost my leg to prevent a bear from entering Diaspora and eating you" her tone was stern but full of good humor and she smiled, rolling her eyes "But you're right I do" she admitted and hobbled a few pages just to help not strain her leg too badly.
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Ooc — Talamasca
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#7
Her counter was met with a pointed stare, an oblivious glance at the odd looking stump, and not a lick of guilt for what he'd said. Mesa looked at the injury and wasn't deterred, although he didn't like the look of it much, and even drifted closer so he could get a good look at it, as if it were the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen. The boy had witnessed the wolves of Diaspora take down game animals for food and he'd witnessed a couple of spars, but never heard of a bear before. He scrutinized over the wound for another moment before growing bored of it.

Did it hurt? What's a bear? Did it eat your leg? The boy vollied question after question towards Kazimir, not really expecting any answers but having fun in trying to figure out what had happened. It wasn't out of some sense of care, because deep down Mesa didn't have that connection with Kazimir and was more interested in the injury for its nastiness level; he was the kind of kid that would've grabbed a stick to poke at a dead body if he should ever find one. Thus his words became the stick, and he prodded at her incessantly. Is that why you hunt small things? You can't do big things anymore?

He wondered what it'd be like to lose a limb - but didn't ask that, because speaking it aloud might make it happen.
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Ooc — Noah
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#8
Her ears pinned back as he boldly inspected her stump. She watched him with equal fascination, her lips curving into a smirk as he reminded her of a young self. The questions came and she had expected a few but he went even further and asked some things that kind of sank like barbs into her wounded ego and self loathing.  "Bears are beasts that can eat two adult wolves and have room for pups. No it didn't hurt at first, but the healing and learning to walk again did. I don't remember if it ate my leg" she responded to his questions patiently as she sat down and pondered over his question internally. She nodded slowly and motioned to the stump with her nose "without one leg, walking becomes something new. I had to learn to hunt all over again. For now I do as much as I can but soon I'll teach myself to hunt big prey again" she explained to him, the sense of determination she felt filling her words.
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Ooc — Talamasca
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#9
The woman began to answer his questions, one after the next, but as she did so it appeared as though Mesa's interest waned - he listened through a few of the responses but seemed to be distracted by something-or-other the longer he lingered in her company. The boy stalked around her to continue his inspection, seeing very little wrong with the rest of her body; he looked sort of bored by her various explanations by the time the air cleared and the calm returned.

Then he stated something that seemed obvious to him: I bet I can hunt better than you! Even though he'd never had formal training, at least he had four working limbs and the tenacity of youth to back him up. He was boastful and self-assured as any child might be, holding true to his claim even if he had no real substance to back it up. Mesa remembered watching the elk hunt with his siblings and the image of the pack working together to take down a beastly crowned creature such as that didn't jive with what he was seeing of Kazimir now.

The boy laughed - a sharp and grating sound. I am fast too! One day I'll be a hunter, and a fighter, and nobody will beat me, he goaded, all the while eyeing Kazimir's stump and thinking to himself, maybe one day I'll be stronger than the bear that did that!
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Ooc — Noah
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#10
A brow lifted at the boastful pride that the boy had, much different than the sweet, adorable boy Drago had been. She didn't know what to say in return to his statement, he clearly knew how to stalk and track prey well enough so she wasn't about to say he probably couldn't. She also didn't want to crush the kid's giant ego although she figured somebody would one day. "Any wolf with four legs automatically out does me" she didnt boost his ego but she also didn't try to stop it, her lips curling up into a small smile. "You do show promise as a hunter for someone so young. Keep that attitude and you'll go far. Just...watch your manners kid. If you boat like that to the wrong wolf you'll start problems" she warned him and sniffed the air as the sound of far off cracks and rustling grabbed her attention. 

I'm so sorry this sucks
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Ooc — Talamasca
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#11
He wasn't deterred by her comments, mostly because her opinion didn't hold the same weight as his father's or his mother's, or other fully functioning adults. The boy remained fixated on that stump of a limb until she was finished her little lesson (or, attempted lesson), and then scoffed, a wolf-grin spreading across his pale face.

If four-leggers can beat you so easy, why do you keep tryin'? He didn't wait for a reply to that statement; it was rhetorical in the sense that Mesa was just too self-involved and cruel at this stage of life to give her any chance to counter him. I won't hunt for you, and nobody else should. Mesa was straight-faced when he said this, proclaiming her inadequacy with as much ease as someone might describe the color of the sky. It made sense to him, and didn't feel wrong at all to mention it. You should leave.

He was certain in his decree - and in his limited experience - that Diaspora would be better off with wolves that met his father's high standard; this wolf, powerful as she may be as an adult, would forever be lacking because of her injury. Mesa staunchly believed he was doing his father a great service by speaking up about it - hopefully empowering the pack and cutting the dead weight.
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Ooc — Noah
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#12
gonna reply and archive this for current timeline sake!

The last thing she had expected was such blatant cruelty from a young kid, his words freezing her over and causing a complete lack of response as they sunk in deep like barbs. Her breathing grew shallow, each harsh sentence causing a wave of pain and horror to flatten her ears against her skull. When she managed to compose herself she cleared her throat and nodded "It is good to state your opinions, unfortunately Stigmata and Mahler disagree and that is all that matters to me" she spoke softly, her voice rough and icy as if she was struggling not to either snap at him or even worse, cry. She wasted no further time hanging around and picked up the prey, carrying it off toward the lake at a speed that caused her great pain. For the next few days his words would haunt her and disturb the pride and drive she had to carry herself as she usually did.