Sun Mote Copse Where it stops nobody knows

Today seemed like as good a day as any for a short hunting trip out, but before she left, Maia had decided to do a circuit to see if anyone wanted to come along.  There were so many new faces now!  And so many of the old were gone, which was a bit of a bummer and not something she wanted to dwell on much.

Where should she go? She just came from north.  Maybe west?  She thought on it as she walked, wending through the trees on the northern side of the copse.

Bronco was becoming aware that he'd been slipping behind his peers, as he had yet to acquire an apprenticeship. Despite the amount of time he spent sparring with his mom, he was told he ought to seek training from others as well, which was just as fine with him...And he wasn't even terribly sure he wanted to just be a mercenary, the way his mother was. Hunting appealed to him- as did scouting. He still regretted that he couldn't go along with Maia when she'd gone on her little side-journey before returning to the pack...But it hadn't been the right time. 

He passed by her tracks, but had also picked up the fresh scent of rabbits as well. He followed the rabbit's trail to where it led into a thicket, before he turned back. If he was going to hunt rabbits through a thicket, he'd want a partner- so he turned back on his trail and followed after Maia. For the reason that he was still in hunter-stalker mode, he moved forward with his body held low, flattened his ears and tried as discreetly as possible to get Maia's attention by hissing "Psst! Psst, Maia!" Urgently at her...Even though the rabbits were well out of earshot.

It's good that he hissed to get her attention, because by the time Bronco came along, Maia was so caught up in her own head that she didn't know anything that was happening around. It was a terrible cycle for her - no food, space off.  Space off, find no food.  It was little surprise she'd been starving when she showed up here.

Huh? Oh!  She whirled around and smiled, but missed the memo on why he was speaking so quietly.  Hey! What's up?  She'd been keeping to herself pretty much since coming here, outside of Wraen, but it was good to see a friendly face.  She was a little hesitant to meet some of the others... it was weird.  Everyone here was either so young or felt so old, with kids and established families.  Outside of Wraen she felt even more on the outs this time around, though she tried to convince herself it was crazy to see it that way.

Even though Bronco was still in a sort of Elmer Fudd be vewy, vewy quiet hunting mode, he did like the fact that Maia visibly perked up a great deal when she saw him. He winced slightly at the volume of her voice, but it was then that he remembered there was no reason for him to be so quiet and secretive. Still- he lowered his head to indicate that they were to be quiet, and gestured that she should follow him- and started off, assuming that she simply would. There wasn't much time to waste- there were other hungry predators out there, and the rabbits might not stay in the thicket. 

"Rabbits," He hissed, licking his lips with a happy, hungry grin. "C'mon. In a thicket this way- one of us flushes 'em, other one chases 'em down. You down?" He asked, though he was already in motion. They were all hungry enough that the question was definitely more rhetorical than anything.

Oh, heck yeah. She immediately was down for his plan and her voice dropped to a conspiratorial level.  You wanna chase or flush?  Normally, with Wraen, she'd by default choose flush for herself.  Wraen was way faster than she was, but Bronco she wasn't sure.  Either way, she wasn't about to pass on the opportunity for some food.

Maia had never been too much of a hunter, and she was highly aware that she had the chance to embarass herself pretty well in front of Bronco here too.  Another reason she was tempted to flush; the stakes were a little lower in that job.

Maia seemed enthusiastic about the idea of chasing down a couple rabbits, and when she questioned the roles, and who should take which, Bronco shrugged. Really, he didn't have the experience to be calling the shots on this one, and his hunting techniques were still clumsy at best. But between the two of them, he figured, at least one rabbit would meet its maker. "Your choice," He said, offering her the chance to choose which role she wanted, given that he couldn't really assess, yet, where each of them would be used best.

Aw man, she hated decisions.  No fair, you were supposed to choose.  You called my bluff, she replied quietly, but with a small laugh as well.  Fine! I scare, you catch.  No pressure, but if you miss, I'm so never going to let you live it down.  She rolled her shoulders in preparation for a run, then gave him a bright smile to show she was (mostly) kidding.  She was pretty darn hungry though and would be super sad if this didn't work out.

She had an idea of where he was going, but let him lead the way.  When they arrived she stopped, waiting to see if he needed to get in place or had any final instructions.  If not, she'd catch his glance and, with a confirming nod, set things into motion with a hollered whooop and a highly obnoxious charge.

She responded in such a way that made Bronco chuckle and roll his eyes, but in the end, she assigned him with the role of catching the rabbit. The stakes were heightened then, and he had to wonder if maybe she was actually interested in seeing if he was a good provider at all, or if she was simply taking the easier responsibility because she herself didn't like the potential of failure. Either way, he gave her a grin and a wink, and gestured once whey'd come close enough. He slowed, and stalked around the edge of the thicket- which was really something more like a big clump of bushes. There was really no telling which way the rabbits would come out- with the exception of the fact that there was a fairly well-worn entry point where the brush had been pushed aside, and rabbit tracks led in and out.

With a flick of his muzzle, he gestured for Maia to go around the opposite way, as he tucked himself against the bushes, waiting just out of sight of the entry way. Once he tilted his head back, he could see Maia again, and hastily nodded- before putting himself into pounce mode and readying himself for the attack.

The signal was delivered and heck yeah, go time!  Maia let out a delighted whoop and took off at the bunnies, laughing despite herself as the little fuzz balls took off running.

Despite her joy in causing noise, she knew this was serious business.  Her growling stomach wouldn't let her forget it.  She scanned the field quickly and picked one that was closest to Bronco's position and arced behind it, hoping to drive the poor thing right into her packmate's waiting jaws.

I did a roll in tabletop (put it at 50/50 for giggles) and he actually gets one!

Given the more difficult task put a bit more pressure on Bronco, especially considering the fact that he was likely the less experienced hunter out of the two of them. But determination acted as a fuel for him, and he accepted the challenge and wanted very badly to impress Maia. She made a beautiful display of sound and flourish to send the few rabbits scattering, and fortuntely, having positioned himself near what he thought might be an exit, one of the terrified creatures whipped out of the thicket and right past him. He was on its trail instantly- and after a few swerves and zig-zags this way and that, all it took was one wrong decision and the rabbit had its feet swept out from underneath it by one of Bronco's large paws. As soon as it began to roll, he grabbed at it, and managed to snap his teeth closed on his successful kill. 

Still panting, he lifted his head up and looked back to see where Maia had ended up, flaunting the limp rabbit with a small prance in his step as he made his way back toward the thicket.

I did a roll too and she did NOT do... something... SO...

Her main goal was to drive the rabbits at Bronco, and in that she did amazingly!  He caught the one she was driving to him just as her ankle gave out.  The whoop of celebration she was about to let out turned into a clipped sound of surprise a she hit the dirt and completely wiped out sideways.  Oh my GOSH.  First she was shocked, and then she was mortified.

She scrambled to her feet and, as she hit her shoulder, sat down.  Ooooo that was tender, nope, leanin casually on that other one for now.  You got one!! she said brightly, willing him to have not seen it and knowing there was probably no way he hadn't noticed her completely eat dirt just now.

At first glance, he thought maybe she'd just stumbled- it was easy to do, what with the footing beneath the snow being so hard, and where the ground was bare, it was nothing but a thin layer of cold dust on top of hard earth. In the summer, it had been so much easier to dig his claws in to accelerate and turn, but the winter seemed to make each and every aspect of hunting more difficult. When she went down on her shoulder, his proud smile turned into a frown, and though he didn't allow himself to drop the rabbit, he made his way over to her, head lowered and tail stiffly pointing straight out behind him. 

She was leaning off to one side, which meant that she was avoiding putting weight on her other leg. He dropped the rabbit at her feet, and leaned forward to gently touch his nose toward her shoulder, stiffening when he got close enough to sense her apprehension. It worried him, and he lifted his nose suddenly, accidentally running the tip of his nose through the fur of her cheek. He blushed. "You...Uh, you OK?"

Not only did he see, but he was coming over, and reaching out, and then he stroked her cheek.  Ohhhh Maia, she was going to pass out.  Nope.

Psh, yeah! I was just trying to... Oh man, what?  She had nothing.  Her mind was blank.  I fell, sure.  But I'm totally fine! Her face was burning, and she stood up to illustrate that nothing was wrong at all.  Except as soon as she stood up, her shoulder began to ache.... and get worse... oh wow jeeze that did not feel good.  But there was no way she was going to let this cute boy think that she was not cool enough to hunt and take a fall and keep on coming.  Maia was the queen of cool.

Totally fine! She leaned, then pointed her nose at his catch.  Nice, with the rabbit! Switch'd.

The little quivering reaction Maia had jolted through Bronco too, who then had the difficult job of managing the rest of his feelings which nor urged him to be an entire idiot about the whole thing. She hadn't exactly moved away from his touch, and she admitted now- not openly, but ashamedly- that she had fallen and hurt her shoulder. She tried to distract from that entire situation by pointing out the rabbit and he nodded, but the rabbit was more or less forgotten. "S'for you," He said. 

He waited just long enough- just so that she could reach down for it, before he scooted himself next to her. Should she react aggressively, he pre-emptively explained in a high pitched voice "Youcanleanonme, if you want," still giving her the side-eye just in case she might lash out at him. When his mother was sort or hurt, she tended to lash out. He shrugged and tried to relax. "You'll be okay. I wipe out, allllllll the time. And like serious ones too, where you go ass over tea kertle," He said, mildly marring his mother's statement which made no sense to him anyway. "So...S'all good, as long as you're okay."

He was trying to make her feel better.  Which was cute, and she appreciated it, but also embarrassing.  Was it better to pretend to be okay? Or by pretending to be okay, was she really showing that she wasn't okay, and was that worse than just not being okay in the first place?  Now he was going to know she was embarrassed by being embarrassed and only completely uncool wolves got embarrassed by stupid things.  Maia's brain was spinning 80 miles a minute as Bronco sat down next to her and leaned in, but abruptly, she brought her thoughts to a screeching halt.

You are such a lame spaz, jeeze, she thought to herself somewhat caustically, but the smile she gave him now was genuine.  Breathe, Maia, breathe.

Oh! Thanks! She picked up the rabbit, then dropped it again in front of them.  Dya wanna share it?  She was uncomfortably aware of the heat of him at her side, but definitely not in a bad way, as she took up his offer and leaned in.

Maia had liked a lot of boys, and it always started quick. But this was different.  Every other time - Artaax, Illidan, Epic - there had been this sense of chasing something she'd never catch.  There was this weird block that said hey, she'd never be good enough, but keep trying?  This felt weirdly attainable.  Maybe it was the awkward way he was talking, or the way he offered right away, but it felt like they were muddling through the mess together rather than her trying to push it herself.

She was still awkward as heck, but it was a really nice change.

Yeah, I'm pretty clumsy sometimes, but I usually don't wipe out on hunts. she said with a small laugh.  That was false.  She wiped out a lot on hunts.  I'm pretty sturdy, it's all good! Oh yeah Maia, great, way to highlight that wonderful aspect of yourself.

Ouuuu! Lookit her new avatar! I love her expression!

Bronco, like Maia, felt nervousness bubbling up inside of him, especially when she accepted his company and leaned against his shoulder. He was pleased, of course, but also felt himself wondering what he was supposed to do next- and ended up justy telling himself to play it cool, be calm, and pretend that he knew what he was doing. While he wanted her to eat the rabbit on her own, he also knew that her nervousness might make her feel awkward, being the only one to gobble down their catch, so he nodded. "Sure. Here, I'll do the, uh...Divvy-ing," He offered, moving just a step away from her side- and feeling the cool creep in as he did so, so that he could more or less chew the rabbit in two. 

She spoke about her clumsiness, but he took it in stride. "I think we did good today though, s'long as your shoulder heals up fine," He said, once he'd licked his lips clean. "You're a good hunter even if you did biff it pretty good," He said, with a smile, and nudged half of the rabbit over to her. "Bon appa-teet," He shrugged, and hungrily began to chew away at his half.

jaclyn did a stunning job!!!! <333

He slid away to split it and Maia took a moment.  Alright Maia, here goes.  Just another guy, don't go makin this too weird.  Too desperate and he'll think you are pathetic.  But what if she was too cool and made him think she wasn't interested?  Wait a hot second... was she interested?

Jeeze.

She busied herself shoving her face as he did, glad she wasn't going to be awkwardly eating in front of him.  Oh my gosh she was hungry, this was so good.

Mmmm, yeah.  I hunted a ton with Wraen when we were out on our own.  And back home, with my dad.  Mom had always been too sick, for the most part.  D'you do a lot, or are you more about, y'know, fighting and stuff?  Last time they'd met he'd called himself a warden, but he made a pretty decent hunter too!

Bronco did his best to mind his own meal, and leave Maia in peace so that she could wolf down her rabbit however she saw fit- and like him, she took no time to make the rabbit half disappear. They were both hungry, hungry hippos wolves, and in the winter, even the smallest of meals was still something. He was glad that she'd decided to share with him, because he probably would have just sat there, drooling, otherwise. Besides- they'd caught it together, so it was nice, in the end, to share the spoils. 

He licked his lips and shook his head to get rid of a bit of rabbit fluff that'd gotten stuck to his jowls, and cleared his throat. "Uhm, I'm still tryin' to figure out what I wanna do, really. I thought I'd be a good scout, but Sugar din't seem to think that being a scout is really a necessary trade, so I figure I might do somethin' different. Right now, I mostly just patrol an' hunt." He said. "Whatabout you? Din't you say you were gonna make up a story for me or something?" He asked.

Oh yeah, he'd remembered that!  She grinned, but with a touch of embarassment.  I think I made up about twenty, and a bunch are terrible, she said with a small laugh.  Such is the struggle of an artist!  But I can totally tell you one.  First, though, that is so heckin dumb?

Maia had been told a few too many times her own trades were dumb, and she wasn't big on him hearing it too.  Scouts are totally useful!  And so are storytellers.  Scouts meet neighbors and sort out who's good and who's bad n find herds and good things around, yeah?  And from what I see, storytellers make sure packmates stay happy and neighbors stay happy and there's nothin bad that happens.  She made a sound that was almost a pshhht, dismissing that opinion.  Patrolling and hunting here is kinda boring, isn't it?

Bronco clamped his mouth thus when she pointed out how she felt about what he'd just said about scouting. He felt it would be wiser to refrain from interjecting so he allowed her to elaborate, and was impressed at the way in which she defended the scouting trade. Je frowned, but thoughtfully; she had a point. Sugar hadn't really liked the idea of him being a scout- but he'd forgotten that Maia actually already was one, so he probably should have taken that into consideration before he'd brought up Sugar Glider's opinion, lest it cause friction between the two. He grinned fiendishly, though, when she then sought to belittle his chosen trades. 

"Apfft," He said, standing up and rolling his shoulders, as though show off brawn which had yet to develop. "Hunters coordinate the hunts that feed the -whole- pack," He said, "Taking down prey that's like...Five times our own size. An' as a mercenary..." Well? A mercenary, for a peaceful pack, he laughed softly, defeated. "Yeah, nothin' ever happens, but," He said, trailing off, as he remembered. He shrugged, turning away, sobering up slightly. "But it has. An' if someone bad does show up, somebody's gotta fend them off." He said softly.

Maia rolled her eyes with a smile as he defended his previously mentioned trades.  He was missing the entire point!

Well, duh, hunting and fighting are important.  Any wolf will tell you that.  If there's a hunt I'm in, but that doesn't mean I gotta make it a trade.  She said, shrugging.  I'm a scout and a storyteller because that's what I love doing and it's important to me too.  If hunting and fighting and all is what you want, do it! But don't do it just because someone told you what you actually want to do is lame.  Because that's super dumb.

He seemed a little down, so she gave him a bump on the side as she finished with that last sentence, trying to work a smile up.  She hadn't meant to make him feel bad, but she hated when wolves said a trade was stupid.  What did they know?  She was here to enjoy herself, plain and simple, and anyone who thought differently could take a walk into a cold river.

Bronco opened his mouth to point out that what she was just calling important, she'd called boring just moments ago- which he found confusing- until he realized she wasn't making a point about that, but that he ought not care so much about what others thought was cool. For a second, he thought that that very idea was sort of lame- and that it was important to do what others thought was important, and cool- but then again...Disregarding what others thought in favour of doing what you preferred was basically the epitome of cool. 

He glanced over at Maia, his lips sewn together again in an impressed frown. "Huh." He said, quietly. When she moved to nudge his shoulder, his expression broke, and he smiled. She was it- she was the epitome of cool, at least, in his mind. "So...Are you gonna ever tell me one of those stories you came up with?" He enticed, leaning in with ears perked, hoping she might take the bait.

He wasn't waylaid by her tangent, and did seem to take her words to heart.  Perfect!  Now for the fun part.  Yeah!  She recalled back to her travels.  She'd formulated at least five.  One he'd saved her... well, her alter ego, Starchaser.  She'd taken the name from her mother and Charon's tales.  One she'd saved him.  A few of the others were pretty good, but which was the best?  She thought a second, then smiled.  A little of the second combined with a bit of the fourth.  Perfect!

Hawketh was the best squire in the business.  She'd needed to give him a name too, and the birds were super cool.  Plus, his eyes had kinda reminded her of a hawk's and that had stuck with her, after she left that day.  He was in training to become a full knight, but knights had become a pretty rare thing.  He and his traveling companion, the lovely bard Starchaser, She paused with a grin and winked, clarifying who that was.  set out on a journey, one to find the perfect mentor for him.  Then he could return to their pack a full blown knight, ready to defend them against the rival pack who was threatening to come attack 'n stuff.  Whoops, she was slipping conversational there.

  She cleared her throat and got back in, this time finding her groove fairly quickly. The travel was dangerous.  The forests they passed through were full of thieves and rogues of all kind, predators who'd try and lead them off and attack them.  Whenever they met someone, Starchaser would try to make friends and share stories or songs.  When that didn't work, it was Hawketh's skill that ensured they escaped with their tails intact.  Together, they made it deep into the dangerous forests.  Still, they had yet to find any wolf worthy of being a teacher.  Hawketh was beginning to wonder if maybe the rumors of the famous old knight, living out in the farthest southern woods, were lies.

Suddenly - she paused, and her voice dropped for emphasis.  there was a rustling in the brush to the right!  Starchaser froze, but Hawketh turned, ready to face whatever appeared!  It turned out to be...

It had been a while since she'd sought input on a story.  It was a habit she'd picked up from Wraen and her mother both, and it was one she kept alive however she could.  Whatever Bronco chose, she'd work it into the narrative she weaved.  If he let the pause hang too long, though, she'd fill in the blank herself.  She was never really all that disappointed when a wolf didn't want to be creative with her; not everyone could be storytellers after all!

OMG this story...Is this based somehow somewhat on the WWS character Starchaser? Because he would've been Liyano's adoptive father...And Liyano I think is a great-great-X-Idunnohowmanygreats- grandfather of Charon? Waaay back in that day, on WWS, I played Caoin, one of Starchaser's and Sevgi's first pups :)

The thought of wolves having the title of 'knight' intrigued Bronco, who'd heard the term before, but hadn't realized that one could actually become a knight. Of course, naturally, he was able to pick out who Maia wanted him to gravitate toward, and with a wink, she then claimed the role of Starchaser for herself. Though he wasn't entirely sure what a bard was, he figured it was a wolf like Maia, who travelled and told stories, and apparently, the knight and bard travelled together. That seemed like a decent idea- one wolf to learn from other packs, and the other to be the...Bodyguard? Or whatever being a knight entailed. He was in training- as Bronco was- but Hawketh, instead, was searching for a tutor. Sugar had invited him to go and train with the Frosthawks...But as far as he knew, he probably had better mentors here, in his mother and in Towhee. 

Regardles- the story wasn't completely about him anyway, so he still listened intently. It seemed that the two made an excellent pair- combining their strengths, or at least trading off with them when the other wolf's techniques and ideas didn't work out. She mentioned a famous old knight in a forest, and he leaned forward, but was surprised when all of a sudden- there was a cliff-hanger. He gawked at her, stupefied. She'd paused. He flicked his ears forward and back- was he supposed to guess what it was? He wasn't terribly creative- and this was Maia's story after all, so he simply enticed her to continue. "Aaaaaaaa?" He asked, waiting for her to simply continue.

i have no idea!!! I wasn't around pre-wolf.  But that's awesome!!  I got the name from Charon/Osprey threads <3

He didn't build on it, but that was alright.  Sometimes wolves really liked to have a part to play in the story, especially much younger ones who had a hard time keeping their mouths shut in general! Bronco seemed the patient type.

Aaaaaa fox!  Maia replies, drawing out the first syllable with a playful grin. It began to run, but Starchaser yelled 'wait!  Do you know the knight of the forest?'  The fox stopped, then gave them both a nod of its black-pointed nose.

'I am the knight of the forest,' they responded without hesitating.  Both of the friends were speechless!  How could a fox be this amazing warrior they were looking for?  Maia made an expression as though she herself were also surprised by the news, lifting her tone to astonished.

'If you are truly a knight of the forest, then let me train with you,' Hawketh finally asked.  He wasn't all that bothered with the idea of training under a fox, since he was a pretty noble guy n all that.  The fox agreed, and for a while, Hawketh was his squire.

That was too easy, though, wasn't it?  As he trained, he noticed that he was asked to do a lot of menial tasks for the fox.  Things like digging a den, catching dinner, and guarding his naps.  Hawketh did not like complaining, but he did talk with Starchaser, who had doubts herself.  'I don't think he's the knight he says he is,' Hawketh said, and Starchaser agreed emphatically.

'There's no way. But I have an idea to prove it.'  She answered, beaming at him mischievously.  Maia grinned.  This story had been fun because it had real wolves to draw from, and this had been one of her favorite tactics when she'd thought someone in her family was lying as a kid.

Starchaser convinced the fox to tell the tale of his greatest knightly triumph.  She began to ask questions, slowly at first, but faster as the story went on.  Little ones, that didn't matter.  Hawketh joined too, until the fox began to get annoyed.  Then, he sprang the trap, and asked the same question they'd asked before, earlier in the story.

Maia grinned.  The question was what beast he'd defeated.  The fox gave the wrong answer, and then immediately knew it had been bested!!  Hawketh was just about to announce that they were leaving, but before he could, the fox revealed its true form.  It was a faery, one of the tricksters of the forest.

Ok yeah, so she was going to make this story a regular one about like... beating something up.  But she couldn't resist tossing something magic in, and once she did, it had taken a little different direction.   It said 'I'm honored to meet a being who could best me in tricks.  What do you want, wolf?  I'll give you a favor.'  Hawketh asked for directions to the real knight, and while they went, Starchaser was able to get all kinds of tales from the faery.  All in all, it was a good start to an adventure!  

Maia finished, then flicked her tail.  They'll run into a toooon of trouble further on of course.  This is a hero's journey.  She'd decided she'd do a whole series.  Hawk n Star, adventure duo.