Blacktail Deer Plateau turn it up

For any of the pups! Ty will probably hop in after one of you. @Junior @Saena @Pura For a visual of what Fox is doing right now: http://instagram.com/p/khOUBMuSBU/

Fleas. They were terrible, nagging creatures, and for whatever reason, Fox had picked them up upon moving to the plateau. No matter how much she scritched and scratched, they remained there to bug her. Pun intended. If she'd been back at the creek, she would have spent all her days wading in some of the slower moving waters just to soothe the terrible sensation of the vermin. The nighttime was easier, but the daytime was horrendous. The hot, hot heat only made it more uncomfortable for the yearling, and she groaned every time she thought of the sun in the sky.

Roughly two minutes ago: Fox had devised a new plan of attack. Instead of using her back feet and teeth to scratch at the blood-sucking terrors, she had rolled over onto the grass, twisting her body back and forth so that it would soothe her itching skin. She did not think it would rid her of the problem, but it sure did feel nice!

Any wolf worthy of the name had an inherent sense of hierarchy. Even the youngest pups knew what it was to be at the top of the heap and what it was to be at the bottom. Saēna had been at the bottom herself for the first three months of her life, after which she'd begun to throw her weight around a little more, as well as her words. Any wolf worthy of the name understood the implications of being close to the Alphas of a pack, and so Saēna, despite knowing the pack was tense over the arrival and immediate elevation of Fox, had no reason to feel outrage. It was, after all, an instinct to accept the mate of the Alpha as the Alpha herself, even if emotions sometimes said it was wrong to elevate a newbie.

Still, though she had no compelling reason to stay away, Saēna hadn't gone out of her way to seek the new Beta female. She had seen enough change lately to last her a life time, and welcoming someone else into her family and into Peregrine's affection was something she was unwilling to do presently. She didn't have as strong an aversion to change as her brother, but the young rusted pup was overwhelmed, and knew better than to add to that.

Given that, when she found Fox during one of her wander-and-think sessions, it was entirely by accident. She hesitated just in sight of the Beta, hovering but not daring to get any closer. Some strange, almost divine gut instinct told her that Fox wasn't really approachable right now. For once, she trusted her instincts... Perhaps because Hawkeye had recently shed light on one of the weird dreams she'd had, and had given Saēna the sense that she was a little more than just a wolf.

Junior, titled Warrior and aspiring Outrider, kept so busy lately that all the adults' goings-on—save for Uncle Atticus's accident—had gone right over her head. When she wasn't occupied with exploring and seeking out wolves in need of a courier, she tended to stalk down her siblings, preferring to spend her free time with her peers rather than the adults. Today, she tracked Saēna, all the while reflecting on their recent adventure in the tunnel. She sort of wanted to go back and decided she would ask Saēna if she was interested in round two.

When she finally stumbled across her young sister, Osprey discovered that she wasn't alone. Her father's new mate—well, one of them, the female—was rolling around on her back and Saēna was standing off to the side looking like she didn't really want to be there. Osprey Jr. sidled onto the scene, bumping her nose against Saēna's pale shoulder and then blinking across at the evidently itchy Beta female.

"Is it a game?" she wondered aloud sotto voce, more to Saēna than to Fox, giving the fiery she-wolf a look that was partly incredulous and partly amused.

I decided not to thread with myself. :B

Fox continued her back-on-the-ground dance for some three minutes before she finally felt enough relief from the itchy bugs that she rolled over and stood up, panting. It was only then that she spotted her two younger pack-mates. The yearling glanced around a bit sheepishly before speaking. “Uh, hey guys. I mean, er, girls.” Fox gave them a half-hearted smile. “I got some kind of itchy fuckers taking over my skin. That's what that... dance was all about.” Surely she sounded batshit crazy, but Fox was doing her best to explain her odd behavior.

As she stood, the yearling wondered what Peregrine's children (and stepchildren) thought of her. Were they afraid of her? Threatened by her? Angry with her? Ambivalent toward her? Perhaps they hadn't given it any thought at all, but Fox sincerely doubted that. For the most part, the Beta had kept her distance from them, figuring they would need time to adjust. Hell, she needed time to adjust.

Pura was slow to join the party. He never strayed far from his sister these days, stalking her across the Plateau when she moved, sulking when her scent trail disappeared. Today he found her easily, standing with Junior - and that red lady that Peregrine had casually dropped into their lives. He was less perturbed by her presence now - it was change that upset him, not Fox herself, and once she had proven herself to be a relatively normal wolf, she blended into the machine like everyone else.

He approached his sister and cousin diagonally from behind, just in time to hear Fox explain the reasons for her 'dance'. Pura had missed the display, but presumed it must have looked really ridiculous if an explanation was needed. He stopped level with Saēna, casting a quick glance down at his sister before fixing his blank, metallic eyes on Fox. She looked so strange. Pura had never seen a red so intense - except in injured or irritated skin. "Maybe it's your fur," he contributed dully.

“Dunno,” she dully supplied before Fox noticed the pair. “Looks weird.” The red-furred female from the meeting did notice them eventually, though, and when she did she was quick to explain that they were "itchy fuckers". Having never really thought about what fuckers looked like, Saēna immediately assumed tiny wolves were walking on her back. Throwing caution to the wind, the rust-marked pup began to approach Fox, squinting and extending her snout as though hoping to catch a tiny wolf herself. The closest comparison was Saēna's imagined fairies from her childhood, which would also have been tiny wolves, but she knew now they didn't exist.

She stopped just sort of walking right into the small Beta when Pura spoke from behind. She set her paws back firmly on the ground, staring suspiciously up at Fox now, and immediately took her brother's side. “Yeah, it's gotta be. Itchy fuckers don't exist.” Having matter-of-factly stated her opinion, Saēna took several slow steps back into she was back in line with her sibling and cousin, awaiting Junior's confirmation as well.

Fox addressed them after a moment, explaining that she had some sort of infestation. Osprey's muzzle wrinkled. That didn't sound pleasant at all. And what did it mean when these... things... took over your skin? Unlike Saēna, Junior was more accurately picturing little bugs. Would Fox eventually be crawling with them? The thought made her skin crawl.

"You should talk to our Aunt Willow," she said, hanging back as Saēna took a closer look. She glanced sideways when a quiet Pura approached. "Her fur? She said it's her skin," Junior answered him, not to correct him but because she thought her brother might be onto something. Maybe red fur was particularly itchy? For whatever reason, Junior could accept that logic.

"But what are itchy fuckers? Is that a kind of spider?" she demanded in the next breath, blinking between the wise Saēna—she always had the answers—and the itchy Beta.

Pura and Saena talked to each other about Fox, but it was Junior who spoke to her. Fox shook just about the time Saena had approached her, more than likely spreading the infestation to another member of the pack. “Aunt Will—” Fox began to ask, but then realized that must be how they referred to Blue Willow. Before she got a chance to explain that everything Blue did had no effect on anything, Junior was asking what exactly was going on.

“Maybe,” she replied, pausing to scratch behind her ear. “Whatever they are, I sure hope they find somebody else to eat... and soon.” She eyeballed each of the children, wondering if they could somehow take the load off of her. Fox wasn't about to chase them down, but the thought had crossed her mind.

Sorry to post out of turn but I'm trying to prune my thread log.

When Fox hoped aloud that her infestation would find a new host, Osprey's ears flew back. When the red she-wolf looked at them suggestively, she took a step backward. Her skin was already crawling.

"I'm outta here. You two should leave too, before she infects you." She gave her siblings a meaningful look, glanced one last time at Fox, then swiveled and ran away with a curt, "Bye."

She continued backing up slowly until Junior spoke up, asking what the itchy fuckers were. When it was suggested they might be spiders, Saēna's eyes widened and her ears tilted toward her skull. The thought of being crawled on by spiders was frightening, and it showed in her expression.

It was the following suggestions that made her lose all interest in the Beta, and in fact, put her into a folder named, "disgusting," in her mind. Fox lamented her condition, it seemed, and verbally expressed her desire to give her spiders to someone else. This was followed up by Junior's immediate departure and, not one to question her sister, Saēna quickly followed in the dark girl's wake. She paused only long enough to shoot Fox a scornful look and say, “you're gross,” before sprinting away to catch up with Osprey Jr.

Karm, I'm going to go ahead and fade this out due to the fact that it's pretty old and I'm trying to clean up some old things.

They seemed to think she was serious. Fox honestly wasn't sure if she had been kidding or not. In any case, they all scattered away in an instant, leaving her and the boy alone together. Sighing, Fox gave a light shrug and shook her head. “Well, I guess I’ll leave you alone, too.” Pausing to scratch another itch behind her ear, she departed the scene and toddled off to find somebody else to infect.