Redhawk Caldera Moonstone

Upon returning to the caldera the previous day, Peregrine had howled to his mate, letting her know what had happened and why he wouldn't be going near their den anytime soon—he didn't want to stink up the place! Smelly and unhappy about it, he spent the night in a small cave and then rose with the sun to patrol the next morning.

As he roamed the borders, he wondered if his new scent du jour would deter trespassers. He also wondered how it might affect hunting. Would the prey smell him coming a mile away and flee... or would they think him a skunk and ignore him? He would have to experiment for sure. It would be funny if he found the repellent smell helpful in his endeavors, though it wouldn't be worth forever smelling like a carcass rotting in the summer sun.

Staying busy might the only thing that kept him sane because Peregrine was pretty sure everybody would be avoiding him until the smell dissipated somewhat, if not altogether. Except for Fox (and maybe Finley, just for shits and giggles), he would not be forcing his stinky company on anybody except the lonely patrolling circuit and the local wildlife.

You mind if I jump in?

When Peregrine had howled to Fox about his conditions, it was certain that Fox would not be the only one to hear it. The whole pack was likely to hear it, unless any where far out of the territory. Thus, Somnia was one of the wolves who heard the howl.

The advanced warning, as well as the terrible stench, would've been enough to keep most away. But wouldn't it be rude to avoid someone just because they smelled terrible? It would. Everyone else could protect their noses and stay away, but Somnia was too stubborn to let a smell drive her away. At least that was what she was thinking before the full force of the smell hit her.

Her fit of coughing would alert Peregrine to her being nearby before she could make a sound to catch his attention. When it stopped, she let out a small bark, even though the coughing had already done the job. "Hey." Somnia said as she drew closer, sounding like she had a terrible cold. Her eyes were running, her nose starting to do the same. The smell was absolutely terrible! Much worse than she initially would've thought, but still she stayed, trying not to let it get to her.

Elwood, too, was intrigued by Peregrine's howl, but he didn't seek out the Alpha. He had actually forgotten about the message, until a particularly rank smell tickled his nostrils -- and he knew that his stinky friend was nearby. The mottled grey male wrinkled his nose -- not without a bit of pain, as Finley had recently clobbered him right in the snout -- and considered retreating up the mountainside. When he heard Somnia's voice nearby, however, he decided to investigate. If she was brave enough to endure the stench, then he could, too.

They weren't far from where he was, so after traveling for only a few minutes the grey and black wolves came into view. Elwood had to pause, leaving a good amount of distance between them, as Peregrine's misfortune hit him square in the face. Like Somnia, his eyes began to water, and he pressed his ears back against his head.

"Oh, god," he called, raising his voice to be heard by his packmates. "Peregrine...you reek." He knew he was stating the obvious, but there wasn't much else to be said just yet. Elwood wasn't sure how long he could linger with the putrid aroma permeating from poor Perry's pelt (accidental alliteration, yeah!).

Peregrine turned when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, his lips parting when Somnia loped in his direction. "Don't—" he said, though he was cut off by her coughing. Still she came nearer and he shook his head at her. "Som, there's no need to get this close," he said, noting her nearly allergic reaction. "I'm fine. Go on, git."

And then Elwood appeared and pointed out the obvious. Peregrine rolled his eyes. "No shit, Sherlock," he quipped wryly, though he followed this remark with a smirk. "What the hell's wrong with the two of you? Are you gluttons for punishment? I'll be fine by myself for a few days until this wears off a little bit. Seriously," he finished, "go away, for your own good."

Chances were Somnia would've left if it had been just her. But then Elwood was there, and a new resolution to stay arose from within her. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, mostly to try and make them stop water, but partly to help her think. There had to be someway to get over the smell. Maybe if she breathed through her mouth? Nope, that wouldn't work. The scent was so strong that she could taste it if she opened her mouth. Maybe she would just get used to it after standing in it for a bit? There had to be some way that Peregrine wasn't choking from the stench. She would just have to bear with it until her senses adjusted.

Somnia opened her eyes, which she had forgotten she was holding them close. She also didn't reply verbally to Peregrine trying to get them to leave. However, her stance shifted and it became apparent that she wouldn't leave quite yet. Then, something came to mind. "I-I think that the skunk spray is oily, so it won't come off in water. Just like how ducks' feathers are oily to help prevent them from getting wet. If you find a way to scrape the natural oils in the spray off, it might help with the stench." The scraping it off might help part was a theory, so it wasn't guaranteed, but it still could help. You never know until you try.

The other solution that came to mind was covering the stench with something that smelled even stronger. There weren't any strong smelling flowers around as it was the middle of winter. The only strong smelling thing that came to midn was... well, feces. But that also smelled bad, so would the not-as-bad smell cover up the worse stench with a not-as-bad smell, or would it add up and make Peregrine smell worse? Somnia wasn't about to suggest it as it was a bit humiliating.

Even from a distance, the smell was overpowering. There was no way that Elwood was going to venture any closer to Peregrine at this point, and he was ready to do as the Alpha said and get lost. But it seemed that Somnia was planning to stay, so he didn't want to abandon ship just yet.

His ears pressed forward as Somnia rattled off her thoughts on how to possibly remove the stench from Peregrine's coat. Elwood didn't know much about skunks, but he wasn't so sure that something as simple as rubbing off the scent would work. "Yeah, you might just have to spend a few days in isolation," he called back, only half-joking. "It's a good thing you and Fox are done with your business!" Had the skunk incident happened while Fox was still in heat, he wondered if she would have been able to stand the smell long enough to continue consummating with Peregrine.

Peregrine heard her out, just in case Somnia had something new to suggest. When she finished, he replied, "I've already got it under control. I mean... I have other people actively looking for some solutions. In the meantime, I'm just hoping it'll fade with time." He shrugged his shoulders. What else could he do but wait, especially with tomatoes out of season? "But thanks for trying to help. I appreciate it."

His eyes shifted to Elwood, who hung further back, and then to Somnia again, as he addressed them collectively once more. "Seriously, people... go away. I'll be fine by myself. I'm going to see how this smell affects hunting, actually. I'll let you know what happens." The dark male thought of turning and leaving on that note, though he didn't want to be rude.

When they didn't immediately vacate the proximity, Peregrine began making shooing gestures and warning, "Unless you want to join me, get lost!" He then feinted toward Elwood in particular, playfully threatening to rub the stench off on him.

Turned out Peregrine already had some of his other minions subordinates looking for tomatoes. The chances of finding the out of season fruit were slim, but looking for them couldn't hurt. Peregrine seemed to accept the fact that he would have to walk around smelling like skunk for the next month or two.

The smelly Alpha tried to shoo them off once more before touching upon the idea that the smell could help hunting. Somnia saw three possible outcomes to that idea. The first was that it would help by masking his wolf scent. The second was that it would mask his scent, but would also repel any prey that had enough common sense to stay away from skunks. The third was that the stench would have little to no effect.

Somnia was about to accept his other to join him when she realized he might have meant it in a different way than she thought. Based on what he had just been saying, it had seemed like an invitation to see how his stench works out in a hunt. However, his actions towards Elwood implied that he meant joining in with the stench. Which one was it? Somnia wasn't quite sure herself.

"I'd be glad to join you for a hunt anytime you want, whether you stink or not. As for catching the stench, didn't you know that Elwood's here to secretly catch it instead of me? It was so secretive that he didn't even know it." There. Both assumptions covered.

Peregrine was insistent that the smell would wear off in time, and repeatedly tried to convince Somnia and Elwood to leave the vicinity. What was he going to do, though? Avoid all of his packmates for the next few weeks, until the stench was gone? Granted, it was a valid possibility, because Fox, Finley, and Elwood would all be able to pick up his slack, but it seemed to be a bit extreme.

Elwood was considering departing, however, until Peregrine mentioned a hunt. His ears perked then; the gamekeeper was always looking to improve his skills and simultaneously provide for the pack. And besides, it would be interesting to see how the prey reacted to being hunted by a wolf that smelled like a skunk. Before he could give any kind of affirmation, the stinky Alpha suddenly lunged towards him, teasing that he was going to share his newly-acquired scent with the Beta.

"Oh no you don't!" Elwood yelped, bounding away from Perry. When he found he was safe from the attack, he turned back around and looked from Peregrine to Somnia. "Are we hunting, or what? If not, I'm going to go rub my nose on some mint leaves..." he barked, fully intending to actually do that in order to mask the smell that lingered in his nostrils.

By "join me," he'd actually been referring to his smelly state. It seemed both Somnia and Elwood misunderstood it as an invitation to hunt. It took a moment for Peregrine to realize this. He definitely wanted to hunt, he just didn't intend on taking anyone with him while he smelled this strongly.

"I meant... never mind," the Alpha said, laughing lightly and shaking his head. "No. You two go on and hunt. I'm flying solo for the first round. You won't be able to smell dick with me nearby," he pointed out to them. It would be a difficult enough challenge for him to overcome, much less others. "Now, seriously. Get out of here or I'll rub myself all over you."

It became apparent that Peregrine meant joining him in the smell, problem solved. It was also known that he wanted them to leave already for the umpteenth time. Okay, time to leave the poor guy alone. There was no need to stress him out any more if he already smelled worse than shit. "Okay, okay! I'm leaving now." Somnia told Peregrine while walking in Elwood's direction.

She paused for a moment, but there was a reason behind it. "You want to hunt with me, or will I have to do it alone?" If Elwood wanted to, he could follow her, but Somnia wasn't prepared to wait. It was time to get out of the smell's proximity. Whether Elwood was coming or not, she set off to be free of the smell, as well as hunt.

My last post -- @Somnia, we can continue the hunt in another thread, if that's okay with you! I can start one later this afternoon. :)

Both Elwood and Somnia had misunderstood the Alpha, so he clarified. He didn't intend to go hunting right this very moment, and he raised some good points as to why. Elwood was curious to see how prey would react to Peregrine's strong odor, but he hadn't thought about the fact that the stench would make it difficult to track prey. He already couldn't smell anything but the awful scent of the skunk.

"Okay, okay, we're gone. Good luck with your stink!" he called to Peregrine, then waited for Somnia to approach him. He amiably bumped his shoulder against hers once she was close enough, then replied, "Yeah, let's go." With a final glance at the swarthy leader, he turned on a silver heel and trotted into the frosty foliage.

"Okay, okay," they both said, which Peregrine found amusing. Soon enough, they were plotting between themselves, still intent to hunt together despite the Alpha's reluctance to join them. He smiled approvingly, tail wagging as he saw them off with an encouraging nod and, when they began to fade into the distance, a loud cry of, "SMELL YA LATER!"