One day at a time
#1
[html]

Descriptions of the triplets are in Neela’s profile. Takes place in Etheral Eclipse, fairly close to Casa

Word Count → 683


As always the Neela’s stomach, large and swollen from the litter of pups that lay within, made laying down awkward but her current perch mitigated that somewhat, letting her lay on her side without feeling uncomfortable. Neela was currently sprawled out in a sandy hollow; hiding beneath an overhang crowned by a great oak tree on one side and bordered by a gentle, slow flowing rive on the other the hollow was a place Neela had often retreated to wen she needed some time to herself to think. Being just outside Casa’s borders it was easy to access and if the weather was rainy or she wanted some shade the overhang, reinforced by the ancient roots of the tree, made up sufficient cover, though at the moment Neela had planted herself in the sun, finding the feeling of the warmth sinking into her stomach soothing.


All things considered leaving Casa territory in this condition wasn’t the best idea but Neela didn’t feel particularly threatened; this was a place she knew well and it was very close to the borders, if she concentrated she could still smell them faintly just from the near nonexistent wind. And despite the danger Neela wanted to get away from the confines of the territory. Sometime the collie felt stifled inside the territory, surrounding if not by familiar faces then by familiar scents day in and day out. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Casa but part of her yearned to be on the move, sailing onwards to find new places. Of course in her current condition – a member of a pack, mated and pregnant – she couldn’t fulfil that urge but slipping away to her little private hollow where the only familiar scents were those she brought herself helped sometimes.


Usually the clearing was fairly quiet but today it was noisy, filled with squeaks and squarks as two Peregrine Falcon siblings bickered, twirling around in circles in the air, making fighting motions but not quite going through with them. At one point the smaller and lighter shaded of the two blurs got above the other and swooped down, temporarily shifting from a flickering shape to a mere blur as it picked up speed. Despite the aggressive behaviour Neela wasn’t worried; Oonu and Marahute always bickered and the false fighting was part of it, it never actually turned physical, well at least not seriously. Knocks and bruises and pulled feathers were common between the two but they had never drawn blood, something their sharp talons could easily do if they wished to do so.


Still the noise was annoying and Neela was trying to relax so she called up to them, slender muzzle opening to produce a series of clicks and whistles that sounded completely foreign coming from her mouth, telling them to knock it off. The two grudgingly complied, flying way to different parts of the clearing – Oonu to the branches of the great oak and Marahute to a small bush across the river – to sulk. The peace was temporary, soon Oonu would tease his sister again or Marahute would decide that brawling with her brother was fun enough to risk Neela’s ire.


Nonetheless Neela enjoyed the quiet while it lasted, quietly clicking a joke about how she planned to someday tie Marahute and Oonu’s beaks shut to their sister, Skylar. The large, dark Peregrine was sitting on the sand near Neela. Always fond of being close to Neela Skylar was fascinated by Neela’s pregnancy and even now was fussing over Neela’s belly with a look of wonder about her, tugging at Neela’s fur and bumping the taunt skin with her beak.


Neela could have gotten more rest by herself but she was enjoying spending some time with the triplets. After Grynn’s death she had drifted apart from them; seeing the three birds reminded her too much of their mother. Now that old ache was finally starting to fade and she wanted to make up for lost time.


Later though. For now she wanted to doze for a while before Oonu and Marahute started up their moon-damned racket again.


<style type="text/css"> .neelastar b {font-weight:bold; color:#37370f; letter-spacing:1px; font-size:13px;} .neelastar p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 13px; margin:0px;} .neelastar {margin:0px auto; width:500px; background-color:#909179; background-image:url(http://i39.tinypic.com/357on02.jpg); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #2c392f; padding: 415px 0px 3px 0px; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size:12px; color:#dfdcd6; line-height:16px; letter-spacing:.5px; text-align:justify;} .neelastar .wordcount {color:#37370f; letter-spacing:0px; font-size:11px; font-weight:bold; border-top:1px dashed #dfdcd6; text-align:right; padding:0px 5px; text-transform:uppercase; margin:0px 15px 15px 15px;} .neelastar .ooc {font-style:italic; font-size:11px;} </style>[/html]
#2
[html]

Okay how did this get so long. :| But
anyway, here ya go! +770


It was nice to be heading north again, and Vesper trotted at a pace that was brisk in movement but leisurely in mind. She looked forward to the end of her journey this time, at least, and there were no longer doubts rattling around in her mind. She hadn’t exactly gotten clean-cut answers from her stay in AniWaya, but it was more than she’d honestly hoped for, and she could lay most of her worries to rest even if she still wasn’t happy about the interpack mating. Right now, there was little for her to think about—other than those thoughts that brought a dreamy smile to her face and a skip to her step.

The coyote passed through the entangled southern forest, keeping a sharp eye out for any animals lurking nearby; she had not eaten too recently, and she could allow herself a quick meal before she went on her way if she was lucky enough to find one. She still remembered days that she’d ventured the woodlands all over Nova Scotia alone, hunting small creatures and making temporary dens and chatting up all the pack wolves and loners she came across. She had still been a stranger to the land then, and it was amazing how much had changed in—well, had it been a full year yet?

The scarred female did not afford herself much time to be philosophical, and even as she loped ever northward, she mulled over these thoughts. There were no conclusions to be drawn from them besides the obvious, so after a moment of reminiscing she abandoned them entirely—and, besides, there was a change in the noisy backdrop of the thick woods. She froze and tilted her head back, listening to the rustle of leaves above and the distinct flap of wings, before grinning and executing a leap a wildcat would be proud of. There was an indignant caw, feathers buffeting her muzzle, but then she was on the ground and the raven perched on her back with his talons digging into her skin.

“Boy not telling leaving,” Stark admonished darkly, but he seemed taken aback by the grin she threw at him.

“You don’t have to babysit me, papa bird,” Vesper retorted, and shook him off. He landed on the forest floor and hopped a few steps, chortling in the awkward way that corvids happened to chortle.

“Good mood,” the black bird remarked. “Got laid?” And suddenly he had the advantage in their banter, and flew off before she had a chance to say a word. Growling in a manner that was playful and utterly unlike her (at least as far as she let everyone know), she chased after him.

It was not long before the game of tag between coyote and raven drew them farther north and close to pack territory, which Vesper noted with her nose pointed in the air. They went more cautiously from then on, Stark offering the most awkward advice possible or otherwise scolding her for leaving Inferni without him. She threw him a smile from time to time, but her attention was soon gained by the distinct cries that could only be a couple of birds in a tussle. She shot her partner a look, but the raven dismissed the sounds with a flippant wave of a wing.

“Diving falcons,” Stark remarked, and she thought for a moment before realizing which species he was talking about. “No problem,” he clarified with a hoarse chuckle. “Falcons fast and showing off, yes, but ravens being bigger.” He left it unsaid that he was pretty large for his species, and that was the end of her concerns about the peregrines in the distance—at least until, by some stroke of luck, they happened to stroll/fly in on the clearing the pair had originated from.

The scarred coywolf froze then, her eyes sliding upward to the falcon perched on a magnificent oak tree whose roots spilled over an outcropping. Her nostrils flared, but she didn’t dare move after noting that there was a canine in the area—most likely hidden underneath the overhang. She didn’t blame them if that was the case; this area was very scenic, and she had the feeling that she’d stumbled upon a private place—but this was neutral territory, she reasoned, so she was allowed here as much as anywhere.

Vesper was at a loss of what to do next, her curiosity stirred by something in the scent. Recognizing that she wouldn’t follow him, Stark flapped back and landed on her shoulders, announcing himself to the two visible peregrines with a bold caw.



Image courtesy of henrikj@Flickr; table by the Mentors!


<style>
.Vestruck .ooc {font-size:10px; font-style:italic;}
.Vestruck p {padding:0px 15px 5px; margin:0px; text-indent:25px;}
.Vestruck b {font-family:verdana; color:#26292e;}
.Vestruck b.npc {font-weight:normal;}
.Vestruck {margin:0px auto; background-color:#94938f; font-family: verdana; font-size:12px; color:#4e4d4b; line-height:16px; width:500px; text-align:justify; background-image:url(http://i.imgur.com/GfC3p.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding:284px 0px 10px 0px; border:1px solid #FFFFFF; border-radius:8px; }
.Vestruck-border {width:502px; border:1px solid #000000; margin:0 auto; border-radius:8px;}
p.template-credit {text-indent:0px; text-align:center; font-size:10px; font-style:italic; width:425px; text-align:center; margin:0px auto;}</style>[/html]
#3
[html]
Late reply is late

Neela’s eyes shot awake, suddenly alert as she sensed a presence near her. The scent drifting down was muddled; slightly familiar yet Neela couldn’t place it. She could tell at least that the intruder was situated somewhat behind her, on top of the rise which formed the overhang she was under, though a loud caw from that direction confirmed this soon after. At the sound Skylar bristled and flew upwards, the unusually large falcon flying up to perch glaring at the coywolf and raven who had disturbed them, adding her large presence and sharp claws to the suddenly hostile glares of her siblings. The three weren;t usually that hostile to strangers – well Skylar and MArahute weren’t at least, Oonu could be unpredictable – but the trio had cottoned on to Neela’s weakness and were eager to do their part to defend her.


For a moment Neela was tempted to stay silent and motionless, try to hide but quickly dismissed that as folly. Even if the presence of three birds which were extremely rare in the local area didn’t tip them off the stranger would surely have smelled Neela by now so instead she went with plan B and acted confident, her voice rising up to greet them, not quite aggressive but not particularly friendly either, ”Hello? What are you doing here?”

<style type="text/css">
.risinghope b {font-weight:bold; color:#a38750; letter-spacing:.5px}
.risinghope p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 15px; margin:0px;}
.risinghope {margin:0 auto; width:600px; background-color:#471e00; background-image:url(http://i43.tinypic.com/1vif8.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:3px double #885004; padding: 330px 0px 7px 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size:12px; color:#a27e36; letter-spacing:.5px; word-spacing:.9x; line-height:13px; text-align:justify;}
</style>
207+

[/html]
#4
[html]


Vesper was unnerved by the addition of a third, bigger falcon to the other two. She had puppy memories of her mother batting her into the mouth of a den when a hawk flew overhead, and that instinct resurfaced in the feral coywolf despite her number of feathered friends. She knew that Stark was larger than the individual peregrines, but she didn’t know how he’d fare with three of them attacking. Her mind roamed over the various scenarios of attack and how she might defend her companion when he made a hissing sound.

“Only fledglings,” Stark assured her in a low tone, and then cawed once more to the trio of falcons. “Just out of shells!”

The Centurion only sat down and shook her head. She’d recently learned that her winged mentor, normally calm and almost peaceable, had a bad habit of picking fights with any birds in the vicinity. The fact didn’t bother her generally; it only amused her to know that he was more like her and the other Inferni coyotes than she thought. Still, she had to feel uncomfortable under the harsh gaze of the raptors, and her body remained tensed even as she drew in the lingering canine scent.

A strong voice called out to them, and Vesper’s ear perked in confusion; she recognized the sound of it. “You—the collie?” she said aloud, and shook her head, amending: “I mean, Neela! What are you doing this far south?” She started to step toward the shelter beneath the oak then remembered the falcons—and also remembered that the collie woman didn’t have to be in the north since Ichika no Ho-en had disbanded. She frowned and took a seat again. “It’s Vesper, the Infernian.”



Image courtesy of henrikj@Flickr; table by the Mentors!


<style>
.Vestruck .ooc {font-size:10px; font-style:italic;}
.Vestruck p {padding:0px 15px 5px; margin:0px; text-indent:25px;}
.Vestruck b {font-family:verdana; color:#26292e;}
.Vestruck b.npc {font-weight:normal;}
.Vestruck {margin:0px auto; background-color:#94938f; font-family: verdana; font-size:12px; color:#4e4d4b; line-height:16px; width:500px; text-align:justify; background-image:url(http://i.imgur.com/GfC3p.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding:284px 0px 10px 0px; border:1px solid #FFFFFF; border-radius:8px; }
.Vestruck-border {width:502px; border:1px solid #000000; margin:0 auto; border-radius:8px;}
p.template-credit {text-indent:0px; text-align:center; font-size:10px; font-style:italic; width:425px; text-align:center; margin:0px auto;}</style>[/html]


Forum Jump: