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OOC: ::Word Count:: 500+
The white she-wolf beamed back at Gotham, registering the contentment he attributed to his indisputable victory. It pleased the female Crimson Dreamer that she had the ability to keep the pup entertained, without offering him any reasons to suspect her. It was this last thought that convinced her, if she needed anymore convincing, that she couldn't let the youngster win again, lest he'd surmise the truth behind his triumph and rightfully decide that Urma wasn't enough of a rival for him. To keep things from getting too boring for the little one, the alabaster female also decided that she'd allow herself to be found easily, once Gotham's turn to be seeker and consequently her time to hide arrived. His momentary happiness would not last long in the absence of any proof that his ensuing winning streak wasn't planned, and that was a scenario she wanted to avoid.
Urma lay down in front of the chosen rock and buried her head between her paws once more. Just as before, she slowly counted up to 20, allowing the Crimson Dreams pup enough time to find a new hiding place. She supposed he would try harder this time, but she was also certain that her nose would pick up his scent in the end. And if by any chance he would somehow manage to avoid being caught again, at least she wouldn't be faking this time. As she reached the end of her counting process, she sniffed the air around her, trying to get an idea as to where Gotham might be hiding. As soon as she was done, she stood up on all fours and dutifully began scrutinizing the area with both her eyes and her nose. The scent led her in the direction she had previously been looking through, and she searched her memory of it for any place that might have looked an ideal spot for Gotham. She steadily made her way in that direction, careful not to overlook any suitable places as she passed, and checking over her shoulder every once in a while in case her nose had led her wrongly along this path. As she neared the trees, she remembered spotting a hidden nook in the trunk of an older one and sniffed her way in that direction. By now, the small pack member's familiar scent filled her nostrils, and she couldn't suppress a grin of personal satisfaction.
She slowed down and sniffed around apprehensively, not wanting to let the pup know she was completely certain where he was. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted his blue eyes and, getting the feeling he must be very cramped in there, decided to let him wait no longer. She took a detour around the tree he was hiding in, but quick enough so as to not allow him to make a run for home base. Emerging on the other side, she poked her head in Gotham's tiny hiding place and said, "Boo." Smiling widely, she ran back towards the spot with the rock and plopped herself down victoriously, waiting for the pup to emerge. She kept a big grin on her muzzle, trying to show her companion that she was also having fun, but also avoiding looking smug about her achievement. "I guess it's your turn, huh? I'm sure you make a great seeker too, though!" she called.
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300+
The slow count up to twenty was a painful one, and as the female got closer and closer to that number Gotham squirmed more desperately, trying to lower himself as much as he could into the little hole. It wasn't really possible to go any further, though, and as soon as Urma stopped counting he froze in his spot, trying to resist the urge to turn his ears forward to listen closely. He could hear her coming, and if he was not just imagining it, feel her light footfalls as they vibrated through the soft earth. She drew closer and closer, and the boy's eyes started to turn back and forth frantically, expecting to see her appear in his field of vision. She was on to him this time - maybe her nose had just needed a practice run - and the act of hiding all of a sudden seemed really funny. There was a snicker lingering in his throat as the female sniffed about the trees around him, and to try to stifle that he pressed his chin even harder into the ground. Do not make a noise! he chided himself, a few times scrunching up his eyeballs to help the feeling of absolute hilarity dissipate.
For a moment he held his breath, sensing the seeker moving just a little bit further away. Perhaps he was off the hook? He was just about to take a much postponed breath when she popped around the side of the tree. He squeaked and bounced a little backwards, though he was really quite trapped in the little hole, before letting out a groan. Urma had found him, this time, but it did take her a little bit of time. The competition was getting fierce! After a few moments of exaggerated disappointment, the boy grinned up at her and wiggled his way out of the nook with a little difficulty. It was nice to hear more words of encouragement, and he wiggled his wiry tail as he started to bounce back towards the rock.
Once he was sitting beside their homebase, he cried out, "I'm a-countin' now!" and started to count upwards with the utmost concentration. A few times he would skip a number (seven was so elusive!) and, a few numbers later, realize he had done so. He would go back to the one he had missed and start over from there. Urma did get a little extra time to hide, but it was important to do this right!
Ithen made this! ♥
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OOC: ::Word Count:: 300+
The pale femme watched the pup approach her, registering his exaggerated disappointment and smiling teasingly at him. However, she didn't keep her grin on for long, if only to avoid appearing to flout the pup's defeat. She patiently waited for him to extricate himself from his cramped hiding place, and beamed at him encouragingly as he made his way up to her. For a moment back there he seemed incredibly put out, and she felt a pang of panic, thinking she had surely doomed his good mood. However, in the next few minutes it became apparent that he had just been playing with her feelings, and she smiled once more, bearing no grudge to the small pup. When he declared he was going to count, she dutifully sat up on all fours and wagged her tail enthusiastically. Once she had made sure the pup was deeply preoccupied with the counting, she lightly made her way in the direction Gotham had taken on their first round, when she had avoided finding him.
She reached a cluster of bushes not very far from home base, keeping the pup within earshot and stifling amused snorts as he struggled to get the counting done right. She found a place with a fairly large indentation in the ground and squirmed to fit in it. The dense bushes hid her tell-tale white fur, but it also gave Gotham the chance of spotting her easily if he came close enough due to the fact that no matter how much she tried to press herself against the ground, she was still tall enough for her left ear to stick out. She hoped this would give the youngster a hint, as well as not appear as if she hadn't tried hard enough to find a suitable place. She listened to him finally finish his counting, and smiled, hoping he would enjoy being seeker and knowing, at the same time, that he would do a very good job at finding her.
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500+
After what was probably actually counting to around thirty six, Gotham pulled his paws from his face and popped his blue eyes open again. Standing up, he looked across the land in front of him in a preliminary survey. He had watched Urma do this finding thing once, now, but unfortunately that run had not been too successful for her. She surely hadn't used completely different techniques for each of her turns, though, so what the boy had watched her do from the grass would probably help a little bit in his quest for the most perfect game of hide and seek ever played. He scrunched his eyes up a little, trying to remember what exactly she had done, before sniffing the air. Come to think of it, Urma seemed to have made a sudden decision right off the bat. Maybe the method by which she had come to that decision was something that Gotham would learn with time. Or could it have been a random choice? Either way, that sudden decision hadn't done her well. The boy wished that he had watched her the second time, too, when she had executed her task with near perfection.
Sighing and feeling a little lost, the raven boy figured it would be best to make a simple decision to start himself off, and maybe he would get better at it quickly enough to prevent Urma from making it to the rock. The decision he made was the wrong one, and he headed off to the side on which he had hid last. His nose was immediately to the ground, but the white female's scent - and his own - seemed scattered everywhere! The pup would follow a trail for a while before seemingly jumping to another one and following that. He didn't get too far from home base, and continually flicked his gaze back to it just in case Urma was making a run for it.
After a few moments of following scent trails around in circles of varying sizes, the boy stopped with a little huff and looked up. Oh, what was that? Poking right out of a bramble bush was something that looked a little juxtaposed. He squinted and took a few tentative steps forward. The boy hadn't connected the little triangle of white with their little game, yet, but anything curious was capable of grabbing his attention. He was just about to call over his shoulder for Urma to come over and take a look at it when he realized that it was her! Yes, that thing in the bushes did seem to fit the profile of an ear. Just in case he was wrong, though, the boy took a few more steps. He squinted, peered, craned his neck, and took a few more steps.
He sniffed around a bit more, moved a tiny bit closer, and convinced himself that it was her. Moving up to the exposed ear, he pressed a tongue to its silky inside surface and said curtly, "Hallo."
Ithen made this! ♥
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OOC:: I thought that we could keep this thread going for a few more replies, and then maybe start the storytelling one?  Just an idea, we could have this for longer if you'd like, it doesn't bother me at all either way  ::Word Count:: 300+
Already her position was making her limbs and back ache, but she didn't dare move, just in case the pup would think she had done it on purpose, wanting to be caught. The place she had found was clearly too small for her and she hoped Gotham would be quick in rescuing her from a painful wait. Her amber eyes could make out the youngster as he finished counting and headed towards the place where the tree he had previously hidden in was. She whispered a soft, "No...", hoping that somehow he would be able to hear it, but in the same time conscious that that was impossible given the distance between them. She sighed softly, making a huge effort not to move in an attempt to outstretch her numbed paws, and kept her eyes on Gotham.
The pup seemed to suddenly decide against his current direction, and Urma almost wagged her tail in delight that she would be freed from her agonizing hiding place. It seemed that the fact that her ear was sticking out had been a wise decision, given that it had helped lure Gotham here maybe quicker than if he hadn't seen the hint. Convinced that he was heading in her direction regardless of anything that might distract him, she busied herself with squinting through the dense branches of the bush, in an attempt to appear as if she were momentarily lost as to his whereabouts. Although she sensed him coming, his greeting was unexpected, and she nearly jumped at the feel of his small tongue against the side of her ear. She rolled onto her side, grateful for the mobility she had now regained and smiled at the pup. "I'm busted, huh?" Her smile did not waver even in the slightest as she stood up on all fours and indicated the rock. "It looks like it's my turn again. Told you you'd make a good seeker," she added, beaming at him. She paused a bit as they approached home base, and the pale femme reclined to her haunches, searching Gotham's eyes. "Still want to play this or do you feel like doing something else?"
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That sounds good
300+
Gotham didn't know what the word 'busted' meant, but he could pull a meaning from the context of their game. With a grin, he took a couple steps backwards and exclaimed, "Yep, bussssted!" He continued to grin as they trotted toward the rock, his eyes flicking across the land around him as if to find the perfect hiding spot (although that was silly, because the perfect hiding spot couldn't be seen from home base!). The boy cast an uncertain glance at Urma at her compliment, feeling that he hadn't done all that splendidly. He had found her, though, so in the end it was a victory. Perhaps he had done well compared to other little pups. Either way, the pup quite appreciated the encouragement. His legs were starting to feel awfully tired, though, from all that bounding around and squeezing into small places, and he dragged his paws a little bit as the two walked.
As Urma sat down, the raven pelted pup plopped onto his bottom. Now that the female had introduced a break into the play, his sleepiness was catching up to him. He yawned, and as his mouth started to close again, he murmured, "I'ma kinda sleepy." When his jaw was closed again he looked up to the female with wide blue eyes. He had the faintest idea that if he hid he'd end up falling asleep. The boy didn't want to ruin Urma's fun, though, and he added, "But if ya wanna keep playin' I can keep a-playin'." His tail flopped on the ground a few times. Urma had been very nice to him all day, and even showed him where to find baby dragonflies (when they started to come out, which would probably be sometime later in the summer!), so he wanted to make sure that she was happy, too.
Ithen made this! ♥
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OOC: Okay than, I'll start the other one once this is done? ::Word Count:: 300+
The pale femme allowed the pup's victory to settle in between them like a certainty, registering in the mean time the tiredness in his body. She knew that their day together was quickly coming to an end, and she felt a bit sorry, since she had felt so good in the company of the small wolf. She realized this was the first time she had spent an entire day within the lands of Crimson Dreams without thinking about Pilot and their fate as a whole. Although she knew that her ability to push away the thoughts about him was only temporary, she felt a momentary pang of jealousy at being unable to feel content for a while longer with her presence here, despite his looming absence. However, she didn't want to allow herself to dwell on such thoughts for longer than was necessary; she still had a few minutes in the pup's company and she was determined to spend them wisely.
Decided to end this day properly, she sat up on all fours and moved closer to Gotham, only bending her legs when she was next to him, so that her back would be level with him. She turned to look at him with a heartfelt smile on her muzzle, and gently offered, "Want to ride back to the Manor on my back? I'd be more than happy to take you," she added as an afterthought, wanting to reassure the pup that she didn't mind this at all. Being an adult, she was not in the least bit tired, and only wanted to make sure the small wolf would reach his home safely, even if no dangers threatened him within the pack boundaries. He had been more or less her responsibility the entire day, and she didn't wish to lose him from her sight until she was certain he was somewhere he could rest completely at ease; where better to do that if not at the heart of the Crimson Dreams lands? The white female wagged her tail a couple of times in eagerness, her smile still on her muzzle, encouraging Gotham not to feel embarrassed by her offer.
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The end?
300+
The day had started out fascinating and ended with immense fun. All of the dragonfly chasing and Urma seeking had worn the little boy out, and he stifled another yawn rather unsuccessfully. He didn't really want to go to bed, now, but the day had held so much excitement that he would resign himself to sleep. Gotham felt that he deserved it, after practicing some very important skills. Tomorrow would be a new day, and he would not be tired, and he could go on even more adventures. The pup hoped that he could play with Urma again soon, because somehow she had managed to keep his curious little self busy for the entire day. Even when he was hiding he was not bored, because he could think about all the baby dragonflies that were hiding, too.
Gotham watched the alabaster female with curiosity as she crouched down beside him. What was she doing? His little eyebrows furrowed, perhaps a little half-heartedly, but at her offer his confusion was gone and he let out a high pitched giggle. More than this being a way for him to save the little energy that he had left, this was like another fun game! With the giggle as his only response, he tried very carefully to get himself onto the older wolf's back. When he finally managed to find a position where he was not constantly slipping over the other side, he was draped across her shoulders with his chin resting on the top of her head. His tail thumping (gently, of course!) against Urma's back, he purred, "Thanks Urrrrrma."
As they walked back to the Manor, Gotham imagined that he was riding a nice dragonfly. In the half sleep that accompanied his comfort, it seemed real and exciting. The excitement, however, did not prevent him from falling asleep before they reached the front door. It had been a most marvellous day.
Ithen made this! ♥
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