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| Initial thoughts on the new ideas being implemented? |
| I'm excited to see how they work out! |
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100% |
[ 3 ] |
| I think it's a cool idea, but not sure the application is practical |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
| Too complicated and messy! |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
| Neutral vote |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
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| Total Votes : 3 |
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 Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 10:57 pm
Steelspark's breath caught when the fuzzy ball of blue fur got around her and went straight towards the stranger. Granted they weren't a hostile pack, though that didn't mean they would just share territory with others. And while this strange male appeared nonthreatening, even polite and respectful, he was still a stranger. Call her overprotective, but she didn't want to see a first impression proved wrong by witnessing a negative reaction towards a kip. Especially her daughter. She started forward, but halted when Thundercloud turned his head to throw her a look. She bit her lip and remained where she was while she watched the Alpha relax his posture ever so slightly. She wasn't fooled, she knew he could still respond with lethal force from that pose as fast or faster than she could from a pose of readiness, but part of Thundercloud's personality was the illusion that he wasn't as deadly as he seemed.
This had to be a test. It was one thing to work with adults, but kips could be another matter. Seeing how the stranger handled Starblade could tell them if this male would be able to work within their family-close unit. Understandable, though it didn't do much to help ease her anxiety.
(( There's another post at the bottom of the first page, in case you didn't see it. ))
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Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 11:27 pm
Iskiri laid himself down before the vole as the kip bounced up. He giggled.
"I caught it exactly like that." he acknowledged, your teacher taught you well little one. A mighty hunter in the making, you are well on your way." Cute little ball of fluff and what looked like a well practiced pouncer.
A bit of inspiration hit him and he rolled right onto his back. There was no way he could have done anything from that position even if he had wanted to.
Kips were worth his best protection and that meant showing the adults he would absolutely never harm her, even flipping onto his back where the big orange one could easily pounce his vulnerable underside.
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 12:54 am
Thundercloud's posture of relaxation became more what it looked to be rather than hidden readiness. He didn't sense harm or hidden intentions from the other male. Even without the display he could tell that much from the other's body language.
"Very well. You may join us if you wish." He looked down at the kip standing by his back legs. "He needs a sponsor. Will you vouch for him, Starblade?" He smiled a little at how wide the kip's golden eyes got before she struggled to put on a more serious expression, and nodded with all the solemnity in her tiny body. He was also sure Steelspark was going to condemn him to the rockiest part of the nest for "exposing" her baby, nevermind that it was as useless to try to stop Starblade as it was to control a storm.
With a mental shrug he turned his gaze back to the male. "I am Thundercloud, Alpha of the Yama Pack. This is Starblade, and her mother Steelspark." He allowed himself an actual shrug. "Our numbers grow slowly, so newcomers are always welcome." With that he turned and applied himself to the job of de-feathering the grouse like he had been meaning to. From the entrance came a roaring hiss, followed swiftly by the steady pounding of a true downpour. This fellow had excellent timing, he'd give him that much.
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 11:14 am
Iskiri curled his tail in so he wouldn't get rained on and slowly rolled over.
"Thank you for sponsering me Starblade." He said sincerely. He knew that Thundercloud was commander here but it kind of touched him to see who he had made his sponser and he had no doubt she would tell him what for if he dared to break any of the rules. "Can you teach me the rules around here?" he asked.
He nudged the vole over to Steelspark. "I erm, I don't know if you like vole but its for your family if you want it." He got up and moved a little farther in to curl up by the entrance and watch the storm. As he watched the storm a feather came to land in front of him. How cute. It was nice to be around others again.
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 12:10 pm
Starblade felt like she could burst with pride. Being a sponsor was a very important thing! She listened to Momma grumble under her breath at Thundercloud while he ignored her, face covered in downy feathers and he pulled them out of the grouse. Momma finally seemed to give up and started picking up feathers and carrying them back to their bed, though she made a slight current with her tail that caused the down to stir up and made Thundercloud sneeze. Starblade laughed, then went over to plop down next to Iskiri.
"Rules are pretty simple. We're just a big family. We work together, share what we have with everyone, and look out for each other. Long as you do that you're okay." She tilted her head back to look up at the male's face. "Sponsoring isn't really a rule, it's just a way to help new people. Your sponsor is supposed to teach you about the land and where things are, and helps you learn to hunt as a team if you aren't used to it." Her expression turned thoughtful. "I'm not big enough for that yet, so Thundercloud or Momma will have to teach you, but it'll be my job to make sure you're learning."
Starblade scuffed the cave floor with a paw, trying to remember exactly what she'd been told. "I think sponsoring lasts for two moons." Her little face was serious when she looked back up. "It's also the job of the sponsor to make sure the new person doesn't cause trouble. If you act really bad, then it's my job to chase you away. You aren't gonna turn bad, are you mister?"
(( Don't think Iskiri has given his name yet? ))
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 2:10 pm
"No, no I won't turn bad little miss. Oh! My name is Iskiri, be the way. I think it means Hawk's Shrill but I'm not exactly sure, something about a hawk and sound anyway. I saw some of the territory coming in but not a lot of it, is it awfully big? Because that would be a lot of fun. I like lots of room to run and hunt."
"I haven't hunted in a pack either, I bet something big tastes a lot better then vole." He made a comical face. "Do you like storms too? I think they are fantastic when one can watch from warm safety."
(flails, my bad)
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 9:57 pm
"Our territory covers a vast stretch. To cross it would take perhaps a week in optimal weather, longer if you don't know the mountain paths. In storms like these, it could take more than two weeks."
While Starblade and Iskiri had been speaking Steelspark had come up behind them. Thundercloud had left a single de-feathered grouse behind, and had taken the other one to their sleeping place so moving the feathers wouldn't be such a chore. The idea apparently hadn't occurred to him until she had suggested it. Men.
She leaned down and nudged Starblade with her nose. "Go eat. We sleep soon." Starblade nodded and scampered off, nabbing the vole with her needle-sharp teeth and carrying it over to where the grouse sat. Once she began practicing tearing past fur to the meat, Steelspark turned her attention back to the new-comer. "It's her first storm since she was born. We see drizzly weather often here, but it isn't until halfway into spring that the heavy storms hit." She nodded towards the entrance where the wind howled and rain splashed over the rock, early darkness turning the sky black. "We'll be seeing more of this in days to come."
She turned and started to head back towards her daughter to eat her own meal, then looked over her shoulder. "We sleep together in a small side cavern. It's roomy enough that you shouldn't feel crowded. If you're tired that's where you'll want to go. Just follow Thundercloud's scent. Doubtless you'll also smell grouse and hear him plucking feathers." Information given, she trotted over the rest of the way and settled next to Starblade, starting in on the grouse with a delicacy most wouldn't credit her with.
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Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 9:55 pm
Well that blew his ears back. "That is pretty big!"
"Oh is it? Well I am glad I am here to share this experience. I'm also glad I didn't have to sleep in that mess. And in fact I am a bit tired now that you mention it. Thank you very much for taking me in, your kindness is most appreciated."
He trotted to the back of the cavern and found an unoccupied place in the cavern from the smell and curled up to the sound of defeathering.
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 7:33 pm
A new week is starting! Here's our forecast. Season: Spring Temperature: 76°F Weather: Scattered and isolated thunderstorms through most of the week, partly cloudy Weekly news
Starblade is all grown up! Yay!
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Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 3:14 pm
A new week is starting! Here's our forecast. Season: Spring Temperature: 74°F Weather: Partially cloudy Weekly news
Nothing new to report this week.
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Posted: Sun May 25, 2014 2:08 pm
A new week is starting! Here's our forecast. Season: Spring Temperature: 76°F Weather: Scattered and isolated thunderstorms Weekly news
Nothing new to report this week.
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 9:17 am
A new week is starting! Here's our forecast. Season: Spring Temperature: High of 86°F, low of 62°F Weather: Scattered thunderstorms Weekly news
It's a new month! It's actually the second week into a new month, but I got horribly distracted and didn't post the first new week OTL We still need a fifth member to be officially considered a pack.
The pack has moved! Now that Starblade is an adult, the pack has moved to a den a little higher up, due to all the rain they've been having.
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 9:29 am
Starblade's sat in the entrance of the den, staring sulkily out into the rain. Last week had been nice and mildly sunny, so she'd been out hunting a lot with the others. This week had been almost nothing but rain though. She really wanted to get out in it and practice her hunting skills some more, but Mom and Thundercloud both told her she wasn't quite ready and to stay put. They used all sorts of sensible arguments, how she could hurt herself more easily and how it would be harder to catch prey and they couldn't afford as many mistakes, and that once the weather cleared a little or if they got a good kill they would start to teach her rain hunting.
It still irked her to be stuck sitting here when she wanted to be out. They didn't tell Iskiri to stay put! Of course he was a hunter long before she was born so it wasn't the same, but in her current mood she didn't feel like being fair. She sighed gustily and turned away from the sheeting rain, trotting further back in the cave and wondering if you could die of boredom.
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 9:36 am
Steelspark cast a glance over at Thundercloud as they trotted over soggy, slippery ground. Their leader had been a bit pensive of late. Probably that female he had met on the border. She'd been hanging around a bit while they stayed in their last den, but after the move there was no telling if she had followed or not. Steelspark wasn't particularly sure what was going on, but she hadn't really asked and Thundercloud hadn't volunteered more than some basic information. It was probably a test. The girl had sounded quite green, to be honest. If she couldn't trek across the land in what was typical weather this time of year, she wouldn't have lasted long here anyway.
"Pesky rain," she growled under her breath. It washed away nearly all smells and tracks. They'd been going along by memory of where prey usually hide, but so far they hadn't had any luck. They were hoping to stumble across some deer in a little stand of pines further up. A storm in the past had knocked some trees over, but instead of dying they ending up growing at an angle. It made a perfect shelter from bad weather.
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Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:46 pm
Thundercloud growled lightly in assent, but otherwise didn't comment. Most of his mind was occupied in reading the land, trying to take in the scents surrounding them and keeping his eyes peeled for signs of anything out of the ordinary. It was wise to be on your toes in this particular sector of territory. They were near the edge of a particularly rough stretch of land, one where other predators were a bit more common than they were back in the previous den. Wolves tended not to stray to this side of the mountain except when times were at their most lean, but there was still the possibility, with all the natural caves around, that they could run into a bear or something similarly unpleasant.
"Let's hope luck in on our side, else we will have empty bellies today. We should turn back soon, or risk injury climbing rocks in the dark."
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