[PRP] It'd be easy, they said. [Sagan x Chrysocolla]

[NymiiNym]

Go hunt some food, they said. It'd be easy, they said. Chrys' tail flicked in irritation as she settled against her boulder, head turning to the side as she sucked her teeth. She had not only failed each attempt at hunting, but she had somehow ended up miles from home after foolishly tracking a herd of deer. She knew the way back, of course, but she was not going home empty-handed. She'd never dare make a fool of herself in such a way. She had sworn up and down she could land a big catch, but there was one issue: She didn't want to get dirty.

Don't laugh! Her father had done a poor job of raising her. Sure, he was sweet, and extremely protective. No one could dare call Edward a bad father, but he had been wrapped around her paw the second she batted her long-lashed eyes at him. Learning quickly that a cute pout and fake tears got her much, the little princess had received most of what she wanted, even when her mother stepped in. Peri had been far harder to convince to get her way, and so 99% of any begging was directed at Edward.

So, she hadn't really rolled in the mud much. Sure, she rough-housed with her siblings, but she had zero friends. There was that one boy.... Ori whatever. Was that even how his name started? But he hadn't gotten through to her, or called her out. Chrys never really had anyone teach her how to hunt, either. She had been far too busy doing other things, like perfecting her alligator tears. Now, she regretted it.

Pouting gently, the vixen let out a low sigh, flopping onto her stomach (carefully, to not muss up her fur). "Deities help me. I just want one deer, that's all."

jinxgirl5

 

[jinxgirl5]

Word count: 553

Sagan was out hunting today. A good portion of his time was spent in the company of his baby sister, Nola. Normally they'd hang around the den together, doing little chores, but they got out about as often as they stayed in. Most wouldn't guess it, but Nola was a huge help when it came to hunting. She had sharp eyes, a keen nose, and could move quite fast. She sometimes got a little too focused on a task or was too uncertain to actually make a move, but that's where Sagan came in. As a team they were hard to beat, and anytime they went out together they always returned with some sort of game. But Nola apparently had other plans that day, since she was gone when he woke up this morning. Probably out plant-hunting. That was often what she was doing when she was on her own. He knew she liked to surprise the family with her finds. She probably went out on her own to spare the rest of her family the chore; out of all of them only Mom seemed to be as adapt at plant-hunting, which made sense when you compared the two personalities. Bereft for a moment, he decided to go hunting on his own. He was plenty skilled at hunting on his own, he just took a it longer at it.

What did he feel like hunting today? Squirrels and birds were too fast, and he wasn't feeling patient enough today to lay out an ambush for nothing more than a bite of meat and a mouthful of feathers or fur. Ground birds like grouse or turkey had a bit more worth to them, but though he kept his eyes peeled so far he hadn't passed any recent signs of flocks in the area. Same with deer, though he could easily think of a couple places worth checking. Was it worth hauling back such a huge carcass on his own though? Well there were always hungry mouths in the tribe, so if he could get a small-ish deer then perhaps the trip wouldn't be so bad.

So lost in his thoughts was Sagan that he almost didn't notice the steep hill he walked beside, drifting closer and closer to the edge. The sound of falling leaf litter and the crumbling of dirt beneath his paws were his only warnings, bringing him back to reality in a hurry as he leapt away. The sounds of dirt clods rolling down the hill along with the soft hiss of loose dirt and sand following behind mingled with the sounds of harsh breathing and loud heartbeats. That had certainly startled him! He needed to watch where he was going. Then a sound of dismay broke the silence. It came from somewhere at the bottom of the hill! Without thinking he headed for the sound, using the trees for support and digging his claws deep into the dirt to keep him from tumbling along like a fluffy dirt clod.

He reached the bottom and looked around. His heart stopped for a moment at the sight of blue and black fur, but a closer look revealed it was Nola. Breathing a bit easier he approached with caution, wondering who this strange female was supposed to be. "Hello there? Are you okay?"

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

GO HUNTING, THEY SAID.
IT'D BE EASY, THEY SAID.

The cry of dismay had certainly come from her as one of her worst enemies attacked her: dirt. From seemingly the sky dirt descended and covered the poor, clean, and very tidy vixen. A paw raised, unsure what to do as it flailed briefly to try and remove dirt and leaves, only to find it barely left her form. The paw stayed raised, followed by her sitting on her back legs and just holding her front legs in the air, horror across her face. It was also in her hair. She had just bathed! Whipping around, her ears flattened and she bristled, tail lashing violently.

"Do explain why you found it necessary to cover me in.... in this muck?" A paw flailed, eyes flicking to give her dirty paw a distraught look. Oh deities how she hated to be dirty. "Am I okay? I'm.... this.... this is gross! Foul! Filthy! I just bathed, mind you."

This was not fun.

jinxgirl5

 

[jinxgirl5]

Word count: 218

Sagan blinked, temporarily at a loss for words. Of all the ways he expected to be responded to, getting yelled at hadn't really been one of them. Not that he would have discounted it entirely. He was a brother after all, with both a younger and older sister. He had a mom who could be fierce when she really, really had to be. Not to mention he had a whole gaggle of females relatives. The notion of female equals lecture wasn't a new concept to him. Perhaps because he first thought of Nola he subconsciously pegged a similar personality on the strange female. And who yelled at someone they just met cause of a bit of dirt?

"I didn't mean to get dirt all over you, it was completely an accident. It'll wash out, there's no reason to be upset. There's a river just south of here, not too far, that'll do the trick nicely."

He tried to adopt a polite tone. Sagan had his father's manners, but he lacked the patience Eon seemed to have. It was probably something that came with age. He wasn't sure if this female was the type to indulge in fits regularly, but he figured he should probably watch how he worded his responses just in case she decided to get aggressive.

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

Fluffing her fur in response, the vixen jerked her head to the side and sighed loudly. It was clear she was attempting to hold some sort of pride in her body, head raised and eyes opening view "down" on him. However, she caught the sight of dirt on her tail, immediately losing her posture and flipping her tail like a deranged fish.

This was horrible!.

"No reason? I'm filthy. Besides, do you know what is in dirt? And now I'm covered in it...." Her aggression had seemed to falter off as now a dramatic depression overcame her, teeth sinking into her bottom lip as she fidgeted with her dirty paws. Giving up, she leapt off the boulder, tail flicking as her eyes flicked to lock onto the male who, while somehow being polite, was her new victim.

"Well. You did this, so I'm assuming you'll take me to this river.... I couldn't possibly find it by myself after such a traumatic event..." And there it was, fake tears filling large blue eyes. Her brother or sister would never fall for this, mostly because was the definition of a tough spirit. She'd never cry, despite how horrified and legitimately nightmarish this all was to her. But did the male know this? Nope, or so she thought. Time to turn on her acting.

Also, she was bad with directions. While she'd never admit this, she probably COULDN'T find her way to the river, though not because of the dirt. Still, she wasn't saying a word.

jinxgirl5

 

[jinxgirl5]

Word count: 218

Sagan held back a snort through sheer force of will. Nola was so shy she would honestly break herself to pieces if you weren't careful and Olivia was such a curious busybody who had to stick her nose into everything whether she should or not that you wanted to just cuff her sometimes, but neither was prone to dramatics of this sort. It made him appreciate them a little more. Faced with such childish whining from this strange female, he unthinkingly responded an attitude akin to a grade-school boy faced with a tantrum from a grade-school girl.

"Seriously? It's south. As in directly south. You can't miss it, it runs for miles in either direction. You do know which way south is, right? If you bathed recently you must have some clue. Besides, a little dirt won't kill you. If you just wait for it to dry you can brush it out with no problem. I've done it tons of times. Also if you're so worried about getting dirty you should cut back on the baths. Makes things just stick to you more, not to mention its bad for the fur. If you wanna go bald at a young age though, it's no skin off my nose."

Sagan instantly felt a pang of regret for losing his patience, but he couldn't bring himself to take any of it back. It was all true after all, if a bit tactless. It wasn't exactly his fault for almost tumbling down the hill and causing the dirt to dislodge. He could just as easily blame her for being in the way of the dirt at the bottom of the hill and make equal amounts of sense.

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

Her eyes widened in surprise, mouth briefly agape as she stared at the male. ...What? Never, not even once had someone snapped back at her! Her eyes flashed as she puffed her cheeks, baring her teeth in a mock threat. Oh! Oh he was going to get it! No one ever disrespected her like that, and no one ever didn't fall for her tricks! She'd teach him a lesson right then and there! Just.... just where was her pride? It was somewhere.... or was that humiliation she felt? Flushing a slight red, the flustered vixen raised a paw, jabbing it in the air towards him.

"You're getting fresh with me? I'm not the big oaf who threw dirt all over a stranger! Did it ever occur to you that not everyone is good with directions, or perhaps that I'm not from here and may need some help from a runt like you?" Wait. Help? Not good with directions. Her mouth opened and closed twice, head shaking.

"Well, lucky for you, I don't need help and I know where south is! So.... " Right. Her eyes flicked up, glancing side to side before she snapped her head towards north, tail flicking like a temperamental cat. "It's this way, ri- Of course it is, because I do know which way is south." His comment on her not knowing where south may be had stung, and it showed as the vixen tried to scramble up her previous act and put it back up. She just never experienced someone brushing past her antics and snapping back... not even her brother did that! Glancing at the stranger briefly with mild curiosity, she corrected herself and jerked her gaze away, heading straight for.... north. She was going north. Far from the river.

Of course.

jinxgirl5

 

[jinxgirl5]

Word count: 219

Sagan just stared at the female's retreated back. Any semblance of manners vanished and he spoke his thoughts frankly. "Well excuuuuse me, princess, for not being so lax in reflexes as to tumble down with the dirt and break both our necks. I figured you must have wanted the dirt bath given how noisily it made its coming known, otherwise you could have dodged it."

Okay, maybe that part wasn't true. Sure it had been moving noisily and the hill was rather large and steep, but even if she heard it coming and immediately picked a direction to leap she still would have gotten about half of it. Words continued to flow from his mouth.

"If you wanted a snow bath you should have mentioned it. Of course the mountains are still very far away, but since there's no body of water at all between you and them, I figured that's what you were going for." He rolled his eyes and turned his gaze back to the hill. Was it worth climbing? Probably not. He nearly killed himself just to get down here, so there was no way he could climb back up it. He'd just have to go around. Sighing gustily, he rolled his green eyes skyward and thanked Selene that at least Nola wasn't here for this.

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

Head snapping around, she groaned at the male, tail flicking in irritation. Okay, that was stupid. They both knew she had no time to get completely free of the dirt! Fluffing her fur once more, she froze when he proceeded to mock her sense of direction, ears flattening. Sucking her teeth, the vixen clearly was emotionally injured by his last comments, tail curling around her body as fierce blue eyes narrowed.

"Right. Lets see you in my situation and avoid all that dirt completely in time. And, fine. I don't know which was is south. I'll admit it. That's probably how I got to this deities forsaken boulder in the first place, that and deer are hard to track. Happy?" Tense, the vixen attempted to retreat into the bushes. Hell. She couldn't be seen like this; dirty and defeated. Besides, shame had begun to sweep over her, increasingly uncomfortable as the male displayed behavior she wasn't used to. He was acting like family, even, and this was too much for her to handle at once. Well, at least if she ever met the male again (which she doubted by how he glanced at that hill) she didn't need to act anymore, did she?

Lowering her head to brush at her arm with her cheek, she resigned herself to just waiting for it to dry. This male wasn't going to help her, especially after their fresh arguing, and she had no idea where that blasted river was. Her eyes briefly glanced at the dark male before hastily returning to staring towards north, attempting to mentally figure out where south was compared to it.

jinxgirl5

 

[jinxgirl5]

Word count: 321

Sagan let out a huge sigh. Greeeeat, now he was feeling guilty about being such an a**. He was sure the female had earned every one of his words, but that still didn't mean he had to come out and say them. Just knowing how his dad would react if he found out forced him to suppress a cringe.

"You know you could have just asked. I don't exactly like practically free-falling down hills so if I didn't want to make sure you were okay I wouldn't be here. I told you it was an accident. Not like I get my kicks flinging dirt at people. I think I held remarkably well to my end of apologizing, so you could stand to be a bit cuter about it." Not that he wanted someone fawning at him over a dangerous journey down a hill or blinking at him with huge, adoring eyes; that was just overselling it to the point of extreme sarcasm. Just a simple "I'm fine, could you point me to the river so I can bathe" would have worked. Extra points for a smile, bonus round points for an inquiry to his own status.

The mention of deer certainly caught his interest. Maybe he could salvage something from the situation after all. It shouldn't be too hard to track a herd if there was one around. Assuming the female's tracking wasn't like her directional skills.

He had to admit her sulking was kind of cute. And funny. He knew it was probably wrong to push her, but he couldn't help it. He adopted a confident stance and half-smirked. "Go on, try it. 'If it's not too much trouble could you show me where the river is?~' Just like that. It's not too hard." His grin held a bit of a challenge, like he knew the female would likely tell him to drop dead rather than stoop to such levels.

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

Her head turned when he spoke, pouting almost comically in response. Causing a gentle "tch" sound to leave her mouse, the vixen sat up and offered her own challenging, if a bit sarcastic grin.

"Cuter?" Twitching her tail, she suddenly batted her eyes at him, molding her face into the equivalent of cute kitten. "Thank you so much for your apology. Oh gosh, are you okay? You aren't hurt... are you?!" And then it faded as she stuck her tongue out at him. Image ruined.

"See, I can be cute, just not to oafs who throw dirt all over me." Puffing her chest out, she just glowered at him under her dirty hair. Blowing a puff of air to push aside locks of hair, the vixen rolled her eyes, directing her gaze to the ground and almost in-audibly mumbling: "Can you... show me... to the river..." Hell, he probably COULDN'T hear her by how her mouth barely moved and she clearly was not one to admit defeat. She just wanted this wretched muck off of her! Stat!

jinxgirl5

 

[jinxgirl5]

Word count: 295

Sagan just stared. The look and the gosh part made the whole thing a bit overdone, and even if he hadn't know she was acting that was a bit too sickly sweet. He'd have beat a hasty retreat if she'd faced him with that. He did feel the urge to roll his eyes, but refrained. If she wanted to play a game, then she better be ready. He arranged his expression into something neutral as he cast his mind about for what he wanted, then struck. He adopted the same look of gentle kindness he'd seen his father give to his mother many a time, though he tried to make it more like he was smiling at a sister than a mate.

"See? I knew you could do it. Smiles suit you so much better than frowns. Now come on, I'll show you where the river is so you can clean up." And then he turned and struck for the river. It really wasn't that far anyway, and chances were the deer might be somewhere in that area to get a drink. If nothing else he could scout for tracks. Besides she had asked in a much more sincere manner than the overly sweet line he had given her.

He'd kept his voice calm and infused warm approval into the tone. He had the feeling that the way to deal with this female was through push and pull tactics. She clearly needed the set-down and manners would probably have been wasted on her to start with, but now that she expected a fight he didn't give her one. She seemed to be most sincere when she was off balance, so he had to make sure he didn't push or pull too much in either direction.

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

The vixen frowned briefly when he simply stared, tailing flicking in the silence. She had been about to make a one word retort when he suddenly smiled, catching her off-guard. Ears flicking up, the vixen seemed genuinely confused before getting up, padding right after him. Of course, a tiny complaint did leave her in the form of a grumble, though this was just usual Chrys nature.

She kept her distance from him, tail swishing to keep her balance as she leapt over a few rocks here and there. The vixen mentally made a note that the nameless male did not like overly-cutesy voices, or batting of the eyes. Fine, she'd just have to try differently next time. If there was a next time.

jinxgirl5

 

[jinxgirl5]

Word count: 279

They made it to the river in fairly good time. No matter how prissy this female seemed to be regarding the matter of a bit of dirt, she could at least manage to move over terrain at a decent speed. He could hazard a guess from watching her though, why she might not be a great tracker. She clearly didn't want to have anything to do with stuff that would get her messy. You couldn't always avoid situations like that when you had to track something. Chances were it made her careless. Well she managed to survive somehow, so it wasn't like it was his problem.

As the rushing sound of the southern river began to trickle through the trees he picked up the pace a bit. The southern river flowed faster than the eastern one, which started from a great lake in the middle of their territory. It wasn't as comfortable for bathing, but there were shallow spots along the shore and areas where the current was much weaker, so it was safe enough to wade into. He threaded through the last of the tree and the river itself came into view. Without pausing he moved up to the bank, then began to scan the soft ground at the edge for any usable tracks. All he saw was the gentle scrapings from rodents or birds. Feeling a bit disappointed he cast his vision around, wondering which direction would be the best to explore.

"You said you were tracking deer," Sagan said, tossing a glance over his shoulder at the female. "What direction did you come from." For a moment he completely forgot how retched her directional skills were.  

[NymiiNym]

Hearing the river, the vixen picked up her pace and almost burst ahead of Sagan, skidding to a stop at the bank and briefly glancing at Sagan when he padded up and spoke. Her tail twitch was the only indicator she heard him at first, paws scooping up water and rubbing it into her face to clear some of the dirt from her eyes. Aaaaaah. Glancing back up at the other, she patted the water briefly.

"Where did I...?" Glancing up, she looked about before flicking her ears back. Uncertaintly, her paw raised and jabbed towards the east. "There...?"

jinxgirl5