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

[jinxgirl5]

Word count: 142

Sagan eyed the female. There was something about the way she hesitated that made him want to strike out in the opposite direction than the one she pointed. "Are you sure," he asked with the air of a parent who knew a child was lying and was giving them a second chance to come clean. He tried to believe she wasn't that hopeless at directions. She had to have some sort of clue if she'd been following a herd this far. He'd lived in these forests his whole life, so perhaps as a stranger to them she'd only gotten a bit turned around when she couldn't figure out north.

He liked to hope all of this was correct. If not, he was more than a little terrified that someone who was so bad at directions had been let loose without a keeper.

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

Irritated briefly, Chrys opened her mouth to give a snappy retort when suddenly she froze, mouth clamping shut. Why bother fighting back? She wasn't sure, at all, and the male clearly had at least more experience at tracking than she did. Turning her head to the side and simply biting her lower lip, cheeks a flushed color, her next response was low and hardly above a whisper.

"Not really." Hell, she had gotten here because she followed the deer. How was she even going to get back, now that she thought about it? She was an adult, she doubted her parents would fret too much. Perhaps she should have been more observant earlier. Flicking her tail dejectedly, the vixen played with the water briefly before letting out a frustrated sigh. Again, she looked like the idiot. Padding right into the water, she began the work of washing off the blasted dirt.

jinxgirl5

 

[jinxgirl5]

Word count: 372

Sagan let out a sigh. Pretty much what he expected. Well it was a 50/50 shot anyway, so in the end it probably mattered little. As the female dove into the river he sat on the dry sandy soil by the bank, gaze drifting over the water while he thought. What was the most likely direction a herd of deer would have taken. To his knowledge they preferred trees. All that lay to the east was open plains, something they might browse but probably wouldn't take to. They could have also headed north; since they were pretty much at the southern edge of Lunarie lands, there was a lot of north. There was more west than east, which brought up another question.

"Where did you come from? The plains or the mountains? Or did you cross the river?" He couldn't really see that last one. Clean this chick might like to be, but he figured she'd balk at swimming a river if she didn't have to. Unless they were starving or seriously being hounded, even a deer herd wouldn't take a chance with it either. He was all inclined to disbelieve mountains, for the same reasons. Plains seemed far more likely. He only included the other two choices to be sure and cover all of his bases. If he knew which direction the deer might have come from, it would give him something to start with.

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

Her ear flicked, shrugging in response quietly.

"I stay near the beach, mostly. I don't remember a mountain when I was tracking them." The beach. Man, did she miss it right now. Her tail flicked once, eyes flicking over to view the male with a raised eyebrow. Her tail wagged once, a peace offering (for now). Splashing about in the water for a second, she tested the waters, flipping some water at the male with a crooked smirk.

"C'mon. You got a bit dirty, too. Relax for a sec." Seemingly in a much better mood now that she was cleaning off, the vixen scooped water up and dumped it over her back, sighing in relief. "My name is Chrysocolla, by the way."

jinxgirl5

 

[jinxgirl5]

Word count: 294

The ocean... He'd heard of it before, but the nearest ocean was quite a ways off. He'd never really left the lands that Lunarie claimed, and while he felt no need to do so he did still wonder what such a thing would look like. His eyes drifted to the east and he became lost in thought for a moment.....before a splash of cold mountain water hit him square on the back. Ducking out of the way with a protest of, "Hey!," Sagan couldn't help but remember similar games back when he'd been a kit. When was the last time he'd actually played in the water? He couldn't remember.

He made sure to shake himself so that the female got some of the spray, a bit of mischief on his part. "I'll have you know that I am perfectly clean and smell quite manly, thank you very much!" His smell was actually very earthy. He and Nola shared a sleeping spot when the whole family wasn't all piled together. Nola was always adding to the bedding and kept it fresh. There was always some kind of pine. Lots of nice, dry leaves from a variety of trees, mostly oak and maple but with some birch as well. Sometimes he even found flowers or dried herbs in there. Magnolia was the only one he could identify, but he had never been a plant person. Doubtless if he asked Nola could tell him the name of everything that grew in the area.

"I'm Sagan," he said, remember the vixen had introduced herself and doing likewise. He sat, posture one of nonchalance. "Relaxing's all well and good, but it doesn't fill your belly. You said you were tracking the herd yourself. Doesn't that mean you're hungry?"

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

Sighing and shrugging her shoulders, the vixen toyed with the water once more, dunking her head in briefly before crawling out of the water. Casting Sagan a merciless glance, she shook herself off, directing the spray towards him before settling down, beginning to make her fur flat once more.

"Not really. I was trying to prove something to my family." She mused, ears flicking backwards briefly."I guess I only proved I can get lost.... and even if I caught a deer, I'm so far from home that dragging it back is an almost impossible feat." Scuffing, the vixen finished with her fur, tail tip twitching briefly.

"I'm better at foraging, I guess."

jinxgirl5

 

[jinxgirl5]

Word count: 258

Sagan hummed thoughtfully. "Hmmmm. Well I suppose I can understand that. It's natural to want to improve oneself. But you know, not everyone is able to be good at everything." He chuckled. "Hell, if you want examples my family is full of 'em. There's no shame in being bad at something." He flicked an ear down, then back up, green eyes watching Chrysocolla. "I mean I don't know your situation with your family and it's really none of my business, but you shouldn't have to prove anything to them. If you have something you're good at and enjoy doing, why don't you just work at that instead?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "But seriously, it's none of my business. If I said something I shouldn't have just feel free to ignore it." He let his mind drift, content to just sit there for a moment while he thought of his next move. He wasn't sure what Chrysocolla's plans were or what she wanted to do from here. He planned to pursue the deer as soon as he calculated which direction would be his best bet. In all likelihood this was where they parted ways, though she'd made no move to leave yet. Perhaps she was lonely. It sounded like she'd been on her own for a bit. Well he didn't mind. When she wasn't being snooty, she was interesting to be around. It had been a long time since he'd had anyone new to tease, and since she gave as good as she got it was a nice challenge.

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

Chrys stared at Sagan in response, one ear flipping down before the other followed. It wasn't that easy, not to her. Sure, she didn't have anything to prove. Her family wasn't like that, after all. They were sweet and good to her, if a bit dysfunctional, but not in that way. Slender shoulders shrugged as she pulled her gaze to the water, teeth nibbling into her cheek briefly.

"They aren't like... that. I guess I... It's more for me than them. I always am the prissy one, and I'll be the first to admit it. I guess I just wanted to show them I was tough, too, in my own way." Shaking her head immediately after, she offered a quiet smile as her paw raised and swiped at the water. "No, it's alright. I don't mind."

The silence that followed was nice, an ear flicking as she realized she had talked most about herself and hadn't heard much about Sagan. Reaching over and chancing it with a brief nudge to his side with her head, the vixen glanced up, tail tip twitching.

"What about you, clumsy foot? What is your family like?"

jinxgirl5

 

[jinxgirl5]

Word count: 192

Sagan snorted and flicked Chrysocolla back with his tail. She was lucky he wasn't clumsy, or he'd have gone rolling down the hill with the dirt. If she thought having some earth get in her fur was bad, he was pretty sure a fully grown male barreling into her would make the day that much more lovely.

"My mom, dad, brother, and two sisters all live in Lunarie. My grandpa is the Elder, actually. Well-," he amended, "-he's not my grandpa. More like my great great not sure how many greats grandpa. My dad's mom is the only other grandparent I've met, but she's not sure if she wants to stay with the tribe or not. I know my family is pretty large, but I've only heard about most of them. My sisters are pretty much night and day. My brother is a little more energetic than me, but probably better manners depending on who you ask."

He gave another light shrug. "We're all pretty independent and look after ourselves well enough. Nola, my little sister, and I will hunt and gather for the group though. That's why I'm out right now."

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

Tail flicking back at Sagan, she listened intently as her paws kneaded into the ground. Aaah, so she had distracted him from a job, though it was his fault. Or so she insisted. Well, he had helped her wash off, and had seemed willing to assist her with the deer issue. Turning her head away from him and puffing her cheeks, her tail flicked against her side, curling around her back legs.

"Well, since it's my fault you got distracted I could help you get some food for your group."

jinxgirl5

 

[jinxgirl5]

Word count: 285

Sagan tried not to seem like he was judging, but some of his doubt probably showed on his face. He forced himself to stop and think for a second. All he had to go on was first impressions. He tried to fit together what he had witnessed to apply character traits to Chrysocolla. Proud was at the top of the list. Dramatic and Fussy were also up there. He tacked Honest on as well. It didn't seem to be a go-to trait, but when he had pressured her enough she gave him the truth. Bad Sense Of Direction and Determined. He tentatively added Playful and Nice. They weren't part of his first impression, but those traits seemed to be present in her just from the conversation they had had.

He took the picture he had painted and gave it a good looking at, but honestly it felt too incomplete to make any sort of judgments on. By her own admission she probably wasn't much of a hunter, but the same could be said of Nola and she was always a great help to him. "You'll probably get dirty again," he warned, unable to think of a solid objection or for there to be any reason for him to need an objection. "I'm going to be following the river, and it gets a little overgrown in places. After that we'll probably have to go crawling through the forest. If you want to come along you can, but you have to be quiet and good at sneaking when you're hunting deer, or they'll bolt." He waited for Chrysocolla's response. He wasn't trying to chase her off, he just wanted to be sure she was up for this.

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

Oh. She saw that doubt. Puffing out her chest and glowering at him with a flipping tail, the disgruntled kneaded the ground roughly, ears flat against her head.

"Don't think I can't see that face. I can be useful. I probably would get way more things, anyway." He could tac on competitive, too. At the comment of dirt she flipped her tail violently to the right, smacking the ground with a loud 'thunk'. "And I get dirty wrestling with my siblings. Doesn't stop me. I know where the river is.... or you do, so it shouldn't be a problem." She winced briefly at the thought that there might be mud, but she'd make sure to bathe right after.

"I can be quiet." She added, even lowering her voice to emphasize her point.

jinxgirl5

 

[jinxgirl5]

Word count: 154

Sagan snorted. "Right right. She who can do all things. My bad, I forgot." Despite his words his tone was one of teasing. He stood up, rolling his much-used shoulders and stretching his legs as he did so. "Well since you're so confident, come on then." He started off at an easy trot, heading west. He wanted to keep to the river bank for now in the hopes that they might come across some tracks, but if they didn't find anything in a reasonable amount of time he would just veer into the forest. There should be several large meadows if memory served him correctly, which would at least provide small game if they couldn't find the herd.

He was more worried what someone might think if they came across another tribe member. They were a friendly-enough tribe, but they weren't a social club. Well, he'd cross that bridge when he got to it.

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

Grunting in response to his first comment, she grumbled under her breath, tail whipping side to side. 'Course she could do anything! Perking up when he seemed to relent and tell her to come, she leapt up, trotting after him. Keeping up with him, the blue and black vixen kept quiet for a few minutes before a question came to mind, similar to his own train of thought.

"Your tribe won't attack me if they bump into us, right?" She questioned, unsure how the whole 'tribe thing' went. She was trespassing, certainly, but Sagan was with her. That made it okay... right?

jinxgirl5

 

[jinxgirl5]

Word count: 198

"Nah," Sagan tossed back over his shoulder. He tried to keep his voice as low as possible while still being able to be heard. "We don't really let outsiders linger, but as long as they mean us no harm we've let them cross through our territory before. You'd probably get in a little trouble if they caught you hunting around here by yourself, but since you're with me it's nothing to worry about."

He kept his eyes peeled the whole time he spoke, looking for promising tracks or even (should luck be truly on their side), the hints of animals at the water's edge for a drink. It was important in those cases to be the one who spotted things, rather than being spotted yourself. He anticipated having to travel a ways, so he was pleasantly surprised after only twenty minutes of walking to stumble upon many clear hoof imprints pressed into the mud. He examined them closely. The marks were still crisp, with no vegetation or water lingering in them. They had probably been made that very day. Grunting his pleasure, he moved aside and indicated the tracks to Chrysocolla so that she might also see them.

Yushika