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 Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 7:56 am
Giving heavily antlered head a disciplinary shake, frosted muzzle lowered to lip the hoof prints in the snow thoughtfully. He'd seemed to have wandered into herd territory a mile or so ago and though sharp nose had caught many a various reindeer scents and seen multiple tracks criss crossing through the wood he had yet to come across one in person. Maybe it was better off that way.
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Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:25 pm
 Fenna sulked around the territory of her herd, her head hung low. She had gotten in a fight with her mother, Dancer. Nightmares plagued her nights and days. Even out alone in the frost made her fur shake. She had been broken. She sulked and kept a close eye out for danger as she walked the border alone. The scent of an unknown male wafted into her nose. She snorted and pawed at the ground tossing her antlers into the frosty air. "Who is there!?" she roared proudly, ready for almost anything. Just maybe not the undead stag taht attempted to kill her sister and herself.
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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:27 am
Jogging briskly the powdery snow rose in tides against flexing limbs, spraying blistery white coat lined with dripping trail of blackness, as if the night upon his back were bleeding down his legs. Proud head was held high, keeping a wary eye for any unusual movement as he followed the scent marks which edged the framework of the unfamiliar herd's territory. Pausing dead in his tracks with a slight cant of his head bold blue eyes watched several robins burst from the trees and take flight, weaving expertly through the air around the tree trunks that cluttered the wood. Something had obviously spooked them, though Ozark himself was oblivious the sound of Fenna's defensive fury.
Lifting dew touched muzzle to the air his nostrils flared, taking in the heavy scent of a female. A frightened female, it seemed. Dropping his head slightly a frown tugged the edge of his muzzle, pressing towards the scent as confidence powered strides to break the edge of a line of bushes to stare nose to nose with a very outraged looking young cow. Oh my.
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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 11:13 pm
Fenna saw the bull approaching at a slow and steady pace. Her knees locked and her ears went back. "Who are you?" she demanded in a thick voice. Her antlers were sharp enough to poke a few good holes in him if need be. She pawed at the crusted earth and tossed her head. She wasn't going to make the first move. "Who are you? What is your name? Where are you from? What....huh?" she was becoming a tiny bit flustered. Her bright eyes filled with tears of fear.
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 9:14 am
Face to face the strange bull had a better idea of the situation, intense gaze taking in the flick of her posture towards him as her muzzle moved with voiceless speech and her expression pinned him with mistrust. Not that such a reaction was unwarranted though it still caused him to bristle slightly to be judged so quick. Ribbons of black laced the edges of large ears which were held in a nonthreatening position, neither against his head nor completely flushed forward. Standing on a sort of indifferent middle-ground.
Despite unwelcoming gestures Ozark pushed forward, he certainly wouldn't be pushed around by some timid cow. Handsomely antlered head was held proudly, tilting to one side enough to give Fenna a downward glance. He couldn't answer her questions. Couldn't speak intelligibly at all except for a single word his mother had taught him after nearly a year of what had seemed like worthless effort. The large monotone bull could give her only his name.
Oohhhhsss-hhaarrk. Naturally thick, growling voice was gritty and uneven from lack of use but not intentionally harsh however it may have sounded. White lipped muzzle dropping to n** the black blaze upon Fenna's nose boldly, giving her a quizzical sort of look upon noticing the tears. Certainly he couldn't have been all that frightening, could he?
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:39 pm
Fenna took a few steps back from the strage bull and shook her head in frustration. "What...what do you think you're....?" she yelped. Her ears pricked foward and her head bent with shame. She dragged one hoof against the ground.
"Can you speak?" she wispered. Her brown eyes collected more tears. She wasn't afraid anymore, but she felt sorry for this bull. "How long have you been alone?" She inched a tiny bit closer to the one who called himself Ozark. "I'm Fenna. Fae-nah."
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 9:36 pm
Ozark's ears twitched uselessly, it was frustrating as he watched her shift away from him with obvious discomfort and speak too quickly for him to be catch the movements. Not that it would have helped him much anyway. There were certain words he knew easily as they were spoken often to him, but so much of the time the motions made no sense to him leaving him to stare blankly ahead and paw the ground irritably, angry with himself.
More familiar formations caused him to give an awkward shake of his head. He didn't speak, or at least the sound that came from his mouth--beyond his name--was hardly intelligible. Ozark hesitated almost abashedly before demonstrating with a low, garbled bellow. It was a mournful sound, though he knew not, its tone confused and lacking focus as he made no attempt to concentrate what he couldn't see.
Watching her edge forward again as her uncertainty worse off he was smart enough to recognize that she had introduced herself and made an attempt to at least focus on how her muzzle wrapped around the syllables. Leaning into n** at her again, he thought better of the expression and instead sighed, causing clouds of warm breath to roll over his head. Staring at the doe-eyed little beauty a frown tainted his expression, it had been nearly a year since he had last seen another reindeer, maybe longer.
A loneliness sirred in his chest, but he ignored it, gambling on a chance as he closed the distance between them. It was risky to push the kindness of an unfamiliar cow, but Ozark took the odds come what may, bowing his head to n** Fenna again in greeting.
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 10:02 pm
Fenna accepted the nips this time. She realized that this male couldn't talk very well at all. She smiled sheepishly at him, her emotions changing into a calmer, more tender tone.
"Can you try to say my name...Ozark?" she asked quietly, "Fenna. Fae-nah. Fae-nah." She brushed Ozark's chest fur and said her name again. She needed companionship badly. After the Fallen attack she suffered, she didn't know who she could trust. But this strange, silent male's presence was comforting.
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:43 pm
Jangled nerves seemed to be settling now in his new acquaintance as her posture changed and her scent became less intense as fear and aggression eased. Watching her speak certain words, or rather the syllables that made them stood out to him. Name. Ozark. His coat flinched with surprise as Fenna spoke his name. She had understood his awkward introduction! She knew that he was Ozark! Wide eyes held obvious surprise, not because he thought she wasn't intelligent enough to understand him, but that she was able to understand that the collective sound was actually his name.
Gazing intently at her muzzle the proud bull watched her repeat the same word several times. He attempted to, silently at first, mimic the motion of each syllable, hesitant to push sound forward. This was stupid. He felt stupid. Ears pinning in frustration as failure glared him in the face just waiting to bring so much disappointment. Edging backwards a few steps he willed himself to speak, forcing heavy tone forward. ...v-vv-vaeenn-naahh
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:27 pm
Fenna stared at Ozark in surprise. He wasn't exactly right, but he was close enough. She smiled and laughed quietly to herself. "Very good Ozark," she giggled. She moved towards him again shakiing out her earth toned fur.
"Do you...like me?" she asked. Not a lot of her herd did like her. Only her family really. Blitzen didn't really like her mother, so she didn't dare approach the cow. Vixen and Prancer, she didn't see enough of them to know if she liked them or not. Donner probley blamed her for Gluttiny's attack. She was alone....but so was Ozark, wasn't he?
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Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:38 pm
Masked face was held unusually high, bullishly refusing to express any sort of abashed emotion for his obvious short-comings. With ears pinned he watched Fenna carefully, bracing himself with growing irritation to see her face fall. It was not an gesture uncommon for him nor were those of mocking laughter and cruel jibes at his expense. Ozark was a rogue not by some tragedy which befell his herd, but because he held a morbid loathing in his chest for the likes of his lot. Of course these days, as a proud adult he would have eagerly locked antlers with any one of the herla who had thrived off his torment.
Shaking his head of the unpleasant train of thought before it stirred anymore hatred, icy blue eyes lowered to the beaming face below him finding heat flooded to his face as his tail tucked tightly against his black rear, nearly disappearing in the process. W-what the hell did I do to deserve that look? Ozark wasn't exactly accustomed to friendly faces, he hadn't seen one in a number of years and this female was at least two seasons his junior. He was most likely in his second antler the year she'd been born and a rogue long before.
Watching her, watching him he sighed awkwardly. He may have only been three years old, but he felt uncomfortably old beside her, shifting his weight as he watched her expression dim. He wondered vaguely why she'd wandered so far from her herd. Though it wasn't uncommon to see female outriders amongst the ragnifer, she seemed too young and uncertain to be a post guard. Pacing in place for a moment, he walked around her slowly until he came to stand beside her, his large side pressed warmly into her own, lowering his head to lip her ear gently. I think I much prefer you when you're smiling. And he wished he could have told her so.
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Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 8:14 pm
Fenna stepped away from Ozark quickly when she felt his lips against her fur. What he couldn't see was that she was blushing, heat raising from under her shaggy pelt. She shook her antlers sheepishly.
"Um...uh..." she stammered, "Race you to...that rock!" Fenna pointed to a large ice covered rock with her muzzle. She kicked up her black hooves and began to run towards the large rock in the distance. Her mind raced. Did he like her? Did she like him? She trusted him. A lot. Enough to show him the child that still rested withen him. She was scared of that fact. And yet, she was not. Fenna shook her antlers again as her hooves spat up the melting slush.
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Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:19 am
Taken by surprise at the sudden flurry of flustered motion, Ozark shifted on his hooves where he stood, picking up his feet and rearranging them as he swaggered slightly. His ears pinning at her startling behavior while he tried to follow her gestures, gaze flitting to the iced rock she had directed his attention towards. Returning his head to peer at her he realized an openness stood in place of her body, the chill breeze ruffling the fur upon his side where she had pressed against him.
Jerking round, blue eyes towards the rock, he let out a sudden, awkward bellow of amusement to find her dashing ahead, kicking into a gallop behind Fenna as he shook his mighty antlers. She's fast! Ozark couldn't help but admire, as flexing haunches pounded the frozen earth, catching up enough to give her rear a playful nudge. His grin charming in that rogue sort of way.
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Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:08 pm
Fenna leaped lightly into the air when Ozark's cool muzzle touched her flank in slight surprise. Her front hooves touched feather-like onto the earth as she continued to run. "You're a fast runner!" she gasped. Fenna had a lot of endurence though. That was her mother's best trait. She flicked her tail touching the tip of Ozark's muzzle. She laughed, and pressed on more speed. They had past the rock already and now were running for the sensation of running. Running was freedom, wasn't it?
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Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 12:25 pm
Giving his muzzle a shake as her tail flicked against it, he smiled faintly at the young cow ahead of him and yielded to her speed. Leaping along behind her as they darted around the trees, long past the rock that had been their target he followed content to linger in the back drifts of Fenna's romping. As a rogue, he too possessed a great amount of endurance and at his slower pace he'd be able to keep up far longer than if he attempted to match or even beat the lighter female's racing pace.
She obviously needed to get it out of her system as he sensed in some small way that their travels had gone from a playful race to an escape from a troubled mind. He certainly had experience enough with it himself. The air whipped at his breath to form hot trails of steam from his nostrils with the chug of his breathing, ears pricked and senses alert, willing to take up watch over the ragnifer in his company.
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