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 Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:56 am
 Indy yelped and leapt sideways as the crab raised it's claws threateningly, and while his leap was hardly one of grace and beauty - he did manage to keep his footing which for him was a minor achievement in itself. Circling around the crab Indy crouched low to the ground and pounced on it from behind, rewarded with the crunching sound of shell breaking he glanced up to see what Evadne had busied herself with.
They had been amusing themselves on the beach this morning, tormenting the fish caught in tide pools and enjoying the sea spray from the ocean, the salty water left a white residue on their coats that further expanded their own natural white markings, though Indy didn't seem to mind much - he rather liked the ocean with the soothing sound of waves rolling over the shore - not that he'd go into the wave of course, he'd learned his lesson after being knocked off his feet by one in earlier years. Much safer to just enjoy them from afar.
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 7:23 am
As if showing how contrary she was to her brother, Evadne was playing fully in the wave threatening to swallow the tidal pools they'd been playing in only a short time ago. She wasn't the biggest fan of deep water, but she didn't mind playing in the shallows and swimming could be fun if you were playing with someone else. Besides, you could "hunt" for things in the shallows. Calandra had shown her how to find these squirting shells and dig them up, but that had been on their one trip outside of the packlands and seemed like a long time ago. Apparently they could be opened and the little thing inside eaten, but that was a lot of work for less than a mouthful. Still, it was a survival technique and Calandra was all for teaching her children how to live on their own. With the promise she'd made them, Eva thought that was for the best.
"High tide coming iiiiin," she sing-songed, prancing up onto the sand and towards her brother. Water and sand kicked up in her wake as she came over, but she slowed so she wouldn't get her brother dirty. She looked down at the crushed crab and tilted her head, tai half-lifted. "You got one. Did it pinch you?" She leaned down to sniff it, curiously. She'd smelled crabs before-- usually nearly getting her nose swiped off in the process, vicious little critters-- but this one had a broken shell now. It smelled like the ocean at low tide, with subtler scents she assumed made up the smell of "crab" itself.
"I wonder if we can eat it like fish," she wondered aloud, and lifted her head so she could nudge the crab's body with a foot. "We should try it."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 8:34 am
"It tried to" Indy answered his sisters question with a few proud wags of his tail "But I jumped away" ..and didn't fall..was the unspoken addition to that statement. HE was slightly concerned about her comment about the tide coming in - he vaguely recalled seeing the beach at high tide and he was fairly certain that the spot they were right now had been underwater.
Brows creased slightly in worry he cast a glance at the waves - they still seemed far enough way to be safe and that particular fear quelled he turned back to see his sister poking at the crab. "I bet we can eat it...but the shell would be gross" He announced after a quick sniff "Using one paw to hold it down he tried to peel off bits of the crushed shell.
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:58 am
Evadne watched Indie try to pull the shell away from the crab and stuck her face close to observe. Some of it flaked off, especially along the cracked area, but she didn't see very much meat in there. She eyed the dangerous claws lying on the beach and licked her chops. "It might not taste good, but we could try to break the shell with our teeth, the way squirrels crack nuts. Or do what the sea birds do and use the rocks!" Eva looked around for a good rock. She'd seen one of the birds carry a shell into the air and drop it on a rock, then swoop down and pick the little sea critter from inside the shell. "Well, we can't get very high, but maybe we can knock it against the rock or something."
She nudged the claw with her nose and jerked back as she thought it moved on its own. When it didn't try to take off her face again, she leaned in, nudged, and then tried to pull the claw away from its body delicately with her teeth. Her tongue was pressed up against the back of her mouth to avoid touching the appendage, but it was no good. Unless she ripped it off at will force, that claw was staying attach to the arm. She spit it out and made a face as she tasted the remaining sea water flavor.
"Yuck. Its outside definitely doesn't taste good. We'll have to move it as one big piece." She looked around, then nodded to a rock on the shore. "There."
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 10:16 am
Indy was pondering Eva's words with a thoughtful expression as it became clear his method of trying to pull the shell off wasn't getting him anywhere. It would take forever to try and do it that way. He was in fact so engrossed in his thoughts that when Eva leapt backward thinking the crab had moved on its own Indy bolted backwards almost on instinct, before glancing about to see what had startled her so.
Seeing nothing after a few moments of hard looking Indy crept closer again, watching as Eva tried to pull off a claw. By the look on her face he could guess it wasn't a pleasant attempt and wrinkled his own nose in sympathy at her remarks. He was not looking forward to trying to carry it to the rock if it tasted that badly.
"Maybe once we get it there we can hold it by the claw and wing it onto the rock to break it?" He suggested after glancing towards the rock she indicated and gingerly pushing at the crab with one paw.
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Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 7:11 am
"Good idea, Indie!" Eva grinned. "Come on, grab it and bring it over here!"
Without waiting to see if her brother had listened, Eva loped over to the rock, investigating it for the best edge to hit the crab on. If they were going to break it quickly, it needed to have a pointy spot, since they couldn't drop it from too high up. Maybe if she could find another rock and lift it in her mouth, she could just smash it? But what rock would she be able to pick up?
Eva frowned and looked around, but there were no smaller rocks in site. If she needed to, she would go find one, but Indeygo had already thought of a good way. They would try that first.
"Come on then! We can take turns trying to break it," she offered, "So that neither of us has to taste it all of the time."
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Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 11:35 am
Indy didn't spend much time questioning his sister, in fact for nearly as long as he could recall she had been the leader and he the follower. This was fine by him and so when she hurried him along and loped off towards the rock the spotted male was quick to follow, scooping up the foul tasting crab gingerly by one nasty looking claw and trotting after her blue hide.
Reaching the rock Indy arrived in time to hear Eva state they could take turns and since he already held the crab he assumed it was prudent to think he would go first. Dancing about the rock with te crab in his jaw Indy looked for what seemed the best point of attack. There perhaps? where a small bump in the rock made a slight ridge? Honestly it looked about as good as any other place and Indy shook the crab a few times to get used to the idea before flinging back his head - the by now quite abused crab slinging about by one claw - before throwing his head forward and releasing the crab to send it spinning - hopefully - towards the rock.
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Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 4:02 pm
The sound of the crab smacking against the rock collided with Eva's ears.
"Not bad, Indie," she cried. "Did it break?"
She brought her face close to the crab and investigated their dead and now mutilated prey. "Well, it flaked a bit over on this side. There's a chunk missing from his back, too. Here, let me try!" Gingerly, the blue wolf lifted the crab by a still-attached claw. Her neck muscles tensed as she attempted to move the crab to a better hold in her mouth so she wouldn't have to let go of it when she smashed it.
WHACK!
Pieces of shell went flying only to land on the rock with smaller scratching sounds, or some to silently land in the sand. Elated with her success, Eva smashed the crustacean on the rock twice more in quick succession. The second hit sent the crab's body ricocheting off the rock and hurtling into a small tidal pool still segregated from the ocean in the basin of a rock.
Eva followed the body's path with her eyes, claw still dangling from her mouth, and as it fell to the pool she pinned her ears back sheepishly.
"Ooss. Solly," she mumbled around the claw, before setting it carefully on the rock.
"Sorry," she repeated once her speech was free of its impediment.
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Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 5:28 pm
Indy was starting to get excited as parts of the shell went flinging off the crab and into the sand with Eva's hit - it seemed she might have gotten the right idea and they'd be able to try some crab shortly! But even as he thought such things he was leaping away with a yelp as the crab suddenly went spinning wildly into the air and with a small splash landed in the tide pool.
There he was sure to sink slowly to the bottom and become fish food. Ah well he thought to himself as he looked back and caught Eva's expression, he wagged his tail at her,and made a few motions with his tongue to try and get the crab taste out of his mouth - it had a lingering effect and to be honest it wasn't even remotely appealing. "I bet it taste awful anyways" He told her. "But I still killed it without getting pinched" He gave her a haughty look though they would both know it was a joke.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 4:24 pm
Their possible new food sank out of sight, elliciting a sigh from Evadne. So much for that. Gone.
The blue teen nodded her head mock-solemly so that she wouldn't upset her brother with anything he could misconstrue as her being upset. "You did. It was impressive." She wagged her tail slightly and smiled before glancing down the shore at brief fountain of water. Clam under the sand down there, not that she wanted to go digging for that after so much effort put into the crab.
"We should head home and see if Mama needs us." Eva shook her head as she thought again of their real home, nothing more than a few faded images and scents in her memory. "We should get Mama and go home home. I love Mama and even though the rest of the pack is pretty much scattered or distant from us she makes this our home, but if we don't go back to our old pack we'll never see if we can find our siblings. We're big enough now, even Mama can't deny that."
Eva herself was a fair size for a female, certainly larger than her fairly dainty mother. She'd been thinking on and off about leaving now since her head brushed Calandra's shoulder. She and Indeygo weren't pups anymore. They could take care of themselves, even if Calandra didn't go with them when they left. But the trail from their siblings was already cold, and it was going to take a long time to find them again. The longer they waited, the smaller the chance of finding any of them.
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Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 5:49 pm
Indey was pleased when Eva praised his efforts - sure it might not have worked out exactly the way he wanted - but with Indey anything that didn't end in outright disaster he counted as something of a victory and his tongue lolled out as the purple teen gave a Wolfy grin.
The grin didn't necessarily last all that long however as Eva moved on to the next subject. Of course this wasn't the first time Eva had mentioned home home...in fact Indey had a feeling she thought about it quite alot. So did he truth be told - but when he thought about it most of the time all that came to mind was the smell of smoke and fear and cracking snapping flames. Once in a while he recalled his parents lower pegs and paws a they padded away - the last part of them he'd seen before they disappeared. Left them. Left them all crouched and hiding and Indey let out a low whine as he thought about it.
All of them - that encompassed allot more then just he and Eva. Indey despite his nervousness about leaving a land he'd learned to negotiate safely for the great wilderness beyond had to admit that Eva might be on to something. Besides if Eva wanted to go she would leave - his sister was far more independent then he was and Indey was struck with the sudden fear of her leaving without him. "Do...do you think Mama would go with us?" He hazarded the question already knowing full well that he would go if Eva did.
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Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 6:32 pm
Eva shrugged, but it was uncomfortable, like she was trying to move a weight off of her. "She might. But this is home for her, she may not wanna go. If you want, though, we can always ask. I don't think she'd make us go on our own if she didn't think we'd be happy without her."
She nuzzled her brother. "We can ask. Now, if you want. Today or tomorrow, or next week, we have to go soon, so we need to at least start talking in case it takes a long time to work it out. Mama should be at the den now, her patrol ended earlier." Eva pressed herself up against her brother and set her chin in between his ears from the side. "We'll find them and it'll be all okay again."
Eva's eyes gazed out at the ocean. She probably wouldn't see it again for a long time, but that was okay. Some things were worth giving up for something important. Like Indeygo. Eva would give up the ocean for Indeygo, so why wouldn't she give it up for her other siblings, ones who might be worse off than Eva and Indie were, too? It was up to her. She loved Indie, but she knew him as well as family-- which he was. And if anyone was going to start them off, it would have to be her.
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Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 1:01 pm
Indey chewed on his lips for a few moment's brows furrowed in thought as he considered Eva's words - what if mama didn't want to go? Indey would be sad without her but at the same time he didn't want her to leave if she didn't want to. Leaving your home hurt...he knew that all to well...and he would never wish that upon anyone. His worry was waylaid by Eva's nuzzle - he'd always have Eva. She'd always been there and always would be.
"I..I suppose it wouldn't hurt her to ask would it?" He replied as Eva pressed up against him reassuringly "I miss them all too" He continued softly "And your right - if we wait to much longer we won't ever have a chance" He agreed with a small sigh. He was quite glad it was Eva who had brought this up - he never would have had the courage to suggest such a thing. "I guess we should hurry back then"
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Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 3:56 pm
Eva wagged her tail once and then took off at a run for the den. She wanted everything settled pronto, so the faster she found Mama, the sooner they could begin travelling. Indie would keep up, she was sure, so she had no qualms about running until the wind was trying to rip her fur clean off of her body. The breeze felt good on the late summer day, giving the last feeling of summer before autumn chills started sweeping in and her coat started thickening a little in time for winter. Going north was certainly not going to help with staying warm, either.
"Mama! Are you home?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 4:04 pm
"Where else would I be?"
Calandra looked up from where she'd been chewing the remaining bits of meat from a rabbit's skin. She didn't know the tricks that Possum's mother knew for preserving skins, but every now and again she would feel nostalgic and keep a fur for as long as possible. That meant getting the fur as clean as she could with teeth and tongue first.
Eva seemed out of breath and Cali knew that Indeygo wouldn't be far behind her. They had probably been racing again. When Eva's face fell Calandra's brow furrowed and she forgot about the fur she'd been working on.
"Eva, is something wrong? Where's Indeygo?"
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