|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 7:43 pm
 Cari pranced forward, happy as could be! And why shouldn't she be? She'd found an excellent friend, and excellent tribe that let her do what she loved, and then her excellent friend joined her excellent tribe! Really, life was just too good to Cari sometimes.
Today she and her friend, Arrin, were having some quality fun time. Well offically they were out looking for food or herbs or something, but that was no reason they couldn't have fun at the same time, right?
"Come on, Arrin," she called, looking over her shoulder back to where her friend would be. Arrin was a lot slower than she was in the snow, and she tried to pace herself, but sometimes she just couldn't help but run around everywhere.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 7:52 pm
 Arrin looked up at Cari’s call. I’m coming don’t worry. Arinn continued to feel his way as he trotted quickly behind Cari. He always had to trot because even when Cari was moving slow she could still out pace him. He tried to keep his head about him in case he slipped on some ice. That would be embarrassing. I don’t want Cari to see me fall. She is so fast and sure footed it’s no wonder she’s a racing swing for one of the racers. Seeing her racing across the snow is just awe inspiring. Arrin liked seeing Cari race. She was so energetic and fast thinking that racing was her element. Arrin grinned just thinking about Cari racing. He tried to push himself to go faster to keep up with her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 8:08 pm
Cari giggled a little and pranced back, running a quick circle around Arrin and trotting next to him for a bit. "One day you'll learn how to walk on snow and ice just like me, and you'll be telling me to keep up!" She giggled again, the mental image just too hilarious. Despite her high-energy and sometimes spazzy nature she could be very perceptive. She knew the quiet Arrin, who she sometimes called her hero, was....well, quiet.
The bright vixen bounded forward again, her coat standing out brilliantly against the winter colors of the landscape. "What're we lookin' for again? Just anything?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 8:17 pm
Arrin only nodded not believing what Cari said. There is no way I’d be able to keep up with her. But at least if I train I won’t be so far behind that I can’t see her in front of me. Still the task at hand did demand some attention. When Cari asked Arrin did his best to answer repeating the whole purpose of this outing. We’re looking for plants that are growing. If they have berries, leaves, or roots that are edible we bring them back. If they have medical applications we bring them back. If we don’t know what they are we bring back a small sample and have the more experienced members tell us. And we are supposed to keep track of where we head. Which is why you’re here Cari. You have a much better head then I do for directions and tracking.. Just another amazing skill of yours.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 8:22 pm
Cari hmmmed over that. It was the dead of winter, what kind of plants did Nika think they'd find? But that was why she was a racer, not a healer or gatherer. Sure she was everywhere on this mountain and knew where was what, but that was limited solely to directions. In plants she couldn't tell a poison from a healer. Probably why Arrin was with her.
"You're so awesome Arrin! You always know what plants are what and do amazing things with them!" She shook her head and gave her friend an admiring glance. "My hero can do anything!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 8:36 pm
Blinking Arrin blushed. He had no clue what was poisonous or editable. I’ll be brining a lot of plants back with me… if we find any. Not only did he not know what was edible or poisonous Arrin also had a habit of feeling more embarrassed whenever Cari called him by her pet name for him. ‘Hero’ that’s a title for foxes that know what they’re doing. I can’t even run on the ice or snow well. I helped Cari out once and now I’m her hero. I don’t even know what I did that was so special. If anything Cari is the heroic one of the two of us. Of course I doubt she’d see it that way. She is so very humble. There’s a lot I can’t do.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 8:51 pm
Cari laughed. "But there's lots more stuff you can do, silly," she chided, though not unkindly. Arrin really was awesome, he just couldn't see that. It made Cari a little sad; if it was someone else telling Arrin he couldn't do something then she'd beat them to a pulp. But what could she do when it was her friend himself who kept up the discouragement?
"You just gotta believe you can, Arrin!" She stopped and did a quick aboutface, still several yards ahead of the blue male. Her eyes were quite serious. "You just gotta look at it from another angle. Be happy and positive, you'll see!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 9:44 pm
Alright. Arrin nodded and smiled trying to look happy for Cari. I still have a lot to learn though. After all being able to do everything means I have to learn to do it first. Arrin tried to think on Cari’s words as he made the lame joke. Inside he doubted weather of not he could ever be a positive or skilled as Cari seemed to think he was. Turning his head as he was shaking it to clear his thoughts Arrin noticed a small speck of green off t his right. Cari. Plant. Arrin changed his course to head to the plant. Upon arriving Arrin tried to look the plant over and had to brush some snow aside from part of it. It was a small sampling of some sort. There were a few leaves on it so Arrin took on and hid it in the bushier part of his tail to keep it safe.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 10:24 pm
Cari frowned a little. "That looks like a baby tree. How are trees eatable?" To anyone else, or coming from anyone else, these words might have sounded harsh or degrading. Not from Cari though. With Cari it was always some form of curiousity or confusion.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 10:53 pm
Arrin looked at Cari and tried to explain his thoughts. It might not be, but maybe it can be used for something by the tribe. When the plant gets bigger it might be used for medical purposes or used for the sleds. Who knows it might even be a fruit bearing type of plant. We’ll know once we show the leaf to someone more experienced back at the tribe. Normally he would have just shrugged and moved on had anyone else asked, but it wasn’t just anyone asking. It was Cari. Arrin worry about sounding ridiculous in front of her. Even if what he said was completely stupid she wouldn’t laugh at him. Still he didn’t say that he hoped the plant was useful and he wasn’t just getting Cari’s hopes up for nothing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 11:22 pm
"Hmmmm." Then Cari just shrugged and began to bound forward again. She never questioned Arrin; it would be fair to say she practically adored him to the point of being possessive of him. She hadn't really said anything about it, but with her heart on her sleeves and inability to even try to hide emotions it wasn't like anyone couldn't see the devotion the vibrant female had for the paler male.
"You wanna hike up or down? Just remember if we go easy on the way it's gotta be hard coming back!" Of course Cari relished the challenge, but she did her best to think of what would be easiest for Arrin in the long run.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 11:57 pm
Arrin took off after Cari when she bounded off on him again. Ah.. Let’s head up? Arrin didn’t want to wear himself out and then have to hike back up a mountain. Cari would be good with anything. I wish I had even half of her enthusiasm. I need to train more so I build up more endurance. Looking at Cari ahead of him Arrin wished he were stronger so he could on a sled team and able to keep closer to her. It was nice of her not to just take of down the mountain and make me hike up it later. Of course our chances of finding plants might shrink, but who knows perhaps there could be something of value up higher.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 12:46 am
Cari nodded, though shot some caughting words over her shoulder. "When ya go up though, once we reach a spot, we gotta stop and rest 'til you're legs feel better! If you're tired they can be all wobbly, which is dangerous when you're going down a normal path. This one'll be all covered in ice and snow!" Even she made sure her legs were rested enough before going downhill. Tumbles were horrible things, they made you feel like you'd lost all sembelence of control the way you couldn't stop.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 7:24 pm
Nodding Arrin continued to follow Cari. She knew what she was talking about when it came to snow. After watching other foxes and fox-dogs train he couldn’t disagree. Heading downhill and slipping could lead to a sprain leg or worse. It was dangerous, but so was heading uphill tired and then ending up falling all the way down again. It was just another reason why foxes were so often sent out in pairs rather than wandering off alone. If one got hurt the other could help drag them back to camp or get help. I’ll be watching my feet more as we head up and down. I hope Cari knows to look for plants. Like witch hazel and such… Keep you eyes open as we go. I’ll try and do the same. It felt strange asking Cari to do something. He knew that he needn’t have bothered since Cari was perceptive enough to know what to do already, still it gave him an excuse to talk to her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 7:42 pm
"Right, right," Cari agreed. The snow around here about pretty thick though, she had no idea what they were expected to find. Besides all the evergreens it was very hard to find anything still growing.
They had reached the bottom of a small incline, the first step on the way up towards their current....well they didn't have a goal in mind, just going as high up as they could. Since she could bound up quicker than Arrin she spent her time digging in the small craigs where greenery might be hiding.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
