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 Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 3:49 pm
 If Rabbit's Luck was worried that Glory would have welched on her promise, she had nothing to fear. The pup may be blunt and thoughtless most times, but she was good to her word -- and, at the moment, completely committed to this totally hairbrained scheme.
Rua would be so proud!
Glory Storm's reasoning was simple enough. If the crows were attracted to weakness, then she figured she'd improve her chances in luring them down from the trees if she looked the part.
In hindsight, the hero-in-training would think that perhaps killing a new rabbit and using that as bait would have been a better idea. But in that very moment, Glory was filled with nothing but enthusiasm for her genius plan.
Glory Storm had been disappeared into the bushes for quite some time. When she emerged, she looked awful. She'd rolled around in dirt and brambles until she was completely dirty and her fur was tangled and ragged and filled with burrs. A couple of the thorns had nicked her and they bled slightly. Overall she looked like she'd come out the worse in a fight.
The pup wavered her way out into the crow-infested thicket, tottering along on all four paws as though she might keel over at any moment. She moaned a little, like she was about to die, and let her tongue loll out of her mouth. She looked positively garish.
Glory Storm gave a big, theatrical wink to Rabbit hiding in the bushes (at least, she hoped she was there, she'd feel like a big idiot winking to nobody) and then, with gusto, she flopped over dramatically into the dirt beneath the trees, gave a little full-body twitch, and went still.
This had to work. How could it possibly backfire?
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Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 4:26 pm
 Rabbit had went to say something to Glory but the pup had turned and ran off before she could. For a couple of moment Rabbit pondered whether to do as she was told and hide behind those bushes or leave and let Glory do whatever she wished alone. Well if Glory was going to sacrifice herself to the crows then Rabbit felt the need to watch. So against her better judgment she hide behind the bush and waited. Of course in the back of her mind Rabbit wondered if this was all just a clever ploy to make her look like an idiot, so if Glory didn't do something shortly she would leave.
A few moments ticked by and Rabbit finally spotted the golden eared pup running towards the trees, no not running, she was stumbling. Rabbit's ears perked forward for a moment. When Glory fell over and remained motionless Rabbit watched her closely, even chancing a glance around the bush just to make sure she had indeed saw what she thought she had saw. Sure enough there was Glory laying under the trees looking dead. "She's crazy." Rabbit said to Blackavar, who was still safely held in her mouth just in case things went horribly wrong.
Right now all they could do was hide and wait. Would the crows fall for the bait? Only time would tell.
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Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:22 pm
For an impatient pup, Glory was really rather good at playing dead.
She lay still on her side, trying her best to breathe in shallow breaths so the rise and fall of her sides wasn't obvious. Her tongue lolled from her mouth. Her eyes were closed, but she left open just slits enough that she could peek through and try and catch a glimpse of crow.
And, she waited.
She really hoped Conk didn't happen by, to make fun of her. Or Rua, and try to save her. Or her parents, who would probably not understand her genius plan and get mad at her or something. Really, she hoped nobody saw this at all except for Rabbit and the crows.
After what seemed like a small eternity, the first bird -- curious as to what sort of game this was, perhaps -- fluttered down from the trees, crow-hopping over to her. It tilted its head, squawked, and then hopped forward a step closer. It pecked appraisingly at Glory's paw -- she had to steel herself so she didn't flinch or cry out -- and then looked back up.
"Kaaaaw-m'on!" The crow seemed to say, up to the trees.
And, would you know it, they did. Glory wasn't sure if she'd succeeded in fooling them or not, but she was very soon totally surrounded in birds.
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Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:38 pm
This was stupid...and clearly a waste of time. Yes while Rabbit thought these things she could not tear herself away from watching the pup as she play dead under a tree full of crows. Rabbit would be lying if she said she wasn't impressed with Glory's ability to stay completely motionless. To her the idea of playing bait was just not something she would ever consider, nor be convinced to try.
The minutes ticked by and Rabbit was truly beginning to think now that the crows weren't buying it. In fact she had the decision to leave her hiding spot and go somewhere else. Just as she went to move out from behind the bush the most amazing thing happened - one of the crows flew down from the tree and landed not far from Glory. Rabbit hunkered down again and watched as the crow hopped closer to the pup and was even so bold as to peck at Glory's foot. This for sure would show the crow the pup was still alive, but once again Rabbit was impressed when Glory did not move, so much so that her jaw went slack with shock and Blackavar tumbled onto the ground. "Blackavar, I'm sorry!" She whispered to her friend and gave him a loving nudge.
The caw of the crow snapped her attention back up to where Glory laid. Eyes widened as within no time the crows all moved down to surround the 'dead' pup. Glory was faking it right? Of course she is, Rabbit convinced herself but couldn't help but wonder how the pup was able to not flinch or move in some way when surrounded by those horrible birds.
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Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:46 am
Glory's heart thudded with excitement. It was working! Oh god this was SO hard. It took every single thing she could possibly do to keep herself still, especially as the crows started coming in. They were much bigger than she expected them to be, now that they were up close. She wasn't sure if she could take them all on.
And at that precise moment, Glory became aware of the flaw in her plan.
The problem with using herself as bait, is that there was no one lurking in the woods to come out and attack the distracted birds.
Well...great. If she laid here much longer they were going to start pecking her eyes out, and that wouldn't be good for anyone. Only one thing for it, really. She'd have to go for it. Maybe the shock value would be enough?
So, steeling herself, she attempted to clear her mind, and then -- as quickly as she could -- she threw herself to her paws, whirling around in a circle, snapping her jaws and snarling.
Well, if nothing else, maybe a bird or two would be startled by her zombie act?
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Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 7:02 pm
This was too much, Rabbit could barely sit still watching as crow after crow flew down and joined in around Glory's 'corpse'. They began to hop closer and closer to her and Rabbit was seriously beginning to wonder if Glory was in fact dead. That could happen right, a pup just up and die much like sometimes adult wolves did? Well if that had happened then there was a much bigger problem on her paws than Blackavar being pestered every few days by those crows. She would feel bad, of course, if Glory had indeed died just to try to help Rabbit out.
Oh she was going to be in trouble if Glory was dead. Not only from her parents, but Glory's parents and the Alpha's as well. Rabbit's heart sunk for a moment.
And then, Glory sprang up and started lashing out with her paws at the crows. Rabbit sat up, head poking above the bush to get a clearer view. Thank goodness Glory was alive! Weird to have just thought that but all that guilt she had felt about letting Glory sacrifice herself to the crows was quickly being abolished. Get them! She silently thought and glanced down at Blackavar. "She's doing it!" Excitement clear in her whisper to her friend and then she turned her attention back to Glory tackling the problem crows.
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Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:16 pm
The birds rose up in a loud flurry of "caw, caw!" and the rustle of feathers raining down onto her. Glory Storm felt her paw hit at least a couple of the birds, felt the crush of feather under her paws, but then they were up and away and back in the trees, staring down at her.
Except...Wait! AHA!
Glory caught one bird in her jaws, as much out of luck as anything. She hadn't expected this at all! But, there it was....flapping and squawking and trying to escape, beating her around the face with its wings. She rose up on her haunches, halfway being pulled airborne by the hurriedly-flapping crow, but she managed to wrestle it back down to the ground. She held this down with both paws, and blinked, glancing over her shoulder at Rabbit to give a somewhat confused look.
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Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 1:43 pm
Rabbit couldn't believe her eyes, Glory had done it, she had caught one of those crows! Still did that mean it was safe to leave her hiding spot behind the bush? Would Glory be able to hold the crow down long enough? Would the other crows retaliate against the pup once the chaos had died down a bit? Those and about a hundred other questions raced about her head before finally scooping up Blackavar and padding out from her safe spot.
She didn't get too close though, just in case, but close enough to more clearly see the crow that Glory had caught. It was a mean looking thing, though it was hard to know if that was the one that had attacked her and Blackavar earlier or not, the darn things all looked the same. Then see looked at Glory. "Now what?" She asked, still holding Blackavar in her maw, this was not the time nor the place to set him down.
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 12:15 am
Glory pinned the bird down with both paws. It squirmed and cawed and glared at her, but she managed to hold it, for now. "Sit still!" She snapped. She didn't want to kill the bird, but it was clawing at her paw and biting with its beak and she really had to fight not to ground it into the dirt.
"Well, um...Rabbit?" He looked back up at the rainbow pup and smiled. "Do...you have anything you'd like to say to the bird?"
What was this, couples therapy?
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Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 5:58 pm
Rabbit jumped back a bit as the bird fought against the hold Glory had on it and cawed. She hated that sound, it always meant something bad was about to happen. Fear had her almost frozen in place and she slightly tightened her hold on Blackavar, though not enough to hurt him, just in case. The sooner she could get away from this crow the better.
Of course Glory's question caught her off guard. Did she had anything to say to the bird? Well she wanted them to leave Blackavar alone, to stop stealing him, to not peck at her when she was only trying to protect her best friend. "Oh...uh..." She was not sure if the bird would understand. "I guess I want it to stop stealing away Blackavar." Her voice was quiet, as if unsure if she should be saying this. But then she looked at Glory, she was the picture of confidence, she had taken on an entire flock of crows, pinned one down and been clawed and pecked multiple times just for Rabbit's benefit. It gave Rabbit the confidence she needed. Boldly stepping forward Rabbit looked the crow right in the eye. "Stop taking my friend!" There she did it, she stood up to the crow. Of course when it cawed once more she took several steps back very quickly. Scary, scary beast.
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Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 9:26 pm
Glory smiled. Ahh, there's the ticket. The bird squirmed and cawed and scratched at her, but she suspected he understood -- there was a flicker of something in those beady little eyes, anyway. More importantly, Rabbit had just stood up for herself, and Glory was pretty sure that never happened before.
"There, you see?" She said, looking back at the crow. "This wolf didn't do anything to you, and you are to stop taking her rabbit and pecking her and bothering her entirely. If you don't stop, I will personally hunt you down, and next time I'll bring more wolves with me." She glared at the crow, which squawked a strangled sort of squawk and looked kind of dejected. "Now. Go tell that to all of your little friends, alright?"
The bird nodded, mutely, too winded to respond.
Glory looked up at Rabbit for approval that she could release it.
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:03 pm
To say that Rabbit was impressed with Glory was a vastly huge understatement. All that rivalry between their two litters was completely forgotten, well not completely but it had certainly been pushed to the deepest recesses of her mind. Right now in this very moment Glory was Rabbit's new hero. She wished that she could be even half as brave and strong as Glory was. Then perhaps father wouldn't laugh at her so much and her other siblings would respect her.
She quickly took a few steps back, wanting to not be near the crow when it took off and nodded for Glory to let it go. She stood silently for a few moments before finally speaking again. "You're very brave." Her voice was quiet, but there was an undertone of awe in it. "I wish I was brave." This time she looked away, almost ashamed to admit to her new friend and hero that she wasn't brave. But it was the truth, and with her bad luck bravery might very well get her killed.
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 11:26 pm
Glory nodded and released the bird which -- either just from relief or disorientation -- didn't stick around to attack her too badly. He raked one parting blow across her nose with his talons and then he was off in the tree, huddling in shame and nursing his wounded pride and very sore wings. Glory was left in a neat stack of feathers.
The little wolf was covered in scratches from claws and beaks, but she didn't mind too bad. "All in a day's work," she said, and puffed out her chest. Oh, Rua would be so proud!
But her swaggering was cut short. "Anybody can be brave, Rabbit," she said, sternly, in a tone that sounded suspiciously like something a certain rainbow-maned wolf would say. "You just have to pretend that nothing can hurt you until you believe it for real."
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Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 7:30 pm
Ears perked forward. Anyone could be brave? She had never heard that before, of course she was generally ignored or laughed at, so actual advice was a rare thing. She set Blackavar down between her front paws, but only because it seemed the crows were content to leave them alone for now. Pretend that nothing can hurt you? Was that even possible? Everything seemed to hurt her. "Oh I don't think I could be brave, not like you." She said in a quiet tone looking down at Blackavar.
"Every...everything hurts me." Rabbit admitted a bit shyly, as if she was embarrassed to be saying such things in front of Glory. A world without being hurt everyday was but a dream to her, something she doubted could ever happen. Kindness, the kind that Glory had shown to her today and Rua had displayed that day he had saved her from that hole, was a rare thing, too rare in fact. Speaking of being hurt, Rabbit looked up at Glory, finally realizing that the pup had been clawed and pecked at quite a bit and all because of her. "You're hurt...and it's all my fault." She said in a dejected voice. There was nothing she could do right.
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Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 11:04 pm
Glory moved closer, standing tall and proud over her friend. "No, you can," she repeated, insistently. "I know you can. I'll show you. Me and Rua, we'll teach you if you want." She doubted that Rua would mind having another apprentice. Besides, it'd be nice to train with somebody other than the big wolf.
Although, she clearly hadn't thought this plan through very well. Rua himself was plenty accident prone, and with Rabbit on top of things...well, that was a sure-fire recipe for disaster.
"I'm fine," she said, glancing down at her chest and forepaws, brow furrowing. That would all hurt an awful lot tomorrow. "Don't worry about it." She was, truth be told, in rather high spirits. She hadn't actually expected her trick to work, and while there were no guarantees that it would continue to work, so far she was feeling quite triumphant. "C'mon. Let's get out of here. Maybe I should go wash myself off. I'm sure if Mom and Dad see me like this they'll go nuts."
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