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 Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2012 10:25 pm
 Teari was in stealth mode. He had heard it, the faintest of snaps. A twig broken underfoot. And he knew, could feel the tension in his bones. He was frozen, only the twitching of his ears as they pivoted around, trying to capture any noise in the forest broke his absolute stillness.
huff, huff, huff.
It was faint, but present. It was a signal.
Teari burst into movement, into flight. Long grey limbs stretching out into a gallop. He bounded through the mixed coniferous and deciduous trees. Dodging tree trunks, fallen logs and needled branches as he fled. It was a dreary grey day, and the last lingerings of fog still drifted through the forest, providing much needed camouflage to the fleeing buck...And yet, Teari could hear the padding of feet behind him, the deep breathes of a creature inhaling, the crunching of debris as it was trampled by the predator.
Teari cast a frantic look over his shoulder, identifying the source of worry. A mid-sized wolf ran flat out, 10 feet behind him. It wasn't the largest of predators but Teari doubted the beast was alone, and he wasn't much inclined to stop and find out.
He continued his flight.
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Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2012 10:41 pm
Keth was in no rush. He idly picked his way through the forest, slowly maneuvering around the bases of leaf trees and the prickles of spiked trees. He hated these dreary days of winter. It was not cold enough to snow, but it wasn't sunny or even raining. It was just...grey. Dreary. Booooring. It made Keth sorely miss the fall and all of its bright reds and yellows.
So Keth just wandered, in no hurry. He let his mind wander along with his limbs. Never a good idea for a deer, but one he had little control over. He thoughts ranged over previous experiences to future expectations.
So it was a great surprise when he caught sounds of a pursuit. If he had been paying attention he probably could have positioned himself in a better location. As it was, he was facing head on to the sound of motion. Whatever it was was headed straight for him.
Keth pulled up short, ears perked forward, eyes scanning over the trees before him.
There! A blur.
His eyes caught and held the object, moving full force towards him. Although hard to make out from Keth's angle, the loping gallop was a dead give-away that this was another deer. And from the rack on it, a full grown male. The male's chase soon appeared, several paces back. A black wolf, not overly large in size.
Keth stepped forward and snorted, lowering his head, and his two small protruding horns.
Two to one? Keth liked those odds.
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Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2012 10:53 pm
Although Teari didn't enjoy the feeling of being chased, he sure did like stretching his legs to their fullest extent. The feeling of his powerful limbs as they propelled him forward, as they propelled him around and over the obstacles in his way.
And Teari thought he was doing well too, the predator wasn't gaining on him, though it still clung back there, determined to continue with the chase. Teari couldn't help feeling that the wolf had some other thought in mind with this chase. Did he have the rest of the pack as back-up? Or perhaps he was working on herding Teari into a trap? A pincer tactic?
A flash of black up ahead and Teari knew that he had problems. It had been a trap.
"-hit" The words barely passed Teari's lips as he barreled towards the new threat. He lowered his horns and charged straight ahead. It would have to get through them to get to him.
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Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2012 11:15 pm
Keth glanced up quickly, wondering how fast the buck and wolf were approaching. And to his dismay he saw the full rack of the grey buck bearing down on him.
"What the?....-hit!" Keth's gruff voice rang out in the forest as he dodged to the side of the charging buck, barely managing to get out of range of the points from the grey buck's rack. As the other passed, Keth caught his eye, saw it widen in recognition, and then the stranger was past.
Keth focused on the next creature. The real opposition.
The wolf still charged, not slowing its pace in the slight. It was now a matter of timing. Keth pawed the ground once, lowered his head and stormed forward in silence.
The black wolf hit him with force, but not enough for Keth to lose footing. or motivation. He had expected the creature to dodge to the side, and to have reposition himself for a sideways hit. He was therefore pleasantly surprised when the wolf tried to leap over him. It was an interesting tactic, probably the wolf targeted the flesh on Keth's back, not thinking too much about Keth's head as there was no large rack to block off access to his back. But Keth was more than prepared for an attack such as this. As the black creature leapt, Keth swung his head up, catching the beast under his front legs, in the barrel of his chest, and flung him away. Keth felt the stubs of his horns catch flesh, and knew that his opponent had been more than just thrown off.
He turned to the creature, as it regained its feet and lowered his head again. Red eyes glowing as he stared down his foe.
Keth loved this, loved the challenge of an opponent.
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Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2012 10:47 pm
"Oh ...Bright red eyes. Glowing red eyes." The thought ran through Teari's mind in a split second as his gaze was captured by the newcomer's. And then he was past the stranger.
Teari skidded to a stop, the sound of the fight behind him, and pivoted quickly, hoping to see the action. He was too slow. By the time he had turned, the action had passed. The black wolf lay off to the side and worked to regain its feet, shaking its head as if dazed. Burgundy red splashed to the forest floor in little droplets, an indication that the newcomer had injured the creature to some extent.
The newcomer himself stood near the spot Teari had passed him. He faced the injured wolf, head lowered to the beast, but made no move towards the foe. Teari couldn't help but admire the yearling, despite his youth. The buck-to-be was already almost the same size as Teari and possessed the bulk of a fighter rather than the slim muscles of a runner. Once his rack grew in and he finished filling out, Teari bet that the newcomer would be a spectacular sight to see.
Teari's survey of the stranger was put on hold as the wolf finally managed to regain its feet, getting all four limbs to support his weight. He showed his fangs to the newcomer, yellow pupils wide in anger.
Teari charged, lowering the points of his horns towards the beast. The element of surprise was his, as the creature had been focused on the yearling and had been ignoring the grey buck as harmless. Its head swung to the new threat bearing down on it, before it scrambled backwards.The wolf tucked its tail and turned, fleeing. It had come to the realization that there were two of them and only one of him.
Teari raised his head and watched as the foe slunk off into the forest. He was safe, for now anyway.
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Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2012 11:34 pm
Keth was taken aback by the abrupt intervention of the grey buck. He wasn't expecting the buck to step in and was offended that the buck chased off HIS opponent.
He snorted, agitated, and watched the wolf disappear into the underbrush.
"Well...there goes my fun. Thanks for that." Keth's gruff tone worked well for sarcasm and he used it whenever he got the chance. He cast a speculative eye over the grey buck. Taking in the grey coat with the tree-branch markings and the tree bark shin guards. Keth wasn't exactly sure what those were for, but he thought they would make excellent protection for kicking out opponents. He also took note of the moss green eyes on the buck and his weak frame. This grey buck lacked the muscle needed for any kind of confrontation, instead sporting the usual lean muscle of a sprinter, a runner....a coward.
All in all, Keth instantly disliked this buck.
Perhaps it was Keth's dislike of the dreary day that transferred over to the similarly colored buck, or maybe it was just the lingering irritation of having his opponent chased off, either way this buck hadn't spoken two words to Keth yet and already he didn't care for him.
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Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 2:11 pm
Teari turned to the stranger ready to thank him for his aid, when his ears perked forward to catch the black yearlings words. He caught the trace of irritation and sarcasm that riddled the others words.
"What? Pardon? ...Did you WANT it to attack again?" Teari couldn't hide his disbelief. Before he had admired this yearling for his courage, now he couldn't help thinking this buck-to-be was suicidal. or crazy. or both.
Another thought crossed Teari's mind. Maybe the yearling hadn't even been interested in saving him, in fact, maybe the yearling was planning on taking Teari out just as easily as he had taken the wolf out. Sure the stranger was still a yearling, but there were only so many doe's to go around and maybe he wanted to get rid of his competition early.
Teari shifted, now uncomfortable with the stranger's presence.
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Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 8:53 pm
Keth felt the rising tension in the air and noticed the uneasy shifting of the buck. He snorted, amused. "No. But it was my opponent not yours. I could've handled it, I welcomed the challenge." Keth huffed. "Hmph, now what am I going to do to entertain myself." He glanced at the buck mischievously. "Perhaps you'd be interested in...a game?" He doubted the buck would agree, he was the skittish sort of creature that probably took few chances in life.
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Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 11:41 am
Teari was hesitant. The whole situation screamed danger...but he WAS older than the buck-to-be and he had to admit that he was intrigued despite himself. "What kind of game?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 12:21 pm
Keth grinned. "You'll find out if you decide to play...I just need a yes or no answer." There was no way the stag would agree if he heard what kinda game it was upfront. Keth was still doubtful about the other's courage and had been surprised he hadn't refused immediately.
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Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 10:08 pm
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Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 10:42 pm
The moon sat quietly, peeking out from the blanket of clouds. Her light was subtle, cast from behind a cottony haze.
...to be continued (when I get o next xD)
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