[PRP] never leave home without... [ Slipper / Glow / Foxy ]

[Jun D]

Slipper was a far, far way from home.

Well, wherever home was, anyway.

The last he had seen his father was the sea, and, so, he supposed, that was the last 'home,' and it had been many days hence that he had seen the sea. He had run far – far, in that many days. But, alas, not as fast as he ought – or, at least, he had, and now was slowing, just a tad.

Unforgivable.

And so it was that Slipper found a little stretch of marsh sufficiently solid, that he could practice wind sprints on that day. Just a day, and then the journey must begin again, for Slipper ran, that was what he did.  

[Maxx D]

Glow had seen Slipper before, from a little distance, and found him so incredibly charming by watching him alone. Glow definitely noticed when he had returned from wherever he had gone, coming back into the inner parts of the swamp, and she had noticed when he wandered out to find a suitable patch of ground to work with.

Glow definitely noticed all of these things because to be honest, Glow had been following him for a bit.

For a while.

For quite a while.

For a few days now.

She was crouched behind a bush at the moment, trying to raise her head high enough to watch him run, but also low enough to hide.  

[Jun D]

It was back again, that feeling. Slipper dashed to the end of his wind sprint, surreptitiously glancing from side to side.

No one, and the brush seemed quiet enough.

For a while.

For quite a while.

For a few days now.

He had felt like he was being watched.  

[Maxx D]

On his alert, she pressed her body sideways against the brush, her muzzle matched to the curve of the top of the bush, still yet trying to get a glimpse despite her fear of being discovered. If only the bush weren't so dense and thorny! It could afford to have less leaves in the way. Perhaps if she ate some of it...

...but she felt too sick at the moment. It was actually The Day she had decided she would stop watching, and start talking to him. She had it planned out in her head, to simply saunter in and say hello! But right now she had a bunch of leaves in her hair, pressed against a bush, and she was definitely not ready to say hello. Not even close.  

[Maxx D]

Foxy was doing some tracking of her own today - after all, it was always important to refresh her senses. She had been fiercer in the snow, and there were less scents and tracks that were unpredictable in the harsh weather and biting air. The swamp itself was far more soft and confusing, with scents wafting about and, the ebb and flow of water that flooded and washed away hoofsteps. Once she had seen some this time, she latched onto the imprints with vigour and persistence. At some point past the river bend, she noticed that following fleet footed Acha hooves, dug in alternating as they had sprung off the ground, were some more hesitant, lighter steps that quickened and came to rest near a bunch of bushes.

She had meandered quietly along until the sight of an Acha boy's head, popped up like a bunny. Ah, so she had caught up with his tracks - but she didn't mean to startle him, so she also dropped to her knees. Now was not the time, just in case she saw something interesting and - ah.

There was something interesting, hidden behind the bushes.

The Kimeti doe was adorable, peering out with such intensity, and so focused on the Acha (who was also adorable, from what she could see through the brush) that she had scarcely noticed a two-tailed Totoma behind her. Foxy knew exactly what this was: a stalking situation young love. Her first thought was usually "they would look so nice together," but she found her heart warmed by her earnestness, and thought she'd say:

"Hello." Quietly.  

[Jun D]

A moment ago, the brush had been quiet enough, but now there was definitely rustling of some sort. He thought he'd heard a voice too, just a little whisper - but as he cantered to a stop and looked around for the source of the rustle, a rox burst out of the bush and shook itself out.

It was a pretty thing too, all white and pink. Barking roxes did sound like Kin, sometimes.

"Hey, lil' fella," Slipper said, and went back to his wind sprints. Not fast enough - not near fast enough!  

[Maxx D]

Glow screamed into the bushes, or rather, she kind of whimpered in an urgent squeak and her head whipped around, leaves and all. Then her mouth silently screamed again. Then she recovered herself and tried to say "hello," normally, but she did not look at all normal.

It came out as "ughhh," high pitched, floating on the wind.  

[Jun D]

Okaaay...was that another rox? He trotted over to where he was pretty sure he'd heard the voice beyond the brush.

"Hello?" he called out first, "is someone there…?"

No reply.

He peered over the hedge.

No one.

Huh.

Wind sprints.  

[Maxx D]

Glow instantly lunged for the Totoma, body checking her and grabbing her tail - two tails?! with her jaws, rolling the both of them into a patch of tall grass.

"Noooooo" she squeak-growled, "I've been watching him for days! I was going to say hello today but I just can't! Let me watch in peace!"  

[Maxx D]

"Sure you can!" She hissed back pleasantly, fluttering her lashes at the young doe with great conviction, or so she imagined. The young ones were always so volatile. "You're adorable, and he's already distracted from his sporting - why, you could be an even better distraction than strange noises in the bushes. I'm sure he'd love to see you, and I'm sure you'll be able to at least say hello."  

[Maxx D]

"It went awfully with you!" Glow cried, her mouth open almost in a caricature of crying. "What was 'uuughhh'?! I'm not ready. I'm never going to be ready!"  

[Maxx D]

"You're never going to be ready if you're not ready now, several days is pretty bad!" Foxy's tone was keen and encouraging, though one might imagine her helpful words were somewhat dubious. "You're ready, you just need to get out there, I promise."  

[Jun D]

Slipper was starting to get pretty tired of pausing his wind sprints to look for roxes in the brush. For one, he was pretty sure the sounds had mysteriously relocated a distance away from their previous issuance, which was awfully considered behaviour for a rox.

He knew what was happening.

It happened all the time.

He was just going to keep running back and forth until they showed themselves. They always did, in the end.  

[Maxx D]

"Okay. Okay." Some part of Glow really did want to see him closer, much closer, without a bush in the way, and logic dictated that was the only option, but her heart was thumping hard. She started to shake the mess out of her hair. "I can do this. I...I have to. I'm tired of hiding. It's really hard. I'm super scratched up."  

[Maxx D]

"That's right," Foxy said, not quite sure about this motivation, but she would run with it - the girl needed whatever she could get. "You go out there. You're just going to say hello, and see how it goes. You know what they say, never leave home without..."