[ prp ] Birds of a Feather (Dusk Owl & Mourning Dove)

[medigel]

Quote:

Dusk Owl’s hip was aching again, which meant there was a good chance for rain that evening, although one look at the grey skies could have told him that. Nonetheless, he continued his rounds alongside other healers as the sun dipped further and further beyond sight, only mildly asking for a little something for the pain after everyone else had been tended to. He wouldn’t have normally, preferring to hide his ailment whenever possible, but it made hunting almost impossible sometimes when the pain got overwhelming. And gods be good, but Dusk Owl wasn’t ready to sit back and let the younger blood hunt for him.

As he made for the border, he stretched his back leg on the left side where the pelvic joint felt most inflamed and issued a sigh. Tingling could still be felt down to his toes, but it would have to do. “Just a quick one,” he told himself, psyching up for the hunt. Or bracing himself for the effort. “A squirrel will do. Nothing too fast, or you’ll pull something, Dusk. Yes? Yes.”

Quote:

For what felt like seasons after her mother's death, Mourning Dove had finally started to move through the motions of normalcy again. Perhaps the prey wouldn't expect a wolf out at this time, she mused. Or perhaps that would be exactly what they expected and she would be left walking around without anything to catch.

The thought of failure coupled with the stinging loss of her mother nearly prevented her from getting up, but finally she was able to push up and leave the den to go out into the forest. Despite her difficulty in getting out of the den, once Dove was up, she always went further out than perhaps was necessary. She was headed towards the border. She told herself it was to hunt and she would try, but... sometimes she just stood at the border and stared. With no family to hold her back... would she ever leave?

"No." She told herself as she steered her paws away from the scent trails that marked the edge of the territory. "Mother would have wanted me to stay. Stop bellyaching and get to work." She spoke softly, but it sounded unusual. Like someone else was speaking nearby. Perking her ears, she listened carefully before she did, in fact, hear someone.

"Hello?" She called. Was there another hunter out there? "Is anyone there?"

 

[medigel]

belloblossom

Prone to talking to himself, it was any wonder Dusk Owl could hunt at all. His mind was always buzzing with some new line of thought, and who better to talk about it to than himself? He was considering the type of prey that might be out at the time and whether or not the probability would lean towards them being more lean or fatter by now when he realized someone had overheard him. "Oh, bollocks, I'm at it again," he muttered self-consciously.

Dusk Owl recognized the voice, however, and perked up as he approached. "Mourning Dove? Hello, dear," he greeted her pleasantly, if sheepishly. "Don't mind my rambling, I was just prepping myself for the hunt. Can't have the young ones do everything for me, eh? Were you out to do the same?"
 

[belloblossom]

Sure enough, there was another wolf about. Not just one of her pack mates, but the Elder of the pack, Dusk Owl. She perked up when she saw him and approached with a shy smile. Not often did she speak to him, but he was always a comfort to see around.

"Dusk Owl, er, Elder Dusk Owl." She corrected herself with a wary smile. "Yes, you are correct. I came out here to hunt, but I got... distracted." She tilted her ears back in a sheepish expression, before perking up her ears. "It's kind of you to think to hunt, even when we do have Hunters like myself for that task." She went on, before asking. "We tend to do better in teams or pairs, given that we are both out here for the same purpose anyway, perhaps we ought to hunt together today? If such a thing interests you, that is." She offered.

medigel

 

[medigel]

"You're quite right: I so dislike just sitting there. Though I would hate to inconvenience you," Dusk Owl said as he shook out his back leg with a wince, "as it seems today is not a good day for the hip. Still, I'm not that old. I might take some pointers from you as you work?" he asked hopefully. "A body in motion tends to stay in motion, as they say, and a little workout should shake the stiffness from my joints. I will even promise not to babble!"

belloblossom

 

[belloblossom]

Dove smiled at the Elder and shook her head.
"Don't worry yourself over it. I'm happy for the company." Company was distracting, if a bit exhausting. With company, she found that her thoughts remained more pack focused and less prone to wandering, which was definitely good, but with another there came all the social cues and outward appearances that could be so tiring. Still... there was something comforting about Dusk Owl, so perhaps she wouldn't get so worn out this time.

She listened with a sympathetic ear as he discussed his hip, but admired his eagerness to help the pack.
"You can babble for the most part, but I'll let you know when to be quiet, if I pick up on a scent." She informed him with a smile. "Let's see if we can't get you feeling like a youth again." She suggested and nodded towards a small trail ahead, before she began to walk forward onto it.

medigel

Sorry for the late reply!

 

[medigel]

"I appreciate the kindness, my dear. I am, if nothing else, a model student!" He did his best to hide his limp as he followed Mourning Dove; it would get better as he used it, but not without a lot of pain first.

"At the very least, surveying the land would be useful. I still haven't mapped out where to find each herb just yet," he told her, turning his head this way and that occasionally to admire the scenery around them more than to spot prey. "Sometimes my memory flies back to the old lands, and I forget myself. For instance, now that we've really settled this land, I regret not remembering to bring a seed from home. There was an oak tree my ancestors had planted many, many moons ago; I should have thought to bring an acorn and plant it here, carry on the tradition and such."

Dusk Owl sighed.

"Or perhaps it is best I didn't. Call it a fresh start. But that is a dreary topic, dear me...How have you been adjusting, Mourning Dove?"

belloblossom

same in return!

 

[belloblossom]

Mourning Dove listened to what the Elder had to say, about how he should've brought something from their old home. It was a nice thought, but of course there was no going back to their old home now. Looking to the future, towards a fresh start was the only thing any of them could really do now.

When the conversation turned towards how she was getting on, she tried to come up with as positive an answer as he had. She wanted to say that she was getting on quite well, actually. She knew that her mother was watching over her and that she could easily see the good times ahead. Yet, that wasn't the truth and she believed it to be a great offense to lie to an Elder.

"Not well, I'm afraid." She admitted. "Since my mother's passing things have been... difficult." She lowered her head. "I depended on her for so much and now that she's gone, I feel lost, even within my own pack. So much is changing and my fur feels heavier every day. Some day's it's all I can do to stand against it." She shook her head. "I'm a hunter and it's my job to hunt, not to bemoan about my losses. We've all lost something lately. No one should be bothered with how I feel about mine." She told herself, more than she told her companion.

Finally she looked at him with a half-smile. "Now I'm being the dreary one of the two of us, aren't I? My apologies, Elder, I did not mean to trouble you with such an unpleasant answer. Let us hunt, shall we? So we do not have to think about my silliness." She suggested, hoping she could forget that she'd opened up, that she'd tried to wrap her head around what she felt. Like she'd said, she was a hunter, not a thinker. She just needed to bring food back to her pack mates. So long as she could still do that... well, that would be enough.

medigel

 

[medigel]

The elder hummed as he listened, nodding sympathetically. His parents had been older when they passed, but sometimes their deaths felt recent still. "Grief comes and goes in waves, I find," he said gently. "There is nothing to be ashamed about, Mourning Dove. I cannot tell you how to grieve because there is no wrong or right of it - but something expelled and shared is lighter on the body than something held inside."

He paused before adding in an attempt to lighten her mood, "I said as much to a pup once, and he asked me if that meant feelings were like farts, ahah! I suppose I should have seen that coming."

He cleared his throat and sheepishly hoped his sudden bark of laughter hadn't scared any nearby prey off. "Right, yes, the hunt," he said in a lower tone. "I shan't break your concentration." Dusk Owl fell behind her, his ears pricked.

belloblossom

 

[belloblossom]

Mourning Dove shuffled her paws, but she felt put more at ease with Dusk Owl's presence. It was easier to talk to him than anyone else in the pack. Was it because he was more experienced or for some other reason? She couldn't quite say, but she was pleased that they were talking now, though she did feel bad about not hunting as she had intended.

"I suspect you are right, but I worry... that I trouble others when I speak of my loss." His anecdote about the conversation he had with a pup caused a bubble of laughter to make its way out of her muzzle. She silenced it quickly enough, lest her bark of amusement sent anything scurrying up into trees or leaping away from their location.

"Don't worry too much. I'm sure we're due to pick up the scent of something sooner or later." She paused and then added softly. "But even if we don't bring anything back, at least I'll be able to say that this was still a rewarding experience. Thank you for your company, Elder Dusk Owl."

medigel

Sorry for the long wait! I'm still interested in this RP if you are!

 

[medigel]

"Pah, no need to be so formal, Mourning Dove," Dusk Owl chided her gently. "Dusk Owl is perfectly fine. I am no elder today, but a trainee once again in the art of hunting without making so much noise."

Though he was apparently incapable of that still, the predator's instincts overridden by the need to comfort.

"I can tell you that you are never a bother, dear, in grief or in joy. My own parents passed several years before the plague, and there are days when I still miss them dearly." He watched his breath billow out in a plume as he gave a small sigh. "Do you know, the bear pelt I wear was my mother's. She was an excellent huntress, fierce as a storm and unafraid. I swaddled in this as a pup so often it might have been my second fur. I fought my siblings for it when we were older -- his was back before my hip issue reared up," he added, "and they mocked me for clinging to it when I could have made my own kill, taken my own furs. I am twice glad now to still have it, though: this has many good memories of my family attached to it. I'd like to think--"

Dusk Owl stopped himself when he heard a sound ahead, his ears pricked forward. He glanced at Mourning Dove sheepishly.

belloblossom

I am!!

 

[belloblossom]

Mourning Dove smiled at Dusk Owl's commentary and nodded her head.
"Very well, El... Dusk Owl." She amended. "Well then, if a trainee is what you are, the first lesson in how to be quiet is not to speak so much that you scare off all the prey." She told him, loosening up a little, before she remembered that while she needn't be "so formal", respect was something that was still demanded of her, even if it was from such a good-natured wolf as the current Elder.

"B-Begging your pardon, of course." She quickly put in, before she herself fell silent to listen to him. She would've replied, had it not been for the crunching of leaves ahead. She turned her head sharply, catching the scent of a rabbit near. She turned her gaze back to Dusk Owl and raised a front paw, indicating that he should be still- that she would be right back momentarily, before she turned and took off. She tracked the hare slowly, knowing it would sooner hear her than smell her, given the direction the breeze was currently in.

With perked ears and concentration set in her mind, she rounded a tree and surged forward. The rabbit didn't know what was coming and she was able to make her kill before it could scream. Her heart pounding, she raised her head again to see if there were any other lingering scents of prey, but no. It appeared this was the only one and now, with the scent of blood spreading from the rabbit's neck, no prey would come within this area for a bit. It was time to return to Dusk Owl, and then back to the camp.

Picking up her kill, she turned back around and started to pad back towards where she'd left the Elder.
"Dusk Owl? Are you still near?" She called as she got closer, muffled though she was through the fur.

medigel

Sorry again for the late reply!