The Crane and his dove

Alaric awoke to nothing but pain. The wounds from the bear were beginning to open again, and honestly, the Crane couldn’t recall why. What had happened in order for them to begin to bleed and tear once more? He had been healing well, and easily. With the help of Keres and her constant nagging, his skin was scabbing and scarring, instead of ripping and oozing. But for some reason - he felt as if another bear had decided to rip the bastard open again.

 The titan groaned as he pulled himself up, from lying in the grass, between the trees. His legs trembled faintly, he felt exhausted, as if he had been running for week straight without even a moment of a break. Al could feel his muscles twitching beneath his fur, and the dampness around his gashes began to matt thickly into his coat - he was bleeding. “son of a bitch,”  to Crane hissed out in a sharp growl of annoyance. His ears slicked back and head hanging low, like a predator on the hunt. He stalked the unknown woods, his head still in a hazy confusion of why he was injured again - instead of wondering where he was. 

But then, an uncertainty settled in his stomach. Alaric rose his head, nose lifting to the wind. Where... was Keres? Her scent wasn’t simply stale, it was gone. As if she had never been here. And come to think of it - where exactly is here? A black masked face furrowed in a display of displeasure. Bleeding, sore, and now without his little dove of a healer? This day was going terribly. 

Growling to himself, he began to enter the forest further, the distant sound of waves could be heard from behind himself. And he recalled the beach, and the glowing blue water Keres had seemed so enchanted with. Did something happen? Did he have to defend her, is that why he was bleeding in the woods, and not sleeping beside the sea? The little healer wouldn’t allow him to get injured without reason. But maybe... did she finally walk away from him? Realizing he was an asshole and undeserving of help. Had she finally gone back to that fucking prick “Arch”. 

Alaric paused, snapping sharply at the air as his tail lifted and spinal fur began to rise in a tension of hatred. He was gonna rip that fucking bastards throat out if he thought he was gonna walk away with Keres. Fuck that. 

As his legs quaked from exhaustion and his body bled, Alaric stubbornly walked. Searching.
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 Just as the darkened man walked the forested halls of the temperate region, so too did the blonde woman of the desert. With her slight frame and body clearly made for traveling across the sands, it was clear that she was not a normal resident of the area but here she was. Her head was lowered, golden eyes intent on _something_ as she searched the land. She'd had traveling companions and had broken away from them briefly to go on her own way. "Fuckers... Not wanting snake skins. I'll find some cool ones anyway..." She grumped to herself as she poked here and there for the elusive things.

 It was quite by accident when she stumbled across the new scent. The distinctly bloodied and wolfish scent. She knew it wasn't one of her companions but she was... curious. Curiosity killed the cat and all as she temporarily abandoned her search for discarded snake skins and instead followed the smell of injured wolf.

 Easily she slunk into a crouch and tried to use the undergrowth as coverage although her coat did not help her blend in very well. She still tried her best as she finally saw the dark wolf in the distance as he walked along. He too looked like he was searching for something but unlike her, he seemed very worse for wear. He didn't seem like the running type and she felt confident enough in her abilities to flee if he decided to turn angrily on her. Besides, one howl and her companions would be here to help her so she decided to step out into full view from her spot several yards away.

 She let out a whistle and said, "Wooow, you look worse for wear. What got ya?" Tact wasn't exactly what she was good at, and living with her coyote companions certainly hadn't changed that.

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Alaric stalked the unknown forest, his body tense with anger and partial confusion. Wounds bled slowly, causing small chills to wash over him, as the wind brushed against the exposed tissue. Even as he limped, the Crane was alertly seeking Keres’ growingly-familiar form. Molten eyes scanning for any sign of cream and tawny fur in the scene of ever-green. And for a time, he found nothing promising. Teeth clenched and grinding with an annoyance at the situation as a whole. 

But a small flash of familiarity - a promising splash of light fur caused his body to stiffen, hesitantly waiting for the healer to emerge before him, to explain what the fuck happened and where they were. But no, it was a different little wolf, with light colors. Her words unwelcome and unwanted. This was not Keres, and if it was not Keres, he did not want them.

Alaric flashed his teeth with a growl rolling out of his throat sharply. “Piss off, pipsqueak.” The titan huffed in a graveled voice, tail lashing out in a habitual display of agitation.
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 Oh ho ho! This one was temperamental! The sandy she-wolf bounced backwards on light paws, just in case he tried to make a lunge for her with that show of aggression, but he didn't. Instead snarling and showing his displeasure at her prying. Not surprising, really. Although at his show of aggression the woman allowed herself a shit-eating grin, probably not the reaction he was going for but it was hers.

 Although she wouldn't dare get any closer to him without backup.

 Still, it was in her blood to keep picking and picking and thus she didn't run off at his anger, instead she let out another whistle. "'Pipsqueak.' Haven't heard that one before." Actually, she hadn't. This was the first run-in with someone who'd picked on her size but in a past life she would have had to have been called that before, right? She was pretty small. "You in the habit of growling at everyone. That why you're all beat up? Must be hard to get help that way." Because, hell, he seemed in a pretty rough state. Not that she was a healer. She couldn't help him even if she wanted to.

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Of course she wouldn’t have left, that was just his fucking luck, wasn’t it? Alaric glared towards the little beast, part of him wondered if he kicked her hard enough, would she go flying across the woods and not come back. The Crane flicked an ear at her question, “Don’t you have someone else to go bother?” he hissed out with another curl of his lip. 

Alaric walked, in any direction that was away from the little beast. “I don’t need anyone’s fucking help,” snapped the black and silver man, back now facing the woman. Her energetic personality was the last thing he wanted to deal with. Dear god, give him another bear or two bears - anything other than the snarky little rat that had found him. 

He didn’t need help. He just needed to find Keres.
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 Just like a fly that would pester a horse, the little sandy wolf would keep at her "game". She smiled broadly at his glare, considering it a win that he was drawn to such ire over her words and persistence. "Nope!" She said proudly with a wag of her tail. "My friends are off doing their own dumb things and I'm looking for snake skins! Then I found you! Lucky us, right?" Snake skins were fun and all, but this would provide some amusement as well, for as long as he didn't try to go for her throat or if he started being boring. Whichever came first.

 As he turned away and began walking, Oryx practically bounced forward, following but maintaining the same distance as before. When he stopped, she stopped, it was a lovely song and dance in her book. "Oooooh, gross, guy. Real gross. I didn't ask about fucking help. Keep that problem to yourself." Ah ha ha, dumb jokes were the best jokes. She grinned, her tongue poking through her teeth as she giggled to herself.

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The little creature came bouncing after him, like a rabbit chasing a carrot. Alaric sighed to himself, why did he always attract the attention of the worst company imaginable? And of course, all of the others to bother, were busy. Lucky bastards. This little nut job was seeking snake skins and stumbled upon him, instead. “Yes. Lucky lucky us,” he replied with a clear detest for the little thing that trailed after him. 

The Crane rolled his eyes as she began to twist his words into a self-serving joke that only she would be amused by. “Cut the shit, kid.” He snapped, stopping in his tracks and spinning as best his body would allow it. “Have you see a girl named Keres around here? Tan and cream, blue eyes, kinda small. If not, then fuck off,”
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 Oooo that sarcasm dripping from his tongue was like the finest of wines. Mmf, scrumptious. She pulled her lips back in a most delightful grin, exposing her neat little fangs and a tongue that blepped in the most amused of ways. Even her eyes squinted in obvious fiendish joy at the poor man's expense.

 Cut the shit. He stopped. She stopped, knowing this song and dance well. Still, even when he turned and began to ask her a question in the most polite of ways, she titled her head to the side. Clearly listening and considering his words. "Hmm..." The woman hummed to herself, thinking back on all of the wolves she'd met. All those in the desert since she hardly left her Oasis home. "How small is small? Smaller than me?" Then, she gave a cheeky smile and dipped into a play bow with a mischievous yip. "Fuck off? But you're so much fun!" Way more fun than looking for old dirty snake skins. Her tail wagged behind her as she was clearly overjoyed with her unwilling playmate.

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Well, if she wasn’t gonna leave, Alaric would at least make himself comfortable. 

The Crane gave a low growl, yellowed teeth flashing in annoyance. The weird, little rat dog was going to trail after him for as long as they wanted. It seemed. So instead of trying to limp away, he hissed out a huff of air, his body facing then woman with a narrowed, centered focus. 

The titan wolf used his bottled energy to leap at the leech-like woman, his jaws closed - it was clear he didn’t intend to snap or do damage. At least not with his teeth. Golden eyes gleamed with a shine of devious nature, if the girl wanted to follow him and practically walk under his god damn feet, then sure! Let her! 

The lunge was aimed to land atop her, and simply smoosh her into the ground. He would sit on her, if she so desired to stick to him like glue.

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 The small wolf's ears twitched, listening to that lovely growl in the other's throat. Amusing and dangerous all the same. The blonde woman was no fool, she kept herself light while dipped into that bow. He faced her and she watched him almost innocently, as if she wasn't egging him on. Was he going to do it?

 The answer was a resounding "yes".

 She didn't notice at first the closed jaws, promising no harm but instead the overall movement of a lunge. "Oh fuck!" She cried out as she bounced away like a gazelle, or more accurately the oryx for which she was named. For a big guy, he was fairly quick but the desert lady managed to escape his clutches. Her legs weren't long for nothing and she was used to evading angry snapping jaws of far larger predators.

 Still, she pranced away, glancing back over her shoulder to see if he would pursue or not. Would they have a game of catch the rat or would she get away with having harrassed him for a bit?

---

Used the dice roller to see if Oryx would get away or not.

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The little rat bound away, and with that Alaric snapped a growl, his tail coiling up over his back in agitation. With a gridded exhale, he spun on his heels and stalked off. He didn’t need to be here.

• Very smol Exit Post

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The little rat bound away, and with that Alaric snapped a growl, his tail coiling up over his back in agitation. With a gridded exhale, he spun on his heels and stalked off. He didn’t need to be here.

• Very smol Exit Post

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Pah! He was no fun anymore! The larger wolf let her go without even trying to pursue her... So, with a small "hmph" she trotted away. On the prowl for some snake skins to take back home and show off to those two companions that she had.
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