tippy toes, tippy toes.. bounce bounce bounce. a childish stream of vocals chiming way in her head as her frame bounced along. bustling with energy, after spending a few days tucked into the dead of a tree.. simply because she felt like sleeping. only when she had reached the end of ru’s nagging, and the rumbling of her stomach would she emerge.


tippy toes.. tippy toes.. bounce! a sideways smirk with a light thud to follow. having launched herself forward to crunch into a bundle of branches, the very opposite of quiet and discreet. farrah. what are you doing? unhappy scoldings from ru, making her nose twitch up in protest, but lacking in an answer to offer. her frame perks up, ears pricking forward in collection of sound. nearly an hour before, a meeting was held in which they decided to head towards the noisy sound of water. she didn’t have a great plan, she took no time to think of one either. following the sound and smell of water wasn’t exactly a bad choice, but it couldn’t have been anything new. a classic move on any seeking to survive.


the squish of toes against crunching branches would set a cheeky grin to her lips. hind end to wiggle in assisting to further crush them. a gentle sigh from ru. he couldn’t be bothered to spill into her fun. a small hop would guide her away from the now dusted branches, back on track towards water seeking. head bobbing with interest towards the tree line. birds that fluttered from tree to tree, busy all times of year. the twittering of communication, either frantic or peaceful. could she be any reason for them to panic? this loud and clumsy figure bouncing her way through the green space.


tippy toes, tippy toes.. a strain of focus to gain balance at the very front of her paws, toes stretching in effort to change noisy steps into silent ones. ears curling forward to keep her body drifting in the right direction. farrah. ru’s interrupting voice would make her steps pause, head turning as if to listen to someone beside her. lets not forget to eat.


eaaaaaattttttttt. a long screech of excitement internally rolling down her spine. quick steps to pull her forward.. between the last line of protective bush. water, pleased excitement at the sight. the whoosh of waterfall made her ears twitch in excitement.  dirty she was, trampling around with care. the first steps taken to the waters edge would be without second thought. turning the water an interesting shade of muck once her feet disappeared within it.

Mortis found the sunset falls to be a good place to learn to fish. He often found them pooling around near the end of the falls. Perhaps they liked the rushing water so near their home. The patient game of fishing was a struggle for the easily excitable pup, but he was determined to learn the trick of it. He was hidden near the rushing water, so his shadow did not fall over the surface. The large stones hidden behind the falls made a good place to stalk from. He was tucked just behind the edge of it, looking out past the water, his gaze centered on the deep. He had a small pile of fish behind him. Two little catches he had already made today. He was eyeing up a third when he heard the sound of splashing, and something entering the water. His concentration was so sharply broken, that he startled, slipping near the edge of the stone. With a cry of surprise, he lost his footing, and plunged into the water. The fish he had been hunting darted swiftly away. "Mortis"

the excitement of water would be quickly erased with an uneasy feeling, a splashing sound that couldn't of come from her. her body bounced, hind twisting around to bring her attention to it.. only to find something else spilled into the water just ahead of her. what was it? her nose twitched up with interest, a wolf? then why did it also smell like a bird..? any usual being would perhaps bare some aggression, that was the last thing on her mind. her ears pricked forward with interest. eye brimming with curiosity.


keep your eye closed, don't forget. she heard him, and her eye had already been slithered closed. the tilt of her head would cause the tips of her ears to sway. waiting for it to get up, to move around. anything to help piece the questions that jumbled her mind. call out to it, genuis. her nose twitched, finding the idea completely absurd. who did that - call out to people.


do you think its a bird, ru? why one earth would it be a bird, stupid girl. her body moved then, instead of escaping the water she set to lounge in it. front legs submerging before her hind slicked into a comfortable wiggle of rocks. still, she stared.


ru.
what?
can i touch it?
no, farrah...

Mortis scrambled, undignified into the shallower end of the water. It brought him closer to the stranger that had startled him. He pulled his wings from the water, without fear that the stranger meant him harm, and shook them vigorously. The rest of his upper-body followed suit. What was shallow to Farrah was laughable to Mortis. When he’d gotten out most of the water from his feathers, he let his wings hang slightly away from his body, like hanging washing out to dry. Finally, he turned his full attention to the petite, amber woman who lounged in the shallows. He did not think that she was a child, despite her size. Just as he was not yet an adult, despite how he towered above most. For some reason, she was holding one eye closed, and the other open, watching him. She hadn’t said anything yet,which was perhaps the weirdest thing to the talkative boy. He gave his tail an experimental, happy wag behind him, spreading his wings a tinsy bit more. “Hello! I’m Morits Fatalis. You startled me…” he explained. “But thats okay, I haven’t seen you around here before?” "Mortis"

her instant stare only became more solid as she watched the other fumble around to his feet, eye growing  a fraction wider at the wings that spread and shook. it was pretty, watching the water splay off in many directions, the wait the droplets hit the earth at the edge of the water to dampen it. she was sucker for these kinds of things.. but this.. birdy wolf, stirred up her mischievous side. why can't i touch it? because you can't.. ru. please let me touch it. words spoken, name given. question asked. the sound forced her to focus on him properly, processing what she was being told. would the silence that followed make this weird? did he get this kind of reaction often? her head had slowly sunk, dunking chin into the water, a slow blink of eye. you aren't going to tell him your name? a slight flare of nostrils, thinking again he was insane. what if he lets you touch them once he knows your name? convinced, like a child bribed with a snack. her body perking up, a quick motion to bring her a few paces forward, maw parting. "farrah... name." an answer, roughly given by the croak of unused voice. hopefully clear enough, for she couldn't be bother to utter it again. "bird." decidedly moving onto the next topic, her head giving another tilt at the expanded wings dripping dry. this was both a question and a decision. he was bird.. some kind of bird. [thinks][speaks][ru]

The woman before him responded with silence, her head lowering closer to the surface of the water. Mort lowered his wings, ignoring the feel of wet feathers against wetter fur. He hunkered down, letting his knees brush moving water as he sought to make himself less threatening, smaller. He must tower twice the height of this wolf when she was standing, and instead she had let herself sink into the stream. Was she afraid of him? She didn’t smell of fear, and there seemed to be something strange about her. He could not place it. She bounded closer to him, and he watched her cautiously, like one might watch a child in fear they would slip on stones. There seemed a strange youthfulness to her, despite the fact that it was he who was the pup among them. “Your name is Farrah?” he repeated back to her, not certain if he had caught it right. At her interest in her wings, he let them slip free again, spreading them just so on either side of him. No, i’m a wolf, like you. These were just… well… I don’t know. I was born with them, but my mother, my father, they are wolves. As are my siblings, and therefore, as am I” he stretched his wing to the side, to rustle past her nose, since she seemed so curious of them. A pupyish grin on his maw, despite his confusion. "Mortis"

her head bobbed in response to her name. birds name is mortis. simple thoughts playing along with conversation without a word spoken. still she studied him, every move he made like a stalker in the dark. he didn't seem to shy from her, more words to gather against ears that now twitched into a more comfortable, lazed position. says he's a wolf farrah.. with bird attachments. as he explained, her eye flicker in disappointed. something had been more exciting for him to be part bird.. this disappointment would be short lived, as feathers approached. making the end of her nose tingle with the new sensation. had she never settled her face into feathers that wasn't for the purpose of tearing them out of the way? the pause in her frame shifted, front limbs spreading to control her balance. rump lifting to display the crooked stump of remaining tail. the wiggle it gave in replace of a wag, a playful stance taken. small hops to move her side to side, a willing frame as if to scream, again, again.. again! bird! [thinks][speaks][ru]

He was carefully studying this very strange wolf. He would see how her eye drooped in disappointment. He almost found himself wishing he could take it back and say ‘wait, I am a bird!’ but that would be silly. He was a wolf, through and through. His wings were decorative, he could not even fly. When she rose off her butt and her little stumpy tail wiggled, he laughed softly. He did not understand her, or know why she was out here. But she was enjoying herself, that was what mattered, right? He brushed his wing past her again and gently ‘bopped’ her on the forehead with the leader wing. “Wait here, I’m going to go get my fish before some scavenger finds them” he explained, and plunged back into the deeper end of the water, towards the waterfall. He grabbed the fish he had left on the rock in his maw, and paddled back towards her. When his feet hit earth, he stopped swimming and started walking, until he was well clear of the water. He shook out his coat again. Feeling a shiver run through him. Standing in the water was chilling. "Mortis"

she was bound and ready for the wing when it approached the second time, entranced by the sensation. she had no desire to snap at it, to claim rights to it. it made her wonder then how he had wings? remembering he said that he was born with them, he just awoke to the world with wings strapped to him. a tinge of jealously, to be born with wings, how lucky? lucky? what if he doesn't like them farrah? her ears twitched, head turning to her left as she listened to ru. her body lowering back into the water, drenching herself once again. just like i dont like your stupid eye. her nose twitched, turning her head back around to face him as he returned with fish. she didn't want to speak to ru, deciding that he was being rude when she wanted to see about the bird wolf. it wasn't as though she hadn't gotten cold, a small tremble had settled into her frame. easily pushed away by the excitement, and movement she had given. she watched him exit the water and thought she should follow. a sneeze from twitching nostrils would be all the encouragement she needed. still keeping a distance, her frame braces to shake away loose droplets. she looked clean now.. probably. at the very least the fresh dirt that clung to her had been freed from its tangled mess. did she look any bigger now, without part of her being swallowed up by water? probably not, with someone as big as he, she couldn't imagine to compare. she crouched, paws tucking in under her. a curious position only suitable for reclaim warmth into her belly. "pretty." word utter in almost obligation. what if he didn't like his wings? if he didn't like them and she had just called him a bird. if she said they were pretty, would he like them more? [thinks][speaks][ru]

"Come on, let's go to the shore" he suggested. He wasnt sure if his companion was fully right in the head. He didn't want her to get a chill because he didn't suggest something sensible. A part of him was wondering if he should take her back to the pack. Maybe Io could check her over, and they could make shre she was getting enough to eat. However, his father was not known to be a patient wolf. He was equally afraid to take her home. He didn't think this wolf would take it well if his Da lost his patience with her.

He moved to the shore, hoping she would follow and felt soft grass beneath his paws. He opened his wings again, waving then about enticingly to encourage her to follow. He dropped one of the fish to the ground when she joined him, and nodded to it. "Help yourself, if your hungry" he suggested. His own fish he plopped down beside him. He didn't start to eat yet. Instead, he smiled at the compliment she had given him. "Thank you. Your really pretty too, you know"

she willingly followed him out of the water, both because the idea of shivering wasn't appealing.. and that his wings shuttered in such a way she couldn't ignore it. the fished dropped within her reach would gain only a sniff from her. she didn't want it, while her belly was not full.. the desire to eat was minimal. instead her nose would tuck underneath it, pushing just hard enough to roll it a few times in his direction. looking at him to insist he keep it. mortis food. mortis eat it. to be called pretty was awkward, a clear shift in her frame after words spoken. it also made her feel like he wasn't so trustworthy, who lies about pretty things? flowers were pretty, until they died. baby animals could be pretty, until they died. but she.. she wasn't pretty. and your still alive. could she be pretty if she died? she hunkered down again, focusing to warm up her core as she studied him. where did he come from? knowing he mentioned he was a wolf because of his family. how many families were around? how many could she poke around in to cure her curiosity. her wandered mine would settle on the finer details of him, now wanting to know of his age and many other things. but unbothered towards the idea of speaking up. get up she would, bracing limbs in a finally shake to toss away droplets and dirt that clung to her underside from laying down. an interesting meeting, her fumbling freely into the water only to label him a bird, and desire to ruffle his feathers. steps began taking her away, moving on to the next idea. to the next lack of plan to push forward in life. a pause in her step would turn her head towards him, looking with the means to say goodbye. she wouldn't offer any encouragement to follow or call after her. slipping away into the trees just as quickly as she pounced into the water. farrah to exit. [thinks][speaks][ru]