Where? Diagonally!

*Valdís* · 05-12-2019, 12:30 PM

Sunlight finally broke free from the clouds and prompted Valdís to emerge from her den. She gazed at the greenery about her, watching as a few drops of moisture rolled off the leaves of the trees. It had rained for most of the night but thankfully there hadn't been any serious storms. The ground was muddy but in time she hoped it would dry out. Valdís shook out her coat and eyed the clouds on the horizon, uncertain if they would build into a storm or if they would simply sail harmlessly through the sky. Frustrated grumbling caught her attention as she turned to see her companion, Jynette, struggling with a large scrap of hide that seemed to be full of something.

She watched the little red fox for a moment before she got up to see what the clever woman was up to this time. "Where are you off to Jyn? Don't tell me you've been pillaging the food stores." The fox released the hide and Valdís watched as a few items rolled out, namely an odd assortment of small bones and river stones. The fox licked her lips and gazed up slyly at Valdís. "I would never! I merely thought that you and I don't spend enough time bonding and I thought we could play a game. Get that brain of yours working."

Valdís chuckled and shrugged. "Fine, fine, my foxy friend. I'll play along." She settled down across from the fox. "How do we play this game?"

The fox grinned and finished unfolding the hide. "Go ahead and gather the stones on your side." Valdís moved to do just that, collecting a number of river stones for herself while Jynette grasped a small stick in between her jaws. The fox moved to a patch of mud that was firm yet still soft. Angling her head she started drawing lines in the dirt until she had a grid six columns across and six rows deep. Then the fox began to collect the small bones into a pile on her side. Valdís eyed the lines drawn in the mud and the piles of stones and bones before she looked back up at the fox, a questioning gaze playing across her face. Jynette grinned back.

"Ok, so here's the game. The goal is to get four of your item in a row. If you do you when the game. I have bones, you have stones. So you want to get four stones in a row in order to win. It can be vertically, horizontally or diagonally. We'll each take turns placing our item on the board. First to get four in a row wins. If we use up all of our item and no one gets four in a row the game is a draw. Make sense?"

Valdís grinned and nodded. A simple little strategy game. Not too complex but they could always develop it more at a later time. "How do we decide who goes first?" The fox grinned. "Bones always goes first." The fox deftly picked up a bone and dropped it in a square near the middle of the board. Valdís thought for a moment before gingerly picking up a small river stone in her mouth and depositing it kitty korner from the fox's stone.

The next move was Jynette's and she placed a bone three boxes away from her first. Valdís countered, placing her stone in between both of the fox's bones, preemptively blocking any chance that the fox had of getting four in a row in that direction.

The fox quickly pulled a similar move on Valdís, blocking her careful set up. She growled softly to herself. "Ok, I admit. This is intriguing. Wherever did you come by this game, Jyn?" The fox grinned, clearly quite pleased with herself but for a moment a look of nostalgia crossed the little creatures face. "My mother taught me this game. We used to play it often, especially when it was raining outside. We'd curl up in the den and play and chat to pass the time. Such simple times. Your move, love."

Valdís nodded and the pair continued to play, the pieces swiftly starting to fill up the board until they each had only four pieces left. Valdís' green eyes scanned the board, looking for some place to box the fox in. She placed her stone and for a moment everything was still. Jynette furrowed her brow as she stared at the board, debating just where to place the next bone. The fox very much wanted to win. It would be embarrassing for her to have introduced this game to the wolf only to lose. She had to admit Valdís was doing far better than expected but she soon saw just the way to win. Grinning, she placed the bone, getting three in a row with one space left open. A space that Valdís would have no choice put to fill and so she did. Valdís swiftly placed a stone to block the fox's row. Valdís grinned but before she could say anything the fox quipped, "I win." She picked up a bone and placed it on the other side of the board where she now had four in a row diagonally. Valdís stared, surprised for a moment, then she grinned and sighed. "Good game, Jynette. How about best two out of three?"

"Talk" "You" Think

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