It was the sound of running water that pulled the girl forward. Sure, she couldn't hunt much bigger than a hare on her own, but fish, well fish were easier. She hadn't had anyone to teach her how to craft a net or a snare, and maybe with time she would learn skills to catch something that was big enough to provide a larger wolf with more than an appetiser but for right now? She only had herself to worry about. Sure maybe Ghoul would come and check on her, she wasn't far from the pack lands after all, but for now, it was just her and the skimmer bugs and whatever lived in this rocky section of creek.

She stuck her nose under the edge of a rock and earned herself a nip from a crayfish. Not to be deterred she bit at the crustacean and flicked it towards the banks, still very much thinking herself to be alone.

”Speech”  ’Thought’

It's time to dress up right

TABLE & CODE © SKELLE 2021
"Speech!"

Mac figured Medusa wouldn’t tie him down in the tar pits like some of the other pack members; after all, he’d done nothing to slight her, and he felt he’d earned enough of her trust to just go and explore as much as his blinded eye would allow. He felt mostly recovered from his life-threatening pneumonia; the crackles that once plagued his lungs were now barely audible. His breathing was clear, and each step he took brimmed with strength. Oh, and besides the occasional firefly in his piss, he wasn’t leaking those guys out anymore, too. Safe to say he was virtually all mended. Except for the having-one-side-pitch-black vision wise, but he was already growing accustomed to it.

His other senses more than made up for the disability - the cow-spotted man perked his ears and the familiar Insomnia pack scent drew him closer to the banks of the stream. He suddenly came upon the scene of a very, very tiny green wolf. He almost mistook her for a child, she was so tiny! Macabre csnted his head to one side, mostly so his seeing eye had a better view of her. Knowing she wasn’t a total stranger - but he didn’t know her, regardless, he opted to pad closer. Paws soaked from the creekwater, he smiled down at the she-wolf, but instead of pointing out the obvious about her size, he glanced at her fruitless attempt to catch a fish and said, "I don’t think you’re gonna catch anything by sticking your nose in it. Wanna make a net?" He grinned, the edges of his lips curling - it would look sinister, had he not been a decently small-ish guy himself. "You’re from Insomnia too, right? I’m Macabre, but everyone just calls me Mac. I like to taxidermy dead stuff."

Apparently her flick didn't have enough force to dislodge the crayfish, but before she could raise a paw to smack at it (ooo, it was starting to hurt now), an unfamiliar voice called out to her. The girl jumped, flailed a limb and knocked the crustacean back into the creek. Her tail puffed out like a bottle brush, and she wasn't quite sure if she should bow down playfully and cop a face full of water or try to make herself look bigger than her meagre height.

Thankfully, she didn't have to think about it too long, because the spotty one said he was from Insomnia, and the smell was just about right. Her tail, still puffy like some sort of startled cat, gave a wave. Mac? "Ooo! Ghoul said I can eat yer guts!" Her back end gave a wiggle as she bounded a little closer to the edge of the bank, her head dipping lower and ears turning back happily as she got closer. It hadn't quite dawned on the half feral creature that maybe her words might be misconstrued. "I'm Cricket! An' whats a net?"

It's time to raise the curtain

TABLE & CODE © SKELLE 2021
"Speech!"

Wow, she was..interesting! Her tail poofed out all funny, like a wet, startled cat when she saw him. He didn’t yet realize Ghoul was into her..or just friends? Either way, he was unaware that she even knew his bestest brother until she mentioned him by name. The cow-spotted boy wagged his tail and quirked a brow when she mentioned Ghoul said she could eat his guts. His guts? He grinned widely. "Oh cool, Ghoul’s my brother actually, he’s my favorite brother! I mean, I dunno how good my guts taste, but I bet it’s like..a really fresh squirrel maybe!" He says. No, he’s got some wits about him for sure, but it appears his adult age has done nothing to sharpen any other sides to his intellect. Clearly, he’s got a few screws loose. Or just, entirely missing. Surely this girl won’t mind. He beamed upon hearing her name and asking what a net was and added, "Nice to meet ya, Cricket! And a net is just uh..a big twisted thing of rope that catches fish really easily. You can catch like.." He actually squints his one seeing eye to look down and count the digits of his paw, "Five or six fishes in a small net. That’s like, five whole dinners!" He’s clearly glad he knows math, poor guy doesn’t realize he’s only got four toes and a dewclaw on each paw, not six. He glances around, searching the long grasses that sit next to the bank until he sees some grasses that are just tough enough to weave into a net. "We can use these grasses to weave a net. I can show you so you can catch as much fish as you want!"

When he replied, she realised what she had said and for a moment she was worried she might have caused offence. Thankfully, Mac seemed to be pretty great too. Still, she should probably clear that up. "Sorry! I meant yer taxidermy guts! Even if I do have to fight Ghouls lizard things for em... but I'm sure yer guts are just as good! I won't eat 'em while you're usin' 'em!" She could see how he would be brother's with Ghoul, they were both so big! She didn't comment on his pale eye or the fresh scar running across his face, but she was sure she had heard somewhere that there was something that could help with it... If not, well she was sure she could whip something up that could make him forget about it for a while if he needed to at least.

When he explained what a net was for, Crickets green eyes grew wide. "I couldn't even fit a whole fish in me!" That was why she had been going after the crawfish, but she supposed, now she was part of a pack, she really needed to think about more than herself. She ducked under the gangly man and poked her head out between his front legs to get a closer look at what he was going to do with the grass. There wasn't as much headroom as she had with Ghoul, but now they were all pack mates, she was allowed to hide under him, just in case of big birds or bobcats, right?

It's time to raise the curtain

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"Speech!"
Cricket is an interesting girl, and she clears up quickly that she wouldn't eat Mac's guts - not without his permission anyways! He grins. He can be sharp when he needs to be, but that's an awful rarity. Most of the time, he didn't really utilize whatever braincells he still possessed over his young life. Some would say that's a shame - but he didn't really care. He continued to try and weave a small net the best he could; without dexterous paws, it was a roughly braided net, but would be effective enough to catch some poor creature in the waters. She seems impressed at how much he says he can catch - she even slips beneath his legs to watch his handiwork. Mac doesn't mind in the least - now his chest won't get soaked as he works! Once he finishes the roughly-hewn net, he gently reaches forward into the hallows of the creek, letting Cricket watch from beneath him as he attaches part of a net to a heavy stone. It was his idea that some small fishes and maybe even a little crayfish will get trapped in the net. He beams widely, glancing down at the girl the best he can. "And now we wait! Soon we'll have like, a bunch of fishes to eat!"

Cricket was in awe as Mac placed the net in the creek. It was all she could do to keep herself from running forward to check on it straight away. Instead she had content herself with hopping from one foot to another, too excited to see the results to stay still. But wouldn't it be even cooler if they took back twice as many fish? The idea had her bounding forward to gather up grass blades of her own, attempting to lay them out like Mac had, but no matter which way she turned her head or poked her tongue, it didn't seem to be coming together.

Finally, she thought she had the first part done in rough enough fashion for someone without dexterous paws, "Am I doin' it right?" She questioned Mac as she made haphazard knots in the grasses, stopping every now and then to check the holes weren't big enough to stick her whole paw through. She was sure she could do the thing... It still just needed some finishing touches.

”Speech”  ’Thought’

It's time to raise the curtain