Bonus seasonal - hunting/healing

Cricket wasn't quite sure what had possessed her to travel so far from Insomnia. Surely Ghoul and Mac were worried, and she wasn't sure either of them would quite be up to travelling this far yet, but she really wanted to add some Kava to her growing collection of plants, and hadn't managed to find any within the vicinity of the tar pits. At least she knew the climate down this way would be right for growing it.

A giant wave had almost swept her clean off the land bridge, she had to dart around pack borders and cautiously climb down the side of a slippery waterfall. As surefooted as the tiny wolf was, she didn't have the reach of a larger wolf, so everything seemed to be so much more effort. Now she stood at the edge of a vaguely familiar twisted wood. Her twitchiness was gone, replaced with determination. The sooner she got what she came here for, the sooner she could get home.

She took a small blade she had borrowed from Mac, and used it to carve an arrow into the tree trunk facing back the way she had come from. She would have to stop every few trees to make sure she could see the one before when she carved the next. She had no intention of getting lost in this creepy wood. The air smelled damp and earthy, just like the plants she sought, but each time her green eyes fell on where she thought the plants might be, all that was left was stalks. Someone was going to be so chilled when she snuck up on them to slit their throat and recover the plants from their digestive tract!

The small green wolf would have ground her molars together if she didn't still have the small blade clutched between her teeth. Cricket couldn't help but take it personally. She had come all this way, and for what? Stems? Determined to find the creature responsible, the girl scanned the surroundings, dropped her nose to the ground and the bushes and the twisted tree trunks, searching for any clue that would lead her to the culprit.

An earthy, musky aroma tickled her nose. She followed the scent across the ground and up, up, up the tree until she couldn't stretch any higher. There, more than just out of reach, was a russet brown bottom attached to an impossibly long tail. It's deer-like head turned to look down at her as it clutched more kava leaves between its front paws and slowly munched away.

Cricket's frustration morphed into a fiery determination and she dropped the knife at the bottom of the tree. She clawed at the trunk of the tree and barked. She pushed at the tree with her paws to try and shake it to no avail and made a god-awful racket. The tree kangaroo was too fucking stoned to pay her any mind, as she began hopping on her back legs trying to reach the lowest lying branch to pull herself up and push this asshole clean off his branch. All this way for what? He better not have eaten every plant in the goddamn woods.

”Speech”

It's time to raise the curtain

-534/2500-

It had been a dare. A goddamn dare that had the small girl trekking all the goddamn way down here. Her family band was currently staying all the way up north with her old man Sirius. Well, he wasn't actually her old man, but Gramps was Granny Venom's godfather or something like that so basically her gramps. Kind of like Vidarr who wasn't actually Mama Cel's dad, but close enough that he was also her gramps. Or maybe it was like Grampa Chi who was actually her uncle of some sort because he was granny Venom's brother. But they were all gramps to the sprite. All there to help guide her to not get into too much trouble. Except for right now. Because right now, miss Hattori-Klein Philadelphia (she wasn't sure why her dad wanted her to say her last name first- something about Grampa Hanzino or whatever his name was and his culture whatever that was too but Mama Cel agreed so she tried her best) had somehow managed to make her way all the way down to Auster. There was this vague feeling of someone following her. Not another wolf, but a companion. Not her companion because mister grump was here, faithfully walking beside her. Was it her dad's companion? That kite or the dog? Gosh, the dog really didn't like mister grump. Anyways, Delphi was convinced she would make it back to Armada alive because she had mister grump with her, someone else's companion was definitely tagging along, and she was almost one year old. Being almost one year old meant that she needed to get good at something. Lately, she had been interested in hunting like Mama Cel and Unagi and Zoey, but she wasn't sure she could be good at it yet. She was so much smaller than everyone else and that meant hunting anything large like a deer was super duper hard! But one thing she was good at was healing. Well, not healing perse, but something close to it. She could bandage up a wound nice and tight and she had a knack for being fearless when it came to taste-testing all those different plants. Which surprise, is leading back to the reason why Delphi was going down to Auster, to begin with. So there had been this time when she and her sister, Aji, had found some Cannabis. It made one feel good when ingesting it, but boy it was disgusting. Sticky, tacky, bitter, and stinky. Stinky enough to make your nose wrinkle more than a pissed-off skunk. Which usually wasn't a big deal because being pups, they really didn't have any reason to "feel good," whatever that meant. She and Aji didn't have a reason to until Tama mentioned that Mumma Cy wasn't doing well. She was sad. So sad that it was sadder than that time she had stepped on a thorn. Which meant Delphi also wanted to help her feel better by feeling good! But she didn't want to submit Mumma Cy to eating that nasty Cannabis plant. The solution had been to ask Zoey and Ulmaria where they could find a plant that was like Cannabis but not Cannabis. Zoey and Ulmaria had both told her that there was a plant by the name of Kava but it was pretty rare and it was only found in Auster. Delphi had never heard of Auster before since the band had never been south of Wolfpaw Lake. Logically, the girls knew that their parents would never let them go to Auster alone. Plus, Da had mentioned that Grampa Hanzino lived down in Auster so waiting would have been the better option. Delphi being Delphi, she didn't want to wait. She wanted to help Mumma Cy now. This led to her feeling rather conflicted. How was she supposed to help Mumma Cy but also not break any rules? The answer was simple - she had to break the rules. She wasn't planning on doing that, but ultimately Aji had triple dog dared her to go and get some. Why not? What was the worst that could have happened? This led to the adventure of a lifetime! The little sprite nearly died several times. Stumbling down the fjord, almost swept away from the land bridge, trespassing accidentally several times. It had not been an answer journey and she had spent most of her time focusing on not forgetting what she was even searching for. She had never seen this plant before so finding it was going to be extra hard. Especially when she approached the spooky forest with mangled trees and thick fog. Her bi-colored eyes looked to mister grump with a worried expression. "You think it's safe? Delphi had whispered before mister grump grunted in her direction and took off into the sinister-looking woods. Quick to follow her companion with the other companion close behind, Delphi soon noticed the etched arrows in the bark of trees. Noticing that it was spaced apart every few trees, she wondered who was doing that. It was hard to scent anything in this dim and desolate place so she decided to take the lead and lead mister grump deeper in by following the arrows. What felt like ages passed before a cacophony of noise scattered any living thing that was nearby. Both of Delphi's ears perked up as she paused in her step. What had that been? Curiosity would always get the best of her as she began to race off toward the noise. Quickly, she assessed that it was barking. Someone else was in here! Picking up her pace, Delphi forgot about the arrows as she got closer to the racket. As she rounded a corner and entered a small clearing, she saw a girl who was slightly smaller than herself barking at an animal in a tree. When she looked at the ugly animal who was undeterred by the other girl, Delphi noticed it chewing on some plants. Lifting her nose in the air, she began to smell something peppery which is what Ulmaria had told them to look for when describing the plant. This was what she needed and that damn animal was eating it! "I can help you!" Delphi nearly squeaked as she rushed over to the tree the green girl was barking up. Jumping up and smacking her own front paws against the trunk, she also began barking at the tree kangaroo. Even though it lazily looked down upon them as if they were nothing but bugs, Delphi would still try. She could only assume that it was eating the plants she was looking for so they needed revenge! Her high-pitched bark was dampened by the surrounding fog as she continued to jump up and try to climb the tree.

1663/2500

Cricket was so focused on unleashing her frustration through animalistic snarls and barks that she didn't realise she had company until the other girl smacked into the tree next to her and added her own barks to the chorus. It didn't seem to phase the tree kangaroo at all, but as soon as the girl said she could help, Cricket dropped behind her and put her head between the other girls legs, trying to take some of her weight on her shoulders to try and boost the other wolf up. She wasn't much bigger than Cricket, but maybe if she sacrificed herself as a step the other girl would be able to get close enough to knock the creature down and then she could get it!

She braced her paws against the trunk, still growling deep in her chest with determination. She was gonna get the thing! and she was gonna find a way to drag it home and ask Mac to pretty please turn it into taxidermy! and she would chew on it's tail whenever the fancy took her!

It was then that she finally noticed the long clawed black thing. "D'ya think he could climb up an' push it down?" It wasn't her companion so she didn't want to go bossing it around, but he sure did look like he was better built for climbing than they were.

”Speech”  ’Thought’

It's time to raise the curtain

-1895/2500-

Delphi was happy to help. Her paws smacking against the bark as slobber fell from her lips. High pitched screeches that were attempts at fierce barks left her as the tree kangaroo continued to look down on them with disappointed. Was that all they really had? A shame. It was quite aggravating not being large enough to jump up onto the tree to get that dang animal! Focused in on helping, she didn’t notice the green girl move back down to the ground. Suddenly, she was being shoved up the trunk of the twisted tree. A yelp left her lips from surprise as she looked down between her legs. Her tail wagged excitedly as she let out another chirp. “Maybe we can get him now!!” Delphi called out as she stabilized herself on the girl’s shoulders and continued to bark up the tree. The kangaroo lookin’ thing was just barely out of reach. And with the closeness of the girls now, it decided to wander farther up into the gnarled branches. “Dammit!” Delphi thumped on the tree before looking back down at the girl. It was then that her eyes lit up and she nodded excitedly. “Oh, he loves doing things I ask him to do!” She exclaims before jumping off of the girl’s shoulders. Upon landing, she turns to Mister Grump who has taken a seat not far off to watch the show. The obvious look of amusement on his face says it all. “I know you understood her. So will you help us out?” Delphi turns her puppy-dog eyes on the binturong as her lip sticks out into a pout. Blinking rapidly, she wags her tail and waited for her companion’s response. A few second pass by as their chance for to take the kangaroo down starts to slip away. Finally, Mister Grump shrugs and lets out a sigh. ”Only if I can also have some of the plant,” his grizzled old man voice comes out and Delphi’s brow scrunches. “YOU CAN TALK?!” Her voice is near shouting as she follows the animal to the tree where the green girl still is. All she can see is the little smirk on the bearcat’s face and she wants to swat at him. She had spent the entire trip from northern Boreas to Auster talking to herself because her companion had not spoken a single damn word! Letting out a defeated growl, Delphi stands at the base of the tree where the green girl is and stares up at the kangaroo. Watching her companion begin to climb with agile movements surprised her once more. Maybe she had just never really paid attention to the binturong to really notice he had any usefulness other than friendship. Mister Grump (though he would soon tell her he hated that name) climbed up the tree with his claws digging into the bark. Unknowing if the tree kangaroo could speak common tongue or not, he inched closer with caution. ”Care to share?” He tried to ask as he reached out a paw toward the animal. It’s response was to smack back and continue farther up into the treetop. With a roll of his eyes, the binturong follows with a pep in his step and is able to grab ahold of its tail with his paws. As he digs in, he leans left and then right with all his might and feels the tree kangaroo lose its footing and fall from the branches. Letting go before he follows with, he looks down at the girls as the tree kangaroo lands near them. Delphi wiggles in excitement as she quickly pounces at their prey. Landing on top of him, she flashes her fangs in his direction. “Share or lose your life,” she threatens, hoping the other girl will come help her get the plants from the animal.

2535/3500