What was it! Wylan had never seen such a funny creature before. He waddled through the undergrowth, hunched over so he could follow the creature. It didn't seem to care that a bird-wolf was following after it. It sniffed at this pile of grass, and that pile of grass. But when Wylan sniffed the same spots he couldn't figure out what was so interesting about it.

He followed the creature through a few more patches of grass, and then spotted Ursa. He waved his sister over with a few flaps of his wings. "Ursa, Ursa, look at this!" He said, pointing at the funny snuffly creature. "Ever seen anything like it?"


"Speech"

Interestingly enough, Ursa had been digging at some roots to take back to their mother. The moment she could understand the common tongue, she began soaking in everything there was to learn about the world around them. Every root, leaf, stem, and trunk was fascinating to her; and her favorite part was digging them up. Totally focused on carefully digging up the wild mint she had found, she was taken by surprise when she heard a snuffling noise followed by padding paws. Lifting her head, her dark eyes watched the hunched-over animal waddle along with her brother following. Tilting her head to the side, she watched silently until Wylan began waving her over. Hesitating, Ursa is unsure if they should be following any animal at all. Wasn’t that dangerous? Her face scrunches up momentarily before she takes off after her winged brother to catch up with him. ”I haven’t,” her voice is a soft whisper as she walks with Wylan after the porcupine. URSA FATALIS

It didn’t take long for his sister to pull her attention from the roots and plants that had interested her. He felt a spike of interest of his own, wondering what she had found. He opened his mouth to ask her, and then the funny spiked creature was moving again. His attention distracted, he pounced another few steps forward. There was just… so much to see, and explore, and do! It was hard to keep track of one thing at a time.


Ursa was at his side in moments, and he moved his still-developing wing to lay over her. Like his father did with them all the time. His wing was still terribly small, but then, so was Ursa and Wylan. “Think we should touch it? I want to touch it!” He whispered. He wanted to know what those funny spikes on his back felt like!

"Speech"

Even though Wylan's wing was small, she still found comfort as he draped it over her back. A smile made her lips curl as she made sure to pounce forward with him toward the spiky-backed creature. Attempting to muffle her giggle with a paw, her lavender eyes wandered toward Wylan with curiosity. Touching it sounded like an awfully bad idea, but then again... it sounded like a really good idea too! What if they weren't sharp and poky? Something in the back of her head told her mama had mentioned using quills from some animal for hides, but it surely couldn't be this guy! "I think you should touch it!" She whispered back as her tail wagged happily behind her. Leaning in to nudge his shoulder with hers, she turned her gaze to the animal. If Wylan was brave enough to touch it first, she would definitely follow suit! URSA FATALIS

Well, If Ursa thought it was a good idea as well, then it must be, right! He grinned at his sister and gave her back a small pat with his extended wing. “Alright, I’m going for it” He whisper-hissed at his sister. As if the funny snuffly animal would understand them, or care. So far it hadn’t mind its trail of puppies, not one iota.

He hoped forward quickly, his wings fluttering beside him as he moved within touching distance of the creature. It’s back was so weird, like a birds, except they weren’t feathers. Right? He kind of expected them to be soft, anyway. He reached out a paw cautiously and patted its back. “Ow, ow, ow!” He yelped, coming to a stop and landing on his rump. His paw came away with its funny back things attached to it. “Help, it’s attacking me, it’s attacking me!” he cried, waving his throbbing paw around.


"Speech"

Ursa once more had to stifle a giggle so that the animal plodding along in front of them wouldn't hear. Of course, the animal could hear them. It wasn't like they were being sneaky. Their shuffling along and the ruffle of Wylan's feathers were not discreet. "I'll go next!" She whisper-hissed after him as he patted her on the back. Taking a pause in her steps as she watched her brother pounce forward, she could feel the thrill of adrenaline rise up in her. The anticipation of what would happen next made her legs shake. Clenching her teeth together tightly, her eyes widened as Wylan reached out a paw. In the next moment, Wylan's startled cries and the loud thump his butt made on the ground caused her to scream. Jumping up, Ursa also fell backward with an oof. With her eyes closed, she could hear her brother crying out that he was being attacked! Worried, scared, and all other feelings of turmoil over took Ursa. Peaking from under her paws, she rolled onto her side and saw the long quills sticking from her brother's paw pads. "Wylan!" Ursa screeched as she scrambled up onto her own paws and rushed over to him. "Ok, ok, ok, ok ok, we gotta, we gotta get these out! Right?" Her eyes are wide as her tongue stumbles over the words. "Do you want me to do it or do you want me to get mom?" There is an obvious tremble in Ursa's tone as she sits back and lightly puts her paws under her brother's to help support them. URSA FATALIS

Ow, ow, ow! Where was his sister? He could feel tears streaming down his face. Blurring his vision, and his nose was running. But most importantly, and making itself constantly known to him, was the pain in his paw. It hurt so much! “Ursa, Ursa!” He cried, and then his sister was there. He could see her through the curtain of his tears. If only just.

He sniffed, and wiped his nose on his none-throbbing paw. “I don’t know” He said, and there was a tremble in his voice. Was their mother be mad that they had touched The Thing? And he wanted them out, he wanted them out now. “Just do it, pull them out Ursa, please, they hurt!” He wailed, setting himself off again as he started to cry.

"Speech"

On the verge of tears herself, Ursa stared wide-eyed at Wylan's paws. The quills sticking out of them looked terrifying. How did those things come out of that animal? They didn't seem so sharp and poky on the animal! She is confused but puts it off for now because the wailing of her brother makes her heart race and her lips tremble. What was she going to do? He couldn't walk home! And getting mom would be... it would take way too long! Her expression screws up into a conflicted mess until Wylan is screeching at her to pull them out. "Ok, ok, I can do that..." Her own voice trembles as she stares at the quills. He had said to hurry but it looked so painful. Wouldn't it be painful pulling them out too? Afraid that if she waited any longer her brother would start to cry, Ursa takes in a deep breath. "Ok, here goes nothing!" There is uncertainty in her tone as she reaches down and yanks on one with her front teeth as hard as she can. URSA FATALIS

Not realising how much courage Ursa had to work up in order to pull something sharp and pokey out of his flesh, he continued to wave his paw in her face. His own vision blurred. He didn’t even get the chance to see it coming. Despite having asked her to do so, it came as a surprise when she suddenly ripped one of the quills free.

“Ahhh!” He yelped in shock, and then blinked a couple times. Clearing some of the blurriness from his vision. Oddly enough, this finally chased away his tears. He hiccuped, and sniffed a couple times. “Okay, now pull the rest” He said, feeling a little more braced for it this time.


"Speech"

Wylan's startled yelp made her lean back for a second. Her eyes cross to try and look at the spine in her mouth before quickly spitting it out. Careful not to step on it herself, she returns her focus back to Wylan who looks like he is thankfully in less pain. It makes her tail wag slightly as she is grateful that she can be of assistance to her brother. When he tells her to get the rest out, she nods before inhaling deeply, mentally preparing herself for what is to come. "Hold still. I'll try to be fast," she tries to speak up but it comes out in a whisper. There is a slight tremble in her body because she doesn't want to cause him pain. Leaning down, Ursa quickly yanks on the next one and pulls it free. Before she could give her brother time to really react, she spit it out and went for the next one and the one after that until all of the porcupine's quills were free from his skin. "How does it feel now?" Ursa asks softly as she cradles his paws in her own. "Do we need to go to mama? She can tell me what to do next," her voice is worried as she tries not to cry. URSA FATALIS