TABLE & CODE © SKELLE 2022

Kore slowly walks along a well-trodden path, head hanging low as he watches the track under his paws. He has walked this trail multiple times a day since their family had settled here, it connects the family den to the shore of the mighty river that they reside by. Kal and Ao love to go down there, each for their own reasons. Kal tries to look for trouble (maybe not intentional but he always manages to find it) and Ao likes to squish around in the mud. Kore, the ever-vigilant brother, always tags along, playing the reluctant life guard to his siblings. He knows others think he is far too serious for his own good and, because of this, he has been trying to loosen up more. It is difficult but, when one of his numerous siblings had brought him some beeswax to play with, Kore had eagerly taken it.

The stuff was sticky and the galaxy clad pup became mesmerized when found he could roll the pliable wax between his paws to form odd things. He became so engrossed in the forming of shapes that the pup didn’t notice how much time was passing. When he finally cast his gaze away from the wax, he found that it was time to eat lunch. Quickly, the nebula-hued boy had moved to put the wax down and go to the river to wash up. Unfortunately, the wax refused to leave his warm paws and, when a very annoying bug had buzzed his ear, Kore had accidently shoved some of the stuff into his right ear. It wouldn’t have been so bad if that stupid bug hadn’t buzzed his other ear. Now, the galaxy-clad pup has both of his ears full of beeswax and is unable to hear almost everything.

Stupid games and trying to have fun. Kore can still hear some things but they have to be extremely loud. The healers had assured him that the beeswax will eventually fall out but until then… the depressed pup heaves a loud grumble as he approaches the family den, uncertain how to explain this to anyone. Hopefully Kalyke has already finished his lunch and is back at the shore, he really doesn’t want to face anyone right now. Stupid beeswax.


WC: 377
Total: 377/3500

"Kore Regni"

Kalyke had been doing what he called training. Since he got a bit clumsy at points working on fast footwork had seemed a great idea. So he’d tried running full speed and weaving about a patch of brush. Well, eventually he tripped up, and slammed into a bush and some vines. The pup tried shoving his way through but there were spikey thorns so Kal decided backing up was smarter it was thicker and so it went. Kal twisted himself about until finally, he got out.

Vines had twisted and entangled about him, constricting and painful in some areas. Kal chewed off some vine wrapped about his mid-section and slid some off his tail but the vines around his neck were up too high to chew off. He could still breathe but it was a strain and kinda scary. He tried to run back to his family but he couldn’t get enough air to run more than two or three strides before straining for air.

He was heading back to the den when a roar was heard and he spotted an agitated male bear that didn’t seem to like a half-choked pup in his area. Kal let out a howl for help, it rang out loud for a second before being cut off by his limited air. Kal backed up, looking up at the bear, showing his teeth and hackles off.

Kal imagined weave training alone had been a bad idea, for him at least. Hopefully, someone came to help. No way he could take on a bear alone and strangled. He hadn’t even fought one before with help!

WC Total 643 / 3500

"Kalyke"

Onyx had been wandering a little farther from the north as of late. She had a lot of things on her mind. She loved her family dearly, but she was struggling to find just where she belonged. It wasn't like she had options or anything. She had been left to her own den in the pines as was expected of her as she came of age. She didn't want to leave her parents and her siblings but there was just a part of her that wanted more. She didn't know if that was finding a pack or a group, finding a mate or at least a friend. She didn't know what she was after. Everything was sheer mystery. She guessed she just had to go out to explore more of herself but her days were filled mostly with aimless wandering and not really anything new to her. Even if she met someone new, or learned something new. Nothing ever sparked her.

Her mind had been wandering to Kuroki and Cina as of recently though. She wondered if they had ever thought of her too, though that seemed pretty silly to think. She wasn't sure if she was just lonely and as age come upon her maybe she just wanted a friend. She wasn't great at making them. She was pretty hard headed and harsh. She hadn't realized she had pushed Cina away, but now that she hadn't seen Kuroki in some time she was wondering if it was her that was the problem. She was becoming rather insecure for such a tough girl, and she did her best to hide it. It was easy when she was around her family, and even easier around strangers.

She walked along the bank of the grande, her gaze down at the flowing river and the fish that swerved and flipped around inside. It was a little different than the north, at least where the lakes were frozen over and the fish were easier to see moving under the ice. She was lost in her own empty thoughts inside her head. All she heard was the heavy fluttering of some kind of bird before it hit her face and smacked her around. She was quite surprised, stopping dead in her tracks as her head thrashed around while she foolishly fought off with this bird. The bird wasn't even attacking her, and she only realized that after it thunked onto the ground and moved across the river. It had left a thick substance over her eyes, tar? Maybe it was honey? She couldn't even tell. Her eyes became hard to open and when she rubbed her face on her leg the thick, sticky stuff just seemed to get worse on her face and now onto her leg.

She couldn't see anything, her eyes completely shut in the goo and her first thought after a moment was to get down to the river and try to wash it off. But she had to be careful, she couldn't get caught up in the rush of the water and float down the stream to drown. Her paws were careful as she moved forward, but the sound of the water was rather loud so she honestly couldn't tell how close or far she was or if she was even moving in the right direction. The fight with the bird had her all turned around too.

She did happen to hear the roar that was... was it close? It was awfully loud so she expected that it was pretty close. Her wondering came to a halt as she ended up smacking into the rear of the bear, not knowing of the pup tangled in vines or the other that might have been nearby. She tensed immediately, jumping back a step but fumbling over the uneven ground where her eyes couldn't see her paw's own obstacles. She didn't suppose she could run... so in response she growled out before snapping her jaws hoping to find some kind of purchase. But she didn't.

Seasonal Bonus Prompt
Total Word Count: 1,314 words
Word Count Goal: 3,500 words

"Onyx Destruction"
F2U base by Snowylaika

The beeswax that is firmly lodged in Kore’s ear canals blocks out the sound of the world around him. It is strange, looking around and seeing the birds sitting on branches but not hearing the songs they are singing. A feeling of isolation begins to settle over the pup that is cloaked in the night sky. Eyes roam over the world around, ears instinctively moving to try and pick up sounds but finding none. Huffing, the boy calms his mind and closes his eyes, lifting his nose slightly to scent the breeze. His sense of smell seems to sharpen in response to the lack of hearing and, with his eyes closed, nose pulling in the smells, the nebula-hued pup is able to layout a map in his mind. Nose gently twitches as he finds his family’s scents, placing them on his mental checkerboard with each sniff. Many are down by the water, enjoying the cool breeze that flows off the river, while Kal seems to playing in the brush some ways off.

Brows furrow when he finds another, unknown wolf’s scent lingering on the wind and he places a red marker on his mental map to keep better track of them. For a while, the boy just stands there, mapping out his world in a new way. Nose twitches as he captures all the smells and, to his great surprise, finds things that he might normally miss; like the traces of honeysuckle that hide under everything. Sure, he cannot hear anything but Kore is finding there is so much more to world then just sounds. In his mind’s eye he watches as Kalyke gives up on his play and begins to make his way toward Kore and their family den, while the unknown wolf begins to move away from the shore line. The wind shifts and alarm spreads through the galaxy-painted boy, causing his eyes to snap open and his paws to pull him toward Kal and deadly bear that seems to have appeared out of thin air.

Kore cannot hear the roar of the agitated grizzly but he doesn’t need to, his nose leads him true and soon he finds his brother, who has vines wrapped around his neck, and is just in time to watch as the unknown female smacks right into bear’s ass. Groaning inwardly, the pup wonders how they can chase off a bear with him deaf, the unknown wolf apparently blind, and Kal struggling to breathe. What was that word his grandfather used a lot? Fuck. Is this a ‘fuck’ type situation? As the stranger backs up to snap at thin air, he groans out loudly. Looking to Kal, Kore begins to form a plan and shouts, “Kal! Get to the lady and help to keep her balanced. I don’t think she can see. I’ll keep the bear’s attention! Figure out how to let her know when and where to strike!” Since he has beeswax in his ears, Kore cannot tell how loud his voice is, so when he speaks, he makes sure try and raise his voice since it wouldn’t help if he was whispering everything.

After asking Kalyke to become the blind lady’s seeing eye wolf, Kore rushes in to fulfill his part of the plan. He isn’t afraid of the bear or the situation, just annoyed that they all seem to all have something ‘wrong’ with them. However, if they can learn how to help each other overcome their disadvantages, the galaxy boy is certain they can drive this grizzly away. For a pup, Kore is surprisingly agile and graceful, which quckily becomes apparent as he runs in, dodging swing paws and snapping jaws to deliver a strong bite to the angry beast’s back leg before weaving his way out from under the deadly creature, Kore reappears behind the bear, moving to join Kal and the unknown wolf. Looking to the other two, Kore offers a grin before readying himself to strike again.


WC: 661
Total WC: 2002/3500

"Kore Regni"

Kal was in a bad spot, that much was easy to figure out.  Really, he was probably dead.  The bear was angry at him and Kal was more than happy to flee but he couldn’t breathe well enough to run like the bear wanted.  Kalyke tried tilting his head to bite at the vines but it just made the vine dig into his neck deeper.  Yup, life was good but it would be short.  

The pup stopped trying to flee when his hero arrived!  Sort of hero arrived?  Looking at the wolf that came he quickly realized that the wolf was blind.  Just great.  The young pup’s mind rolled through options between leaving and helping and figured the only reason he wasn’t laughing was the vine warning him it’d take more air than his body wanted to give.  The whole situation was ridiculous.

Then Kore showed up and was yelling which was another sign of problems but at least he came up with some good ideas.  No doubt the stranger had heard them.  She surely had already saved his life by just getting the bear’s attention on her instead of a kid, whether or not she’d realized that.  Kal decided to follow his sibling’s advice and headed towards Onyx.

The bear had been focused on the threat of the adult wolf but even a cub could tell the adult was blind and there were two pups that would be an easy grab.  With one heading towards the adult and Kore interested in grabbing its attention, the bear was more than happy to go get the baiting wolf pup.

“Hey, Hey!” Kal’s choked voice had a note of urgency, “Lady,  the bear’s turnin away from ya but goin towards my brother! This wasn't how his first bear encounter should go.  Not that there was likely a guidebook out there but this was ridiculous. “It’s uh, uh,” Kal was gonna say how many strides away but that was his strides versus her strides.  “You’ll run straight up his butt again if you run straight.” Kal kept an eye on the bear and his brother with some concern.  Kore definitely had better balance than Kal. “How can we help? I can’t really run right now.”  He could explain why and how he was being choked by a vine but there wasn’t really time at the moment.

WC 393
Total: 2395/3500

"Kalyke"

Onyx jolted to the sound of the loud pup with the booming voice. Maybe it was because her hearing substituted for the temporary blindness, but really it was just hard to concentrate. Her stance was strong as she faced the bear, but was she really facing the bear? She couldn't tell. It did seem that there was more than one pup here, though Onyx couldn't even tell they were pups. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. She wasn't really a save the day type, the only reason she was fighting off the bear blind was for her own life. Though she supposed the help was welcome. If it was her time to go however... that's how it was meant to be.

Onyx's brow furrowed as one told the other to help her, but she didn't respond. Yeah she was blind, at least for the moment. She would have gladly had a valiant fight to her death. But if they were more capable, why not distract the bear so that she could get away and then the same for them? She wasn't aware of their own temporary disabilities. She couldn't be. Instead she was left wondering why they were asking her to help fight off a bear blind... that seemed pretty dumb.

The sound of the new pup's voice was alarming... but she could just write it off as something the pup was born with or very simply it was sick. Ugh she did not want to think about catching anything after The Long Night. She couldn't really worry about keeping her distance in their predicament, she just had to go forward with this plan from the pair of strangers. She guessed she could relate to having that stronger bond with her siblings, this was a brother on brother pair. So maybe she felt a little more inclined to help. She wasn't sure.

Onyx was only getting more frustrated as the pup went on. Trying to help her of course, but she wasn't quite good with anyone and especially pups. She paid little attention to what the pup told her even while it may have seemed like she took a moment to listen. Maybe it came off more like she was confused, but that wasn't the case at all. Instead she took another large step forward, bumping into the back of the bear again and probably getting it's attention. She could feel the vibrations on the soil as it's heavy paws shifted over the firm ground. She quickly jumped back before it could get a swipe at her.

With her head shaking lightly before her chin pulled in to itself, she muttered almost nearly under her breath, "Maybe if you went over and tripped it up." She didn't mean it to be serious, but you know, tripping up the bear may have certainly helped them. Though putting his life in danger... which would weigh more to the pup beside her?

Seasonal Bonus Prompt
Total Word Count: 2,883 words
Word Count Goal: 3,500 words

"Onyx Destruction"
F2U base by Snowylaika

Kore watches Kal as his brother moves, doing as the nebula-hued boy had instructed and making his way to the blind wolf. Seeing that Kalyke is doing as instructed, the galaxy-clad pup quickly shifts his attention back to the bear, noting that the beast has its mouth open. In the silence that the beeswax offers, Kore finds that, where there should be an ear-splitting roar, there is only silence and a grin finds its way onto his lips. Not so intimidating without sound mister grizzly. In response to the bear’s show of anger, a growl builds in Kore’s chest. He feels it move up into his throat, rolling past his vocal cords until it rips out past his bared teeth. Front legs spread as he drops his center of gravity, his fighting training kicking in as ears pin back, eyes narrow, scruff scrunches and tail tucks.

This bear is going down.

A throaty snarl rents the air, finding its way out of Kore’s throat as he lunges forward to snap at the air near one of the bear’s front legs, successfully pulling its attention away from Kal and the wolf. Bright blue eyes spare a glance over to the stranger and his brother, finding that Kalyke’s lips are moving. Good, everything will be okay now, they can work as a team. Eyes shift back to the angry bear and the boy made of nebulas has to dance backward a few steps to avoid a huge paw swinging at him. The world may be silent but Kore is noticing new things. Like the way the cluster of muscles of the shoulder bunch when it prepares a swing. Or the subtle shifting of weight off the paw that will make the swipe.

Watching a moment more, the boy waits until he sees the telltale shifting that signals it will be swinging its left paw. Kore had been preparing for it, pulling his own weight off his front paws while keeping his form. The moment the paw is up in the air, he pushes off the ground with his back paws, releasing the coiled energy in an explosion of speed. Running straight at the bear, he waits until the last possible minute to shift toward the lifted paw, running under the attack and around the side of the bear. As he passes its back leg, the nebula-clad pup delivers a sharp bite that has the grizzly turning to follow him. Or, at least he thinks it follows him. As he makes his way behind the bear, Kore spies the blue wolf and his brother but… she is backing up?

As the pup made of stars runs out of attack range, he spins to see the paw swipe wasn’t aimed at him but the stranger. He comes to stand in line with the other two and Kore shoots his brother a grin before looking back to the bear. It roars at the trio, and another smile appears as the pup cannot hear it. He does not take his eyes off the bear, he cannot afford to. A strategy forms as he looks at the hulking beast. His brother cannot run because he cannot breathe. The unknown wolf cannot see where the bear is going to attack. Its time to level the playing field. Eyes search the bear’s muscle groups, looking to see which paw will be swinging next. There it is, the subtle shift off the right paw and the tensing of its right shoulder. The attack is plan to see and Kore lowers his center of gravity and shifts his weight back in preparation.

The moment the right paw begins to lift off the ground, the galaxy pup is off and running. Paws churn as he bolts the short distance toward the grizzly, aiming for it left front leg. The bear’s attack is locked in, the swing already being released when the boy lowers his head and collides with his target. He feels the leg buckle as he slams full force into the middle. He knows the moment the tendons stretch to their limits, in the bear’s leg, and when he pushes them past said limit. Bone snaps, tendons pull away from the bone and the grizzly, with his right paw raised, crashes onto its side. The hit jars Kore, sending him reeling to the ground but he quickly regains his paws and gives his head a small shake. Looking to his brother and blue wolf, he smiles while the bear flails its three working legs.

Time to end its life.



WC: 758
Total WC: 3,641/3,500

"Kore Regni"