we will never be alone again

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 This forest was something else. Great black and grays of bark reached up to the sky, where they held branches filled with violent red leaves. The wind blew gently through the branches, shaking the leaves in soft movements that reminded him of long grasses, somehow, and that made him feel comforted for some reason. Crux had paused atop a small knoll, waiting for @Mordecai to catch up.

 From his (slight) vantage, he could look through the trees a bit further. In one of the directions, the blue hue of fog seemed to dissipate and lighten, and he squinted in that direction. A clearing, perhaps? He glanced back, towards where he'd parted from Mordi just a few minutes ago. He'd told him he'd be heading up the knoll, and indicated towards a small bush that looked like it might have berries. Crux himself wasn't hungry yet, but he knew his new friend likely was starving, if he'd picked up anything from the brown wolf.

 “Mordi!” he called over his shoulder, then glanced back to see if his new friend was nearby yet. If he was, he'd continue at normal volume - if not, his voice would be raised enough to hear. “Looks like a clearing up ahead that way,” his nose jolted to point in the direction of the lightening mist, “Let's check it out.”

+2 Discovery Points

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The beauty of the world around them was not lost on the brown wolf. His earthen-toned eyes would wander around as he followed the prince deeper into the red woodland. He was supposed to be on the lookout at all times from danger but it was hard not to get lost in what was around them. The bluishness of the fog in the distance and how the trees all seemed to be in an autumnal state. It was amazing! Although, it would be more amazing if there was some food around here. It wouldn't be a proper home without food!

Fortunately, they'd located a bush. Very promising because that likely meant there were even more bushes around here. What they found wasn't strawberries but they were blackberries which was good enough. He wasn't the type to be picky, after all. He also wasn't the type to be stingy and not share. Crux was his friend so he'd offered to share the berries but his companion didn't seem to really be hungry. He tried not to be too excited about the fact that he would have this whole bush to himself but he was so giddy. 

So, when Crux continued up the knoll, Mordecai laid into the bush with gusto. The blackberries were so delicious! They disappeared into his mouth in multiples at a time. He ate them without prejudice with his tiny tail waggling the whole time. He'd nearly cleared the entire thing when he heard his name called. He lifted his head, ears twitching as he turned to look at Crux at the top of the hill. "Coming!" He called before frantically looking for the last of the berries. He found them near the bottom and quickly shoved them into his mouth before turning and running up to his companion. 

Berry-stained, smelling very sweet, and with a mouth packed like a chipmunk, he came abreast of the other man and looked down where he'd indicated. Unable to speak due to his mouth being stuffed, he nodded his head and made an eager "mmhmm!" sound. With that, he walked down to the clearing with Crux while he chewed the fruits in his mouth. He'd kinda gone overboard a bit with the food but he was loathe to spit out the oversaturation of food. Instead, after coming to a halt in the center of the field, he forced himself to chew and then swallow, groaning as he nearly choked on the blackberries. He raised a wrist, hitting himself in the chest and belching which made him feel much better. "Okay! That hit the spot!" He looked around then, wondering if there was anything nasty hiding in the perimeter of the clearing. He lifted his nose to sniff and began to trot this way and that way with ears perked and eyes peeled to make sure that nothing would sneak up on him or the prince. He twitched, heading jerking around to the east as he saw movement. Fearlessly he stepped forward, prepared to head off any interlopers but he saw that it was nothing but a rabbit fleeing into some unseen hole. Phew... that was good.

+2 Discovery Points

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@Mordecai

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 His guard-of-sorts had been pretty content to dive into the bush upon his refusal, so Crux wasn't in too much of a rush to drag him away from it. Crux personally preferred meat, and if the faint sounds coming from the distance were any indication, they'd soon come across fish-flesh. His tail swayed in a slight wag at the thought, though it slowed when Mordi came up behind him and struggled to make a noise of agreement. The speckled male smiled to himself and followed, stepping lightly behind his colleague.

 He slowed to a stop in the clearing, peering around thoughtfully. It was... pretty normal for a forest clearing. Evidently, a tree had fallen to make way for light to make it to the surface. He wandered over to its remains and inspected the trunk. Partially-rotted but with very distinct, sharp scrapes leading to a point. He frowned, inspecting them more carefully. “Don't you think these look like teeth marks? But not a carnivore's teeth.” He didn't know the name for it, but the semi-aquatic creature — Beaver! had definitely been here and had taken the tree.

 “A prey thing, perhaps!” He inspected the rough earth and noted a furrow leading off one way. Leaning down to sniff it, he looked back at Mordecai. “Only smells a few days old, perhaps we can catch up to it?” If they could find a continuous source of food, they'd be better off. Bushes could only line a stomach for so long.

+2 Discovery Points

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 The large brown wolf turned back towards his companion, and then trotted back to see the tree that he'd indicated. He lowered his nose towards the weirds scrapes, brow furrowing as he inspected it. As he took in the musky, water-ish scent of the animal, images of the creature in question flashed into his mind, although he too blanked on the proper name. "Oh yeah! One of those flat-tailed bucked-toothed thingies, I bet!" Mordecai said proudly, happy that he was able to think of the animal in question... sort off. He then gave a cheeky grin to Crux. "Anything's a prey-thing if you try hard enough!" And then he gave a laugh. He knew that he'd had some times where he tried too hard to make some tiny animal his "prey" and ended up with either a scratched face or a stomachache.

 "You bet!" He was always down for tracking down prey! With that he snuffled at the scent some more and began to follow the trail on the earth as well as the trail by scent. He wasn't the best tracker in the world but it wasn't as if this scent was being covered up. It was fairly easy to follow it down, down, down towards the edge of the clearing where the sound of water was becoming more and more prevalent. Wow! Water wasn't a thing he'd thought about but it'd be good to have it here in their new home. Where there was water there was fish as well! "Oooohh, I wonder if we'll find salmon here? They're real easy to catch!" A memory came rushing back at him, of standing in water while the fish practically leapt into his awaiting jaws.

+2 Discovery Points

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@Mordecai

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 “Oh yeah?” Crux peered at the marks again, “I assume you've seen one before? I haven't, at least I'm not quite sure what you're talking about...” he paused for a moment, then grinned. “Let's check it out!” He followed behind Mordi, quickly but careful not to slide down the hill, which was scattered with piles of leaves of that same deep red. Thankfully, they had none of the slime that leaves that were decayed seemed to, though he was sure they had to decay at some point - right? It would make no sense for them to be forever perfect red leaves.

 Crux scanned through the trees as he followed, eyes flashing from root to branch to trunk, watching for any creatures - be they prey or predator. The sound of water grew louder and he grinned. “Running water has to have fish! Plus, it won't be stagnant so it should be safe to drink.” He'd once been dared to drink water from near a tar pit from his homeland. It had been disgusting and he'd felt like lying in bed for what felt like weeks. He nodded at Mordi, tail wagging fiercely behind him.

 They broke through the forest of red, the sky above bright enough that he had to pause and blink hard to get used to the brightness. A river spanned on either side of them up ahead and he noticed a strange layer of sticks growing down the river. In the distance near these sticks, tiny brown forms popped out of and into the water, and he noticed several were pulling a fallen tree towards the water from the shore. He turned to the right, where he could see in the distance what looked like a landmass in the midst of the river - long and wide but surrounded by water. “Shall we check out that island or the creatures this way?”

+2 Discovery Points

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 Mordecai was all to happy to keep explaining about the "flat-tailed" things. He felt like he was being smart! Like a tour guide or something. So, he smiled and prattled on about what he knew. "Oh yeeeaahh, or at least... I think so. My memories of before-before are kinda real fuzzy." He narrowed an eye and stared upwards at the bright sky above, which rapidly began to shrink due to them leaving the clearing and heading back towards the treeline. "They like, make these weird homes in water and get real mad if you try to just take one tiny stick..." Now that he remembered. It was like a flash of memory. Snatching a stick and then being met by angry dull --but surprisingly sharp-- teeth.

 They followed the sound of water, listening as it steadily grew louder until they found it. Crux's words only made the man even more excited so that a whine of anticipation escaped his throat as they sloshed through the leaves. He could barely contain his joy after they broke the treeline again and made it to the edge of the water. The large brown fellow let out an excited whoop. He eyed everything from the water to the dam to the island. He kneaded the soil beneath his claws as he stared at the busy water-creatures, making the wooden thing just like he'd said. He felt so excited that he was actually right! "Ah, um... hmm..." He frowned, looking between the river-creatures and the island and back again. He hummed and hawed for a moment until he made a decision. "Oh oh, what if we look at the island first because it looks cool! And then, can we chase the river-creatures? Please please please?" He asked with soft brown eyes looking up at Crux. Maybe they'd even catch one! Oh! And he might be able to steal a stick this time with some help!

+2 Discovery Points

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@Mordecai

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 That... made all too much sense and Crux blinked in embarrassment. “I don't think I ever saw one,” he mused, looking back at the clearing before moving ahead. “Homes in the water? Don't they drown?” What did this strange creatures look like? Large enough to drag a tree, apparently. The thought was thrilling and Crux felt the urge to hunt one down, even just for a look. Just a taste.

 Crux watched his friend prance about at the edge of the water and he laughed softly, approaching from behind to stand next to his friend. He stared downriver at the brown moving dots - they must have been what they were talking about. The cluster of sticks did look incredible. From the distance, the creatures looked tiny against the sticks, but even more so when Crux realized that the sticks were in fact tree logs, shoved into the water and nestled together.

 Mordi suggested they continue to the island and Crux had to agree, looking up to inspect the sky. “Sounds good to me - it doesn't look like the creatures are going anywhere anytime soon.” He grinned and headed along the shore towards the island. Up ahead he noticed some gray shapes rising out of the water. Could it be that easy? “Look at that,” he said, indicating ahead, “Are those stepping-stones? A bit far apart, but definitely close enough for us to jump across.” He stared eagerly at them and the island beyond, its trees raising into the sky and blocking the view of within, though it was large enough that he knew that it looked like a decent spot to rest. Unless, of course, something bigger was there already.

+2 Discovery Points

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[narrow width=450] Mordecai shook his head in reply. "Nope!" He announced proudly as he stared at the busy critters in the water as they built their dam and dragged huge logs around. "I think they can breathe in the water!" Which was one-hundred percent untrue but Mordecai had no way of knowing that that was the case.

 "Ha! Yeah! They're like busy lil' bees, aren't they?" The large man said with a laugh as he turned away from the water's edge so that they could head towards the island. He bounced along behind Crux, keeping an eye on everything around them. Noticing the pretty scenery, mostly comprised of the red leaves and blue fog. As they hugged the shoreline, he could see fishes swimming about in the water. Some white, some gold, some brown or gray, or some combination thereof. He knew none of the names of the fish and certainly wouldn't recongize if he was looking at salmon but he was happy to see that they had their choice of food here swimming around. Both the flat-tailed things and the aquatic creatures. At one point he was certain that he saw a turtle poke its head above the water before quickly hiding away again. He wondered how fun it would be to gnaw on a turtle shell?

 "Look at that." His attention shifted from that portion of the water to where Crux had indicated as he came abreast of the man. It appeared as if there were stones to step on there to reach the island. How convenient! Mordecai, initially, was quite excited about that! It would be super easy to reach the other side then. Of course, in the next instant he realized that he had to be graceful enough to make it across... ooofff... He was not the most graceful wolf in the world by far.

 He stared at the rocks, cheeks puffed out in trepidation. "Uh, eeyup! Those're... those're stepping stones, alright." He said with a nervous chuckle. He could swim though, if he fell in it should be fine! He could just climb back up and keep going. Easy-peasy. "You want that I should try first, Prince Crux?" Because that's what guarding was all about, to make sure that this could be done safely enough. Even if he had the grace of a drunken elephant.

+2 Discovery Points

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omg I just noticed that I'd accidentally left some of my old copy and paste (for format) up there lol, erased

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 Crux was amazed. Warm-blooded creatures, breathing in the water? He'd never come across such a thing, though to be fair he had lived in effectively a rocky desert. “Wow... They are!” It was pretty cool to see them working, he decided he'd come back and observe them at a later point. He continued thinking about them as they moved on and found the stepping stones.

 Mordi offered to take the lead and Crux considered it for a moment, glancing back at his friend and thinking about the logistics. “If you want to - I believe that even if we were to fall in, the water isn't too rough.” He took a look to the left, observing the brown creatures once more. “Do you think their stick home would stop us from moving on too far? It doesn't cover the whole length of the river, but it seems fairly thick on this side.” He shook his head in thought and turned back to Mordi.

 “I'm lighter, though taller. I could lead the way, make sure it's safe for you to cross.” How hard could it be to swim, anyways?

+2 Discovery Points

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 Wouldn't be too rough if they fell in... Mordecai eyed the water. Yeah, that observation seemed fair but he wasn't too pleased about the prospect of taking an impromptu dip. Would it be freezing? Did he actually know how to swim? He couldn't remember. Maybe it would just come back naturally.

 Then, Crux thought of something that hadn't even occurred to him. Would it catch them? Huh? He looked down at the dam. Then at Crux, then at the dam, and then back at Crux. His brow was furrowed and one could practically see the little mouse on a wheel working overtime in his brain. "Oooh heeeeyy, maybe it would! It seems all nice and sturdy-like! We'd float right down and then ploompf!" They'd get caught right on it! Right? He wasn't leaving something out, was he? He knew he wasn't the best idea guy... "The buck-toothed guys might not be too happy to get wolf guests though!" He added with a snicker.

 When Crux suggested going first, Mordecai couldn't help but agree immediately with a vigorous nod of his head. "Would you? That'd be great! I can watch you do it and get myself ready." Which was procrastinate and work himself up for his likely fall into the water.

+1 Discovery Points

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 Crux grinned back at his friend. “I think we could take 'em,” he glanced back over at them for a moment before giving a nervous chuckle, “... But let's not tempt fate.” They definitely could go check on the creatures later and see how likely they would be to be prey, but he was somewhat tired now and wanted to find a good place to rest instead. A battle with an entire pack of the creatures was probably not wise when they'd been traveling all day without proper rest.

 The speckled male nodded and turned towards the rocks, carefully making his way onto the first stone. It was steady and had portions that were far enough above water to not be slippery. He glanced back with a smile before heading on to the next, and then the next, and then the next. Not too many short hops later and he was on the other shore, claws dipping into velvety soft soil, damp with the river water. He looked back and ushered his friend over, barking his support. He'd make it over well enough, he was sure, and if he didn't - Crux felt like he could leap in to try to help. “Try stay on the right side of the stones, it'll be easier to climb back on if you do slip in!”

+2 Discovery Points

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 That was that! It seemed that after his asking of his companion to go first, Crux took the first leap. Mordecai watched with rapt attention as the speckled prince began to make his way across with --in Mordecai's mind-- the utmost grace and poise. He was so good at that! So smart too! The brown warrior watched with his tongue lolling and a smile on his face. He tried to pay attention to how the other placed his paws but it seemed to go by so quickly and he was mostly distracted by the gracefulness of the other wolf. In an instant, the other's paws were landed on the soft soil on the other side and it was his turn.

 He listened to the advice of the other wolf, stared at the stones for a moment, and then closed his mouth with his tongue poking out slightly in concentration. Then, he leaped and landed on the first stone. It wasn't graceful or anything special but he was there. Easy enough. He grinned at Crux, quite pleased with himself before he prepared for the next jump. This one didn't go as well, as one of his rear paws slipped as his center of gravity was slightly off. He didn't fall completely and he didn't dip anything into the water... yet.

 He stood still for a moment, gathering himself for the next leap where he did slip with both rear paws. "Aauugff!" He cried as he balanced with his forepaws while his rear paws dipped into the river. "Oh NO!! HELP! HELP I'M-- Oh... Oh wait..." He looked back at his rear paws dangling in the relatively calm river. Oh, that wasn't bad at all! He giggled and drew his paws onto the completely wet stone. "Hehehe, this isn't so bad. Hey Crux, look! It's not dangerous!" He gave a toothy grin as he pulled himself up and then decided to just jump right into the water and forego the rest of the stones. It seemed easier than trying to balance delicately.

 He swam on to the other side and pulled himself up alongside Crux. "Hallo! Ready to keep going, prince!" He said with a waggle of his wet tail.

+2 Discovery Points

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Shall we end and then start a new to get a fresh set of discovery points?

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 Crux watched his companion make his way slowly across the rocks, starting forward as his friend fell into the water, panicking a bit. He blinked twice as he realized that the other hadn't actually fallen in and was instead dangling in the water slightly. Upon hearing his friend was not hurt, he grinned, tail wagging behind him. He was pleased when Mordi decided to leap into the water, but only after it was clear his friend was able to swim easily to the shore.

 “Well, that's good to hear!” he said with a grin, stepping back to make space for his portly friend. “Indeed, let's head in!” He turned and headed further inland, pausing momentarily to check if Mordi was following him. The island wasn't too large, but situated in the middle of a river gave it a strategic advantage and if what he thought he could see through the dense red-leaved woods was true, it seemed like there was a clearing up ahead. Water, food, and potentially shelter... what more could they ask for?

+2 Discovery Points

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