Don't Get Too Close :: Mari/Open

[archer]

Shambling along the Prairie, was a young Myou. He walked along roughly, coming to stop around a certian plant. Digging his hooked claws into the earth, he dug down to the roots.

Archer gripped a root between his teeth and gnawed at it, then swallowed. His quils rustled as he did so, quietly though. Looking up, he surveyed the landscape before going for the next root. It was tasty. He relished the good taste.

Sitting down for a moment, he brought his paw up to his face and licked at it, careful not to poke himself with one of the small quils on his face. His tail sat motionless on the ground, and he looked around once again. It was late afternoon, and he wasn't usually up this early, but he'd gotten hungry, so here he was.

Putting his paw down again, he stuck his face into the small hole he'd dug, snuffling for more roots.

[Agni]

An hour earlier, Agni had just finished tracking for a juvenile pack of three wolves. The only time Agni was anywhere near graceful was when he was tracking, and that was usually because he was so intensely concentrating, that he didn't have any room to worry about what his limbs were doing. A few times, other wolves had told him that he looked positively intense and even dangerous when he was tracking. He didn't necessarily believe them but it was a nice thought. At any rate, it had taken an hour but eventual Agni had tracked down an elk for the three Lupus' to take down. Luckily, the three had kept up their end of the bargain and now Agni was pleasingly, and drowsily full.

He had left the trio shortly after finishing his share. As it turned out, the trail and subsequent take down had taken place not too far from a prairie. His path had grown more ambling the further he traveled, the control exerted over his limbs looser, the drowsy feeling of a full belly tugging incessantly at his mind. So it was really no surprise what happened next.

Agni didn't notice the object in his path until it was too late. Whatever it was, a fellow wolf maybe, had its head in the ground, but the rest of its body was right in the mint colored Lupus' path. He tried to stop himself, but instead, Agni stumbled over his own limbs as was per usual and his body ended up heading straight for the rather prickly looking animal.

"Watch out!" he yelped, fearing it was too late.

[archer]

There he was, just digging up another root, when somthing huge fell over his back. With an angry snarl, Archer lost balance and fell on his stomach.

Watch out! The other wolf called.

Archer jumped up and spun around, canines bared. He glared at the Lupus that was before him. "You watch out!" He growled, the quils on his hide raised, and he jumped around and slapped the other wolf in the backside with his tail, sure that his quils would embed themselves in the flesh.

With another angry snarl, Archer padded forward a bit, keeping his quils raised and his own back-end pointed toward the Lupus. "Don't come any closer, or I'll let you have it again!" Came the threat. Word of advice, don't make a Porcupine Myou angry.

[Agni]

It turned out it was too late. Instead of scrambling out of the way in time like Agni had hoped, his body had collided with the prickly animal and instead of the collision stopping his body and sending them sprawling, the momentem caused Agni to go right over the animal's back. It was knocked down but the next thing the mint colored Lupus knew, it was standing and snarling at him.

"You watch out!"

It was only as the other slapped him in the backside with the prickly objects that had been covering his body, that it occurred to Agni that he had tripped over a Myou of some kind. If the sharp, stinging, needle like pain was any indication, it was a porcupine Myou. The barbed ends of the quills slide home quite easily, settling fairly deeply beneath the skin.

"Don't come any closer, or I'll let you have it again!"

Agni could only whimper pathetically in response at the blinding pain that emanated from his butt, specifically near the base of his tail. Once the pain had registered, he had ended up in a tangle of limbs on the ground, not an uncommon occurrence as it were. However, the Myou and the quills were. At the acidic words, Agni flinched violently, ear pressing against his head, a pained yet timid expression narrowing and lowering his eyes respectively.

"I'm," Agni gritted out, voice bordering on a whine, "really sorry. Did I hurt you?" Agni shifted, trying to lessen the pain but the only thing that did was cause the quills poking out of his flesh to shift and tug on the skin that was quickly becoming inflamed around the spines.

[archer]

This caused Archer to growl more, and he rattled the quils on his tail. Irritation and anger flared in his eyes. His next words were laced with venom, every syllable speaking of his contemplation; Should I smack this fool again?!

"Of course you didn't hurt me!" He snarled, waving his rattling tail around. "But maybe that'll teach you to annoy me!" He growled, referring to the many quils sticking out of the other's backside.

Stamping his thick, padded feet, he began grumbling to himself. "My breakfast, ruined! Absoloutly ruined, thanks to you! A perfectly peaceful meal, interrupted by a blundereing buffoon!" He growled, stamping his feet harder and sweeping his tail in a wide arc. Boy was he mad!

[Agni]

Agni flinched back as he took in the other's body language, ducking his head further.

"Of course you didn't hurt me! But maybe that'll teach you to annoy me!"

Agni chanced rolling his eyes, "It was an accident."

"My breakfast, ruined! Absolutely ruined, thanks to you! A perfectly peaceful meal, interrupted by a blundering buffoon!"

Agni took exception to that. Despite his clumsiness, he didn't think of himself as an idiot. The frequent stumbling and falling down could be a hindrance but he tried not too let it bother him when he wasn't actually tripping all over the place.

"Hey, I said I was sorry," Agni said reproachfully, raising his eyes a bit. Still, Agni stayed were he was, not willing to try and stand. The pain was intense and even a minute shift of a muscle caused pain to race up his spine.

[archer]

Growling some more, Archer listened to the buffoon Lupus. Sorry, he says. Sorry! Sorry does not cut anything!

"Sorry!" He snarled. "Sorry does not fill my belly!" He rattled his tail some more, and debated smacking the Lupus across the face, not hard enough to kill, but just enough to hurt like hell. He stamped around backwards, waving his tail threateningly at the other wolf.

Just then, he had enough, he turned around, lept over the Lupus and landed on another plant, which he proceded to dig up fiercely, still keeping his back to the darn other!

He tore off leaves and stems and sent them flying, and then he dug below, digging up a large tuber and chewing it to peices before swallowing loudly.

[Agni]

Agni watched the Myou closely, his eyes the only body part he was willing to move. As the other growled at him, he struggled not to return the favor. While it had been an accident, Agni wasn't the one in the right.

"Sorry! Sorry does not fill my belly!"

"If I could help," Agni winced as his muscles involuntarily tensed, "I would, but, well." As soon as he finished that sentence, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. The irate Myou might take the words as accusation and make matters more complicated than they had to be.

For now though, the other wolf seemed to be ignoring him now, though he did take the time to flash his tail at Agni threateningly. The Lupus followed him with his eyes, twisting his head around to follow him as he leaped over his body to dig up another root. The motion caused a new flood of pain to sweep along his spine. Already, heat was coming off of the reddened skin around the embedded quills.

"Is there, anything I can do?" Agni tried, hoping it would make up for his previous wording.

[archer]

Archer was about to scoff at the other wolf's words again, when he thought of a wonderful, great, beautiful idea. Yes, it was genius! Why wasn't he a renound genius?

He turned to the Lupus. "Actually, yes, there is somthing you can do." He said, smiling. "You can help me get to some more food." Archy gestured to another plant with his nose, knowing it was a rooting plant. "Dig up the roots from that plant." He said, quite happily, then going back to the digging with his own plant.

[Agni]

"Actually, yes, there is somthing you can do. You can help me get to some more food."

Agni gaped, actually jaw hanging gaped at the Myou. "You want me to what?" he squeaked out, just the thought of trying to stand causing him to stifle a whimper. Was the prickly wolf joking? There was no way Agni would be able to stand, let alone move around. He'd probably pass out from the pain.

"Dig up the roots from that plant."

He stared in the direction the other had gesture in, at the plant sitting innocently just a foot away from him. It wasn't that he had been insincere in his offer, but he genuinely thought that the pain from just shifting in preparation to stand would cause him to pass out. He wasn't cut out for this much abuse.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Agni asked incredulously. There was just no way he'd be able to do it, "The quills in my butt are kind of a hindrance," he tried pointing out as gently as he could, not wanting to further aggravate the other unduly. "I mean, Id be glad to do it if I didn't think the pain from moving would render me unconscious," Agni tried explaining.

[archer]

Shrugging, he rattled his tail a little more, but not threateningly this time. He stopped in his digging, and looked over his shoulder. "If the quils will be such a problem, then pull them out." He said matter-o-factly once again.

Archer then got a malicious glint to his eye as he looked straight into the eyes of the Lupus. "Or, if you'd prefer, I could pull them out." He said, carefully and slowly, in a tone of voice that clearly stated what he was thinking. If anyone knew Archy, they'd no what he'd really said; Either pull them out yourself, or I'll do it, but don't expect me to be gentle! But then again, Agni did not know Archy. It would seem just like a regular comment, or offer, to anyone who didn't know the Porcupine Myou.

[Agni]

"If the quils will be such a problem, then pull them out."

Agni stared at the other for a long moment. Finally though, he did as the Myou said. Or tried to anyway. Unfortunately, because of the quills location, Agni had to twist around to reach them and as soon as he tensed his muscles to do so, a spike of pain shot up his spine. He took a moment to get his breath back, holding himself perfectly still. Once he could think clearly again, he looked back at the other to tell him he couldn't when the quill covered wolf spoke again.

"Or, if you'd prefer, I could pull them out."

He thought it over, and while he didn't like the look of the smile that the other had adopted, Agni cautiously nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Even if his tone didn't sound anything close to friendly, Agni wasn't will to endure the double whammy of pain that would come from having to move and having the barbed ends plucked from his unwilling, inflamed, flesh.

"That would be," he gulped, "appreciated." Though Agni wasn't entirely sure that would be the word he'd be using after this was over, or even during it.

[archer]

He hunched his shoulders, and shrugged yet again. Apparently he liked shrugging. Shambling over to the behind of the Lupus, Archer prepared for it.

"Okay, on three." He said, and got his teeth close to the neerest quil without touching it, to cause as least pain as possible, for now. "One...two-" He cut, gripping the quil in his mouth and yanking it out feriously. The quil was free. He looked it over. Such as shame for one of my beautiful quils to be wasted on this creature. He thought.

Archer sat back and asked. "Ready for the next one?"

[Agni]

Agni tensed as the other prickly wolf ambled over. This really wasn't going to be fun, not in the least. He was already half regretting asking the other to pull the quills out. He should have just shut up and put up.

"Okay, on three."

He tensed, already anticipating the pain. Not the smartest idea, but he couldn't help it.

"One . . . two-"

Agni got ready to tense himself, but before he could, before the other reached three, he yanked the quill out. At the sharp, yet intense pain ratcheting up his spine, Agni yelped loudly, the sound ending in a snarl. His element started up, ruffling his fur roughly and in the wrong direction. 'Wonderful,' the mint colored Lupus thoughts dripped sarcasm, mental tone distinctly sour.

"It wouldn't kill you to be gentler," Agni mumbled, sullen, even as he knew it wasn't possible.

There was a pause, than, "Ready for the next one?"

Agni shook his head hurriedly, "No," saying it so fast he almost tripped over the simple, two letter word, his puppy hood stammer coming back full force. "You can," Agni gulped, "carry on." and swallowed hard, already regretting his answer.

[archer]

He ignored the words of the Lupus, not caring. He emediatly gripped another in his mouth and yanked it out, spitting it to the ground. This proceeded with the rest of the quils, yanking them out harshly and spitting out. Archy was not a gentle soul.

Surprisingly, there weren't many quils in him. Okay, maybe eight or nine, but that still wasn't alot. Acher could inflict alot of more, usually.

Once all the quils were gone, Archy put both his front paws on the Lupus's back and leaned on it, seeing what would happen. No flesh fell away and no blood came spurting out. A good sign. He fell back to the ground. "M'kay, you're all fixed up." He snuffled.