What if these frogs could talk?

[Nelio]

((Set after Nelio’s joining thread, just going to state he has been accepted..))


Nelio was for once, just happy. He had been accepted into the Quesse Clan and had spent a good portion of the afternoon swimming in the waters of the swamp. Luckily during spring time the water in most places rose, just as they did in the fall, it was the more severe seasons one had to worry about. He knew eventually he would run into more members of the pack but for now he was darting back and forth in the waters quickly. His joy spread over every inch of him from fur to scales, and hungrily he snapped up a confused fish as he darted by.

The few lights of day shimmered down to the tops of the water just as he rose and poked his head out. The tan and lightly colored fur stayed matted to his head and ears as he decided it was time to get out. He managed to pull himself from the water and climb over a few roots and things to find a dry rock. He lay there, his tail, delicate looking but utter muscle curled around the front of him, away from the water. He stretched his front paws out and lay his head down as he surveyed the area around him…

Some might not think much of a swamp to live in, but Nelio found an odd comforting sensation as his eyes took in the sights around him. The ground was full of plants, and colored flowers, vines and trees had pulled themselves up from the watery depths, and now enjoyed the wonder of the sun which now he had the joy of luxuriating in. It was not too long that he had dried completely, and from half his body down he looked like a normal wolf. He stood on the rock and managed to shake once he knew he was fully dry, to remove any clumps of dirt or debris that had found their way into his coat.

The navy and near black flecks along his pelt were now painfully noticeable, but Nelio did not mind. He loved being Cael, and he was proud that he was given the markings to show it off. He thought that since he had already enjoyed a small meal that he would work his way along the boundaries of the territory to do his part in their safe keeping, and see if during his patrol he could find another member or two and at least introduce himself.

His feet were picked up more so than normal as he moved along the bottoms of trees, onto rocks and other substantial stepping places so he could maintain his legs instead of a tail. Pulling yourself through a swamp while it sounds amusing was painful no matter how strong you were. He found various scents as he crossed over the land, many other Cael he noticed with a happy sounds, even though he moved quickly, he was also careful. Sink holes and quicksand were dangerous for Cael even though they had powerful enough fins to avoid death if caught at a wrong angle or during exhaustion they were just as likely to succumb to a horrible fate.

He made a leap for a log half submerged and half on top of the water and while his legs were muscular the landing was wobbly. With a look of pure aggravation toward the log his legs nearly slipped out from under him. Teetering forward and backward he looked like he may just land in the water, ruining all that time he spent drying before he luckily got a handle on things and pushed his clumsy self onto a sprig of dry land a few feet away. With a deep breath he muttered, “This could be an obstacle course for any wolf, let alone Cael..” As he stood there looking for other signs of life a frog landed next to him and loudly ‘ribbited..’ he turned his eyes to the creature for a moment and then smiled, his tongue hanging out of his mouth…”You don’t say…” So perhaps the frog couldn’t understand or talk back, right now it was about the only company he saw. For a moment he contemplated how lonely the swamp could seem, before he shook his head of such dark thoughts and continued to look through the vegetation for other signs of life…

[Dreamith]

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/64Vf.png][scrolly:h(249),w(500),sy] Dreamith slowly strode through the swamp landscape. Moss and soft brown dirt were made comfortable underneath her sore paws. Her steps got slower... and slower... and slower till she finely flopped herself down onto her side next to a large mossy pond. The extreme moist in this area actually was starting to molder her legs and tail into her fish tail. It had been a long and boring day with no one to talk to but herself and if someone were to come along and see her talking to herself out of boredom, they would either understand that she was so lonely that she needed to talk to someone.... or she was completely out of her mind, mad. After a long while, she slowly got back up and started to travel again. Why she was traveling such a long distances or for such a long while she had no idea. Dreamith had to slide into the high water just so she could continue to travel since it was become quite painful to drag her tail on the ground full of branches and natural debris. She did not like her head to be underwater since the moss was covering her fur and it would blind her so might as well be able to see over the water than in the water. Eventually, a small fish made the mistake of touching her belly, making her snap at it and drag it to the side of the water and munch down happily onto it. At least it had given her a lot more energy, eating small fish here and there. Dreamith dragged herself out of the water and laid there drying off. Dreamith woke up and had become completely dry. She had accidentally fallen asleep for a short while. She got up and started making her way along the water. She shortly stopped for a moment. It was quite.. deathly quiet was it not? She slowly began walking again. Then came a loud ribbit making Dreamith jump. Where is any sort of frog? She then saw the frog and ponced onto it with no warning what so ever, not even taking a chance to look around the frog... [/scrolly]

[Nelio]

Nelio was in his own little world for a long moment with the frog sitting next to him, he supposed the little green flopper felt safe next to him since he had not moved to bite, snap, sit or slap him away from the area on which they sat. However the scene of peace and tranquility was not to last. Before he could realize what was happening there was another wolf barreling at him, more so the frog, and while the frog leapt high in the air and thankfully away, Nelio was not so lucky. With a loud grunt the she-wolf slammed into him and they both went rolling over the mud and landed in the water with a loud, ‘splat’. Nelio was less than pleased he had to say, as soon as he hit the water, like magic his tail merged his back legs together and scales rose up from his bottom fins to the middle of his spine. However in a moment of shock as he was underwater he felt..no could it be? Another tail! He felt the other she-wolf’s tail smack against his as they fought to right themselves beneath the water.

All that time drying…wasted.

However as he circled deep within the water he could see her, her tail, the shape of her body and while he had to admit she was beautiful, he was beyond the age where he might sputter and drool and act like he got smacked in the back of the head with a fish. No, he merely rose to the surface calmly, poking his head up so that his eyes and nose were able to breath air and waited for her to surface. Now that she had made sure in the most graceful of ways that he was in the water, he figured he might as well stay there. He waited and paddled around here or there, avoiding the debris of fallen sticks and more…dangerous things lurking beneath the surface.

When she did arise finally he spoke, now that he was not in shock he had more control over his voice and the way it sounded, luckily for her, it was calm if not amused. “So, do you always go after frogs…and the people next to them?” He almost felt bad for the frog until he saw it leap onto a Lilly pad and puff out his chest as if he were laughing at the two very wet wolves. While he could understand the amusement of the frog he had to look back at the female, he did not immediately state she was beautiful or oh so graceful he simply smiled and continued on with introducing himself. “My name is Nelio, but most people call me Lio..may I ask your name so for our future run-ins I can have a name to shout with ‘Nooo…stop..!’” His laughter filled the surrounding area with the tinkling of his voice and its mixed melodies, and as he padded beneath the surface his tail came slightly out of the water to smack a wave her way.

His tail was by far the most impressive, colorful thing on his body, scales of light aqua blue, melding with dark navy sparkles, especially now caught in the lasting light. It looked odd that such a dark beautiful attachment should be part of the regular almost timber wolf looking upper body. But that was the way he was made. He knew she on the other hand was quite a beauty, but most purebred female Cael were. There was something about their species that intended for beauty to make up for strength and aggression. Tilting his head and turning his ears this way and that he spoke again, “I assume you are a member of the Quesse Anar Clan..otherwise you would not dare to impede the boundaries of the pack, especially to hunt innocent frogs and males.” While he could joke with her now, it was only because she smelled of the home pack.

Had she have smelled like anything else, or nothing familiar, Lio would have grabbed her up and demanded what she thought she was doing by trespassing. He believed in peace, but the only way to keep true peace was to take pre-caution measures so that those you cared for and were meant to take care of remained safe. Lio had it in his heart to help the downtrodden, and the sick and hurt however, for those he had given his loyalty he would do anything to continue their survival and not have to endure a loss like he had before he came to these lands…

[Dreamith]

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/64Vf.png][scrolly:h(249),w(500),sy] Dreamith's paws stretched out forward to cup over and catch the frog but instead bashed into something quite as furry as herself. First things that came into her mind. Damn that frog is fast and man is this swamp thing in front of me fluffy. As she endured rolling down with what ever was next to her, she felt queasy with the green rolling with her vision that looked more like a spiral of puke then a spiral of blurring foliage. Then at last she hit the water along with the thing next to her right into the mossy water. Dreamith could feel her back legs and tail hesitating to react but then growing together into her beta fish tail. The night blue, black tipped, tail grew to its fullest, though she had slept for a while just so it could dry and she could once again walk on land. But no, it took only about a half an hour to regain to tail and make her travel into and through the water. Moss was less plentiful in this area of the water yet still the green blinded her and collected onto her coat. Why... Why me? Was it just too hard to stay out of the water for a Cael of her liking? Possibly. Dreamith rose to the surface as calmly as she could. Thankfully her lungs could intake a certain amount of water, if it couldn't then it would almost look like a fish drowning. She was able to get the moss off of herself that was over the surface of the green tinted water. Dreamith's steely blue eyes looked around for what had tumbled down into the water with her. The male's voice directed her eyes to a... quite hansom wolf. After that was established, she searched for a possible fish tail. Of corse... a Ceal like me.Of course he is hansom, Ceals are one of the most beautiful wolves... why... I have no clue. She once again thought to herself. Some how a red blush tried to appear on her face, no matter how hard she tried to keep it away. Embarrassment.. Argh! His 'no... stop!' statement had immediately gathered politeness from her and also allowed her to laugh her laugh that sounded like a ton of tiny little bells. "Nelio.. Lio.. oh um.. Nice to meet you." She continued. " I am Dreamith. Yes, I am of the Quesse Anar Clan. Though, if I wasn't, I must admit, I would have quite absentmindedly wandered in." She slightly slapped the small wave away with her betafish tail. Dreamith smiled innocently then her jaw dropped slightly and her eyes widened. "Oh, and I am really, extremely sorry I jumped you! I was being puppyish and tried to catch the frog like when I would when I was little but I obviously did not succeed and I am really sorry. Are you hurt?" She finely said. [/scrolly]

[Nelio]

Lio couldn’t help but find her rather cute and pretty, he was positive many other males fell prey to her innocent charms. A siren in a Cael’s poor body. Although the moss was a cute addition, he was glad when it was removed. As they had tumbled through the water he did look at her tail and for a long moment he wondered why most all Carl were different when it came to tails and colors. It would seem they all had different types of tails, and he wondered about the first Caels and how long it took to make and differentiate between all the variations of the species.

However his trail of thought was promptly ended as he looked around them, waiting to see if anyone else was near, watching them. He looked at her for a long moment while she was looking at him, they must have truly been a sight staring at each other in the water surrounded by swamp. Even though most of their species were considered beautiful, if you were truly skeptical they were part fish of all things. Well, most of them were, some were part snake and other aquatic animals, sometimes it was not the most flattering combination.

When she laughed his eyes widened with a pleasant shock. She like many others had that gentle twinkling sound which brought your heart to a fluttering calm. “I must say it is truly a pleasure to meet you as well Dreamith..” When she went on to apologize he simply swished and swirled water around her, gently apply pressure to make waves that pushed them both up and down. “I enjoyed the show of agility, even if you did miss. But no I am un-harmed so there is no reason to apologize, a little water never killed anyone…” Although he thought, if the area were to flood that ‘little water’ would be more than dangerous to many wolves and pups. For a long time he was glad he had had time to explore the areas where dens were claimed and found that there were plenty that were high enough to protect birthing mothers and young pups.

As they moved about in the water he blatantly ignored the fish swimming around them, the last thing he intended to concentrate on was food. He continued to ask about her and find out as much as he could. “So how long have you been in the swamplands? I assume you like it here, if only because you stay and have access to water….Have you explored around the area?” He paused politely in between each question to give her time to answer before he added, “Before I came here, I ran into a beautiful beach, but there were no packs there, but that is not surprising..” He did enjoy his time at that beach though, enjoying watching the beautiful waves crashing on the shore and the salt and sand cleaned his coat better than most other waters.

His voice was gentle, and while he tried his best to keep his voice calm and low, the sing song melody of it slipped in even when he tried to avoid it. As proud as he was there were just certain attributes he couldn’t ever get rid of, his tail, his voice apparently..In a small part of him he wished he could just turn certain aspects of himself off…like the inability to handle water and ran and having to work twice as hard as other wolves to maintain normalcy..But then the pride that had been instilled within him since birth took over and he straightened up as best he could in the water and swam in a few circles, staying idle was making him ask more questions..

[Dreamith]

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/64Vf.png][scrolly:h(249),w(500),sy] Dreamith smiled, continuing to try and resist blushing. Though he was not quite like her 'dream wolf', a different kind of wolf other than Ceal, smaller, and so on, he definitely had a certain quality that she couldn't quite place and yet it was very pleasant. The only other guy she had ever met that was quite like this Nelio..er.. Lio was a raven wolf named Karter. It had been a very long time since she had seen him so maybe he had moved on in his life, and she had to move along in hers. That was the simple way of Ceal life... er... any kind of wolf life... right? Right. Dreamith's smile lessened in a relived fashion and a sigh of relief also came out. "I am very glad that you are...un-harmed... and I quite agree that water dose not hurt anyone... at least Ceals... though I guess I have seen water hurt a Ceal somehow once before..." Dreamith's mind started to wander for a moment. She tried to snap her mind back to him, making herself look back at him with her steel blue eyes. Dreamith held back squirms and giggles as the fish seemed to have been intentionally tickling the bottom of her feet. Can fish intentionally try to tickle? Could they possibly not know that they are irritating a wolf in the most siliceous of fashions? It was possible because anything is possible. Dreamith shook her head and tried to constraint on something other than the tickling and annoying little fishys beneath her. Luckily, Lio began to speak. "I have been in the swamp for maybe about a day or two. One, yes, I decided to explore because I was able to be near a source of water, though I have traveled before way inwards away from water which was a very painful trip. Two, yes, I decided to explore the pack lands at least some small amount, if not, large amount." He stopped and allowed him to ask more questions. Or at least statement. "I have also recently visited a beach that I do not believe is a very long distance away from here. I think it was mentioned to me once before that it was called Yvit Cove or something like that. Though it may not be the same beach you are talking about... am I rambling?" She asked. [/scrolly]

[Nelio]

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[bg=00c5cd] Oh so charming aren’t we Lio? He could tell she was interested in speaking with him, as was testimony by the fact that they were both still in the water, floating and if no one could see their bottom half it would seem two wolves were dog paddling through the swamp. He saw for a long moment that she was thinking about her past, or at least something or some memory that took her away from the here and now. He couldn’t blame her, he had his own fair share of things to think on from the past. He had not found or lost a mate with his family, and he was never sure how things like that happened. He simply knew it was his duty to care and provide for his clan especially females. Perhaps he wasn’t a settle down male, but a good male none the less. “No need to worry about me being injured in any capacity. I do agree though that sometimes water can be loving and some times, you never want to turn your back on it. All water has the ability to be cruel as well as kind and nurturing..” He knew there were many times when while traveling even in groups Cael found themselves in the danger of a larger predator, or pulled into a current stronger than they could fight. No matter how muscled you are, sometimes its no challenge and the water takes its toll. He was feeling the fish around them as well, it seemed to be lucky to catch a quick meal but aggravating when they figured you were kin to them and safe to rub up against you or nibble. But for once he was glad for them because he got to hear her laugh. However, he could see she was tense underneath her laughter. “I enjoy listening to you laugh, you have no idea how long it has been since I heard the sound of another Cael’s voice..” It was literally as though he would memorize her voice, as he would any other and hold it close to his heart. He missed his own kind, and now he was joyful to be in their company once more. Listening to hear he carefully took in the details of where she had been. “So, even as delicate as you seem you have managed to travel so far and explore so much. You are quite the adventurer..” It was surprising, from where he was raised many did not travel, especially not females, and not ever alone..until..his sister. His heart constricted in pain and guilt and he began to move closer to the shore, he did not want either of them to be subjected to the water once night came. Even with two Cael together it was possible for predators to snatch them up. He crawled up onto a large branch sticking up and shook himself off, helping the drying process as he continued to look at her. “Well if the beach is not far from here then we must be talking about the same one, I did not know the name so thank you for that. Know I can sound educated when talking about the surrounding areas. I am sure if you will allow me to pick your brains you can tell me and even show me around..” He waited to see if she would come out of the water as well before he asked, “Do you like it here, the pack, do you ever miss..the past?” It was a dangerous question, but he had to know if anyone else felt what he did some time when he was alone or given time to think…

[Dreamith]

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/64Vf.png][scrolly:h(249),w(500),sy] Dreamith blushed slightly again seeing that he was actually able to stand her rambling off. It was strange, she was shy in not that she doesn't talk a lot, because she dose, but kind of in the sense that she is sort of easily embarrassed. It was a hard to explain concept that was still evolving in the brain. Possibly one day she will be shy to wolves in the way that she would talk less and blush more but it is just vice versa for herself. Dreamith nodded to he small speech on the cruel and nurturing fact of water. That same balance though is in everything. Trees for a fact, they provide shade but if they fall on someone or catch fire, it would be fatal. That dose not happen a lot but it dose happen. When she was a pup, just once, a tree was stuck by lightning and it fell onto her friend and killed him. She shook her head from the memory, not wanting to think about it at this time. His sudden complement made her blush intensify some. Though compliments like this is one of of the top things she hated, when it is coming from him, and the fact that he seems to not have been around another Ceal in a fair while and she was practically the only source of some companionship at the moment, she did not seem to hate it as much but did feel just as kind of embarrassed. But in the modest kind of way. She also rather take is calling her 'delicate' in a compliment kind of way but Dreamith continued to listen without disturbance. "Well... I kind of blame my last pack and family. I did not want to leave because I wanted to be surrounded with the wolves I knew and the land I recognize. But noooo... they wanted to stay as a small group and they needed to kick out some of the wolves since the reproduction of us pups that year was very plentiful. It was just to much for them and they chased me out and told me to do things. Aka, get a life." Dreamith said, smiling some at that last part. It was silly sounding, coming from her own mouth. Dreamith fallowed after him onto land without much hesitation. She sat beside a large pile of roots, letter her weight kind of lean agents the roots, and laid back beneath a swap tree that was quite near Nelio. she had the chance of smiling at 'pick your brains' knowing that it kind of sounded silly. "Yes, I would enjoy showing you around some. I don't really know much.. of anything... but I can tell what little I know." She smiled and looked at him before Dreamith hastily looked on herself to see if she had any moss hitchhike on her fur. None, whoo, I cam out clean, she thought. His last question suddenly stunned her for a ever so small moment. "Yes... I haven't really met any of the pack members yet, this is kind of lovely lands in a strange... Ceal... kind of point of view, and my past.. There are somethings I love about my past and somethings I don't. Though, I do miss a lot, such as my parents and pack. I guess I like living in packs were I actually know the wolves or at least related to them in some way. Here, I don't really know anyone and I am sure of it that I am not related to anyone." She smiled for a moment before continuing. "But I guess everyone has a past that they do and don't want to remember. That is just kind of the way of life.. I suppose.." The words 'the way of life' sounded out of place in Dreamith's mouth. It wasn't like her pupish-like self. But it is true. [/scrolly]

[Nelio]

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[bg=00c5cd] Lio was within in his own head for a long moment, but he kept a keen ear to what she was saying all the while. In the time that they sat and were talking, he knew once they had dried he would have to go back to patrolling the borders and such. But there was no rule against her coming. It was not beyond his scope that even though she was blushing it did not impede her speech. But he was grateful for that, and he assumed that once they were around each other more and became comfortable she would not have to worry about being so easily embarrassed. He kept his eyes on the land around them for predators in the water, and even in the tops of the trees, because he was not one hundred percent familiar with the land he had to keep on his toes, figuratively speaking. As they dried, and his legs re-emerged with his tail, he happily stood up and shook himself again after padding a away a few feet to not shake anything on to her. His shaking was put to an immediate halt when he heard that her own pack had driven her from her home. “They drove away their own pup? Just to keep numbers small? Where were you to go?” He was appalled by the idea, his own Clan never drove out any member unless they proved to do anything truly evil, hurting anyone, or genuinely unhappy. If there was not enough space, the pack was simply able to expand its territory to house the members. So it was quite unfathomable to him to drive out your own young. “It would be wonderful if we could patrol the borders together, then you could give me the benefit of your knowledge.” He smiled as she went to check for any watery hitch hikers that may have attached themselves to her. But stood patiently looking at her as she answered his comments about the past. “I agree these lands are beautiful in a weird sort of sense. Maybe its being a Cael that allows us to see how things stand out here..” He could emphasize with missing her pack and having relations with the members here and in the past. “What you say is very true Dreamith, we all have moments in our past or even our past in general that maybe we don’t want to remember for one reason or another. But maybe it’s the present and future that will give you a chance to have a family of your own here, and become close to the other pack members…” He had a gentle smile on his muzzle as he idly brushed against a tree…”We may continue to talk if you want, but I must continue my rounds of border patrol, you are more than welcome to come and show me the territory, or if you wish, you could go about other things..” He could hope she would come, but in the end it was up to her.

[Dreamith]

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/64Vf.png][scrolly:h(249),w(500),sy] Dreamith closed her eyes for a moment. Listening to the small quiet that seemed to have paused life for years. Insects buzzing about, the water ever so slightly making sound as it goes its course, small animals scampering in the most random of places, and so on. Dreamith reopened her eyes and life continued with Nelio speaking once more and even noticing that her leags had dried finely and gone to full shape of dark blue and black paws. She turned her head to him and listened to him. "Yes... I think it had something to do with something along the lines of an enemy pack taking over the land around them so they couldn't expand or an enemy would kill us if we didn't keep our numbers down or something like that. I was never really told and I only heard rummer around the others of my age." Dreamith paused for a moment, then continued. "I think they wondered the same thing, would their pups survive, would their pups ever return, would the enemy pack see us and kill us anyways, I think questions like these probably ran across their mind at some point." In fact, she secretly wished that these thoughts had ran across the mind of her parents. Dreamith then smiled. "And I would love to patrol with you." Dreamith stood up. "I suppose it is quite possible that its just a Ceal thing that we see differently, I guess it could be something physical or mental. Or maybe it is because we are usually underwater that we look at things differently, underwater and overland." Dreamith said thoughtfully. She then looked at him as he started again. "Hmm.. me.. starting a family. It is hard for myself to imagine it." She took a moment to laugh a little. "I don't see myself as a possible mom or mother. But I do suppose that it is possible... and it is a pack thing to have strong bonds with others in a pack. Or maybe that is just my idea of a pack... I doubt it but still." She stopped and smiled once more. "I would be delighted to continue to talk to you while patrolling. I never really have gone patrolling before but it sounds fun, at least, when there is company to talk to while doing so." [/scrolly]

[Nelio]

((OOC: Cut scene print!! Ah aren't they soo cute! They now trot off into the sunset to patrol. Now its your turn to start a patrol thread, or a response to a new member thread. xD Mwauahah))

[Dreamith]

OCC; Ok, replying to Citrine in Falling with Style. This shall continue there. ^^