Spring Breeze [Ketchup]

[Deleted]

A bush purple and white tail could be seen through the tall grasses surrounding it. This tail belonged to a she wolf that was digging up a few flowers from a grassy patch near the Adoette Tree. The wolf was called Lilac and she had just recently come to the area to hunt for mushrooms which had healing qualities if you found the correct ones. Having practically raised her siblings, the lavender colored wolf knew a lot about healing and taking care of those wolves around her. Finally her muzzle stopped moving as she zeroed in on a patch of grass and furiously began digging. Her strong lavender paws churned through the soil until she finally spotted the mushrooms she'd been searching for. She gently took them in her mouth and trotted back to the trunk of the Adoette Tree.

A small pile of mushrooms and various other earthen matter had begun to build at the base of the ancient tree. Lilac loved searching for mushrooms and other medicinal plants during the spring because the valley had so much to offer. She dropped her new found prize into the already large pile gently and then took a moment to rest. She sat her haunches down and flipped the white side of her tail up towards the sun. "I wonder where Twitch is..." she mumbled to no one in particular. The wolf she was referring to was her new best friend and cavemate. They had met at the beginning of winter and endured the cold months together and were now close friends. Lilac flopped her in a huff, wondering what was taking the black and red wolf so long to get there.

CursedErin

[CursedErin]

The Evil wolf was stumbling around a bit in frustration. "I can't believe I've gotten tied up with another wolf.." he spoke quietly to himself before turning back to the other side. "With my luck I'll accidentally end up killing her.." he said to himself again, a bit louder and angrier this time. "What was that?!" he said quietly, turning his head in a certain direction, thinking he had heard something.

The black and red fur of Twitch stood on end as he slunk around a tree, before peering out around the side. He saw Lilac there. 'I can't let her see me right now!' he thought, before unsheathing his claws and slowly starting to climb up the tree he hid behind. One sharpened claw set after the other, up the tree. He made it to a branch and slowly sat up onto it. He didn't take a look at the branch however, which soon creaked.

'Did she see me?' he thought to himself, before the branch creaked even louder. Before he had time to react, the branch he had been sitting on, it snapped. In a single motion, Twitch came crashing to the ground, instinctively he held his paws out to soften the blow, but he stiffened his legs by accident. In a single crash he broke his right foreleg and left hind paw. Following the fall were some not-so-pleasant words, shouted into the air.

[Deleted]

Lilac was just beginning to enjoy the nice spring breeze when her ears caught the sound of a branch snapping. Before she had time to think a form came crashing down in front of her, almost as if the tree had threw it there itself. She gasped and jumped up with a fright to look at the black and red mass before her. Finally her brain registered that it was her friend Twitch and he was hurt! The wolf was laying crumpled in a heap but was still well enough to scream loud obscenities into the sky. Lilac rushed over to him, concern etched in her features.

"Twitch are you alright?!" the lavender hued wolf immediately began inspecting Twtich, going into mom mode. She nudged his right foreleg out from underneath him. It had been sticking out at a weird angle and Lilac recognized it as a clean break. Before waiting for a response from her companion, she circled him and came to his back legs which weren't impacted as much by the fall. However, her sharp gray eyes caught sight of his left paw which looked like it'd been crushed under his weight. Lilac swung around so that she now faced Twitch's front end. "You've broken your front leg and your back paw." the femme said with urgency but then tried to ease her tone. "But don't worry, these are easy fixes. I've had practice helping my siblings with just this sort of thing so a trip to White Magic isn't necessary." Lilac leaned forward and nudged Twitch's muzzle assuringly. "Luckily for you I've just dug up some mushrooms that possess pain killing qualities." Lilac wondered briefly how long it would take for the shock to set in.

The she wolf went to work taking mouthfuls of the mushrooms she'd gathered and chewing them thoroughly before spitting them out onto a leaf that had fallen to the ground along with Twitch. The end result was a less than appetizing looking pile of goo that Lilac brought to her friend. She looked him in the eyes and sternly said "Eat." and then raced off towards a small patch of trees. She returned quickly with two sticks about the same size and some tall reeds. Without asking permission from Twitch, Lilac placed his broken foreleg in between the two sticks and wrapped the tall reeds around it to secure it in place. Finally she took a moment to breathe. "Okay the mushrooms should start working any moment now and they'll knock you out so you don't have to deal with the pain. This splint will do nicely for your foreleg but I'll have to make a cast from clay for your paw. Thankfully, there is a small pond on the other side of the tree and I can collect the clay from there." Lilac said and then looked curiously at Twitch to see how his mental condition was.

[CursedErin]

Twitch continued to spurt out highly aggressive and vulgar words, none safe for a pup's ears, but at the same time he didn't care. Soon enough, Lilac made her way to him. "Get away! It's fine! Really! See?!" he said, rather loudly, as he attempted to stand up. He quickly collapsed, followed by even more vulgarity in his speech as he found himself helpless for the moment.

The male dragged a stick nearby to his maw, and bit down hard on it. The stick held for a second, before it snapped in his jaws and then fall to either side of his muzzle. He cursed again, seeing Lilac look around his body for any of his injuries. 'Damn! She must think I'm a fool!' he thought to himself, wincing over twitching at the moment as he tried to deal with the pain. "Great." he said through gritted teeth as she spoke about having had practice on her siblings. His face flushed at her nuzzle however, he didn't expect the gesture, and it seemed to calm him down a bit. He didn't seem like he would suffer from shock, as if his nerves were built to withstand the pain and overcome it.

"Oh come on, it looks disgusting." he said to her as she pushed the pile of goo to his muzzle, before he could get a reply however, she had dashed off to go get something else. He cursed under his breath again and slowly obeyed, gulping down the unappetizing goo as she made her way back to him. "GAH! Careful!" he said to her as she took his broken foreleg and placed it into a sort of splint. He had shoved his muzzle into his other leg and bit into it to stifle any screams her had as she finished setting him up. "Trust me, I can DEAL with the pain, it's the embarrassment I'm having trouble dealing with." he said, obviously in a bit of an angered and irate state, but he considered Lilac a sort of friend to him now, and didn't want to snap at her (especially since she was helping him).

[Deleted]

Satisfied that Twitch had consumed enough of the mushrooms and knowing that his mental state was still fine, especially given the fact that he was more embarrassed than in pain, Lilac decided it was safe to leave him alone for a few minutes. The lavender she wolf stifled a giggle at her friend's embarrassment and loped over to the pond that was on the opposite side of the looming Adoette tree. It was the early spring and a lot of the snow had melted around the pond to make the bank slick with clay. Lilac went to work digging large pawfuls of the stuff up and finally got quite a sizable ball of clay. She rolled it with her snout back to Twitch.

The she wolf rolled the clay ball over to Twitch's back paw. "Okay this may be a little painful but I know you can handle it." Lilac began packing the soft clay onto her friend's paw until she encased the entire appendage in it. Once her work was finished, she stood up and turned herself around so she was now parallel with Twitch. She plopped down next to him and exhaled. "Phew glad I was able to patch you up so quickly." Lilac laughed freely now that the urgency was gone from the situation. "You'll have to just lay here for about an hour so the clay can dry." She said, turning her gray eyes to look at him. "You're so cute when you're embarrassed." Lilac added before smiling mischievously.

[CursedErin]

Twitch felt the mushrooms beginning to take effect, but at the same time, he tried to pull himself out of a drowsy state. He watched as Lilac left his side, part of him was glad, but the other half of him wanted her back. His good paw even reached out at her a bit before she made her way back to him. A jolt went up his body as he felt her putting the clay around his broken paw. This time however, he did not howl out in pain and did not curse out.

His eyes were flickering as she laid herself down beside him. "Grr.. Shut.. U..p.." he said sleepily, pushing his good paw against her muzzle softly. It wasn't much longer before he felt the full grip of the mushrooms taking over. Sure enough, his head fell to the ground, eyes closed for a moment. After a second, his head shot up, eyes open once more, but before he could catch a grasp of reality to stay to awake, he collapsed again, this time falling completely asleep now.

[Deleted]

Lilac stifled a giggle as she watched Twtich. He was adorable when he tried to push her face away and then slowly began to succumb to the effects of the mushrooms. As her friend slowly passed out, the lavender colored wolf inspected his leg and paw once more and decided he would definitely need to stay off his feet for awhile so they'd be able to heal properly. She stood up, stretched, and yawned loudly before looking down at the black wolf's face that was splashed with red. Lilac smiled down at him affectionately and loped away to try and find something to eat.

~~~~~~~~~~

Many hours passed before the mushrooms finally began to wear off. Lilac had been successful in her quest for food and was able to find two red squirrels and a fat, spring hare. The pile of meat was lying right in front of Twtich's face, the idea being that the enticing smell would be enough to coax him from his stupor. "Twitch..." Lavender cooed softly, nudging his shoulder with her paw. "The mushrooms have worn off now its time to wake up."

[CursedErin]

Twitch laid there, helpless to the elements and to Lilac as he laid in his unconscious state of mind. In his slumber were no dreams, only the common nightmares he was so accustomed to, though they never seemed to both the wolf. Every now and then he even smiled in his sleep, as if the nightmare was a reassuring thing for him. This nightmare however changed quickly for him, Lilac appeared in his dreams, but nothing bad was happening. It confused the male wolf, but before he could question further on the matter, a scent wafted to his nostrils.

Soon, the black wolf felt Lilac nudging at his shoulder and talking to him. With a loud yawn, Twitch awoke from his slumber. His eyes flickered for a few moments as he raised his head up and tried to get a grasp of his surroundings. "Bleh.. How long was I out..?" he questioned, shaking his head roughly to help wake himself up.

[Deleted]

Lilac smiled warmly at Twitch as he cracked open his eyes. "You were out for quite awhile, a few hours at least." she replied to his question and then looked up at the sky which was slowly getting darker. "How are you feeling?" the lavender colored she wolf asked, suddenly very concerned.

[CursedErin]

Twitch's eye twitched for a moment at her as she asked him how he was feeling. A few choice words came into his mind, but as he opened his maw, none of those words came out. "Fine.. Just.. Exhausted I suppose." he said. Immediately, he bit down on his tongue and cursed silently to himself. 'That isn't what I wanted to say! Bah! Whatever.. I guess I shouldn't be mean to Lilac anyways.. After all she is taking care of me..' he thought to himself as he looked up at the female.

[Deleted]

Lilac smiled warmly at Twtich's response, glad that he was feeling better. Soon his body would finish its work and heal his wounds but for now he was grounded and pretty much at Lilac's mercy. Luckily, the lavender colored she wolf was kind and would watch over her companion. She looked up at the sky which was now dark and the stars were twinkling brightly which reminded her of a story her father had told her long ago. "Twitch," she said tentatively, not sure exactly how he'd react to what she was going to say "I want to tell you a story."

Lilac looked up at the stars, letting their light pool in her silver colored eyes and started her tale. "My father told me this tale a long time ago when I was still young enough to be seen as a pup in his eyes. It is dear to my heart and I like to share it with wolves I care about." she blushed a moment but figured Twitch hadn't seen. "There was once a beautiful she wolf who was whiter than the snow caps on the mountain. Her fur always seemed to flow around her as if she were constantly in water and she could only be seen on nights when the stars were burning brighter than ever. Her name was lost to time itself but many recall her as Moonyah. This she wolf was beautiful beyond compare and every wolf who beheld her wanted to be near her always even long after she'd vanished. Many wolves spent entire lifetimes searching for her, always looking to the stars as a guide. Some said only the purest of heart would be allowed to look upon her lissome form." Lilac paused a moment to smile. "Moonyah was a clever wolf and always hid herself from others. In fact, it was believed she only allowed wolves to glimpse her so that they would pine for her forever for the sole reason that it amused her. One wolf, a wolf born in this very valley, would soon change everything."

"This wolf of legend's name has also been lost to time but he is believed to have been called Darstin. Darstin was a large, powerful, pitch black wolf with yellow eyes that shone like the sun. Darstin was special from the moment of his brith because of the incredibly dark color of his fur. It was almost as if he was made of darkness itself or perhaps born of the blackest night sky. He knew he was special; the other wolves knew he was special and soon Moonyah also became aware of how special he was. It was a night not unlike this that Darstin greeted Moonyah. She had heard of the wolf born of darkness and desired to see him herself. What she had not been counting on, was that he would see her too. Moonyah, as mentioned previously, had the ability to vanish from mortal eyes and thought she was invisible to Darstin but he saw her with his all seeing, yellow eyes and approached her. Startled, but not frightened, Moonyah asked his name. Darstin told her his name and asked for hers in return but the white she wolf only giggled and loped away into the night, expecting Darstin to follow. But the black wolf did not follow and, instead, went in the opposite direction to his own den to sleep. Moonyah was very disappointed."

Lilac paused once more to smile at Twitch, reveling in her story telling. This was a tale that had captured her heart as a pup and one that she'd passed on to her siblings. "Soon Moonyah couldn't resist her urges any longer and sought out Darstin. She would often spy on him from miscellaneous hiding places and found that she was fascinated by him but whenever he tried to glimpse her, she would disappear. On another night such as this, Darstin was drinking deeply from a lake and Moonyah was looking down upon him from a tall tree branch. Enraptured by Darstin, she soon became distracted and took a wrong step causing the branch to break as she plummeted into the water. The mystical she wolf was special but she was unable to swim. The hulking, black brute saw the wolfess in distress and jumped into the lake to rescue her. He helped her onto dry land where the two finally had a chance to speak face to face. Moonyah, ashamed, tried to stand and run away but found that she could not as she'd injured her leg in the fall. Darstin was kind, however, and brought Moonyah food and water while her leg healed. The two soon fell in love and followed the natural course of things." At this point Lilac blushed once more, remembering how her younger siblings always asked what that last sentence meant. She had patiently explained to them the process of mating and pup rearing but she hoped she wouldn't have to do this with Twitch.

"Finally Moonyah bore a son whose pelt was a shimmering, silver color-the exact color of the stars. This wolf was called Jarna and he was special just like his parents. The small family never did age but soon grew tired of their mortal living situation and decided to ascend to the skies. On a night just like this one, Moonyah, Darstin and Jarna all dissipated and floated to the sky to become one with the stars, moon and night. They say you can see the shapes of the wolves in the formation of the stars if you look closely when they are burning bright." Finally Lilac finished and she felt a warm sensation overcome her. She always enjoyed telling the story as it made her hopeful of finding love someday. She looked down at Twitch expectantly. "Did you like the story?" she asked with a laugh "It reminds me of what has happened to us." she finished.

[CursedErin]

Finally, Twitch started to bite at the food that Lilac had brought for him, and he hoped for her as well, he didn't want to hog any food from her. "Oh..? Uh.. Sure.. Go ahead.." he said quietly, looking up curiously at Lilac as she said she wanted to tell him a story. Shortly after, she began.

While his female companion started to tell him the story, he laid and looked up towards her. A certain parts of the story he nodded, at other parts he even scoffed a bit, mixed emotions coming from him during the story. He slightly noticed Lilac's blush before she started the story, though he tried to play it off as if he didn't, allowing her to speak her words.

At the end of the story, Twitch nodded respectfully, before tearing off another piece of flesh from one of the squirrels. Soon enough however, he almost choked on the meat, hearing her say that the story reminded her of them. A blush appeared under Twitch's fur, though he tried to hide it as he swallowed down the meat that almost got lodged in his throat.

"O-Oh? I'm glad that one of your favorite stories reminds you of myself, especially with your companionship." he said, trying not to show his feelings a bit. He wanted to embrace her, but was afraid that if he tried to be more than friends with her, he might end up doing something he regretted. So many times had he taunted others who escaped their pasts, and now he wanted to escape his, he wondered if he had told Lilac the story, but decided it was probably best if he left his past untouched and to his own mind.