Fox or Wolf? [Tagged]

[Meds]

Calypso

Kanga;

Winter—ahh, winter. Hungry bellies, short tempers, and blisteringly cold winds. Kanga didn't mind the temperature so much, as his thick, red-brown fur did well to keep most of the chill out; however, his empty stomach could simply not be ignored. Secluded Sunrise ate well, nobody starved (which was saying something, as some winters were especially harsh in the valley)—but Kanga's belly was considerably larger than others', which meant that it was considerably more empty.
A half-share of deer might fill up a pup satisfactorily—even a regular sized female or a male if he hadn't ran than day—but Kanga? Why, Kanga could bring down and polish off a deer all on his own and still look for a grouse or two to finish off lunch. He had been getting the same sized meals as everybody else. And while this was fair for the pack... he had to wonder why he hadn't been taken into more consideration.

Sometimes, it seemed that wolves underestimated Kanga. This may sound like insanity for a moment, for how could the small-bear sized wolf be underestimated? But so it was, or at least, so it seemed. Kanga was goofy most of the time; loud, generally happy, and playful. His brother Manaaki was quiet—stoic, even. His presence was never over looked.
But Kanga?
Sometimes if a wolf joked loud enough or romped around with enough pups, it seemed that it could be forgotten that they, too, were hot-blooded carnivores, capable of as much or more than an average creature. Manaaki was quiet and occasionally closed-off, which meant that, naturally, others believed there was something they hadn't yet seen of him. This was of course, true, for neither brother had fought or even had to make a show of strength while in the valley—but Kanga was more open than his brother (at least as far as strangers and acquaintances knew). He was quicker to laugh, he had more presence. Normally, this would mean that he would be overestimated, rather than underestimated; but he often got the idea that other wolves thought that he had nothing more to him. That he wasn't quite as deep as his brother. Surely he wasn't as dangerous as Manaaki, the quiet, stoic, ever-thoughtful male?

Kanga cursed under his breath as he trotted towards the hunting plains. No, no, he knew this wasn't true. This line of thought was just a lie... He was just hungry and grumpy. Everybody knew of his strength. Everybody knew of his worth and his capability. He was a ranked Warrior, after all; but still. Sometimes his perceptions of the way others perceived him irked him.
Kanga ducked his head and snarled softly, forcing his mind away from the topic. That wasn't what today was about. Today was about finding something more to fill his belly and chase off his moody-thoughts once and for all.
He had been poking around the outskirts of the plain for a while now (often times, showing himself openly scared what little prey there was in winter, away), but hadn't seen much of anything. His weight was such that he left a heavy rut behind him in the snow, but he pressed on. He wasn't even breathing heavily. Even slightly underfed, Kanga weighed more and was more powerful than a good many others.

It was then that Kanga caught sight of a flash of orange at the bottom of a snowdrift up ahead. He ducked down, his silver-ringed eyes locking onto the movement. A fox, perhaps? He licked his chops. A fox would do. The cursed little things were always yipping and taking the smaller and snack-worthy game.
Kanga moved forward with a silence that was inconceivable for a being so large, covering the ground with unimaginable speed. In a matter of seconds he was at the other side of the snow drift. Instead of leaping over it and risking getting his bulk caught in deep snow, Kanga opted to smash right through. It wasn't a large drift, he could see the edge from where he stood. He stood still, his breath held, waiting for a sound that would tell him the fox was still on the other side. It was quiet, almost inaudible, but a little rustle was all he needed.

Demonstrating just how large he truly was then, Kanga lunged forward with his entire weight and strength behind him. He hit the hardened mound of snow with his shoulder and dug through as if it were water. In seconds, he was through and on the other side. His great jaws opened wide, his eyes already having located his prey.
It wasn't until a split-second before he closed the deal that he hesitated, realizing that something might not be quite right about his fox-dinner...

[Calypso]

Kettu;

This was the exact opposite of what the little fox had planned. What was the place she was looking for called? The Ruins of something-or-another. They sounded interesting and were more than likely a good spot to try and look for shelter from the snow. Granted, at the moment it wasn't storming and snow wasn't falling by the inch every second, but it was still cold. In all honesty, the little "fox" was looking for the ruins, but she had gotten distracted. Majorly distracted.

At that moment, the young teen was bouncing through the snow of the plains, enjoying the cold despite the bit of numbness she felt in her paws. She had been born in the winter, but, considering that, she had never truly seen snow in its fullest until now. The moment that the snow began to pile up on the ground, she was out running almost nonstop. The snow on the surface was powdery, soft, and was actually somewhat difficult to maneuver through. But the snow under it was harder and more stable, giving a harder surface to push off of when running. The land was so pretty covered in snow; how could she possibly be expected to find some place and hide out? Then again, she was on her own now, so she could do what she wanted.

She had decided to take a tiny bit of a break, now taking little hops forward rather than fully running and pouncing. A smile was on her face, her tail swaying behind her. Being as naïve as she was, she paid no attention to the possibility of other wolves or predators being on the loose around her. As a wolf who looked identical to a fox, her very first concern should have been her own safety and awareness of her surroundings. But she was having some fun in the snow, plus she was a wolf, so nevermind safety. She was one of the top predators, after all.

She hadn't been paying attention, but a scent suddenly hit her nose and she stopped. Unfortunately, it was a bit too late to only just then be catching that scent. Within moments, the mound of snow next to her exploded in a shower of flaky snow, the occasional random patch of brown showing through. It wasn't until she actually looked over that she realized that the snow wasn't just going poof on its own and changing colors. That was a creature.

A high-pitched yelp, almost squeal, of fright came out of her as she was suddenly toppled, nearly thrown, away from the exploding snow by the figure that came through it. Almost a scream seemed to sound as she realized just how large this creature was that ran her over. Its size definitely explained why she suddenly felt a burst of pain in her side and shoulder. Her side wasn't really an injury, more like just the feeling of something running hard into her. Her shoulder, on the other hand, was a sharp pain, possibly something striking a gash in it. How large that gash was or what caused it, she wasn't sure, but that didn't matter right now.

The thought of this being her last moments, Kettu covered her eyes with her paws and shoved her muzzle in the snow, hoping that she wouldn't feel any pain from the final moment.

[Meds]

Kanga;

Just before Kanga's teeth snapped shut, it registered in his mind that the shrieking coming out of the animal's mouth wasn't exactly fox-like. It wasn't quite as much of a yip as it was a yelp... wolves yelped. Foxes didn't; at least, not that Kanga had ever heard. As his 'prey' rolled away from him and consequently buried its head in the snow, Kanga realized the grave mistake he had made. He had too much forward momentum to truly check himself unfortunately, but he did manage to angle his jaws away from the creature at the last moment. His massive, bear-like paws narrowly missed flattening the tiny thing, but somehow he was able to turn at the last second. Such a movement would normally have toppled a wolf in slippery snow, but Kanga knew that if he fell, he would most likely crush the creature and be in much the same position as before—so he worked a little harder to keep himself upright.
All of this had happened so quickly, that the red giant was still in the process of trying to bite his previously-assumed target. So in one fluid (or not so fluid) movement, he re-angled his feet, he twisted his head, and he slowed himself. An echoing snap, a flashing of grating bone clenching against grating bone, and then silence.
Kanga froze, eyes wide, and gaped down at the creature, whom he was reasonably sure now, was indeed a wolf. When this thought registered properly, he quickly dashed back a step or two, shaking out his head and taking a seat. His teeth were ringing from snapping so heavily against each other, but he made no move to release them.

Kanga blinked, leaning back and away from her, feeling as his heart rate slowly returned back to normal and the adrenaline of a hunt faded from his veins. His tail thrashed behind him, flashing red like an angry and bubbling pit of lava. He opened his mouth to speak, then hesitated, and closed it again. The creature still had her head buried in the snow.
"Well why do you look so much like a fox?" He said in his deep and booming voice, as if continuing an argument they hadn't been having. His voice was defensive, like a pup that knows he's done something bad but that is trying to avoid reprimand before it's started.

[Calypso]

Kettu;

She didn't want to die this way! She hadn't had enough time to play in the snow! She had just went off on her own less than a season ago and she was already gonna get killed! Was life always going to be this short and complicated? Really, she didn't need to think about these things, for she wasn't going to die, but what else could she think when seeing a monstrous thing come flying towards her with fangs and claws?

After she had tumbled over and buried her face under snow and paw, she tried not to move, minus the natural twitching of the end of her tail. She waited for the utter anguish and pain of death to fall upon her, a bright light shining in her eyes and an angel welcoming her to paradise. But that didn't come. She had expected she would hear some sort of bright and heavenly voice, but that didn't come either. Instead, a very loud, snappy voice filled her ears, almost reminding her of her own voice when she was annoyed or wasn't getting her way. She lifted one paw and peeked over to see...

A wolf. Just a wolf. A freaking huge wolf! It looked like a giant fluffy tree standing above her! Or even a bear! Or was it a bear? She didn't even know what a bear looked like, but maybe it was a bear. There was no way it was a bear. Hearing what the giant bear said, with an attitude mind you, her eyes widened and her ears perked. She then stood suddenly, the fur along her spine, her "mane" if you would all it so, stood on end and her face contorted into one of frustration, or irritability.

"I can't help I was born this way! And what about you?! Why do you look so much like a wolf?! I've never seen a bear before, but I know that they can't look this much like a wolf!" Her tail stuck out straight behind her and her voice was completely full of attitude and sass, exactly what she was known for by anyone who knew her.

[Meds]

Kanga;

Before Kanga could really register that he had almost killed a wolf for no reason at all other than, realistically, a miscommunication, he was blind-sided by a brand new kind of confusion. The little (tiny, really) female, as soon as she recovered herself, quickly went onto the offensive. Kanga's eyes widened and he watched her in confused silence as she began to berate him. The fact that she was even raising her ruff and flashing those little teeth struck him as quite hilarious—and he had even come into an encounter like this once before. Kailypso, he recalled, had also tried her fluff against him. What was wrong with these tiny, little, itti-bitti females?

"I look like a wolf because I am a wolf." He slapped a paw down to the ground in front of her, hoping to shut her up for a second so he could think. The snow moaned under his power, and the ground fairly shuddered below them. "But you, little one, walking around, dressed like that?" He bared his teeth at her, easily three times the size of her own—though he didn't do so as a true threat—only really to show her what might have been. "Bears aside, I trust you know about foxes. Our tiny, largely-orange, yippy, tasty-in-a-pinch cousins?" His silver-ringed eyes burned. This one was young—he hoped not to frighten her too badly. "A wolf as small as you—coloured like you are—ought to be a lot more careful playing in the hunting grounds, especially when hungry winter giants are around."
He growled at her to prove his point, his chest rumbling, the air around them vibrating.
He wasn't really mad; in all honesty it had frightened him a little bit. What an awful thing to have to go and tell Manaaki—or worse, Blaise. He hadn't killed anything in a good long time, and he would hate to break the streak. Besides, killing a female that was basically a pup? He would never live that down.
He furrowed his brow at her, still looking at her like the confusion was her fault for being coloured as she was.

[Calypso]

Kettu;

In the back of her mind, she was scared. This male was terrifying. He was the biggest wolf she had ever seen in her life, his voice was louder than any other sound, and his teeth that he soon bared at her seemed to be as large as her paws. All of this was enough to give her nightmares. But, despite the humongous size difference between them, this little one was snappy. He may not have been one of her parents or in charge of her, but he was still acting like a dad, telling his daughter to be more careful and lecturing her about her appearance. She wasn't gonna stand for that.

She lifted herself and took a short leap towards him, having to look almost straight upwards to even see his face. Her fur fluffed out, her tail lifted, her ears were perked, and her eyes were full of child-like anger. "I can do what I want! You're not the boss of me! Any smart wolf would know that I'm a wolf and not a fox! They have to be blind not to notice the difference!" She had never actually seen a fox before, so she didn't even know how similar she looked to one. It wasn't like anyone was gonna convince her of that, though.

There was one comparison that could easily be made in this situation. Even though these wolves didn't know what these kinds of dogs were, the best way to describe it would be a Great Dane and a Pomeranian. This giant dog stands over this tiny one and the little one gets angry. The little dog fluffs out its fur to make itself look bigger and tougher and starts barking and being fierce, but to this giant dog its just cute. In a way, that could easily be the way that Kanga saw Kettu: tiny, angry ball of fluff that could do hardly, if any, damage to him.

[Meds]

Kanga;

Kanga watched and listened as the tiny animal yelled at him. He was so shocked that for a moment, he couldn't say anything. Wolves often didn't speak to Kanga this way; well, Manaaki did. Kailypso did. Amora had, once. But acquaintances often didn't. This tiny pup wasn't even that, but there she stood, yelling. When she was good and finished, the only thing Kanga could bark out was;
"Nuh uh."

Had there not been such an age and size difference, the two might have gotten along. Both young souls, both reasonably straight-forward... but there was a difference, and so far, they weren't getting along. Kettu continued to bark and growl at him, and the large giant was so overwhelmed with confusion, that he did the only thing he could think of to do.
He reached forward with a massive, boulder-like paw, and placed it against her. He didn't smack her, as such a thing would have surely hurt her, but he placed his paw against her and shoved. Gently-enough so as not to kill her, but hard-enough so as to hopefully knock her into the snow and give her something to think about. If Kanga was lucky, she would be so shocked with the ease that he did so that she would feel some real fear for a second, as would have been a more appropriate reaction in the first place.

"You've got a mouth on you," He rumbled darkly. He had been told the same thing countless times, so who would know better than he? "Big mouths can get stupid wolves killed."

[Calypso]

(WARNING: Kanga will need lots of ice for the burn he's about to receive. I couldn't resist)

Kettu;

As she grew angry, she didn't really see that her reaction had confused him, though even if she would have noticed she wouldn't have understood why. A wolf as large and intimidating as him likely didn't get stood up to, if at all. So the sight of such a tiny little fox-looking wolf yelling at him with puffed out fur was likely strange. It would have likely been amusing to some wolves, but no one else was around, so they luckily didn't have to deal with that.

She then saw movement and saw his paw raise, making her stop talking for a moment. For a mere second, confusion crossed her face, right before she felt her paws flip out from under her. With the shove of his giant paw, she flopped over on her side into the snow. She was about to jump up and yell at him again, but she actually was shocked. It wasn't so much fear that came over her, but rather surprise that he had just pushed her with no effort and made her fall over. Her ears perked as he spoke his next words.

She had a big mouth? Big mouths could get stupid wolves killed? She remained in the same spot she was for a moment. But that was when she began to chuckle, almost laugh. She pulled herself up so that she was still laying but had her head lifted. She looked up at the giant with glared eyes and a smirk. It wasn't often that she used her sass in a comeback sort of manner, but she had to. She couldn't hold back.

"With the entrance that you made.....if what you say is true, then how is it that you haven't been killed yet?" Really, she had never said anything like that before. As such a young wolf, she hardly even fully realized what death was or why a wolf would get killed for having a big mouth. But she just chose to use his words against him for the fun of it. Perhaps to get a reaction? Even though this wasn't her first thought at all, if only she hoped not to get killed by the giant for her snappy comeback.

(I will be honest. I could see these two having some sort of friendship. It just depends on how this ends, especially after what she just said xD)

[Meds]

((Same!))

Kanga;

She fell, and better yet fell silent, which is more or less what Kanga had hoped for. In any case it muted the shrill-shouting that had been echoing across the hunting plains. If Kanga couldn't eat her, which he certainly could, then he certainly wanted the opportunity to hunt and eat something.
But then she opened her little trap once more. Kanga flicked his eyes downward (far downward, as she was already a tiny little ant-like spec, and while on the ground Kanga actually had to bend a bit to see her). She snapped something at him, more or less calling him stupid and asking why on earth he hadn't been killed yet, if what he said was true. He was a little bit surprised, but sometimes being older had it's advantages.

Kanga had more or less been ready for something like that from the fiery little fox-wolf, and already had a well-formed idea taking shape within his mind.

As Kettu continued laying in the snow, seeming rather proud of herself really, after such a calculated insult, Kanga began to lower his bulk to the ground. His bear-like paws reached out in front of him ever-close to her, his claws long and terrible, and his shoulders bulged as they worked to control the speed with which his body came to rest. He continued lowering himself until his face was but a few inches from her. He widened his eyes, the silver-ring around the brown standing out and reflecting the snow like a frozen, feelingless glimpse into his supposed-soul, and stared into her own. His tail lashed behind him, flashing a vivid blood-red, and he opened his jaws wide, certainly wide enough to crush her shoulders, and allowed just a bit of saliva to drip from his fangs.
He dug into the depths of his mind and pulled forth from it the most haunted, terrible, darkened facial expression he could muster from living memory. When he spoke next, his voice came out in a rattling whisper—like the sound dry wind would make over a desolate land of rocks.

"Because when I'm hungry, not even death can stop me."

[Calypso]

Kettu;

The little fox fell silent. She stared at the threatening sight in front of her, ears perked and fluffy tail spiked outwards. Surprisingly enough, her face didn't quite show what she was thinking or feeling. Her face didn't reflect fear, but also didn't show any signs of anger or anything else really. She just seemed surprised by his action.

On the outside she didn't really show any exaggeration of emotion, but her heart was thumping quickly in her chest. Those large fangs, those wide eyes, that raspy voice. It was terrifying. She wasn't going to say that out loud; she was too proud for that. But she still had the thought in her head. Was she about to get killed? No way. She hadn't really done anything. He had no reason to kill her. And if he did want to kill her, the only thing she could think is because of her insulting him and calling him stupid. But that was a dumb reason.

Suddenly, without warning, her fight or flight instincts kicked in. Still laying mostly on her side, she quickly kicked all four legs forward, aiming right towards his large nose. She then rolled in the opposite direction of him, jumping energetically to her feet and bounding a few leaps away. She glanced back at the towering male for a moment, but hoped that her kicking him would have distracted him for a moment. There was no way she could run far, he would easily catch her in just a bound or two. So, once she was a generally safe distance away, she turned and faced him again, planting her feet in the snow and looking over at him with a raised tail and fluffed out fur. She wasn't trying to challenge him or fight him, but she at least wanted to show that she didn't appreciate him getting so close. Though, unfortunately, there was a chance that her kicking would just make him more angry.

[Meds]

Kanga;

She didn't really react to Kanga's show, but he wondered if that was the reaction in and of itself. A wolf that seemingly wore her emotions on the sleeve of her paw, suddenly becoming a blank slate, with nothing left to say? Yes, Kanga figured that he had given her the fright he had intended. And to the little wolf's credit, much larger wolves than she had been set to trembling from Kanga's aggression, play or not.
Then suddenly, a sharp slap-kick landed on his nose. It was such a surprise that Kanga jerked his head back quickly, his eyes popping as the tiny little wolf then dashed out of his reach. Adrenaline was a beautiful thing, indeed. He stayed frozen in shock, eyes following the pup until she stopped some feet off, all fluffed out and protective.

...

...

A booming, echoing, bone-rattling laugh was suddenly hooting across the hunting plain. Any and all prey, if there had been any, was now thoroughly frightened away. Kanga howled with laughter so loudly, that his eyes squeezed shut of their own accord, and he found that he couldn't quite catch his breath.
He rolled off his paws and thumped onto his side, bellowing his mirth out for the whole valley to hear. Such a surprise it had been, he had completely not seen it coming—and he was a Warrior. It was his job to see it coming. He snorted, his deep voice still rolling out in belly-laughs.
Eventually, his roaring subsided to be replaced by heavy breathing and a few hiccups.

"I suppose I deserved that, didn't I?"

[Calypso]

Kettu;

The large male didn't move at first. He just seemed a bit taken aback by what she had done. Kettu then watched as the male began to howl and bellow in laughter. Her eyes widened and she allowed her fur to settle more so than it was. What was so funny? And why did he have to be so loud? She only watched in confusion as he toppled over onto his side in all of his hysteria.

Actually, watching him fall over was pretty funny. She couldn't really deny that. She allowed herself to chuckle, but tried to keep on a straight face. He then said that he deserved it, which made her have to hold back a smile. He just threatened to eat her! She shouldn't be laughing!

"That's what you get for pushing me, " she said, sticking her tongue out at the large brown wolf.

[Meds]

Kanga;

A little chuckle sounded from the young (naive) female. Kanga rolled back to his stomach and got his feet underneath him, but didn't stand. He eyes her closely. She stuck her tongue out at him and told him that he more or less deserved what he got. He snuffled, a deep sound borne from strong and massive lungs.
"Yes, you're right. That's what I get... But what do you get for challenging a brute you have no hope to beat?" His ears flicked, and his tail dusted the snow behind him, stirring the red fur underneath. A light smile was still on his face, but the question was slightly more serious. It was true. He was fine and laughing now, but had he been a very different wolf... the little female might not have lived to speak of it. Even Kanga, goofy Kanga, had been reasonably irritated upon meeting her. On the first paw, he had been denied a near-sure meal—and on the second paw, rather than showing the appropriate amount of fear or even respect, the pup had chastised him for making a stupid (and extraordinarily easy) mistake.

"In my experience, big mouths really do get wolves killed." His voice wasn't mocking or judging in that moment. For some reason, he actually wanted this pup to get the idea through her head.