A bone to pick (open)

[cptkickercutleg]

Graal frowns, shaking the Dock from his face, stinging powder in his eyes. He begins to follow Thunder slowly, finding her tracks on the riverbank, then tracking her prints as she pounds through the thick forest.
"I wasn't joking, I'd never have any reason to lie to you..." he mutters, still staring down at her prints as they suddenly come to a stop. He looks around, puzzled.
"Thunder?" He calls, standing right below her.

[thunder]

Thunder resists the urge to snicker as she moved quietly behind some leaves. I know that. she thinks her eyes shining. I'm the one messing around. She had draped herself over the branch like a panther as she stared down at him through a cluster of leaves that made it hard to see. She was silently watching to see if her would figure it out.

[cptkickercutleg]

Graal sighs, he can smell exactly where she is, her scent merged with the sweet tang of wet leaves, wet fur and mud, all of them put together made a conclusions so obvious that even a Sikla of a pup could tell where she was.
"I give, Thunder. Have I offended you? Why do you run from me?" he asks in a sombre tone, still confused as to why she was acting so erratic.
He sits under her, then looks up, his own brown eyes meeting her red ones. "Won't you tell me, Drappa?"

[thunder]

She laughed at him then said in a mock serious tone "Fun." She then proceeded to land on him. "I understand that you are also from another land but you cant tell when someone is just messing with you?" She said once again. She stuck her tongue out at him. "maybe I should be calling YOU silly names too huh?" she asked putting extra emphasis on the you. As she spoke she was recalling the time he threatened her with silly names. She laughed again from her perch on his back. (I could change this if you like but she is just being silly) She got off of him and snickered.

"You deserve it too!" she said making it obvious she was about to pounce him. "I run because I enjoy running. You've never seen me offended so what gives you that assumption?" her ears flattened as she made it even more obvious and jumped hoping to knock him over.

[cptkickercutleg]

Graal's ears flatten to his head, ashamed of his own presumptions. "Why must I be such a fool?" he wonders, but he simply mutters "Of course... I should have known you'd not get hurt badly, and that you'd still have th energy to run.", he chuckles, shaking his head, "Where oh where does that energy come from? Your youth? Your ge-" his words are cut short by her jumping onto his back, and, with a yelp, his legs give out. Underneath the she-wolf, he grumbles,
"Truth be told, I have not been "messed with" for about three years, it is hard to remember who it was..." he give a breathless cough, then wheezes "Especially when I can't breath..."
As she gets off, he takes a short moment to breath, then replies to her question.
"Your words held no emotion, as if you were so angry with me, that you didn't want to even acknowledge that I tried to help, I thought my words hurt your feelings." he says, looking warily at the tree behind him, if he moves out of her way, she'd hit that tree. "Paradise can only come to those that have suffered for others" he muses, bunching his muscles to spring at her in return, knowing she'd hit him and not the tree this way. A thought pops into his head. "I wonder which will hurt more..."

[thunder]

Her head collided with graal's chest and she pulled a move that she would use to counter a charge like his in battle. She sprang back got onto her hind legs and leaped over him turning in midair legs ready to spring down at him but she did'nt this was not a battle and she felt no need to breack her friend's spine. Her ears flattened to as she remembered exactly which act she had plaid. "Nor did my face..."she thought out loud finally realizing his way of interpretation. "It is in my family to be a good actor and hide emotions in ways different from others. The emotion I was hiding is one of the hardest to conceal.." she stopped knowing that this emotion was so hard to conceal and that she had many a mask to hide behind.

She sighed and came down from the tree. "Fear Graal. I was afraid. Fear can be scented at times and the easiest way to mask it is to put your emotions on lock-down. I have other ways of masking it but they can be risky and that moment in time was not one I could have or should have plaid a different mask. I have no way of knowing how you'd react to them." she said before promptly mock glaring at him for his last question. "If you think i have a lot of energy you should meet my brother. The problem is he's dreadfully slow." she said laughing. This ws all a mask too but he didn't need to know that and this one was similar to how she normally would have behaved. The problem was her gashes were deeper than they appeared and she was running on her sheer will to keep moving and act even though a normal wolf would be out from the pain and blood loss. That solid thwack against Graal's chest was nothing. So in reality that energy came from her willpower right now. She winced the mask was cracking her body was going to win soon she shifted her stance to a more sturdy one before grinning at Graal. Her wince was barely noticeable.

[cptkickercutleg]

She couldn't fool him for long, he was playing along with her little game, pretending to believe she was okay. But the blood was on her scent, even on his coat.
Graal shakes his head, blinking as he breaths in, his ribs aching slightly from the impact of Thunder's head, but no more than an ache. "Well, I know you've plenty of energy, you silly Drappa, but I am older, and not so resilient. Is there a cave near here?" he asks, grinning weakly.
He looks around, his eyes bleary, "I swear I recognise this place. No matter, shall we go?" he says, affecting a yawn to emphasise his fatigue.

[thunder]

She sighed, she could see that she had been caught. She walked past him there were several in the near vicinity. She wove through bushes and past trees t\a map of the forest in her head. She then pushed aside a bush and sat at the entrance having no intentions of entering. She knew of a cave farther away that would suit her current physical needs better. Graal could stay here. This cave was better than the muddy one she had been in earlier but the cave she had in mind was harder to track to and enter. It was actually unlikely Graal would fit into the above-ground entrance, let-alone make the steep climb down through a narrow passageway into the actual cave.

She waited calmly and watched him walk seeing his stance as she moved out of the way ready to leave as soon as he was in. Her ears sat back as she watched him and she was carefull to not let her muscles tense.

[cptkickercutleg]

Graal smiles gently, nudging her muzzle, "Come on, you can lie on me, keep those cuts clean."" he whispers in her ear, his low voice crooning and comforting. "I'll look after you."
Graal keeps the entrance open for Thunder, "You're not the only one born and raised as an actor." he chuckles, spotting a few herbs similar to those he was told of as a child, the ones he had been told were good for cuts, lacerations and the like, numbing the pain.
"Are you in pain?" he asks.

[thunder]

"The cave I am thinking of is farther away and made of granite. There is herbs there that I haven't used to treat this yet and a clean source of water." she glanced at the dock and poppy seeds knowing those only went so far. She turned to look at the top of a big granite slab an hours walk away and lowered her head thinking. She looked between the two undecided. The tunnel was long and narrow but the cave was peaceful and had its resources there were even crystals on one side of the cave to keep it lit. she turned to Graal undecided "What do you think? its a bit of a walk but contains better resources and lights itself.." she asked Graal looking back at the slab when she finished her sentence.

(I'm going to bee away from the internet for a few days ok.)

[cptkickercutleg]

Graal hesitates then nods, saying "Fine, you tell me where to go, and I'll carry you."
Not waiting for her agreement, he nudges his head under her belly, attempting to lift her forcefully onto his long back."If you walk, you lose blood" he mutters, by way of explanation.

[thunder]

She huffed from her spot on his back. "The big slab of granite is kind of hard to miss." she said ears tilting back. To her this was pointless she could walk and Graal had made it clear he was tired. She shifted so she could easily get off and crawl through the hole.

[cptkickercutleg]

(( Sorry I've not posted much, I've got a nasty cold and I've spent the weekend outdoors in the middle of November, so it's only gotten worse. I'll shake it off soon enough, meanwhile, I'll be bored at college tomorrow, so I'll likely post then, too ))

Graal sighs, she hadn't understood his words.
"I played you Thunder, I pretended to be tired so that you'd find a cave to rest in, if there is a better one, I'll take you so that you need not open the cut further." he patiently explains, his tail raised high in warning. If she didn't accept his terms, he'd force her to submit... Or at least, that is what his body says. "I'll carry you. Your cut doesn't need aggravating. I know exactly how painful those claws can be. but if you think that this cave is good enough for now, I'll settle for that. It's your choice Drappa. Either stay here, or let me carry you there."

[thunder]

Well clearly someone doesn't know how to ignore their own body. She thought unwilling to submit. She leaped off of him carefully she looked at his raised tail. "How would you make me if you can't catch me?" she said sprinting through the trees not looking back as she leaped from branch to branch. It was an art to her running when you had no air or the power to do so. She leaped down when there were no more trees and sprinted quickly up the granite with practiced paws. She pushed down through the hole and crawled quickly ears alert and body tense.

After a good amount of crawling she squeezed out into the cave. She blinked and her eyes adjusted to the dim light. She sighed even below the granite she could hear the pitter patter of the rain that had started wile she was crawling. She walked over to a pool surrounded by herbs and fruits and drank the cool clean water. She decided to lay down on the moss and did so staring at were she came through to see if Graal would even try to fit through there. The cave was plenty large but she didn't tell him of the crawl and entryways difficulties.

She lowered her head down and watched listening to the distant sound of rain. It was warm in here and the smell of herbs and fruits filled her nose. her ears tilted back as she realised that she had decided to lay near a plant that made wolves sleepy. This combined with the temperature and her lack of energy forced her into a dreamless sleep on the softly glowing moss.