[Northern Wilds] Squirrels for Lunch? (FINISHED)

[Roka]

He bowed his head when he reached her his ears pinned back on guard. His cool nose brushed along her palm, examining her scent. She smelled wonderful, like fresh squirrel, it made his stomach growl silently.

Once satisfied at her quality smell, Roka pressed his skull into her hand, inviting her to stoke him. Her warm hands felt delightful, he could genuinely say less than a handful of people had stroked his fur in his lifetime. Merely because his mother raised him to remain more human, and when confronted with the wild on his own it was a different side to him, something he rarely associated with other beings interaction besides a potential meal. If all hands were so warm, and felt so tempting, he might have to reconsider this notion. He mentally cursed himself for melting like putty to a hunter, but he harbored no animosity toward her.

Though it took him a moment to feel at ease, a purr soon rippled from his throat as he nuzzled into her touch greedily. Soon the others had all but disappeared from his awareness. His paws perched upon her knee lifting him closer to her face. He buried his nose into her dark hair at the nape of her neck and took in the smell. Yes this woman smelled quite delicious.

[Andalusia]

Andalusia melted at the intimate gesture, and quickly nuzzled her cheek against the fox. She giggled, forgetting about the blanketed Lusa next to her, her fingers raking across the fox's fur happily. "Aren't you a unique little one," she murmured, pushing the fox down gently to view his fur. "I've never seen a black fox before!" she looked into its yellow eyes excitedly, her hands around its shoulders. "Where did you come from?" she questioned cheerfully, a grin forming in her face. It felt tight and different; smiling was never something she did very often, and it felt a little foreign. She'd smile at Howlite and at Dante, but nothing else has ever warmed her heart in a while. It felt great.

[Lusa]

Lusa felt it was quite nice of the hunter-girl to wrap her in a blanket, though she didn't feel the need to cover herself. Humans tended to be uncomfortable with nakedness, however. Lusa couldn't for the life of her figure out why. She sniffed the air deeply to catch the hunter's scent, so that she might identify her later. Seeing the handsome fox and the girl snuggling up, she giggled softly.

She'd leave them be, and go fetch her things from the knothole. Waving jovially at the dog, she folded the blanket neatly to leave at the nearby camp, and shifted to bound away. Hopefully, she would encounter the hunter-girl and the handsome fox again sometime.

[Roka]

Roka looked toward Sunberth yipping, but then remembered she would not likely understand. When he heard Lusa rising, his ears perked and he jumped to her, gazing up at her.

He barked as if trying to convey a message. He wanted to transform and reveal himself but couldn't bring himself to it. Maybe she could understand him, feel their kinship, but more than that, he wanted the little deer to remain in his company as well, maybe selfishly so. She reminded him too much of his mother and it was a welcome presence, one that made his heart grieve and rejoice at once.

The rustle of a nearby field mouse overtook his attention suddenly. His face pointed in the direction his ears were searching for more sound. The mouse was too far and had slipped into its burrow. Roka whined, but his attention was focused again. He felt at home in his skin again, and was filled beaming like a pup.

[Andalusia]

"Hm?" Andalusia turned to look at where he was facing, to see that he was barking up at Sunberth. "Sunberth? You were from Sunberth?" she gaped in disbelief. "There had recently been a storm there," she felt silly conversing with a fox, but she'd never had the chance to talk to other people so often anyway, "how'd you make it, I wonder?" Her attention towards the canine was cut when she noticed Lusa slink away unnoticed, leaving her blanket behind neatly folded. She heard her giggle softly, and the sound echoed in her ears in her wake. She eyed the blanket and blushed, "s-she's going to walk around naked?" she thought out loud. Whoever she was, she was surely strange to be going around wearing nothing, or perhaps she had clothes stashed somewhere? "She'd probably gone to the little lake a little further from here," she thought to herself, her gaze slowly returning to the fox. She had been swirling her fingers gently around its thick, soft fur. The fox turned to look at a bush that rustled for a moment, and then turned to Andalusia once more. The raven-haired girl moved away, and carefully stood up with the blanket in hand. "I don't want you dead, little fox, do you want to come with me?" she beamed at the raven-furred creature with a twinkle in her eyes. Once again, the smile felt tight and foreign, but nonetheless, completely genuine. She had a horse and a dog, but no human companions; another animal could make do? Dante continued to sniff at the stranger's feet, finding his scent a little more familiar now, mixed with the smells of the forest. He couldn't tell if it was because they were in the forest, or if the stranger had been in the forest for a while now. He envied the undivided attention that Andalusia was giving the fox, but knew that it was simply due to her weakness to cute things. Wasn't he cute? The Luvanor seemed to make a pouting face as he sat on the grassy floor, defeated, his deep brown eyes staring innocently up at the cloaked stranger as if to ask for a little acknowledgement.

[Theodore Bindark]

Theodore continues to look at the hunter for a moment. He feels a little breeze of hot air at his feet that would be the dog sniffing at his feet. He looks down and raises an eyebrow. He looks at the dog for a moment wondering what it wants.He notices him eyeing the huntress petting the fox the defeated sad face. The fact that he is also looking up So he comes to the conclusion that he does in fact want attention. He reaches his hand out and places it on the dogs head and starts petting the dog.

[Roka]

Roka couldn't help but find favor with this woman. Her fingers running along his back and head sent shivers through him. He listened to her soundlessly as she spoke, her voice a sweet hum amid the rustle of the trees.

He raised his head to her cheek and licked at her face when she asked him to stay, yes he would stay, but what he could not silently convey was that it wouldn't be for long. It was difficult for him to remain in anyone's presence for an extended stay, not for lack of quality company, but because he had made it a habit to leave before he could be left. Those were the burning signs of long past wounds within his core.

For now though, they would hunt, and enjoy the spoils of their meal; he may find rest with her and by dawn retreat into the forest and immerge a man in Sunberth.

The breeze wafted in a tasty smell, and he lifted his snout to the air to better examine it. ‘Ahh, a bore.’ Usually he would not take one on in this form, but with a hunter by his side, then the game would be an easy kill. He lifted his ears to locate the hog; he could virtually hear him chewing upon the forest habit.

Roka located the archer's bow, taking the stalk of it in his mouth and dragging it to her. He dropped it before her and turned to follow his prey's path. He would lead her, stalk and kill with her, then even when parted they would share a kinsman's bond.

[Andalusia]

"You're quite the clever little fox," she eyed the dark-furred creature carefully as it brought her bow and arrows to her feet, and them scampered towards a specific direction. She was growing a little suspicious about its intelligence and it's unlikely appearance, but she couldn't place even an idea of what it could be all about. "Is it some sort of magic..." she thought to herself as she prepared an arrow and approached the fox as it moved into the bushes, seemingly pointing out a way to her. Dante turned to watch, suddenly catching the scent of the boar as well. His ears perked up at the scent, and prepared to follow the two, when he remembered the stranger. He only noticed then how he was petting him casually on the head. Dante emitted a sound of happiness at the touch, opening his mouth to yip approvingly. "Dan," Andalusia called out without looking behind her. Quickly, the obedient Luvanor rose to his feet and made his way towards his master. The raven-haired girl turned to look at the stranger with a blank, unreadable expression. "You could come, if you like," she said, with a hint of shyness. She wanted some time to speak to a human being, even just for a little while, since she hasn't in quite some time. "Tell me about yourself," she added, as she made her way through the bushes with the fox and her dog. She was compelled to ask if he noticed anything different about the fox, or Lusa, even, but the former made her more suspicious. She decided to ask him a little later, once they've found whatever the fox was leading them to. "Is this a good idea..." she pondered, realizing that the fox maybe a trick, or a trap of sorts. "I have two weapons, and he's got his... staff, I suppose we'll be fine," she comforted herself, looking to Dante for support. The dog seemed confident, and trusted the fox's directions, perhaps he smelled whatever the fox had as well.

[Theodore Bindark]

Theodore looks up as the girl spoke to her. He thinks for a moment before deciding to follow a little human interaction never hurt. He follows into the bushes his robes snag on the branches a little. He ponders if he should really say anything about himself but really what harm could it do ? "For starters my name is Theodore Bindark. I am a mage as you might have guessed." He pauses before he says anything else wanting to know her name."May I know your name ?" He says wanting to know the girl more before revealing anything more about him self.

As he followed through the bushes he thought about the possibility of this being a trap but he doesn't worry about it. He looks up at the leafs above yet again the see the light filtering down. He waits for her replie with patience as he steps through the growth.

[Andalusia]

A soft smile threatened to fight past her little scowl, but Andalusia was able to fight it away with a slight quirk of her lip. It wasn't anything personal, but it's been quite some time since anybody has ever asked her of something. A feeling of relief and happiness washed over her quickly, a tickling warmth that resonated and swirled inside her belly even after it had passed, and she wondered about these friends that she was making. "I hope they stay," she felt herself pout a little bit, but immediately reverted back to her blank expression. "I'm... Andalusia," she had to trail off a little, organize herself, and prepare before even saying the words. She hadn't realized how long she'd kept quiet after he'd ask the question. "It's, well, nice - nice to meet you," she couldn't dare herself to look at the man as she spoke, "I suppose." She sounded unsure of herself. She feigned disinterest most of the time, in order to be safe, she hoped that the man understood. "Just a hunter..." she trailed off as if she had more to say. She fiddled with the string on her bow, eyeing the intricate arrows that peeked out of the quiver strapped around her waist. She gestured to Dante in front of her and looked behind her, seemingly to Howlite, implying that she owned the two. "I live..." she looked up to make sure that they were still following the fox, "here, just here." She wanted to heave a sigh and run away from the conversation, although it didn't show. She hid it well, but she knew that if she bit her lip and furrowed her brows one more time, she'd be found out for sure. Crippling shyness was a terminal disease only destined to worsen, it seemed.