Wolf's Den {CLOSED; DO NOT POST}

[Celtic zombie-kitten]

Sunshine looked out onto the lake and thought she saw a familiar pelt on the small island in the center of it. Jeff was taking a nap under a young tree close to the edge of the water. Sunshine rolled her eyes. Males could be so lazy, she thought.
"Jeff!" she called to him. His ear twitched. "Jeff, wake up!" The maned wolf's head jerked up with a start.
"Huh? What? Here I am," he said, still halfway in dream. He stood up and stretched before calling out, "Salutations, my dear Sunshine!" Then he waded into the water and swam across to the two females on the other side.  

[DarkWolfLove]

Larka let out a bark of laughter. Here he was, the whole time! She could n** his hide for that. "Jeff! Could you not hear us!? We were calling for you since forever," she exclaimed in exaggeration. She backed up and turned her head for when he shook the water from his coat. "Have a nice sun nap, did ya'?"

 

[Celtic zombie-kitten]

"Of course," said the larger canine, grinning. He looked kind of funny any way, but the fact that his teeth were crooked practically made him a cartoon character when he smiled. Sunshine thought he was cute and loved him immensely.
"Jeffey, you dork," she teased him. "Anywayz, the reason I was looking for you was because Mr. Rat told me to tell you he's got some stuff for you."
"Oh great," he said, wagging his tail just a bit. "I was wondering when he'd get it."
Jeff had this odd habit of collecting human junk, particularly jewelry and pieces of old machinery, that he would either wear, try to figure out how to use, or decorate his den with. (He did live in the cave with the other wolves, but he had also found a small hidey-hole that he sometimes went to to think.)
"Wold you guys like to come with me to pick it up?" he asked.  

[DarkWolfLove]

Larka stretched as they talked, her hind in the air, and shook her head to get rid of the buzzing flies. "I've got nothing better to do. No need to hunt just yet, there's still a buck from a moon or two ago." She wagged her tail and bounced a little with excitement. "We'll go with!"

 

[Celtic zombie-kitten]

"I'll go," said Sunshine.
"Good," said Jeff with a smile. And then, "Onward, then," as he marched into the woods, toward Rat's nest.  

[DarkWolfLove]

Larka nudged Sunshine's shoulder as they walked. "Did Rat say what he has this time? Perhaps a nice shiny thing for us all to play with." Her grin quickly turned into a pout as her thoughts changed. "Unless Jeff keeps it all to himself, like all the other shinies."

 

[Celtic zombie-kitten]

Sunshine giggled sarcastically, and Jeff turned his head ever so slightly to say, "I heard that."
"Sweet Jeff," his mate said, "what exactly are you expecting to get this time?" Her ears pricked forward with curiosity.
"You'll see," said the maned wolf teasingly. "It's a surprise."
Sunshine leaned over to whisper into Larka's ear, "I think I might know what part of it is." She too had that sly grin on her face, as if she were daring anyone to ask her for her secret. Poor Larka was just going to have to wait until they got there to see.  

[DarkWolfLove]

Larka laid her ears back and furrowed her brow. She didn't like being out of the loop. She'd have asked the little hyena what it was, but the she-Wolf knew that the female was faithful to her Mate in all things. "Alright, alright. I'll wait, but I'm not happy about it," she moped.

 

[Celtic zombie-kitten]

Sunshine nudged her friend playfully. "You know that old human saying, 'absence makes the heart grow fonder.' I'm willing to bet it works the same way with things you haven't even seen yet." She grinned at her with her large hyena teeth. It was an unusual smile, and somewhat frightening to those who didn't know her very well, but to a friend it was charming and welcoming smile, nomatter how foreign.
"Almost there," they heard Jeff say.

After a few minutes they stopped in front of a hollow tree where Rat and Squirrel, the local pirate partnership, lived and stored all their crap. Jeff put his head up to the hole on the side and said, "Is anyone at home?"  

[DarkWolfLove]

Larka rolled her eyes at her friend. The little hyena always knew some saying, human or otherwise, to fit the situation. She couldn't help but smile back at Sunshine's smile though. It always made her happier to see it.

Larka bound up to the tree, scratched at the base, and marked it, as per custom. "Come on, rodents," she teased. She scratched at the bark of the tree below the hole that Jeff spoke through. "Give us the goods," she howled playfully until an old rat popped his head out with a hiss. He was tired of the young ones teasing and playing games when he just wanted to admire his things.

"Oh Jeff," he squeaked. "Squirrel! Jeff is here with his Mate and some she-Wolf!" Larka pouted at Rat's condescending tone, but she backed away for Jeff to talk business and what not. With her antics, she'd just end up ruining things.

 

[Celtic zombie-kitten]

((Haha, niice. biggrin ))
The squirrel appeared from one of the higher limbs in the tree with oil and rust stains all in her fur. It appeared that he had been working on some human machine up there. "Well, if it isn't our best customer!" she exclaimed.
"I've come for my latest treasures," announced the maned wolf. "Rat said he had something special for me." He winked.
"Well, of course there's the usual type stuff here," said the bushy tailed rodent, shoving a small bag of screws, bolts, springs, and washers at him. "And if you'll pay us a good price, we got some sweet treats right here."
At this, Sunshine looked at Jeff eagerly. Human candy was a very rare treat for the wild creatures of the forest, even if it wasn't 'the' special thing Jeff was waiting for. At least she knew she wanted some and was pretty sure Larka would appreciate it too.  

[DarkWolfLove]

Larka scratched behind her ear idly as they talked. It wasn't until old Rat mentioned something edible. "I like treats," she yipped happily. She bowed playfully and looked up at Squirrel. The red squirrel was much friendlier than the old rat. At least she laughed at some of the she-Wolf's jokes. "What's the price?"

 

[Celtic zombie-kitten]

"Old rat here likes animals' bones to carve into combs and such. I figure you wolves get lots of those, being carnivores and all," said the squirrel.
"I'll pay it," said Jeff. "Just write it down that I owe you. Now... where's my special delivery?" He could feel excitement rolling off the females like sweat, as he sat calmly and waited for Squirrel to scurry back up the tree and then again back down, now with something indeed very shiny and attached to a long chain. The thing was circular in shape, and when the squrrel got closer, she showed them that it opened and had little moving parts inside and made the most soothing ticking sound. Sunshine and Jeff both stared at the beautiful piece in amazement.  

[DarkWolfLove]

Even Larkas almost constantly wagging tail stopped as she inched closer to the object. It was indeed shiny, but the ticking is what stopped her. Her ears were forward as she stared, close-mouthed. Her nose was twitching as she sniffed it.

Squirrel, slightly spooked by the looming carnivores, as she called them, closed up the human thing, snapping the she-Wolf out of the trance. She put the thing around Jeff's neck and pulled his whiskers so he would face her. "Listen to me, pay us back, alright? Rat was almost killed trying to get one that still worked. You've got five moons, deal?"

 

[Celtic zombie-kitten]

"You have my word," the large wolf swore solemnly. "I'll get you as many bones as you like." Sunshine smiled.
"And thank you for the sweetmeats," she said, tail still wagging.
As they walked away, she kept leaning in toward her mate's chest, enchanted by the soft ticking sound.

((so sorry, but I gotta go now, and I'm not entirely certain I'll be on tomorrow. Hopefully we can finish this, because I'm really liking it. :3 ))