Wandering Warrior {Finished}

[BlindMoon]

i The early spring moon shone down on the thick forest of evergreens. The dapples on the ground shifted and danced in time to the wind. The world seemed at peace in that moment.
ii A large thicket twitched violently. A small red figure leaped out of the bush holding a mouse in her jaws. The undersized vixen dropped the rodent at her paws and raised her head to smell the air for any scent of danger. None reached her nostrils, so she bent her delicate face and ripped into the mouse.
iii Just then, a loud growl rent the night air. The foxes head snapped up, why hadn’t she checked down wind of herself! She growled back to the unseen challenger, silently cursing at her own stupidity.
iv A large badger waddled out into the small clearing. Obviously, this was his land. “Stars above Rose, how stupid are you?” The fox muttered to herself, all the while crouching down, ready to fight this huge beast.
v There was a few moments of silence, then the badger lumbered towards Rose with surprising speed. It swung it’s huge paw at the vixen, who ducked and slunk forwards quickly and bit the brutes hind leg with her sharp, pointed teeth.
vi Crying out in pain, the black and white animal swung around to see what bit him, throwing the fox away. She scrambled up quickly, knowing how dangerous it was to be down in a fight.
vii Instead of waiting for the badger to move again, Rose threw herself at the animal and tried to get behind him, but the demon was mad now and ripped his claws down the foxes flank.
viii Rose squealed loudly, “You rotten fleabag!” In her anger, she moved faster than she ever had before and used her teeth and claws to gouge into the badgers back. She kept squalling random curses at the brute until he cried out and lumbered into the trees.
xi As soon as the badger was out of sight, Rose dropped to the ground in exhaustion. That had been the biggest animal she had ever fought, and it had drained her. The mouse forgotten, she sat up slowly to lick the long, but shallow wounds on her flank. How had she let this happen?
Word Count: 382
Muse: Alright
Notes: It's alright...

[{ b l u e }]

It was a lovely spring night, the moon shining bright overhead... that is, if you could catch a glimpse of it through the dense shield of pine branches. It was quite surreal, actually, to be traveling through only coniferous trees; not a green leaf in sight.

Massive wings beating with surprising silence through the labyrinth of trees, the large form of an Eagle Owl drifted through the darkness like a shadow himself. The only thing that kept one from believing he was indeed a figment of their imagination was the constant mumbling emanating from his beak.

"'Deliver this message to Captain Whatsisname', he says. 'He's camped in the Eskilso Forest', he says." the owl's baritone voice growled through the gloom. "Greatest bloomin' maze I ever flew through."

If one had the eyesight to do so, they would be able to see a small roll of parchment, or some other paper-like item, clutched firmly in the talons of the owl. As an extra precaution, a small strand of vine had been attached to the owl's foot, which in turn was attached to the document. Red-orange eyes glancing downward a moment at the message he was carrying, Faunus quickly shifted his gaze to face forward again, coming very close to flying headfirst into a tree.
After sharply veering to his right, Faunus leveled out once more and ruffled his feathers with distaste. "Clearly, this is quite the important message."

And at that, the owl fell totally silent once again.

- - - - - - -

He knew something was amiss the moment he caught the scent of blood, which is saying something considering his poor sense of smell. A rare flicker of concern entered his large eyes, and with a flourish, landed in the lowest branch of a nearby pine standing over a small clearing. He could now clearly tell that the source of the blood was a little fox sitting below him, cleaning her wounds.

"Got into some trouble, did we?" he called down, a smirk upon his features. As far as he could tell, the little vixen would be fine, if not a bit sore for a few days. After taking note of this, the need for concern had been long forgotten by the arrogant owl. But still, he felt the need to confirm his conclusion.
"Though to be sure, you are alright, yes?"

--status: complete
--muse: so-so
--words: 407
--notes: nothin' much to say here... :p

[BlindMoon]

i The taste of her own blood was bitter in her mouth. Rose had always hated carnivore blood. Thought whirled in her head, "How did I let this happen? I have never, never been caught off guard like that!" the vixen was truly dumbfounded. "Well not since Thorn caught me eating her dinner but-"
ii "Got into some trouble, did we?" The voice cut through her thoughts like a knife to bread. Rose spun around as fast as she could, given her wound.
iii "Gah! That's the second time in one night!" she squalled to the air. Then she turned to the owl perched on a tree branch. "At least you’re not going to rip me open for a lousy mouse." Hearing her own statement the fox stopped her words, then re-frasied it. "If you try to take my mouse I will rip your wings off," she growled.
iv The next words from the birds’ large beak surprised her, “Though to be sure, you are alright, yes?"
v The amber orbs in Roses head surveyed the beast. "Yes I will be fine. It's shallow. Thank you for your concern sir," she replied while shuffling her front paws. "Forgive me for my outburst," she added as an afterthought.
vi A slight wind ruffled the foxes fur slightly and sighing in frustration, she turned and stared to scratch the fur behind her ears.

Word Count- 231
muse-Sucks
Notes- Sorry for the sucky post, Italics are thoughts and Underline is the owl

[{ b l u e }]

Faunus snorted contemptuously as he heard the vixen speak. Heh, last time I'll take the time to ask someone if they're alright. he thought, russet eyes narrowing.

"I really would love to see you try to rip my wings off over a half-eaten mouse, dear." he said airily, bending toward the fox. "In all honesty, I could eat you instead. But I'm not one for going after larger prey; takes too much effort."

Ruffling his feathers, he straightened his frame back to full height. His eyes still staring, unblinking, at the vixen below, he almost wanted to fly off and continue with his previous venture. But just as he was about to act on his thought, she spoke again.

The large owl sat in silence for a short moment, pondering the vixen's apology. Normally, he would have taken her previous words as a great offense and totally ignored anything else she might have said, but luckily for the fox he was in a forgiving mood. "Apology accepted, I suppose." he sniffed, glancing upward to the treetops as he spoke. Through the smallest of gaps, he could see the moon; it had barely moved since he last checked it. Plenty of time, plenty of time. he thought reassuringly to himself.

Turning his gaze back to the fox, who he caught nonchalantly scratching behind her ears, Faunus almost wanted to fly down and swipe her across the face with his talons. Are you seriously going to just sit there and scratch yourself while you have me here, taking the time out of my duties to make sure you're okay?! he thought, outrage bringing his blood to a boil.

It took all he had not to act on his impulses, and with great effort, calmed himself down. It's not worth ruffling your feathers, old chap. Not worth it.

Sighing, the hulking frame of the owl craned forward once again. "Well, then... I suppose I'd best be off. Glad to hear you're alright." he called, preparing to launch off the tree. But just as he was about to carry on with his message delivery, he caught sight of some underbrush rustling a little way off. Whatever it was, it was making quite a racket as it moved through the trees, though it was too well concealed in the ferns and bushes for Faunus to properly identify the species.

"D'you hear that?" he said, his voice just loud enough for the vixen to hear. "I think we might have some company..."


--status: complete
--muse: so-so
--words: 447
--notes: ohhh, wonder what's in the bushes? :0 and also, don't mind Faunus; he always has a bad attitude toward others. x]

[BlindMoon]

i As the spring breeze brought a cooling wind to the vixen, it also brought the words that the large feathered beast spoke. "Ha that feather brain does not know what a good fighter I am!" Rose thought to herself. Though she was not as sure as she might have been if that dratted badger hadn't wanted the mouse.
ii Noticing his impatient movements, the small red fox opened her mouth to tell him to go if he needed to be somewhere, but his next words reached her fuzzy ears before she could utter a word. Well that was one animal who wasn't going to find her in the middle of the day to try and rip her to pieces over a long ago spat.
iii When the owl prepared to fly off, Rose thought she could hear something, but dismissed it until the bird stopped his almost flight and whispered something about having company.
ivShe turned slowly towards the moving bushes and her muscles tensed automatically in a battle ready stance. This would just top her night off. The crowning jewel, the ice cap on a mountain. "Just perfect," Rose muttered. If the words were solid things, they would be positively drenched in sarcasm.
v Rose's flank stung, but she ignored it for right then as she was ready to fight again. The bushes twitched and rustled violently and the vixens whole body was more tense than a coiled spring. Each of the muscles in her hind end were bunched to spring at whatever came through those bushes with speed and power.
vi The waiting was the worst part she concluded. The fighting was adrenaline and power. After wards, you got to relax in satisfaction or defeat. But the waiting, the not knowing what was going to attack you was the worst.
Word Count- 324
Muse- Getting better
Notes- Hehe meh fox is ripped

[{ b l u e }]

The great owl hadn't felt this tense in a long while. Sure, he'd felt stressed when the higher-ups ordered him about, but he'd never really felt (and though he hated to admit) a sense of dread the way he did now.

Hmm... let's see how rusty I really am at fighting. he thought grimly, his razor-sharp talons grating against the bark of the tree branch. His unblinking gaze was centered on the bushes right next to the clearing, where the unknown creature was now attempting to force its way through.

The scrawniest looking coyote Faunus had ever laid eyes upon finally managed to stumble its way into the clearing. His fur sticking out in every direction and his tail bent at an odd angle, he would have made for quite the comical sight had he not had such a desperate gleam in his eye.

The obviously hungry coyote almost immediately began eying the injured fox standing before him, a crooked smile etching its way across his lips. "Eheheh, not too picky as to what'll be my next meal... s'pecially since I haven't eaten in a while." he rasped, his intentions made clear.

"Bad idea, chap. Really, you can't just go fishing or eat a few berries instead?"

The coyote whirled around so fast that he nearly toppled over, taken completely by surprise as a second voice sounded behind him. Eyes narrowing, he finally caught sight of the owl perched in the tree. "Ohh, even better! Birds're much tastier than fox... though I can't say I've ever tried either fox nor owl..." he said, pondering over what he'd eaten over the years.

"Well, today's not going to be the day you'll be eating either." Faunus replied coldly, ready to attack at any given moment. He honestly didn't want to get involved in the scuffle that was sure to ensue any moment, but he certainly wasn't going to allow an injured creature become some crazy coyote's next meal either.

With a snarl that sounded more like something choking on a bit of food, the coyote made a surprising leap into the air as he tried to swipe at the owl.
Faunus would have been well out of the way if he hadn't paused in surprise; but alas, the coyote clawed him square in the chest, feathers flying every which-way.

Screeching in rage, Faunus launched off the tree with a quick sweep of his massive wings, the gust managing to stun the coyote for a moment. It was just enough time for the owl to dive forward, talons first, at his assailant.

With a howl of pain, the coyote struggled out of Faunus' death grip on his face. Blood dripped from the deep wounds across his muzzle, though his eyes were somehow unharmed.

Argh, can't believe I missed... the owl thought angrily, landing awkwardly in front of the vixen. Glancing over is shoulder, he made sure she wasn't getting any ideas in regards to him being there. "Don't get any dumb ideas; I don't want to have to fight a fox too." he growled, voicing his thoughts.

He quickly turned his head around as the coyote began snarling, eyes filled with a mixture of hunger and hate.

"Ain't no way I'm letting some bird and a lil' injured fox let me go hungry for one more second..."


--status: complete
--muse: so-so
--words: 593
--notes: not too happy with this post. i honestly didn't have a clue as to what would happen... but then this sort of came to be. x] hope ya don't mind. ^^;
and also, you're welcome to powerplay the coyote for your own post. :p

[BlindMoon]

i When the coyote burst through the bushes, Rose’s first reaction was one of relief. This animal was almost her height, maybe a bit bigger. But then, she saw the crazed look in the beasts eyes. Her body had relaxed slightly and she knew that if she didn’t get ready to fight she would be this creatures dinner.
ii Lifting her lips to show the coyote her teeth, she growled menacingly. “Touch me and die!” The little fox whispered. It would have been quite the threat if her back leg had not given out. Though shallow, the wound was leaking a lot of blood onto the forest floor.
iii "Bad idea, chap. Really, you can't just go fishing or eat a few berries instead?" The owls voice saved her, and Rose was grateful for the few minutes it gave her to get prepared.
iv The owls fighting abilities were outstanding, but Rose had to tear her gaze from the scuffle so that she could clean the blood from her flank. When she turned back, the owl was in front of her and the coyote had blood running down his face in large rivulets.
v “Just stand aside, you fool!” the small canines voice was a little garbled as he tried to speak through the crimson liquid pouring into his mouth. “She is hurt and you are not, but we can change that, can’t we?” the coyote’s matted body shook with impatience as he begged Rose’s protector to move aside.
vi Rose growled again, the sound was deep and masculine. While the ugly and obviously crazed animal glared at the owl, she slunk around both of them and started to move slowly towards the hind end of the brute.
vii Knowing that with her wound she would have to get closer than normal to her victim, Rose moved far to the back of the coyote. She waited until the beast looked around the owl to where she used to be, and then she gave a sharp yip. Just as he turned, she leapt towards him, with her mouth gaping and her front paws spread to grab him as best she could.
viii Roses’ sharp teeth met the matted fur of his shoulder but could not find skin. Her claws had more luck, as one paw scraped across his face and the other ripped down his ribs. She was just untangling her teeth from fur so that she could grab at his neck, when the wiry creature squalled and twisted his body, sending Rose flying.
ix She would have jumped to her feet instantly, but her hind end felt tingly and it would not support her. Looking around, she saw that the nasty animal had clawed more marks on her flank but she had not felt them because of her adrenaline. Now she was helpless on the ground and the dark creature was sauntering towards her snickering. “Not so tough now are you? It’s time I had me some food!” And with that he leapt forwards to the helpless vixen.
Word Count: 508
Status: Complete
Muse: Good
Notes: Holy crow, that was fun to write!

[{ b l u e }]

It's amazing how fast one could react in a dangerous situation. Though some might freeze in fear, clueless as to what to do, this was certainly not the case with Faunus. And truth be told, it probably never would be.

At first, the great owl had simply watched from where he had originally alighted in front of the vixen just moments earlier. Wincing in pain as the gashes in his chest finally began to take effect, Faunus could tell the fox needed little help in fighting the coyote. That is, until he flung her over his back.

Faunus didn't even stop to think as he watched the coyote leap forward at the injured vixen lying before him; he didn't know how, but within seconds the owl had positioned himself between the predator and his prey. With a screech that chilled even the coyote to the bone, Faunus soon had his deadly talons tearing at whatever they could get a hold of.

The coyote, wailing in pain, fought back as best he could. But it didn't take long at all for him to finally turn tail, blinded and missing half of his left ear. The owl listened with satisfaction as he heard the defeated brute barrel back through the vegetation, cursing and howling in pain the whole way.

"Serves you right, you insane beast." Faunus growled, coughing mid-sentence. It was then that the owl realized he hadn't won the battle without a cost; though his wings were somehow unharmed, his chest had been wounded even further, and he felt a cut stinging his left eye as well. Scarlet liquid was staining his feathers and slowly dripping to the grass, though for some odd reason, Faunus dismissed all of this... for the moment, at least.
Weakly turning to the vixen and neatly folding his wings, he offered an equally feeble smile. "You're all right, yes? Better off than me, I'm sure." he rasped, his words accented with a cough.
"And before you say anything, I'll be fine." Hopefully not a total lie.
After a moment's silence passed, he spoke once more, his voice beginning to fade. "Ah, it seems I never got 'round to introducing myself. How silly of me. I'm Faunus, military messenger..." at the mention of his rank, the owl looked down at his talons with dread; the message he had once been carrying was now a tattered and bloody mess, illegible to even the best reader. Just fabulous.
Awkwardly ruffling his feathers, Faunus turned his gaze back to the vixen. "So, what be your name? Can't just go 'round calling you 'fox' or 'vixen' forever." The owl still managed to somehow have an air of arrogance about him, even while he stood there in a mess of feathers, coyote fur, and his own blood.


--status: complete
--muse: so-so
--words: 489
--notes: I'm so mean to Faunus. xD

[BlindMoon]

It was the first time that Rose had frozen in battle. She even knew what would have been the best attack in that situation. Instead, she sat like a helpless pup while that owl had fought off the coyote.

Shaking her head to clear it, she saw the beast running into the foliage, leaving a trail of blood. “Stupid, flea-ridden, pest”. She thought to herself about the coyote and maybe a little bit about herself.

Now that all of her adrenaline was gone, her brain kicked into ‘how-wounded-am-I’ mode. Rose went through the checklist that her mother had taught her.

“Head? No that’s okay. Fore-legs? Those are good too. Sides are maybe a little bruised but that’s all. Hind end?” She turned to see the damage done. Not bad really. It might hurt for a few weeks, and it would be a bit difficult to catch food, but she would get by.

At the owls voice, the vixen snapped her head around to see how badly he was hurt and gasped at the sight of him. "You're all right, yes? Better off than me, I'm sure. And before you say anything, I'll be fine." “Ya right,” Rose thought to herself.


Then he mentioned his name and something about hers. Rose jerked her gaze from the owls wounds and sat up straight.

“Pleased to meet you Faunus, I am Rose River, but most call me Rose,”

After introducing herself, the fox allowed her orbs to travel the extensive wounds on the bird. Then she noticed something attached to his talon. Something bloody and ripped, but it was not skin.

“If you don’t mind my asking Faunus, what is that object hanging from your foot? It’s like nothing I have ever seen!”

At that, Rose stood gingerly and walked the few steps towards the owl and sniffed at the thing. It had a funny smell, but maybe the items original smell mixed with blood made for the odd scent.

Suddenly realizing her boldness, the little red animal backed off. “You idiot Rose,” her thoughts chastised her.

Word Count-344
Muse-Okay
Notes- Hehe
Italics-Thoughts
Strike through-Faunus

[{ b l u e }]

Faunus was barely conscious as he listened to the fox introduce herself. Eyes half closed and his frame slouched over, it took everything he had to keep himself from falling over. Not good... at all. Stay with me now, c'mon... he kept mentally repeating to himself. Glancing at his mangled chest, the owl couldn't help but shudder. Never in all his days had he manged to get wounded this badly.

Clearing his throat, Faunus let a false smile make its way across his features. "Aheh, pleasure to meet you as well, Rose." he manged to wheeze, quickly shaking his head in an attempt to clear it of the odd dizzying feeling beginning to overtake it. Loosing too much blood... uh... what was it the healers use to stop bleeding...? His thoughts were even beginning to slow, a clear sign that he was getting ever deeper into trouble.

As he attempted to remember, he was aware of the fox making her way toward his talons, and he instinctively jumped back. Not the best move. Immediately after he realized what he'd done, Faunus stumbled backwards with a mad flapping of his wings.

Falling to the ground, Faunus lay on his back for a few moments, wings comically splayed out next to him. Had a stab of pain not ripped through his chest upon landing, he probably would have laughed at himself.

Ungracefully getting back on his feet, the adrenaline resulting from his falling over clearing his mind for the moment, Faunus took a few seconds to regain his bearings. "Uhm... your question, yes..." he said, recalling the vixen's voice as he toppled over. "Well, this was a message for a certain Captain, but as you can see, it is no more." he mumbled, lifting the leg to which the message had been tied to. "So, it looks like the only thing this night has managed to accomplish for me was trouble." There was a pause as he wheezed for a moment, glancing at his surroundings. "Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment..."

Awkwardly limping toward a cluster of brambles, Faunus inspected a large cobweb woven between the tangled branches. "Hmm, this might just be what they use..." he murmured as he snatched it with his beak. Quickly pressing it against his bloodied chest, he was slightly relieved when he noticed that the cobweb was indeed helping the flow of blood cease. However, this still didn't give back any of the blood he'd already lost, and the effects were quickly taking hold of him.

"Well, isn't this night turning out to be simply fabulous?" he grumbled, the words dripping with sarcasm. Sighing, Faunus turned back to Rose, who he noticed was looking quite embarrassed at her initial move toward his parchment.

"Oh... uh... don't worry about that. Most creatures are curious as to what parchment is. Not very common, y'know."
Scuffing a talon in the trampled grass, his previous words were quickly met with a mental reply. What a sad attempt at trying to reassure someone.

--status: complete
--muse: so-so
--words: 530
--notes: once again, nothin' much to say here. x]

[BlindMoon]

Well this wouldn’t do. Not at all. Faunus needed help. Rose could see that, and she was no healer. She watched the owl stumble around looking for cobwebs. Although they had just met, Rose wanted to help him.

“If you can wait right here, I can find some more cobwebs. That stuff is not going to last long. And some water would be good for you too. I will be right back!”

Then she turned and headed into the forest behind her, ignoring the sharp pangs of pain coming from her flank.

Cobwebs were easy to find if you knew where to look. Luckily Rose did know where to look. She moved towards an old and hollowed out stump as fast as she could. Now came the hard part. Taking a deep and calming breath, the little red vixen shifted all of her weight onto her hind end so that she could place her front paws on the top of the stump, gasping in pain as she did so.

Working quickly, Rose reached one paw into the stump and wiggled in around for a few seconds. Finally retrieving her limb, Rose hopped down and stood on three legs so as not to dirty the absorbent mess on her paw.
Now back to the bird. It was hard work, running on three legs, two of which happened to be very sore. She made it though, and not pausing as she entered the clearing, Rose waddled right up to Faunus and placed the cobwebs across his wounds.

“I am sorry for my forwardness, but you don’t look as if you are fit to do this yourself. And before you ask, no I am not a healer. I just have lived on my own for a long time so I had to learn what to so if I got hurt,”

Rose had never made a speech as long as that one before. Frankly, she was surprising herself at how open and forwards she was being. She would not know it, but all of her emotions were showing on her face as she applied the cobweb. But she pushed her thoughts out of the way and spoke again.

“Now again, stay put and I will be back with some water. Now can you drink water out of moss, or do I need to find something else to carry it in?”

The last statement forced its way past Rose’s teeth before she could do anything about it. But it was a legitimate question. Could animals with beaks drink water from moss? She waited patiently for an answer from the wounded bird.


Word Count 436
Muse Okay
Notes Nope

[{ b l u e }]

Faunus was totally caught off guard as he heard what the fox suddenly had to say.

"Ehm... what?" he started dumbly, his eyes unblinking with surprise. "No, no; I'll be fine. Please, don't waste your time..." he began to continue, but his voice quickly faded as he watched the vixen turn and go on her hunt to help him.

"... On me. Ugh, stubborn little vixen." he finished with a snort as he watched her white-tipped tail disappear behind the bushes. Hobbling over toward the tree he had first alighted in when he had arrived in this clearing, Faunus neatly settled himself in the grass. No point in trying to fly up to that branch... I'll never make it. Plus I'll just worsen my wounds. he mentally said with exasperation.

Weakly ruffling his feathers, Faunus let his eyes close half-way as he tried to relax. But one thing is for sure; an owl is not meant to relax on the ground. And no matter how much her tried to ignore it, Faunus couldn't rid himself of the nagging instinct that told him to relocate anywhere other than the ground.

With a growl, Faunus began to prepare hismelf for a flight attempt when Rose came hobbling back into the clearing. Faunus knew right away that her mission had been a success as he noticed the wad of cobwebs stuck around her paw.

Re-folding his wings, Faunus turned to face the vixen with a slightly sour expression. He grudgingly allowed her to apply the gauzy substance to his chest, and as he stood awkwardly awaiting her to finish, heard her speak. "I am sorry for my forwardness, but you don’t look as if you are fit to do this yourself. And before you ask, no I am not a healer. I just have lived on my own for a long time so I had to learn what to so if I got hurt."

Faunus didn't reply for a few moments, but after she had applied the last of the cobwebs, he decided it was about time to speak up. "Mm... thank you for your help. I don't often accept it from others." he began quietly, inspecting her work. He looked quite ridiculous with a huge wad of cobweb plastered to his chest, but at least it had put a stop to his bleeding wounds. Nodding slightly in reluctant satisfaction, he continued. "But what about you? You still have your own wounds to attend to, yes? I do appreciate your help, but... I'll be fine from here. Really."

As she insisted upon fetching him some water as well, Faunus couldn't help but let a fleeting smile cross his features before sighing. It's sort of heartwarming to know that someone cares this much about my well-being. he thought, shaking his head slightly.
"Like I said; I'll be fine. No need to keep fussing over me. And, to answer your question; yes, I suppose I can drink water out of moss." he replied with a quiet chuckle.

"But like I've been saying; no need to worry about me. You should start taking care of your own wounds now, before it attracts some more unwanted company." the owl finished grimly, adding a cautious glance over his shoulder just to be sure they were indeed the only two about.

--status: complete
--muse: so-so
--words: 588
--notes: not liking the ending... xD

[BlindMoon]

The red pelted animal paused for a moment, and then nodded in agreement to the owls statements. She sat down as gingerly as possible and began to lick the wounds she found.


There were a few minor scratches and some places that would probably bruise later, but her main problem was the long lacerations on her flanks.


The blood had dried, creating the beginnings of a scab, but Rose had no idea what types of diseases and parasites the scavengers had on their claws. The dry rust came away easily, but the bleeding started again.
Rose didn’t mind as it didn’t hurt, but the taste of her own blood was foul. She made a face and continued licking, trying to get the pink flesh as clean as possible. Then she turned to the other side and started all over again.


When she was through, she spoke,


“Okay, now that all of the wounds, yours and mine, are clean, I think I will go and get some water.” The words became more ‘thoughts-out-loud’ than conversation, “I think I saw a creek on the way in. And this moss here will work well,”


She was muttering and limping around collecting balls of moss from the ground. Then with determined movements, she hobbled away again.
Roses’ thoughts were incomprehensible, even to her, so she stopped thinking and just walked as fast as she could towards the stream.


It was shallow and fast, so Rose placed the moss on the ground and bent her head to drink. When she had her fill, she dipped the moss into the water and started to make her way back to the clearing.


Now that her body was hydrated, the little fox was thinking again. ‘I wonder what a messenger is. That parchment looked odd as well. Faunus seems strange, but then, all birds are,’ her thoughts were all over the place and she realized that she needed sleep.


So when she reached the owl once more, Rose placed the moss at his talons and, without looking at him, crossed the clearing to a soft looking hunk of grass, and flopped down onto it. She shut her eyes and sleep came like a black wave, sweeping her away.


Her dreams were filled with blood. She saw herself from above as her body leaped and twisted in a huge battle field. One after another, animals big and small fell to her brave attacks. She could see more carnage then had ever met her eyes before. Rose watched in horror as she saw a large cat leap towards her fighting form. But before the cat landed, another wave of blackness swept over her and she knew no more.
Word count 448
Muse so so
Notes- no notes

[{ b l u e }]

Faunus had never felt this tired in his entire life. All traces of adrenaline long gone, he was finding it increasingly harder to keep his slightly swaying form steady. Owls don't sleep at night, idiot. he repeated continuously, as if that would keep him awake.

He just barely caught Rose speaking, and with an irritated shake of his head, Faunus turned his attention to her. "Ah, sorry... what did you say? Something about water?" he mumbled wearily, but he then realized he was talking to an empty clearing. "Hmph. Guess I'll chat when she returns?"

With a drawn out sigh, the large owl hobbled toward the treeline, and settled near the roots of a massive oak. I think I'll wait a little longer before I make any attempts at flying... he thought, suppressing a yawn. I suspect the fox will be bringing me some water as well, so might as well save myself the effort.

Eyes half-closed, Faunus came to with a start as he caught sight of Rose returning. Wordlessly dropping a water-soaked wad of moss at his talons, she then proceeded to topple into a patch of grass on the other side of the clearing. Faunus knew she was asleep the moment she hit the ground, and after poking at the moss and drinking what he could, he decided to go about doing the same. There's no way I'm going to be able to fly anywhere in this state. he thought groggily, unfolding his wings.

With an awkward flourish, Faunus just managed to make it to the lowest branch. After his heavy breathing returned to normal, the owl picked his way toward the base of the branch. Folding his wings, he made the best attempt he could at getting comfortable; after all, his chest was still sending waves of pain through his body every time he moved the wrong way.

Glancing at the fox below, he let the slightest of smiles make its way across his features. "Sleep well, friend." he murmured, and with that, he too fell into slumber.


--status: complete
--muse: so-so
--words: 363
--notes: uh... I guess the thread's done then? unless you want to continue it, which is fine. ^^
either way, quite the entertaining thread here! xD