Time to Stop and Smell the Hoppers. [Complete!]

[tymid]

The wind rippled teasingly through the leaves of the trees in the orchards, a soft, musical sound that entranced any ears that so happened to encounter its melody. The grass was lush, recently untouched by any wandering paws, and it danced gaily with the breath of heaven that so gently caressed the trees. A soft 'plop' was heard, as a too-ripe fruit fell from its thin limb, cushioned by the grass below. Delicate flowers reached their heads up from the fertile earth, their leaves wafting their tantalizing scent to all who desired to linger in their midst. The colors, scents and smells were awe-inspiring. However, to one creature, there was one thing that was far more intriguing. The thing was a large, winged insect, with powerful back legs that propelled it great distances, to which its large, beating wings would allow it to flutter even further. It was this creature, so aptly named a Hopper, was currently jumping, gliding, and disappearing back into the tall grass, as though pursued by some great threat. Behind the Hopper, a slender, chocolate-pelted canine was mimicking the Hopper in a less than graceful way. With every jump, her legs splayed and flailed wildly in the air, but she somehow managed to land on at least three legs every time. Her deep, amber eyes glittered with an excitement that was utterly magical, and her tongue lolled out of her muzzle with the wonder of the creature she was pursuing. The Hopper had been the first thing that the canine, ironically named Whisper, had opened her eyes to in this new world. Instead of waking to the wonderful sight of grass, trees, and fruits, a googly-eyed crawler was but mere inches away from her nose, chewing slowly on a thick black of grass with its crushing mandibles. To Whisper, this was an inexcusable offense. Here she was, hoping to witness a truly magical sight when her eyes were finally opened. Maybe she would meander around and explore, allowing her paw-pads to get accustomed to the cool grass, or even try to climb a tree with her wonderful sense of dexterity. But, no. She was met by this ugly creature, who had chosen to turn her face into a dining area. The chase was on. "Miiine!", she whined between leaps, a look of utter determination upon her otherwise sweet looking muzzle. Her tail, whose fur was of a much longer length than her pelt, flew like a banner behind her, often coming down a half-second behind her front end, making her look something like a see-saw. Up and down she leapt and flailed, looking more like a 3-legged deer than a graceful canine. Soon, the repeated words of "Miine!" that accompanied each launch into the air was the only sound that could be heard across the Orchard, causing more timid birds to flee their trees in fear. Her chest was heaving, and her tongue was simply hanging out of the side of her mouth, propelled backwards against her face by the force of her jumping. At last, victory was at paw. With one mighty leap, her paws fell upon the Hopper, and with her chest rising and falling steeply, tongue dripping slaver, she grinned. "Mine." she panted, and as she lifted a paw gingerly, she saw the back leg of the creature, struggling to get free. She then made the mistake of slightly lifting the other paw, to which the injured Hopper attempted to scuttle loose. "Nope. Nonononono." she said hurriedly, chasing the now flightless Hopper around in circles. Her body twisted and turned in a tantric dance, her paws tapping and pawing the earth after the creature as though she were mad. Finally, her muzzle swooped down upon the poor creature, and with a satisfying crunch, she ended the offending Hoppers life. A long leg hung in an ever-so-ladylike fashion out of the side of her mouth as she chewed, her eyes squinted in a smile of victory. "Mine." ~*~*~*~ tagged, None/Open words, 693 notes, I think I'm going to like this insane lady. xD

[Meesh]

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[atrb=background,http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm184/pikachu59013/silvatablemid.png] Silva sighed happily as she wandered through the orchard, stopping a moment at her own birth tree to smile at it before continuing on. It had been a little over a week now, since the petite canine had opened her eyes and hatched from her pod, and she had loved every little minute of that week long existence. She wandered through the many trees, stopping by one every now and then to give it an appreciative sniff. The canine stood a bit smaller then most of her kind, with short black fur that was so dark that she almost looked like a shadow. Even her nose and pawpads were black, though they glistened a bit. Two bright yellow eyes almost seemed to shine from her otherwise dark frame. Silva paused, a familiar scent awashing her nostrils. It was the honey sweet smell of the inside of a fruit pod. Ah, so another sprout was due to hatch today? She had walked through the orchard only a little while ago, and hadn't smelled anything out of the ordinary then. Silva's tail wagged as she followed her nose towards the scent, paws now moving the way she wanted to, so unlike the little sproutling she had been only days before. Raising her voice, she let out a loud yip of greeting. The smell grew stronger now. It smelled canine...and female. Yipping again, Silva attempted to follow the smell. she would find it...she would find it....eventually

[tymid]

Whisper was completely content in her chewing activity, rather enjoying the crunchiness of her prize. However, her rhythmic chewing ceased almost instantly at the sound of a faint yip. The long Hopper leg still dangled bemusedly out of her mouth, however, it fell as she cocked her head towards the sound. Raising her nosetip towards the direction that the sound had come from, she whuffled curiously. No, it wasn't a trick of her imagination...there was another nearby. She was still attempting to catch her breath from the chase, her breath still coming in deep, short bursts. She padded forward curiously, one paw still raised above the grass, her head still cocked in its curious angle to the left. At the second yip, her head made a complete 180 degree rotation and cocked severely to the right, her right ear falling comically over to the side. She trotted a few more steps towards the sound, before emitting a small yip of her own. She noticed that her cry was more high-pitched than the sound she had heard, not really focusing on the sound of her own voice as she had been uttering the Chant of 'Miine'. Her silky tassel began to wave amiably behind her. A friend, perhaps? She uttered two barks in quick succession, a canine smile on her face, panting happily. Excitement rose within her again as she began to trot towards the sound, much more gracefully than her previous leaping. She held herself low to the ground, so that her gait was smooth and steady. Finally, she caught sight of the presumed caller, and her chocolate banner of a tail waved madly. "Hello!" she called, the canid smile on her face showing she meant no danger. One of her ears was still lopped comically to the side of her head, which seemed to be a new-forming style for the newborn canine. As she neared the other canine, her head dipped slightly, showing that she bore no ill-will, only curiosity and friendliness towards the other female. She admired the female's coal black pelt, and how it glimmered in the sunlight; it made her chocolate pelt seem rather bland. ~*~*~*~ tagged, Silva/Open words, 383 notes, YAYFRIENDS

[Meesh]

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[atrb=background,http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm184/pikachu59013/silvatablemid.png] Silva pause,d ears swiveling forward happily as she heard a succession of two quick barks. The sapling had noticed her! Trotting forward, she gave a friendly smile, lowering her haunches until she sat on the ground, tail wagging. "Hiya" she finally spoke, voice with a tinge of an accent to it [Russian Accent]. "I'm silva. You must be a new sapling" she gave a friendly smile, noting the dried sap on the canine's fur and the fruit fragments on the ground "It's nice meeting you"

[tymid]

Whisper's head cocked once again, however the smile remained on her face. Yes! This did seem to be a new friend! "I'm Whisper. Nice to meet you, Silva!" she yipped, hopping about in one spot excitedly. It was at this point that she noticed her tail, and proceeded to follow it around one full rotation before facing the other canine again. "I am fairly new around here, actually..." she murmured, an almost forlorn look in her eyes. However, the look vanished swiftly as a new thought rammed its way into her skull. "Say, you haven't seen any Hoppers around here, have you?" she queried, her tail beginning its attempt to make Whisper's hind end come flying off the ground again. She put her nose to the grass, and sniffled a few times, before looking up at Silva once again. "Your voice...is different. Different than mine." Whisper stated curiously, one ear falling over to the side. It wasn't that she didn't like Silvas voice, it was simply unique, and different. Then again, she hadn't spoken to another since her sprouting. Perhaps she was the one with the strange voice, and Silvas voice was normal? "Sorry, it's just pretty is all." she murmured, feeling suddenly embarrassed at the bluntness of her question. She drug one of her forepaws through the soft tendrils of grass, lifting them from their squooshed position that her paw had bent them into. Whisper was by no means a ditzy wolf, or even unintelligent. She simply found that there were too many thoughts and sights and smells around her to properly focus on one subject at a time. In fact, she was quite intelligent...she just needed the opportunity to get accustomed to this place, and get to know herself a little bit better. After all, she was quite new to this world. ~*~*~*~ tagged, Silva/Open words,343 notes, Nope.

[Meesh]

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[atrb=background,http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm184/pikachu59013/silvatablemid.png] Silva grinned at Whispers first comment "Nice meeting you too~ And yeah, it's alright if you're new. You'll get the hang of things eventually. All it takes is time, and you'll learn to walk and talk and everything fine~" she blinked at the forlorn look in the other's eyes. "Uhm, Hoppers? I saw a couple on my way here, but not as much as usual. They're usually only here at night. Oh, night's when the sky gets all dark and a lot of us go sleep a bit. And uhm, sleeping is like what you did in the pod, except without a pod" she grinned, trying to be helpful as she could, remembering the confusion she had felt when she was a sproutling. Fortunately, Silva had her three best friends only a couple trees away to help her out when they all hatched together, but being hatched along sounded so...so lonely. blinking out of her daydream, Silva grinned again "Oh, no, it's fine. My voice -is- a bit different, I'm not sure why. and thanks for the compliment~"

[tymid]

Whisper blinked, nodding understandingly at her explanation of things. Although, her mind now faced a conundrum; if they were supposed to sleep at night, how was she supposed to catch the Hoppers? In her mind, a visual image of thousands of Hoppers jumping through the grass in the dark was very intriguing, and something she wanted to do. Maybe she wouldn't have to sleep right away when it got "night"? Her tail began to wag once again as Silva told her that, yes, her voice was different, and no, she wasn't offended. "Okay, good." she sighed, her eyes rolling back into her head in relief. "The last thing I want to do is offend a new friend. Erm...we can be friends, yes?" she added hurriedly, not sure how friendships and the like worked in this world. The more she thought about it, the smaller she felt. Her eyes glazed over slightly as she began to think about how big this world truly could be. Surely there were lands outside of the Orchards, with other creatures sure to exist. Were there other times of the day, such as this new "night"? Were there other necessary activities, such as "sleep"? A loud rumble that resounded from her belly answered that question. A gnawing, aching feeling accompanied the rumble, and she looked down at her belly curiously. A look of fear crossed her face. Could...could Hoppers be bad to crunch and swallow? But they were so...so crunchy! Or, maybe one Hopper wasn't enough to simply satiate a young canine's belly. That thought hadn't crossed her mind. "Hoppers are alright to...crunch...aren't they?" she murmured to Silva, still looking down at her tummy, head tilting at every new, voracious rumble. The thought of more crunchy Hoppers made her mouth water; she didn't think that this would be the case if they were bad for her. Perhaps...she needed to crunch more Hoppers. Ten or twenty. Or more. Her tassel began to wave at the thought of chasing more of the ugly bugs. They were extremely fun to catch and eat, if not surprisingly hard to get a muzzle onto. ~*~*~*~ tagged, Silva/Open words, 374 notes, Poor hungry puppy. XD

[Meesh]

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[atrb=background,http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm184/pikachu59013/silvatablemid.png] [Aw XD] Silva grinned "Sure, we can be friends~ I love making new friends!" she said, tail beginning to wag. At Whisper's words, she grinned "Oh, sure~ If you mean eat that is. Eat is...uhm...." she fumbled for an explanation "You bite things and swallow them when your stomach hurts, and it doesn't hurt anymore. Anything that you swallow is called food but its also called meat. Your stomach hurting is called hunger, or being hungry. It's a bit confusing at first, but you'll ge the hang of it~" she smiled, trying to think of other things to say. Silva's main trouble as a pup had been learning to walk without crashing, but it seemed like this one already had that down.

[tymid]

Whisper's smile turned into a wide, panting grin as Silva explained about hunger and eating. "You know what this means?" she exclaimed, dipping into a play bow, her tail wagging rampantly. "This means I can eat all the Hoppers I want!" She immediately rose from her play bow and began leaping in a circle in a playful fashion. Her eyes were squinted shut with the ecstacy of the thought of eating more Hoppers, and she couldn't wait for night to come so she could go catch more. "You're welcome to join me!" she added, once she had ceased her dance of delight. She was winded again, and resumed her heavy panting. She looked down at her paws, and saw a piece of her pod still clinging to the middle of her leg. She reached her muzzle down and yanked it off, spitting it a few feet away. Her stomach gave yet another tumultuous rumble, and, still unused to the sound, her head jerked towards it, ears erect in curiosity. She finally lifted her head to look up at Silva. "So...are there others around here? Others like...us?" she asked quietly, looking around curiously as though she expected a mass number of canines to come tumbling out of the trees. She had yet to see a feline, and thus, only believed that creatures like herself, Silva, and Hoppers existed on this world. ~*~*~*~ tagged, Silva/Open words, 243 notes,

[Meesh]

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[atrb=background,http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm184/pikachu59013/silvatablemid.png] Silva chuckled and nodded "Yeah, I was born with three others like us, except one of them was smaller and smelled different. But see all these fruit on the trees? They're like us, but they haven't been hatched yet" she blinked, then turned her head, cocking her head as if she heard something. Finally, reluctantly, she shook her head "I'm sorry. I'd like to hunt with you but I have to go now. but listen, if you ever want to talk to me, when you get old enough go to the maple forest [second layer] and sniff me out. Me and my friends have group we call starpack ,and we have a den. Go there, and you'll find me, any time of the day~ It was great meeting you though!" reaching down to nuzzle Whisper, Silva then turned and ran away, tail raised high, leaving the orchard. [Gotta clear some rp's, sorry XD nice rping with you though ^.^]

[tymid]

Whisper's ears wilted against the side of her head, and her whole form drooped as Silva announced that she wasn't coming with her to hunt. She did perk a little at the nuzzle, however, and her tail began to wag slightly as Silva began to speak of new parts of the world, and where she could be found. By the time Silva was done speaking, and as she ran off, the droopy-puppy was almost back to her regular, jovial self. "Alright! I'll find you someday!" she called, her tail wagging brightly at the thought of adventuring to a new place. Her heart yearned already to see things outside the Orchard, but the logical part of her mind told her that she should stay, and meet other creatures, and maybe help them. The setting sun glinted on her soft, brown pelt, and Whisper felt a stirring of excitement. Silva had told her that the Hoppers liked to come out at the time when the sky got dark...the time called "night". Well, it was certainly getting darker. Whisper looked around curiously, as though expecting a horder of Hoppers to ambush her at any moment. The horde never came, but she did begin to see random Hoppers jumping out of the grass, unprovoked. She gave a small bark of excitement, and soon enough, she was leaping and bounding (and falling) once more. A little voice in the back of her mind told her that there could be more friends to come...and this thought only spurned her excitement on to a fever pitch. ~*~*~ Time passed, and Whisper's insatiable curiosity was too much for the simple Orchards. Perhaps one day, she would return...but for now, her path was towards...the River Garden. tagged; Silva/none/open words, 275 notes, Done with my intro thread to move on to bigger and better things!