Pretty Flower [Open!]

[Aries]

"Nope, age has nothing to do with size, it's all a matter of if you evolve or not. Some evolve, some don't. Nobody really knows why, but it always happens in a matter of minutes rather over a long time." Antares rambled a bit, he didn't know a whole lot about evolution, but he knew enough. He raised his head from below his shoulders, the position was more comfortable but wasn't suited for his personality. Realizing his lips had settled into a horrible frown he raised them into a smile, trying to not bare his teeth in the process.

Antares sat still as the canine sniffed him to be sure he didn't startle her by mistake, easing his tense post as she relaxed and lifted her tail once more. "It certainly does, I honestly didn't think felines evolved before this." he snickered, still adjusting to his much deeper voice. It still had the warm, friendly tone it always had, though. "No, Silva's coat has always been black, but Nerah's changed after both of her evolutions. I think it varies for everyone." Antares began to stretch his new muscles, he was certainly more well muscled than he had been before, but he was still spindly for his form.

[Twilight]

"Do you think I could evolve someday?" Maro asked, not really wanting to be half the size of all her friends forever. How were they supposed to play when their paws alone were about as big as her head? Once Antares raised his head above shoulder level, Maro was truly looking up at him. She wasn't to concerned with the feline's frown, partly because he quickly tried to correct it and partly because she could imagine a longer muzzle was strange for any expressions. His smile didn't change the fact he was now huge, but it did offer a friendly comfort.

"Both evolutions? How many times do you evolve?" Maro asked, wonder who could go through those growing pains more then once. "Maybe you evolve if you have a black coat?" Maro offered, thinking of how her fur was no where near black. She had always been brown and white. "Maybe if I was a little darker, I could evolve too," the canine said, looking at her reflection in the water. Except some dark shades of brown, she wasn't dark at all.

[Aries]

"I don't see why not!" Antares chuckled flicking his tail at the canine's flank. It was odd being so much larger than the canine, He was used to always being smaller than the canines , but he usually made up for being short with length and agility. It would take a while to get used to, he guessed that he was only half the size of Silva and Nerah still, which would make adjusting a bit easier.

"Well, Silva and Nerah have evolved twice, it could be more, I just haven't seen anyone evolve more than twice." he responded, rising to go pluck a few more pods off of the angel ferns. The evolution drained his energy, making him hungry all over again. "Well, Nerah was a mix of light and dark browns, kind of like you but lighter..." he trailed off trying to think on another canine that looked like Nerah before her evolutions but came up with nothing. "I don't think coat color has anything to do with it, honestly. I think it's more a matter of how long you've been around and how much wisdom and experience you have. Nerah, Silva, and I have been around for a very long time, as far as we know we're the oldest of all of the living canines and felines around." the feline crunched on the sweet pods, knowing they wouldn't be enough to fill his belly, but they worked for now.

[Meesh]

Silva had been taking a walk when she caught Maro's scent. It had only been a little while since she and the newborn had parted ways in the Orchard, but the canine couldn't help but feel worried abou the young pup. She had been fine at that age, but still, she was with her three friends, while Maro had run off on her own.

"Motherly instinct. Why the heck is that bothering me now" the canine muttered to herself, dutifully putting her nose to the ground and following the newborn's scent trail. Despite her words, she wasn't that annoyed, however. It was nice being in the company of Maro. It reminded Silva of herself, or Nerah, or maybe a mix of them both, at that age.

She had been following Maro's scent trail for a few yards when another scent caught her nose and she froze. Feline, male, and...unusually familiar. Her eyes widened. "Antares!" she yipped loudly, dashing froward towards the stream where the scent lead to. "Antares is that you?" As she dashed into the clearing, she froze, eyes widening as she saw her friend in a much larger, wilder, form. He was still smaller than her, but..."Antares, you evolved!" Silva bound forward, excited as a pup, to lick her friend between the ears. "Wow, it's been forever! And you- when did you evolve?" Turning her head, Silva bent to give Maro a quick lick between the ears as well "And hi Maro~"

[Twilight]

When the great feline's tail touched her flank, Maro's eyes stared at the moving target. Yes, moving target. Like it was when she was still a pod-ling, Maro jumped after the feline's dark tail as if it was some prey she had been stalking for a while. It was reassuring the think that her brown coloring wasn't going to keep her from evolving, since, as stated before, she didn't want to be half the size of her friends all her life. Maro was still chasing the feline's tail when he moved to go back to the ferns to eat the pods.

Then Maro heard the heavy paws of someone else getting closer to them. She stopped trying to catch Antares's tail, looking in the direction of the sound with her ears facing forward, perked up straight. Suddenly Silva's voice rose over the sound of the calm shallow river. Maro's tail wagging fast when she saw her friend.. had Silva gotten bigger? Hard to tell since now Maro felt tiny beside the two black figures. One was twice her size, the other three or four times. She felt so small...

"Hey, Mommy," Maro said, smiling and feeling very comforted by Silva's friendly lick. Looking up at both of them, Maro stood up and tensed her muscles, causing her thick fur to stand on end and made her look somewhat bigger.. why did she have to be unevolved? When the attempt did not make her nearly as big as even Antares, Maro sat down heavily in the water with a sigh.

[Aries]

Antares stopped in the middle of grabbing another pod as a familiar smell wafted into his nostrils. Before he could identify it, a large black figure made it's way through the undergrowth. "Silva, it's you!" the feline stepped forward a few steps pressing his muzzle into the canine's fur, breathing in her warm familiar scent as she licked his forehead. "Yes! It happened just a few moments ago, I'm still adjusting a bit!" the feline excitedly jumped around showing off his new form.

He smiled as Maro fluffed up her fur in an unsuccessful attempt to look bigger, and sat down sulkily. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll evolve someday, it just takes time~" Antares prodded her playfully with a large paw, claws sheathed to ensure he didn't hurt her by mistake. He remembered being slightly disappointed that Silva and Nerah had evolved and he hadn't before.

[Meesh]

Silva inhaled in response, taking in the musky, now much stronger, scent of her packmate. "You smell different, but the same" she commented, happily burying her nose in her friend's fur. "Just minutes ago? Aw, I was so close to seeing it then"

After taking one last, happy, sniff, Silva withdrew, sitting down on her haunches. she flicked an ear at Antares's words, turning to give Maro another lick. "And hello to you~ What Antares said is true, he's my age, and he only just now evolved. It will happen sooner or later" Winking, she added. "And when that happens, you'll be bigger than even Antares is now!" Nuzzling Maro, Silva asked her packmate. "Antares, how have you been doing?"

[Twilight]

Maro watched Antares show off how big he was and now she couldn't help but compare him to Silva now that her mother was there for comparison. He didn't look quite as huge when she backed up and had a look at them together. His comforting words only pulled another sigh out of her, "But I want to evolve now.. I feel so small," sure she sounded depressed but her mood brightened some when Antares nudged her with his paw. She sat up and batted both her forepaws at him, since it honestly took both her paws to equal one of his.

Silva's words were also a comfort, though Maro shook her head when the canine's tongue brushed over a ticklish spot behind her ear. "Waiting is evil," she whined like a pod-link being told she had to wait for a sweet fruit to become edible before being allowed to eat it.

"Maybe I will be bigger then both of you," she amused herself by thinking of the possibility that one day she would look down to look them in the eye, instead of having to look up. "Though, there is a problem here... Mommy is to dry!" Maro crouched, her hindquarters wagging in the air and then jumping at Silva, who wasn't as wet as her and Antares. She only wondered if she would be heavy enough to knock Silva over after she was in the air. Now that would be embarrassing if Silva remained perfectly seated afterwards.

[Aries]

"I do? I didn't think I'd smell any different after evolving because your scent didn't change after your evolutions, but I guess it's different for everyone," Antares replied, giving the canine's soft fur a few brushes with his coarse tongue as she buried her muzzle in his thick fur. "Yep, if only go had gotten here a moment earlier." he sighed, he always thought he would be around his friends when/if he ever evolved.

"Patience! We're all small at some point or another, and it's not like you're the only small canine alive out there." the feline laughed as Maro patted her paws at him after he prodded her. Her playfulness amused him, it reminded him of his younger days. The small canine made him feel ages younger.

"It can be, but it's worth it," Antares snorted at Maro's impatience, "She's right, when you evolve you'll be taller than I." he added, canines were usually taller, but felines were more lengthy. "I've been well, I've been learning a lot about the native plants lately. So far I haven't ended up poisoned!" he smiled, curling his tail around his paws, "And you?"

The feline snickered as Maro jumped at Silva, tempted to join the fun but he decided to stay out of it. He didn't want to drain any of his already dwindling energy, so he sat contently munching on the sweet angel fern pods.

[Meesh]

Silva shrugged. "It's not that your scent changed, so much as become stronger" she explained. "Maybe it's just me- I haven't scented you in a while, you know!" she grinned, shrugging. "We'll know for sure once more of us evolve- and I'm sure you'll be one of the next ones to do so, Maro~" bending down to lick the pup behind the ears- right on the ticklish spot- again. Continuing to listen the Antares, the canine answered "I've been practicing hunting, as well as exploring the different areas to learn about many of the lesser native species. I'm thinking of declaring myself as a Starpack hunter, actually"

Then Maro tackled her and Silva stumbled. It wasn't quite enough to tip her over, but she caught on and fell dramatically, all four paws waving into the air as she fell heavily in the water with a splash. "Erp!" the canine yipped, now soaking wet. "Well don't think I won't have my revenge" she wrapped her paws around the pup, rolling her over and into the water

[Twilight]

Maro was pleased when Silva fell, but she yelped with Silva rolled again, pushing Maro into the watcher instead. She wriggled around and tried to kick the bigger canine off her, though her back legs were to weak to actually move Silva. So, she played a little trick. Making her voice high and shrill, Maro started crying out loudly, as if hurt. If nothing else, this would have shocked both her companions and if Silva wasn't intending on hurting her, it would make the bigger female jump up enough for Maro to wriggle free and make a break for the woods, her cries turning to laughter as she called back, "I fooled you!" She reached Antares and jumped over his back before she kept running.

She was well away from the river when she stopped for a breath. She hadn't really noticed that she wasn't being followed, maybe her trick had stunned them to much? She should go back and apologize but... she wasn't so sure where the river was. She had run so much that she had lost all sense of direction.

Oh well, she would apologize next time she saw them.