Black, White, and Shades of Grey

[Wolf D. Plasma]

It hadn't been too long since that last storm hit, which had sent the alpha and the self proclaimed patriarch back home from their training. In fact, the grass was still rather damp from the deluge the thunderstorm had brought about. Today though, the ugly grey clouds that covered the sky have moved on, and they were replaced with small, fluffy white clouds. They sky was blue again, and the sun brightened up everything that its rays touched, making the dew on the grass sparkle like a field of diamonds. Even the trees of the forest sparkled in the light, giving it a prismatic appearance.

Scuroyin enjoyed this sense the scenery gave off. It was stunning, beautiful, tranquil, peaceful. It was everything she liked after a thunderstorm, with how the water just comes together with the vegetation all around. Of course, it was also rather uncomfortable to walk in, but the beauty made up for it.

(Word Count: 164)
(Level 3 1/5)
(Post 1, Scuroyin)

[Wolf D. Plasma]

Zephyr yawned and stretched, flexing out every muscle in his body as he walked out of his alpha's mansion and into the great and vast outdoors. The sweet smell of wet grass and foliage greeted his nose as he stepped out, telling him that the aftermath of that storm had not quite cleared itself up yet, which was a shame, because that storm had interrupted his alpha when she was training him, and now she was loath to go out in the grass now, and for good reason.

As much as the wet grass smelled good, it was quite uncomfortable to walk in, with the water acting as a sort of glue, the blades would come off and stick to and in between his paws as he walked. It was a chore just to get it all off, only to have the paws get all messy again.

(Word Count: 150)
(Level 38 2/5)
(Post 2, Zephyr)

[Wolf D. Plasma]

Today was nothing entirely special. Scuroyin had no real reason for being out and in the forest. She did not need a reason, though. She was perfectly within her own right to explore the forest without any real need for supervision. It was uncomfortable for her feet, yes. It was still quite damp and humid, yes. Those were not reasons to not be outside to enjoy the beauty of the place, though.

Eventually, she came across a clearing; it was rather empty looking aside from the occasional prey animal that came through. There was a stream that ran through it, much similar to some others she had seen for herself or have heard of from others, and since it was rather humid on top of the summer heat, she decided that it was likely a good time to stop and take a refreshing drink.

(Word Count: 152)
(Level 3 2/5)
(Post 3, Scuroyin)

[Wolf D. Plasma]

Zephyr paused from his walking momentarily to pick out the grass that had built up in between his toes to the point where he could no longer walk without wincing somewhere in there. His toes and paws were quite sensitive; he did not mind his alpha poking them when she had to for that one thing they did the first time she started training him, but to have hundreds of blades of grass getting in between his toes and just having it build up so much that he could not walk very well was what usually did it for him.

Eventually he reached the forest, where he breathed out a small sigh of relief. No, the forest had not been that far away, but with all the grass buildup, he was slow in actually getting there. Now that he reached it, he would no longer have to worry too much about there being too much grass.

(Word Count: 160)
(Level 38 3/5)
(Post 4, Zephyr)

[Wolf D. Plasma]

The water was cool and refreshing against her tongue as Scuroyin lapped it up. Nothing could be any better than a nice, cold drink on a hot and sticky day with almost no breeze attached to it. That was probably one of the worst days that could happen after a storm; the heat, the humidity from the rain that had come through; it was most uncomfortable. It was probably more uncomfortable for her paws, which were practically covered in grass, staining her white paws green.

Scuroyin dipped her front paws into the stream, allowing the cool water to soak her fur and wash away the sticky grass that had built up on her paws. Then she stepped the whole way into the stream, and she allowed her back paws to soak in the water as well. The water itself was not exactly deep, or at least, it wasn't for her.

(Word Count: 156)
(Level 3 3/5)
(Post 5, Scuroyin)

[Wolf D. Plasma]

Okay, this was starting to get ridiculous. First the grass, and now the foliage. Zephyr's paws just could not escape the onslaught of sticky wet things clinging to them, but he did not expect the foliage to be more painful. In fact, he forgot to take into account that this particular forest was a pine forest; there were needles everywhere, and they were sticking rather well to his paws, and after many more minutes of trying to pick them off, he just gave up.

He sighed as he continued on. Hopefully he'll be able to find a place to cool off and maybe even wash off his paws. That would be nice, especially considering the heat, humidity and the discomfort from all the stuff in his paws. He probably shouldn't have gone out today, silly him.

Luckily for him, though, he didn't have to wait for what he wished for for long.

(Word Count: 160)
(Level 38 4/5)
(Post 6, Zephyr)

[Wolf D. Plasma]

In fact, the water only really came up to the top of Scuroyin's paws, where the white ended and the black began. That was probably pretty deep for a pup, but for her, it was more of a kiddie pool.

Scuroyin then moved up onto the rockier shore of the stream and began licking the water off of her paws. Even in the clearing, the grass was still sparkling with dew, but with the sun rising ever higher into the sky, the dew was slowly but surely being evaporated away.

After her paws were nice and dry, or at least the driest that she could get them, Scuroyin continued through the clearing, before she stopped at a tall rock that happened to be nearby, and took shelter in the shade it provided. It didn't help much, but it did deter the heat from being too overwhelming.

(Word Count: 151)
(Level 3 4/5)
(Post 7, Scuroyin)

[Wolf D. Plasma]

Oh, thank everything holy! Zephyr exclaimed in his thoughts as he finally came across a clearing that had a stream of fresh water cutting through it. He did not hesitate one more moment to sink his grassy paws into the cool running water, all four of them even. He let them soak there for the moment as he got himself a drink to quench him too.

The grass eventually began to dislodge from his paws and drift away with the rest of the water as it flowed downstream, and his paws felt much more comfortable than they had since he first got out of his alpha's big den.

Zephyr swayed his tails to and fro in contentment. There was a very faint breeze that was going through, but it wasn't enough to ward off the heat of the sun, and the humidity of the aftermath. He should probably find some shade or something for that.

(Word Count: 162)
(Level 39)
(Post 8, Zephyr)

[Wolf D. Plasma]

Scuroyin yawned rather lazily as she lied down underneath the large rock. The grass smelled wonderful, the breeze was nice, and she was no longer very thirsty, and if she ever decided she was thirsty again, she could always get up and take another drink from the nearby stream.

However, a new scent wafted over her nose. Her nose twitched at this new edition to the collection of smells out here, and she processed it as not a new scent, but a familiar one. Then she looked up and over toward the stream, where the scent was coming from.

In the stream, really just standing there, was another Fiero, a male. This Fiero was very vulpine like in appearance, much like her, but he had nine tails as opposed to one. He was a light grey with some black markings and a red stripe running down his back.

Now she knew why he was familiar. That was her alpha's favorite Fiero.

(Word Count: 170)
(Level 4)
(Post 9, Scuroyin)

[Wolf D. Plasma]

Zephyr yawned once more before he stepped out of the stream and licked the water off of his paws. That was when a new scent hit his nose, mingled in with a variety of other scents that were present in the pine forest. He sniffed, bringing in this sweet scent, and he suddenly felt himself grow excited.

The scent was coming from a Fiero, and it was a female at that. The scent was quite familiar to him too, now that he thought about it. He did not know very many females around here, except for his mate, and also those poor females that were held captive by that horrific dragon and forced to do her dirty work.

He turned his head toward where it was coming from, and his teal eyes locked with the red ones of a black and white vulpine Fiero. Hey, wasn't she the only female Fiero in his pack?

(Word Count: 161)
(Level 39 1/5)
(Post 10, Zephyr)

[Wolf D. Plasma]

Scuroyin just stared at the male, not entirely sure on what to do. She knew him as a member of her pack, yes, but he was mostly a mystery to her; he usually seemed busy with something else. He would either by out with their alpha, or he would be out doing something else, and he would then come back with the scent of another female, almost always the same one, and sometimes with scents that smelled like him but were not him.

Scuroyin blinked and looked away when she realized that she was staring at him. She had never really showed much of an interest in males, but for some reason, it was always a different case for that male. She was sure that he would not be interested in her though, especially if he was coming home smelling like another female that wasn't in their pack.

(Word Count: 153)
(Level 4 1/5)
(Post 11, Scuroyin)

[Wolf D. Plasma]

Zephyr tilted his head when he saw that black and white vulpine Fiero turn her gaze away from him. Hm, come to think of it, he really did not know to much about her. Granted, he was usually really busy most days, with being out and training with their alpha, meeting his mate and son, or meeting his only daughter. He was sure that his other son had kept her company, but perhaps maybe not. His son had always shown some unwillingness to get involved with her. He did not know exactly why, though.

Slowly, he began walking over to her. His ears were rather relaxed, not all the way erect, but not flat either. His tails swayed gently to and fro still, hovering at a height that would show that he was not weak, but also had no intentions of being dominant.

"Uh, hi," he said, with a bit of an awkward smile. "Is this spot beside you taken?"

(Word Count: 170)
(Level 39 2/5)
(Post 12, Zephyr)

[Wolf D. Plasma]

Scuroyin looked up at the male, part of her not comprehending what had just asked her. They never really interacted before; even though she and him had locked eyes on a few occasions when passing by, the male always seemed to be too busy to really chat. Now suddenly here he was, standing right before her, and not only that, but he was speaking to her, in a sort of awkward fashion, but still friendly like all the same.

She blinked now, as it took her a moment to finally gather that he actually asked a question, and he was likely waiting for an answer from her. "Uh, no, not that I'm aware of..." she finally responded, also a bit awkwardly, before she added, "You can lay here if you want; the space is plenty big enough for the both of us."

There was a first for everything, right?

(Word Count: 154)
(Level 4 2/5)
(Post 13, Scuroyin)

[Wolf D. Plasma]

Zephyr grinned faintly at her response, and it was not just because it allowed him to lay and rest there. It was her voice; it was beautiful, eloquent, very fitting for another fox like him. Actually, it sort of reminded him of his mate, but hearing her voice was a treat, since she lived in a different pack with a different alpha.

He nodded in response to the female now. "Thank you," he said before he settled himself down beside her. And as soon as he got comfortable underneath the shade of the rock, he breathed out a sigh of relief. Well, at least now he could feel the breeze a bit, instead of barely feeling it in the heat.

Then, the thought of striking a conversation with the female sounded like a rather pleasant one. "It's certainly hot and humid out today, isn't it?"

(Word Count: 153)
(Level 39 3/5)
(Post 14, Zephyr)

[Wolf D. Plasma]

Scuroyin could not help but chuckle a bit. "It certainly is, isn't it?" she said, grinning faintly. Even before the male had started speaking, she had started feeling more relaxed around him, like they had known each other since forever, even though she barely knew him. There was some sort charming air to him, something that she had noticed every time she saw him, but the feeling had always been temporary.

But now that feeling was going on for longer that it normally would, probably because he was actually laying here, beside her. Still, though, there was also that air of uncertainty; he had another female somewhere else, one that he loves enough to take the time to visit her. She flattened her ears a bit and swallowed. She should likely not get too cozy with him. He likely wouldn't appreciate it.

(Word Count: 150)
(Level 4 3/5)
(Post 15, Scuroyin)