[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... uncert.png[/imgleft]
Another long day, ending. The sun set slowly beyond Howling Curses's den. Two piles sat near the opening: one, a pile of the remains of the mice he hunted that day. Howl himself still had some blood on his snout from that. The other pile, was one of sticks. Maybe about, say, three total. They were his favorite, special sticks, a couple he brought along in his trek from the hills as he escaped the Ache.

One of them, though... One of them was from the swamp, and utterly beautiful. Smooth, with no branches. It was perfect. Howl didn't even chew on it, it was too perfect.

And he guarded his sticks with his life. As far as he could tell, like most days, no one was around. As it should be. He leaned down and, carefully, stared carrying some bones back into his den for safe-keeping.

The sticks would be fine for now, surely.

[imgleft]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgleft]
Raining Roses had been keeping an eye on this Kiokote. She watched with pure interest, incredibly curious about this wolf-like buck. She found his quirks exceptionally humorous. An affection for sticks? He was adorable.

Roses couldn't stand the idea of just going up and saying hello. Where was the fun in that? No, she had a much more interesting idea.

When Howling Curses had his back turned, she moved in quickly, picking up the smooth stick in her mouth. Muffled by the stick, she laughed to make sure she caught the kiokote's attention. Then, she turned and ran, fast.

Ha! He took the bait. Raining Roses giggled again. She'd start to prance if she wasn't focused on keeping her speed.

"Can't catch me!" She teased, glancing back with a coy expression, if only for a second. She kept giggling, and picked up her pace.

Knowing she wasn't fast enough to keep the kiokote away for long, she started to run in serpentine patterns, diving around trees and changing direction quickly.

Roses fell for the trick, if only because the idea of the kiokote giving up so easily made her feel terrible. For that short moment, she slowed her run, looking anywhere but in front of her for signs of Howling Curses.

Of course, when he appeared right in front of her, she didn't see it coming. She crashed right into the buck, tumbling clumsily but keeping a tight bite on the stick.

Roses shook her head, trying to push her now messy mane out of her eyes. With wide eyes, she looked up at the scary buck. For a short moment, she looked dainty and fragile, looking up at Howling Curses with blinking doe eyes.

"Oh, this?" She said, feigning ignorance. She adjusted her bite, holding out the pointy end towards the kiokote. With a blink, her expression changed back to its regular, coy demeanor.

"Take it," she teased, flicking her tail.

Roses smiled, biting back down on her own side of the stick. She tugged back with similar force, moving to stand to give herself more leverage. Then, she laughed, shaking her head side-to-side playfully.

She let out a low, playful growl and flicked her tail again.