MORE OF HIM TO LOVE;; open-joining

[trojan g.]

[align=center][div style="max-width: 400px;overflow:auto;font-family:verdana;font-size:11px;text-align:justify"]When the child had woken up that morning, lost and alone, he hadn’t thought about where he was going to be heading to next. He simply thought of what he was going to try and get to eat. Though it was an odd sight to those around the island, it could be found every so often that the smaller animals - the ones most thought as prey that was - had their own little bouts of intelligence.

Although the red squirrel in and of himself was considered intelligent for his species, the actions he was about to take in order to get some food for himself was not something that an intelligent individual would do.

He ran, down his tree and through the underbrush, eyes darting on the ground in search of nuts or fruits to eat. He found a hat, he found some berries, and he found a small bone. The bone was that of a chicken and the hat was small, so he donned the hat and wielded the bone, trying to scare off slugs and snails that dared to try and get to food before him.

When he’d found food, he’d climb up a tree and begin to eat, before beginning to fall asleep. Only waking up when he found himself on the floor once more, having hit the head of the young [member=10663]roan ;[/member] as he fell from the tree, chicken bone first.

[roan ;]

In most cases, herb collecting was relatively stress free for Roan. All it involved was patrolling around his usual areas, and looking to see if anything had grown since his last go around. Most of the time, he didn't have anything falling on him from above, hitting him on the head as he grew close to the trees. The young sage's head had been lowered, his jaws just about to clamp down on the base of a catmint plant, when all of a sudden he felt something solid collide with his skull. A soft yelp left the draconic feline as he wildly looked around, trying to identify what had fallen on his head. It wouldn't have surprised him if it was some prank 0ut in place by Trygve, but it seemed like a lot of preparation, especially to set up in a random tree that Roan only visited every so often. With his tail twitching and lashing behind him, the feline eventually found the squirrel child, pausing in confusion when he saw the creature. He was used to most squirrels staying firmly within the trees, and he was also used to them not using weaponry, but this one hardly seemed to be all that normal, considering the bone he had with him, and the hat he was wearing.

Roan seemed to hesitate for a moment, trying to parse out if the squirrel was just a piece of prey playing dress up, or a legitimately intelligent being. Pushing away his aggravation from earlier – it was now replaced by heavy curiosity – the feline found himself muttering, "Uh... hello there, little guy..." He glanced around after he spoke, as if trying to make sure that nobody else was watching, just to make sure he wouldn't look too crazy. Turning his gaze back down to the prey animal, Roan found himself questioning softly, "Sorry about the whole... collision? Can you understand me? Do you have a name?" He felt a bit silly asking such things of a squirrel, but he figured it was only right to do so before just adding him to the prey pile.

[glow=#D15540,1,000]" stay by my side, high or low tide " ♡[/glow]

[trojan g.]

[align=center][div style="max-width: 400px;overflow:auto;font-family:verdana;font-size:11px;text-align:justify"]Eyes glanced up once the creature had gotten his bearings, ears pinned to head and breath growing quick. He was prey, the squirrel knew that, deep down, that there were dangers and one day he'd be eaten. He hadn't expected it to be so slow though, the day he'd die. He hadn't expected someone to speak to him before it became truth.

`Can you understand me?` Head would nod and he'd look around for a moment before looking at the bone he held in his hand. He'd point to it and wave it around a bit, this was his name, whatever it was. If he had a name he'd be fine, right?

[devland]

[align=center][div style=" background-color: transparent; border: 0px solid black; width: 60%; min-height: 8px; font-family: arial; line-height: 110%; text-align: justify; padding: 25px"]Devland wasn't quite sure what he was roaming the wooded area of the island. He knew there was likely something he should be doing, but he preferred shirking all commitments in favor of wandering. There was so much - too much - to see. He loathed the idea of being cramped up anywhere, so naturally, he explored. He at least told himself his wanderings were because he needed to continue his field observations, but as he spotted Roan, he knew he would neglect that as well in favor of pestering the Sage.

He parted his lips to call a greeting, but before he managed, something fell on Roan's head. An amused laugh burst forth as he trotted closer, watching the confusion bloom to life on the healer's features. It was probably a pine cone or something that fell, and it was funny to see Roan in such a state after. As he neared the winged feline, he again opened his mouth to make a smart remark, but he wired his jaw shut as he observed Roan speaking with a squirrel.

Now, it was Devland's turn to look bewildered. The squirrel and Roan seemed to be communicating. Weird. The Beta stopped at Roan's side, peering down at the small creature. His eyes cut to Roan. "Do you usually talk to your food?" He was about to ask more when the tiny squirrel began theatrically waving a bone around. Confusion deepened in Devland's eyes. "What's it doing? Better yet, why's it waving some bone around?"

The tom had never seen anything like this in his life. He watched as the squirrel continued to point at the chicken bone, but Devland just shrugged and shook his head. "I'm so incredibly lost it's not even funny. This feels like a fever dream," he groaned, lips curving into a smirk. "And the little hat? Roan, do you see the little hat it's wearing?"

[roan ;]

Oh, shit. Some part of Roan knew that he had been communicating with the squirrel, hoping for it to be able to understand him. However, a larger part of him had thought that nothing would come of it, and the creature would just stare at him blankly. Instead, when the other nodded his head, the sage found himself slightly flabbergasted, blue eyes wide. He opened his muzzle to ask more questions of the tiny creature, but was cut off by the prey animal pointing wildly at his bone, clearly trying to communicate something. It took a moment before the draconic feline spoke again, his head tilting to one side, "Chickenbone? Is that your name? A bit of an odd name for a squirrel, but... I guess I wouldn't really know squirrel culture." He still felt a little bit silly talking to Chickenbone, but at least he knew that the thing could actually understand him, and he wasn't just talking to the open air.

However, his quiet conversation with Chickenbone was interrupted by the presence of Devland, which was less than ideal for a number of reasons. Upon hearing the other, Roan's ears briefly pinned down, narrowly avoiding snagging on his horns, "He's not food... at least I don't think. I asked if he could understand me, and he nodded. And I asked him what his name was... I think it's something to do with bone. I said Chickenbone." The sage's tail then flicked back and forth as he looked back to the tiny squirrel, reaching a paw out to curiously tap him on the head, "And yeah, I saw the hat..." He hesitated for a moment before he questioned Chicken further, a soft hum leaving him, "If you can understand me... you must be intelligent, right? Are you looking for a place to stay?" He had no doubt Devland would use this as further teasing fodder later, but Roan also knew he wouldn't run out of fodder no matter what he said or did.

[glow=#D15540,1,000]" stay by my side, high or low tide " ♡[/glow]

[Luciferr]

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Lucifer could honestly say this wasn’t the strangest joiner end ever seen.

There had been that strange sea creature - and snakes and even a mouse once he was sure.

And it wouldn’t be the first time nonverbal communication was a barrier - still the dragon inclined his head as he happened upon the group now attempting to parse said barrier with the squirrel.

The dragon would hum ”well, it’s not the strangest name I’ve ever heard” he mused, dipping down to be eye height with Roan and Devland and closer to the squirrel if he was to better see the gestures.

”I would say yes to the intelligence” he inclined his head to Roan ”as for the latter I would presume so - unless it’s a request for something, not many prey animals actively seek out predators”