Pixie Hollow Dystopia

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That blush fascinated the boy. Kieara's hue was sheer impressive and... judging by her reaction just from a hug Cal realized he made Kieara as flustered as she'd gotten him last night at their reluctant goodbye. Stars Above, if he hadn't wanted to kiss that girl before when she'd schooled the whole pack of five alone but bit that notion back because of the other two ladies, he sure wanted to now.
Cal couldn't quite put his finger on Kieara sounding a touch melancholy though. "Great or under-appreciated like me, I liiiike your style."

Meanwhile Fawn had crept forward now that Kieara had mellowed the dangerous full grown cat, and she was sprucing up and grooming the males hoping to make a nice impression.
And then Tinkerbell called her timid congratulations from between cover and the feeding group. "Great going! Most faeries are terrified of humans... and she's even scarier! But you just dived right in." Then she caught an inquisitive stare from the adult female. "No offense?" Tink shuffled her feet.
 
Kieara wouldn't have minded that at all. And if she had fawn and tink pegged right before this trip was over in their off time the passtime was gonna be let's see how close we can get Cal and Kieara. She smiled up at him and spoke. "Well thank you." She said watching as fawn spruced them up. She smiled. If it was all that short of work then they'd be ready to head back in no time.
 
The cubs fed on the fresh kill. When the adult female had gotten acquainted with the little ones enough to sort out the small differences in their temperaments and choose one to get to know better, she admitted to the faeries that the plan of 'training a lover from scratch' was better than her future with any of the neighboring lynxes she knew, looking right at the outspoken Kieara as she said so, acknowledgement for the faerie girl's order if not outright thanks. The grown female's chosen boy was awestruck when she licked his blood-moist muzzle clean and the young cat wove a figure-8 between her forepaws, also trading scents on her legs and torso. Easy matchmaking indeed, with the right attitudes.

With all the playing and running they had been doing, meat hit the cubs' bellies like lead until all five were ready to sprawl for a nap. The adult lynx agreed to let the unpaired four rest in her territory, a generous offer for the aloof species. "We could always use more Dust again and float them like balloons while they sleep," Cal pointed out to the girls.

"Oh no, we need to, ah, set up camp," Fawn beamed. Tink elbowed her. It was early afternoon at best. "Er, that is, look for food. Splitting into teams will be much more efficient... bye!" Arm hooked in arm, making one blatant team.

Cal snorted. It was true, the amounts from Faerie Hollow would only last so long and the sooner they foraged, the more they had for backup. He had no objection to the outcome, just the pathetic attempt at manipulation.

(( Tink and Fawn idea noted. ^^ ))
 
Kieara was glad that the female was content with her decision. She was hoping everything went this smoothly. Listening to the exchanges and watching tink and fawn fly off she sighed. The cubs would be ok with the female for now since she'd graciously offered to let them stay and were within her zone. She owed them that much. Even though she'd already been generous. Kieara silently began to scout for food.
 
Cal shook his head, sighing, because how obvious could those other two girls be. He tried to figure their motive for coercing him and Kieara, and concluded if their relationship worked out Fawn and Tink get partial credit and make two new allies. Heh. So transparent.

Back to business, he gave little encouraging smiles to Kieara during their time foraging alone, not giving her overkill about praising her or how righteous it was to be in the wilderness free of Pixie Hollow. Just enjoying her company like a silent hawk himself.

Back at the feeding/napping site, the faeries pooled resources, stuck leftovers into the one cub's saddlebags, and got directions from the lynx ruling this territory. "A widow and widower already paired up with each other northwest of here and combined lands. "Might as well get two straightened out at once, right?" Tink piped. Unexpectedly, the adult lynx showed the youngsters the scent markings every adult does at the border of their ranges - so they'd not only know when they crossed over, but find those adults directly.

Too cheered to ride or keep the pace, eager Cal opted to fly a few dozen bodylengths or so ahead of the pack, scouting for wild hazards and human traps.
 
Kieara returned his little smiles and pulled her weight quite nicely. Back where they pooled their supplies she took to eating alone. After that was done and over, like before, she took the rear, and let Cal take the lead. What was she thinking? it would never work. They were from two different worlds. She was a timid spirit and his a bold one. It was a mixture for disaster. The more s he thought, the worse she felt. So she focused solely on the work at hand and watched the kittens
 
After some time in the tree-scattered mixed grassland a commotion with the pack drew Cal back to the group.
The kits had found the barrier between territories, a scent line made by not one but two superior adults. They paced timidly, indecisive about proceeding. Fawn coaxed "I've got ya" reassuringly, Cal barked "It's your job, do it," and Tinkerbell wondered alond if a leash system might make a difference instead of their roundup.
 
Kieara floated to the other side and coaxed. "Come on. We'll make sure you're safe. We're here to protect you." she said to them and smiled sweetly. She was trying her best to help. "Come on now little ones." she said.
 
Well between the three different approaches - NOT counting the engineer - all four animals were convinced. From there they scented left and right, trying to determine the freshest path that led to the live adult lynxes. They uncertainly reached a majority and led the faeries on, with varying degrees of feeling ready for this.

The male and female pair were completing their own sunlit nap when the troops arrived. They looked up, braced themselves for the intrusion to their lands - then settled somewhat, finding the trespassers their own kind AND faeries with power worth negotiating with. They explained their situation: Their lives had been hard enough, each losing their first mated pair. They'd found someone they wanted to be with the next half of their lives. If these kittens didn't have a pair, they and the faeries would have to figure something else out. Maybe the pair's own future kittens, they would be closer in age to this batch than the cubs were to the two adults.

Cal cracked his knuckles and got ready to start in with them. Fawn flittered in front of him, voting to give the Most Valuable New Girl another strike at it after finding the right chord with the first female.
 
This was a puzzler. She sat in front of them and discussed and negotiated. She had explained it would be most beneficial if they were to be taught and explained what she'd done with the first one. Then they came to an agreement. They'd help to raise these kits until they had a litter of their own closer to their age. That way those could mate with their kits. It made everyone happy and garunteed the little ones safety. She was quite content with the agreement.
 
"Heh. Not what the lords had in mind when they figured out this bloodline needed to spread out but I guess that works out," Cal shrugged.
He asked about the two other separated adults reportedly in the area and found out they're both male. That made it easy - the two boy cubs stayed here with their adoptive family, the two girl cubs travel on.
"Sheesh, so we were supposed to match three adult males with only two female cubs," Cal snickered. "That's lords for ya - big on orders, short on listening to what's pus-filled impossible," he swore. The other two fairy girls gasped at the blasphemy against higher-ups. "What? They're not here. The only way they'd find out is you two," he scowled pointedly. He sank and scratched one of the girl cubs behind the ears. "Moving on?"
 
Kieara smiled. They should be able to get it done by the end of the day. The only thing she could see gaining a peaceful solution is choosing the two of best fit and giving the cubs to them. That is, if they treated them right. It seemed the further they traveled though the more depressed she got. She just couldn't get Cal and that Zephyr girl out of her mind.
 
Cal caught only Kieara's smile, not the drag upon her spirit. In all honesty his mind was on the work surrounding them in this new landscape and the faeriekind alongside him, and any grief at the departed had been locked away with all the changes since the arrival ceremony yesterday.

Another territory was located and the scents were traced back to its live, active lynx. The reduced group had barely made its appearance when the older male lynx crouched down and nuzzled one of the two females without even looking at the other, saying her markings and wide jewel-eyed expression looked just like his lost mate. The young girl kit was raptured to be so cherished. Bingo. If only the last one with no other choice went along smoothly...

Pairing, pairing. The animal life cycle was a job to Cal, in fact part of an even larger job, but that last match was so lovestruck he couldn't help but get thinking. Could you know instantly or only by living side by side? Either way, if his emotions didn't give him an absolute rush for the instant answer, there was plenty of time to get to know Kieara and let his head figure out the truth.

The fifth and last lynx adult announced its presence with barely concealed yowls of pain, trying not to attract scavengers or other predators in its dire weakness. Cal rushed forwards, closely followed by the others. Even the kitten was innocently curious about the strange sounds despite misgivings inherent from the misery.

The glorious furred predator had its leg caught in a trap - cruel metal jaws. Cal snapped orders before Fawn had a chance to so much as whimper. "Everyone stand back. Kieara - ice the whole leg for pain. I know you can," he encouraged, voice strong. "You may need to ice the trap also if Tink thinks it'll weaken the metal. Fawn - comfort." She flew to the animal's forehead and started rubbing and crooning. "Tink - you're on that trap as soon as Kieara's done."
 
Kieara was glad things were going smoothly. However, things changed when she heard the yowls. She flitted off quickly and began doing as told. She froze the traps joints the ice expanding and shattering the vice grip and releasing it. She'd also chilled the animal's leg to numb it. Perhaps they'd be here a bit longer than imagined.
 
Expanding ice to break the metal joints - Kieara's smart move gained appreciative whistles from more than one teammate. With Fawn consoling the animal at its head and Tink examining the metalwork - for further evil perhaps? - Calamus took a look at that leg. Even though he knew more about hunting than healing he gave it his best, yelping when his hands connected with the freeze and almost stuck. "It's broken!" he announced with teeth gritted, but even worse was the pierced muscle. "Seems to be clean enough. For a month or two, your hunting skills will be crap," he informed the male adult sadly without pulling any punches about bad news. Running with one less hind leg was easy enough, but not springing.

"Aw, and I thought we could complete our assignment by protecting the family of four," Fawn murmured.

"We want to stop the hunters, right? Where else has there been evidence of human poaching than in this territory? We're probably a stone's throw from wherever they come from." Cal retorted. That idea gave him a thoughtful gaze into the distance. "Hmm..." Then he turned back to the wounded animal, who was even now trying to get away and hide.
 
Kieara came over and with fawn and tinks help lifted the male flitting off to a cave nearby they'd passed to hide him. She lowered him and spoke. "So how do we stop the humans?" she asked as she pet the animal and watched the kit.
 
Cal took a deep breath and made sure the other two were listening. Fawn was good at thinking like a Momma animal, Kieara like a friend who tells it to you straight, perhaps, and Tink a savant among engineers. But Cal's talent lied in thinking like a predator.
"I say Fawn and Tink go on defense, sticking with Pipsqueak when she hunts. Because on her own she'd have to work overtime to feed herself plus Big Daddy here." Fawn might cry over the many critter deaths, he thought, but then again she'd volunteered to help carnivores. Fallow and roe deer were around the area. "Maybe you can use your talent to lure one deer at a time rather than a bunch of rabbits and rodents. Keep your eyes peeled for more traps, actual human sightings, other weapons they might use. Protect Pipsqueak, disarm or run from what you come across, learn what you can." Fawn saluted uncertainly. Tink glanced up sharply from the metal trap pieces she was studying and bobbed her head.

His eyes swept Kieara. His gut said bringing the dual-talent faerie on offense with him would turn her more melancholy but he tried anyway. "I'm going on offense. Looking for human poachers, breaking their weapons and tools, wrecking whatever it is they get from lynx hunts, and teaching them they're better off giving up," he boomed, striking a fist into the other palm, hoping to raise a cheer from his teammates. "Come with me," he finished softly to Kieara, much as he had when he invited her to the expedition itself.
 
Kieara looked to Cal as he left her to go with him and wreck the human's traps. She flitted over to him and followed. She went about with him destroying more and more traps. Her ice powers seemed rather handy for this. It was simpler to get ice in the crevices and then just expand it until it broke. She listened to all his instruction, but just as most of the trip had went, she was rather quiet.
 
After so much successful destruction Calamus reckoned how many devices had been destroyed and how pissed off he would be if those were his resources - not only no animal trapped, but all those gadgets mysteriously wrecked into wailing shrapnel. As proud of the new girl as he was, and excited about their team's string of successes, he noticed her morose silence and his mouth kept tugging down in a frown. Even his praises and encouragements trickled to a stop since they brought little effect.

Then they came upon their first human trio: a campsite, makeshift tents bound to change locations rapidly, a minor gathering of odd packaged food and beer cans around a fire. Cal tugged Kieara further down into the grass and stared at them between blades. "They might just be harmless campers...?" So cautiously, with a wave of his hand to keep down and out of sight along the way, he stalked towards the tents with a whirr of dragonfly wings.
 
Kieara had enjoyed his encouragements, but seeing that he'd apparently noticed her attitude she didn't ask. She saw the humans and got a little scared. She stayed down too and trailed Cal cautiously. She didn't know what they were planning on doing here. they were so much bigger. they had to do something though. These buffoons were going to kill a whole species.
 
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