Miles Up Shore

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Spring was in full bloom now and Snapdragon was in her full stride; terrorizing insects, digging burrows, and hunting fiercely. She felt refreshed under the light of the sun and ready to tackle everything in full force, including finding her father. 

She knew the little fox-dog was especially clever to a degree she could only ever hope to catch up to; on the surface there were no signs that he was anywhere in the valley, so she would have to dig a little deeper
 Literally. Every nice little area; or an area suspiciously barren; or a shallow, resealed, or abandoned burrow. All of these things became victims of Snapdragon's tunneling. For a while, it still looked.like he had left the Yukon until...

Finally

His scent near the bank of a river almost completely washed away. But it wasn't, and the guilt was just as strong in it as she remembered. Vengeance would be hers yet.

But Snapdragon wasn't the narrow-minded kind of gal. A dog of her superior intelligence couldn't just focus mindlessly on a single task. She was a problem solver and multitasker, and in her search for her father she had found another problem that she had decided to task herself with. 

Apparently every dog here needed an attitude adjustment. 

Often times in her frantic digging she would come across a cache of food with another dog not too far from it, ready to defend their pathetic scraps tooth and nail. Sometimes they wouldn't even have anything to defend and just be suspicious of her, thinking she is intruding on their hunting. The dog she had met a week prior was the nicest of these encounters so far, with one being intense enough to earn herself a little bruise on her temple after a brief scuffle, but dogs of integrity like her use their wits before their brawn when settling things. Snapdragon's brain told her that these poor canines were having a difficult time with 1. Their self esteem and 2. Their hunting, the later of which was probably fueling the sooner. So she had a solution planned; a nice big banquet. Any and every dog in the Yukon would be invited. Would it get chaotic? Yes. Would it lead to some of them snapping and fighting over food? Most definitely. But she was sure she would muster up a brigade to help when that time comes. But first to get this all rolling, she needed assistance.

Snapdragon perched herself atop a low hill and began to howl; just as colorful and loud as her appearance with every bit of her hound heritage peaking through. It wasn't a matter of if anyone heard her so much as would they answer (and they would be reasonable not to).
In his fortress of solitude came the resounding horn of familiarity, a houndish bay that perked his ears. He had been trying to scale down to the valley below, but only made it partially down the cliffs before he decided this was far too treacherous and exhausting to move so quickly. Thus, Percy became a bit of a mountain goat, carefully scaling the cliffs and pronking across the rocks to get to the other side -- though certainly not as swiftly as an actual mountain goat. He wasn't so sure he liked this place as much as he originally thought if it took all this effort just to get there.

The retriever let his curiosity lead him until he found the one that called his attention -- a much smaller dog than he, but her presence was mountainous. She had more confidence than two hounds combined, just from her posture and the bellow in her voice.

Percy was inclined to answer her summons, moving in to stand at the rock beneath her like a meek subject and peer up with interest. "Who are you howling for?" he inquired, just in case that howl wasn't for him and he was actually being a nuisance. Wouldn't be the first time.
Snapdragon wasn't really one to howl; when there wasn't too much icky sappy stuff like emotion and romance behind it, it was simply too impractical to use. But it was also in her blood, and having a good howl after abandoning the practice shortly following opening her eyes for the first time was an awakening experience.

For one, she sounded a lot like her mother, and that was a badge of pride she was happy to wear. There wasn't a dog out there more badass and effortlessly skilled than her mother; she was the heart behind why Snapdragon had taken on this quest in the first place.

And contrary to her original opinion on howling, this seemed like a lot less vulnerable way to ask for help than to seek out and vocalize your distress a stranger. She was not about that vulnerable life.

Had Snapdragon not enjoyed howling as much, she probably would not have had the patience to see the results and moved on to plan B, but getting lost in the moment and listening to her voice carry in the wind bought some time for the other dog to arrive.

She immediately greets him with a cock of her head and an especially hyperactive wag of her tail. Eyes locked with an intensity as she examines and judges him.


"I was howling for you, Lanky Legs." She replies in a spritely manner- to reassure him that her intentions weren't bad...yet. His legs didn't seem to actually be lanky, but he was another dog that had the audacity to be taller than her and she couldn't keep letting this go unchecked. Snapdragon kept down from her perch and shuffled right up to the ... stranger? He answered like she knew him so as far as she was concerned she knew him. Her nose twitched to assist in her physical exam as she started to circle around her newest victim, both to see how he would react to her brazenness and to get a good idea of what hunting role he was better built for.

 "Hmmm. Yes, you will do. Have you ever flushed out a prairie dog burrow before- I'm sorry, what was your name again?"  Snapdragon started, getting right to the point of things.
Oh, wow, didn't he feel awfully sought after with a reaction like that. Percy hadn't seen a tail wag that strong since he was a pup, the tail wag that had the rear wagging with it, but she didn't seem to have the hyperactivity of a pup. He was also staring at her butt, he realized with embarrassment. Still, it was a jarring experience, going from completely solitary and reviled by the few dogs he'd encountered, to being blind-sided by a welcoming terrier.

"Oh?" He blinked owlishly, lifting up a paw as if to take a step back as soon as the smaller dog hopped from her perch to scrutinize him up close. He was a broad-shouldered dog with a deep chest and a slim waste, his figure was a subject of pride, and yet he found himself self consciously glancing away as if he were all skin and bones. He turned to face her as she circled around, first to try and come up with an answer to that confusing question, then to answer the question he already had one for, "Percy," He stated, gazing down at her with interest. "Who are you? And... What is it you're looking for?"

Or should he say... Who was she looking for? She had something in mind, coming here and baying up a storm like a pup that just learned to howl, and if her obvious assessing of him was anything to go by, it seemed that she was gauging him for whatever it was she had planned. Percy had his own goals, but rather than being dismissive, he leaned forward with interest, faintly wondering if they aligned with hers.

Because that would solve a world of problems for the poor male, one of them being that literally nobody he'd met thus far wanted to even breathe upwind of him.
It was hard to tell what part of Snapdragon's attitude was a show she put on for others and what was genuine, because the two blended together so well. She loved to have the eyes of her audience whether it was good or bad. In a world where everyone is struggling with their own path to survive, to have someone's attention just long enough to put a thought in their head has such a strong magnitude. It is the only way legends truly could be formed. 

That being said, Snapdragon was notably not struggling as much as many dogs were. She had the petite appetite of her terrier side, along with the energy and the craftiness, which helped her meter out her meals and gave her the drive to constantly be on the hunt like an oversized feret.

Those weren't the only traits she inherited either. Her body was structured more like a wedge or bullet shape than the slim or boxy frames dogs her height usually had to help aid in tunneling and backing out of tunnels. Her tail was broad hardly even tapered almost like an otters in contrast to her thin legs and paws which were barely distinguishable from each other. She hardly looked like she had any muscle definition from a front or back profile. It only really showed in her haunches and forelegs, which were cut like gemstones. All the features she held on their own sounded goofy, but coming together to make Snapdragon couldn't be described as anything else than exactly what you would expect her to look like, or how she would say "Beautiful in the memorable way."

And she meant those words; she all but flexed when she knew she was being gawked at, and even had the nerve to snicker at Percy's own modesty, but played it off in her response to him.

"Percy, right. I'll remember Percy. My friends call me Snap, so I guess you can call me Snapdragon." She replies coyly. It was a lie of course. She had no friends. No one would truly ever know why she struggles to make them.

"Let me tell you, knobby knees. I'm looking for a hero. I mean, not me personally because I'm great. It's more like a lot of the dogs here are looking for a hero and just don't know it yet. So the plan is simple; we will be those heroes." 

Snapdragon finally stops circling Percy and sits down, scratching the back of her head as she lets out a dramatic sigh.

"I think a good start is to help with the doom and gloom going around. Everyone here is showing just a bit too much rib for my liking, and I think that's why they have been grumpy and my jokes aren't landing. So we are gunna do some prairie dog hunting- no, that's an understatement. We are going to eliminate an entire lineage of prairie dog. Full prairie dog warfare will happen. Then we are going to feed them to help give them a little confidence boost and while they are all together like that, just casually invite the idea of hunting together so we can eat bigger things and be full longer. And then everything will be better and all peaches and rainbows. Sounds like a plan, right?" Snapdragon explained, tail slowly growing back to it's previous state of furious wagging.
In took a herculean effort to contain his delight. After all, Percy's suspicions had been correct, if breaking down this dog's monologue about feeding the weary to boost morale to its most basic meaning was anything to go by, then her goals very well aligned with his own. They seemed altruistic, an ideal way to show his strengths and leadership skills, and eventually unite the begrudging dogs of this land for the greater good.

"You want to... Feed the rogues?" He questioned, just to confirm what he was hearing. It was an odd way of trying to recruit new members, certainly nothing traditional, but the concept was so novel and Percy could see how it would work. Besides, not everyone seemed to be as kind and focused on their own species as this Snapdragon character, and perhaps she was right, perhaps it was just their empty stomachs making them less agreeable.

Percy slowly began to nod as he came to accept the idea. "Yeah... Yeah, you know, that may just work," He agreed, but then gave an uncertain glance to his paws. "I... Admit, I'm better suited for waterfowl, but I'm still a well-bred hunter, I could probably help you flush out a few ground-dwellers."

Percy didn't know much of the concept of pride, it was simply second-nature to him to boast of his prowess. His words, in his mind, were completely honest, as if everyone should know it.
At the question of did she want to feed the rogues, Snapdragon scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Do I want to? Hell nah, that is a lot of work, and the last time I checked I wasn't anyone's mother. But someone has to do it, and it is only natural for it to go to someone as majestic and capable as myself." Snapdragon explained, perking her ears up and looking around. 

"The only foul being hunted around here is the unfair matchup I'm about to raise on these rodents..." Snapdragon mumbled, voice surprisingly low and serious as her eyes dilated somewhat and instincts took over. Her head was low and nostrils were flaring as she moved forward - almost causally at first if not for the sudden abrupt stops as her senses reconvened with her brain to double check if she was on the right path. Then she began to move exponentially faster until she was darting fast enough to make a greyhound proud.  

She stopped abruptly at a clearing where the grass had been mowed short. Forms that were smaller than them where there and suddenly disappeared faster than the brain could register. 

"Do I ever miss? No, I think not. I'm incapable of it." Snapdragon proudly declared with her head raised high. "Anyway, I've only ever done this in winter but...I feel like it should be easier in spring? And there should be more of them. Basically what you want to do basically what you want to do first is find the farthest hole you can to the right, dig around it, and rebury it. We are closing off far exits to pinch them closer to the middle. Right now they are hiding so deep underground they don't even know what is going on. I'll be doing the same for the left side." Snapdragon explained, darting off before any form of a response could be made.
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