Know You're Not Alone

It had to be around here somewhere. Coahoma was searching for a red mark similar to the crescent-shaped ones on either side of her flank; on a tree, a rock, anything... but she swore, she could never find these caches. Granted, this northern one seemed quite out of the way, and she meant way out of the way. Had anyone even been up here to refill it lately? She wouldn't be surprised if the red Mercurior insignia was worn and faded by now. Yeah, that was definitely why she couldn't find it... she hoped.

"Maybe I took a wrong turn..." Coa pondered to herself, placing her bearish paws inelegantly along the rugged trail. Oh! Loose rock slipped out from beneath her hind leg, attempting to take her with it as it slid down the hill. She managed to pull herself forward and regain her footing, only just. "Hrmm..." She hummed, pausing her walk to gaze up at the forest canopy. It seemed as if the leaves barely blocked out any of the sun's rays, and soon she saw why. Casting her sage-green eyes forward, she found herself peering up the slopes of a looming mountain. Surely the cache wouldn't be all the way up here... although a rocky crevice would be the perfect place to store a snack, she had to admit. She'd keep moving, having to haul her brawny self up slopes and jutting rocks, it was an exhausting task for a large woman! As she finally broke through the dried underbrush of the forest, Coa had to pause to catch her breath, the sun beating down on her white and brown coat. A snaggletoothed smile ever-present, she squinted against the sun. Still no sign of that cache...

But what was that? Movement just a little ways off caught her eye. Something, someone? Seemed to be trotting towards something. Oh! Maybe they found the Mercurior stash! Enthusiasm quickly replaced her doubt, and like a puppy energized by something exciting, the woman lifted her head and began a loose jog towards the brown wolf. Aside from the crunching of large paws on dried dirt and rock, she didn't think to make her presence known or greet this fellow from afar.

"Hey there!" Coa exclaimed, slowing to a steady walk as she approached.

"Have you seen a--" Coa cut herself off as the wolf looked at her, and in the same instant, leapt away from her. with a front paw hovering above the ground, Coa hesitated. Was she really that startling? She figured they would have heard her at least, surely she couldn't be that stealthy, but perhaps this wolf was hard of hearing. She opened her mouth to apologize, but before she could even get the words out, the wolf just...sunk into the ground!? Squinted eyes widened, afraid that if she blinked she would have missed it. The earth seemed to collapse beneath the wolf, and just like that, they were sucked down to a pit.

"Oh, jeez, are you okay?!" Coa called after them, resuming her swinging jog and pausing at the ledge. For a moment, she loomed over the pit with the sun at her back, squinting through the dust to make sure the wolf was alright. Once the cloud settled, she could see them more clearly - medium, somewhat scruffy looking fur, earthy brown in tone, and caked well in dust. From the tall woman's perspective up above, they looked absolutely tiny...she didn't even think of how monstrous she must look from down there.

They were already on their feet, so she assumed that they were okay. She'd taken quite a few tumbles like that before, after all, and somehow managed not to get hurt...most of the time. Coa directed her attention to the rest of the gorge, scanning the steep, dry, and rocky edges on both sides, the mountain on another (maybe where a waterfall once lay, she quickly pondered), and a more gentle slope on the other, covered in dense brambles, no less. It didn't seem like there were many ways out. "Uh..." She offered an awkward smile, long canines peaking past her bottom lip. "I'm sorry 'bout that, erm...here!" Pitching her weight forward, the woman bent down with one front paw dangling over the dry dirt overhang, and the other extended out towards the wolf. If they jumped, maybe she could help them scramble up. But, then, she felt herself slipping forward, and her expression fell into shock just moments before the dirt gave way beneath her, unable to hold her bulky weight. Coa let out a surprised noise as she pitched forward, tucking her muzzle beneath her paws and falling heels-over-head.

She landed on her back with her rump hitting the rocky soil hard, all four legs falling to the ground with a thump as she rolled to the side. she let out a groan-hum, just another of those tumbles to add to the record. Completely used to her clumsiness, Coa rose to her paws like nothing had happened, shaking out her long fur in a shower of dirt, and a single hack to clear her throat. Dust once again settled, and from her new perspective from the trench, she could see just how tall these ledges were. "Hrm, quite the pickle we have now..."

What'd they say? Coa barely caught it as she was rising from her tumble. Don't yeet them? She wasn't entirely sure what that word meant, but it sounded like something to do with jumping, or throwing, maybe. "I'll admit, I am a very strong woman, but I don't think I could throw you--" Amid her maundering, Coa turned to face the wolf, only to realize that they had gone up the slope behind her and were struggling in the briars. "Oh, hey, be careful, now!" She cautioned, jogging up the small incline to help them. She could understand not wanting to be stuck in some pit, but they could at least wait for her to help them out, jeez.

Just before she reached their side, the smaller wolf turned to face her once more. Coa paused, her brow narrowing as she tried to interpret their expression. They seemed to be processing something as well, or maybe that was just their face, she wouldn't judge. At long last, the wolf - seemingly a male by the voice - spoke to her. "Can you... understand me?" Coa's own face scrunched up at the words, tilting her head in confusion. "Of course I can understand you, I speak English," she replied as if it hadn't been obvious. But then she noticed the fellow tremble a little, and it all fell into place. At least...most of it. "Oh!" Coa exclaimed as it clicked. "I must have scared you, I am so sorry. Y'know, sometimes I just do that," With a chuckle, the woman sat back on her haunches casually. "There was one time someone saw my Mercurior marks and thought it was warpaint." A hearty laugh escaped her as she stuck one hind leg out awkwardly, showing off the red, mildly faded brand on the white of her flank. But, how rude of her, rambling on while this male sat stuck in some brambles, and without even knowing her name. She tsked her manners.

"I'm Coa. Well, Coahoma technically, but I've always preferred Coa," She stood up then, taking a step towards the man before hesitating. As if speaking to a child, she cooed, "It's alright, I won't hurt'cha," Coa offered an awkward smile, showing off her snaggleteeth.

"Why... why were you following me?" Coahoma was quick to take the fellow speaking as an invitation to help him - that only made sense, right? Breaking from her hesitant stance, she padded to the back of the wolf and circled to the side of the briars, her broad shoulder bumping into the man's flank as she delved right in. Though completely inconsiderate of personal space, her plan was to work on the briars snagged into his side while he worked on the front.

"'Ollowing yo-?" She repeated with her teeth around a bramble stalk. She used her large - and thankfully very fluffy - paws to smash the briars down, and with lips curled in an awkward face, pulled against the twigs stuck in the male's fur with her teeth. The brambles were dry and bitter with the drought, and as one part came loose from its grasp, she snapped it in half with powerful jaws. That piece wouldn't harm this fellow anymore, at least! "I was in the area looking for a food store, an' when I saw you I was going to ask if you'd seen it." She moved forward a little bit, still as close as she could be between the smaller wolf and the brambles. "Y'know, no matter how many times Timber shows me, I can never remember where it is!" she chuckled at the thought of her Lord having to show her just one more time. "Anywho, I saw you fall down that ditch so I had to help. It seems like we're both a bit clumsy though, eh?" Coa snorted with amusement as another thought crossed her mind. "Could say I fell head over heels for ya, hah!" She boisterously bumped the man's side with her elbow, perhaps a little harder than necessary. Although she couldn't be less interested in him, she couldn't help but snicker to herself as she went back to working on the spiky twigs.

Just a few more pulls and tugs and he should be free. A few tried snagging Coa's own fur, but at least her close proximity to the stranger was keeping her from getting caught up in the thicket herself. And speaking of strangers, she hadn't even gotten his name. Sho, who'er you?" She asked mid-bite on a briar, sage eyes glancing over to see if she could catch his own. She hadn't paid too much attention before, but they seemed to be a nice shade of brown that went with his coat.

Glancing up to the small male, Coa noticed the grin spread on his face, and the presumably joyous chuckle - even if quiet - he offered in response to her totally hilarious joke. Yes! He was loving her, she thought! Forget finding the Mercurior cache, perhaps by getting distracted she had found a new friend instead.

"I was so caught up dealing with these brambles that I completely forgot to introduce myself!" While Coa may be slow to recognize social cues, she was never slow to miss a joke. “Hah!” She chortled, flicking a large paw at him as if to admit defeat. “Good one, Axel.” She praised him while acknowledging his name. She wasn’t one to ponder on names, but Axel seemed like a good one, she liked it. He went on to describe his plan for the day, to which Coa gave an intrigued little ooh, still snapping twigs and pulling briars where she could. Finding some water and some shade to nap in really did sound so nice… how could these vile plants of pain ruin his dreams like this?! Whatever it would take, she’d make sure her new friend got the relaxing day he deserved! …even if she barely knew him! As Axel started to pull against the few remaining lengths of brambles, the twigs grew taut in front of the woman. Coa gave a thoughtful noise, before snapping her big ol’ jaws around the brittle branches, biting them clean in half. “Ahah!” She exclaimed as the man was victoriously freed, although stumbled forward at the sudden lurch. “Oh- sorry!” Coa quickly caught herself from the excitement, afraid she had made him fall again. But he caught his footing, much to her relief. Perhaps she was just too used to apologizing.

“I’m free!” Axel cried. “Yeah!” Coa could only share his excitement, overjoyed by their teamwork as she stepped away from the wall of brambles with her tail waving behind her. But then the brown wolf spoke of some crazy idea, making Coa do a double-take. Was she surprised? A little. Was she judging the man's sanity, as she should? Not at all. Did she have sparkles in her eyes at the sound of this food rig? She absolutely did! “Ooh! You could hang fish on it!” She added with a broad grin. Fish was her favorite and with something like that, she could carry around snacks all the time! How could she ever deny snacks? She totally had to try this out, but she would save it for later, as Axel’s smile softened and he offered his thanks. “Oh, psh-” The large woman jokingly waved him off with her paw, as if being good help was just something she did naturally. “Anytime, pal.”

"My fur! My beautiful, precious fur!" Coa’s sage-green eyes widened at the sudden change, watching as the poor man rushed over to the patches of fuzz left on the many grabby pricks of the briars. Oh no, his coat was beautiful, and now it had the faintest dents beneath the rest of his fur. So, the evil briars had the last laugh… "How bad is it?" Coa hesitated, her face offering an awkward smile. It wasn’t that bad, but… “Uhh… here!” The woman sat and lifted her front paw, giving her pads a big, wet lick and then slapping it across Axel’s side to smooth down his fur. Yeah, that’ll totally fix it! …Or, maybe not. Puzzlement crossed her face as she thought. “We could stick the fur back on with mud?” Not the worst idea at least, but they would need mud for that, and right now they were stuck in a dry gulch. “Hrm, I’spose we’d need to get outta here for that, though…”

At Axel's excitement at her fish idea, Coa absolutely beamed, her two long canines flashing in a giant grin. Most would have called her ridiculous and waved it off as nonsense, but Axel actually understood and agreed! She was excited at the prospect of having a new friend who would go fishing with her. She didn't know many of the best spots in the valley yet, but maybe they could find them together! That would be so much fun, and she could show him the skinning techniques of her birthpack...

Upon her new friend's reaction to her 'helpful' slap of slobber, the enthused woman deflated a little. He shook his coat out and offered her one of those smiles that she got whenever she was trying to help but just got in the way. Her smile became just a little more manual as she kept up an unphased exterior. And then she notices his pause at her next suggestion about the mud and quickly tries to back-pedal before her new bud got frustrated with her, waving it off with her paw once more. "Psh, yeah, silly thought-"

"Maybe... we could look for something to drink and see if there's any mud there!" Wait, what? Really?! Her scarred ears perked up once more. Was he really not going to turn her down, or call her silly? "It would probably wash out the moment I go swimming, but... I could always just go swimming first!" Oh. Oh if she didn't like women she would love this man. Her grin grew bright once more, touching the corner of her sparkling eyes. "Oh! I love swimming! It's one of my favorite things to do, and fishing, too! Have you ever dived underwater and grabbed a fish? It's so much fun, I'll have to show you!" She rambled on excitedly, imagining all the fun they could have. And this was so much better, as even in the summertime the rivers and lakes were absolutely frigid back home. It hadn't bothered her much with her dense coat, but in this land, they could stay and swim for as long as they want without worrying about freezing! "You, my friend, are a genius!" Coa praised, flicking her paw against the man's shoulder.

"The mud will probably dry out too soon if we try to bring it back with us, so I guess that means we have to take the fur to the mud... That means it's time to test the new food carrying method!" Ah, he was right, a foil in their plan. Coahoma made plenty of noises to express her thoughts, from a hrm as she tried to come up with ideas, to an excited gasp and quick nodding as Axel suggested their amazing food transporter. She inched closer, about to help him attach the fur, but hesitated, not wanting to get in the way with her clumsy paws. It seemed he was capable, anyways, as the downy fur finally stuck after a couple of attempts. It waved in the breeze, and she had to admit it looked quite comical, retaining a snort of amusement.

She controlled herself better as she was brought back to their current situation.

"Oh, uh..." She hadn't thought about that. She glanced over to where they had fallen into the pit in the first place. Hrm, the ledge was quite tall... but, so was she? "Maybe-! Nah, that won't work..." Even if she could lift him out of the gulch, how was she supposed to get out after? No offense to the little man, but she doubted he could pull up her hefty build. She looked behind her to where the dry little canyon deepened and then rose into a cliff even taller than the ledge, supposedly where a waterfall could have been, cutting off that direction for escape. And finally, her sage eyes turned back to her left, where the brambles lay. "we could..." She trailed off, uncertain. Sure, the thicket was dried out and fragile, and there were some small trails that game had made through it, certainly none she could easily fit through, but the incline was much less treacherous. It seemed like their only option, less her new genius friend had a better idea. "We could try going through the brambles?" She finally suggested. "I mean, our fur, I know! But I'll go ahead to clear a path and keep those thorns from your beautiful coat!" Her own pelt seemed much denser and longer than his, anyways, so it was less likely that the thorns would get through and hurt her. Yeah, totally... great idea, Coa!