The world was shaking, the jungles were burning, and deep within the dark recesses of the Mire, a mud-stained cub was sulking. There was just - so much excitement going on, so many cool things happening all over the place (so he'd heard), and he wasn't allowed to go check any of it out or help or anything! Vater just kept insisting that he had to remain here and stay safe, just because he was too young or too small or any other number of similarly stupid reasons. He could take care of himself just fine, thank you very much!

He usually did, in fact, since Vater was always so busy, and his older siblings were always so mean. He had his own littermates to play with, of course, but he always seemed to get pushed around more than he'd like when he was them. His brother was just so big and @Ottilie was so...fiery. Giulia was easier to deal with, but she seemed to like doing her own thing, and Hubert couldn't really fault her for that. Doing your own thing was nice.

And as for today's 'thing' that Hubert had decided to devote himself to in the effort of staving off his inevitable death by boredom...He idly swiped at a stagnant pool of water with a single paw, eyeing how the droplets glistened in the dim light of the swamp. It was easy enough to sneak off on his own now (though not without leaving behind a chaotic trail of imprints in the mud, obvious enough to be followed, unbeknownst to him.), and he wanted to see what at least some of the fuss was about. What was it that Vater had mentioned? Something something poisonous something in the water.

He swiped again at the water, his paw cutting through a weird fuzzy film on the surface. Was that what the issue was? Didn't look that dangerous to him.

+1 - Make a BWP-related post
+2 - Study one of the natural phenomena occurring
+2 - Analyze the changes being made to the land
+5 - Complete a BWP-related thread (with 10+ posts)

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bury me in the mariana trench +1 - Make a BWP-related post +5 - Complete a BWP-related thread (with 10+ posts) +2 - Study one of the natural phenomena occurring The moment @Hubert had sneaked out of the pile of sleeping bodies, Ottilie opened a single green eye to see him wobble out of the entrance. She stirred, as careful as she could, before following her sibling out. No way was she going to let him have all the fun! She must investigate where he's going and what he's doing immediately. And so she did. The tiny plum princess hobbled after him on oversized paws, stealthily moving from behind one rock to another tree, her green eyes shining mischievously against her dark face. Hehehe! He'll never know she's there! She peeks behind some bushes at Hubert, who plays with some water. Didn't vati say something about poisonous a-something? Don't go near it, don't touch it, danger, etc? She furrowed her brows and burst out of her hiding place, trying to tackle Hubert straight into the water. She wasn't scared! She was brave!

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He was about to deem the whole thing as being rather boring, considering that the water wasn't trying to jump out at him or anything, which would have been much more exciting and dangerous. It wasn't even a weird color or anything! Well, not weird by the mire's standard's, anyway.

Before he can plan out the next step of his outing, however, a sudden flurry of noise and movement does jump out at him, but it comes from behind. He just barely catches the vague blur of dark and light out of the corner of his eye before he's shoved into the pool with an undignified squeal.

The pond wasn't that deep really. It would probably come up just to Vater's knees. Unfortunately, Vater's knees were still quite a ways above Hubert's head. For a few heart-pounding moments he was submerged, and Hubert flailed ungracefully, kicking back out at whatever swamp monster had surely attacked with tiny brown paws. Instinct kicked in before long, thankfully, and Hubert' head would break the surface once more, spitting out a few mouthfuls of brackish water. How that wasn't poisoned.

Ah. @Ottilie. Of course. "Hey! What was that for!?" He hissed out, green eyes narrowing reproachfully at his sister. Was she trying to scare him or something? He hadn't been scared! He definitely hadn't screamed when she pushed him in! And that panicked-looking flailing was just a...a highly advanced form of self-defense! Right.

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bury me in the mariana trench +1 - Make a BWP-related post +5 - Complete a BWP-related thread (with 10+ posts) +2 - Study one of the natural phenomena occurring (1/2) Splash! And her surprise attack is successful! Unfortunately, she doesn't judge the strength behind her furious charge and ends up falling in the water - perhaps on @Hubert (maybe causing him to gulp up some definitely-not-poisonous-water) - along with him. After some splashing around, Otti climbs off her sibling, beaming from ear to ear at his hilarious reaction and at his annoyed retort. "stinky!" she pointed at him, splashing some more stale water in the process. "needed a bath." And now he was stinkier. Oops! It was definitely not intentional. She stood on her four feet, continuing to splash around the small puddle, one paw lifting to stare at her paw in horror -- "wha's this?" she twisted her nose in disgust at the algae clinging to her paw and fur. It was like a green, icky creature!

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In his own humble opinion, @Ottilie looked far too pleased with herself. It hadn't even been that funny! (Would he be cackling endlessly if their places were reversed? Yes.) He gives her his best unimpressed glare, trying to channel as much of their Vater's intimidating aura into as he could.

In reality, he just looked adorably put-out, standing in the muddy pool with water droplets dripping off his chin.

"Yeah, well..." He grumbled. He hated baths, that was true. Rolling the mud was far more fun! And it made him look like a swamp monster, which was cool. Sadly, Slaine still insisted on regular grooming, practically skinning him with her tongue every so often. "You need a bath too!" He huffed out, splashing more murky water at her with a forceful slap of his paw.

His sister paused suddenly in her excited splashing, staring at her own with an expression that made Hubert snicker. Still, some of the irritation bled out of his features as he stepped closer to examine stinky green clump clinging to her toes, ears perked forward in interest. It was more of the weird stuff he'd been looking at earlier, but beyond that - "Dunno." He shrugged. "Maybe its that stuff Vater was talking about? Y'know, the 'poisonous' whatever."

He lowered his head to sniff at it, before pulling back with his features screwed up in distaste. Slowly, a mischievous smirk began to slide onto his face. "Dare you to lick it." Ah, the common child's belief that 'eating something gross is funny' rears its ugly head yet again.

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bury me in the mariana trench +1 - Make a BWP-related post +5 - Complete a BWP-related thread (with 10+ posts) +2 - Study one of the natural phenomena occurring (2/2) The plum girl listened to @Hubert's excuses with one ear. Unfortunately, they went out the other pretty quickly. Her attention shifted fast, never being the one to stay fixated on one thing for too long. Whether that's due to her young age or part of her personality had yet to be determined. When a splash of water flew her way, she tried to duck, but it was too late. Well, she was already coated in it - so it didn't really matter! Her tiny masked face peered at the green sludge that hanged lazily off her lifted limb, drip-dropping water against the surface of the puddle the two children stood in. "Dunno," her sophisticated brother exclaims at first, adding that it may very well be what Vati was warning them about. Warning shmarning! Who cares? She's coool and rebellious -- definitely not peeing in her bed still! Nuh-uh, she was almost as cool as Vati and Mama Slaine. Her brother's challenge was met with a scoff and a proud expression. She could do it! She definitely will do it! Never mind the disgust that churned in her gut and the instinctual need to barf whenever she looked at the pile of sludge dripping from her paw. Despite her instinct telling her not to her immaturity and strong desire to prove herself in front of her sibling overrode it. Ottie's tongue peeked out of her mouth and she bravely slurped the green matter. The princess tried her best to put on a brave face, but she ended up almost throwing up atop her brother while chewing the algae. It tasted like swamp!

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He studied her intensely as his challenge hung in the air, ready to laugh and declare her a coward at the first sign of hesitation, green eyes shining with barely restrained mirth. But of course, this is @Ottilie, and she simply scoffed at him, haughty in a way that is distinctly her.

As was to be expected, because they are their Vater's children and Vater is, of course, the bravest lion to have ever lived. ...Maybe the adults weren't exactly referring to things like eating algae when they talked about being brave and strong, but that sludge seemed pretty daunting to Hubert. It counted, he was sure.

Green eyes still widened comically as he watched her lean down to swipe her pink tongue through the green slime dripping off her white-crowned paw. "Whoa, you actually did it!" He exclaimed with a delighted laugh, sounding altogether far too pleased considering he'd just dared his sister to eat disgusting and potentially poisonous scum from a swamp pond. But come on now, this was far more entertaining than just staring out at the pool, waiting for the so-called algae to do something interesting.

The expression on Ottilie's face was certainly something to behold, though she tried to look stoic, and Hubert couldn't help letting out a series of giggles. "You have to swallow or else it doesn't count!" He crowed, decidedly not taking pity on his poor sister's suffering. That probably wasn't terribly surprising, considering he was the one who caused it in the first place.

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She was never quite far away from her siblings, it made her far too uncomfortable to be alone with her thoughts. Giulia preferred the noise that came with her siblings and considering that both @Ottilie and @Hubert weren't exactly the quietest ones of the bunch she made it her business to follow quietly along behind them. She was a good couple of paces apart from her siblings when their giggling and chattering lured her in closer. Dark peach ears flick forward as she hears Hubert dare Ottilie to eat some of the nasty algae that had formed all over the Mire. Giulia peeks her head through the cluster of bushes she had hidden in and watches as her sister actually shovels it in! The look on her face spoke volumes but Giulia couldn't help but think about all the warnings everyone had been giving about the nasty stuff to begin with. Their brother beckons Ottilie to swallow the substance and Giulia cannot help but be compelled forwards. "No." She says to Ottilie, don't do it. She would get sick and die just like the prey that had managed to eat the substance too. Sure, Giulia didn't enjoy her siblings all of the time, but she wouldn't let them do something stupid, especially that stupid.

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+1 - Make a BWP-related post
+2 - Save someone from danger
+5 - Complete a BWP-related thread (with 10+ posts)

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bury me in the mariana trench Yuck. She did her best to keep a straight face, gulping loudly as the disgusting green stuff slid down her throat for what seemed like forever. @Hubert's awe seemed to encourage her and distract her from almost throwing up her lunch, if only just barely. Her striped face shifted in a haughty expression, her ego evidently growing ten times more. Hell yeah she did it -- she wasn't a scared baby! Speaking of babies - @Giulia's voice called out from the side lines. Huh, when did their peach sister get here? Just as Otti was doing her best to gulp down the terrible substance, she suddenly felt it climb back up her throat until... "Urgb!" The cub bent over, her spine curling, then spilled all the contents of her stomach forward. Right where her brother stood.

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OOC: Sorry if the exit seems abrupt, just wanted us to be able to finish this before the event ends. <3 We should def have more threads in the future!

Quiet as she is, @Giulia often escapes Hubert's notice, despite the fact that she's the brightest out of all of them, her pale peach fur a stark contrast against the shadows of the swamp. Since he was intently focused on @Ottilie's working jaws, he ends up being a bit startled when she suddenly bursts out of the underbrush, though he is quick to calm once he catches sight of that familiar pelt.

She urges Ottilie against finishing off the dare, and Hubert scoffs, shaking his head. "Yes." He argues, petulantly, fixing his emerald gaze intently upon Ottilie's own. "It's not a big deal, Giulia." The prince continues on, chin tilting up arrogantly. "Just look at this stuff. It can't be that bad." He swiped his one of his own paws through a slimy clump of algae, leveling an unimpressed look at it. It was gross, surely, but dangerous? He really couldn't fathom why the adults had made such a big deal about some bits of weird moss.

Yet there may be something to it after all, he finds when their dark sister suddenly pitches forward, terrible wet retching sounds coming from her throat. He has no time to react before his paws and a considerable amount of his front legs end up covered in Ottilie's sick, and he springs back from her with a half-disgusted, half-outraged squeal. "Ugh, gross! Ottilie!" He shouts, now a prickly, indignant ball of puffed-up fur. "Why'd you do it on me!?"

So this was karma, huh? Not really a big fan.

Now, even he can agree that he needs a bath. With an angry huff, Hubert would stomp away in search of a pond that didn't have either of his sisters near it, brushing roughly past Ottilie as he did so and barely sparing a glance in their peach sister's direction. Later, once he was clean and the humiliation had worn off some, he might have it in him to worry about what that display meant for his sister's health. He might even be persuaded to apologize to both girls. But later was very different from now.

/exit Hubert

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