Danica would be sleeping peacefully, curled up under a tree in the Orchard. Wind rustled the leaves, amplifying the crunch from someone's approach just enough for her to perk an ear. The Fennepix shot to her feet, however, when an apple fell on her head out of nowhere. She would notice a subtle dark purple glow around the apple, stomping a paw before shouting, "Jericho!!"
The oddly colored Umbreon chuckled before stepping out of the shadows, "Yeeeees?" he chimed cheekily in reply.
"What was that for?" Danica growled lightly, clearly a little frustrated.
"I was making sure these apples hadn't poisoned you, princess." Jericho mocked playfully before giving a grin. "Plus, I wanted to see if you wanted to play before we have to go home, silly fluff."
The hybrid blushed, "Whatcha wanna play?"
Jericho tilted his head slightly before he gave a familiar, dangerous reply with a slight smirk; "Tag."
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Danica ran quickly through the trees, hiding beneath a bench and using a bit of wind magic to hopefully throw off her perusing cousin.
Jericho counted loud and agonizingly slow, drawing things out intentionally as if to spike his younger cousins anxiety. "8.....9.....10! Ding dong, here I come to find you!" he shouted before starting his hunt.
The feral held a paw over her muzzle, a shiver running through her body as she tried to remain as silent as possible.
The young Umbre casually walked around the area, using his powers to scan the shadows with every step. He was calm, watching where each of his feet would rest so the crisp fall leaves wouldn't give away his approach this time. He could sense her, but didn't want to pounce immediately, what would be the fun in that?
Dani darted her eyes around as she continued to manipulate the wind, flinching with each sound the surrounding wildlife made. After a while, she began to calm down and cautioned a slight sigh of relief...that was all it took.
Jericho smiled, stopping in his tracks and snickering. "Ding dong...looks like I have won!" was echoed out in a sing-song tone before he effortlessly approached his best friend.
Danica would shiver some in fear, knowing she had been found, before she closed her eyes tight, trying to think of what to do, how to resist being caught, then as soon as she heard the sound of his footsteps softly touching the ground, she opened her eyes, spinning around from her spot to face him, and then dashed out into the open just slightly, only to surprise the Umbre child with a tackle-pounce, the Fennepix pinning him down with a light growl, only to begin pelting him with licks all across his face!
After a few passes of this devilish retaliation, she felt a tingle hit her tongue, a yeek escaping the young vixen as she backed away, poking her tongue a few times with her claw tip as it went numb. "Haaeeh, wy yhu du diss?" she asked in a weird voice, unsure why her tongue was now numb, but at least she had left a few slivers of frozen saliva on his cheeks in an effort to resist being caught!
Jericho shook off the ice as he got back to his feet, "Rule one when hunting, always cover your tail. I'm immune to poison ivy, you aren't!" He laughed out as he pinned her to the big oak tree. He was firm, it didn't hurt her though. "Looks like I have won, now you're it. Pay the consequence." He chimed happily.
She gasped loudly as she was pinned up against the tree, a tinge of red across her face before she huffed a little toward him, a little steam escaping her nose as she stared at him. "Hmmph..." she ear flicks, one of those large radar ears dipping off to the side as she cocks her head a little at him. "Ahrih, theh yuh leh meh goe?" she said, then pushed a paw playfully at his chest for a moment.
The boy held her there with one hand, his purple eyes shining with a glint of mischief. "Make me." He growled lightly. "Besides, you've never been able to catch me, kit."
She whines softly, then growls a little, sucking a little against her tongue before coughing hard once. "Ahh... grrr..! You thinks I can't hunt you down? I've only recently learned how to use my nose, so your days are numbered!" she grins, then begins to wag her tails some. "Besides, you know what they say about us foxes right?"
Jer huffed, "That you're stubborn?" He teased with a tilt of his head.
She giggles softly. "Stubborn? I wouldn't say that, more akin to being a deceptively unexpected predator!" she snickers, then tries to gently push him away with her hind paws. "Now lemme go so you can go hide!"
His grip loosened, only for him to lick her nose upon letting go fully. "Fiiiiine, good luck!" He added before snapping his fingers, shadows enveloping him before *POOF*
She blinks, then turns toward the tree, looking back for a moment, then closed her eyes as she began to count loud, going at a normal counting pace before she grinned a little. "Eight... Nine... TEN! Ring Ring! I'm coming for you little bean!" she giggles, then decides to do as she was taught, twisting herself just a little as she pushed her nose gently to one of the spots he was holding her at, sniffing a few times before she got a good idea on what to look for, even if he had a muted scent, she was gonna find it! She then closed her eyes, nose twitching as she used her extrasensory abilities to map the area to things she normally couldn't pick up, in her mind, she picked out spots, echoes, sounds... her nose going low before she began to sniff out his trail, following it with her eyes closed.
Jericho reappeared in the park, quickly climbing up one of the trees that was bent for the tree tunnel and dimming his aura.
As she sniffed around the orchard, she checked spots, stopping, sensing, before she turned and walked on to the next one, then stopped as she ran nose-first into someone. "Er, sorry!" she said quickly to the person, then tucked her tails and walked off quickly, only to realign herself as she thought for a moment, where would someone go if they wanted to hide from a hunting predator like her? She then eyed the bridge, narrowing her eyes for a moment at it, then discounted it as she walked on, entering the park now as she began to nose around and hunt around.
He remained silent, creating a shadow clone in an attempt to throw off his scent.
As she was walking, her ears perked, an image shining oddly in the spot the clone appeared as she approached it, thinking back to every time he's been it, the moment she got to the spot, the hybrid would open her eyes, only to sit as she growled a little. "Now that's not fair" she said softly to herself, thinking as she tried to ponder where he could be... only to scream in surprise when a buzzing noise accosted her ears, quickly bolting off and hiding under a bench as she had fears... one of them was anything with a stinger.
After being certain she wasn't about to be stung, she cautiously emerged, eyes flashing pink for a moment as she pinged out the area, her eyes turning slowly toward the shops... was he really hiding on the roof of one? She sighs, heading that way, passing right under him as she went through the tree arches.
The Umbreon quietly slipped out of the tree and snuck up behind her, making himself known as Dani saw a wasp nest in front of her dissolve into a miniature black hole. "You're welcome." He whispered in her ear before he leaned on a nearby tree.
She paused, then turned quickly to face him, nose twitching wildly as she sniffed in his direction, stepping closer before she smiled, nudging him on the stomach with her head. "Thank you" she chuckles, then sits down in front of him. "I... guess I was close?" she said with a small smile. "Using a clone kinda worked, but I knew the difference, it smells similar but not quiiite the same?"
"Very good, kit. You're learning slowly." Jericho snickered. "You walked right under me!"
"Ah?!" she blinks. "But my ping said you were on the roofs of the shop!" she said in confusion, then whined. "Oh man..." she pouts a little.
He bent down and scratched behind one of her ears, "Don't sweat it. It takes time...besides, my parents are both hunters."
She began to thunk her foot in response to the ear scratching, smiling a little. "Mine are too..." she chuckles. "But I has a question?" she smiles a little to him. "Caaan I maaaybe stay at your place tonight? It's been weeks since we slept over at either of our houses, so I kinda figured why not stay at your house tonight?"
He shrugged, "I guess, you're asking my mother this time, though."
She nods and wags her tails in response. "Deal!" she then hops up on her hinds and hugs him. "Mmh!"
Jericho hugged her close before giving a playful nip at her ear. The sun was finally starting to set by that time, so once she decided to let go, he gave her a quick pet on the head before walking towards his apartment.
