.:Grimm Adventures:.

A heavy sigh escaped the raven silken prairie rook as his tusked face looked about as grim as it twisted his face into a permanent frown. The kukuri, appropriately named Grimm was accompanied by two other kukuri - a sassy azure rook with a large black spade on his back and an amber spotted rook with a darker amber tail along with eyes as black as coals. Grimm sighed as the two rooks tried to see who was the manlier of the two. Ace of Spades and Gustav were two rooks of a feather so to speak even if neither sported the same feathery accents that Grimm himself had. Both Ace and Gustav were puffing out their chests at anything with a tail that walked by before turning to growl at one another competitively. Grimm couldn’t help but roll his eyes as a heavy sigh escaped him as they continued on their way.

Strapped to the silken tailed raven prairie’s back were four travelling bags for putting the things they collected into the basket. Their handler, Jacqueline, had sent them out to gather some snowa for food supplies which was an easy enough task to Grimm had he been sent out alone. However he had been forced into the company of Gustav and Ace of Spades for Jackie wanted to get a good stockpile - and perhaps it was for the best that they were along even if they were already starting to grate on the raven prairie’s nerves. The sun was low on the horizon as they reached their destination where the snowa berries could be found. Grimm’s accomplices were still arguing as they made their way into the trees causing Grimm to sigh audibly and garnering the attention of the two other rooks as they turned to glare crossly at the silken-tailed raven prairie.

“What’s your problem now Grimm?” Asked Gustav with a roll of his coal black eyes and Ace snorted slightly. “We’re here to help gather up the snowa for Jackie just like you are. It’s not like we’re hunting anyway. Us talking isn’t going to scare off the snowa that we’re going to collect.”

“Yeah,” Ace added twitching his long whiskers, “We’re almost there anyway and we’ll see who can impress Jackie and the doves of the loaf for real.” Ace curved his neck in a superior way while Gustav glared crossly at the azure-pelted rook.

Grimm just sighed again. “It’s not a competisssshun,” the tusked raven said to the other two as they turned crossly away and made their way into the forest to collect the snowa that they could during the critical hours of dusk. “Jackie doesh not care woo correctssss tha mossst afterarrrr.” His lisp was heavy and he had difficulty with some of the sounds needed but the other kukuri understood his words well enough. It was just the fact that he didn’t want to compete that rubbed the two testosterone charged males wrong. They were going to prove Grimm wrong by collecting the most snowa out of all of them during the hours of dusk. They’d already mentally picked out which of Grimm’s bags they were going to fill and Grimm was starting to regret going out with Gustav and Ace. But it was all for a good cause - bringing back the tasty snowa that was best when picked at the few hours of dawn or dusk and having one of Fabian’s delicious pies was a fringe benefit.

A chirp of excitement from ahead shook Grimm out of his tasty musings and he turned his dark blue eyes to see what was going on. Ace of Spades was jumping with excitement as he pointed with one of his small fingers deeper in the forest. “I found some! I found some!” he chirped excitedly while Gustav glared at the azure pelted rook. “It smells like a lot of them too! Let’s go check it out!”

“Let’s go check it out,” Gustav parroted in a sarcastic tone but followed after Ace as Grimm nodded to the azure rook to lead the way. His long whiskers trembling, Ace led the way through a narrow path hedged in by thick brush before it opened into a small alcove lined with many bushes just bursting with snowa. The sunset light that cut through the trees cast everything in a gold and pink hue as they dappled the snowa below. Gustav gave a snort but didn’t say anything further snide considering the fact that Ace of Spades had actually been right. If he tried to poke at Ace any further, Gustav was likely to get a nip from both the azure pelted rook and grim-faced Grimm.

Grimm sniffed with approval though his expression was still that of a tired frown he was actually very excited by the fact they found some snowa. “Mmmmm, good job Aaassshhhhhhe,” Grimm said with a murmur of approval. “Jackie wwwirrr be prrrroud.” Indeed Grimm was sure that Jackie and Fabian would both give them quite a bit of praise for their finds when they return. It just depended on if Gustav and Ace of Spades could behave themselves without crushing any of the berries they tried to collect.

Ace was so pleased with himself he chose not to bother with grumpy Gustav anyway. He ran up to the bushes and started nosing around for the best snowa that he could pick out. Grimm made his way toward the bushes as well, his great sense of smell as well as his herbivorous diet made picking out the best snowa an easy task for the silken-tailed raven prairie. Being a crepuscular kukuri was also part of why he was so good at gathering these berries compared to his companions. Gustav snorted before he joined as well on the opposite side of the alcove. He would periodically look over his shoulder to glare crossly at Ace while gathering his own snowa, hoping he could outgather the azure pelted rook. Gustav had a small advantage over Ace of Spades in the fact that he was also a herbivore like Grimm, though the amber spotted rook was more of a nocturnal creature than crepuscular. He just hoped that his nose would lead him correctly when finding the best snowa to collect.

Grimm and Ace of Spades already got a good start on gathering the snowa as the golds gave way to reds and magentas in the sky. Ace was now starting to fill the pack he had chosen as his on Grimm’s back as the silken-tailed prairie filled his own chosen pack with snowa as well. Gustav grunted and redoubled his efforts on collecting his own batch of snowa. Not long after he was starting to fill his own chosen pack with snowa as well. He still shot glares at Ace of Spades the whole time but Grimm and Ace pointedly ignored the hostility that was coming from Gustav. Grimm wanted to ensure that they completed their task even if their accomplice was being less than helpful. They were here to help Jackie and that’s all that really mattered to Gustav.

While Gustav was growling away a shadow of something caught his eye and he looked down to set his eyes on a little green creature with large, round eyes. Flicking his ears forward with interest, he turned over to Grimm and Ace of Spades to share his discovery. “Hey Grimm, Ace!” he called softly. “Check out this thing! It’s really cute!”

Ace rolled his eyes visibly and growled. “Come on Gustav,” he grumbled, “keep your focus on the task at hand! We aren’t hunting right now - we’re supposed to be gathering snowa. Keep with the program!”

Grimm however sighed and turned to see what had Gustav’s attention while the amber rook warked with disdain. “Okay Gussshhhhtavvvv,” he said as he padded over. “What ishh it?”

Pleased that Grimm was at least giving him his attention, the spotted amber rook pointed down to the green creature, which looked up at the silken-tailed prairie rook with round, bright eyes. Grimm snorted, impressed. The little creature didn’t seem to be afraid of them but Grimm knew better. The little creature was formidable and aggressive - but the heart-shaped berries that grew on its antennae were extremely rare as well as highly sought after culinary ingredient.

A satisfied rumble filled his throat as Grimm told Gustav just what he’d found. “Mmmmmm, itssshh a mippa,” he said with a nod of approval. “Verrrry rrrrrarrrre. Have good berrrriessshhhhh on itsshhh antennae.” Grimm looked back down at the mippa who looked back at him unafraid. Grimm knew it would be a challenge to gather the berries from the mippa but he wasn’t sure how they could catch it and take the berries from the creature without serious harm. By this point, Ace of Spades headed over with a huff of annoyance now that the silken-tailed raven rook was further away from where the azure had been gathering berries.

“What’s going on?” he asked crossly about the same time that Gustav’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Mippa’s berries!” he crowed. “Let’s get them!”

Grimm’s eyes grew wide with horror but he didn’t have a moment to warn the spotted amber rook about what he was trying to do. As he reached down, the mippa turned and growled deep in its throat before biting the rook’s paw hard. Gustav pulled his hand back so fast that he flung the mippa into the air and into the bushes as he shook his paw wailing in pain. “What the frak was that?!” he howled in pain as Ace of Spades broke out into hysterical laughter. “It’s not funny!” he hissed at Ace before popping his paw in his mouth to suck on his wound.

Shaking his head, Grimm sighed again. “They’rrrrre verrrrry aggrrrrresshhhhivvve,” he grumbled. “Not easshhhy to catchsshhh.”

Gustav glared at Grimm while Ace fell over practically dying of laughter. “You could have told me!” the spotted amber rook responded crossly. “I think I’m bleeding! I hope it hit its head on its way down, stupid thing…” He looked over and kicked Ace of Spades in the ribs. “And you, stop laughing you dolt! Not like you could do any better.”

Ace of Spades puffed out his breath at the kick but then pricked his ears at the challenge. Suddenly, thoughts of gathering snowa had left his mind and he was now focused on catching the mippa himself and gathering its berries. Grimm started to shake his head no at this idea but Ace hopped to his feet, ready for the challenge. “You’re on!” he crowed. “I’ll catch that mippa and show you just who’s the better rook!”

“Go ahead and try,” Gustav said after miming the other rook while he spoke. “I bet it’ll tear off one of your whiskers instead.”

“Will not!”

“Will too!”

“Will not!”

“Will too!”

Grimm groaned and sighed as Ace of Spades disappeared into the brush in pursuit of the curious but aggressive mippa. His long tusks making him look even more grim-faced than he felt helped feed into his emotions. He plodded after Ace and Gustav for the amber rook had followed after the azure one in order to witness whatever happened next. Grimm needed to be there to make sure things didn’t get out of hand. Because when it involved these two rooks together...

Someone was bound to get hurt.

Ace of Spades quickly encountered the mippa again who started growling at the azure kukuri as soon as it spotted him. It was clear the mippa recognized him as a threat for he had been around the spotted amber rook it had bitten earlier. And when Gustav appeared behind Ace the mippa’s growling only intensified. Neither Ace or Gustav really understood the mippa’s aggressive growling as a warning to stay away. Instead they saw the small fluffy green creature as a challenge to overcome in order to gather the berries growing on its antennae.

Knowing that Gustav was watching him, Ace thought carefully of what he would do to snatch the mippa to take its berries. The azure rook decided to distract the mippa with one paw and grab it from behind with the other. So he lunged one paw forward to one side to bait the mippa, which worked. What Ace wasn’t counting on was just how fast the mippa was. It clamped down on his paw before Ace had a chance to grab it with the other and he howled with pain. The mippa didn’t hold on this time however and let go in order to avoid being thrown into the bushes again. But it also noticed something else.

Ace of Spades’ whiskers.

It lunged forward for one of the white-tipped long strands and chomped down on that next. Ace couldn’t believe the audacity of the little creature as well as the pain of having his whiskers chomped on elicited. By this time Gustav was howling with laughter as he flopped on the ground while Ace attempted to pry the mippa free from his whisker. Ace glared furiously at the hysterical spotted amber rook as he tried to pull the mippa free. “HEY!” he shouted. “Help me out here!”

“No way!” Gustav stuttered out between gasps of laughter. “You didn’t help me!”

Ace glared and was about to say something crass back but Grimm appeared from the underbrush his grumpy face glaring down at Ace and the mippa. For a moment the two froze and turned their eyes at the silken-tailed raven prairie as he slowly rose to his full height and the dying rays of the sun highlighted his form in blood red. He then let out a ferocious roar, his tusks gaping like long daggers as they caught the red light.

That was enough for the mippa. It let go of Ace and rushed away while Ace squeaked, falling to the ground in a huddled mass of fear. Even Gustav stopped laughing and curled in a frightened ball when faced by the wrath of the shadow-colored silken-tailed prairie rook. Grimm closed his maw and scanned the area for any sign of the mippa or other mippas before turning his eyes down to the two cowering rooks. If Grimm had the capacity to laugh, he would. Instead he sighed with exasperation and toed Ace to gain the petrified rook’s attention. “Itssshhhhh gone now,” he said.

Ace opened one brown eye and looked around before coming to his feet and dusting off his fur. His voice quavered a little bit as he tried to play off his fear. “Th-thanks Grimm,” he said. “That mippa will think twice before trying to mess with us again!”

Grimm rolled his eyes as Gustav came to his feet as well. “Ssssshhhhurrrrre,” Grimm grumbled with a roll of his eyes.

Gustav had the sense not to push the matter further. “Let’s get this snowa back to Jackie and Fabian before they start to get squished,” he opted to state instead.

Grimm nodded his head and started to make their way back in silence. Ace had enough sense not to poke fun at Gustav for cowering in fear as well though he held his mangled whisker between two paws.

Hopefully they never saw another mippa again.