Blossoming Bromance

[? relic]

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[atrb=background,http://oi45.tinypic.com/2nvcuwj.jpg] A slight breeze blew through Saddle creek, and was a blessing to the many who were growing weary of the summer sun. A certain pup crawled down through the rows and rows of bleachers that belonged to the abandoned race track, hoisting himself up to stand on the upside-down soapbox he'd managed to drag in to the lonely seating area with him. He bounced slightly to rest his paws on the protective rail, and looked out upon the track before him. You could still see the hoof prints embedded into the dusty ground, and as Bodhi imagined them thundering down their path, his tail started wagging rather quickly. He was always eager to race, but... he was new to town, and didn't really know how to make friends. It wasn't really competing when you were alone, y'know? Turning his thoughts back towards his vivid daydreams of what it must have been like to have the adrenaline pumping through your veins, the wind in your face, and tension so thick in the air that you could cut it with a knife. Unable to take it anymore, he jumped off of the wooden box and sprinted down the stairs, slipping under the fence that separated the track from the viewing area, and giggled with joy as he felt the track beneath him. Sure, it was just another piece of the ground to other dogs, but its history actually meant something to the canaan dog mix. He stretched his legs, curled up his tail as tight as he could, and lowered down into a starting position. "On your marks, get set, go!" he shouted to no one in particular, flying forward. The pup was still, well, a pup, and that came with problems. For one, he was still a little clumsy with his long legs and admittedly dainty paws, and it was obvious that he was going to fall at times; which was... pretty much what he was recovering from at the moment. He rolled over onto his stomach, standing up a bit shakily. His shook the tan dust from his face, and rubbed his nose with his paw to ease the stinging. "Ow, ow..." he whined, ears falling back in annoyance. With a sigh, he started back up again, but this time taking it slow with a simple trot. Instead of running, he figured he'd simply study his surroundings this time around, instead of flying down the track with no aim. words: 419 tags: Charon! location: geronimo race track muse: Never Grow Up - Taylor Swift; notes: It's like 3 AM here, and I'm exhausted, so please excuse the quality. :B

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[Eagle]

Charon had hit that gangly, ugly puppy stage. It was that awkward adolescent stage where his ears were too long and his legs were too long and his body was thin and his fur was in this hideous condition between an adult's coat and a puppy's. He was a Shepherd in transition. He had grown up, but hadn't filled out yet. His ears leaned, as if they were too big to stand on their own until his head got bigger. The most common carriage at the moment for them was tilting toward each other like a party hat. He looked ridiculous, but, then again, he was a ridiculous creature.

He had come to the racetrack because he heard from other dogs, who were just telling stories, that there was a ghost on the track: The spirit of a horse that died mid-race. A bone in the leg broke and the horse attempted to continue running despite the grisly injury. That was how the story went. Really, he was daring himself since he truly believed. In fact, Charon would probably never outgrow the tendency to take everything at face value and just assume it was true until it was revealed otherwise. So, he believed in the ghost. And he believed he could show a ghost-horse that he truly was the better animal. Like stated before, he was a ridiculous creature.

The racetrack had a fine layer of dust on every portion of it. It still smelled like sweat and horses and manure and victory and disappointment. It was the smell of a race, so strong in its hey-day that it even affected the weak-nosed humans. In this moment, Charon could feel the electric of anticipation run up and down his spine. That was the effect a racetrack had.

A voice echoed through the track. "On your marks, get set, go!" It sounded very official, being shouted out. Charon pricked his ears, which caused them to lean forward, like they wanted to flop over. He was excited. This could very well be the ghost. Perhaps a scene from the horse's previous life was playing out and he'd get to see the equine specter.

Instead, what came around the corner was a smaller, younger dog. A yellow and cream dog that was all legs flew along the track and stumbled. Charon narrowed his brown eyes as the other puppy started trotting and taking in his surroundings. He was sorely disappointed and wanted to at least voice how disappointed he was.

"Hey. Hey you. Hold still!" Charon said, running and then jumping so that he intercepted Bodhi and then sniffed the puppy all over, just in case he was a ghost in disguise. He wasn't. Obviously. "Okay... You aren't a ghost horse! What's up with that?!" When said aloud, it just sounded stupid. "Well, I mean, did you see anything suspicious here? Any... phantom neighing or whatever?"

[? relic]

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[atrb=background,http://oi46.tinypic.com/29p9s1e.jpg] There he was, just strolling along, when he heard someone yelling at him, telling him to stop. He instantly stopped moving, turning around swiftly. His swiftness, however, didn't save him from being tackled by a black bear cub. He lay on his back, pinned down from the best, as it sniffed him thoroughly. He poked its nose with a lanky paw out of sheer curiosity, and as soon as he did it, it began talking again. Bodhi's eyes shot open. "WOAH. A talking bear! Oh my gosh, this is so awesome! Are you magic? And- whut?" His rant was cut short by the fluffy black male talking about suspicious neighing. Suspicious PHANTOM neighing. Okay, this was too cool. "A ghost? Woah, here?!" The orange pup squealed in joy, and squirmed anxiously under the larger male's weight. "I remember seeing some kind of tracks by those seat things over there," he nodded in the bleachers' direction. "we should go check it out!" words: meh tags: Charon! location: geronimo race track muse: The background noise of muh tv. -_- notes: Who ya gonna call?!

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[Eagle]

Charon narrowed his eyes as he stared at the dog underneath him. "I am so not a talking bear."

However, the subject died as soon as it came back to the ghost-horse. Ah, so there were some new developments in this mystery. "Tracks," Charon said, contemplatively. "Now, that's interesting. Very, very interesting. In fact... it's pret-ty awesome!" He looked at the squirming puppy underneath him. "Tell you what, you... I'm gonna ask you to be my assistant in this ghost-hunting business and we need to make it official before we do anything else." Charon knew he was older than this dog and that was enough to make him want to take the leader position and be all proper about this endeavor. It meant making up rituals.

He cleared his throat. "Okay, I'm Charon and I'm looking for the ghost of a race horse that died in a race. Legend says he still runs around the track. Okay, now you introduce yourself and then I'll put my paw on your shoulder and that means I accept you to join my group." It was all a made up game, but Charon believed it wholeheartedly and that was what made it important. He let the younger puppy go from underneath him. He looked at Bodhi expectantly.

[? relic]

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[atrb=background,http://oi46.tinypic.com/29p9s1e.jpg] Oh, so, he wasn't a bear?... Bodhi wasn't sure how much he believed that, but what was the point in wondering? If he wanted to identify as a dog, so be it! The orange pup's ears went back and he looked around awkwardly as the mutt on top of him had a rather intimidating look on his face. "Oh, heh, sorry..." Soon enough, though, it seemed that the bea- ahem, puppy, had forgotten the topic and switched to the tracks Bo had mentioned earlier. When it commented on the tracks being awesome, he grinned. "Totally!" the husky mix squealed in joy, tail squirming beneath his rump. Then, something rather...remarkable happened. The soul pinning him down offered to make him his assistant. Him, of all mutts in Saddle Creek! Dhi's grin widened, and his little heart started racing in excitement. No one had ever wanted to keep him around before, this was amazing! He finally had a friend, someone he could rely on for secrets, games, and company. "Maybe I won't be so lonely anymore..." he thought in pure joy. "Oh, wow, cool!" he yipped ecstatically. Charon introduced himself, and explained what Bodhi had to be initiated into the ghost-hunting club, as well as the details of his current investigation. As soon as he got off of him, the lanky pup bounced up to his feet, loosely curled tail wagging. "I'm Bodhidharma, but everyone just calls me Bodhi for short." he stated with a serious tone in his fizzy little voice. Bodhi then nodded, and awaited Charon's notion of acceptance. The pup was trembling in excitement, just imagining meeting the ghost-horse. "What was his name? Will we be able to talk to him? Ooh, maybe he could give me pointers!" he thought to himself, bouncing slightly in anticipation. ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ words: 298 tags: Charon! location: geronimo race track muse: NSN Station on Pandora notes: Sorry this took so long. After losing my post twice, it took me a bit of courage to retry it.

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[Eagle]

[cs=2] charon

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=style, vertical-align: top;][atrb=width,500px,true] [style=background-color: #a2b696; margin: 10px; padding: 5px; border-radius: 5px; font: 11px Tahoma; color: #484e29; text-align: justify;] "Speak" - Think – "Listen" "Bodhi..." Charon was just about to try the full name, but stopped short, knowing he would completed butcher it. "Bodhi! Well, I guess Bodhi is a cool name." He grinned a cocksure grin. Charon was the type of dog to run on nothing more than confidence and, well, what he considered to be manliness. And the puppy's vision of the tough-dog life was equivalent to the human idea of spit-handshakes and blood-brothers. In other words, it was perfectly innocent and absolutely sacred. "So, of course, if we are going to be a team, I'm the lead investigator," Charon said. The charisma with which he said it made it seem like a fact, nothing to be argued, just simply the way the world worked. "And that means you are my assisting investigator." He played with long words he heard and knew only the most basic gist of their meanings. To Charon, assisting just meant a friend to play this great game. And investigator simply meant that they were going to be using their senses to find stuff. And it sounded perfectly reasonable in his head. "It makes sense because, for one, I started the group and second, I'm older and I'll teach you some cool stuff." Explanations, Charon had learned, kept conflict to a minimum. Within his siblings, in-fighting would have happened as soon as he decided that they were going to be investigators. Then they'd want to be bandits or pirates or heroes or knights. But little Bodhi seemed perfectly happy with the idea of being a paranormal investigator. It was like having the little brother he always wanted. He placed a too-large paw on Bodhi's shoulder. Charon was in the gawky stage of development, where his ears and paws were much too big for the rest of him. "And of course, there's an oath to take." Charon said, matter of fact. "I, Bodhi..." Charon started, but then thought to mention, "Oh, yeah you are supposed to repeat after me because this is the oath." He cleared his throat and then began again: "I, Bodhi, will dedicate myself to the investigation of the weird stuff that goes on: Ghosts, the truth behind rumors, powers, spirits, witches, angels, demons and other things, especially the stuff that hides in the night, waiting to hurt puppies everywhere. I will become the assisting investigator to a team that shall now be deemed... The Ghost Hunter Detectives. I promise to be brave, to be righteous, to be fair, to be strong, and to always get to the bottom of the truth." Charon was quite proud of the oath he had concocted. [/style]

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four hundred thirty-six
m u s e
awesome and full of cute
t a g
Bodhi
n o t e s
. this thread is adorable.
You can just backtrack a bit so that you have Bodhi talking along as Charon is reciting the oath. Like how they do at anywhere you have to recite the oath. I just felt it was better than stretching it out for a million posts, .

Also... new table c: Just trying it out.[/div][/style][/td][/tr][/table][/center]

table & art (c) Eagle | bg (cc) dinpattern

[? relic]

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[atrb=background,http://oi46.tinypic.com/29p9s1e.jpg] Dainty little front paws prancing up and down simultaneously, Bo had a mile-wide grin on his face. "Thank you~" he practically sang. The bear-puppy, who was a giant compared to Bodhidharma's small stature, made himself the leader of the investigator duo, and Bo simply nodded, not even thinking to argue. Charon then went on to explain his reasoning, which simply produced another nod from Bodhi. When stated that he would be the assisting investigator, Bodhi agreed distantly, too busy imagining all of the mysteries they'd solve, and scary monsters he'd put on a brave face to defeat. He'd be doing what he'd always wanted to do: becoming the superhero he knew he was destined to be. Something about the shepherd pup made Bodhi look up to him, besides the fact that he was almost three times his size, but Bo couldn't really figure out just what it was. There was no use in worrying about it, though, because he was about to be taught a lot of cool stuff by a totally cool puppy! Or, at least, he was in Bodhi's eyes. "Oh, that sounds awesome!" the curly tailed mutt yipped, smiling once more. Charon told him of the oath he was now going to take, and Bodhi nodded with wide, bright eyes. A giant paw was placed on his shoulder, and he fell back on his rump from the sudden shift in weight. Grunting slightly, he forced himself to stand so he wouldn't look weak. Charon addressed himself as Bodhi, before informing the orange male that he was supposed to repeat after him. "Oh, Oh! Okay!" he nodded quickly, puffing out his chest and closing his eyes dutifully. He took on a serious tone, and began to recite the oath with his new found friend. "I, Bodhi, will dedicate myself to the investigation of the weird stuff that goes on: Ghosts, the truth behind rumors, powers, spirits, witches, angels, demons and other things, especially the stuff that hides in the night, waiting to hurt puppies everywhere. I will become the assisting investigator to a team that shall now be deemed... The Ghost Hunter Detectives." He stumbled a bit over all the big words, but thought he'd done a pretty good job of pronouncing them. "I promise to be oh, so brave, to be righteous, to be fair, to be strong, and to always get to the bottom of the truth!" The pup stamped his paw to accentuate the oath he'd taken, a satisfied little smile spreading across his features. ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ words: 420 tags: Charon! location: geronimo race track muse: Lady Antebellum Station on Pandoraaa. notes: asdfghjkl; - This is so cute. Bo's ecstatic that he's found his first buddy. <3 Oh, and sorry about the quality of the post.

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[Eagle]

[cs=2] charon

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=style, vertical-align: top;][atrb=width,500px,true] [style=background-color: #a2b696; margin: 10px; padding: 5px; border-radius: 5px; font: 11px Tahoma; color: #484e29; text-align: justify;] "Speak" - Think – "Listen" Charon grinned as Bodhi followed along, both were taken by the game so completely that it had become real. Charon's tail wagged in a mirror to Bodhi's. It seemed that they were building each other's enthusiasm. The oath had placed them on the same team, but it would be the mission that would cement the bond. Now, the first mystery that they'd tackle would be that of the phantom horse that still raced the tracks, desperate for a win it never achieved due its own body failing before it made it to the finish. A tragic tale, but Charon didn't see it as anything but another story to explain yet another ghost. "Okay!" Charon said. He lifted up his head and puffed out his chest. "We're going to find this ghost horse and then, and then... I guess we'll have to deal with the problem when we get there since maybe he needs help and maybe he's bad. See? We're responsible detectives," Charon said. He smiled mischievously, a small and self-sure smirk. Charon started to lead the way, his brush-like tail wagging wildly, in anticipation for the adventures to come. "First, we hunt for clues. We'll start at the hoof prints." And then, he turned toward the track, where the hoof prints were the clearest—if only for the fact that dogs hadn't crossed that place on the raceway often. [/style]

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two-hundred twenty nine
m u s e
okay
t a g
Bodhi
n o t e s
a shorter post, but it called for a shorter post c: Also, sorry it took awhile to get this up![/div][/style][/td][/tr][/table][/center]

table & art (c) Eagle | bg (cc) dinpattern

[? relic]

"Bodhi speaks." & "Charon speaks.

Nodding, Bodhi bounded over toward the prints, studying them. "Yes. Er, hoof prints." He sat back on his rump, turning to look back at Charon.

The black pup looked down at them, thinking that if he looked at them hard enough, somehow what, exactly, they meant would jump out at him. "Look at the way they are clustered here, that is probably where the horse had lost his balance." In reality, it was only where the tracks had not been obscured.

As if he'd suddenly seen exactly what Charon was talking about, Bodhi's eyes looked as if something had suddenly dawned on him. "...and came tumbling down to the end of his career." His ears fell back, and his heart practically broke as he pondered what life would be like if he couldn't race anymore.

"Yes." Charon tilted his head. He smiled a slightly daring smile. "And he's hiding out because he knows we're on to him. So, I wonder..." the black GSD pup said as he put his paw upon the dirt, "What would happen if we made it so that this never happened." He swiped his black paw across the dirt, erasing the hooves with his big paw. "Would this offend him enough to come out?" Charon's smile turned into wide grin. "Come out!" he yelled.

Bodhi gasped dramatically. "He'll be furious!" he said, mouth hanging open slightly. The pup could swear the race track just dropped about ten degrees, and shivered. He put on his best brave face, and looked around for any sign of the spirit.

"If he's furious, he should come and fight. At least we'd be facing him!" Charon's eyes were like embers, hard and full of fire. The sun, coincidentally, hid behind a cloud, and the race track grew darker, colder. Charon felt his heart drop a little, but he didn't dare let it show on his face. Defiantly, he set his jaw.

Bodhi swallowed hard, trying to rid himself of the lump in his throat. "Yeah, c-come and fight, you failure!" he called out, doing the best he could to provoke the equine entity. Puffing out his chest, he held back the fear-driven trembling that came with the sudden darkness.

Charon moved backward a little. It was dark enough that he relaxed his facade of bravado. He bumped into the wall, which gave way under him, being fragile from age and disuse. It made a loud bang that made him jump in the air and flip backward with a small squeak. "Damn-it!" the older puppy said. "He tried to get me!" He went next to Bodhi. "C'mon, we have to work together!"

Attention having drifted from Charon due to how hard he was trying to act cool, he hadn't even realized that the shepherd had moved. The loud bang he caused made Bodhi yelp in surprise, clearly shaking now. Oh god, he tried to attack him?! Bo had never dealt with violent spirits, or, well, any spirits, until now. Not quite knowing how to handle things, he followed his instincts, and forced all of his courage to shine now. He stood protectively in front of Charon, and looked around for the invisible horse. "Why don't you take on both of us, wimp!"

Charon felt Bodhi, his assisting investigator, by his side and it emboldened him enough to take charge again. It was less that he wanted to, but more that he must. And he knew it. He was the lead detective and he had to show it. "We are the Ghost Hunter Detectives and like hell are you going to mess with me and Bodhi!" Charon touched Bodhi and whispered, "It's about time we stop this badass boasting and time we start living up to it. You ready... lil bro?" He bunched his muscles. "We're ready for a front assault..."

Charon's words were empowering, and Bo narrowed his eyes with a confident smile. "Yeah! Like hell!" the curse felt funny to say, but he figured it made him sound older, so it must have been okay. He felt Charon touch him and ask him if he was ready...and call him his little brother. He smiled wider, and nodded. "Totally...big bro." He lowered himself down and tightened his back leg muscles, ready to "pounce." He locked his eyes on the wall, where he decided the spirit was standing now, and put on his meanest face. "and...go!"

Charon pounced, feeling Bodhi right alongside him. He tumbled through the wall that once separated the spectators from the horses on the track. He felt himself tangled up in the rubble of the age-wearied wall and looked up. The sun was out. "I think... we got him."

Back legs launching him forward around the same time as the black shepherd, Bodhi felt his body destroy the wall in its path, and land on his back beside his partner. Light shone through the aged rubble, and the whole area seemed that much friendlier. He began choking on the dust as he tried to let out a relieved sigh, and simply nodded as his eyes watered. "ack, yeah, me too..."

[Eagle]

[cs=2] charon

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=style, vertical-align: top;][atrb=width,500px,true] [style=background-color: #a2b696; margin: 10px; padding: 5px; border-radius: 5px; font: 11px Tahoma; color: #484e29; text-align: justify;] "Speak" - Think – "Listen" Charon carefully stood up. He shook the debris from his coat and let out a big sigh. It was somewhat of relief, but mostly it was the pride of a job well done. Charon looked to the little, orange puppy who he had deemed his bro in the heat of the moment. When it came down to it, Bodhi had pulled through. There was pride in finding the best assisting investigator by sheer dumb luck, too. For both of them. Charon wanted to word this just right. A total stranger just the moment before they began their investigation, but as soon as they looked at the only clue available: the hoof prints, it all came together. The scenario where everything made everything they did true and cemented that little suggestion that Charon had in his head earlier: What if Bodhi was my little brother? It was nothing more than a passing thought then, not even that concrete, but when his adrenaline was pumping and when faced with a racehorse phantom, it just became true. Bodhi was his brother. He placed a big dark paw on Bodhi. It could be a dominant gesture, but Charon meant it as an endearing one, something that bros wouldn't care about, even welcome. "Forget lead and assisting detective, Bodhi. I see the truth now. We are something stronger. Something better: We are bros. That's the truth of what I saw when we risked with our very lives against a violent spirit... and won." He swelled with pride. He oozed with confidence, charisma. This victory gave him more proof that he wasn't just full of himself. It would become a memory, in the future, where he would laugh at what a foolish puppy he had been, but he would never forget how real it was to him. And how real it was mattered because it was what molded these two dogs together. And made them into brothers. [/style]

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three-hundred twenty-one
m u s e
excellent
t a g
Bodhi
n o t e s
. This is the most adorable thread ever.[/div][/style][/td][/tr][/table][/center]

table & art (c) Eagle | bg (cc) dinpattern

[? relic]

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[atrb=background,http://oi46.tinypic.com/29p9s1e.jpg] Heart still racing, adrenaline pumping, and nearly hyperventilating, the young Canaan mix was sure he'd faced death today...and laughed in his ugly face. Thinking back on what had happened in the last few minutes was a bit difficult, as the sheer force of what was happening had the events merged together in a blur. All he really remembered was that, when it came down to it, he had Charon's back, and that giant shepherd had his back, too. When faced with a truly terrifying situation, they had worked together to bring down the violent race horse, and called one another their brother before they both charged it. He was beyond scared by the damned ghost, but somehow he'd managed to step up and fight back. The orange pup decided that without Charon by his side, he wouldn't have had the courage to do any of that, and could've easily been killed had he not come along. What would come of their little duo? A small smile spread across his face as he glanced up at Charon. He couldn't possibly know what would come in the future, but for now, he was happy with having his best friend and newly found brother by his side. Charon must have been thinking around the same thing Bodhi was, because, suddenly, his paw found its way to Dhi's shoulder. Slowing his panting a bit, he looked up to the shepherd, doe-eyed. Char gave him a little speech, and in it, he told of how they would be ditching the lead and assisting titles, and simply going by what they knew one another to be: bros. Bodhi grinned, and could practically feel the puppy's confidence. He puffed out his chest, feeling a little confident himself at their impressive feat. The smaller pup felt as though he really belonged in this big, scary world now, regardless of his missing biological family. He had Charon now, and that was all he needed. Looking at his bro, Bodhi extended a front leg, flexing his paw. He'd seen other dogs do this before, and figured now was as good a time as ever; plus, it looked cool, and would symbolize their new relationship. "Bros for life?" ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ words: 366 tags: Charon! location: geronimo race track muse: n/a notes: hnnnnnng. <3 Hehe, doggy brofist. cx

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