#snzblrmacro

[quosterswampdregs]

Looks like Nolki won the fic poll! And funny enough, I actually have a 2-year-old fic about Nolki and two normal-sized canines that I realize I NEVER posted!! So here you all go, featuring Nolki, Kyle, and Morse: A camping trip goes wayward when one of them makes a discovery...

"Kyle!! You’ll never believe what I’ve found!”

An arctic fox came jogging out of the shrouded lodgepole pine forest, shrugging off his traveling backpack in favor of a metallic water bottle to press up to his maw. Morse, exhausted from his morning run, had stirred the restless dingo from his camping tent, who peered lazily at the canopy of lush greens and yellows. A proud mountain rested over the crowns of conifers, which all leaned towards the east in a lazy stretch, before stiffening out westward. Strange winds, warm winds, too.

Kyle, equipped in a simple tee and cargo shorts, pushed himself up fully after supporting his upper weight with his forearms. The dingo uttered to himself with great disinterest—what had his friend’s tail flying with great vigor behind him, anyway?

“Why bring it up if I won’t believe it?” Yawned Kyle to Morse, “what, you found another toad in your tent? Good morning, by the way.”

“No no no, I swear it’s more interesting than that, by a long shot!”

“Wh…whhyyy, are your pants covered in dirt? The sun’s barely up and you’ve gotten yourself into something.”

“Augh!!” Morse curled his upper lip and his large ears found their gravity. Kyle gave a start as he was suddenly taken by the wrist and dragged forward by his shorter friend, who was pawing through the dense foliage from the way he came. He still had his water bottle clenched in the leading hand, using it to nudge away stems of ferns and undergrowth. “It’s just gonna be easier if I show you!”

“H-hwuh?! Hey!! Wait!”

Easier, sure, but damn, nothing could have ever prepared Kyle for what sat before him. Only after sampling mouthfuls of forest leaves and branches from being dragged by the paw by little Morse, did Kyle stare forward, aghast with curiosity. In a secondary clearing, only ten minutes of a stride away was a large, chartreuse mass sitting proudly, tucked away neatly with surrounding foliage and trees. Two caverns, both exerting waves of warmth at uneven intervals, sat side by side; caverns by the likes of which Kyle had never seen before. Whatever this was, it seemed almost alive—fleshy, hued in a mossy green tone, and leaking with some sort of liquid that slickened the pinkening walls further back.

A sudden ripple of air combed past the gawking canid and the vulpine, drawing leaves from trees and ferns into the dark depths before them. All of the trees leaned in as if listening in for the gossip of the woods, before relaxing and pointing back to the sky—Kyle, transfixed, watched the leaves spill out lazily against the trembling walls.

“Alright…” Kyle fixed his shark-tooth necklace against his shirt, and Morse shouldered his hexagonal gold-wire glasses further on his face, “Morse, I dunno what the hell you found, but it’s cool…”

“What did I tell you!?” The arctic fox leaped at such a statement, rushing forward to one of the two caverns. It was about five feet in height, which meant that Morse could barely stand up fully once he clambered onto the fleshy surface that sank under his weight. He kept his ears down, as pointing them caused them to brush up against the ceiling.

“No ifs or hows or alsos, you’re just…! Going in?”

“I mean, sure…!” Morse’s voice echoed by the time his tail slipped in after and snuck into one of the trembling caverns, “I wanna know what’s back here!”

Well, peer pressure had its rules, did it not? Kyle was trying his best to speak logistics, but ironically, he was muttering them out as he hoisted himself into the slick, soft, and warm cavern after his friend. It was weird, very weird; to his touch, the ground sank, and the entrance of the cavern lost its solid composure, expanding once, twice, thrice…? And relaxing. Or at least, shrinking again. Thick, clear slime accumulated on the roof of the cave, and Kyle had to hunch down on his hands and knees to avoid touching most of it. His tail dragged along the base of the area around him, and at one point, a shuddering jolt made him flatten out on his stomach, winding himself completely. 

“Yeesh, Morse, it looks like it narrows way up there!!” Kyle huffed in an attempt to catch his breath, seeing that the arctic fox crouched at a certain section with a dip, pinching off the way further—save for a one-foot-tall gap. Morse crouched, lifting his wagging tail that brushed against the slick walls, causing them to visually react and wrinkle away from the featherlight touches. Kyle stumbled uneasily while the floor began to move.

“Morse?”

“I think I could—ngh—squeeeeze in there if I really tried, looks roomy on the other side!”

Not that Kyle had any time to object before he was wiggling and thrashing, kicking his little paws as he tried to worm his way through the crevice offered by this strange cavern. Kyle opened his mouth to speak, but a sudden blast of air came from behind him, throwing him forward against his friend’s backside, who yipped with the accompaniment of a noise only comparable to a vacuum tube being shoved up to a latex balloon.

“Holy hell!!” Kyle shrieked and staggered back, watching Morse’s lower half writhe and kick with confusion. “Morse!! Morse, you good buddy?? What the—?!”

“Mmrggh! Mngghghhh!!”

“What??”

“Mmrkay!!”

“You’re good?” Kyle stammered, receiving a wagging tail in response. Talk about winds today, what on earth?! “-uhhhhh, well! Good. Lemme pull you out…”

Or at least, make an attempt to. His fur had slickened with the strange…mucus-like slime, so his grip wasn’t half the strength it could be. That, and well, telling by the thrashing and little kicks of desperation, he was pretty stuck either way. There was no way he could get him out, not like this.

“Hmm..we got rope back at camp…! I could try to pull you out that way…are you good with waiting like, twenty minutes?” He offered, receiving a noise of acknowledgment and a wagging tail. Kyle nodded—not quite sure why, given his friend couldn’t see him. “Don’t go anywhere!! Not that I think you will!”

Kyle fled from the cave, surprised by the warmth the outside world offered. As promised, he grabbed his bag from his tent, looking to the tree crowns with the two, brown mountains in the near distance.

Two? He swore there was only one before…one of them flicked, mountains don’t flick, Kyle’s ear flicked back as a natural response.

“Mnuhhh…?”

The sound was absolutely tremendous. Kyle wasn’t expecting it, but he watched in fear as flocks of birds fled from the crowns of pine trees. It was coming from whence the dingo came—a beast of some sorts? He took his defense kit with him, grabbing a stray leafy pine branch off of a tree as he bolted after it. Whatever it was, he couldn’t leave Morse stuck in a cave while that thing was roaming around.

“Hey!” He called in a deep bark, charging through the undergrowth with his pine-needle-twig in hand, “you leave my fr…?”

Nothing, just the flaring and trembling caverns before him, sat upon a row of pearly white teeth, green gums, and a tongue that slipped out past the front teeth to shove and lick against a thin but sturdy septum. The line of its septum was unmoving, allowing the skin of its nostrils to envelop the tip of its tongue, before both caverns—both nostrils, hastily flared and shrank, sniffling and snorting with massive irritation. Those weren’t caves, this was a nose that belonged to the steady, sturdy muzzle of some macro canid..! Kyle, quickly turning pink under his fur, took a few hasty steps back. If that was the case, Morse was in there!

“hhHehh..?! HhhHEH?! EHhhschhuhhw!!”

Barely having any time to react, a forceful sneeze caused Kyle to fall flat on his tail, misted over by a spray of warmth and moisture. It dispersed like a morning fog, leaving his fur standing on end.

“A-! Woah! Hey hey hey!!” Kyle attempted shakily, rushing forward to grab the Macro’s septum with both his paws. He gulped as peach-toned fur and thick whiskers led the way for the green eyes that lazily and tearfully fluttered open. “Easy big guy!! Don’t uhhh…! Don’t panic!!”

See, this wasn’t Kyle’s first encounter with macros; they tended to roam these areas, and Kyle had had a few close encounters with them…don’t ask. Or do, he just won’t tell.

“Udh…mnhHhgh??” uttered the macro, whose gaping nostrils flared to reveal poor Morse, his upper half still stuck, tail thrashing about with defiance. He had his feet planted though, which meant he had slipped out a little! His tail was wagging high, high enough to spark a light bulb in Kyle's head.

Oh, how incriminating this was, Kyle was blushing at the thought—if he could tickle the nose of this big guy, a good sneeze could set his friend free—not often would he get such an excuse to do this, but hey! When the opportunity strikes.

“Yeah, that’s my buddy. I’m gonna get him out, okay?”

He couldn’t tell if his tiny voice could even register, but Kyle stepped into the flaring nostril nonetheless. The twig in his hand was brushing feverishly along the responsive, trembling nasal walls, his tail coaxing against his inner septum with all of his strength and irritability. 

“Hehh…h-h-hHdhk! Hhuhh?”

The sound was frantic and desperate, reverberating all around him in this tunnel of irritation. With his free, remaining hand, he held onto Morse by the base of his tail, guiding it to the tissue that had him pinned and stationary. It began to loosen as the nose flexed, and he was slowly slipping out against the suction he was bound to.

“Udh..hhuh…! HhHHUH- Hh-hhHUH!!”

“Please work…” wince Kyle, who braced for impact. He grit his teeth and pinned his ears in as much of a brace he could muster.

“Huh- hHUEESHHhhuhhw!!”

With enormous force, Kyle was launched out of one of the Macro’s nostrils, his arctic fox friend in tow. The two tumbled, end over end, and Morse was the first to sit up dizzily, coated in mucus and soggy leaves.

“Get down!!” Kyle hissed, grabbing Morse by the scruff and yanking them behind the bush as the Macro hazily stood to full height, towering hundreds of feet above the trees. Runny nose, lazy eyes, and a short, tucked tail. He rubbed his nose from above, wiping his palm on his chest fur with a bit of confusion. He likely didn’t even notice them, by the tells of it, given how he quietly and begrudgingly lumbered away.

“Morse…?” Whispered Kyle, laughing to himself with an exasperated face.

“Uh-huh…?” The fox was on the ground, staring up at the sky with shock.

“Remind me to second-guess things more, if you would?”