Redhawk Caldera cape of good hope

By some brilliant stroke of luck, there lay a rather large stick outside of the Blackthorn home. Clover noted it immediately upon exiting her natal den, and her eyes flashed. She full-sprinted to it, lifted her leg up, and whizzed upon it to mark it as her own before moving to the sticks center. It was far too large for her, but she wanted it—and so she bit down upon it, and began the arduous journey of dragging it very, very slowly to the dens mouth. It wasn't far away to begin with, but she wanted it extra close to mom and dad, one of which had a very close eye on her and the amusing scene. It was a heavy stick that required she use every ounce of body weight she had. Clover was small to begin with, and smaller still due to the famine and her lack of fussing over food—but she had a lot of spirit, at least.

With the famine digging its fangs deeper and deeper into the caldera's throat, Raven wondered how much more they could take before their collective jugular was cut and the whole pack fell apart. They had already lost a few members, which was troubling enough as it was. But even more troubling were the rumors she had heard that Towhee had considered leaving too. Raven had never been one to stick her nose into her siblings' affairs -- once the kids had grown old enough to more or less take care of themselves, she had backed off quite a bit and let them have their space to learn and explore and become their own individuals. But this, if it was true, bothered her. If Towhee left, how could she take care of herself? She knew that the girl was more than capable of making it on her own, but the problem was that she wouldn't always be on her own. There were other wolves out there -- a lot of them -- and not all of them would be sympathetic toward her hearing impairment.

Such things roiled around in the healer's mind as she padded toward the alphas' den. She'd intended to ask Aunt Flea or Uncle El if they'd heard anything about it, but as she approached, she was distracted by one of the Blackthorn babies wrestling with a rather large stick. The child was so cute that Raven almost immediately forgot her reason for coming here, and she promptly dropped down into a sphinx-like position near the little girl, grinning and wagging her tail behind her. She wanted to help, but she knew how puppies were -- most of the time, they preferred to try something themselves before asking for help.

Clover tugged with all her might, and moved the heavy stick inch by grueling inch. But Clover saw great progress, and her tail waved wildly about. She did not spot Raven as she attempted to bring the stick indoors, but the thing was so wide it simply would not happen. No matter how hard she tugged, she'd drop it once it hit the edges of the den. New tactic. Clover sprang outside and turned around, trying to pick it up and push it in rather than tug. This was an altogether fail, and she fell right onto her rump. 

She looked right, and then left—she spotted Raven, and her hope was restored. Hi!!! She rose to all fours and spun around the inky medic, grinning. Then she dashed toward the stick and placed a paw on it. Ou'! Ou'!!! Ou'-fuh!! She was using the word wrong; she had meant to say in, but definitions were still something she was coming to learn. Her 't's were also 'f's at present, but she was doing her best.

Raven watched the girl struggle, admiring how she persisted even though it was totally hopeless. That was one thing that could be credited to Blackthorns and Redhawks alike: they were both stubborn as hell. When the girl finally fell back onto her rump after unsuccessfully attempting to push the stick into the den, she couldn't help laughing. The kid was just so darned cute. When Clover looked at her and greeted her brightly, immediately following with what Raven understood to be a request for help, the medic was happy to oblige.

Scooting forward on her belly, she turned the stick sideways so that it was no longer perpendicular to the mouth of the den. She'd noticed that each time the girl tried to take it inside, each end of it got stuck on the sides of the den's entrance. So by turning it sideways, it could be pulled into the den lengthwise. "Okay," Raven said, directing the pup's attention back to the stick. "Now try again. I'll help!"

Clover was awe-struck by the others maneuvering of the stick. Now it was half-in, half-out, and Clover stared worshipfully at Raven. When she asked for Clover to try again, she did so... but she was nowhere near strong enough to tug things sideways yet, nor did she have the graceful mobility. Her disproportionate body made her into a weeble that wobbled and fell; she stumbled, rolled over onto her side, and huffed. But she was not deterred! 

She kept tugging. Her mother sneakily tugged, too, until the stick was in the den. She bolted out and beneath Raven's legs, hollering triumphantly.

The girl was quick on the uptake and set to the task immediately, but she still wasn't strong enough. But with a little covert help from Aunt Flea -- Clover none the wiser -- the gigantic stick was successfully moved into the den and the girl raced back outside, hooting and hollering excitedly. With a few murmured comments about crazy kids and new wooden furniture exchanged between her and Finley, Raven was back outside and loping toward Clover. Hopping toward the girl, she playfully (and very gently) nipped the child's tail and bounced away, inviting her into a tussling match.

In the few moments Raven was gone, Clover had found herself a butterfly. She attempted to capture it, but was thwarted by a distracting Raven. She soon forgot all about it, though, when Raven invited her to a tussling match—Clover liked to think of herself as pretty good at those. Throwing caution to the wind, Clover turned, bowed her head, and charged as she attempted to headbutt the inky Raven.

Most puppies just couldn't resist the challenge of a good tussle, and Clover was no different. Raven hopped backward a few times in the face of Clover's charge, before giving in and allowing herself to be toppled by the youngster. She rolled over onto her back, laughing, as the girl drove into her with her rock-hard head. Not to be outdone (for she knew all of the girl's ticklish spots), she vigorously tickled the child in licks and nuzzles and nose-boops.

CLOVER AF 

Victory was hers! 

Briefly, anyway. 

But it was her first recorded victory that she could recall, and Clover wanted more of it. Still, said victory ended promptly enough; Raven had the advantage and fell in on Clover with a malicious energy that Clover could hardly stand, given the fact it meant that she was losing. Oh god, the tickles provided were the stuff of nightmares! She laughed and laughed, hardly able to breathe—and then it wasn't quite so funny when she felt like she was going to vomit, she laughed so hard. Her laughs became short little shrieks—cut it out!!!—but they were laughs nonetheless, as it did feel funny, but painfully so.[/ooc]

LMFAO I LOVE DANE COOK

While she thoroughly enjoyed making Clover laugh herself half to death, Raven was careful not to overdo it too much. Being tickled wasn't fun if it was taken too far, so when the girl's laughter began to turn to shrieks and she flailed and fought back, Raven eased up. She sat back, the child between her two forelegs, and grinned at her, black tail brushing the leaf-strewn earth behind her. "You are too stinkin' cute," she said to the wild little kid. "Whatcha want to do now, Clo'?"

By the time Raven was finished with her tickling, Clover loosed a yawn. She was quite tired from all her energy expended, and when Raven asked what she next wished to do the young girl moved right in between her forelegs, circled one hundred times, and plopped herself down. Her muzzle rest on her forelegs as her eyelids began to droop.

It wasn't surprising that the girl was tired, because they'd been playing pretty hard for some time now. When Clover curled up between her forearms, Raven smiled (feeling her heart freakin' melt for about the billionth time now) and gently kissed the crown of her head. There was something so special that Raven treasured about being trusted so completely by this tiny child that she felt safe sleeping in the medic's care. Sighing softly, she listened to Clover's soft breathing and kept watch over her while she dreamed.