Heron Lake Plateau nous sommes l'emeraude
138 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#1
All Welcome 
She felt bold today, the great outside pulling at her much in the way her siblings pulled and gnawed at whatever they could sink tiny fangs into. Phoebe's world had continued to expand, sometimes abruptly from day to day. While the passage of time was not marked by any sense of memory, she had begun to associate times with actions, and recalled the majority of frequent flyers to their humble abode.

An adobe which she was keen on escaping. It was the tittering of birds outside that coaxed her to the denmouth but not quite beyond—she hesitated there, as if crossing over that threshold would suddenly have her plucked back to its recessed darkness and dank, where color was muted and confines decidedly becoming more cramped. Not that she minded the close promixity.

No, from here she could take much of what her microcosm of a world offered: swaying stalks of weeds and grasses far taller than she, the towering trees that lent their shade from a sun warm and lulling, and of course, the birds she could not quite see on high singing. She yipped into that world, short and sharp and full of questions.
612 Posts
Ooc — Jennifer
Offline
#2
He was trotting back to the den with an oversized fish in his mouth.  What was it?  Who freaking knows.  Maybe it was an early salmon, or just some other weird fishy beast.  Didn't really matter other than it was edible, did it?  Either way, he'd put it on the shore of the river and kept fishing for another half hour or so to try to catch another before bringing it back to the den.  Even by then, his awesomely sensitive wolf nose was pretty sure that fish weren't exactly the greatest thing to leave sitting around or even go put in the cache -- it just wasn't gonna last that long, and would bring every scavenger and carrion-seeker in from miles around.  Maybe in winter it'd be fine, but definitely not right now.

So, he was coming home a bit early for his midday nap, but hey, whatever.  He'd get to see the kids and bug @Raven if she hadn't skedattled off and left the pup-watching to someone else.  As he approached the den, there was a little shadow poking her head out of the blackness!  How bold, but at least she wasn't scrambling off into the underbrush, thank goodness.  Quixote tried to make some sort of garbled whuffing noise around the fish in his mouth, tail wagging behind him as he came up towards the den.  

Regardless of whether she came over to see him or just chilled out at the entry, he sat the fish down near the entry, calling out, Got some lunch if you want some?  He was just kind of assuming Raven was there, because his attention had quickly shifted back to Phoebe, who he was going to try to nuzzle despite potential weird fishbreath.  And you're out here saying hi to the birds, aren't ya?  Wait, how long before the pups turned into little piranhas who'd annihilate whatever he brought home?  The fish was still pretty much inedible to them without help, right?
138 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#3
Something answered her, out there in the depths. A blurry figure slowly drew itself into her focus and things clicked—she knew this face. In an instant her uncertainties shifted towards a point of happiness; her tail waved encouragingly, bright eyes beaming as she made the attempt to figure out what exactly her father carried... at least until he had set it down. Her nose set to working away as he neared her and then spoke, but she cared not for what he passed on to her mother as she wove between his legs while he was still.

Phoebe popped up all on her own at the right time too, for his muzzle came swooping down to her in all its fishy glory for an exchange. She whined for lack of words as his nose brushed the top of her head, an eager greeting only incited by something new about his person: the fishy breath. Stillness was not her forte yet, she wriggled about to face him, tiny puppy teeth set to nip at his muzzle as though to suggest hey! what were you eating??
612 Posts
Ooc — Jennifer
Offline
#4
Wow ok I thought it had been a lot less time since your post, oops.  Sorry about that. >_>


Okay, maybe they were a little piranha-like already, as tiny teeth tried to grab his muzzle.  She was cute even if she was being a little bitey.  Quixote's attitude was certainly far different around his children -- hell, he might be considered almost normal with them around. His words were soft, and he definitely looked on them with adoration even if he felt like a useless lump a good chunk of the time when dealing with them.  Inexperience was a curse, but he did his best, and with Raven's guidance he was probably not doing a half bad job.

He was pretty sure that as it were, this would be a new food for Phoebe, so he was happy to indulge her curiosity, Yeah, I caught your mom a fish. -- I think I can give you a little of it, she won't mind.  C'mere, take a look!  He did his best to lead her along by her very curious nose to where he'd set the fish to give her a chance to take a look at it.  See, it's a fish!  He'd give her a moment to examine the smelly thing before he'd give her a piece to eat -- he was pretty sure she'd have a hard time doing much damage to it at her current size.  Give it another month and Phoebe would have likely been hanging off the fish's tail before he'd even set it down.
138 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#5
Her father's assumption would have been right—in another month, she would have indeed been hanging off of the fish tail with little consideration. Life had its difficulties as it was, and with three other contenders to all things good in the world, it came on instinct alone that she would have to be somewhat assertive in order to seize things. The tasty things, anyway. Quick steps followed Quixote's lead all the same however, and soon she was at the source of the very fishy, fishy fish.

Whatever vocalizing she had been doing ceased at once as she took to investigating it; her nose pressed against the slimy outer skin and scales from head to tail first, before her tongue made a cursory examination. It was enough to make her withdraw a step in confusion at the texture—it was a strange thing, not so fleshy as she had once thought however brief.

And her mom was going to eat this?

Her gaze flashed to dear old dad, once again questioning.

She could have tried to snatch it, but... an imploring whine would do. For now.
612 Posts
Ooc — Jennifer
Offline
#6
Fish were pretty weird, huh?  Then again, there were still probably a lot of things in the world that seemed unusual to his kids -- give it time and the world would become less of a mystery, but until then Quixote was going to enjoy watching every investigation and utterly befuddled look.  Okay, one moment -- I'll get you a bite.

He figured he probably should be careful with the fish -- make sure she only got the best cuts of meat, no bones, no scales both of which probably wouldn't agree very well with her tiny digestive system even though an adult could probably make the whole thing disappear.  He carefully ripped away a chunk of skin, then tore off a strip of the flesh, trying to be a little delicate when it came to portion size.  Satisfied, he offered Phoebe the small piece, curious to see what she thought.
138 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#7
Well, that was going a little unexpected. She hadn't planned on receiving a morsel of the fish, but she also wasn't about to turn it down either. Life was an experience and all that, though one she questioned even as he offered the piece to her. Her nose worked vigorously at the end of her snout—there was the slightest change of scents here—before she gave the fish a careful taste with her tongue.

It wasn't exactly a flavor explosion, but it wasn't all that bad.

She wolfed it down, fitting of her species. Better she eat it now before another curious body rousted and came over to snatch it away. It had nothing to do with whether or not they were all fed adequately because they were, but simply the best option available. Got something good? Better hide it or eat it quickly.

Her tail waved against the dusty floor as she beamed up at him once again.
612 Posts
Ooc — Jennifer
Offline
#8
So it went over reasonably well, at least.  Always a good sign, as that meant that he'd have another thing he could actually catch to provide to them as they got bigger.  Birds were still just not his thing.  We'll make sure that you get to try all sorts of things as you get bigger -- you'll find your favorite, I'm sure.  Then you get to learn to hunt it!  Which would certainly be kind of crazy.  It was weird to think of his still tiny little kids hunting stuff, but that time would arrive eventually.  Some day.  Hopefully not for a good long while so he could enjoy this all.

Want another piece?  But after this you'll have to ask your mom.  And assuming she responded affirmatively, he'd lean down and tear off another piece for her.  The fish wasn't that huge and he wanted to make sure that Raven ended up having some lunch before the little monsters attacked.
138 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#9
His words almost went in one ear and out the other as she waited as patiently as she could; her tail swung a wide arc across the dusty floor the moment he seemed to be willing to share another piece. Like before, she was apt to go scarfing it down but this time, instead of wanting to go about whining for more, she was satisfied. Of course it was also about that time her own siblings were likely to stir too—it wasn't like a puppy to be all that quiet over a little bit of food.

But hopefully, at least, her mother would get some of it. Maybe.

Only time would tell.

[small]i'm going to fade this out here just because it's kind of ancient in puppy time. :X[/small

word count: 113