Bearclaw Valley Fantastic Mr.Fox
Jalapeño
470 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#1
Private 
@Xan

Due to unlucky trip, tumble and fall and ignoring the pain in her foot for the next three days by over-exercising it to the brink, Nunataq was finally forced to stop, when she woke one morning being hardly able to walk at all. The guilty fore-foot was swollen at the metacarpal joint, making it difficult to move around without whimpering and sharp pain shooting up her limb. Therefore for one whole day in Nunataq's adventurous life she was confined to the rendezvous site and was forced to be calm.

To say that it was easy was an understatement, because her mind was going on the usual 100 miles per hour speed, generating ideas by a mass, thus making lying still and doing nothing a true strain. She tried to remedy this by forcing herself to sleep, but even then she would dream about all kinds of stuff she just had to do today, start flailing her legs and be awoken by pain. She fidgetted on the spot, shifted positions, groaned and sighed resignedly and just could not get comfortable.

Eventually she unleashed her frustration on a piece of a stick that was lying around, chewing it with a vicious energy and looking longingly out to the wilds that were unreachable for her today.
Kunujâk
970 Posts
Ooc — Kuro
Offline
#2
Whilst it was often either the borders or the forest that held his attention, Alexander found himself venturing towards the rendezvous that day. When the children were younger, he’d frequented it more often but, now that they were big enough to move all throughout the territory, he spent less and less time there. But he still checked it out every now and again, as he did most reaches of his land, needing to assess and confirm with himself that all was as well as it could be. It was meant to be quick, a glance tossed here and there, yet he realised immediately that he was not alone—which was a curious thing.

The sight of his daughter made his heart jump, her appearance something that would always haunt him; he did not resent his child nor wish her any harm, but a large part of him did wish that she might start to resemble someone else as time went on. Nevertheless, he pushed away from his thoughts and redirected himself so that he was approaching her instead, asking, “What are you doing laying around here?” as he closed the space between them.
I can give it all to you, will you take it all from me
If love is a joke, then use me ruthlessly
Threads are titled after lyrics from Block B's “Toy”
Jalapeño
470 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#3
Unlike her brother Marten, when it came to relationships Nunataq was quite self-sufficient. She enjoyed company of the other puppies, she felt sincere affection towards Indra, who had always time to engage in all and every mischief the puppy was up to. She felt an utmost respect towards Laurel, who could discipline the rambunctious kid like no one else could, and she was happy to see her father, whenever he happened to be around. Whether she considered him as such - is a mystery, because Nuna treated all familiar people more or less with equal friendliness.

She stopped the process of destruction the moment she heard Xan talking to her. Did not get up to go and greet him, rather waited for him to come and met him with a wagging tail and busy clearing and spitting out all the small scraps of wood that were left in her mouth. She pushed herself to a sitting position and with a head leaned back sniffed eagerly at his muzzle in hopes that he had brought some food.
Kunujâk
970 Posts
Ooc — Kuro
Offline
#4
The girl did not rush over to greet him, leaving Xan to go to her; he was still getting used to the idea of having children—that there were pieces of him running around. There were many things that he might never understand or even think to  try and understand but, as his daughter’s breath fanned out over his muzzle, instincts seemed to kick in and encouraged the pieces of the puzzle to click into place:  she was hungry. Too bad, the albino had not brought anything along to offer to her, and he just wasn’t a fan of the whole regurgitation thing; that which he ate he felt should remain within his own body. But there were other options to satisfy the child’s hunger, and one in particular that he was far more keen on the idea of.

“I don’t have anything,” he admitted, bumping his nose against her muzzle in a somewhat apologetic manner. “But we can find something, if you’re interested in that.” Honestly, he had no idea how early was too early to encourage the further development of a whelp’s prey drive—but he assumed now was as good a time as any, either way.
I can give it all to you, will you take it all from me
If love is a joke, then use me ruthlessly
Threads are titled after lyrics from Block B's “Toy”
Jalapeño
470 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#5
No food - Nuna's ears fell back and she sighed, feeling slightly disappointed. With one bad foot out of four and a limited ability to entertain herself, a meal would have been nice.

But, wait, what was he saying now? Her ears perked up and her eyes scanned her father's face, while he spoke, all the while her tail was tapping against the ground in a fast pace. All her features expressed keen interest and a "I am listening, I am listening" mood.

He finished speaking with a tone that went up and she had learned that this either meant a question or a suggestion. "Wruff! she barked at him and momentarily having forgotten that her foot hurt very much she sprang to her feet, only to yelp, when the painful reminder ran throughout her body, and fall back to her bum. She leaned down to lick the hurt limb and then looked up at her father in an apologetic manner.
Kunujâk
970 Posts
Ooc — Kuro
Offline
#6
She seemed interested in his offer and he prepared to lead her away, only to stop mere seconds later. In an instant, his hackles were raised and his body was rigid, gaze scanning their surroundings before falling onto his daughter. He relaxed as soon as he saw that she was not under attack, though the relief in his expression was short lived as worry engulfed him. He closed the space between them, head low and nose twitching whilst he inspected his eldest. “What happened?” he asked but neither waited for nor expected a response. Rather, he continued to look her over, ensuring she was otherwise fine, before redirecting his attention towards her presumably injured limb. The look he was given went unnoticed—his attention was on her injury—but, had he seen it, he would have assured her that she had nothing to feel sorry for.

Acting as if he had some sort of medical experience (he didn’t), Alexander motioned for the girl to raise her limb so that he could take a better look at it. All the while, in the back of his head, he wondered if he should call for someone a bit more qualified.
I can give it all to you, will you take it all from me
If love is a joke, then use me ruthlessly
Threads are titled after lyrics from Block B's “Toy”
Jalapeño
470 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#7
Nuna sat obediently, while her father examined her limb, though at those moments, when his muzzle touched her aching foot, she would lean forward and gently grabbed hold of his muzzle and let it go immediately. A kind reminder and warning to be careful. She did not mind him looking, but she somehow felt she should tell him that the foot was still hers and so was the pain.

When her limit of patience and being very still had gone out, she flopped on her belly, splayed her hind legs behind her (thus lying now like a frog) and with a wagging tail looked cheerfully up at her father, as if asking, what were they going to do now.
Kunujâk
970 Posts
Ooc — Kuro
Offline
#8
Had it been any other wolf to grab him so casually, he’d have lunged for them immediately. But since it was his daughter—his own flesh and blood—he merely shot her a look, reminding her of his role both as the head of the pack and as her father. It didn’t last long, however, and he was right back to looking at her injured limb; he knew something was wrong, that much was obvious, but Xan was far from being a medic. The specifics of her injury were lost on him—he did not know how to help her, nor was he too sure, anymore, of who could be called in order to help.

So he stayed silent.

Alexander, much like his child, gradually lowered his body until he was laying opposite to her. No longer did he intend on taking her out to hunt, nor were there any other plans on the horizon. He was content to just lay there with her and keep an eye out whilst her limb was given time to heal up. And this he further clarified as he flopped over onto his side, body relaxed and eyes on Nunataq.
I can give it all to you, will you take it all from me
If love is a joke, then use me ruthlessly
Threads are titled after lyrics from Block B's “Toy”
Jalapeño
470 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#9
When Xan warned her in return, Nunataq drew here ears back and averted her gaze, even though her expression spoke of slight defiance. She had no problems with obeying Indra (quickly) and Laurel (immediately, no questions asked), when she was reprimanded for something she had done wrong. But her father was not around so often, there was less familiarity and therefore a bit of a difficulty on the girl's part to understand that he too was an adult that she had to respect and obey.

However, things were soon back to normal, when Xan mirrored her own position on the ground. This made a grin appear in her lips and the speed of the wagging tail increased. She slid closer and in a mock-assault tried to grab one of his outstretched paws.
Kunujâk
970 Posts
Ooc — Kuro
Offline
#10
Alexander’s reflex was to yank his paw back the moment he realised what she was doing, having never been the most familiar with the concept of play. Slowly, though, it dawned on him that he should perhaps partake in something like that, especially when it was with one of his children. Thus, it was with only a slight amount of hesitance that he reached his paw back out and waved it towards Nuna, aiming to gently knock it against her.
I can give it all to you, will you take it all from me
If love is a joke, then use me ruthlessly
Threads are titled after lyrics from Block B's “Toy”
Jalapeño
470 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#11
Nunataq's father was not as experienced in play-fighting as Indra or other puppies of the group were. She could feel his initial awkardness, which made her feel a little hesitant as well. Not because she feared him, but in her eyes he had always been that big, tough important wolf, who you were allowed to admire from afar, but who stood above everything childish and remotely fun. Just like Laurel, who she respected with the "no-questions-asked" attitude, except, while she knew exactly, where she stood with her aunt, father was a mystery.

Therefore she gently nipped, where Xan's paw touched her body, then got to her feet and hobbled away, looking for something and finding it in a form of a piece of long and gnarled root. This she picked up and brought back to him, throwing it right in front of his feet and flopping on her belly not far from it. She picked up one end and with a hopeful gaze and wagging tail looked up at her father, offering him a different kind of game to play.
Kunujâk
970 Posts
Ooc — Kuro
Offline
#12
After the nip was delivered and she moved away, he half expected the child to flee. When she came back, however, his brows furrowed in confusion at what was brought along with her. “What...?” was all he managed to get out before the pieces clicked together and he shut his mouth.

She wanted to play.

With a little less hesitance than before, Alexander took hold of the other end and gave it a gentle tug. He couldn’t remember having ever played this game—or anything similar—before but, surprisingly, he was eager to learn.
I can give it all to you, will you take it all from me
If love is a joke, then use me ruthlessly
Threads are titled after lyrics from Block B's “Toy”
Jalapeño
470 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#13
From Xan's hesitation Nunataq made the simple and correct conclusion that he was not accustomed to playing games of any kind. And the knowledge that there was something that she was truly better at in comparison to her father, gave her smugness and confidence.

She wagged her tail faster and shot her old man a look of approval, when he got the hang of, what was expected from him. Then - still lying down and with a resonating set of growls coming from her, she gave a stronger and more eager tug in return.
Kunujâk
970 Posts
Ooc — Kuro
Offline
#14
Along with learning to play, Alexander was also still learning how to be a parent. He didn’t quite know how it worked, even now, and so he didn’t know what he was supposed to do—how he was supposed to let the child win, how he was supposed to boost her confidence instead of tearing it down. He did not know these things, as no one had ever taught him, either in his youth or adulthood.

And so, he yanked back on the stick—

—and he yanked hard.
I can give it all to you, will you take it all from me
If love is a joke, then use me ruthlessly
Threads are titled after lyrics from Block B's “Toy”
Jalapeño
470 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#15
Luckily for Xan - even with his lack of experience with kids - Nunataq did not lack confidence (no need to boost that) and she certainly did not mind playing rough. If her father had spent more time with his daughter, he would have realized that she enjoyed roughhousing and had to be the one to tone down a hitch or two, when the other party began to protest.

He was a strong man, but Nuna had not been nicknamed "crocodile" for nothing. She kept her grasp around the toy, but let her body relax. Therefore - instead of taking the toy away - the man had pulled it towards himself with a heavy puppy in tow.
Kunujâk
970 Posts
Ooc — Kuro
Offline
#16
The object of their play did not snap back to him. Instead, a puppy was brought along with it. Xan let out a low, playful growl in response to this, and promptly stood up to yank her back some more; he didn’t intend to hurt his daughter in any way, he just saw her grip ad a challenge and he planned to compete against it. Like a puppy just discovering a tug rope, he yanked and yanked and yanked some more.
I can give it all to you, will you take it all from me
If love is a joke, then use me ruthlessly
Threads are titled after lyrics from Block B's “Toy”
Jalapeño
470 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#17
Xan did not seem to be deterred by the added weight of the toy at all. He yanked it upwards and thus lifted Nuna's upper body off the ground, while the hind legs were planted firmly on the ground. She kicked against it and tried to drag the toy back down. This did not go as planned though, because few seconds later she accidentally landed on the injured paw. A piercing pain ran through her body, she yelped and let go of the toy. Whimpering, she gave the paw some licks and then retreated from her father. For the time being she had no mood for playing.

Thank you! Last one from me!