The outside world was new and exciting to the pup, especially now that it looked like everything had been turned upside down. Perhaps it did not show to anyone observing him, for he looked timid and withdrawn, and did not display any of his enthusiasm for exploration, but the pup liked to see new things. He just preferred to see them from a safe distance, instead of having them thrown in his face. Things took time, and they took especially more time with Elwood Junior.
The pup was sitting just outside of the den, admiring the devastation that the tornado had left in its wake, when suddenly his vision was blocked. A giant leaf, carried along by the storms, viciously attacked the pup's face and wrapped itself around the pup's face, who let out a surprised "aaa!" and threw himself at the ground, after which he no longer screamed. The pup pawed at his face a couple of times, probably looking rather calm and collected from the outside, to any onlookers, as he always did. On the inside his emotions raged on, his heart pounding in his chest and his head a chaotic mess while he tried to deal with the situation.
He had spent the morning unearthing a cache buried by debris during the storm and working on adding extra carcasses to it. When he was satisfied with his work, Peregrine plucked out the latest kill and headed toward the Betas' den for a visit. He was just in time to catch Elwood Jr having an epic battle with a leaf. The Alpha approached slowly, limp hare dangling from his muzzle, to see whether boy or leaf would win.
While he waited, he lowered himself to his haunches and gnawed off one of the rabbit's forelegs, chewed on it a little bit to tenderize it, then set it aside. He would offer it to the pack's youngest member, once Elwood Jr vs. foliage came to a conclusion.
The pup remained on the ground, pawing at his face slowly, trying to peel off whatever had grabbed hold of his face. Eventually the pup gave up as per his typical style, falling limp, almost as though it was playing dead to try and get the monster off his face. It helped, even though playing dead had nothing to do with the leaf's eventual departure: a gust of wind grabbed hold of the edges of the leaf and as fast as it had grabbed hold of the pup's face, the leaf was gone.
The pup looked in the direction that the leaf had flown off to and considered going after it, but in the end it ended up standing around staring at it.
Until he noticed a familiar black wolf standing there. The pup waddled up to the black wolf and wriggled its little nose as it inhaled the wolf's scent to confirm that everything was good, before saying a timid, "huwwo."
When a gust of wind tore the leaf from the pup's face, Peregrine considered it a draw. He grinned as Elwood Jr noticed him, then began to waddle toward him. The pup had babbled a few things here and there during the Alpha's previous visits but this was the first time a distinct word came out of the babe's mouth, at least in his presence. Peregrine's brow rose slightly in surprised delight, then he bent down toward the littler wolf.
"Hey there, lil' Elwood. I brought you some food, if you want it," he offered, hitching out a paw to drag the tenderized rabbit leg into the space between them. "Smells good, doesn't it?"
The scent confirmed that this was indeed a wolf of the friendly sort -- the pup remembered this wolf, he visited more often. He had been here when they were in the caves, too, which meant he was a wolf of the pack, which in turn meant he was a good wolf. While the pup had suspected this from the way the black wolf looked, he liked the medium of scent better than that of sight: it was much more distinct in his experience so far, and he had always been able to rely on it, while sight was a newer sense.
Lil' Elwood looked with quiet interest upon the piece of meat he was presented. Just as Peregrine asked if it smelled good, lil' Elwood craned his little neck to smell it. It did smell good, and unlocked something within the pup. He did not touch it, however; lil' Elwood looked up at Peregrine first, waiting for permission that this was really his.
The puppy appeared to be interested, yet perhaps a little uncertain. "It's for you. Go on, eat it," the Alpha encouraged. He smiled down at the top of little Elwood's head, waiting for him to taste the tenderized rabbit leg. Damn, you're cute, lil' Elwood, he thought to himself. Even in his head, he refused to call the pup by his title. The word Junior just put an awful taste in his mouth and a wrench in his gut. He didn't want to associate the Blackthorns' only child with his daughter-gone-horribly-wrong in any capacity whatsoever.
So far lil' Elwood had mostly played with catches that were brought to him, but this was different. It smelled a little different, and had already been chewed on, too. Lil' Elwood sniffed it again while Peregrine told him he could eat it, and tilted his head. He stretched out one of his paws and put one paw on the meat, before finding himself curious what it would taste like. Without needing to give it much further thought, lil' Elwood stretched out his neck to take a bite.
The taste was much different than what he was used to. Lil' Elwood looked surprised, as though he had just tasted a juicy steak after a lifetime of being a vegetarian. He took two unbalanced steps towards the meat and picked off another piece. While he ate, he made a loud 'amnamnam' chewing sound.
The Alpha's brow furrowed at Elwood's continued hesitation. Most wolf pups began sampling meat at the tender age of two weeks. By now, he should be well on his way to being fully weaned. But then again, he had been slow to develop and grow. Maybe his parents had been sticking to a milk diet. Oh, Peregrine thought, eyes widening slightly as the pup finally took a bite. He hoped he wasn't about to choke. He also felt bad for possibly robbing Elwood and Finley of this experience, not that they would know if he didn't tell them...
"Do you like it?" he asked, chuckling lowly at the child's om nom nom noises.
Since he was so unresponsive, born early and late with seemingly everything, it had taken the pup fairly long to get to this stage -- every earlier attempt he had waved away, sniffing and sometimes suckling, and often playing with it in his own careful manner, but never yet eating the meat. This was a revelation to him. Even though instinct had brought him to eat it this time, lil' Elwood marvelled at the surprising yet fantastic discovery.
Lil' Elwood knew that 'you' indicated him, and he tilted his head up at Peregrine while he smacked his lips. His little tongue flicked in and out of his mouth rapidly, licking his lips instinctively. "Ikee," he shyly shared with Peregrine before he turned his head back to the meat and, after waiting for a second or two to make sure that it was okay that he was eating the meat again, took another bite.
"Good," came the Alpha's reply to the boy's babyish response. He smiled at him, then stretched out a broad paw to pat him on the head. "Eat up. It'll make you big and strong, so you can kick the leaf's as—butt next time." Peregrine made a sheepish heh noise. Did Elwood and Finley mind if he swore around their little boy? He would have to find out for sure.
While the pup continued to eat, Peregrine decided to carry on a miniature conversation. "Do you remember my name, lil' Elwood?" he queried, head tilting.
Lil' Elwood ate, not really understanding most of the words that Peregrine said anyway. He understood 'big' and 'strong', but was quite absorbed into his feast that he did not pay much attention to the exact words used.
When his name was mentioned, Lil' Elwood lifted his head up. He didn't understand the question fully, though. "Uhm," he insecurely mumbled. "Liddul Woo?" he babyishly mimicked his name, not understanding that by saying this, he was dubbing Peregrine to be 'lil' woo', thinking it was his own name he was asked for.
The Alpha's lips arced at the response. "That's a pretty rad nickname. But I think it's taken." He winked even as he slid forward to lay on his belly in front of the youngster. "My name's Peregrine. But you can call me Uncle P. How's that sound?" He snorted quietly, then reached out a paw to bat playfully at Elwood Jr.
Simultaneously, he felt a throb of pain in the entire left side of his face, concentrated around his eye socket. It felt like an invisible someone or other punched him in the face, giving him a black eye. Peregrine winced and groaned quietly, waiting for this strange but not unfamiliar pain to pass. What choice did he have?
Little Elwood wrinkled his nose comically and tilted his head as Peregrine spoke, not really sure about part of what was being said. His ears twitched on his head when Peregrine mentioned his own name - he knew that one.
"Pee," Little Elwood repeated after Uncle P. "Nunkie Pee!" With a little more enthusiasm and fervor this time. Little Elwood looked at Peregrine - Uncle P. - to see if he was saying it right, his little tail wiggling a few times in contained and careful excitement.
Normally, the youngster's childish shriek would have brought him unbridled delight. Right now, it sent a knife of pain through his skull. Luckily, it slowly ebbed, leaving him with a dull and persistent ache. He would just have to ignore it for now and seek out some herbs from Raven or someone else later. But, seriously, these inexplicable headaches were getting old...
"That's right," he replied to Elwood Jr, trying not to give any indication of his discomfort. "You're so smart, little Elwood the Remix. Do you want any more food?"
Something was amiss with Uncle P. Little Elwood wasn't sure what was wrong, but he felt tense suddenly as he looked at his uncle. Little Elwood decided not to say anything about it, and just stood there wiggling his little tail a little in an attempt to cheer up Peregrine, his butt swaying along a little in the process.
"Hahmmm..." Little Elwood considered when he was asked about food, and then he looked at what was left over of the food he had been brought. Little Elwood nodded vigorously and then took another bite, which was eaten with the same 'am nam nam' sounds as before.
Elwood Jr didn't have to try too hard. His every action and expression brought joy to the Alpha's heart. The headache was distracting and bothersome but the child's antics made him feel better, especially his ponderous hesitation before deciding he did, in fact, want to eat some more.
"Remember, the more you eat, the bigger and stronger you'll get," Peregrine said, winking his left eye, which hurt inexplicably. "On that note, I'm gonna go fetch some more meat for you for later. I'll be back in a bit." Not only would he make good on his word, he would also hit up one of the local medics for something to help with this godawful face-ache.
He brushed his nose over the top of Elwood Jr's head, inhaling his baby scent and then giving the pup's face a lick. The Alpha turned then, eager to do his duties as the pack's sole Master Gamekeeper, just as soon as he got this damn affliction under control.