Wolf RPG

Each day, they went a little farther and each day, he learned a little more about the world. There were a few times when his brothers had been taken for outings, jealousy having no footing in his emotional palette, only excited to terrorize them all upon their return. Whether or not he would become jealous in the future was yet unknown but today was his turn. How exciting.

His father had lured him out of the den not terribly long ago and was now putting up with the fact that Atuaserk was going back and forth from literally nipping (painfully, perhaps) at his heels, to racing ahead just out of the reach of correcting teeth. Here and there, he would stumble, but the pup would quickly pick himself up off the ground and keep moving, excited to just be out of the den and exploring.

Their eldest must have some significant portion of chihuahua in him. He was an ankle-bitter through and through. Nippy. Easily excitable... Okay. That's where the similarities ended. The kid was all wolf... but mostly those baby teeth that just stung. He had some hell of a herding instinct in him that would be great for hunting one day, but for now? The kid needed something else to chew.

Iqniq was looking for the perfect stick. A regular stick? Those were easy to come across. A good stick? Now that was something worth finding. Something long and substantial. Something without extra limbs and branches or too many poky things. He found something, it wasn't quite what he was looking for, but in the moment it would do. Iqniq picked up a branch about a half a foot long and the perfect width for a puppy's mouth. He tossed the stick up ahead of them on their adventure and looked to the eldest. "Ata. Fetch."

He was back at it again, nipping at a back paw as they traversed through the forest as if it were some sort of game. Perhaps it was to the young wolf, but his focus shifted as his father found a thing and tossed it away. Even before his father had told him to fetch, Ata was bounding away, diving into the bushes to look for the stick. Nose to the ground, the young beast set about looking for the one Atatak had tossed.

And he found it! But then he found a better one and latched his tiny teeth onto it to drag it back to where the red furred male stood waiting. This was a process, of course, since he had chosen a stick much bigger than the original one, as was evident when his butt came out of the bushes first. Setting his back feet into the ground, he yanked and pulled, oblivious to his father's presence until he backed into his leg.

Upon doing so, he looked up at the man and barked, tail thwapping his sides energetically as he let dear old dad look at the new 'stick' he had to throw.

And the pup was off! He sprinted across the ground and disappeared into a bush. Iqniq watched his wiggling puppy butt until Atuaserk re-emerged with a different stick. The pup back-peddled, fumbling over the ground as he dragged the larger stick along. Eventually, the pup bumped into his side. The father could only grin back as he shook his head lightly. Close. Not quite right, but close enough.

"Good!" he praised, giving his son an affectionate pat on the head with his paw. He took the larger stick back between his jaws and lobbed it again. It spun through the air and landed. Iqniq repeated himself. "Fetch!" Again. They'd master this technique soon enough and hopefully learn a word or two in the process.

Tiny teeth snapped at his father's paw, not enjoying the feeling. But he turned and barreled through the bushes anyhow to find the stick that had been thrown again. This time, he found and latched onto the very same one that had been thrown and proceeded to try and drag it back, highly entertained with this game that his father had introduced to him.

" 'ood! 'etch!" More mimicry, though he was still learning to make some particular sounds. The young boy wasn't sure of what he was saying just yet, and did not connect it to what they were doing. Repetition seemed to be the key with him though as he bounced around in front of his father, waiting for him to toss it again.

Atuaserk raced off. He bounded after the stick once more and Iqniq padded along behind him as he closed the distance between himself and his son. Ata didn't have to drag the stick nearly as far as he had the time before, but at least this time, he'd succeeded in bringing back the same stick, as opposed to something different.

"Good!" he repeated as they met up halfway."Very good." He gave the boy an affectionate lick before he seized the stick back once more. Iqniq lobbed it a fair distance and the game began again. "Get the stick, Ata. Get it." Having a child was almost like having a pet. Almost.

Their game continued for a while longer as they covered a bit of ground. Eventually, they both grew tired of the game and the stick was forgotten. He nudged at Ata's rump and prodded him along, propelling the child forward as they explored. Every now and then he'd deviate to point things out here and there. Tree. Pine cone. Leaf. They practiced at words and building up a simple vocabulary. He had no idea how much of it was sticking, but every little bit counted. Right?

The lack of more work on his part was lost to the boy. All he comprehended at the moment was their game and that his father was getting ready to throw it again. Indeed, every time the object was tossed, the boy rushed off to get it though eventually the time he took to come back took longer and longer as he began to explore. Atatak found him during one of these instances and prodded him along.

"'Eef!" He parroted back. "Picooo. Pico pico pico." His rump wiggled in the air, baby blues locked on a 'pico' before he galumphed towards the object to pounce on it. How was he to know that its tiny points were painful when jumped upon? "OWWW!" He screeched, scrambling to get away from it. Once there was distance between he and it, his little chest rumbled with a growl, posture stiff like he'd seen his parents do.

They explored the forest. This, that, and the other thing were pointed out as Iqniq guided his boy through the various places and spaces these woods had to offer. The boy echoed his words, forming the sounds upon his untrained tongue and vocals to the best of his ability. Ata tried, truly, but the father was amused by the makeshift names he came up with things.

He seemed super excited by the pinecone. Of all the things he'd pointed out, that one in particular was a hot ticket item. The boy bounded ahead, tackling the "pico" in such a way that Iqniq winced. He knew those were sharp around the edges. Ata'd discovered that the hard way and was now growling at it.

With a grin spread upon his lips, Iqniq approached the defensive boy, sniffed the pinecone, and gently picked the soft tip of it up between his teeth. The pinecone dangled beneath him as Iqniq demonstrated it was okay and mostly safe. Mostly... if handled with care. His eyes stole down to look at his son before he lobed the pinecone further away. It didn't thud, like everything else. This time, it landed with a "plop".

Father made eye contact with his son for just a moment, curiosity in his own eyes as he gave a "What was that?" sort of expression. They froze... and the second Ata moved to chase after it, Iqniq was right there with him.

Atatak slew the beast that had injured the boy, his bright blue eyes widening in admiration. He was so strong, even tossing the mean, evil Pico away as if he was banishing it. Ata yapped with his sudden enthusiasm, his father's image striking a chord in him. The sound made no difference to him, not yet recognizing that the plop meant the Pico had landed on a different surface than that of the ground.

Truthfully, it was not even the plop that spurned him ahead but the game of fetch, going forth to conquer the object as Iqniq had. The flowing body of the creek was invaded with a puppyish splash, four paws splayed as he looked around for the pico. When he did not see it above water, the boy shoved his head below the surface, wondering if it had disappeared there. Currents were yet an unknown thing to him and there was no conceptual thought that the evil object had been carried down the creek.

He couldn't know the reason why Atuaserk ran, only that he did and Iqniq was right there with him. The puppy splashed forward into the water, nose diving in his search for the "evil pico". Iqniq's father senses tingled as he instantly reached for the boy's scruff and pulled him out of the water to drag him back to the shore. This creek was significantly deeper than the little brook he'd first introduced the boys to. They couldn't splash around in this one. They'd need to swim and Iqniq wasn't sure that was something they were capable of yet.

Or were they?

He eyeballed Atuaserk who now sat on the shore and tried to decide whether or not he wanted to risk the potential drowning of his first born. Then again, if he was going to teach the kids to swim it was better done one on one as opposed to trying to rescue all four children simultaneously. Talk about a scenario where a parent was suddenly forced into playing favorites.

"No more Pico," Iqniq said with a quick shake of his head. "All gone." That particular game was over, but he had something new in mind. "Does Ata want to learn how to swim?" he asked. If it was too early for swimming, maybe they could try floating or some sort of other baby step towards swimming.

No Pico? His head tilted, confused. He knew the word 'no', and 'Pico', but... No Pico? His small, learning mind churned and attempted to understand. "No Pico??" He looked around, bright eyes searching for the object though they were fruitless in their efforts. This must have meant that it was... was... gown? "No Pico," He confirmed, looking up at Atatak. "Pico gown!" He was learning, slowly and steadily, though oddly enough he spoke the most when he was around his father.

The question posed gave him pause, ears perked curiously. "Siiiiim?" He asked, still looking at dear old dad. What was Sim?!

Atuaserk was safely back on shore. Moving the child didn't seem to phase him. He was significantly more fixated on the fact that his pinecone was officially gone now that Iqniq'd accidentally tossed it into a creek he hadn't realized was there. Gone. All gone. Swept away. Iqniq watched as the mental processes rolled through his mind as the child finally realized his toy wasn't coming back. "No more pinecone," he confirmed with a sad little frown and a shrug. "All gone." Maybe they'd find him another on the way back to the den.

It hadn't occurred to him that Ata didn't know what it meant to swim. Erm. How did one explain it without demonstrating? He thought about it for a second before he realized he might as well just show the kid. "It's like running in water," he said, "But since it's in water, it's called swimming." He gave his son a stern glance followed by a command. "Sit." Another one. "Stay." Good boy.

Iqniq moved into the shallows of the water and ventured until his shoulders were nearly submerged, but his feet were still touching. He let his paws tuck underneath him as he bobbed on the surface and began to paddle and swim. "See? Swimming." He drew himself out of the water and gave his fur coat a massive shake. "Wanna try?"

Pico was forgotten at the behest of his father, taking in the explanation about swimming. He knew what running was; it was like that? In water? The boy could identify singular words that triggered at least a slight understanding of what Atatak was trying to say. Remaining still as his father instructed, he watched curiously as the red male sunk into the water until only his head remained above water. It took mere moments for him to realize that his father was moving about in the water, in a different manner than when they'd been pouncing around in the stream near the den.

In no time at all, he was up on his feet, tail wagging furiously as Atatak asked him if he wanted to learn. "Yah!" And with that, he bounded closer, preparing to launch himself into the creek and... well, just start swimming.

Ata was attentive as Iqniq demonstrated. Without actually being in the water, it was difficult to tell what was actually going on. If there was someway Iqniq could have provided the opportunity for Ata to peek beneath the waves and see what was happening, that might have helped. As such, he could only hope the boy was paying more attention to what he was saying. Swimming wasn't too different of a motion than walking, but the weight of the water and the buoyancy of their lungs made the experience vastly different.

No sooner had he asked if Ata wanted to try than the boy was flying through the air and rushing into the waters that were too deep for puppies. Iqniq's eyes widened, warning flashing through his mind as he was afraid the boy would very nearly drown. He sprang through the waters to meet him and quickly positioned a forelimb beneath the boy's chest. With three paws on the ground and the fourth helping to keep Ata's head above the water, he had a moment to breathe his relief. Ata wasn't drowning. Good. Instead he was floating with a little assistance.

"Good. Good. Now kick a little. Like running, but flex your toes a bit to scoop up more water." Hopefully this description as to what he was supposed to do made sense. But really, as long as the boy was comfortable in the water without being able to touch, that was already a win.

The scare he gave his father went unnoticed in his immediate enjoyment of the water. His paws worked furiously from the get go, literally trying to run in the water as it had been explained to him. This didn't work too well and it was only due to the paw holding him afloat that he didn't slip below the water's surface. His momentum, or lack thereof, was paused for a moment, staring up at Iqniq as he explained.

A look of intense concentration came over him, brow furrowing as his tongue caught in his teeth for a moment, trying to figure out how to do what Atatak said. Little by little, the boy made progress and while he could not swim by himself by the time he got tired, he was definitely on his way to being quite the water-loving creature. Iqniq called it after awhile, but only after Ata demanded another visit sometime soon. He wanted to learn to sim!!!

Fade thread.