Curiosity brought Dragomir closer to the thundering falls each day, but he never got close enough for there to be any danger. He would venture near enough that the spray from it would tickle his whiskers. Sometimes he would dare a few steps nearer than that. But never close enough to the water's edge that there was any risk of falling in. It was too loud, you see, and the heavy mist surrounding it stung his young eyes, not to mention the sense of foreboding that delving into it gave him. Curiosity alone could not overcome that.
Today he was far enough that he could see the spray rising up around the waterfall's base like a fog. He lay near the bank of the rapids that coursed down into the lake below, mindful of his proximity to the swift water. He was sunning himself on a flat rock with his head tilted back and face up toward the sky, or at least that's what it looked like. In truth, he was attentively admiring the vibrant pink plumage of a male pine grosbeak sitting in a nearby conifer and wondering just how one would catch a bird.
Hi, bird,
he told it, for surely being kind was the way to lure it closer to him.
she caught one of the adults in the act of marking the border (from afar, practising her sneaking, of course) and had decided the task looked important and very adult-like. she wanted to replicate it, and yet was still somewhat leery of the borders. and so her wanderings brought her near the falls and hard on the trail of her brother, who she found peering upward at something with great interest. naturally, she followed his gaze and saw at the end of it the pretty grosbeak. "how bite it?" she wondered allowed, for the first time curious if wolves were allowed in trees. she doesn't like birds much - their feathers get caught in her teeth and she's liable to get them stuck in her throat - but she's fixated on biting something to death and therefore being a proper adult.
The bird began to preen its wings, utterly oblivious to the mauve wolf cub watching it from the ground. Meanwhile, Dragomir's ears began to quiver with the intensity of his focus on it. Every muscle seemed to leap to attention with every bob of its head, as if he feared that it would wing away at any moment. Which it very well could do. But it was safe up in its tree from both the prying curiosity and sharp sting of puppy teeth and it paid him no mind.
Nor did it pay Isilmë any mind when she arrived, asking
how bite it? and earning her brother's attention. He didn't often get to spend time with just Isi. Certainly not since Vercingetorix had visited and then
(presumably) left them again. Dragomir wondered how she felt about that, but for the time being, the bird was more important.
I'unno,
he answered back in Trig with a pensive swish of a tail that was gaining considerable fluff as he aged.
Maybe bark at it?
And to illustrate the point, he yipped shrilly.
well, he didn't seem all that helpful. she watched the bird carefully as he yipped, yet it yielded no reaction. disappointed, she admitted, "too away." attempting to lure the bird closer came to mind, but it seemed to be ignoring the pair, which she considered very rude. she huffed her dissatisfaction, but peered at him owlishly when another thought came to mind. "Dago, watch." she licked her lips, nervous despite the knowledge that she was bigger and better than squirrels. she could climb a tree too, she reasoned, and so began a nervous run towards its base. she found herself next on her back, face screwed up with shame and hurt, and the lower branches of the tree swaying with her short-lived impact.
Too away. Dragomir had to agree. The bird didn't even budge at the sound of his voice. He didn't want to be perturbed by that, but for the first time in his life, he was being ignored. The feeling didn't sit well with him; it made him frown deeper and feel strangely disgruntled. Luckily Isilmë was there to distract him with her own ideas on how to catch birds from trees.
True to Isi's nature, her plan involved action. Dragomir was more of a thinker when it came to challenges, more wont to piece together a plan bit by bit, but his sister always met everything head-on. She did not disappoint here either. He watched, just as she asked him to, as she tried (and failed) to get a running start up into the boughs. He winced when she landed on her back and was quick to bound toward her with a concerned cry of, Isi!
and a wriggling nose, a tongue ready to soothe her hurts.
The bird, meanwhile, took notice of them; but it knew it was safe from the likes of them, so though it was more watchful now, it did not flee.
she let out a whine, but furrowed her brow and determined not to cry. "stupid!" she cried. stupid tree, stupid bird, stupid isi. but she couldn't remain down for long, returning her brother's sympathy with a messy kiss on his cheek. scrabbling to her paws and glancing once up at the bird, she sat on her rump only to lurch back to all fours again.
"wanna go fin' som'th t' bite?" she thought the offer sounded extra good, especially since she was suddenly feeling more bitey than usual, but was aware that she didn't know if Dago harboured the same love for biting as she did.
Dragomir flinched as Isi's voice rose into a frustrated shout, but he said nothing. He wasn't normally so emotionally illiterate, but in this instance he wasn't sure what to do or say to make her feel better. She had done it to herself. Trees couldn't reach out and knock wolves down, as funny as that imagery was to the Eintlein. He watched his sister play through her emotions with frantic actions, only to offer her own suggestion on what they could do.
On the subject of biting, they were in agreement. Biting always made things better. Dragomir was a thinker and a planner, but he was also a wolf cub with a propensity for sinking his teeth into things. With a small grin to show off his little canines, Dragomir nodded and said, Okay. What about a log?
There had to be hundreds of logs in the forest around the river and lake. Surely they could find a suitable one.
He wished they could bite the bird, but... alas, it would evade them this day. With one last look at the gorgeously coloured creature, Dragomir followed his sister back toward the heart of the pack in search of something worth biting.