approaching about 3 months of age, sunrise would love to meet a new face!
like the sun shining through the silent drops of rain, the mysterious fox wedding takes place in the eyes of sunrise. there is a shift, the development of pale light begins to take over the spots where blue once remained dominant. she grows into her body with each passing day, though is still shy of her true growth spurt. none the less, the mountain pebble will sone become a stone, perhaps even a rock. one day, she could only hope to become the behemoth that her father is.
here at the rendezvous site, Sunrise has taken note of a hopping toad, croaking about in a distressed manner as she attempts to catch it (and perhaps puncture its expanding throat with a tooth or two). with luck and enough planning, the toad remains just one step ahead of the child, escaping death here and there as it zigzags and catches Sunrise off guard.
through all of the croaking and displacement of the dirt, a childish giggle roars over the rest of the noise.
The young shadow peers at the scene unfolding.
A toad races to escape the clutches of his den-sister. Hop after hop, it painstakingly eludes her. She seems amused by the chaos.
Carried on spindly black legs, he pads along after her with a soft woof. He waits for one of them to tire in favor of a stealthier approach.
the curious croaks of the mudslinging amphibian is broken by a softer noise. sunrise comes to see that another child comes before her, cloaked in a ominous shadow that seemingly drinks up her light growing eyes. the toad sees a chance and comes to hop away, though sunrise seems content to let him go.
she comes to offer her own friendly yap to him, throwing herself into a play bow to see if he would be more entertaining and perhaps easier to catch.
He stops and tilts his head. The toad is granted a moment of mercy, however Mulherin intends to make good on the chase.
Sunrise's bow elicits a wag of his tail. The boy drops into a quick bow of his own, before rushing forward to nip at her side as he passes, taking pursuit of the toad. Surprised, the creature lags for a second, then flees in hops and zigzags with a newfound burst of speed.
Let's get him!
cameo!
New Snow rests at the rendezvous, the heat of the day making her feel rather lazy. Come the evening she would rise to patrol, but for now she lets her energy build. She is dozing when the cubs begin to play, and one golden eye opens to watch for a moment.
And then it closes as she seeks to take her siesta, though one ear twitches in a sign that she is listening in the event trouble arises.
her shadow moves quickly! now sunrise comes to watch as he blows past towards the toad with a newfound excitement. yapping about, the girl follows to find a path on catching the creature together. while her strategy is lacking at best, there is at least the attempt to try that counts.
mother lays back sleepily and perhaps always managing her tabs on her children.
instead of thinking to cut it off, sunrise only can follow the strange path of the amphibian, though seeing to no avail that just running after it isn't the best plan. a changing gold eye would come to peak over and see if her counterpart could craft a plan to cut off the toad, but until then, sunrise would do her best not to accidentally veer into mulherin on their pursuit.
His older brother bravado made him think he’d have no trouble catching the toad for Sunrise.
However, he was wrong. There would be a fair bit of trouble.
Sunrise rejoined the chase and pursued alongside him. The pair of them raced after it, occasionally bumping against one another in their exhilarating mad dash.
After a minute or two, he decided it was time for a last ditch effort.
He recklessly dove after the toad, his jaws clacked on thin air and he went sprawling into the ground. The toad, caught up and crushed by his body, was knocked off course.
In this split moment, it was up to Sunrise to catch it.
rolled for success in discord: fail!
her shadow dives after but falls short, and now sunrise must see the opening and make both of the children proud of their efforts by catching this creature! she would spring after it, thinking that she's covering ground quickly as her lofty paws come in a clunky gait after the toad. but right as she was ready to press her pad against the toad's back before it could hop away, her back legs grow tangled on each other.
one toe snags on her achilles and suddenly she somersaults forward, rolling on top of the toad and eventually flattening out in the dirt and grass beneath her. victorious that he survived the steamroller, the toad continues to hop in a different direction, croaking defiantly. and through all the dust that comes to settle, a huff could be heard that could unfold into a cry at any moment as sunrise sits up and looks at the small droplets of blood on her knee -- her first meeting with the sensation of pain.
Regaining his footing, he prepared to assist in taking down their prey.
Unfortunately, upon reassessment, he found that both of them were unsuccessful in catching it.
Sunrise’s tumble was more brash. By the look of discomfort on her face, he innately senses something is wrong. He looks to her with head tilted in concern, awaiting her reaction.
The frog, victorious, hops away.
New Snow watches her daughter and the son that she had taken on, rising and picking her way toward them after the tumble. She does not coddle the wild girl, only sniffs at the blood and cleans it gently.
She then takes steps toward the older of the two, prompting her with a chuff to come next to them both. Partly to see the girl move and be sure all was well, and also to distract. New Snow provides the boy with a gentle nosing intended to be comforting.
there was a point where sunrise felt like crying as she felt mother's tongue come to lap up the blood and kiss it all away. but the girl does her best to sniffle away the tears as the shadow comes to join her and mother, and she solemnly looks down at her banged up leg for only a moment.
with the hopes to look tough after surviving a nasty tumble, sunrise comes to slowly stand and wince just a tad as she straightens her leg and puts pressure on it. when the stinging stops, the girl seemingly unclenches her jaw and takes a breath. and perhaps even out of jest, she does a few taps of her paw against the dirt, just to make sure everything is in order.
relieved that no amputation was needed, sunrise comes towards the others. a nuzzle against mother's chin as a thank you, and a brush of her nose against mulherin's shoulder, as if to apologize for her lack of hunting tenacity.
As an avid menace to local critters, he’s had a wealth of failed chases; this was a drop in the bucket. He had no qualms with letting the frog go—for now, that is.
He shook the dust from his fur and embraced the gesture by New Snow. Sorely, Sunrise recovers from the fall and noses him apologetically. Reaching down, he sniffs at her leg.
He offers a sympathetic whine. It’s okay. We’ll get him another day.
Then, an idea crosses his mind. The boy briefly disappears into the brush before returning with a well sized stick. He saunters back and drops it at Sunrise’s feet, tail swaying. A gift, a distraction.
skippable again since all is well!
A proud rumble comes from her throat as her daughter tests and realizes that she is alright. An amused sparkle was in her own eye, though not at the girls expense. New Snow faux limped a few steps and let out a
whuff as she placed her own paw against the earth.
To get hurt was a normal thing, not always fatal—it would happen sooner or later, and it was best now her daughter understand and though it hurt it need not be feared. The boy, too, would see it before he darted away. New Snow moved back to where she had been in the first place, sliding to lay on her stomach and resting her muzzle on a foreleg. This heat was miserable, and the best thing to do was wait it out—but she would hunt this evening, she idly decided.
New Snow lifted her head as the boy returned with a stick, moving to nibble at the dirt between her paw pads with eyes that smiled.
a small flutter of the heart at the boy's kindness, looking over to see that mother has gone back to her perch to rest and watch from her comfortable spot.
and when the stick comes before her, the shadow's plan works. she grows quickly distracted and now comes to grab ahold of the stick as her tail dusts the ground beneath her.
with her mighty stick, meticulously held at one end in order to leave the other open for grabs, sunrise comes to gently press it against mulherin's shoulder before skirting around with hops and bows and a zealous energy that shows no memory of pain or blood.
whether he came to grab ahold of her stick or simply join in her company, sunrise would remain content.
He lets her have the stick. She nudges him with it and romps away—however, there was more fun to be had in a game of tug-of-war.
His paws are a dark blur as he rushes after her. The youth takes ahold of the free-end of the stick. Though, does not pull it away, instead clinging on and allowing Sunrise to make the first move; a test to see if she was truly well enough to play.
And to his surprise, she has more than enough energy to challenge him. For the while, they chase and play—all under the watchful eye of New Snow.
In the back of his mind, he vows to catch that frog once and for all.