Wolf RPG

ember had meandered a bit.

not too much, she thought. still kept the vale in her sights; still remained at a low elevation; still still still—

but she knew in her heart that she'd been naughty.

with a bit of sheepishness, she crossed the border again, nose twitching at the collection of scents there. 

some she knew well—her father! and the scarred man!

some she did not.

the girl noted the dandelions growing at the edge of the valley and began to snuffle around in them, rolling onto her back as if she'd not a care in the world;

but she did. she did care, actually. 

she'd been naughty.

Sylianos emerged from a nearby stand of trees, licking his chops with exaggerated swipes of his tongue and swaggering like he had just won first prize at the county fair. Several honey bees followed in his wake, buzzing angrily. The hive had already fallen to the ground and been largely abandoned when he found it. Only a few sentries remained, and of those, only one had been aggressive enough to sting, leaving a puffy welt forming below the boy's right eye.

Worth it. Honey was one of the best things he had ever tasted.

Finally focusing on something other than the sweet syrupy goodness lingering on his lips, Sylianos looked up and spotted a slender wisp of a dark grey puppy rolling in the weeds. Of course he was aware of other puppies in the pack, but that family had never interested him or been remotely part of his life, so he had never bothered getting to know their pups. Something drew him to investigate today, though, with his lofty gait and his tail waving high.

Hey! I saw that! he called, hoping to trick her into thinking he had witnessed something other than her carefree rolling.

Saleem stalked his brother. He knew the game would not last long, since they were attuned to one another so well, but the thrill was still worth it. He watched as his brother raided the beehive, then watched him turn his attention to something else that Saleem could not see. He craned his neck, searching for whoever (or whatever) his mirror was talking to, but he could see nothing from this angle. Not only that, but the smell of whatever Sylianos was eating was too good to pass up.

Abandoning his stealth plan, Saleem burst from his hiding spot. But when he saw his twin's face, he took a horrified jump back. What did you do to your FACE?! The honey and whatever Sylianos had been talking to were pushed aside for this much more important topic.

Oh! Sylianos must have actually caught Ember in the middle of something, for she took one look at him, hopped to her feet, and scurried away. Silly watched her go with a baffled expression that soon morphed into a grin, his right eye crinkling uncomfortably when his puffy cheek lifted upward. Feeling rather proud of his success, the Galanis turned with a wagging tail just in time for his brother to make an appearance.

Saleem's shout startled him at first, but then he broke out in raucous laughter. I got kissed by a girl! he boasted with an even bigger grin. This spot shows how much she loooves me. Jealous? She said my eyes are prettier than yours!

Saleem scrunched up his face even more—if that was even possible. Jealous?! Because our mom kissed you? Sick burn, huh? Besides, Saleem was pretty sure Sylianos wasn't going to get anybody's approval with his face like that. It was downright hideous. Saleem took a closer look, this time squinting at his brother's half-swollen face. You're wrecked, dude. As for the comment about their one discerning feature, Saleem let it slide—this time. I don't think anybody is going to kiss that. Maybe not even Mom! Guessing that this might be enough to rankle his twin, Saleem gave a sly smile, then bounded a few strides away, hoping to entice Sylanios into a game of chase.

Hey! Sylianos shouted even as the tips of his ears began to burn with embarrassment. No! It was a real girl! She was all black and... Oh, what did it matter? Saleem wasn't buying his fib, but the girl had been there. He glanced back the way she had run off, wincing when the swollen side of his face throbbed as he pursed his lips.

Only to wrinkle them over his teeth when his brother spoke again. You take that back! They were getting to the age now where neither of them wanted to admit that they still craved their mother's affection, but to be told mom wouldn't even kiss him? Rude! You'll regret that! he hollered, scrambling after his brother and taking the bait without hesitation.

Saleem took approximately two strides before he tripped over a fallen log and catastrophically crashed into the ground. It was not a pretty sight, and he had managed to fall directly into a pile of warm, fresh dung. Now he was absolutely covered in feces. If anybody wasn't going to be kissed anytime soon, it was Saleem. I think I'm gonna be si— and then he retched several times before topping off the horrid smell with a pile of his own vomit added to the mix.

Sylianos slammed on the brakes, very nearly stumbling over his brother's hindquarters in the process. He skidded into the side of the fallen log and crumpled, uninjured but assaulted at once with the acrid stink of newly disturbed dung. He gave his head a little shake and then abruptly gagged.

Not only was there shit smeared all over the ground, but it was all over his twin's face and chest now. Was... Was there a little in his mouth, even? What animal had that even come from? It was rank. Another gag wrenched Sylianos' thin shoulders and he reeled away. Dude, he said shakily, but didn't manage to get the rest out or even laugh in his brother's face before Saleem vomited.

Followed immediately by Sylianos vomiting loudly on the other side of the log. That's disgusting, he panted out between heaves.

He heaved again, although nothing came out this time. Saleem began to use his paws to push the feces off his nose and face, sneezing several times as he did so. It was absolutely atrocious, and pretty soon he was rolling in a nearby patch of (clean) grass, doing anything he could think of to get rid of the awful smell. Mother and father are gonna be pissed! he said, gasping for air between his manic display.

When he finally stood up, he could practically sense the fog of stink that hung around him, despite his best efforts to clean himself off. Then, his body started doing something really unsettling. It was something like panting, except the air was coming in really fast through his nose and he could not stop doing it. His lips pulled back, and his eyes widened as he continued on this way, completely helpless to interrupt whatever was going on.

While Saleem made efforts to clean his face, Sylianos finished retching and took several unsteady steps away from the literal hot mess they both had made. Even from a short distance, the rank stench wreathing Saleem was so strong it felt like Silly had planted his own face in the dung. He pulled a face and felt a rope of drool drip from his lips as his belly roiled with nausea.

All of that was forgotten when Saleem started making a peculiar sound. Sylianos stared at his sibling as Saleem's nose flared again and again, accompanied by a whistling wheezing sound and the unsettling bulging of his snout as air flew inward. Sylianos had likely had such a fit in his life, too, but having never witnessed it, there was no way for him to know this was totally normal.

Stop, he said, but Saleem went right on sneezing. Stop it! Stop! Saleem! Knock it off! Panic welled up in Sylianos as his twin continued gasping and wheezing. He knew full well that snitches get stitches, but he had no idea how to help his brother with this, so instead of rushing to his twin's side, he turned and bolted to find help, hollering all the while.

MOM! MOM!! MOOOM!!!

Guess he was still a mama's boy after all.