Wolf RPG

Julius had managed to slip out of the den without any siblings or family members tagging along right away. Them noticing he wasn't there was inevitable, which would result in one of them eventually coming out to find him. But until then, the immediate area outside the den was his. Yes, all of it was his until his family appeared. Then, it would become theirs.

He meandered around the area, taking care to keep the den entrance in his vision at all times. Julius was silent for the majority of this, the one exception being when a small beetle was noticed. When that happened, he growled at it for being in his area. When it showed no sign of going, he attacked it, batting it with his paws as it scurried around. When it decided to try to get closer to the den entrance, he bent down to bite it. With a pleasing crunch, Julius held the bug between his teeth. Then, he swallowed it.

The beetle taken care of, Julius started meandering around the area again, searching for anymore vexatious bugs that threatened him and his family.

It was another day and another adventure for Ultraviolet. Today, she followed the river's twisting, winding course inland until she found herself over the familiar Greatwater Lake. She hooked a sharp left, heading in a perpendicular line to the northeast. From up here, the snowy mountaintops sparkled in the midday sunlight, though it was the dazzling radiance bouncing off another, smaller lake which drew her downward finally.

UV flapped over Arrow Falls, then dropped with the altitude as she coasted over Lower Arrow Lake. She found herself following a waterway again, this time a small creek. Down below, she saw the familiar figures of wolves running across the snowy landscape. Intrigued, the jay tilted her wings and began to drop slowly. She spotted a copse of trees and aimed for it, though as she descended and eventually landed on a bare limb, she lost sight of the wolves.

A flicker of movement on the ground caught her eye instead and UV chirped when she saw it was a delicious beetle. It was just about lunchtime! Before she could spring off her perch and snatch it, a wolf suddenly appeared. Like the two others she'd recently met, it wore a pale coat. It was a lot smaller and its features were younger. Even to a Steller's jay's eye, the pup was adorable.

When he swallowed her beetle, Ultraviolet squawked in surprise. "You eat beetles too?!" she gasped without thinking, her black eyes shining as she tipped forward on the branch. "They're my favorite!"

The voice caught Julius off-guard. He stopped suddenly, a growl rising in the back of his throat as his gaze swept the ground for the wolf who spoke. No matter how much he looked, the young boy could see nobody. How was that possible?! Someone had to make the noise! While there was much Julius still didn't know about the world, there was a few things he knew. There were three different types of sounds; movement sounds, nature sounds, and communication sounds. When there was a communication sound, someone had to be there to make it. Never before had Julius heard someone speaking when he wasn't around!

It was the movement on the branch that finally caused Julius to look up. A vibrant, blue bird was moving about, looking at him. Maybe that was talking to him? Birds being able to speak wolf didn't seem weird at all at his age. The idea of things that weren't wolves talking would be accepted in his brain, and later displayed after the encounter. If birds could talk, what was to say that trees couldn't?

Julius only made out bits and pieces of the bird's sentence. Not just because of the bird-accent she had, but also because his vocabulary was very limited. You, eat, and my were the words that stood out to Julius. It seemed as if the bird was trying to make a claim to the section of land in front of the den.

"No!" He barked back at the bird, his hackles raising. "Is my! My, my, mine!" Then, he approached the bottom of the tree, placing his two front paws and the trunk and growling at the bird.

The puppy didn't seem particularly thrilled about the subject, judging by the way he reared up against the tree and growled at her. She should have been frightened by this—small as he was, he could easily kill and eat her—yet UV found the display more adorable than anything. Besides, she was safe as long as she stayed up here in the tree. The way he spoke reminded her of her mother's fledgelings last summer: her little brothers and sisters. He was just a baby.

"Oh, you're so foshes, aren't you! You're a big, bad wolf! I'm sooo scared!" Ultraviolet chirped loudly, making a show of scampering up and down the branch with her wings spread and her crest a-quiver. She screeched for good measure, then paused and cocked her head at him to see what the wolf cub made of it all.

With her chirping, screeching, and movement, Julius was convinced that she was about to either come down or leave. Fully expecting her to move, he ran to the den entrance, stationing himself outside it while still growling. There was no way he'd let the bird in to harm his family if it came down!

When the bird didn't move, he took a few steps forward. "Go bye-bye!" Julius shouted at the horrific creature. He was mad at it now. It was trying to invade his family's space, as well mocking him from a place he couldn't reach.

She paused, grinding her beak together as her beady eyes followed the pup's movements. He plopped in the entrance of what looked like a lair. No birdbrain, UV guessed, "Is that your house, baby wolf?" Without waiting for a response of some kind, she swooped to another, nearer tree. The branch upon which she stood was slightly lower than the former one, offering her a closer view of her wolfish companion.

He didn't seem to like that. She watched in amusement as he took a few bold steps toward her, then demanded she leave. Ultraviolet cocked her head, fluffing out her black crest. "Why do you want me to go, big bad wolf? I don't mean you any harm! I'm your friend! My name's UV. Can you say 'U-V,' baby wolf?"

Maybe the bird wasn't trying to claim his land after all. She wasn't actually on it, she wasn't fighting with him, and she seemed to have no interest in it. "Fend?" He questioned, the hostility fading. Was this bird actually his friend? As long as she didn't do anything to upset him, he could be friendly with her now.

When the bird mentioned names, Julius perked up. He knew his name! "Uuuuu...." He drawled, sounding at first as if he was trying to say her name. It soon became clear that was not his intention when he spat out the next part. "Ee-uhs! U-ee-uhs!" He declared. "Me U-ee-uhs!" Not including the 'L' sound in the middle of it, Julius had basically just said his name. Although it may have not been the thing UV had wanted him to do, he felt proud about his accomplishment.

Evidently, she had discovered the magic word. "Yes, friend!" she chirped loudly and emphatically. "I'm your friend, UV! That's short for Ultraviolet. But that's a mouthful, especially for such a little wolf," she said, her already high-pitched voice getting even higher as she slipped into a bit of baby speak.

He made an attempt to repeat her name, or at least that's what it sounded like. "U-V, that's right!" she coaxed him, black eyes shining. "U-V! U-V! U-V! It sounds like a cheer, doesn't it? Hey, baby wolf, what's your name?" she asked, unaware that he had already tried to pronounce it. Her crest flicked forward inquisitively as she leaned forward on her perch.

With all the repetition of the one word, Julius felt the need to say it too. "U-ee! U-ee!" He barked, practically bouncing around as he got worked up in a good way. Then, the word name popped up again. "Me U-ee-uhs!" He declared once again.

Julius found himself dropping into the play-bow pose, his tiny butt wiggling in the air. Although just moments ago he had wanted Ultraviolet to leave, he now wanted the bird to come down and play. "Come!" He demanded, as he pawed at the ground. "Pay!"

She clacked her beak approvingly and bobbed and dipped her head in excitement when the young wolf successfully (well, for the most part), repeated her name back to her. She then tilted her head nearly ninety degrees sideways when he said the word "me," followed by... some gobbledygook. It didn't sound like a name, though perhaps the naming convention around here was just a little strange?

"U-E-S, huh? You're rockin' the initials too, eh?" Ultraviolet quipped. "You've changed your tune, now haven't you?" she added teasingly when the puppy excitedly begged her to come closer and play. She hung from her branch, her crested head twisting this way, then that way, as she considered.

"I'd love to play with you, U-E-S! But you have to promise not to smash me! Do you promise?" UV asked even as she spread her wings and drifted to the ground. She remained about ten feet away from the pup. She didn't think he would harm her on purpose, yet if he was like other baby animals, he wouldn't know his own strength... and he would be clumsy too. She didn't want to be crushed, either purposely or by accident.

His little tail wagging, Julius watched as UV came down to play. He stayed frozen for a moment after she landed. Then suddenly, he bounded towards her. Due to how close she was, half of the distance was covered by skidding to a halt. Barely avoiding tumbling onto his face, he sprung up and started circling around Ultraviolet.

Julius spent a few moments sniffing her as he circled. After she passed inspection, he came to a stop in front of her. "Pay?" He questioned, waiting for her to give him permission to start.

When the pup came gamboling toward her, every tiny bone in her body screamed to jump into the air! She held still, though, trying to give the pup the benefit of the doubt. She did position herself for a prompt launch, should one become necessary. Her heart fluttered in her chest, yet her dark eyes smiled and she bobbed her head when the puppy circled inquisitively and made no move to attack, playfully or otherwise.

"Good baby wolf!" she praised, spinning with him to keep an eye on him. She might trust him not to hurt her on purpose, yet even the ever-curious UV knew never to turn her back on a predator, even a young one. "Sure, let's play! What game would you like to play? I'm up for anything! ...except wrestling!" she joked, her black bill clacking together as she laughed, a musical sort of sound.

His tiny tail begun to pick up speed, wagging faster and faster as she gave him permission to play with her. "Pay pay pay!" Julius barked. While UV had told him no wrestling, Julius hadn't understood the instructions. For one, he didn't even know what the word meant. Secondly, he knew no other play besides wrestling. However, there was one thing he did know about playing. He was big compared to everyone besides the adults, which meant he had to be careful while playing. UV seemed to be small just like tiny Relonikiv, which meant full-out tackling her could give her a boo-boo.

Her tail feathers seemed like the best target. Feathers couldn't get hurt; they were a plaything, not a living thing! Plus, it was almost like UV was taunting him with them, constantly holding them out of reach as she turned to face him. Deciding that he would get those feathers, Julius begun to walk in circles around her, gradually picking up speed with his eye on the feathers.

She couldn't be sure he understood her ground rules but so far, so good: he hadn't pounced her! The puppy seemed to have his eye on her backside, she noticed. UV turned her head practically backward to glance at it, wondering what had caught his eye. There was nothing there, though, so she spun around to face him... only the pup circled once more, always placing himself behind her.

"What'cha doing, baby wolf? Why're you staring at my b—oh! You want one of these, do you?" she teased playfully, shaking her tail feathers at him.

While UV shaked her tail feathers, Julius dipped into a play-bow again, seeing it as the wolf equivalent of what she was doing. He only stayed in the position for a few seconds before popping back up to a standing position. Her teasing gestures only made his desire for the feathers to grow.

Julius clumsily stepped to the side and lunged towards the feathers. The move had been taught to him by instinct, but apparently he had been distracted during the part of the lesson where instinct told him to pull back. Instead of doing that, the momentum of his body followed through, causing him to dive into the ground. Whether Julius had got the feather or not was undetermined as he tried to figure out how that move had resulted with him on the ground.

He pounced toward her and Ultraviolet was quick enough to hop clear of his swiping paw—for the most part. As Julius ate dirt, he managed to snag the tip of a feather so that when she flitted forward, it tugged free. The jay squawked and instinctively took to the air, flapping wildly for a moment before alighting in a nearby tree. UV bent in half to nudge the stinging spot on her backside with her black beak.

Down below, she saw a long, sleek, blueish black feather beneath Julius's paw. Although the sight sort of hurt her (physically and emotionally), she chirped and said, "Well, baby wolf, consider that something to remember me by—a parting gift, if you will! Maybe I'll come back and play again someday! Byebye now!" She gave him a few parting tweets, then took flight once more, winging back toward her home forest and trying to ignore the slight change in her buoyancy as a result of the lost feather.

When Julius lifted his face off of the ground, he saw UV flutter to a tree. She spoke, then took flight again. "Bye-bye!" He called after her receding form. Although it hadn't been his intention now, he had managed to make her go bye-bye, as was his original intention. The feather went unnoticed as the blue dot that was her in the sky shrink until there was nothing left.

However, Julius' attention dropped to the ground after UV had gone. "Ooh!" He cooed admiringly at the blue feather between his paws. Gingerly, Julius grasped it between his teeth. While it was sure to get lost within the next few days, at the moment it was his only most prized possession.

Julius' patrol of the direct area outside the den done after the distraction, he headed back inside to share his new toy.