A presence lingered at the den entrance. One that did not go neglected by the argus-eyed Jökull. Squirming free of her sibling's (and her mother's) clutches, she approached the anonymous with callow steps. She was a inelegant blob, closing the distance between herself and this stranger who smelled like Tuwawi, Njal, Leaf, and many others. Jökull wondered if she would ever meet these “others,” or if they were just imaginings of her brain.

Experimentally, she barked at the entity sitting patiently at the habitation mouth. It was a sound of suspicious greeting, one she has heard her parents emit from time to time. Whoever he was, Jökull needed some verification before fully exiting the den. Her young mind could not comprehend mistrust, but she did understand instinctual dubiety.

She was met with soft croons. Shadow's excitement at seeing her rubbed off on Jökull, urging the little hellion to pick up the pace. In doing so, she stumbled a couple of times, luckily not falling flat on her face. She has not got walking down quite yet, but she's getting there!

Eying the male, she noticed how similar looking he was to Njal. The only key difference she could make out was his charcoal outline; black tipping his spine, tail, and ears. Furthermore, his eyes lacked the metallic gold of her father. Appearances meant nothing to the babe though. Neither did blood as she bounded up to Shadow. She nosed his left arm roughly before toppling over and away, out of his reach.

“Puh-ehh!” she boisterously demanded. She noticed how her speech was all jumbled. So much so, she could not even say 'play.' “Pay?” Nope, still not right. “Pray!” The letter 'L' continued to elude her. Much to her dismay.

Gasp! The word! He said the word! “PAY!” Oh, but! She could not say it. Annoyed, Jökull growled at each failed attempt at saying 'play.' After a while, though, she began to realize the absence of one particular letter in the word: that pesky 'L'! Try as she might, 'L' continued to escape her, so she settled on a different alternative: “Pway?” Oh well. Not everybody can be perfect.

“Pway! PWAY!” Jökull hollered with jostling movements. She danced and skipped and tripped, goading the older wolf to play with her. Really, anything would do. Shadow could spin her right 'round, and she would still be entertained by it...even though she wished to omit the vertigo afterward.

Finally, he acquiesced. Oh boy, oh boy! It felt like an exhilarating nippiness struck her from the inside out, this excitement! Shadow has not even touched her yet but Jökull was getting that intoxicating high.

“Yaa,” she pipped up as Shadow initiated an activity quiet unknown to her: taking the nape of her neck gently between his teeth and picking her up off the ground. Oh, this was a new gam – MOTHEROFGODSHE'SFLYING. Before she could even comprehend what this new game would entail, she was airborne. Gravity would see to it that she not linger in the air for long, plummeting to the world below. This is it, she thought. This is how I die.

Die she would not! Not today. Shadow was there to cushion her fall...or impede it. Jökull was not really sure what was going on. All she knew was that he was doing something and it made her feel high. Literally and figuratively.

“HUAH!” she wailed as this man – this enigmatic, fantastic wizard – flung her into the air again. Halfway up, she began to laugh. Try as she might, she could not cease her laughter. She kept chortling gleefully as she fell back into Shadow's embrace once more. Even the few seconds back on earth was spent laughing. Shadow threw her up once more before stopping, tired.

Her little ticker was thundering away inside her ribcage. Jökull was more than fulfilled, so she did not pester him to do it again. She thought that propositioning him for more might make her heart explode!

Giggle-fit having ended, she wobbled over to Shadow with ecstatic baby blue eyes and hollered: “FIN. TANKS.” Fun and thanks, in baby speech.

As time wore on, Jökull began to feel the aftereffects of extreme playtime: tiredness. So much had happened all at once, so it was pretty overwhelming for the babe. Taking a step forward, she stumbled face-first into Shadow's lush neck. Ohh, he was so warm and fluffy. Kind of like mommy...Jökull conked out still standing/leaning against her pack mate’s neckline, jaws quivering as she gummed at the fur there. Mmm. Imaginary milk.
- EXIT VIA SLEEP -