With a little more confidence than before, little Nellie hopped out of the den to greet the day. Her ears had perked up a while ago and what the adults were saying was beginning to make a little sense to her. They had called her "Nellie", and her pesky brother "Bronco". Whenever she heard either one, she made sure to return to the one calling. The sky was "blue" with "clouds" and the "sun" floating in it, while the ground was covered in "grass". She could name little things like that in her head and was incredibly proud of herself for it, but she hadn't started saying anything really. She was a bit of a late bloomer, but who knows, maybe today was the day.

Apparently she had timed her morning routine perfectly. In the distance she saw the vague shape of two wolves, one much bigger than the other. She jumped up on her feet and, somewhat impatiently, started pacing because she knew she wasn't allowed far from the den yet. Unlike Bronco, Nellie followed the few rules laid out by Mother and Father, almost as if she knew she'd get praised for it.

Eventually she couldn't take it anymore and, when the pair was but a few steps away, decided to approach ever so cautiously. She let out a small giggle when the other pup got tripped up by aunty Fin, but stayed quiet for the rest. "Hey Nellie - meet - son - cousin - one" was all she could really understand. So this Pox was a son of aunt Fin, brought here to meet her because he was one of her cousins. Or was Pox her son and Aunt Fin the cousin? With a puzzled look on her face did she blankly stare at the duo, a salmon tongue blepping out of her mouth as she concentrated.

Her short life flashed before her eyes as the grey washed shark lunged at her with all his might. She was already a small poof of fur, but it bristled in surprise and terror before he stopped just inches away and began sniffing her. Was this how you greeted someone? Quietly did Nellie take notes for whenever she was going to meet all her other cousins. Carefully did she also stick her snout out giving him a few sniffs in return. Her little blue eyes were fixed upon her aunty though, seeking for any kind of sign that this was indeed how you did it.

She, too, wasn't very fond of kids of the opposite gender. She assumed they were all like her brother, rude, unreasonable, making trouble wherever they went... But hey, Nellie played with the cards she was dealt, in this case it was Pox.

She gathered herself quickly and was already set on a game she wanted to play. She stuck out her paw carefully, booping Pox's shoulder after which she grinned widely. Tag. She said in the same way someone would say "checkmate". Her very first word was linked to her favorite game. She leaped away then to get a fair distance between them, looking over her shoulder afterwards to see if this game even appeased her play-partner for the day.

Luckily for Pox, Nellie was a bit of a tomboy. Of course, she still wasn't someone who went looking for trouble or liked the really gross stuff boys found so great, but she wasn't about to go asking to have tea parties with everyone. She was mommy's little girl, but as soon as her looming presence was missing she turned into a more adventurous young lady.

She grinned back at him, hopping away over the grass as he started chasing her. Though she'd one day be built for speed and agility, she was still dragging along a lot of puppy-fluff with her. Her short, stubby legs couldn't go very fast or far for that matter, giving the somewhat older Pox the upper-paw.

She knew she really shouldn't look over her shoulder to see what the hell Pox was up to. It slowed her down, and she'd be unable to see where she was going, but darn it - tag was just so fun, and it wasn't like it mattered who won. Hell, she wasn't even sure how someone would "win" a game of tag.

After some debate within her mind, she did peek over her shoulder just at the right moment. Pox hung in the air, forelimbs outstretched as if he was already holding her rump, and her expression turned from curious to "oh shit.". With a small peep was she tackled, sending the both of them to a thundering halt and down to the earth.