Bearclaw Valley the beautiful know they have power

@Nunataq <3

lucas had never come home. while this aggravated and worried merrick for reasons he did not understand, he was equally tired of how bearclaw had stayed in turmoil. the adults wore their emotions like a dragging piece of fabric, and it was beginning to wear on the boy. 
that morning, he sought one of the older children, perhaps his favorite among them. piper was too busy acting like a grown-up and marten was reticent. wyatt; shy as always. along the way, merrick found a large toadstool that took him clear off his path and he barked roughly at it, unsure of its true properties.

Recently Nunataq hardly ever spent time in rendevouz's site or with the other puppies, preferring to put as much distance as possible between herself and that big, grey cloud of sadness that hung over the Bearclaw valley. Now that her own compulsive need to be in Wapun meadow waiting for Lucas's return had ended, she expected the rest to get over the disappearance as well. But they did not and were so wrapped in it, that paid no attention to her.

She had been wandering around borders, pondering, if she should not give a call to her white Easthollow friend, when she heard a bark and this changed her mind entirely. The little black tyrant had grown out of his fluffy beetle-like stage and resembled more of a wolf than a toy. And on those rare occasions, when they play-fought and wrestled together, she treated him a little more roughly than before. This was her way of showing respect to the fact that the little man was growing up.

She spotted Merrick first, then the mushroom that had drawn his attention - and quite big and remarkable it was. She approached him with wagging tail and inspected the odd "plant" curiously.

he had begun to steal closer, puppyish hackles bristling, when the familar tread of another entered his awareness. "nuna!" merrick exclaimed. unlike the others, his friend had not stayed caught up in everything surrounding lucas. the coypup did not understand why that was, or why his own mother seemed so sad. lucas was bearclaw, yes, but merrick was her son. and he was here. why was she like this, then?
"do you know what this is?" he asked of nunataq. the only creature to have once put merrick's entire head in her mouth, she was also the only person that the boy trusted in many ways. one of which, as it turned out, was his willingness to admit his ignorance. to anyone else, merrick must put on a brave and brazen front. not so for nunataq.
"i think it'sa monster," the child added quietly.

though only a few days back in bearclaw, and with a very tentative hold on his place here, stigmata prowled about with a near-malicious strut. any adult to approach him in that moment would have been challenged, so it was fortuitous the only packmates to catch his attention were children not worth the strength it would take to kill them. he liked them both well enough - which perhaps staved his blood-calling fangs - but they were not his and he felt no dominion or care for these wayward offspring with their emotionally-rattled parents.

it was sickening. he had never met such irresponsible leaders, let alone ones who dared called themselves mothers and fathers, but rather than abandon them he was more interested in whipping them all into shape. his own legacy had been stolen from him; it was high time he started building another.

from between the slim tree-boughs he watched merrick and nunataq, yet unnoticed and perhaps too far away to ever be. he couldn't see what they were puzzling over, but truth be told he wasn't that concerned. because unless they noticed him in the next minute or so, he would melt away from the scene as quickly as he had come.

cameoooooo (maybe)

Calling someone, who had once tried to eat your head, your best friend would be considered a little extraordinary among adults, but stranger friendships have been founded between children in playgrounds. Nunataq liked Merrick well enough, because he was more similar to her than the rest of her siblings. And also because he did not seem to suffer from the same emotional down-time as the rest of the group. As far as she could sense, he was his normal self. And, though she still considered herself the "adult" of the two, she made mental note to include him in her next outing in Easthollow or Wapun meadow. Should be fun.

In regards of the mushroom, Nuna had even less idea of, what that thing was than her brother, therefore she first tried to taste it (and it did not feel like anything remotely edible), and then she simply left a pee-mark next to it. Because it felt like good landmark as any for her to claim. She kicked up some dirt and leaves with her hind-paws - as she had seen her father do on many occasions - and was about to suggest something more interesting for Merrick, when the wind changed and brought the unmistakeable smell of another wolf in their direction.

Nuna recognized it right away and a sly grin appeared in her lips. She looked down at Merrick, asking, if he was up to for some mischief, and without waiting for an answer began to sneak towards the wolf that was hiding himself between the trees.

nunataq did not speak, but merrick watched her expression carefully as she inspected what he had found. the set of her jaws around the odd thing; her subsequent dismissal of the growth altogether — the boy was fascinated. when she had marked and scratched behind her, the child leapt to do the same.
the tall girl had said nothing, still, but now the set of her body changed. he too had caught the scent of wolf, familiar but muffled. nunataq's features gathered a note of impishness, and merrick was quick to follow, mimicking her careful, stealthy tread.

stigmata, who had decided in the meanwhile that he didn't wish to be bothered by the small menaces, turned to exit the premises. he had not gone too far into resuming his day, when he realized that he was being followed by a pair of less-than-crafty pawsteps. without looking back, he could tell them apart, if not by personality, then by weight distribution; as the heavier, quicker sounds belonged to sly nunataq, while the more furtive and careful sounds that followed belonged entirely to the reserved slight of black that was merrick.

the sootwraith padded on, pretending to remain unaware of his pursuers - and finding himself inwardly eager to see how the young predators had progressed in his absence.

The man could pretend all he wanted that he had not noticed the two kids that were stalking him, but he could not fool Nunataq. After all they weren't particularly careful about being quiet and not making themselves known to any creature within a half-mile (to those with acute hearing, a mile or more) radius. The conclusion being quite simple - if anyone could not trail after Nuna this unprofessionally and stay invisible, then the old guy definitely knew, what was coming, and probably was five steps ahead of the delinquent duo.

An encouraging sign was that he had not turned to stop them, which could only mean that he was playing the game as well. Therefore, when Nunataq and Merrick had reached a suitable undergrowth to hide in, she decided upon their plan of action. It being simple in her mind, but a bit more difficult to explain. She tried - nevertheless - beckoning to Merrick to walk over the far side of their headquarters and then giving a pointed look in Stigmata's direction. The idea being them attacking the man from both sides.

the man did not look back, which was a curiosity to merrick, but he trailed nunataq faithfully all the same. perhaps stigmata had not heard them, though some inkling told the boy that was impossible. of course the fierce creature knew they were there. but why had he not turned around? no matter. his attention belonged to his older friend.
he joined her in the thicker foliage; when nuna telegraphed what their next move should be, the coywolf's eyes lit with a grin of pure mischief. of course! the dark child slunk from cover and began to cut through the underbrush toward stigmata's left, looking to nunataq more than once for reassurance that he was going the right way.

stigmata kept a careful ear out for his pursuers; listening as they paused in brief huddle, and then finding it delightfully curious when the pair of them split up their ambush, as in the true nature of pack-hunting predators.

his decision on how to best unravel their plan came in the same instance merrick chose to take the left for his attack. well aware of which youth had done the orchestrating here, the youngest redleaf had unwittingly made himself the weaker link and therefore stigmata's target. surreptitiously, he began to angle his path so that he began to drift in the boy's direction, giving nunataq more ground to cover before she could "rescue" her familial compatriot.

"now where could my prey have gone?" he asked in a hush, musing to himself loud enough for his true quarry to catch. he loomed ever nearer to merrick, still pretending to peruse distractedly among the grass fronds, until he was not, and he snapped silver-blade eyes onto the very spot merrick was hidden; and a wide, bedeviling grin split a fearsome line across his muzzle. "ah, there you are."

I am so sorry for holding this up! I somehow missed it entirely. Wrapping it up, since this is already old. Thank you both for participation!

Nunataq gave Merrick an approving glance and took the right side. The man probably knew already that he was being pursued, because the way he moved and acted spoke of deliberation and careful planning. This dampen the girl's joy in pursuit a little, but, since he was not telling outwardly to back off, she continued with the plan.

And would have gone through it were it not for a summoning call from one of her parent figures. The tone was urgent and did not allow any questions. Come on. She beckoned Merrick to follow and left Stigmata on his own.