Blacktail Deer Plateau Fresh start

Dauntless awoke to the sound of birds chirping, though he really didn't get what was so great about today. It was really cold and all he wanted to do was stay curled up in a tight little ball for the rest of his life. Okay, so maybe that was an exaggeration, but he sure didn't feel like doing much of anything today. Everybody else had left the den, though, so he figured he should probably mosey on out and greet the (really cold) day.

His brown eyes blinked in the mid-morning light, and he observed that there was a rather large beetle crawling its way toward him. Daunt pressed his chest to the ground, his rump into the air, and narrowed his eyes on it, tail waving playfully behind him. It kept moving toward him, and when it was about three inches away from his paws, he barked, leaped back, and growled at the hard-shelled insect.

Since Easy and Lavender had already roped someone into taking them to the pond, and most of the other adults were either settling in for a nap or getting ready to start their day, the rendezvous site was fairly quiet. Grayday was, at first glance, the only one around in any state of awareness. Soon enough, however, his son's small, brown form came tumbling out of the den - Grayday hadn't realized he wasn't with the girls.

"Late start, eh, Buck-o?" said Grayday, grinning at his son as he began to stalk something. "What's that?" he asked curiously. The beetle, large as it was, was still too small for the leader's poor eyesight to detect.

"I'sa BUG!" he proclaimed, eyes still focused on the crawling little thing. His breath caused it to get blown back a good six inches, and he widened his eyes, watching as it now lay on its back, all six legs wriggling in the air helplessly. Dauntless s-l-o-w-l-y raised his front half off the ground, cautiously stepping toward the over-turned bug and watching it struggle.

"It can't get up," he observed, flashing a questioning glance to his father. Why couldn't the beetle just flip himself over like Dauntless had done a thousand times before?

Grayday chuckled at Dauntless's enthusiasm. Not too long ago, he'd worried the boy would never be the same. It seemed as though he was healing from his mother's abandonment - something Grayday noted with no small amount of relief.

"It just needs some help," he replied, shuffling closer and gently nudging the beetle back onto its legs. It began moving away once more, this time at a much less plodding pace. Grayday quickly lost interest - the further the beetle got, the less clearly he could see it. Dauntless remained relatively easy to spot. He was a little too thin for Grayday to be completely happy, and his winter coat wasn't growing in as quickly or as thickly as the father would have prefered, but he seemed to be in good health. "It's gettin' cold," said Grayday. "Wanna help me make a surprise for Pema and Lav?"

His father flipped the beetle over, and Dauntless was once-again focused on the insect. He barely heard whatever his dad was saying, instead narrowing in on the bug and touching it with his nose. This immediately caused him to sneeze, causing the beetle to go flying backward. Instead of falling on its back, though, it had fallen upright. This time it was heading away from Dauntless.

"Wanna help me make a surprise for Pema and Lav?" Dauntless flicked his ears back, annoyed. "No, I wanna play with bug," he replied, stepping on it, only to have the insect crawl out from underneath his paw.

Grayday let out a tiny huff and laid down a few feet away. "Okay, but we're gonna have to get to work at some point, if you wanna keep warm enough tonight," the father replied, watching his son step on what must have been the beetle. He didn't really understand the appeal of playing with a bug, but there were wolves that didn't understand his love of feathers, either.

Laying his head on his paws, he settled in to wait out the boy's interest in the tiny creature.

Dauntless shrugged a silent "whatever" and continued to bat the big beetle around the ground, occasionally flopping onto his shoulder (see avatar, lol) to roll on top of the insect. Still, the thing kept crawling its way around, seemingly ignorant of Dauntless's attempts to terrorize it to death. The young wolf dog mix continued to do this for a good long while, completely forgetting about his father's request that they should do something for somebody else.

Grayday watched his son play for a time, but before too long, felt his eyes began to droop. His own soft snores soon joined the rest of the sleepers at the rendezvous site as Grayday drifted off into a long nap. When he woke, though, the day's task was still on his mind.

"Okay, Mir," he yawned, standing and stretching. "Come on - we gotta get down to business. We can find more bugs after we're done, alright?"

Fully expecting his directions to be followed, he stood and waited for his youngest son to join him.

"Don't wanna!" he objected, throwing himself onto the ground. Dauntless was having none of it. "Wanna play bug!" His father was going to have to drag him kicking and screaming if he wanted him to do something else. Either that or he was going to have to make this other thing seem a whole lot more appealing.

Anger flashed in the father's eyes. His voice was clipped by irritation when he spoke, but he did not raise his voice.

"There'll be time later on for more play, but work must be done first," he explained, though he disliked having to explain himself. "I'll tell you one more time, and if you disobey me again, there will be consequences. Now, come along. We need to get the den ready."

Again, Grayday waited, not quite sure what to expect. Dauntless might be a little young to be reasoned with. If that was the case, he would soon be learning that there were consequences to disobeying his sire.

Grayday's voice was sharper now, but Dauntless was not about to let his dad boss him around. He was feeling rather reckless, so he growled back. "DON'T WANNA!" he repeated, ears flattening against his skull in protest. "Consequences" were a word Dauntless had yet to learn, but it was pretty clear to anybody listening or watching that he was about to learn real quick. To be fair, Dauntless had completely forgotten about the bug, and all he wanted to do now was not do whatever it was his papa was asking him to do.

A bit of PP. Let me know if you want me to change anything <3

Grayday struck fast, grabbing Dauntless by the scruff and forcing his head down -- a position that became marginally less uuncomfortable when a wolf rolled onto their side.

The father shut his eyes and let out a deep breath. He was rougher with his children when they played, but when he disciplined them, he always felt as though he might accidentally harm them.

"If I let you up, will you sit and listen?" Grayday growled around the boy's scruff, still fighting anger in the pit of his stomach.

Dauntless was forced to the ground, and he yelped, whined, and tried to get away, but it was no use. No amount of squirming and wriggling would set him free from his father's grasp, and eventually, he fell limp. Papa asked him a question, and a mean frown occupied the place where there was often a smile on Daunt's face. "Fine," he replied, but it was pretty clear things were far, far from fine.

Grayday released his son, his stomach twisting uncomfortably at having restrained him at all. But he wouldn't be yelled at by his children - not for something as trivial as this. His own father hadn't stood for it, and neither would he.

"Don't raise your voice at me, Dauntless," he said sternly, making a considerable effort to keep his own voice at a reasonable volume. "Now look - I can't force you to help. But if you don't want to do your part to keep the den warm, then you won't be sleeping there. Tonight, you'll be out under the stars with me. Clear?"

If it got too cold, of course, this plan would disappear. He wasn't about to risk his son's health for a lesson, but he'd certainly risk his comfort for it.

"Whatever," Dauntless mumbled, clearly not worried about the #consequences his father was doling out. All he wanted right now was to not be here. This scolding was stupid and dumb, and there were a million other things he'd rather be doing. "Can I play bug now?" he asked, hanging his head and moping the whole time. He didn't want to help with a stupid den, and he definitely didn't want to help his papa do anything after he'd just been punished.

"Go on," Grayday agreed, feeling ill-at-ease but sensing that more conversation on the topic would only bury the real lesson in anger. Dauntless was already angry enough, and truthfully, Grayday was getting there himself. Leaving the boy to play on his own, Grayday sought out @Pema to tell her about what had happened, and why she must not allow Dauntless to sucker her into allowing him into the den that night.

Then he sent to de-fluff the lamb on his own, knowing that its furs would soon be needed to keep Lavender and Dauntless warm.