Stone Circle bibbity boppity boo

whump!

The boy trots excitedly down a lazy river, carrying in his jaws a rather oddly large stick in proportion to his body. It hangs from his teeth's grip to drag on the ground, him bouncing with it as he moves faster and faster over the rocky and unsteady ground. Why he was moving so fast carrying the stick is a mystery to anyone but himself, he was adding it to his collection. Well, he hadn't exactly started the said collection just yet, but! this was the first of many! He thinks of his father and what he lacks there, and his mother who he must compete in competition with his sisters for her attention. Maybe with the biggest things in his possession, he could somehow one-up his siblings. 

Somewhere between hauling the stick, moving faster than his legs could carry him, and letting his mind wander, he doesn't see the impending catastrophe he is yet to suffer. The stick catches caught of a loose vine buried deep beneath the earth's surface, and as he runs he is yanked back forcefully, yelping in pain as a small canine tooth is ripped from his gums and wedged into the wood. From there, it is a downward spiral of unfortunate events, as he then stumbles in shock and trips over his own teeth, rolling and landing in the cold, slow, yet shaky pace of the river as it carries him downstream. He can't breathe and panic floods his mind, instinct driving him to kick so he just barely keeps his head above water. He can't even cry out for help, shocking and utter fear rendering him unable to think about anything but basic survival; to breathe.

Murdock was downstream, lapping up cool water after a long but ultimately unsuccessful hunt. He'd stalked the deer for hours, but none of them had ever broken off from the group, despite how much he'd hounded them. Eventually, he'd given it up as a lost cause; maybe a few days from now, he could return with a few more packmates.

He looked up when he heard a commotion upstream - the yelp of a child, and then a telltale splash. Stephie, he thought, turning at once toward the sound. He couldn't think when he saw the small, black shape moving through the water. The male simply rushed in after it, losing precious seconds as he slogged through the deepening water.

"I gotchya," he said, making a grab for the dark bundle of fur.

You can decide if he grabs him or not :o

Nanook, too, heard the commotion and abandoned her patrol without a clench in her chest and one word on her mind - the pups. The river. The snaking water sprang into sight and she pushed through the final stretch of trees in time to see a large man hurdle through the water toward something she couldn't see - 

Her narrowed eyes flitted upon the prize, and her stomach lurched. Nanook leapt to the shoreline and slipped upstream from where the earthen man sought purchase of the bobbing blob of stony fur. With silent intensity, she slid into the water, to avail herself to catch the child from should the man's teeth skim and miss.

The river was starting to gain momentum as it pushed him away farther, carrying the boy helplessly towards a fate of certain doom as his limbs got more weak by simply trying to keep his head above water. That was, until a crash of someone jumping in after him caused him to release a big sigh of relief, and accidentally cause him to slip underneath the water. A few seconds of shock and terror later and he pushes his head back up to rapidly blink his eyes open in the direction of who he assumes is his mother coming to save him. But, to his terror, it is not his mother he sees at a distance lunging towards him, teeth bared, wide-eyed and surging at him frantically through the water like predators coming to capture their prey.

Disregarding the fact that he was sailing rapidly downstream, couldn't swim, and would likely drown, the boy actually starts frantically flapping his paws away from his rescuers, but hey, nobody ever said he was smart. One gets close enough and makes a lunge for the boy's neck, and he dunks his head under the water in escape of the other's grip, before surfacing once again to kick water in the other's face. "GET. AWAY." The boy screeches at the two strangers over the rushing roar of the river, forgetting the actual trouble that lay's ahead. I mean, there was a fallen log up ahead to stop him eventually so he wasn't in any real trouble of getting carried too far, but there was still the issue of whether or not he would let the strangers get close enough to get him out of the water.

Whoa - that most certainly was not his precious angel. Stephie had never sounded like that before, although if she ever did, he'd forgive her in a heartbeat, because she was perfect and could do no wrong. This child, however, was an absolute menace. Murdock probably would have left him to his fate right then and there if he didn't know it belonged to Valette.

She'd probably be a bit put out if one of her kids were to die. Besides, Murdock knew how much that could hurt. With an angry curse, he dove after the child again, soaking himself completely in an effort to rescue Valette's ungrateful brat.

He met them both with an obnoxious cry, which Nanook largely ignored. The man leapt and Nanook lost sight of the boy in the frenzy of water and flailing limbs. With a huff, she flattened her ears against her skull to block any more shrieks, and swam with fervent strides upstream, in the direction she guessed the child was heading.

She set herself up as a barrier, like a log in the water, not far from where Ezra kicked against the earthen man. If the man failed to catch the child again, Nanook hoped the older's forward thrust would propel the boy against her, in which case she would make another attempt for his scruff. What she would do with the kicking toddler after that, well... hopefully she'd have the man's help to tame the little beast, and hopefully they wouldn't all drown in the process.

Closing this up.

Eventually, the pair got hold of the pup and transported him safely to shore. Murdock was angry and swearing by the end of it, but still stayed to help Nanook herd the boy back toward the den. Then, he left the ornery child's aunt to look after it and trotted away to blow off some steam.

Kids, he thought with no small amount of disgust.