Bearclaw Valley For some birthday or some Christmas that has come and gone

"Nuuu!" called the chubby marshmallow of a pup as he toddled out of the den with erect ears and bright eyes. His tail swished to and fro as he stopped, adjusted to the bright light of outdoors, and then lurched into a jiggling trot. The black-masked youth had proven to be quite the adventurer, often going farther from the den than she ought to, so Lucas knew she could be anywhere. He would not leave the confines of his well-marked boundaries without adult supervision, obedient and eager to please as he was, but if she was anywhere within it, he would find her.

And if she wasn't in the pups' little chunk of territory, then he would simply wait until she came back. There was a feeling of wrongness that he associated with @Nunataq's every foray beyond their established boundaries, a sense that she should get into big trouble because she wasn't following the rules, but he wasn't privy to any reprimands she received on the daily for it, if any. "Nuuu!" he called again, hurrying his chubby little ass past the flowers that he often visited every day and past the dirt patch where he liked to find worms to snack on.

With two months under her belt, Nunataq had dashed into her third like a cunami wave. Now she reminded less of an awkward fat loaf with five limbs and a head, but more of a little daredevil with wolf and malinois features mixed and blended in equal parts. She had mastered walking and running almost gracefully, tripping and falling down only 1 out of 10 times. Her baby teeth had grown sharper and, whenever the opportunity presented itself, she was not afraid to put them to use. It was wonder that those adults, who played with her, had not run screaming by now, when the piranha appeared on the horizon.

Nuna had no problems about leaving the den as frequently as possible and spen all of her waking and most of her sleeping hours outside. Running around, playing, digging, destroying and attacking stuff, barking at birds and squirrels, and mice that were out of her reach and eventually falling asleep somewhere, only to wake up an hour later and go on as if nothing had happened.

This morning's romp had ended with her digging and hiding herself under a patch of brown fallen leaves, therefore, when Lucas woke her up by calling her name (she did not seem to understand much in terms of words, but she knew, when people were addressing her, in most cases), she sprang out of the pile of leaves like a girl out of a birthday cake. With wagging tail and a friendly grin she approached her sibling, curious to find out, what he had in mind. She was up to anything!

Each and every time he encountered Nunataq, he was stricken by how very dark her face was. He had yet to note that she was so different from his family that she couldn't possibly belong—such a notion as not belonging was simply alien to him and always would be, beyond the usual territoriality of their species, that is—but he had by now taken note of her black ink mask. Small wonder that that stood out to him when the rest of her was sand and rust, lighter than Piper's stark red but sort of similar.

So for a moment he merely stared at her darkened face, captivated by how different it was, and then he blinked and the moment slipped away. "Nu wannsa dance wif Lu?" he wondered, starting up with a sort of side-to-side sway meant to ease her into it, if she obliged him. If not, well, his bright-eyed, open features suggested he could be compelled to do just about anything, from adventuring to fighting monsters to just hanging out. It was nice to spend his time with the newer pups once in a while. There was just something about them that was more interesting than his siblings (their relative newness, duh).

Nuna listened to Lucas with wise eyes and head tilted to the side, her features expressing a curious interest. Dance? What kind of beast was that? Since, right after mentioning this, her brother began to sway his other side, she stared at it with a mesmerized gaze. Deep in her brain prey-drive began to wake and spread, and soon after, pouncing and attacking that moving butt seemed like the most wonderful idea. But then she recalled, how it had ended the last time (a kick in the eye), and that it would not be such a good idea after all.

She playbowed, barked at him and did two quick zoomies around him, returning to the starting point and getting back to the bow again. Want to play chase?

So Nunataq didn't really know how to dance. Lucas couldn't fault her for that; after all, it had taken some coercion to teach his siblings how to do it. Piper had easily obliged but Wyatt was resistant to it even now, dour as he was, very much like their maternal grandfather whom they would never meet. He swayed anyway, taking pleasure in his most favourite form of expression, until Nunataq zipped around him in quick circles and flipped the switch on another part of him.

Down went his torso and his front limbs splayed outward. His tail continued to bop up and down in time with whatever music seemed to persist inside his mind, but his tongue was out and his ears were alert and crisp over his head. His pale blue eyes locked on Nunataq's black-lined nose and then he was launching himself, a sort of lurching mass of puppy rolls, for a tackle.

A tackle was just the thing Nuna had expected, her eyes lit up, when Lucas marched her way, she made quick jump to the side in the last moment and zipped twice around her friend in full speed (tripping at one point on the way, but regaining her balance quickly). On the third lap she made a side-ways move and with her mouth parted attempted to land a nip at her playmate's hip.

He thought he was on course to collide with Nunataq for sure, but she proved her own skill when she zipped away from him and he stopped short. Being as large as he was had its perks but there were also downfalls, and this was one of them. Though he was nimble enough on his paws to do his dancing unhindered, his protruding gut and chubby legs made it difficult to turn as quickly as he would like, and he wasn't exactly a fast runner. Nunataq easily did laps around him and he was unable to stop her when she came in for a nip at his cushy bum.

With a sharp giggle, the boy spun as quick as he could and tried to nip back, but no doubt his black-masked opponent would be well out of reach by the time he managed it. So he also trundled forward with a curved rolling gait, hoping to catch her unawares and cut off her circular path around him.

Nunataq avoided Lucas's nip and - now bursting with energy made another two laps of a larger diameter, before stopping again to estimate, how far had her opponent got. Panting and with her sides heaving from exertion, she fell to her haunches and watched Lucas approaching her, while the wheels of her mind were turning, looking for the next best idea. She realized then that it would be quite impossible for her to engage him in a full fledged game of racing and chasing. He was slow and would eventually give up. This meant that she had to change her tactics - and she did by flopping on her belly and letting her brother catch up with her, meeting him with happily wagging tail and mouth parted, piranha teeth revealed, ready to engage in a stationary jawspar.

He really was sorely outmatched. Nunataq did another two laps by the time he managed to turn one full rotation, and his head was starting to spin from trying to follow her motion. Leave it to Lucas to find the sensation thrilling; he giggled even as he teetered to the side, then shook off his dizziness with a jiggle and was right back in the game. Nunataq had tired herself out, it looked like, but Lucas was just getting started. She was way faster than him and outstripped him easily in the early stages, but Lucas was made for the long haul.

He lurched forward the second her stomach hit the ground, jowls and tongue both lolling as he closed the distance. He bent clumsily and almost tripped over his huge paws as he came in close, and then Nunataq's jaws met his with a clash. He hadn't been expecting it and he drew up suddenly, licking his chops while his teeth veritably rattled, but he was so engrossed in play that he bounced back quickly even though his lips stung a little. With a huge grin, the boy grabbed playfully for her cheeks with his teeth, blunted by his natural inhibition as well as a desire to avoid hurting her.

Nunataq's plan worked brilliantly - Lucas swallowed the bait (because "Nuna" and "tired" - please...) and bounded happily towards her. She waited, tense and ready as a cat before a pounce and deflected his first attempt swiftly. The sensation, however, when teeth hit teeth was not entirely pleasant and, while her brother recovered, she did too by turning her head to the side and moving her tongue over her lips, as if making sure that the number was still correct.

She let Lucas take an upper hand, briefly letting him to have hold of her right cheek, then turned her head to free herself, growling all the while.

Close combat was fun, but not something Lucas really enjoyed doing for long periods of time. He didn't like being hurt or harming others and the potential was usually too great up close. Grabbing her cheek was success enough for him; with a couple of gentle shakes of his head, hardly enough even to tug Nunataq's face, Lucas let go and darted backward with what little agility he could manage. Now it was his turn to bait Nunataq up to continue the game.

He mashed his fat chest down into the grass and spread his forelegs in front of him, waving his considerable rump in the air while his tail beat to-and-fro. Even now, in the midst of a tussle, there was a rhythmic quality to the tempo of his tail. If one could produce a metronome and place it there, they would find he matched it evenly, even distracted as he was.

Nunataq was freed and there she memorized that loudness of the growls equals the quickness of the release. She looked over her shoulder to see, where had Lucas disappeared. Their roles now were reversed, but she was in no haste in getting up and joining in. She took her time to do it and before responding to his invitation, stood scrutinizing him with a vague disbelief in her eyes, as if saying: You think you can win this game? Really?

And to prove the point she darted forward at full speed only to jump sideways in the last second and taking two - three leaps and a halt. A look over her shoulder again to see, if she had managed to get the guy follow her.

Nunataq didn't move for just long enough that Lucas' attention began to wander, so when she zipped forward he was already off balance. He tried his best to redirect, throwing his torso upward into the air and trying to catch the swifter pup with his forelimbs, but she was already gone by the time he drove his weight down. He spun around and lumbered several steps in her direction, and then suddenly plunked down on his stomach in the grass, legs splayed.

Gosh, he was tired. Lucas hadn't noticed it until his throat hurt from breathing hard, but she had tuckered him out and it was catching up to him. He popped open his mouth into a wide grin and panted heavily, letting his sides heave as he waited out the sudden bout of exhaustion. Okay, Nunataq, you win this competition for who's the best athlete. Lucas wasn't going to be winning any Olympic medals any time soon.

He needed a drink, though, and slurped his tongue over his lips futilely.

The game was over too soon for Nunataq's taste and she was somewhat disappointed, when Lucas plopped down, evidently tired from all the activity. She sighed, gave a remorseful look around, while thinking of all the opportunities they could have had, if the boy had been able to keep up with her, and for a moment she toyed with the idea of going off by herself.

But then - not entirely out of sense of fairness to her playmate, but more of the practical aspect that having a company was a little bit more fun than being alone - she returned to her brother. She nosed and nuzzled the fur along his spine and nape and then lied down next to him, splaying her hind legs behind her.

She turned her head to sniff at the side of his face and then - having seen Indra and Laurel do this many times (and experienced this herself as well) began to lick clean the base and inside of his ear. Not that it was dirty or anything, just a different kind of attack.

Well, maybe the drink would have to wait, Lucas thought, because his eyelids were starting to droop. Nunataq shifted in and out of focus as she glanced around and decided what she was going to do. It was several slow blinks for him and one brief instance of almost nodding off before he felt the warmth of her weight against his back and shoulders. It woke him up just long enough to shift his forelimbs and get comfortable, and then he was nodding off again...

And then his ear was wet and Lucas jerked back to alertness. He was loathe to get up, since this spot and Nunataq at his back was comfortable, but he also wasn't super keen on her slobbery tongue in his ear. "Nooooo!" he protested, leaning as far away as possible from the wiry Apaata. Try as he might, he couldn't suppress the giggle that crept through his lips as he went on: "Ewww, Nu!"

Eureka! Nuna's face lit up, when she realized that besides speed, teeth and claws she had another weapon in her arsenal. Plus, Lucas made the mistake of laughing, thus telling his sister that he was enjoying this and that play-time was not over yet. Therefore she doubled her efforts, by getting to her feet and covering not only his ear, but the whole top of his head with sweeping licks and occasional nips, where she pretended to catch a flea or some other bug.

And while doing this, she was smiling and her tail wagged in a happily behind her. Who knew that giving a bath to someone else could actually be fun!

Nunataq didn't take his protests seriously. Who could blame her? Lucas wasn't being very convincing with his chortling and his half-hearted leaning. If he wanted to he could probably bowl over his half-sibling with all his girth and strength, forcing her to quit, but that would end the game. Even though it was gross, he enjoyed the attention. So he didn't take advantage of the size difference to force any sort of outcome, and only did his best to keep his head as far from her as possible, laughing all the while.

She was clever, though, and rose to her feet in order to better reach. Squealing, Lucas flopped onto his side and futilely attempted to cramp his head down between his forelegs. "No, Nu!" he protested again, heaving with laughter as she slobbered all over him. His ear was wet, the canal filled with pup drool and the side of his face sticky with it. "Stoooooop," he wheezed, reaching for her with a fat paw to push her away upon realizing that his stomach was beginning to cramp with the force of his laughtewr.

Nunataq's grin grew even wider, when she heard her sibling giggle. Not yet able to utter a laugh herself, she found the sound particularly pleasant and amusing. And she continued to wash Lucas for a good while longer, despite his protests and avoiding his attempts to push her away.

And - who knows, perhaps, he would have ended being a bit bald on the head and missing tips of his ears from the very excited and thorough washing-lady - had it not been for Indra's arrival and call for lunch. And Nuna, who never missed a meal, let go of him immediately, shot a quick glance of "are you coming too?" variety and then dashed over to her caretaker to see, what she had brought them this time.

You can fade out in your next post and we can have a new one. I think that these two have a potential of becoming very good friends.

As much as he protested and wiggled against Nunataq's ticklish ministrations, Lucas enjoyed them, too. He was mildly put out when Indra arrived and called out, taking Nunataq's attention away, but the promise of food had him quickly up on his feet. He was going to need a nap soon, he decided with a wide yawn, but the damp pup was more interested in what Indra had brought them than sleeping at the moment. It wasn't until later, once they'd eaten, that Lucas parted from Nunataq and sought somewhere to lie down for the afternoon.