The Sunspire she will rise above

She wasn't getting along with the new kids in her life, which was a stretch considering she loved everyone. It wasn't that she disliked them, they were just as lovely as everyone else! But the girl was still uncertain, and she had discovered that this uncertainty wasn't a good feeling. She didn't like the change from one place to the next and she didn't like how warm and cramped things were now, what with all the kids bunking together.

Today she'd ignored the other kids and ventured out of the safety of the alpha's den. She had forgotten about the cat and the danger of wandering around outside of shelter, but not the dread or the fear that had accompanied her last adventure — so her steps were careful, precise, and her eyes were looking at every little thing as she made her way, as if it would rise up and strike at her. The shadows made her nervous, you see.

One particular shadow seemed to be following her as she went, and it took some time for the girl to really take notice. Once she did she stopped and stared, wide-eyed, as the shadow got closer and crossed over her vision, blocking the sun. It was another painfully long moment before she recognized the scent of @Terance — and with a bubbly gasp, and called out to her father, Daaah!

terance had now failed his daughter. he had not been around to protect her, to save her. he had been patrolling, like he always was— so to say he was doing something wrong was... wrong, but terance still blamed himself. he’d failed his own sweet, soft angel. 

so of course, when she snuck out of the alphas den today he’d noticed. terance has taken to guarding a little ways off, sitting and watching and waiting. he could control more this way. not wanting to teach ibis that the world was a bad place, because it wasn’t, of course, she was just too young to protect herself, he didn’t atop her. instead, he followed close behind. he didn’t make any effort to not be seen, but he didn’t rush up to her right away. 

but ibis was smart. she scented him and turned and called out to him. terance had rounded out in front of her, and padded towards her once she realized it was him. ”hey little bird,” he said gently to her, ducking his nose to give her a soft kiss, ”where are you off to?”

Like before when she'd called for Rannoch, her father was there on the double. He was doing something but it didn't seem very important (she was more important by default, obviously), and as he kissed her nose she smiled at him. Ibby wan go! She protested without missing a beat, being all buisiness lately. She knew what she wanted and the fact that Rannoch had said no only a day or so ago hadn't mattered; she knew her daddy was going to do what was best for her. The concept of pack ranking didn't register in her young brain yet — her parents would outclass every adult she ever met, at least for the next few months, and it was reasonable to think Terance would do exactly as she asked.

Ibby go nah, daddy too! Daddy an' Ibby! Okay, so she was forgetting about Ohno right this second, and it was unclear if she was asking to go for a walk with her dad or to be returned to her old den, but either way she was waddling off whether Terance was keeping up or not. She ducked under him and wove hastily between his legs, popping out by his tail a second later and scurrying for the shadows of a nearby tree. We go! She called as she went.

of course terance would always do what was best for his daughter but, further than that, how could he ever tell her no? ibis was a small precious snowflake and he didn't have it in that big ole heart of his to tell her anything but yes-- similarly to how he dealt with seabreeze, actually, like mother like daughter.

"go where?" he questioned, met only by more demands to go! and then after some cute little wiggles and weaves-- things that made poor terance's heart swell-- ibis took off. of course, she was so small that it was hardly fast, terance followed after with ease as she took off towards the line of trees, his tail now high and curled over his backside as his ailments were suddenly replaced with pure love and affection for his only daughter. "i'll bet you'd make a great scout, just like your aunt wraen," he told her with a broad smile. that'd be a good trade for her to pursue... one day.

She was set on some course of action, and while it wasn't clear what was foreshadowed for the youngster, nothing slowed her down. Without a beat she came up to - and climbed over - a small ridge that rose up in her path, and then found herself facing off with some low scrubby grass and bushes that looked utterly imposing next to her tiny self.

Her father was behind her. Ibis felt liberated as she got further from the den, and looked back as if to proudly examine her progress with a tiny nod of her chin; yes, she could do this! She was just as mobile as everyone else! This was good! Her little tail wagged, and after a glance at her father she mimicked his curling tail by arching her's over her back.

She was about to resume her travels when he spoke, and at the mention of her friend she was briefly distracted: Ween! She corrected with glee, and her tail gave a wiggle. Ween do stoh-wee! An' Ibby sing fo' Ween! She had about-faced and was chattering happily with her father, but after a moment realized she had gotten distracted and turned around again, huffing and puffing, and marching again. Buh no! Ibby go nah, go fine -- Dah, Ibby show Dah! Whatever she wanted to show her father must've been very important.

Of course, all of this was occuring within a ten foot radius of the alpha's den; no matter how far she thought she was getting, it really wasn't that impressive.

his smile shone as ibis talked about her singing for wraen and about wraen's storytelling. of course, terance always prided his own storytelling but... yes, wraen was a bit more colorful and creative, he'd give her that. "yes, you're so good at singing," he praised her, though quickly her attention was yanked right back to their adventure, leaving terance to simply follow behind.

"show me what?" he questioned curiously, wondering what in the world ibis would have for him to see. had she been here before? somehow, something told him that she would simply find something for him to see when they got there-- there being an undisclosed location that even ibis herself didn't know. "i'm coming, i'm coming," he then added softly. he was, he was.

As she clambored over the hill (which wasn't a hill at all, she was just so freakin' small and everything was nearly insurmountable to her), she managed to get her paws tangled in the reaching tendrils of some ferns. They blanketed much of the forest floor at this point and even under duress from the summer sun, there were enough withered plants left to cause havoc. She bumbled along until they snared her little feet, and suddenly she was going butt-over-head, somersaulting down an incline that any other wolf probably would've just avoided. Her tailbone connected with the dirt a moment later, and her raised tail was suddenly held against her exposed belly, but she didn't even have time to cry out before she was sliding again. When she stopped, she was back on her feet in a very small gulley and looking sheepishly around. She wasn't hurt (the fall itself took a few seconds and wasn't too hard on her), but she looked a bit stunned, as if the ground had suddenly decided to rise up and stop her from her adventure. How dare it!

oh no-- before terance could see what was happening his daughter was tumbling down the hill away from him. "oof-- oof--" he huffed a few times as he went after her, nosing her gently. she looked fine-- a little stunned-- but oh god what if something was wrong? he licked her softly on the head, tail still and raised. "you're okay, little bird-- you're okay," he said gently, trying to be reassuring, trying to nose her back to her feet, "you gotta be more careful." 

terance grimly thought back to galaxy, his heart breaking. the mountains were not truly a good home for puppies.

The fall seemed to have distracted her enough from her quest, because when Terance began to help her up, she was more than happy to get his help and then she began to protest, Dah, I tire, I.. I wan' home now. She was on her feet and wobbly, perhaps because of the long hike (for her little legs) away from the den. Ibis watched him with her big bright eyes as if a "puppy dog look" was necessary.

terance nodded understandingly. he scooped her up by the scruff and carried her back home, placing her with seavreeze and her brother and giving her a gentle kiss to the head. "sleep tight, ibis," he cooed gently to her, settling down beside his wife.