Dragoncrest Cliffs Don't know how to fade in and out.

Minor PP here of family, tagged for reference. Let me know if you'd like me to change it. All welcome!  :)

Having only recently surpassed his eight week, there had of course been some discussion among the adults of relocating Dacio and his sisters to a rendezvous site. Too young to care much for talk of a Hougeda or what it might mean, he was instead content to place his focus elsewhere. His parents were a new level of boring when they talked about serious stuff, especially when there was a whole new world beyond their densite to explore.

Dacio, nose to the ground and white-tipped tail straight out behind him as though tracking something, trailed toward the outskirts of the bounderies his mother had put in place for her children. @Portia, spying her wayward son's bold attempt at escape, reprimanded him with a sharp bark that caused him to veer toward her with a smile of feigned innocence. I'll behave, promised the glint in his blue-green eyes as he lifted his head to meet his mother's gaze, and he dropped to rest among the grasses to bask - defeated - in the warmth of the afternoon sun.

A spider crawled across an outstretched forepaw and, without hesitation, he lowered his head to boop it with his nose. Narrowly avoiding being smooshed by a wolfish snout, the arachnid made to scurry off in a bid for freedom. Dacio yipped at the little creature and gathered himself to scamper after it, reaching out with an oversized paw in attempt to trap it between his toes.

Kiwi had yet to pay much attention to the others, pups who weren't her family.  But apparently they were Portia's and therefore had Dalia as a sister.... and suddenly Kiwi was jealous, because despite loving her own siblings a lot, she wanted Dalia as a sister too.

Basically Kiwi wants everyone to herself all the time.

She felt finally like seein the new ones, though, so she got @Wildfire to show her where.  Her mother accompanied her, but paused to speak with whatever adult was present while Kiwi immediately charged forward, her ears flicking back and only grudgingly slowing after a yelled "Kiwi! Careful!" Came from behind.

"Hi!! Who're you?" She asked, her tone almost too demanding to be friendly, but she did lower her nose and wag her tail.  She was older, and that meant she got answers first, right? Not only that but her moms were in charge, so she got double points.

With the spider squirming beneath his dark paw, Dacio dipped his muzzle to collect it. Jaws parted, the little Goufa fully intended to consume his prey simply because he could, but the arrival of two wolves - one familiar, the other a stranger - distracted him from the task he'd set for himself. 

He wriggled happily on the ground at the sight of Wildfire, and emitted an excited whine as he fought to contain his enthusiasm for her visit. The russet adult did not move in to greet him, however, instead pausing to engage with his own mother, but her smaller companion headed right for him. Dacio pulled himself upright, freeing the bug he'd caught, and it disappeared among the grass in a desperate bid for escape.

"Hi hi," the boy chirped in response, unphased by the other pup's demanding tone. He beamed up into her face, welcoming himself closer to shove his nose among the tufted brown fur of her throat to sniff deeply. "Dacio! You Bat?" Because she smelled a lot like her!

Luckily for Kiwi, she was too busy appraising the other pup to notice the spider scuttle away.  The little girl wasn't much into bugs.  She wasn't hugely impressed with Dacio either, a fact that was doubled down on by the fact that he even called her the wrong thing.  How could he get her and her sister mixed up?!  "No dummy, I'm Kiwi," she said, huffing a sigh.  Still, she let him sniff her, because he was pack and that's what you did.  She gave a few sniffs back too for good measure; he smelled like Portia and Dalia.

"Let's play," she said finally, deciding that because he smelled like one of her fave adults he deserved a game!  And if she played with him, she could make him be it, because he was littler.  She bounced a bit... of course he'd say yes! Who didn't like playing? Aside from Bat sometimes, but Bat was just kinda wierd.

"Ohh," he drawled, wonder and amazement in his eyes, completely missing the fact that his newest companion's intention was to insult him for having unknowingly offended her. So while Kiwi scoffed at him in annoyance, Dacio peered up at her with an expression similar to this.

Finally, after a few moments of trying to figure the dark-furred puppy out, the ashen Goufa wondered if maybe he'd done something to irritate her. Opalia often reacted by sulking or whining when he breathed on her or looked at her the wrong way, and he supposed this was not entirely dissimilar. But before he could think more on his latest confusion, Kiwi changed her attitude and announced that they should play, to which his dim expression brightened.

"What we play?" Dacio chirped in question, scruffy tail wiggling at his rear as he prepared to follow the older child's lead.

He was definitely dumb, but that suited Kiwi just fine, because she recognized a lackey when she saw one.  And anyone willing to take orders from her was a-ok by her!

Here's hoping she grows out of that, but prospects are lookin bleak.

"Hide an seek!" She said immediately.  "You go hide, an I try and sniff you out!"  She could have been the hider, but being the finder was way more fun because she got to try tracking.  She didn't consider that his parents might take issue to a game they encouraged wandering and hiding; surely it was a good idea!  "I can count to fifty." She added, figuring that was enough time for her to have to wait.

He beamed, excited, and managed to resist the urge to bounce on the spot as Kiwi announced their game: hide and seek! He'd never engaged in this with his sisters before, nor did he know the rules of such play, but Dacio was eager to learn the ropes. He stared up at the dark-furred youth, tail sweeping the air, and nodded his head enthusiastially as she encouraged him to be the hider.

"Okay!" Dacio chirped, charcoal ears thrust forward as he peered around for an appropriate hiding place. He barely gave her any opportunity to start counting to whatever fifty was, but finding somewhere good to fit himself into seemed like an urgent task. Padding away from his newest playmate, the boy made a beeline toward the two adults settled nearby and (rudely) pressed himself alongside @Wildfire's seated flank. "Shhh," he announced, hushed, to the unsuspecting she-wolf, "don' tell her I'm here!" Because Kiwi would never hunt for him near her parent, would she?

Kiwi was extremely tempted to peek, but didn't.  Even this little, she was competitive (especially with herself), and how would she rest herself properly if she knew where he was? Besides, how well could he even hide?

She counted, making only a few mistakes (thirty, thirty one...... thirty ten, thirty leven, forty, ...) and so on.  Thirty ten sounded right, but thirty twelve definitely wasn't a thing.  

Finally, she was ready!  She started sniffing, catching where he was and circling around.  But when she got nearer where the adults were, it got muddled, and the crossed tracks confused her inexperienced nose.  So she lifted her head and looked, chewing her lip thoughtfully.  Where'd he go?

No finding yet.  She saw Wildfire watching with a smile and lowered her head to keep sniffing, now not wanting to lose with an audience especially!

rolled her a 7 so she doesn't find him yet!

He waited impatiently, straining to peek past the adults and spy his cousin across the clearing as she counted (whatever that meant) before he himself firmly to Wildfire's side, eager to keep himself hidden. Dacio heard the other cub begin her hunt, his own excitement brimming as his little tail swept the air and he beamed up at the russet she-wolf's smiling face.

"Teehee," he giggled quietly, burying his snout among the crimson of the Feisripa's flank in a poor effort to melt into her fur.

rolled a 17 thankfully :D

Kiwi was in the zone now.  She frowned, wrinkling her nose, and doubled back, this time managing to catch it! Aha.  His trail led towards the adults, and she grinned, pouncing on her mother and tumbling over her in a playful manner that brought her a rough (but amused) shove in response.

"Found you!" She yelled when she plopped down on the other side of her mother, grinning.  "Now it's my turn to hide! No peeking, or else."  She didn't know what else was, but he had to play fair, because those were the rules.

Fading here.  <3

Kiwi's arrival was a dramatic one, and Dacio ducked with a yip of surprise to avoid her tumbling display. He pulled himself onto his dark paws, preparing to dash away and avoid her turning to pounce him instead of Wildfire, but the dark-furred Goufa instead insisted that he play his part. He wagged his tail then, glad to have escaped her assault, and nodded obediently in agreement.

Briefly, he looked up at the russet adult he'd settled beside, then to his mother for instruction. She spoke the numbers, encouraging him to count out loud, and Dacio suqeezed his eyes shut to allow his play-mate the opportunity to sneak off for a new hiding place.

"Here I come!" Dacio announced, making to circle to the opposite side of Wildfire to see if Kiwi had hidden herself in plain sight before veering toward the grasses in search of her.