Sleeping Dragon waking at dusk

@Wildfire

Rey yawned, and when she closed her mouth her little teeth came together with a satisfying snap. Moving about could be tiring work, and recently the puppy had graduated from squirming and wriggling to pouncing and darting. She did that right now, doing a great uppity leap upon a blade of grass and then running to the other end of the den without pause.

Soon something invisible beckoned her to the entrance of the den, where soft dusk light was pouring in. She twitched, and her baby blue eyes widened as she gazed into the glorious grassy beyond.

Wildfire took it easy for a couple of days after her return, staying off her feet and resting in the shade cast by the newly leafy trees dotting the landscape. Her energy slowly returned after a few square meals and several good sleeps. Even though the sky was currently darkening into a pretty July twilight, she felt refreshed, even a little peppy, and decided to take a brisk walk around the commander's domain.

Consciously or subconsciously, she found herself moseying toward Gyda's den. As she approached, Wildfire saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She had frightened a young rabbit hiding in the grass. It shot toward the den, then veered sharply. Not one to miss a chance to nab some small game, the red Trapper lunged after the fleeing rodent, striking the back of its neck with expert accuracy and dispatching it with a decisive snap!

In an exceptionally rare moment of stillness, the buzzy pup watched as a scene played out right before her wide eyes. She had never seen anything like this before, but her paws twitched as if she felt that she could be the larger of the two figures.

She had never seen an adult wolf run, she had never seen a rabbit (those ears were amazing) and she had never seen this.

Her heart soared high. Having never so much as come close to articulating anything thus far, by chance or by fate Freyja now gasped her first word out at the sunlit scenario: fly!

In her impromptu haste, Wildfire hadn't even noticed the small smudge of color in the nearby den's mouth. But when a small voice piped up, she immediately glanced in that direction, her jaw falling slack so that the freshly dead rabbit dropped to the ground at her feet. Immediately, her black tail began to wave. She very nearly stepped over the kill, leaving it there to rot, but then remembered herself and haphazardly grabbed it again as she loped over to the small cave.

"Freyja!" she said the instant the carcass slipped from her maw again. "Was that you? What did you say? 'Fly'?" Her amber eyes glowed as Wildfire dipped her head down to nuzzle fondly at the crown of the girl's head. She already looked so different from just prior to the Bandrona's trip and though her heart twinged for all she had surely missed in that time, it was still so good to see the pups growing and thriving.

It was Wildfire! Rey recognised her the moment she started speaking, and her tail whacked back and forth as she paced playfully on the spot then leapt up to give the adult a nip on the cheek.

But there were more important things to attend to. The dramatic event she had just witnessed had resulted in something very curious, and she ran over to the bunny (because she didn't do "walk").

Boo, she murmured curiously as she put her tongue on its face.

She didn't answer, her attention shifting instead to the dead rabbit. Wildfire grinned and sidestepped, watching the little girl as she investigated the carcass. She wasn't sure whether the pups were being weaned yet and tipped her head as Freyja's tongue poked out to lick the rabbit's face. There was blood pooling beneath its head from the puncture wounds on the back of its neck and Wildfire wondered if the pup would eventually try a taste.

"Boo?" she found herself echoing again, heart skipping a beat at the child's cooing attempts at speech. She did a bit of a belly flop beside Freyja, then leaned forward to poke at her, nose skimming ticklishly across her little rib cage. "Do you eat meat yet, Freyja?" Wildfire asked, wondering how the pup would reply, whether she understood the question in any capacity.

Rey nosed at the rabbit lightly, hoping it would get back up and the running could continue. But it didn't happen. Her disappointment was short-lived, however, as Wildfire gave her a little tickle and Rey giggled lightly.

The puppy looked up, a tiny dob of rabbit's blood now on the end of her nose. Fly? she asked hopefully, looking at the rabbit and back up into Wildfire's awesome face. Fly! She did a bounce.

The tot didn't reply, though that was really no surprise. The next word out of her mouth did cause the Bandrona's eyebrows to shoot up in curiosity and surprise. "Fly?" she echoed, wondering what Freyja might be trying to convey. Her eyes crinkled at the edges as she smiled down at the bouncy baby. "I don't know how to fly. I wish," Wildfire said a little wistfully, putting her face close to the pup's again. "Do you know how to fly? Do you think you could teach me?"

Rey understood a little of what was being said, and cocked her head as she listened. Fly, said Wildfire. Yes!

The tiny sprinter leapt up and pranced around in circles, then nudged the rabbit as if urging it to get up. Fly! she requested happily, in a runner's stance, hoping that the whole hunter's scene could play out again with her in its midst.

Wildfire's repetition of the word clearly excited the puppy. She twirled, then nudged at the rabbit as if telling it to get up and fly. Something clicked in the yearling's head and she moved forward, grasping the carcass in her jaws. She paused to see if the little one was paying attention, then whipped her head to send the lifeless body sailing into the air. It flew up in an arc, then dropped with a loud thump! about fifteen feet away.

One moment all giggles and tickles, now Freyja was wide-eyed and serious as she watched Wildfire go up to the rabbit... and lift it effortlessly into the air. This was insane, because the rabbit was huge (to Rey), though she supposed Wildfire was huger (to Rey). The little girl sprang and pranced around like a dog beneath a stick, then flew after the sailing bunny once it was launched. This was it! This was exactly what Wildfire had been doing!

*concludes* :o

It appeared she'd guessed right. Wildfire smiled and let out a breath as Freyja raced toward the rabbit's body, then trotted after her. She suspected the child would want her to do it again and she was proved right. The Bandrona flung the poor, dead hare into the air several more times, only calling it quits when she started to get a crick in her neck.

"C'mon," she said, ushering the little girl toward the den, "let's see about eating it, now that we've tenderized it." Wildfire plucked up the limp rabbit, dangling it over Freyja's head to tickle her with its ears, then sprinted toward the den with the puppy in tow.