Panther Park brother, sister too, do what you must do

APFEL!

as relmyna's night-cub grew older, so she grew bolder. daunting no longer were the outer borders of blackfeather, or even the meadows that flanked them. day by day her wandering took her farther, her curiosity compelling her further -- and at last she came across a massive body of water far bigger than any of the darkly simmering marshes of her home.

astara had delighted in exploring the banks, but before long she was back in grassland again. this one was different than the plains that hugged blackfeather's perimeter, and she stopped frequently to inspect a new scent or snap at a new insect flying by.

When you have thirteen children already and have helped naming a bunch and a dozen grandchildren, it is no wonder that you run out of suitable names. Therefore Apple's youngest daughter, who was a small and dainty creature in a litter of three brutishly large brothers, had run without a proper name for the first two months of her life. Both parents naturally had several options, but they could not find the best solution and none of the proposed names seemed fit for this particular girl. Therefore - because of her very sunny personality - she had been nicknamed "sunbeam" until a better name came along. And as it often happens with temporary names, this one sticked and by the time Apple and her then mate had come up with the perfect name, the kid herself refused to be called anything else than Sunbeam. 

And out of them all she missed the youngest daughter the most. While almost all her kids had taken after their relatives, this young lady had been an exact replica of her adventurous mom and in Apple's eyes she held a lot of promise. Therefore, when she was watching from afar a different teenage puppy romping around in the grass, she thought about Sunbeam and, what was she doing now.

it was awhile before astara noticed she had company, but when she did notice, she sprung upright and her fur lifted in surprise. she didn't like being watched and it was evident by her frilled fur, which stood on end in very serious affront.

the woman that watched her was given a rather surly look; those indigo eyes taking all of apple's features in their dark surface, and spitting nothing out. astara found despite her surprise, she was finding apple was a strange specimen to look at: she was fluffy, white, and almost matronly looking -- if astara had any word for that.

she didn't move from her spot, but after a few headbobs, seemed confident this stranger wasn't about to attack her, so she simply looked at her in an open way that said 'i know you see me'.

The pup noticed Apple and did not seem particularly pleased with being spied on. And this was very understandable, even though the older lady had no problems being looked at from any angle and way - visible and invisible. She even found it a little charming, if the peeping-tom did not reveal itself right away. So much the better to pretend and strike, taking the spy by surprise.

"I would take that crease away from your forehead, dove," Apple replied to the pup. "Do not want to get your lovely face all crinkly like a dry leaf, before the best part of your life is about to begin. My name is Apple Blackthorn - who may be you?"

the nightcub's pointed look was not returned; at least not in a way that astara could decipher as threatening. if anything, the strange wolf before her appeared harmless --and astara was the exact kind of puppy, with the exact lack of worldly experience, to believe in earnest that things were always as they appeared.

if anything, apple seemed matronly -- not that astara would have known that word; but she knew of its physical embodiment, which if you had of asked her (and if she was capable of answering) she might have said apple reminded her in some ways of relmyna.

it was the softness of her gaze, and nothing else - though being a similar shade as her dam certainly helped.

presently apple spoke to the night-cub, but lacking her own mastery of spoken word, astara's ears simply fell and her jaws shut. she could not understand the meaning of these rumblings, but could decipher from the woman's body language that she was perhaps friendly. her tail stirred curiously behind her, but astara made no motion to speak.

"Not the talking type, eh?" Apple asked out of habit, but not seriously expecting the cub to answer. It was alright and smart to be wary of strangers, even if they were just as charming and good-natured as her. Or - perhaps - extra careful, because of that. Nanny herself had been pretty lucky to be shielded from all evil in the world, always being among family members, but this did not mean that she was blind to the dark side of all things. 

Therefore she first sat down, then slid down to lie in a sphinx-like position, crossed her forepaws in front of her and said: "Well, I value a person, who does not waste words to the world. We may as well remain silent." And then she closed her eyes.

astara tilted her head like a tiny raptor as the adult continued her speech: it was all nonsense to the girl, but she liked the lilt in the adult's voice. it was different than the dry crack of relmyna's hoarse voice, or the indignant purl of maegi's tone - apple's voice sounded comforting, in some way.

thus when the woman slid into a sphinx-like position, astara mimicked her. in truth the girl was rapt with this white, fluffy she-wolf -- her tail beat into the ground as she felt the earth brush her belly, but she did not move again.

There did not seem to be much progress in their conversation, therefore Apple began to doze off. After all - she was not young anymore and her mind was using the resources more sparingly. If they were not required to deal with immediate problems, they got into a sleep mode. Very much like a computer, except without the charactersitic beep. 

She lied on her side, stretched her paws a bit and with a sigh, fell asleep.

astara had only been still a few minutes before the pale she-wolf closed her eyes; astara's gaze sharpened as she focused on the woman, noting the slow decline of tension, the nodding head, and at length, the soft flicker of eyes concealed behind sleep-heavy lids. throughout this transformation astara stood still, nary moving a muscle lest the alabaster wolf be disturbed.

after she felt an appreciable amount of time pass, the girl tested apple's commitment to sleep: she rose on slow limbs, treading carefully around the woman. all the while her posture was one of utmost concentration -- and then, merciless as a kitten, astara sprung on the back of the she-wolf's nape.

Apple had been on her own for a while, which meant less food than usual, but still the layer of fat had not depleted much, add her plush and thick fur in the mix and a lifetime of abuse from rascals and rascalinas and the result of Astara's surprise attack was quite disappointing. The old she-wolf opened one eye and without so much as turning her head, eyed the dark-pelted youngster mischievously. Then she sighed, yawned, stretched her feet again, but did not get up. If that was all the kid was capable off, then she might as well continue sleeping.

astara was ready to spring back, to defend herself -- after all, she had just done a dick move that would in blackfeather have merited a quick slap on the muzzle.


but no reprimand came. the melonii child eyed her "victim" warily, springing back like a cat as she stretched luxuriously and then... ignored her.

....

astara's ears fretted as she considered what to make of this. she was too young and lacking experience to know this was an expert trick done by studied parents - eventually, it would have the intended effect, but for now, astara rallied against this confusing gesture with all her might.

she rocked back on her heels and plunged her front paws forward, aiming to land on the she-wolf's scruff. if all went to plan she'd grab hold of a roll of loose fur with her teeth - her jaws light but growl deep.

All went to plan and Apple had something like a ginormous black flee attached to her scruff. The feeling was a little tingling, but the loose skin on that particular part of her body was toughened up over the years and had endured many puppy teeth before this. Therefore she let the kid to have her fun, then began to lazily roll on her back, if the girl was not careful (which she would probably be), the old matron would squash her.

this wolf was a new experience for astara, as most wolves understandably contested to teeth being placed upon them. but this wolf was outright ignoring her - astara's ears were splayed in confusion, and her brow raised: what was wrong with her that she was so... blaise?

and then all of the sudden, like an avalanche, the old matron heaved -- a pile of fur came down upon astara, who was not careful at all, and managed to be pinned in the process. with low little growls she struggled against this new weight, kicking against fluff and muscle in futile attempts.

it was no use: after tiring herself out astara slumped to the ground, feeling an unwelcome tingling in her crushed hinds.

The girl had probably never been squashed before - unlike Apple's last litter. They had learned to be escape-artists and detect avalanches of fur, flesh, bones and fat seconds before it rolled on them. Of course, this did not happen too often, because the old matron was an experienced mother and was careful with her babies. But sometime even the best of moms have not their good days and then...

Aside from muffle growls and feeble attempts to fight against her, the elder did not hear anything else. And when even these ceased, she quickly rolled back to lie on her belly and "booped" the kiddo. "Got you!" she said.

LMAO

most of astara's energy had been spent attempting to wrestle herself out from under the mounds of fur and flesh; she was limp and panting as the mountain moved -- she was scarcely able to summon enough energy to scowl, let alone dodge the incoming boop that positively rearranged her senses.

she growled and shook her head -- and then mustering up a final flourish, rose to shaky limbs and swung playfully towards apple's muzzle for round two.

Apple grinned mischievously in response to the girl's growl and apparent distaste for such a girly treatment. This attitude was also nothing new to the experienced mother, who had had great fun at embarrassing her adolescent sons any moment they considered themselves too grown-up and too cool to receive affection or guidance from their mom. All of them fought against in the beginning, but they gave up after the first try. 

Now the kid aimed for her face, she evaded and swatted at her with one of her forepaws.

again she was easily fended off! what the hey!! astara whirled in the dirt, reeling from the carefully placed smack of apple's forepaw. it was strong enough to alter her course, but not enough to seriously hurt her -- all the same the child felt frustration bubble close to her throat, and she fixed the matron with a squinty, flinty stare.

they were still playing, but astara was beginning to think she was being toyed with. with a huff that announced she was through with such deception, the girl jauntily sauntered right past the old woman -- and then sneaky as a snake, lunged for a broad hock.

Apple was not easy to deceive, she calmly followed the girl with her eyes and, when the kid's teeth sank into her foot, just a tad bit too roughly, she sprang to her feet, yanked the assaulted leg free, turned around and snapped in rascallina's direction. A fair warning that this kind of play was not acceptable. 

With this correction finished, she retreated few steps away, shook her coat thoroughly and, while pointedly ignoring the kid, began to sniff around some spot in the grass, as if that was the most interesting thing in the whole world.

astara's teeth had found their mark; a short-lived victory, given how thoroughly she was subsequently forced to relinquish the limb. astara set back -- if she wasn't stunned by the strength in which apple had forced her grip free, she was certainly stunned by the forceful flash of teeth that followed.

the message was clear, but astara hadn't had such a message delivered before. she stopped, her nose in the air and eyes narrowed, as she processed this bit of information. it seemed for a while the wheels in her head were either stalled -- or stopped -- but then something clicked in place, and the girl smoothly followed after the woman, a blackened shadow prowling with all the jauntiness of a gunslinger.

she didn't catch apple was pointedly ignoring her (again -- this seemed to be an unusually polished skill of the she-wolf; perhaps rearing scores of your own little hellions hammered that skill home with exquisite attention), so astara was happy to follow behind the fluffy woman. as apple scrounged around in a patch of grass, astara greedily and excitedly tottered after her, placing her face rather forcefully into the blades of grass being inspected. most wolves might have given some deference to the older she-wolf, but astara was not most wolves -- and she was utterly unphased by the novel concept of "personal space".

The kid was a peculiar one and did not give up easily. Apple managed to spy a while's worth of confusion and contemplation of the thing that had been done wrong, but then this was whisked away easily and the girl was back to her previous carefree and self-confident demeanor. Were it one of her own brood, the old crone would have been more strict. Since someone else was going to deal with this girl at the end of the day and on daily basis for that matter, she did not bother to do any more corrections.

She pretended to be busy for a while longer, to test the other's patience, finished her inspection with a pee mark on a VIS (known in dog language as "Very Important Spot") and turned around to eye the young she-wolf slyly. Then without a warning she sprang in her direction, as if intending to bowl her over, but never finishing the move, by leaping sideways and going down in a play-bow. Apple was not as fast as she was in her youth, but she did not mind romping around for a bit.

thrusting her head in the pile of grass hadn't given astara the reaction she hoped for; she held out anyway, slyly keeping the moving cloud of an adult in her peripherals as she nosed along the cold dirt. there wasn't anything here of interest, AT ALL!! she would have denied apple's VIS application, closed the shade, and yelled 'we're closed!' if she knew VIS was a designation -- or, if she even knew anything at all.

then, the adult peed on it -- astara jerked her head back in that offended way puppies often did when you forced them to smell a sock, or eat a lemon -- she had peed on that spot, just in front of astara's face --

HOW

DARE!

the girl's lips crinkled, and she sniffed her disapproval. she was about to give the adult another heckling when suddenly the tables were turned -- that cheeky old grandma had barreled towards her, giving astara enough time to react, but not get out of the way.

the hit never came -- apple was deceptively graceful for a big, moving dandelion-puff, and astara eyed her with a newfound interest as she playbowed. if she wanted to play, astara would show her play -- with a little growl she mimicked the bow, and then galloped by apple as if she were guilty of a drive-by shooting.

Apple let the girl advance and then shot sideways again, doing some lazy gallops in an unspecified direction and snatching up a piece of wood, so that it would help redirect the vengeful spirit's attack on her fluffy coat or the tender parts of her body (feet and belly). She paused to rearrange it a bit and chewed it a bit, having an expression of a person, who is doing the best thing in the whole world, then picked it up again and did the same leisurely run. She was not really trying to escape and she was a tad bit too old to engage in a full-fledged chase.

She played with the mute child a while longer and then left.