Noctisardor Bypass bleirona

mahler meant to bring the children together as many times as he was able. today, worripa stayed with their mother while the gargoyle took her near sequoia's den again. she chirruped loudly, not recognizing the place, but filling herself with the scents that were here.
the inchworm was long from mind, but she had not forgotten @Druid, and barked, toddling in a small circle. perhaps the other would join her today. she would be returned home when the hunger had come to her again.

The rough bark of the holly branch felt good against her gums. Druid wore a patch in the outer bark and wrinkled her nose at the acrid taste of the softer heart underneath. She pushed the stick away, only to pause and peer wonderingly at the color revealed: pale green, a few shades lighter than grass and leaves.

Commotion outside the den drew her attention. She toddled curiously toward its mouth and saw the familiar Mahler. And, for the second time, the small white puppy accompanied him.

Druid loitered in the doorway. She glanced behind her, where Witch napped beside their mother. Sequoia caught her eye and silently motioned for her to go ahead.

The puppy huffed quietly and faced forward again. She wished Witch was awake so she would come with her. Druid slowly stepped out into the open and moved toward the pair, expression shy.

mahler sat back upon his haunches. skaigona moved forward, small tail wriggling behind her. "skai!" she said proudly of herself, having recently learnt the proper name-sound that her mother used. not all of it, but all of it did not matter to skaigona, for now.
druid's breath smelled like green things. 
the little war-child repeated the syllable again, staring at the other pup. perhaps she too had a name-sound to share. "its?" questioningly. was that it?

“Sky” was a word she knew. She glanced upward, observing the blue heavens dotted with clouds. Her gaze then dropped back to the other child.

She meant to repeat the word back questioningly but in her lingering bashfulness, she mixed up her letters and ended up saying, Ksy? Druid’s cheeks warmed beneath her fur as she bungled the word.

But then Skaigona said something so fascinating, it distracted her from her shyness. Itch? she parroted with understated excitement, looking around for her sister.

skaigona chuffed in pleasure at the small sounds the other child made. "skai. its!" this would be so. she did not yet understand that druid had her own name; she was content to give each of the still-strange pups the same sound. 
small tail revolved behind her. skaigona looked for mahler, saw him close, and returned her attention to druid. a bird had landed nearby, brilliant blue, and her mouth widened in surprise as she put all her focus upon it. "brr!"

But she didn’t see Witch anywhere. Druid had no choice but to turn and thrust her small snout back inside the den, only to find her litter mate still slumbering beside their mother. Her brow furrowed questioningly before she spotted her holly stick lying abandoned on the stony floor.

She trundled over to fetch it, pausing again to make sure Witch was really sleeping. Druid then closed her teeth around one end of the supple holly limb and dragged it outdoors, letting it drop before hopping out to stand beside it.

She wanted to call Skaigona’s attention to it, though she was too shy. And the smaller pup seemed preoccupied with a bluebird in a nearby treetop. Druid glanced at it too, admiring its plumage. It was almost the same color as the sky beyond it.

the two stared at the bird for a moment, and then skaigona brought her puppy-blue eyes around to see what druid had dragged from the den. "ooh!" she exclaimed, pawing at one of the leaves. for the most part, however, this time the girl did not seek to shred or bite the new thing.
she looked to druid. "what?" came the inquiry, the piping voice of a little hawk-chick wishing to discover her world. and if the other child knew this thing, then it would be all right. she would learn.

Soon, both pups’ attention returned earthward. Skaigona took notice of the holly stick, which elicited a pleased wave of Druid’s trail. Stick, she said with a soft smile. Mine, she added with a touch of pride, though she nosed at it, inviting her young playmate to take a closer look.

Druid took the opportunity to look it over herself, for the nth time. The recently exposed skin drew her attention again. She pressed her nose to the patch of tender green, wondering. She couldn’t possibly know of the five layers, that this was the cambium cell layer. But the difference in smell and texture certainly intrigued her.

mine. now there was a word that skaigona knew. she had heard it both from her own mouth and worripa's, after all. 
and while the spine-striped pup wished to whisk the stick away, there was a deeper feeling in her this time. exploration, the bending of two fuzzy heads over the object that seemed to have layers.
"where?" skaigona asked of the stick's origins, small tail swaying behind her. perhaps there were more! she would like to have one, to drag home and use for taunting her brother.

Remembering the taste, she resisted the impulse to touch it with her tongue again. She wondered if Skaigona might and whether the other little girl might share her opinion. Her eyes wandered along the stick, curious if there was green hidden underneath the whole length.

Forgetting to respond to her friend’s query, Druid applied her teeth to another section of the limb, grinding her baby teeth against it. It felt wonderful on those freshly erupted canines and incisors, helping soothe her aching gums and satisfying the almost overwhelming desire to crunch.

No matter how hard she clenched her tiny jaws, the holly stick thankfully did not break. But Druid worked it roughly, soon slathering the bark with drool as she absently drilled down to its heart.

druid did not answer. skaigona found herself entranced by the way that her playmate's little teeth bit into the stick, revealing more of the new color. druid clutched the object tightly in her jaws, and the girl began to salivate in response.
a low whine. she reclined upon round belly and reached out a paw to gently touch the earth near druid, wondering if the other girl might share such an amazing find. puppy-blue eyes placating, deferring to the other child in their own way outside the hierarchy of rivenwood.

The activity was so soothing that Druid’s stare grew faraway as she continued gnawing. Her attention only drew back when Skaigona loosed a low whine and thumped a paw. The slightly older girl paused and let go of the stick, a spindle of saliva stretching between her muzzle and the wood chips that tumbled to the ground.

Sensing the unspoken question, Druid nosed the stick, pushing it within Skaigona’s reach. There was plenty of stick: well over four feet of it! With a tap of her tail, she shifted her weight from one elbow to the other and recommenced her own mindlessly happy chewing.

skaigona wiggled gleefully as druid favoured her with the lower end of the stick. it was a fitting time to yelp aloud with pleasure, the sound fading as she set her own aching teeth around the thing. 
it felt good, and she cut deeper and deeper with her baby fangs, staring off almost as druid had, a little growl bubbling in her throat. 
they gnawed together, two beaver pups upon the holly stick, and skaigona felt surely that she knew the taste of what green surely was.

That sour taste disrupted her meditative state again and Druid’s head reared as she once more released the stick. She pushed at it with a paw as her tongue curled, scraping against the backs of her new teeth as her eyes drifted to watch Skaigona for a moment.

The June sun pressed against the back of her neck like a warm palm and she felt her eyelids grow heavy. Tempted to climb back into the den to join her mother and sister, Druid instead lingered here with Skaigona and the holly stick. She stretched out on the grass with a yawn, resting her cheek on her extended forelegs.

S’eepy, she murmured to Skaigona moments before her eyes drifted shut.

<3

s'eepy. 
the declaration made skaigona's own jaws gape in a yawn as she watched druid settle against the grass, and then her playmate was off to slumber.
the girl, seeing no reason not to join, curled herself close to the other girl, and fell asleep with her forehead pillowed against one of druid's forelegs.
the sunlight went on, insects chirring in the distance.