Redhawk Caldera [m] This is the War Room

Well, Fox supposed that giggling was better than some of the other alternatives (none of which she could think of right now). After a few moments, Fox allowed Wifi to escape her grasp, nudging the girl to get her to stand again. "Failing gracefully is another skill important to warriors. We don't always win, so we need to know when to quit." It was the reason Fox was still alive. "Sometimes, you have to surrender for your life... or for the life of somebody important to you." Fox had let trespassers flee because the effort of catching them was not worth the reward. In most cases, they would not come back.

Fox kept her pinned in place for a moment or two before relenting and nudging Wildfire to her feet. Feeling a bit breathless and jellylike from her giggle fit, she nonetheless blinked to rapt attention when her mother mentioned an important lesson. "We don't always win," her mother noted and the pup's mouth straightened into a contemplative line. She nodded decisively to show she understood. That was the part that made being a Warrior a bit scary: one day, she would have to face an opponent who would almost certainly have an advantage over her.

Wildfire felt a mild shudder pass through her when Fox mentioned saving her life or the lives of others'. "How do you surrender?" she wondered quietly, head tilting to the side. Surely laughing herself silly wasn't an appropriate way to demonstrate surrender, so what was the protocol for something as important (so life-or-death) as that?

A good question, and one that Fox was happy to answer. "You either flee," she said, thinking back to the trespasser who had attempted to do so not so long ago, "or you submit, belly up." Neither guaranteed saving your own ass, but they certainly helped. Most wolves wouldn't go through the trouble of following up another wolf kill, and would only do so in the most dire of situations. Fox preferred to flee when she was bested by her opponents. Speed was on her side, thank goodness, so it tended to work in her favor.

"Hopefully you’ll be on the winning side more often than not," Fox added, nibbling the top of Dhole's head. Somehow, Fox had managed it. She attributed most of that to her constant grappling with her own siblings (Dove most certainly) and her daring nature that drove her to piss off everybody she came into contact with. She'd been young (and foolish and free!) back then, and she had no doubt matured into a more respectable—well, that was debatable—creature.

Just like Fox, Wildfire pictured the male her mother and Sebastian had recently run out of the caldera. The other option was to submit by showing her belly. Neither scenario sounded like any fun. Of course, losing was no fun. But even the young puppy, who knew relatively little of the world, understood that she couldn't win every single game she played—for fun or otherwise.

"Hopefully!" she chirped in agreement. Then her stomach snarled loudly and she giggled. Hadn't they just eaten breakfast?! Well, she was a growing pup—and a Warrior now—so she needed meat to keep her fueled. "Can we go find something to eat?"

Wifi is so giggly today! Also, I just got mega praise at my work. *punches sky*

"Of course we can," Fox replied. While Peregrine was the primary hunter in their little family, Fox occasionally hunted for herself (and the pups). Besides, it was one of her main duties as a mother, and feeding her children was the key to making them strong. And strong they would be! All three of them were growing and developing at such a rate that Fox could barely keep up with them. In only a few more months, they would practically look like adults. The fireball led the way, knowing Wildfire would be close behind.