Sleeping Dragon daylight

Dawn was upon the mountain colony. Splashes of coral shone radiantly against its periwinkle backdrop as the day began to mature. Freyja was the first one awake that morning and such sights drew her from the den and into the open. Despite her curiosity she would not wander far from her family. She would wait for them to wake and enjoy the serenity of it all until that moment.

A yawn escaped her frosty lips as she emerged from the den and was greeted by the pleasant sights before her. She stayed a few paces away from the main entrance before settling onto her haunches to tip her head back to marvel at the beauty that nature had presented that early morning.

Most nights, when not raining, Gavriel sleeps beneath the stars. He keeps a little distance from the whelping den but it is always within view should he turn and look and, if needed, can be there within a matter of seconds. When he sees a small head pop out of the den, he lifts his head and watches the silvery babe make herself comfortable and he waits to see if another may follow behind her. The father gives it a few minutes before he stretches out his legs and picks himself up to trot toward his first born daughter.

“Good morning, strik natshana,” he murmurs when he reaches her, lowering to press his nose to hers with a gentle lick across the top of her head.

Despite her longing for some peace and quiet she was soon joined by her father. Her ears were quick to pick up on the sound of heavy paws and as he neared she turned her attention to him with loving eyes. She loved her noni more than words could describe and every moment with him was cherished in the young girl’s heart. “Nowni!” she purred upon his arrival, her muzzle tipping skywards so that she could she could place a kiss upon his chin.

Pulling back, she looked to him with a tamed sense of excitement. “Shopta?” Though only a night's sleep had separated them she wished to know everything that he had experienced since they had last seen each other.

Italics are trigedasleng.

Freyja's excitement rubs off on him quickly, tail wagging behind him and a thrum of his heartbeat increases. She'd been such a happy puppy from the beginning and he's thankful it has remained in tact and that, each day, he is closer to each one. Her words string together and he finds himself amazed at the development while his time with puppies in Seageda had been limited only to his siblings. Hearing his own native tongue come from his daughter fills him with a pride that he'd never felt before, finding it difficult to recollect a moment similar to this from his past. 

"Os," he murmurs as he settles himself on the ground with a heavy plop. Most of his time is spent with the puppies as a whole and it's early enough the others are asleep, giving him some on one one time with the silvery beauty. "What do you want to do today?" he asks, wondering what she might do with her newfound freedom.

It was once he settled onto his haunches that she got onto her own paws. Clearing the short distance between them, she pressed her face to his shoulder and sighed happily. She had always wondered why he did not sleep with them in the den and opted to sleep beneath the stars. She thought that they den was quite a cozy tangle and his presence would be all the more comfortable. But she did not dare voice her opinion. Instead, she drew back from her embrace as he asked something of her. She was to decide what she wanted them to do.

Falling back to sit once more, the eldest Goufa looked up to her father with concentration. There was so much that she wanted to do with him! They could chase bugs, smell plants, run around-- the options were endless! And yet, she remained speechless. Tilting her head with a pouted lip she looked up to him with confusion, not finding the right words in that moment.

He snakes his neck around the girl as she approaches and nestles into her, holding her close for as long as she remains. His heart thumps heavily a few times and he closes his eyes, breathing her puppy scent and setting it to memory. He’s done this time and time again, with each one, but he knows he doesn’t want to forget what the babes smell like once they’ve gotten bigger and grown up and out of their parents care. They won’t be like this forever, and he already missed the first week of their life, and for someone that thought he might not have been as involved, has certainly been quite a staple in their short lives.

Freyja doesn’t offer a response, her expression changing to something thoughtful and, a second later, a little defeated. Gavriel’s head tilts a little to the side and lowers his nose, touching her cheek when she doesn’t say anything to his inquiry. 

“Wanna go play in the stream?” he asks gently with a playful smirk. “Get you all muddy and see how nomi likes it?”

Uncertainty and thoughts riddled through her mind as she contemplated in silence. She would have been lost for many more moment if it hadn’t been for her father’s input. She beamed instantly at his consideration and nodded quickly. Oh, nomi would love it! She was sure! “Shwa, Nowni!” she said as she stood. That is how they would spend the day-- splashing around!

Wagging her tail, the pale Goufa pranced off in the general direction of the river and paused a few paces away. Once she paused, she looked over her shoulder and beckoned him with a tilt of her head. Let's go!

Freyja lights up to his suggestion and his tail beats the ground a few times. She agrees, stands, and bounds off in the distance all in one fell swoop that makes him realize how much energy she has. Uncertain if he can keep up, Gavriel grunts to pick himself up and trots the short distance to keep up.

“Mafta op,” he offers, lowering to nudge her along and trots easily toward the river. He keeps his pace slow so they can match one another and the stream isn’t too far from the den. It’s not terrible impressive but it’s wide and shallow, coming up a little past his ankles, safe enough for Freyja to get in and romp around without any danger.

He turns and plops himself down in the cool water, splashing his paws in her direction to invite her in.

She was absolutely giddy once Gavriel trotted in her direction and began to lead. Without another word, the daughter trotted after her father, looking up with a grin as they walked side-by-side. It did not take the duo long to make it to the stream and when they arrived Freyja paused on the shore with wide eyes. “Woooah,” she whispered breathlessly at the sight. She was always taken with how the area was just so pretty!

After she had taken the time to admire the scenery she trotted in after her father with a large grin upon her face. “Nowni!” she exclaimed, looking from her father to the rolling currents below. Then, without another word, the child suddenly began to stomp in place jovially and giggled as she watched the stream water fly all about.

Freyja’s wonder spreading across her face hits him like a brick wall. He forgets how to breathe and he has to remind himself to kick it into gear. He has so many more moments like this he gets to see and there’s an element of surprise that keeps him lost in his thoughts. This gift he’s received playing out before him and, without missing a beat, he splashes his paw into the stream in tandem with his daughter.

She could not think of anything more perfect than where they were in that moment.The sun beamed overhead and the father-daughter duo splashed about in the stream and her laughter rolled with the tide. As she splashed, he did. Breaking from her splashing, the cub bounded over so that she could stand underneath her father’s muzzle, reaching up to kiss his chin. Her tail waved as she looked to him happily, enjoying their time.

Gavriel splashes one final time once Freyja has come to a stop. He swings his head around to see if something is wrong but her wide smile eases the sudden tension forced on his body. He shifts as her kisses tickle his chin and he grumbles lowly in his chest, turning his head so that with one fell swoop of his paw, he’s flipping her over in the water to blow across her belly.

One moment she is standing and the next she is on her back as breaths rustled at her underbelly. Being as ticklish as she was, the child squirmed underneath her father as he continued to tickle her and laughter escaped her unwillingly. Her limbs flailed as she attempted to gain some control over her tickling, but failed horribly at doing so. “Nowni!!” she exclaimed, drawing a forearm to bat at her father’s chest. “Swtap!!”

The girl who has turned mostly into limbs begins laughing and flailing around. The water splashes around her, only further soaking both of them and creating a much bigger mess than Gavriel had intended. Not in his concern for the moment, he continues to blow warm breath against her damp and matting fur despite the whacks he receives from her legs. One hits his chest just right in surprise and he lifts his head, giving her ample time to get back on her feet before massive paws swing around him to tackle her to the ground a second time.

She flailed happily as warm breaths ruffled her damp fur. Not really paying attention to where her paws landed, Freyja continued to lash out. It was as she made contact with her father’s chest that she was given a break from the tickling so that she could re-gain her footing. Jumping up onto her paws, Freyja jumped to her paws quickly only to be taken down moments later. “Nowni!!” she squealed from his grasp, withering like a wiggling worm.

To his surprise, she'd gone into the water again and he can't hold back the laughter rising from his chest. Her squirming made her look funny as she pleads his title and it is a moment later his grip loosens so that she can 'escape' from his wrath. Once she's out of reach, he falls forward and flops across the small stream as if to crawl for her but makes no real attempt to trap the puppy beneath large paws again.

Seeing what her father was doing next, Freyja couldn’t help but to laugh. He looked so silly slithering towards her. “Nowni!” Frejya exclaimed, her laughing harmonizing with her tone as she looked upon her father. “Whattsis?!” What are you doing?!

Freyja’s laughter becomes music to his ears as she sings while he still crawls through the muddy bank. He eventually gets to all fours and water drips from his fur, mud falling off him in chunks, and he braces himself for a sudden and forceful shake. Water and mud flings off in all direction, no doubt hitting his daughter here and there, but the whole point was to get her as messy as possible while she is enjoying it.

Peeking between her bouts of laughter, Freyja caught glances of what her father was doing before she was overtaken by the hilarity of the situation. Her laughing was interrupted as mud began to land upon her light coat. Smiling widely, Freyja suddenly began to bound from the river and towards the muddy bank. If the goal for today was to get as dirty as possible she was going to do just that. But, she would also make sure that the Gona was just as muddy as she was.

She searched the bank briefly until her eyes laid upon the muddiest area. Once this was found, Freyja quickly trotted over to the spot, flopped onto her side, and began to roll. She continued to do this until she felt adequately covered.

Once she felt she was covered, the child got onto her paws and lurched herself in her father’s direction, shrieking a mighty battle cry as she near him. Once she was close enough Freyja aimed herself towards the limb that was closest to her.  As she made contact with his leg, Freyja began to rub herself against him, smirking as she did so.

wanna wrap it up? :)

He turns to see the girl running for him, screaming a cry well enough for the battlefield, and he braces for impact. There isn’t much force behind herself thrown at him, but he gives an over-exaggerated oof before she rubs her muddy form against him. He belts out a laugh, lowering his head and nudging behind her ear that smears a particularly large clump of mud. It is likely Gyda will turn them around and send them off to clean up but the fun and happiness in Freyja’s eyes is enough to give him that risk.

“Let’s go,” he murmurs, nudging her along.

Now that they had both dirtied themselves up they were prepared to return home to Gyda. Nodding at her father’s direction she followed after dutifully. Though they would probably get turned away, the child had had the time of her life and was glad to have some quality time with Gavriel.