kool-aid ain't the only thing that's red

to any -or every one- of the pups :)
@Osprey Jr @Pura @Tytonidae @Saēna

It wasn't a secret that Amelie hadn't been top of her litter, she had been the bullied one. The frail girl between two reckless boys. Still that had never stopped her from pushing herself beyond the limit to prove herself, not only to her mother but to herself. What she lacked on strenght she made up on intelligence and witts.

That was how she had practically taught herself how to hunt. With no more than a quick lesson of the basics from her mother before her departure, Amelie had to learn to fend for herself. To her learning how to hunt hadn't been a fun experience between mother and child, mentor and apprentice. It had been a battle for survival. And even if she had managed to get the hang of it, there were still many things she could improve on.

Anyways her lack of knowledge hadn't stopped her from going hunting that morning, she'd get lessons soon enough. When she began to track down the path of a squirrel never in a million years she would've imagined to catch it in the first try. Maybe she had it in her blood.

The teen carried the squirrel proudly, trotting into the clearing where the pups now resided. She gave a muffled bark and dropped the little creature at her feet, waiting for the pups to arrive. The charcoal girl, waited for the pups to show, so she could give them their present. In the meanwhile, she licked some blood off her red tainted snout.

Pura was first on the scene, yapping cheerfully at the sight of food. He ate like a digger - without grace - and expended energy even quicker, so any addition to the usual slop the adults served up was a bonus.

Amelie was a familiar face by now, but Pura had avoided a formal introduction. He felt pressure to speak, and it blunted the force of his personality considerably. Checking first to make sure that the girls has not yet caught sight of the present, he whisked towards Amelie like a practised sewer rat, slinking dramatically around the legs of an adult in the way. His tail must have tickled something, because the ash-grey Virtúte earned an affectionate nip for that.

Amelie was cleaning her face when Pura got there. The mere sight of food was enough to bring forth a fountain of drool, and it was with great difficulty - both physically and mentally - that Pura dribbled out the words. "Is Poo-a - .. yu- you's... you?" He deemed that to be a partially successful introduction, and did his best to look as important and official as Perry did when addressing a newer pack mate. Steel-grey eyes wandered to the freshly killed meat as if drawn by magnets, but the pup was determined to get through the serious business of exchanging names before eating. It was rare that he dared to practice in public, when there were so many ears around that might judge.

Just like she had suspected not a full minute passed before the first pup made an appereance. Amelie gave a smile to the little ash coloured wolf, her tail wagging wildly behind her. Of course she had seen the little boy before! He was the little fluff ball that had rammed into Osprey's butt the other day, how to forget such image!

Then the boy made an effort to speak, he was a little less articulate than Junior so it took a moment for the teen to undertsand what he was trying to say. When she figured out he was asking for her name, the charcoal girl lowered to his level, so they could see eye to eye.

"My name is Amelie" she barked slowly, exaggerating the pronunciation of every syllable so that the boy could then mimick. "AA-MEEE-LIIEE" she repeated, just as she had done with Junior the first day she'd met her.

And of course after names had been established, the youngster took the liberty to shove her nose against the baby's forehead, a gesture of friendship. "Are you hungry Pura?" she asked, already knowing the boys name from previous days.

Pura opened his mouth to say the name back to her, but Amelie beat him to it. The volume of her repetition elicited a flinch from the freckled pup, whose ears fell flat with the weight of embarrassment and irritation. She had already judged him on his slow speech, he decided, and flashed the juvenile a brief, angry look.

It didn't last long - food was a sure-fire way to distract Pura from almost anything. He allowed the nudge and nodded excitedly at the offer, dipping his head to snatch the squirrel by the tail. It found its final resting place between his wide, bear-like paws, already mangled beyond recognition by Amelie's efforts to catch it. Pura's jaws were slick with slaver when he eventually tore his eyes away from the catch, forcing himself to level a questioning gaze at the huntress. For me? he wanted to say, but waited for her to insinuate the question instead.

The teen titled her head slightly when the boy shot her an angry glance, she thought maybe she was overwhelming the little guy and he probably just wanted to get the food and leave. Either way, she couldn't blame the little guy, pup's stomachs seemed to be botomless pits and a handsome baby like him needed fuel to play and grow into a man.

She smiled and watched Pura squirm around her humble catch like it was indeed a banquet. She sat back and glanced around the little clearing, waiting to see if any other pup would join in. Then by the corner of her eye she noticed the babe had stoped moving, she glanced back at him only to find him staring at her with his pale blue eyes as if he were waiting for Amelie to give him the green light to dig in.

With her heart going awww at the scene, Amelie nodded and gave him a warm smile, "Go on" she encouraged him. Suddenly she wished every guy could be like Pura, cute and attentive, that way she wouldn't have to trouble strangers with her stupid boy problems.

"Go on."

Pura didn't need to be told twice. He attacked the sinewy bundle with the finesse of a lawnmower, making no distinction between flesh and fur. He did, however, manage to avoid the bowel, having learned the hard way that mouthfuls of putrid faeces did not a pleasant dinner make.

Mid-feast, he glanced up to see if Amelie was still observing. She was. Pura became suddenly conscious weight of sticky, chewed-up liver around this muzzle, and swiped his tongue to remove them before raising his head to stare at his provider. "Thhhh...-tha..thaaaanking you, Am-eee-leee," he drawled slowly, concentration drawing his browns together into a hard frown. "Poo..Pura h-h-h-huuu.. I al-s-s-so?" By way of explanation, the freckled pup slapped his paws over his dinner as if pouncing on a live creature, grasping its head between his sharp little teeth.

The young girl's eyes brightened at the sight of the pup attacking her offering, for the first time she felt she was actually contributing to the pack instead of being a dead weight to Blue. Not like the new alpha wolfess would ever consider her a burden but now Amelie was happy to be a helping member of the pack.

But nothing felt better than when the little ash colored boy lifted his head, with bits of food still covering his muzzle and mumbled a genuine thank you to the girl. Again the teen's heart melted into a blob of goo, as she allowed another awww to escape her lips. She smiled brightly at the pup and gave him a wink, "You're welcome little one" she woofed.

"Poo..Pura h-h-h-huuu.. I al-s-s-so?"

The boy babbled as he mimicked to be killing the remainig pieces of meat. For a second the girl was left confused staring at the boy with a blank expression. She tried to make sense of the sentence but nothing came to mind.. Did he mean he also wanted to hunt? Amelie flicked her tail and decided to take a gamble making her own interpretation of the boy's words.

"Do you want to be a hunter, Pura?" she asked nudging the ripped pieced of meat the boy was hoarding.

"Hutter!" Pura barked in response, realised he'd made an error in pronunciation, and wilted as if someone had physically hit him. Slate-grey eyes fell towards the ground, concentrating hard on the half-eaten corpse between his paws. "Huuu..huuunnnn-ter. Hunnnnterrr," he repeated, brightening each time it improved and baring his teeth when that progress was undone. It took about fifteen seconds, but he was eventually able to look Amelie squarely in the eye and say "Hunter. Puuura, want, hunt-er."

It seemed Amelie's assumption hit right on target, she smiled as the boy made an effort to pronounce correctly every word. Her eyes fixed on the boy, giving him encouraging nods when he made a mistake. She had really become fond of the pup, all of them really. She adored Osprey to bits even with her diva tantrums; Saena held a special place in her heart, even if they had never been formally introduced, the black teen felt a connection with the pale girl she reminded her of herself in a way. And Pura, the little ash coated boy who had stolen her heart with his precious eyes.

"Hunter. Puuura, want, hunt-er."

Finally after trial and error, the boy was able to speak clearly at the teen. She wagged her tail and danced from side to side before dropping into a play bow, her front legs outstretched in front of her, each one neatly placed at Pura's sides caging him in.

"I want to be a hunter too, Pura!" she yapped, "We should practice together" she suggested trying to nip one of his ears.

God, sorry. >:( I will do better with little Pu-face!

Amelie was very tactile, and despite living with three sisters, her little nips and touches took Pura by surprise. She wasn't many months shy of puppyhood herself, and was therefore more his equal than the towering adults (if Blue Willow wanted to groom him, Pura did not stand a chance). Still, he made no move to resist, but noted in his simple, wordless way that Amelie was interesting.

'Practice' wasn't a word he knew, but the enthusiasm in her voice suggested that they should collaborate. Pura climbed to his feet over the half-demolished kill and looked to the edge of the clearing, then back at Amelie. "Nao?" he asked.

Amelie's gaze was lost in his light colored eyes, she wanted him to pounce first so she waited patiently in her play bow, her front legs fully outstreched at his sides and her tail waving behind him like a snake prepping itself to strike.

When the boy collected himself and glanced at the edge of the little clearing Amelie gave a low playful growl and whipped her tail against one of her flanks. "Yes!" she barked jumping to her paws and motioning to one end of the clearing. Hopefully they'd find butterflies or any other creepy crawler they could use to play.

I'm concluding, since this is out of date (my fault)!

Pura followed her silently, tail wagging gently from side to side. Hunting and patrolling were his favourite thing. The rules were clear - and there was minimal talking. In that world, he fit in. In some area of his mind that did not yet make sense, Pura knew that he did not fit in. The rest of the pack seemed to operate on a level that he lacked the access rights to, and it filled his chest with something - happiness? Comfort? - to know that Amelie accepted him despite his shortcomings, and wanted to play.