Redhawk Caldera Dark side of the moon

Backdated to the 21st for the eclipse. :)

It wasn't a sudden change, but the earth began to grow darker, and even though the sun was high in the sky, Phox awoke from his usual midday slumber. The air had cooled, but he felt he hadn't slept very long at all. It was curious, but he didn't pay it too much attention. Maybe a cold front was passing through. He readied himself for his usual nighttime hunting and stargazing activities, but as the minutes went by, it became apparent that this was not just any night.

It swooped in too quickly, and Phox was puzzled. Having a natural aversion to looking at the sun, he had never done it. He did, however, often look at the moon. So when the sky went dark and the cicadas chirped loudly, he looked up to find the moon (the sun?) looking nothing like what he remembered. In fact, he wondered if he was dreaming right now. He glanced around, but soon returned his gaze to the black orb in the sky, surrounded by some of the most beautiful light around it he had ever seen. He stood awestruck for the duration, but eventually the sun began to return, and his eyes couldn't take the brightness any longer, so he averted his eyes. Thankfully for him, he had only been looking a few brief seconds (unlike some of the others, apparently).

The sun reappeared fully, though there was still an odd sense that something was "off." Phox felt a shiver run through his spine, the cicadas quieted, and he promptly went back to sleep.

It just so happened that Phox was sleeping nearby the rendezvous location. When he looked up, Clover followed suit, though what she saw was nothing special or abnormal. She promptly looked away, her disinterest in the sky evident, and dashed in his direction as he made an attempt to sleep. Clover had just roused from her own nap and was a ball of energy. She came at him with a stick in her mouth, tail waving. She slowed when she was nearby him, circling near his face with the tail-end of her stick jutting out and potentially dragging against him.

The tell-tale sound of puppy paws roused Phox, but only just barely, from his sleep. He often slept during the day, preferring to save his nights for skywatching and hunting, when the little critters were more active. Clover, it seemed, had other ideas, and Phox yawned himself awake.

She was waving a stick around him, and he watched as she did so, though Phox made no move to actually take it away from her. Instead, he watched, bemused and wondering if he'd acted so silly as a child. (He was still a child, but anybody caught telling him that would be quickly corrected.)

Clover emitted some high-pitched, playful growls as she puppy-pranced around him. She paused near his face and misinterpreted, somehow, her own weight and rolled right onto her side. She popped her head up looking rather disgruntled and peered suspiciously at Phox, before she decided to launch at his face with a loud yap.

She rolled around, did some kind of half-somersault, then launched herself directly at his face. He opened his jaws and did his best "bitey face" impression, teeth flashing but doing no harm. He snarled and snapped playfully at her, rolling onto his shoulder and sticking a front paw out her way.

His bitey face expression caused her to spring backward and rear upward. Her forelegs flailed a moment, sticking out as though for protection, when she noted his own exposed paw. Clover let out a little growl and flung herself at that more accessible appendage, seeing no bitey face on his paw to deter her. This time she would succeed!!!

Fun fact, you should do this with dog puppies! It teaches them bite inhibition so they don't bite down hard. :P

She attacked his paw (as was expected), and he yelped out in fake pain. Sure, her needle teeth were sharp, but they weren't that sharp. Still, this way of feigning hurt would teach her to bite lightly instead of trying to rip into him like a piece of rabbit meat. Well, he hoped so, anyway. He pulled his paw away, then swatted at her again, still laying on his back and enjoying the warmth of the sun on his belly.

After that, she seemed to grow bored of him, and he promptly drifted off to sleep.