Sun Mote Copse Weebles wobble

Crow wiggled out of the den, enjoying the way the cool ground felt on his feet in the early morning light. Two steps outside, he stumbled, rolled to his side, then managed to right himself again. The boy blinked in his (comparatively) bright surroundings, tipped his head back, and yapped loudly. He was pretty sure he'd seen one of his siblings crawl out here just a few minutes ago, and he wanted to know where they were hiding.

Pox was tired. He was panting heavily, his arms were sore and he was completely covered in dirt, and yet the boy did not pause his efforts. He had chased the creature too far and for too long to be so easily deterred by something like exhaustion. He was so much better than that, and soon enough, the whole world would know just how awesome he was!

The boy shoved himself further into the hole he'd dug out under the rotted log, trying to get closer to where he swore he'd seen the chipmunk go. In his enthusiasm, he had failed to pay attention to his nose over his eyes, otherwise he would've realized that the critter had leaped up onto the log and scampered off instead of somehow tunneling underneath it (and leaving no trace of his tunneling, at that). Once he'd determined that the mouse wasn't within reach yet, the boy popped his head back out and paced up and down the log, growling softly as he went.

Movement out of the corner of his eye stole his attention. He looked over at his brother who had just made an appearance at the mouth of the den. His brother who was looking an awful lot like an opportunity... "Crow!" Pox barked sharply, insistent, "C'mere and hewp!"

Pox's voice rang out, and Crow was by his brother's side in a flash. What's it? he asked, eyes wide as he tried to figure out what all the commotion was about. Crow was always down for an adventure. Okay, that wasn't entirely true. He didn't like scary things. But he was pretty sure that he and Pox were scarier than whatever it was they were trying to catch.

Crow was quick to do as he was told, which Pox very much appreciated about his brother. Avery and Sugar certainly never did, but they were girls and in the little experience he'd had with girls, he'd determined that they were useless (100% @Weejay's fault). Bros were clearly more dependable.

"It'sa lil' bassard," Pox informed his recruit promptly, attempting to use a word he'd heard his mother use rather frequently in reference to things that frustrated her, "An' he went unner dis an' we're tryin' ta get to him." The boy stepped back from the small-ish hole he'd managed to dig out just beneath the log so Crow could get a good look at the situation. He huffed and turned his frowny face to Crow, wondering if he might have any suggestions.

Bassard, Crow hissed. Anything that was trying to evade them was a bassard in his eyes, and he narrowed said eyes on the target his brother had shown him. It was a hole, and it smelled strongly of... something. Not wolf, not grass, not dirt, not meat or milk. It smelled like something he wanted to get closer to and investigate.

Les' push it, he said, eyeballing the log and planting two oversized paws halfway near the top. If Pox got in next to him, maybe they could roll the log over. Of course, I have no idea how big this log is, but puppies don't really have a sense for size, so that makes sense.

Pox nodded intensely as his eyes returned to the spot he was absolutely convinced the bastard had escaped into. His ears twitched at his brother's suggestion. He paused to consider it for about .5 seconds before his enthusiasm came exploding out of him with a high-pitched "YEAH!!" That idea was so stupid brilliant, he was amazed that he hadn't been stupid enough to come up with it himself!

The boy was quick to hop into position right beside his brother, planting his own paws on the log so they lined up right in a row with Crow's. It was a little row of puppy peets and the mental image has me squeaking with happy. But anyway, he began to push then with all of his might, grunting little puppy grunts as he tried his most very hardest.

The log is pretty big though, so this definitely won't work. But I admire them for trying.

No matter how much their tiny puppy paws pushed, the log didn't even begin to budge. And after about four or five pushes, Crow was getting pretty worn out (if not feeling defeated). Le's get Ma! he suggested emphatically. You s'ay here. Without waiting for confirmation, Crow bounded off, leaving Pox to guard the hole while he went to bug Ma.

Ma, he'p! Gotta get da bassard! he explained, jumping up to nip at her chin and urging her to follow. Get da BASSARD! he repeated more loudly (and a bit more whiney) when she didn't immediately understand what he was talking about.

Yeah, this definitely wasn't working. Pox would've been content to continue trying for another hour, but when Crow stopped, so did he. "Damn basserds, we can' let 'em geddaway," the boy insisted heatedly, glaring at the space under the tree trunk. He turned and frowned when his brother suggested a new tactic--a frown that quickly turned into a look of horror as he took off to do the one thing that was forbidden in Pox's book: Ask Mom for help.

"N-no! Stop!" Pox called, but it was too late. His face twisted back into a frown as he pounded a paw against the ground and barked another "Damn!" into the air. He huffed as he turned back to the log and hurriedly went back to digging. Now it was a race against the clock. He had to get the mouse before his mom got here and did it for him. He hated it when grown ups did things for him. He wanted to do it himself, dangit!

Since this feels easier, Finley joined the thread!

She'd been lounging nearby, kind of sort of supervising, but mostly just gnawing on a rib bone that she'd snuck away from the kids. She'd been listening to the little voices nearby with growing amusement as the word bastard had come out more and more. Fin had never minded swearing--in fact, it was one of her favorite things to hear those cute little voices shouting such dirty, funny little words. She was just a good mom like that.

Fin wasn't surprised when Crow eventually appeared. She'd already put the bone away for safekeeping, though she had no delusions that Elfie wouldn't eventually find and reclaim it. She stood and gave herself a good shake before looking down at Crow with a bemused grin. "You got some bastards that need getting?" she asked rhetorically, then, "Well, c'mon little man, lead the way!"

If he heard Pox's objections, Crow pretended not to. Anyway, Ma was gonna help! Bassard here! he said, bounding toward Pox and the log. Pox was digging furiously at the ground, and Crow furrowed his brow. We try'a push it, but not big nuff. Even the two of them hadn't been able to budge the log one way or the other.

Pox, what doin? he said, sticking his nose near the hole that was being furiously dug by his brother. Lemme try! Ma was now forgotten, as Crow had the attention span of a gnat. He was now solely focused on digging alongside his brother, dirt flying directly at Finley's face.

Pox kept on digging when he heard Crow and (presumably) his mother coming up behind him. He was making some progress, but again, the mouse isn't actually down there so success wasn't an actual possibility. He grunted as he used both arms to scoop a big clump of dirt out, scooting it underneath him and out between his back legs, smearing dirty all along his bottom half as he went. He was extremely filthy by now, but he didn't care in the least. He just wanted to get the bastard and then parade its carcass triumphantly around his family while they sang his praises.

"Diggin' it out!" he answered without stopping. He stuffed his toes back into the dirt to scoop out more, but suddenly Crow was there, jostling against him to get at the dirt. He growled with annoyance and tried to nip at his brother's muzzle--unaware that his instinct was actually driving him to dominate and take control over what he considered to be his territory and put Crow in his place. It was probably a dumb move seeing as he was much smaller than his brother, but Pox didn't know what dumb moves were yet. He simply made them almost constantly.

Fin followed her son dutifully as he lead her to his little brother. Pox was digging feverishly, which was a bit odd. Was the bastard underground? What sort of bastard could they be trying to get that was underground? Crow darted forward to join his brother, leaving Fin to lean forward in an attempt to try and see what sort of hole they'd found. Hopefully they hadn't found the home of a badger or anything... But before she could get a good look, there was dirt being flung into her face and she had to back off and shake it out of her eyes.

Stepping back, Finley decided it was probably better to just play the supervisor. She dropped to her haunched out of firing range and simply watched them, smirking with amusement over their antics.

The growl was a bit unexpected, and Crow wasn't exactly pleased by that development. Why growl?! he demanded. Wan' help! He shoved Pox hard, hoping to move him out of the way so that he could be the one to find the bassard. Spoiler alert: Crow is gonna be a giant pain in the ass. Considering he was larger (I guess?) than Pox, it probably wouldn't be that hard to use his size against him.

And if not his size, Crow could always go off and pout with Ma or something stupid like that.

Pox was deaf to his brother's demands. When asked why he was growling, he simply growled more. And when he was shoved, he... Well, he fell over. He had not given his consent to fall down, though! He rolled quickly back onto his belly after falling, his eyes narrowing as he saw Crow take his place digging. Deciding this was an injustice that could not go unpunished, he snarled and flung himself at his brother.

From there, the episode dissolved into a play fight. Fin could only shake her head fondly as their angry battle turned to laughter, and whatever this bassard was that had eluded them fled from their little brains as they played.