Redhawk Caldera tell the world i'm alive

From the moment she had attained the power of legs, Sphyrapicus was an even trickier little pup to keep in one place. She always looked for boundaries: her own, by walking and walking until she was so tired she fell right asleep; those of her siblings, by playfighting with them until they grew so tired of her that their parents had to separate them; and those of her parents and caretakers, by running off to discover the world on many occasions. Whenever Sphyra wasn't rolling over the floor with Sapsucker or Caracal or sleeping or eating she was RUNNING or PLAYING, possibly a combination of both.

Presently Sphyrapicus was exercising these examples. A bone and a stick laying around just outside the den had already been pounced on and mauled, when her ears perked straight up as she saw a butterfly dance around a bit further away. The child scrambled in the direction of the butterfly, ears flopping up and down as she ran towards it and jumped up at it in a futile attempt to catch it, while it danced out of reach and she continued after it.

He hadn't managed to catch up with the rabbit he'd been tracking, but he had found what he thought was the perfect playing stick along the lake's edge, that he could bring for Towhee's kids. So his day wasn't a total loss, he thought- at least he was contributing somehow. The stick in question was about as long as his foreleg, so he thought it might last for quite some time, depending on how rough the kids were with it. The bark had all been scrubbed away by time spent in the lake, so the sides of it were soft and smoothe and any jabby twigs were worn down to be little more than nubs. A safe toy, he thought; and its pale beige exterior would look so good when it began to get dimpled by sharp little baby teeth. 

So he made his way to Towhee's hobbit hole with the stick in his mouth, and caught sight of one of the twins pouncing off after a butterfly. He was a bit of a worry-wort when it came to kids, so seeing any pup bounding away from a den oblivious to how far they might wander always made him a bit worried but she wasn't exactly unsupervised. Plus, the more exercise she got, the more she might be content to settle down for a nap later, so he didn't want to discourage her from getting some of her sillies out now, while she had someone to watch over her while she bounced around. 

He let the stick drop to the ground- as it was a bit too long to be carried around without getting in the way. He could always try and entice her into a game of tug later- but for now, he wanted to nurture her hunting instincts, and encourage her to keep chasing the butterfly, as he'd have no problem keeping up with her. "Git it!" He exclaimed, gesturing toward the butterfly.

And oh boy, did Sphyrapicus have a lot of sillies to go around. Sphyra jumped up high in the air, but she missed the butterfly again. When she heard Bronco's voice, she stopped in her tracks and lifted her head up high, ears erect in his direction. She hadn't noticed his approach, so his appearance was totally sudden to her. At first it looked like she might bound towards him instead, but just as she yapped a cheerful greeting of WAW! towards him the butterfly darted into view — the corner of her eye — and she turned around instantly to snap at it. Mouth clicked shut in the air a few times and she continued her journey towards trying to catch the butterfly.

At some point she pounced at the butterfly and then landed, then could not find her prey anymore. She looked around — the butterfly, meanwhile, was happily darting around just above the predator's head — from left to right, behind her, but could not find it. BOWAWAW! Sphyra screeched, as if challenging the butterfly to show up again, while she continued to turn her head in an attempt to find it; turning everywhere except up.

It would appear as though the hunting instinct, within this kid, was fairly strong. Rather than abandoning her prey to engage her older brother, she continued to bound after the butterfly, goaded on by Bronco who watched and smiled. She reminded him of what Alyx and Quetzal had been like as pups- incredibly buoyant and energetic. 

One more pounce, and it looked for a moment as though perhaps the kid had landed on the butterfly- only to notice that it drifted above the child's head, airily, as though on a warm draft. He could definitely see a bit of Quetzal in this kid- especially when she screamed. He chuckled. "Head's up, kid," He said, and gestured above the girl's temple with a flick of his muzzle.

The gesture that Bronco made fell to deaf ears, so to say, as Sphyra didn't understand that it was a gesture. Instead, she was distracted from the butterfly's darting once more by his words and gesture. It seemed that the butterfly was completely forgotten when Sphyra instead pounced up at Bronco; of course, accompanied by loud screams of RAWWWWR! She aimed her mouth at his chin while she used her front paws to stand up against his chest so she was able to reach his face at all.

It seemed that the butterfly, which had consumed her interest a few moments ago, would be forgotten as soon as the pup realized that she had a much larger, slower target that she could go after. And while he could tell by the mischievous glint in her eyes that she was planning to attack him next, he didn't pull back. At least, not as quickly as he would have if she'd posed a real threat. 

But in mock horror he backpedaled clumsily, tumbling sideways with a dramatic AHHHHHH! Which was half a howl, half an anguished yelp as she nipped at his chin. Wolf down! I'm being attacked by a monster! He cried, as he began to writhe on the ground- reaching out with his thick forelimbs so that he might catch Sphyra by surprise, and haul her over onto the ground with him.

His display of loss further fueled Sphyra's instinctive drive for winning and a puppyish growl vibrated in her throat as he screamed in agony upon his fall. Sphyra's tail whirred as she stood over him, now no longer much taller than her but down to her own level. She nipped at his chin, trying to grab her mouth around his lower jaw.

When he grabbed her Sphyra was caught completely off-guard, so with a high-pitched dismayed yip Sphyra was pulled down, where she instantly commenced struggling to get free.

He chortled, a deep belly laugh that was part growl when he managed to catch Sphyra by surprise and drag her over sideways. Her yelp pleased him- as he knew the difference between a sound of surprise and one that might've indicated he'd caused her pain. He'd played with pups plenty before, and had learned how to rough-house just gently enough so that they could learn and grow stronger, without being hurt. 

The little spitfire squirmed and wriggled to get away from him, but he'd do his best to prevent her from being able to do so, with his long, thick legs and massive paws. Aware of his claws and mindful of his own strength, he did what he could to thwart her escape attempts until he finally saw fit to allow her the opportunity to slip from his grasp- at which point, she'd only have a moment or two to skedaddle away from him before he pulled himself to his feet. "I'm gonna getcha for that!" He uttered in a low, playful roar, and ambled toward her with the intention of spurring her into a game of chase.

fading this <3 I'd love another one sometime!

Though her size was an advantage, her strength was definitely at a disadvantage. Sphyra frowned and growled as she tried to struggle free — how dare he capture her like this!

When finally she wriggled free, of course Sphyra attributed it all to her own cunning. The feeling of victory rushed over her and she barked and yipped to show it. Bronco shouted something at her, but it was more his body language than his actual words that made Sphyra realise what the idea was. She yipped excitedly and started to run away, ready to engage in a good old game of chase!

They played for some more time until eventually, Sphyra grew tired and decided to curl up with her relatives and sleep, while Bronco was finally freed from the rowdy child.