Blackfeather Woods nobody can save you now

Cicero was growing rapidly. Over the past month, he had grown from babbling baby to somewhat-coherent child, and his body had grown too. The baby fat had fallen off him, leaving him with a lean frame that now, for the first time, betrayed his tendency to look underweight through his thin fur. Today the child wandered through Blackfeather Woods, always looking for something new to discover. Truthfully, he found the outside world that Burke had showed him full of excitement too, but for now he was not allowed to go outside without a guardian, so he listened to his mother and kept to the territories.

"Oooo skwerl," Cicero piped up excitedly when he saw a grey squirrel nuzzling through the undergrowth of the forest. It wasn't far off, though it had a limp in its step. When it noticed the young wolf nearby, it just stood still, barely breathing, hoping that it would go unnoticed and could slip on by.

Unfortunately for the squirrel, Cicero had already noticed it, and he lowered his body to the ground, ready to pounce. He dashed forward, and the squirrel, realised the sights set on it, tried to limp away. Cicero pounced and landed next to the critter, where he began batting at it. The squirrel got swatted to the ground and struggled on its back for a moment while Cicero's haunting "heeheehee" echoed through the woods.

She wandered through the darkened forest with a belly full of meat. She felt drowsy and just wanted to find a place to lay down and sleep. She sniffed around the trees, searching for a soft place to lay down. She lifted her head as she heard a excited laughter that echoed through the woods. She walked calmly and quietly towards the sound, curious to see the source.

There stood a wolf, no older than a puppy, toying around with a unfortunate squirrel. Her heart warmed as she watched the pup from a distance. It was very rare when she did this, she never had that warm feeling. But to see a puppy without a care in the world made her fill with joy. If only we could always be like that. She walked up closer to the wolf, then sat down a few feet away. "Hello young one, you seem to be having fun."

There were many black wolves in Blackfeather Woods, so to see one approach him did not startle Cicero at all. The child looked up at the black wolf as she spoke to him. "Cicero fun!" he said loudly to confirm that he was, indeed, having oodles of fun. Meanwhile, the squirrel moved again, flopping off its back and crouched into a bundle, huddling and making itself small in hopes the wolf would leave it alone. "No toy! Bad toy!" Cicero reprimanded the squirrel, wanting his prey to start moving again so that he could hone his hunting instincts by swatting it around.

"Cicero gots dis skwerl toy," Cicero explained to the wolf, and he looked at her to see if she understood what he was trying to say. Then he looked back at the squirrel, which was still huddled down and breathing rapidly, hoping the wolf pup would give up if it stopped moving and played dead.

She chuckled at the little sprit's enthusiasm. This little pup would surely be a strong little warrior when he grew older. Her head tilted slightly. She didn't exactly knew what he meant about the stupid creature being his 'toy'. Maybe he meant prey? She was tempted to finish off the fuzzy creature, but she wasn't one to ruin the boy's fun. She only replied in a enthusiastic manner, "You better watch that toy well! He might sprout wings and fly away!" She laughed warmly. It felt a bit weird to be showing any kind of real affection to someone she just met. "Only joking!"

When the wolf said that his toy might sprout wings and fly away, Cicero gasped and looked back at the squirrel. Nah, squirrels didn't just sprout wings and fly away. "No it don't, silly wolf!" Cicero said while he looked back at the adult wolf, even though she had clarified that she was only joking.

"Wolf wants to play Cicero's skwerl toy?" Cicero asked and he tilted his head while looking at the adult wolf, hoping she would take up on his offer of play. The squirrel, meanwhile, was still huddled into a bundle while its hopes grew that the wolves might just leave it alone.

  She smiled at Cicero's fun attitude. "You must be very smart young one." His next question  made her unsure. She wasn't really familiar with playing, especially with a small wolf. But it was worth a shot.

  "I'd love to play." Her body fell into a playing position. A paw batted at the squirrel. She felt like a child once again. 

Cicero giggled as the adult called him smart. He wasn't sure what it meant, but it sounded like a positive word, and Cicero loved positive words. "Yah smart!" he repeated eagerly. "Wolf's smart as also!" Cicero happily shared with the adult, for she was pretty fun as well, and Cicero loved sharing the positive attitude regardless.

Cicero's tail wiggled excitedly as she said she wanted to play and bowed down to playing position. Cicero watched with excitement as she swatted at the squirrel, which was still huddled and shaking. Just as Cicero was about to think it would never get up, the squirrel started to try and run away. It didn't get very far however, since it was still wounded, and tripped over its own leg, which caused it to somersault. "Eeheeheehee!" Cicero giggled as the squirrel fell, and he jumped up and down in place in excitement, not very aware that the squirrel was a living being in pain.

  She smiled with amusement as the boy fiddled around with the furry creature. Half because it was just adorable, half because the squirrel was in a living hell. She again lifted one paw and swiped the squirrel from one paw to the other. After this, the mammal would make a perfect little snack. That is, if it didn't die from torture. She batted the squirrel towards Cicero amused at the boy's enthusiasm.  

Cicero watched as the adult wolf batted the squirrel from paw to paw, following it with his eyes as it shivered and squeaked as it got pawed. Then she batted it to him, and Cicero let out an excited high-pitched "Hee!" while he caught the squirrel with his paw and mimicked what Lusa had done, batting it from paw to paw excitedly.

Then the squirrel fell silent again. Cicero stared at it for a good minute or so before he lost interest and turned to the adult wolf. "Cicero sleep," he announced, tired from the game -- and, as he did not yet eat solid food, he did not see the squirrel as a potential snack now that play-time was over -- and he waited for the adult to acknowledge his departure.

  She watched with a smile as the youngster imitated her moves, smacking it back and forth. Never in her life did she ever had a time like this. She had never had the time too. Always hunting and fighting. Always having other things on her mind. It was such a bore. But being with the playful pup changed prospective on some things she once knew. Strange and somewhat terrifying.

 Cicero sleep now.

 She nodded her head, "Yes, yes. I should be catching some z's too." She stood up, grabbing the squirrel in her jaws softly. She would finish it off later. "Goodbye Cicero! I had fun with you." She turned and walked into the woods, sinking into the shadows.

Cicero did not object when the other wolf took the squirrel, for he had no interest in it beyond it being a toy. "Byeeeee!" Cicero yelled cheerily as the adult vanished from sight, and he started to make his way to the den of his family while mumbling to himself, "Cicero make zzzzzzz's," imitating what the adult wolf had said. Once at the den, Cicero soon closed his eyes and fell asleep alongside his family, dreaming of play.