Redhawk Caldera this is life in color.

@Wildfire for you and your drunk ass face <3333

Finley hadn't intended to visit the pups that day. In fact, she'd been such an annoyingly frequent visitor that it was her full prerogative to not stop by at all. If she happened to walk by the den, that was something different, though... Which is what she did. But she wasn't going to stop, so there!

Only...

The beta female paused upon the landscape, her ears swivelling towards the den that she so totally was not going to visit today. There was a ruckus coming from it that - while not entirely unusual considering who their daughter was - was rather more... rampant than usual. Fin paused, nibbling on her lip as she debated whether or not to break her promise to herself and approach. In the end, it seemed that she'd decided to go ahead and stop by for a visit considering the fact that she was now standing at the doorstep, peeking in at Peregrine while he irritably attempted to placate his fire-painted pup.

"Need a break, Assface?" she asked with a crooked smile and a wag of her tail.

Note to self: this takes place after Perry's jaunt.

She had been unusually quiet all day yesterday. Sometime before dawn, Wildfire crawled to Fox's belly to nurse, then took a long nap. When she woke a while later, she felt a bit better. Her gut was grumbling, though. She couldn't hear it but she could feel it. Her face (and her sphincter) puckered in discomfort.

Her father could hear it and he quickly but gently airlifted Wildfire closer to the den's doorway just in time for her bottom to explode. Once the chocolate fountain ceased, Peregrine kicked the soiled earth outside, then made sure Wildfire hadn't gotten it all over herself. She hadn't. Thank goodness for small miracles.

She felt much better now, though, and began to squirm and make noise. No licks or nuzzles could quiet her. Wildfire alternated between yipping and growling. It was like she was making up for lost time. She wound up on her back, rocking back and forth, her hind legs pedaling the air. Her forelegs crooked toward her face to rub against her closed eyes. They did nothing to muffle her loud mouth.

Wildfire was so preoccupied with being obnoxious that she didn't notice Finley's approach at first. But when her aunt spoke to her father and Peregrine responded by pushing the puppy toward her, Wildfire squawked indignantly. When she was out of breath and inhaled, that was when she caught Finley's scent. Instantaneously, she fell silent and turned her blind face toward the Beta female, little tail jerking and lips twitching as if she was trying to smile.

Peregrine wasted no time in vaulting his squealing daughter over to her godmother. He apparently had had quite enough of her, which was perfectly okay with Fin. She crawled just into the mouth of the den and curled up on the ground, setting her gaze upon the little lump of puppy as she figured out this magical new land her father had placed her in.

She watched as the little wolf (geebus, it still felt weird to call the little meatball a wolf), fully anticipating that she would start screeching bloody murder again since she had made it quite clear in her life thus far that she did NOT like change. But, the screaming never came. Instead came a weird little scrunchy face on her already scrunchy face and a wag of the little stub they were likely supposed to call her tail.

Fin quirked a brow at Wildfire, wondering what it was she was trying to accomplish or to communicate. She lowered her nose until her muzzle was just above the pup's head and took a few deep sniffs, causing the tiny strands of hair upon Wildfire's crown to flutter from the force.

When her aunt's warm breath washed over her, tickling the baby hairs on her tiny crown, Wildfire giggled. She then did something even more unexpected: slowly, ever so slowly, she opened her eyes. Her lids parted less than halfway, revealing slivers not of the typical baby blue but a warm golden hue instead. She squinted up at the figure hovering over her, which took up her entire visual field, then rapidly blinked no less than two dozen times.

She stared at Finley's mug for perhaps two minutes without moving or making a sound, then opened her little maw and gave a cry of utter delight. Wildfire then attempted to reach out and touch her godmother's grill, all the while making curious coos and gurgles. It was clear the baby wolf thought this sudden new sense was rather rad.

Fin furrowed her brows thoughtfully as she inspected the Caldera's little banshee. Little did she realize that the emotion Wildfire was portraying with actually joy. Instead, she was fairly certain it was gas that contorted the infant's face, which is why her attention was on her belly instead of her eyes when her lids peeled back to reveal her golden irises. She was actually wondering if she was supposed to push on her stomach and 'fart' her.. She'd heard of parents 'burping' their kids before, but was 'farting' a thing..?

It was the glint of Wildfire's newly opened eyes that first draw her gaze. The sight was so sudden to her (since she's oh so good at noticing things) that she started with a "HOLY--" followed by a silent, wide-eyed, mouth-gapey stare of wonder as Wildfire began to blink and marvel upon her new found sense. Fin gawked at her god daughter for a few seconds before she suddenly was smiling broadly while her tail tapped a frantic beat upon the den floor.

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my GOSH PEREGRINE!" Fin barked excitedly at her alpha, "She's looking at me! She's fucking looking at meeee!!" With a little squeal of delight, she pressed her head down upon the ground right in front of Wildfire's face, grinning like an idiot into those little amber eyes, "Oh my gosh this is so fucking magical...!" Thank goodness the pup was still deaf.

When the expressive Finley began moving erratically, her mouth opening and closing, Wildfire gulped. Her newly opened eyes went wide and she blinked very slowly several times in a row. Her newly minted golden gaze remained absolutely transfixed upon the silver she-wolf, trying to make sense of her and her movements. They were absolutely bewildering but also fascinating.

When no harm came from them, the puppy resumed her smiling and giggling, albeit a bit tentatively. Her more experienced senses were docking with her newest one and she was processing the information, identifying Finley visually as well as through touch and smell now. It was all subconscious, of course, but after only a few moments, Wildfire decided that the Beta female was her favorite thing in the whole wide world.

Then Peregrine hopped into her visual field to check out her newly opened eyes. Wildfire jerked, then blinked rapidly up at him. His big, dark face loomed closer to hers and his mouth moved as he said, "Holy shit, her eyes are yellow!" The fiery pup heard none of it, though she watched his mouth moving and trembled not in fear but in absolute awe.

She stared at her father a while, slowly pairing his face with his scent, then her mysteriously golden eyes shifted back to Finley. Wildfire beamed now at her godmother, then opened her mouth and poured out a happy screech so high in pitch it probably made the adults' ears bleed.

Fin glanced up at Peregrine with a smile as he came over to inspect his newly sight-capable daughter. It was strange that Wildfire's eyes were so very yellow already, but someone more experienced with pups and newborns and junk would likely have found it stranger. Fin just found it fascinating, and somehow fitting that the loud, bold pup would have the eyes to match.

When Wildfire celebrated her new found sense with a shriek, Fin cringed away from her. "Gahh, whyyy..." she moaned as she flattened her ears against her head, quite fervently hoping that one day soon she would learn how to express herself in some way other than with her lungs. She lifted a paw and placed it gently upon the puppy's head, hoping that maybe it would quiet her (though why she thought it might work was a mystery).

Because Wildfire couldn't hear her own shrill voice, she didn't associate Finley's reaction—shrinking away and cringing—with her expulsion of air. Nonetheless, she snapped her mouth shut and stared at her aunt, wondering at the sudden movement. She looked to Peregrine questioningly, as if he might somehow explain it to her, then faced her godmother again just in time to have a paw planted in her face.

Suddenly, her world returned to darkness. If not for the heavy weight on her face, Wildfire might not have minded this so much. But she wanted to see and some part of her tiny pea brain understood that her vision was being blocked by Finley's fat foot. She screeched indignantly, jerking her head out from underneath the Beta female's paw. She rumbled under her breath, though the noise ceased as soon as her vision returned.

She abruptly turned her back on the two wolves, golden eyes sweeping her surroundings. She was now facing backward into the den, toward Fox and her siblings. Her mother's fur naturally drew her eye first and she gazed into the Alpha female's gray eyes for a long beat. Wildfire's own eyes then dropped to the two little shapes squirming at her mother's flank.

Dragging herself across the earthen floor, Wildfire touched her nose to each, identifying them, connecting faces with scents. It was all so wondrous and overwhelming at once. She made a squeaky, whimpering noise under her breath as her information processing center hit critical mass. Wildfire was on the verge of a total meltdown, one that was simultaneously joyous and bereft.

Then she turned again and spotted her Aunt Finley. For now, her face gave the pup more comfort than anything else in her small world. She scooted closer to the Beta female again, pulling herself up and onto her silver forepaws and curling up there. From her slightly uplifted vantage point, Wildfire blinked owlishly, still trying to take in everything in the family's small den.

Apparently being stepped on was not Wildfire's cup of tea. The girl gave an angry shriek and backpedaled away, whirling to face the opposite end of the den. Fin snickered at her antics as she set her paw back down on the ground. Like it or not, Wildfire had done exactly as her godmother had wanted by shutting her cute little trap. Perhaps this was the way to get through to her to stop doing that - if she screamed, she got stepped on! No one had ever taught Finley the whole positive reinforcement training technique.

Fin smiled softly as Fox and her daughter gazed at each other - the first time Wildfire was able to be an active participant in the engagement. It was a sweet moment that made Fin's belly feel all squiggly. Her ears pricked when she began to notice the child's mood going sour. Maybe it was the tiny quivering of her little nose or the slowing of her black tail, but Fin's chest began to tighten with anxiety as she recognized the telltale signs of an oncoming tantrum.

But then the pup turned and looked at her, and the misery simply melted away. Fin watched in wonder as she toddled forward and clambered up onto her paws. She was like a little queen upon her throne as she looked out across the den that was her kingdom. The godmother felt like her heart was about to burst as she leaned down to nuzzle her nose fondly against Wildfire's bright, cinnamon scruff.

She could have fallen asleep, she was suddenly so comfortable and content, but Wildfire didn't dare close her eyes. They wandered from Finley's chin directly above to Fox's face across the den to her father's looming shadow against the near wall to Nightjar's fat little butt to Raven's tiny muzzle even as her jaws split in a yawn—then back again. Her golden eyes grew dry and achy from lack of blinking and her eyelids began to droop as the sensory overload began to catch up with her.

Still, she wouldn't go down easily. Flopping like a rag doll, the fiery whelp fidgeted about on Finley's feet until deciding to flop onto her back. Her aunt's knuckles dug into her little spine, so she pushed off and oozed to the den's harder but more even floor. Her tiny hind tootsies remained propped on the Beta female's feet, as did the tip of her little black tail.

Belatedly catching her sister's yawn, Wildfire's pink tongue curled out from between her gums and she let her head sink to the floor. For the most part, she was staring up at the dull den ceiling, though she could still see Aunt Finley's face out of the corner of her brand new eyes. She smiled, content.

Wildfire seemed to enjoy the little back rub, so Fin continued to nuzzle with her nose, sparing a few licks here and there along the length of her little body until she almost literally melted on her paws. Fin leaned backwards to watch as she flopped about, trying to get comfortable. She chuckled when the girl slid off of her paws, leaving her rump behind. All at once her smile disappeared though as a thought popped into her head. "Oh please don't shit on me..." she mumbled softly, watching that little red butt warily.

Her paranoia was only momentary, for a second later she caught sight of Wildfire's happy, contented smile, and Fin's expression shifted to match. "Is someone getting sleepy?" she whispered, canting her head lightly to one side. She knew the pup wouldn't answer - she couldn't even hear her - but it was nice to talk to her anyway.

She saw Finley's mouth moving and for reasons inexplicable, Wildfire felt comforted. She couldn't hear her aunt, though it was as if she sensed Finley was addressing her in an affectionate voice. The pup sighed happily through her nose, her every bone seeming to turn into jelly as she relaxed on the floor.

Much as she fought to keep her eyes open as long as possible, it was only a matter of time before she lost the battle. Suddenly she was snoring, one of her paws crooked jauntily on her chest, which gently rose and fell. She probably wouldn't sleep long—just enough to gather some energy, after being so listless all yesterday—but her slumber was peaceful and deep under her aunt's warm, watchful gaze.

Wanna fade here and we can have a newer one? :D

Fin smiled softly at the little girl as she drifted off.  "I suppose that's my answer," she murmured.  She knew her god daughter well enough to know that this little catnap would likley be short-lived at best, but still she laid her head down across her arms and set her chin upon the cold floor of the den.


Even as the child slept, Fin's eyes remained open and watching.  In just a few short days, little Wildfire would begin to hear, and then she'd be babbling and learning her first words.  The thought made Fin's heart stir with excitement.  She couldn't wait for the day when her god daughter learned how to call her papa a Dipshit.  Or maybe a Buttbrain.  Or Noodlepooper!  ....She'll work on it.