Redhawk Caldera One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas

This'un's for you, @Sebastian! I'll be PPing Perry in the background throughout the thread. :)

The morning sky was bright and clear when Wildfire bounded from the den, her father following lazily behind her. All three pups had really begun outgrowing the Alpha pair's small domicile but she was perhaps the most adventurous of them, if only because her interests—namely, collecting small objects—tended to lure her farther and wider than the others' ventures. Without really thinking about it, the cub led the Alpha male several yards beyond the dooryard. Peregrine made no effort to stop her or hold her back. They had officially reached an age where they would begin broadening their horizons much further beyond the whelping den.

Just a few days previously, Wildfire and Raven had found themselves slightly downslope from the den and Wildfire went in that same direction today. She tripped about halfway down the gentle decline and wound up smacking her chin rather hard on the ground and skidding a few feet. Wildfire didn't cry. She stood up and gave herself a shake, then proceeded. Peregrine chuckled at her tenacity, still shadowing her soundlessly and letting her lead the way.

The grass gave way to shale and gravel. Wildfire dropped her nose and began sniffing, trying to locate a diamond in the rough, so to speak. There were so many small rocks here, it was so hard to choose just one to carry back to add to her collection. But eventually she did settle on one. The puppy took it in her teeth, then lifted her head, raised her black tail and scampered right past her father, toting the object all the way back to the den's mouth. She deposited it just inside, then spun on a heel to return and gather more stones.

"Hey, Wifi, wanna see something cool?" Peregrine called to her, finally breaking his silence, and the cub halted and blinked her yellow eyes at him. His tone was easy to read, even if she was still learning the words. She understood her name perfectly well. The puppy smiled to show her assent, then fell into step behind Peregrine as the Alpha male began leading in the opposite direction from the rock pit. Wildfire looked longingly over one red shoulder, then faced forward and trotted after her daddy.

The ground here began to dip too. After ramming into the back of her father's legs, the clumsy Wildfire sped up to trot at his shoulder, getting her first glimpse of the blue lake below. "Orha!" she yelled, staring in wonder. She had seen puddles but never a body of water so big and blue. Actually, she didn't even yet realize it was water, just that it was an amazing sight to behold. "Ossa, dahdee?" she squawked, causing Peregrine to freeze and look at her in delight. Had she just said daddy?!