Redhawk Caldera Circle of life

Perhaps later, Wildfire would come to miss the den and mourn the loss of her first home in a way. Right now, though, she didn't give the whelping den a second thought. The sensory input out here in the open was almost overwhelming, so there was no time to focus on much of anything else. At her father's encouragement, she began to slowly move even further into the clearing. She exchanged glances with her siblings, making sure they were close by, then scanned her surroundings as Wildfire tried to decide which direction to go in first.

Ultimately, she simply continued forward, roaming closer to the view of the lake, which meant she was going slightly downhill. Her legs pumped faster than they ever had before as Wildfire veritably hurtled across the uneven grade. For a solid thirty seconds, she galloped without incident. But then the inevitable happened: she tripped over her own feet and went sprawling roughly to the ground. Despite the hard impact, which knocked some of the wind out of her, Wildfire giggled to herself as she recovered nearly instantly. She jumped back to her paws, turning around to face her family.

Her parents were black and red specks up above. Wildfire's heart was beating rapidly in her chest. She had never been this far from them before. For a moment, two opposing instincts warred inside her. Should she return to her parents' side, where she felt safest and most at home... or should she continue exploring her new-found boundaries? It was a tough decision and Wildfire didn't make it hastily, allowing herself a moment to catch her breath.

In the end, the decision didn't come consciously. A movement to her left caught her attention. A chipmunk was fleeing uphill. It disappeared into a copse of trees in nearly the same instant Wildfire's yellow eyes caught sight of it. Nevertheless, the red puppy barked a loud, "Hey!" and ran instinctively toward it, its scent filling her nose as she tracked it into the tiny chunk of forestry.