Redhawk Caldera hear me now

I'll be power-playin' Towhee. Hopin' for pups but anyone's welcome! :)

She had gotten into the habit of taking Towhee aside for an hour or two most days to work on developing communication with the young girl. The other pups were talking now, just a few words here and there. Soon enough, they would graduate to short phrases, then full-blown sentences. Not only would they be fully capable of speech, they would be fully weaned and moved to a rendezvous site within a few weeks. They really did grow up fast!

They had been working for a little over an hour today when Raven said the girl's name aloud: "Towhee." As always, she enunciated the word slowly so the pup could read her lips. Still moving her mouth but without speaking aloud, Raven said, "All done, Towhee." As she mouthed the words, she lifted a forepaw off the ground and made a sweeping motion at the child, then firmly planted it on the ground, a gesture of finality (or so she hoped). "Can you say 'all done'?" she mouthed, repeating the movements as she mouthed the words.

Towhee nodded—Raven grinned, glad the girl understood what a nod or shake of the head meant—and then expressively said, "All done!" right back, all while excitedly flailing a paw in the air and then quite eagerly slapping it against the earth. It threw her off balance, forcing her into a sit. She giggled and repeated her, "All done!" and accompanying stomp. There was a sound this time, a very crude mimicry of the phrase itself, earning a happy raise of eyebrows from the caregiver.

"Good girl," Raven said clearly, reaching out to pat Towhee's white-streaked shoulder. "Want to play?" she asked, bowing forward playfully in an unmistakable signal. "Want me to get @Orca, @Titmouse and @Phox?" she added, wondering just how much of that Towhee truly understood. Judging by the pup's wide eyes, broad grin (complete with lolling tongue) and thumping paws, she definitely recognized her siblings' names.