Heron Lake Plateau sometimes I can't even see the reason why

Svalinn had closed his eyes on impact, expecting to wind up on his side, as he always did. But much to his bug-eyed surprise, he found that Raleska had melted beneath him, having mistook his pounce for their mother's ire. The boy only saw this as submission, and he growled delightedly over his first triumph -- a feeling that quickly turned to frantic squeaks when his surrogate sister realized who her opponent was. He now had to fight to keep his position, snapping playfully at her pushy forepaws, and it was only through Raleska's good graces that he was allowed to remain astride her... for now.

Some day this wouldn't be the case -- some day she'd have to struggle to keep her slobbering, bully of a young brother from winning these bouts of strength -- but even then it might not be so hard to outwit him. She had the added gift of having Caiaphas' cunning ingenuity ingrained in her own DNA; if Svalinn was lucky, it was something he could learn, but those odds weren't looking too high. Not with the forward-way he tended to approach things.