Sun Mote Copse And if heaven would not have us I would take the other option

Bronco, still young, liked the idea of taking on predators that his Mom thought were too tough for him. There was a grave seriousness with which she spoke when referring to other predators- especially bears and cougars, and she had informed the boy of the loved ones she'd lost to them- but given the fact that Bronco didn't know those wolves, he wasn't necessarily able to sympathize. Empathy was a thing he had yet to learn, and it was too soon yet to properly determine whether the boy would learn it very much at all. Nevertheless, for now he knew to avoid dangerous creatures- but in his mind and in his pretend universe, he loved the idea of chasing off cougars, bears and any other formidable creatures that might think to threaten their pack. 

It turned out that Elfie had been told the same, and he simply shrugged in response. Wraen wasn't a particularly exciting wolf- she was very kind to him, but she didn't tease him for a smile or a laugh the way Finley did, nor did she aggravate the boy the way Niamh did- so there simply lacked a little bit of a spark to ignite a passionate bond. Thus far, the boy was really only interested in his peers anyway, and Elfie- being slightly older but still willing to tow him along on his adventures- was a guy that Bronco could hang out with. 

He came to Elfie's side, and as Elfie lowered his head to gaze down the steep embankment, Bronco gazed slyly along the ridge of Elfie's back, and atempted to draw himself up a bit more so that he might appear as tall as his ruddy friend. He couldn't pull it off without looking silly, for standing on his toes and craning his neck back, so he gave up and looked over the edge of the bank as well, and though Elfie wanted to search for an easier way down, part of Bronco wanted to ignore the sage advice and simply barrel down the steep, dirty ledge and into the water. He wasn't as cautious, and didn't mind the idea of bounding out into the open air and simply allowing himself to plonk down into the water, assuming it was deep enough that he wouldn't hurt his legs. But Elfie made a good point, so Bronco shrugged, smiled, and agreed. "Yeah, don' wanna be fish food." He said, sticking his tongue out in distaste.