Redhawk Caldera bidibodi bidibu

His elbow and hip hit the silty bottom of the lake, smarting a little. Bushtit thrashes, his head quickly breaking the surface. He splutters as he rights himself, feet kicking before he realizes it’s shallow enough to plant them. He can hear Alivia’s voice, though it takes him a few seconds to tune in to what she’s saying: “—try, but we’re going to cut you from the pack roster. You know what that means…”

He grins at her subsequent charge, complete with war cry. His forepaws push upward, his body rearing below the surface. Their forelegs tangle as Livi collides with him, her forward momentum shoving him underwater. For several seconds, Bushtit can’t tell his ass from his elbow among all the churning bubbles and limbs. But then a single hind paw finds purchase on the shifting lake bottom and he kicks.

His pale head breaks the surface again, his forelegs already churning in a doggy paddle. Bushtit manages to put a yard between himself and his assailant—a thought which makes him snort a breathless, wet laugh—and then spin as fast as he can, given the liquid medium. The young male treads water for a moment, wondering if Alivia will come at him a second time.

Just in case she wasn’t planning on it, he sends a splash her way and eggs her on: Come at me, bro!