Redtail Rise run rabbit run

Insects were fascinating and peculiar in equal measure. Masquerade stared at the grasshopper’s long hind legs, bent nearly perpendicular to the rest of its body. It looked almost painful, though the insect didn’t seem to mind. As the pup gazed on in silence, it appeared to be washing its face by rubbing its strange little forelegs over it, including tugging at each individual antennae.

Movement out of the corner of her eye reminded the Bearn that she wasn’t alone with the grasshopper. Masque watched shrewdly as the she-wolf crouched in the grass, creeping forward a step, before swinging her gaze to the pup. She cocked her head toward the insect, the look on her face reminiscent of her expression when inviting Masquerade to partake in her kill.

The pup did her best to emulate the adult’s posture, slinging her belly low and angling her ruddy snout toward the blade of grass where the insect perched. Energetic tension hummed through her youthful muscles as they coiled. It took all of her concentration and she didn’t realize she had stopped breathing until her lungs started to burn.

Abruptly and forcefully, her breath gusted out of her, causing the grasshopper to spring away.