Nova Peak i know i left it around here somewhere

The pups were a month old, less a day, and much had changed in such a short time. Bazi had gained back some of her freedom and was able to leave the pups for several hours at a time, often bringing back meat in her belly to share (Whittier could not have been any more thrilled by this). In the coming week, weaning would begin. The pups' hearing and sight had improved dramatically as well. No longer were shapes mere blobs but instead defined forms. But perhaps most notably, the pups no longer looked like wee potatoes, but instead resembled miniature wolves with big heads and paws.

The pups were also no longer confined to the den, and on this morning @Bazi was reclined in the sun, relaxing as she watched her offspring. Swift was separated from his siblings, nosing around the in the grass with a peculiar focus as though looking for something.

It was fairly unusual for Whittier to do much more than eat and sleep, but today was one of those rare days where the other aspects of his nature were winning out over the lethargy that usually plagued him.  While his siblings laid about doing whatever it was they were doing (Whit had no idea), the chubby boy was determinedly attempting to scale mount Bazi.

It... it wasn't going well.  Unfortunately, he was not exactly the spriest of creatures, especially with the extra load her carried around his middle.  Whittier was a stubborn critter though, and so each time he slipped back down the side of his mother's stomach, he simply got back up and leaped again.  Like a good mother, Bazi allowed it to go on for a little while - likely because she was so mesmerized with seeing her lazy son moving at all.  But eventually, like a tired mother, she gave her son a growl and pushed him away.

Whit went quietly, but not without giving her a sullen pout.  The husky pup waddled then towards the mouth of the den, figuring if he couldn't do what he wanted then he might as well go to sleep.  That's when Swift caught his eye and quickly, Whit turned to scamper towards him.  After stumbling about three times and falling down completely only once, he hopped up right beside his smaller brother, giving him a nice hard bite in the rump as a greeting.

Swift was unaware of his brother's approach. His nose was down in the grass and his young mind was not capable of focusing on the task of searching and on watching his arse all at the same time. Perhaps it would never develop such a skill. Time would tell. Oblivious to all but the blades of grasses and plants before him, the smallest Frostfur knew nothing before he felt the clamp of Whittier's teeth on his rump. He barked and spun around, smacking a paw into his brother's face with a scowl on his. How dare that glutton interrupt his work.

Swift's ears slicked back to his head in annoyance as he resumed his search a few paces away. He thrust his muzzle into the flora and suddenly, without thinking, he nipped the stem of one plant and immediately carried it to a flat stone where he carefully laid it out in the sun. Then it was forgotten, a switch was flicked in his mind and he walked back to his brother. Just before he reached him he made a pounce and his mouth sought one of Whittier's ears with a playful growl. He looked much more like a typical puppy than he had mere moments ago.

Whit's butt wriggled excitedly as he waited for his brother's reaction, anticipating that it would be a tackle of some type that would further incite their play. Unfortunately, instead of responding at all the way he'd hoped, Swift whipped around and gave him a hard slap on the face that knocked him backwards onto his rump with a yelp. He lifted a paw to rub his face, pouting at his brother as he wandered off doing whatever it was he was up to. Though it hadn't exactly hurt too much, nor did he feel particularly upset about what had happened, tears sprang to his eyes nevertheless and his bottom lip began to tremble.

The chubby Frostfur had just gotten up to waddle over to his mother to make sure she was front and center for the sobfest he was brewing when Swift was back, leaping at him and ensnaring an ear between his teeth. Instantly, Whit forgot all about his tears and threw himself into play - literally, as he shove himself at his brother in an effort to tackle him.

Swift yelped as he was tackled. There was not much the smallest Frostfur could do against his heftiest sibling, and he found himself pinned beneath his roly poly brother. Sometimes it was as though Swift had two minds, one belonging to a pup and one to a incorrigible old man, and at least for now he was a pup. His paws kicked playfully at Whittier and his growls and yips and other noises were all good natured as his teeth nipped at his brother's cheeks and muzzle. Whatever he had found so interesting in the grass was forgotten, for now.

Whit felt the thrill of triumph as his brother fell beneath him. He placed all four paws on the ground around him, leaning down to hover his gaping jaws threateningly over Swift's face, twisting back and forth to do so as his brother jerked about. It didn't occur to him how much bigger he was than Swift (and wider), nor that he ought to contribute his weight to his success more than his own strength, and thus he enjoyed his position completely.

The chubbiest of the Frostfurs was feeling quite full of himself indeed by the time he suffered a well-positioned kick from his brother. Whittier yelped in pain and hopped off and away from his brother, arching his back as he went until he plopped onto his haunches and rolled his hips backwards to expose his now throbbing itty bitty man parts. With a whimper he began to lick himself to soothe the pain he felt, shooting his brother evil glares as he did.

Swift had not meant to hurt his brother, and his ears flicked forward with alarm when Whittier yelped in pain. The chubby Frostfur was quick to hop off him and scurry away, and Swift sat up and looked to him with concern. He furrowed his brows. Slowly, he padded toward his brother, who had begun to lick himself, but the glare he was shot stalled him. He lowered to his belly, and proceeded to crawl the rest of the way, reaching out to touch his paw to Whittier's with a small whine.

The pain began to ebb after a moment or two, and so Whittier allowed himself to be placated by the apologetic display his brother showed in the wake of the unforgivable injury. Slowly, the chubby Frostfur lifted his head away from said family jewels to eye the black striped pup suspiciously as he crept forward and touched his paw. He pulled his paw back and turned slightly away with another glare, however he soon caught onto the expression and body language Swift was displaying, and suddenly his resolve was dissipating along with the pain in his balls.

Whit stayed curled up away from his brother for another few seconds before he reached out to place his paw lightly upon the bridge of Swift's nose as a symbol of peace. He lifted his chin slightly as he did so - very regal of him, actually - and then all pretense was dropped as he dove towards him and attempted to stuff Swift's entire muzzle in his mouth. Playtime re-initiated.

His brother was placated by his display, and soon resumed their game by diving for Swift's muzzle. Which he was successful in grabbing, to which Swift released a surprised but muffled yelp. He twisted his head from side to side, wrenching his snout free. Then he darted to the side and with a challenging bark and waving tail dared his chubby brother to chase him. He sprinted away, making a leap for the tall grass which swallowed his form but bent and shimmied as he raced through it.

With gaping jaws, Whittier lunged at his brother's face, intent upon snatching up some part of him between his teeth. Swift, however, lived up to his name and darted out of his reach before his front paws even landed upon the ground. He didn't completely fall over as he landed, but his stumble and last-second-save was one worthy of applause. He swiftly was able to shift his paws back underneath him as Swift escaped, making him capable of leaping after him as he disappeared into the tall grass like a pokemon.

Being that he wouldn't even have given the tortoise a run for his money during that race with the hare, Whittier quickly lost track of his brother. Instinctively, he lowered his nose to the ground and began to sniff furiously at it, easily picking up the scent, but not so easily following it as he twisted this way and that between the fronds.

His brother took the bait and the smallest Frostfur ran ahead. He ducked around an oak, then swerved around an ash, making a yip as a red and white rock came hurtling toward him. The tall grass was apparently a dangerous place to go alone. He turned his head to look for his brother, but could not see him. At the same time all the nimbleness came out of his paws and he barked as he stumbled and tripped over his own legs, sprawling into the plants who left their green mark in scuffs on his coat. For any moment of grace Swift showed was but that: a moment. Not meant to last.

Growling, he found his feet again, and went in search of Whittier. He heard the soft swish as blades of grass rubbed shoulders, and crouched, a predator in waiting. But he was too impatient to ambush, and crept forward. He saw a glimpse of black, and without further delay, pounced it. Aha! Got you, brother!

Wait, black?.

Oops. That was not Whittier.

He barely comprehended his mistake before getting blasted with a stench more foul than even Whitter could muster. He bawled as his eyes stung and his nose burned. He fled back toward the den as the skunk stood in triumph. On his way, he crashed into his brother, who had his nose down tracking him.

Oh Whit, no need to have your nose down now to smell him!

Last post for meee :D

Whittier paced slowly along the scent trail his brother left in his wake, his sensitive little nose twitching eagerly as scent after scent flooded his nostrils. He knew that it was Swift that he was after, but that didn't stop him from growing curious about the other smells that he came across. He was too young to know to what all of them belonged, but even then, his little brain began to catalog each of them so that next time he came across them, he would remember.

It was a skill that would definitely come in handy one day, for before Swift came flying into him, he had already caught and cataloged the scent he would soon come to know as 'skunk'. It was a perfectly pleasant aroma at first, but even though Whit couldn't actually see it lift its tail and spray, he knew in an instant it had done so and that it was just plain awful. The boy flinched away before his brother even came barreling suddenly out of the foliage into him, but not enough to avoid getting pummeled by him mere seconds later.

Whit tumbled to the ground with a yelp, the stench stinging his nose in an almost painful way. Never in his life had he moved so fast as in that moment as he scrambled as quick as his tubby self was capable back to his paws so that he could peel out of the brush as far away from that terrible smell as possible - straight to Bazi who would shortly be gifted not only with her newly skunk-drenched son, but also with her sobbing, hurty-nosed son.

Swift wailed even louder as his brother left him, and hurried to follow him, but found it difficult to do with skunk juice burning his eyes. He end up wandering in all the directions but the one he was trying for, whining and crying. Finally, after consoling Whittier, @Bazi found him, and it was off to the Bitcurrent with him while his mother tried not to toss her cookies.