Redhawk Caldera I'm the satellite and you're the sky

Powerplaying @Elwood Jr -- Iris, you're welcome to toss him in here, but this is also all welcome for anyone! :)

Elwood, of course, hadn't protested when Finley had suggested that she take a jaunt away from the caldera for a few days. He was used to her wandering nature and was actually glad to see that she was feeling up to doing a little outriding. She had been a surprisingly good mother to Elwood Jr -- and he meant that in the least offensive way possible! -- and had devoted a majority of her time to caring for him. She deserved a little vacation from her responsibilities.

But he found that after she was gone for only a few hours, he really started to miss her. He realized that it had been nearly three months since they had been apart for any substantial length of time. Sure, they each tended to their duties as Betas, and often alternated babysitting Eljay, but this was the first time she had really been away. Already he anticipated her return, but he was loathe to admit that to anyone.

Part of the reason behind her venture was to hopefully finish Eljay's weaning. The boy ate some meat, but still stubbornly tried to insist on receiving some of his mother's milk. Elwood braced himself for potential temper tantrums once the boy realized that Finley wasn't around. For now, though, the pup was happy to traipse around the territory with his father as the silver Beta checked the nearby caches.

Eljay's development was still going slow, and especially his speech was lagging behind where it should be. Motorically he was doing okay, though self-conscious and hesitant at times, for his motor skills developed at a fairly normal pace: he could run, dig, play, and looked pretty normal.

Eljay missed mommy terribly. He had an unhappy frown on his face as he wondered if mommy had gone away because she didn't love him anymore. She had been very firm about not wanting him to drink her milk anymore, and he had been very firm about wanting to anyway. What if it was all Elwoof's fault? What if he'd made mommy go away? What if mommy didn't love him anymore?

"Mommy when?" Elwoof asked as he looked up at daddy while they walked. Daddy was checking some things, though Elwoof paid little attention to them, sticking close to daddy while he looked curiously at all the things they saw. He already missed mommy terribly, and who was to say when he'd see her again? It was nice to have daddy, but he wanted both parents by his side.

Elwood busied himself with investigating the pack's food lockers and didn't notice the frown that became increasingly more evident on Eljay's face. It was only when the boy spoke up that he turned to look at him; little Elwoof had been so quiet and obedient, plodding along behind his father, that Elwood hadn't even suspected that he was growing disgruntled with Finley's lack of presence.

"I miss Mommy too," he replied truthfully, yellow eyes meeting green as he spoke. "She'll be back soon, though. Maybe two or three sleeps," he elaborated, trying to explain in a way that Elwoof would understand. Finley had promised to only be gone for a few days, but since Eljay didn't yet have a good grasp on the concept of time, he thought that using the setting of the sun would be a good reminder.

He moved forward, nosing at a tree that he knew housed a cache beneath its roots. Before he began to dig, though, he addressed Elwoof again. "Mommy likes to go exploring. That's one of her jobs. But even though she leaves sometimes, she always comes back," he said, but even as the words slipped past his lips he found himself hoping that she would return sooner rather than later.

Elwoof thought it really stupid that mommy just left and then didn't come back for a really long time. Two or three sleeps sounded like a really short time, but in truth it was really long... Or was it?

"Hmzzzz," said Elwoof as he closed his eyes, creatively filling in the first sleep. Then he opened his eyes again and let out a loooooong yawn to signify that he was really awake again! And then he filled up with another "Hmzzzzz," with eyes closed, before they were wide open again as he searched round for mommy. The sleeps were gone, so now it was mommy-time again!

"Mommy!" called out Elwoof, as though he really magically expected her to arrive. "MOMMY ERGAWDLEEEE PEEEEEEEEAZ!" he shouted, surprisingly loud, while attempting to summon mommy to his side. There was a hopeful look upon his face as he looked around, waiting, because surely mommy could come around the corner any moment now...

Elwoof suddenly closed his eyes and exhaled loudly, making a humming noise, and Elwood tilted his head as he looked quizzically down at his son. What was he doing? In the next instant, the child's eyelids popped open again and he yawned, his little mouth opening as wide as it could. And then, before Elwood could respond, his eyes were closed and he had resumed his noisemaking. It was then that Elwood realized that his son was pretending to be asleep -- completing the "two sleeps" required for Finley to come back.

He bit his lower lip, trying to keep his face from wrinkling into a grin, as Eljay "woke up" and looked around expectantly as though Finley would appear right by his side. He even called out for her, raising his voice to the highest decibel he had used so far in his short life -- but there was still no sign of Finley. The pup looked so hopeful that Elwood hated to dash his dreams, but he didn't want him to be even more disappointed when Finley stayed gone for a few more days.

"Not yet, buddy. The sun has to go down two or three times. We'll go to sleep tonight when it's dark, and then wake up tomorrow. No Mommy yet. But maybe after we go to sleep tomorrow night and we wake up in the morning, she'll come back," he said with a wave of his tail.

Elwoof's expression fell when daddy said that mommy wouldn't come back for several times of the sun setting. He was deeply disappointed and his lip started to wobble. Elwoof looked up at daddy with big, bright eyes shining with hidden tears that looked like they wouldn't be held back much longer. "M-m-mommy-y-y," the child brought out between noisy snorty sobs as he looked up at his father, imploring her to bring mommy back right now.

Uh oh, Elwood thought as soon as he saw Eljay's expression darken. The pup's lower lip wiggled and fat tears shone in his eyes, and Elwood's heart nearly broke on the spot. He almost wanted to send up a howl for Finley right then and there, begging her to come back, but he knew that wouldn't be fair. She deserved to have a few days of freedom.

"She'll be back before we know it," he said, trying to keep his voice calm and soothing as he addressed his son. "Hey, what do you want to do while she's away? We can do something that's just for Daddy and Elwoof, something that Mommy doesn't do!" he suggested, his ears perking.

Daddy wasn't going to bring mommy back, which caused Elwoof's expression to fall even further. He was the saddest and least fortunate little puppy in the world in his mind. With tears shining in his eyes he sobbed: "Wu-Hy-hy-hyyy mommy-hy-hy-hy lu-hu-hu-huuuh," after which the pup broke into a loud wail of: "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He barely even heard his father's suggestion for other subjects. Whereas Nunkie P. had been there on their trip with the flowers, there was no one to distract Elwoof from the heart-breaking tragedy of his life and the unfairness of his mommy and daddy now.

Elwood's suggestion was disregarded by Eljay; in fact, his words were almost instantly drowned out by the sound of his son's wailing. He wasn't accustomed to this type of behavior, as the boy was usually so quiet and well-mannered. It seemed that Elwood's emotional development was finally catching up with him, and that he was entering the wolf equivalent of the "terrible twos." The father was at a loss as he looked down at the pitiful mess that was Eljay.

It seemed that there would be no distracting him this time. Raising his voice slightly to be heard over the sound of Eljay's crying, he finally said, "She won't come back if you're crying!" Maybe it wasn't the nicest technique, but he was desperate to stop the flow of tears -- at least temporarily. "You have to be a big boy," he urged.

The pup just continued to cry noisily, oblivious to any of the suggestions his fathers had made. Inbetween he would look imploringly at his father, as though asking him if he'd gone and howled for mommy to return yet. For a short moment he fell silent as he looked at daddy, who was saying something (and you never knew if it was a confirmation that mommy would be back sooner than he'd said before -- like right now).

Much to Elwoof's distress, it wasn't anything like that. His eyes widened as his father said that mommy would never come back if he continued to cry, and that he had to be a big boy. This only caused more emotion to flood over the pup at the thought of mommy never returning. Fresh tears welled up and Elwoof continued his loud, snorted wails of: "Waaaa-aaaahhhaaaaah -- SABBY MO-HO-HO-HOMMY-HY PLES BAA-HAA-HAAACK AAA-HAAA-WAAAAAHHHHHH."

Okay, so that didn't work. Little Elwood just bawled louder, and big Elwood wanted to close his eyes and clamp his paws over his ears. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea for Finley to take a trip yet -- Eljay obviously wasn't ready for it. He felt a flash of misdirected irritation. It was easier to blame her than it was to be accountable for the situation -- a situation that he didn't know how to handle.

Finally, he reached out and gathered Eljay into a wolfish embrace. He pulled the boy close to him, hoping to at least calm him long enough to propose that they return to the den. He certainly wasn't going to get any work done with Eljay howling and carrying on. "Shhh, she's going to come back, I promise! We just have to be patient," he said, although he was pretty positive Eljay wasn't listening to anything he was saying at this point. "Want to go home?"

The pup was just bawling non-stop now, paying little attention to his surroundings. His father's embrace quieted him down for a little bit. Elwoof loved his daddy too, but it wasn't the same as having both his parents in the same place, like they should be.

Instead of coherently forming an answer to daddy's question though, Elwoof just found himself overwhelmed by his unhappiness again and tears started to stream down his cheeks again as he burst into another series of loud uncontrollable sobs.

There was no verbal response provided by Eljay; simply a pause in the tears that lasted only a few seconds before the floodgates reopened with more force than before. Now feeling exasperated and helpless, Elwood decided it was time to make an executive decision. Eljay was past the point of reasoning or making a choice himself.

"Yep, time to go home. Maybe it's nap time," the father said, releasing his son from the hug. Once all four of his feet were on the ground, he stood and gave Eljay a nudge with his snout, hoping to get him moving. If the boy refused to walk, then Elwood would have to resort to carrying him -- although he wasn't quite as small as he used to be, and that would likely prove to be a difficult task in itself.

Elwoof refused to walk when daddy decided that it was nap time and they were headed home. He collapsed on the floor and continued to wail for mommy, as though he hoped that crying endlessly would make daddy desperate enough to bring her back. He wanted mommy's milk and mommy's soft embrace and he just wanted to lay by mommy's side and go do fun things with mommy.

While he continued to sob daddy eventually started to drag him along, and Elwoof allowed himself to be carried / dragged away, sobbing noisily as he did. He'd continue to cry for a good while before he would eventually drift off to sleep once they reached home, unaware that the worst of the mommy-missing was yet to come.