Moonspear dancing in the moonlight

@Vela or @Jarilo ?!

 

Hydra liked her little siblings. They were finally in the "interesting" phase. And so she trotted toward the den, lowering her head and peering inside. Your favorite has returned, she declared. She was taking a quick break from patrolling and guarding their den. Keeping Korei away seemed like a good idea for the minute, and Hydra felt comfortable not smelling her near.

Times were a little odd lately, he noticed. They changed, returned, and shifted just a bit. Either way? He was at the mercy of these greater powers, simply along for the ride--and sometimes, that wore him out, so he had been sleeping by the den in a shady spot until he heard someone coming closer. He popped up his head and looked around, not finding Vela or Galaxy immediately but instead, one of his older sisters had come by. They usually meant good things--interesting things--so he readily  chirruped a greeting at her and started whipping his tail before the rest of himself untangled to go at her, all long legs and freshly-awoken puppy enthusiasm.

Hydra grinned as Jarilo came out. She nipped him fondly when he came at her, and then sprang backwards and slammed her forelegs against the earth in a clear invitation to play. Hydra growled, the sound impish and not at all serious, even despite her teeth revealed to him. Her tail waved behind her as she rose and sprang beside him, attempting to nip his rump before springing wildly away again—though not so far that he could not reach her.

He was quick on the uptake when it was motions like these and did not need told twice what was going on here. His head flung back and forth with a happy yap when she went elbows down, signalling it was on. Without a doubt, he knew what that meant, and his lips were back too. He was far less refined than she was with his responding noise, but eager to show it off along with his sharp needle teeth he flashed.

Despite his efforts to whip his rump-end out of reach, Hydra's nip still landed on the top of his butt and he made more noise about that--a shriller one. This came seconds before he launched his retaliation, and although she swung away from him, he sprang after her. He aimed for her forelimbs, mainly because it was the closest thing he could make a grab at.

He was quick at retaliating, which was how Hydra liked to think of herself as a cub. He went for her foreleg, and she let it be accessible to him for a moment before pulling away (not too rough, in case he attempted to fasten himself there—she would not be the cause of any missing teeth, not today). Hydra then moved with a foreleg to attempt to bat at his side gently, stepping backwards and letting another growl roll out from between her teeth with a waving tail. She darted forward to do the same thing to his other side, this attempt as gentle as her last one—and if successful, she'd bound over him to cause him to need to turn around.

He met his mark, and nabbed her foreleg with a wily little growl when he did--only to be cut short by her moving it away from him. But something so simple so early on in this wouldn't deter him; his determination in such situations had already begun to be conditioned by roughhousing with his dam, and although she usually put him down easily, he had learned to keep going and keep coming with all of his worth until he just couldn't anymore.

But when she batted her paw at his side, he tried to nip at her legs and dodge all at once for a mess of contrasting maneuvers that he did not quite have the grace to execute. She made her contact anyway, gentle and feather-light as it was, and he did not! Then she was on his other side, and he tried to skitter out of reach of this one with some awkward sidestepping. He dodged this time, but fumbled up his gangly legs to send himself spilling to the ground. 

The boy, quick as ever, tried to play it off with a roll and a recollection that sprang him back up--then off, away, hopefully out of immediate reach. He sounded a yip then started to dart off, wanting her to chase him.

Hydra was pleased with his maneuvering, and grinned. He would be her youngest sidekick, she decided. Galaxy was not interested, and though she had not yet attempted to recruit Vela to her efforts Jarilo was a young natural. Like I was, she thought smugly to herself. When he began to run, Hydra followed him slowly, pretending it took some effort. She wanted him to believe she could not catch him, to underestimate her. It was not a lesson she was certain would stick with him this day, but she did want him to remember the outcome she desired and hoped to achieve.

He had a good share of gumption about him already, but sometimes, it just outran his physical boundaries and left him an awkward mess of rushing legs and paws. Still, once he got his momentum under control and all moving in the right direction, he could delight in the chase—especially when he heard the rhythm of her stride coming for him, signalling himself as successful bait.

Flattening down his ears, he tried to prepare for her advance by speeding along as hard as he could go.. but it never quite came all the way. He could feel her presence looming, and hear her keeping near. After a few breaths of her not overcoming him, he finally dared to chance a look over his shoulder. She pursued, although not all the way.. and he was vaguely worried; why not?

Well. Whatever the case was, he faced forward once more and kicked it back up to top speed again. He threw down a few zig-zags to feint a path at some certain features of the landscapes, just to prove he wasn't a total clumsy disaster always.

Jarilo ran freely, and this pleased her. He threw caution to the wind and for her own part, she abided by it; she raced through the trees, never directly behind him but perpetually around him. She practiced her stealth, and hunted. When he zig-zagged, Hydra let herself be delayed to follow him, springing after him gracefully in the woodwork, though taking care to remain as silent as possible. Surely now and then he would hear the snapping of a branch beneath her paw when she misstepped—she was no expert, however adept she was, yet—but it was all quite thrilling to her, and surely he would feel a shiver of excitement or trepidation to keep him moving. Whatever worked. Hydra was tireless in her pursuit. 

Her tongue lolled from her mouth as she picked up her own pace, slowly but surely. Hydra figured she knew the terrain better than he did solely due to her experiences upon it, and he was only beginning to expand his range (she thought, having not truly tracked their progress in that domain) whereas she knew what would come with certainty. Hydra's eyes gleamed at the wall ahead of them, wondering what he would do, and anticipating all the outcomes she could in order to react accordingly.

The boy was good at maintaining the motion of it all. He liked the run, and when she rushed in a little closer to him now and then, his heart raced and anticipated sparked up and down his back. A certain sort of playful delight would follow, then he'd try to dig in and flee faster just in case, so long as he had some sort of path to glue himself to. He liked being chased plenty, so it had not yet urged him into any kind of retaliation; he just wanted to be chased and the forest allowed him the passage to do so.. but only for so long.

A frown creased his expression when he realized the upcoming obstacle. He wasn't savvy enough to foresee his best route to keep carrying on just like this, not immediately, which worried him briefly.. but still loping along, he was running out of time to ponder the notion. He could ride it out and just turn this towards a new path, he reasoned, although decided not to do so just yet in the end.

Before the wall forced his hand, he began to turn his path and skidded to a messy stop, then swung around to spring back at her. He attempted a pounce, all trying to hit hard upon the earth with his forepaws then use the momentum to bounce away instead of further forward. Go fast stayed his simple, main goal as he wanted to circle back towards her better since he knew he could be harder to catch if he kept moving. Although now that he was facing Hydra, he was keenly more aware of her every move suddenly now that it was more than hearing her come for him. A little intimidated, but feisty enough, he clicked his teeth at her and sprang again, trying for a move in the direction of her front legs until he was inevtiably derailed, or rebuked. Whichever came first.

The spry boy kept going, away and towards her as needed. He would refine with time, but each awkward miss and every meager attempt was something.. in his long run.