Dawnlark Plains and the king of all, sir duke!

The rain was light, just barely making it to the ground, but it was enough to piss Eventide off. Who did the clouds think that they were, sending down the rain just before his walk? Didn't they know that Ty had plans that could not wait? It was incredibly inconsiderate on their part and if he knew how to stop it, then one ought to know that he would have by now. 

In waiting for the raindrops to finish falling, Eventide (im)patiently sat by the mouth of the den with him paw thumping annoyedly. The den was barely big enough for anything interesting to happen inside, especially now that the pups had gotten bigger, but maybe @Kasatka and @River would be able to help him make it work.

unlike her brother, kasatka took great joy in the thundering of the clouds and the near-silent whisper of rain.  every once in a while she would poke her head from the mouth of the den and wonder at where in the world she was getting wet from.  baths had always come from mommy and daddy; never before had they come from the sky.

she turned to eventide, cocking her head this way and that, like, "dude, did you see that?"

Every time Kastaka would stick her curious little head outside of the den, Eventide's heart would jump with quick flutters of anxiety. What if she was swallowed up by the rain as revenge for his contempt? What if the raindrops drowned her? What if she got too cold and froze? Oh, if Kasatka froze...how would he live with himself? 

With a soft rumble in his chest and a whimper sneaking from his maw, Eventide crept forward and tried to tug at his sister's hackles to pull her back inside. No, he commanded, his voice not quite as intimidating as he had hoped.

 

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she studied her brother with a curious wonder, taking note of the fear that quivered in his voice.  buh-bee, she said, pawing him before rubbing her now-wet head all over him.  pway, she cooed before wiggling her rear, jumping back a few steps.

Yes, play! That was exactly what Eventide had been hoping for, but did Kastaka mean outside? Because, to be clear, playing in the rain was not on the agenda. For a moment, he just stood there with an ever quizzical look on his face, wondering what his sister might do next. 

After a moment or two, Eventide decided that he ought to take the opportunity to indulge in play, whether that meant getting a little wet or not. He reared up for a second before charging at Kasatka and (gently!; super, super gently) bumping into her side.

two puppies playing together was a little bit like.. bumper cars.  she watched her brother ferociously thrust his front limbs in the air and her mouth dumbly popped open in response before he barreled (very gently) into her side.   she exaggeratedly fell onto her butt and then tried to wiggle beneath him — it always felt funny when the adults tickled her tummy, so maybe it would render ty useless!  what a master plan!

It seemed that any plans Eventide had had to overpower Kasatka would soon be deemed useless, for she had discovered his kryptonite: tummy tickles. As her paws ran against his underbelly, Eventide yelped and leaped this way and that in a desperate effort to get away from the relentless fiend. In his mind, the boy felt as though he had been terribly wronged by Kasatka, but in reality, she was indeed playing by the rules.

In an effort to stop her, Eventide reared away again and barreled out of the den and onto the freshly misted grass.

wahay!  her master plan actually came out with three positives:  her brother had lost the battle, was rendered useless, and then he went out into the rain!!!

which was, of course, right where she wanted to go in the first place!!

she let out a yaaaaaaay, and raised her open mouth to the sky, trying to catch a raindrop.  for a moment she stopped and looked at her brother, opening and closing her mouth and then tilted it at the sky again as if to say, do as i do.

Upon realizing what he had done, Eventide's entire demeanor shifted. Almost immediately, the boy was transformed from a brave warrior to a cowering child with his tail between his quivering legs. It was as if he had lost a piece of himself with that last move to the outside; somewhere along the lines, he had lost control, and he didn't like it one bit.

And then there was Kasatka, ever graceful in all that she did. For a moment, the terrified toddler watched with wide eyes, not quite sure what she was expecting of him. But, after figuring that the rain couldn't do anymore damage, he mimicked her motions, opening his mouth to the stray drops.

It wasn't long before one landed right on the ridge of his tongue. In response, Eventide gave an exaggerated blech! and tried to paw the water from where it had landed.

even though she liked the taste of winning, the shift in her brother's brave demeanor did not settle well with his empathetic sister.  she moved to his side, two wet puppies against each other, motioning a paw towards the den.  if he was more comfortable there she could enjoy the rain from inside the den, too.  buh-beee.

At the end of the day, it didn't matter how Eventide felt. It mattered how Kasatka felt, and if she enjoyed herself more when they were outside, then so be it. There was no real fear that he might disappoint his sister; if she really wanted to play outside, then he was confident that she would do it, whether with company or not. What really frightened him was the thought of Kasatka getting hurt while he was inside of the den by something that he could have protected her from. 

So, knowing his responsibilities, Eventide stayed and forced a smile onto his face. Pay? he cooed, tail batting behind him.

unfortunately for eventide, kasatka had not developed such reasoning yet.  she watched him steel himself and a childish grin found her thick lips.  paaay! she shouted, mimicking his earlier action: she rose onto her forelimbs before nuzzling into her brother's side, gumming at one of his ears.

Had this been Winterbourne who Eventide was up against, he might have fought back with more fervor. Kasatka's nips to his ears didn't do much, but he was sure to make it seem like they did; he lashed out (super freaking gently) and tried to push her away while getting a grip on her shoulder with his tiny jaws.

oh!

she fell to the ground in an exaggerated huff, all four of her limbs and each of her toes splayed as he gripped her shoulder.  the terror!  the horror!  maybe if she tricked him into thinking he'd won, he'd walk away and she could grab his little nubbin tail.  she howled and rocked back and forth on the damp earth floor (getting kind of muddy in the process).

Although it probably wasn't the reaction that Kasatka had been hoping for, fright and regret were the only things she would be getting from Eventide. As she fell to the ground, he tucked his tail and whimpered, moving forward slowly at a crouch to investigate. Was she hurt? Like, really hurt? It was Eventide's job to be her guardian, not the thing she needed to be guarded from! 

Eventide, being as cautious as he could, placed a few curious boops! atop her head, seeing how Kasatka would respond.

she responded to his boops by placing his paw in her mouth before, empathically, standing up and nuzzling her brother.  kitten was, well, kittenish — fickle in mood, but when her brother needed her, she would pull through.

Wrap up?

While Eventide would always be cautious around his sister, he felt reassured by her calm. Rubbing a gentle kiss across the top of her head, he backed down and sat on his behind, watching her with soft eyes.