Dragoncrest Cliffs Double heart

If there was one thing Kiwi never got tired of, it was looking at stuff.  She'd currently cornered a beetle, and was keeping the small critter corralled, inspecting it's shiny armor as it scuttled in vain.  Her small paw shot out as it made a bid for freedom on the left, and with a bap, she flipped it upside down.  Her eyes widened as it spun, spindly legs waving as it tried to get up.

But it couldn't.  That was dumb, how could it not get up?  "'s broke," she said to no one in particular, patting at it again and setting it to wildly spinning once more.  Her eyes were practically crossed as she stared, muzzle flat on the ground and tail waving, waiting to see if it was able to recover.

is it ok if i come pls if she's not allowed i can just delete my post

this morning portia sent dalia out on a few errands. maybe she was trying to help her with a trade, you know, something to contribute to the pack, but dalia couldn't help but wonder if her mother was just trying to keep her busy and out of the way. was she in the way? no-- probably not, she was nothing but helpful-- right? ah, she didn't know anymore. 

but, regardless, one of the errands was to stop by and see @Wildfire, bring her a snack and check up on the pups. just a quick thing, nothing crazy, just ask if everything was okay or if they needed anything. when she arrived, it was not the redhead that she spotted-- instead it was the little brown kiwi. dalia's ears pricked, her nose twitching as she viewed the pup with excitement. goodness!! they were so old! and, although dalia knew no one would ever want to have her children, she was secretly hit with a big ole sack of baby fever. ah! how she suddenly couldn't wait to have children of her own. if only!

"hey kiwi," dalia purred, her tail waving-- though maybe the pup wouldn't recognize her, "what are you doin, babe?" she set aside the rabbit that she'd brought for wildfire and lowered herself to the ground to be more on kiwi's level.

She recognized her! But didn't have a name! That normally wouldn't do, but since she was intent on the super neat and also awfully broken thing in front of her, it was ok.

"Broke," she said with a slightly frustrated tone, tapping the beetle with her paw again and setting it to spinning.  No matter how hard the creature tried, it couldn't manage to right itself.

But it was moving... and usually moving non-wolf things were good, yeah?  It seemed a logical conclusion, and it was actually a rather smart one she bet!  She pursed her lips a bit, watching it struggle a second longer, and then leaned forward, aiming to snap the beetle up in her tiny jaws.

kiwi seemed particularly agitated with the state of this beetle, which dalia soon noted was stuck on it's rounded back. the girl smiled at the mildly comedic situation, and then shook her head. "it's not broke, it's just--" she began to explain, but suddenly kiwi was moving to snatch the beetle up in her mouth and consume it. "NO!" exclaimed poor dalia, who was not prepared for such a crude action. silly girl, you know know how unpredictable children are. 

but it was too late, probably, and dalia was left, wincing, waiting to see what little kiwi thought of her snack.

Oh, yes, it was far too late.  But, instead of spitting it out, the adult's shout startled the pup into swallowing the half-chewed bug.  The little legs felt decidedly unpleasant as it got stuck briefly, and she gave a couple little gags when it, thankfully, slid the rest of the way down.

"Noo," she repeated, heart going a mile a minute as she took in a few stuttering breaths. Think toddler who just almost fell and now needs a minute of validation because ohboy that was scary.  So she crawled forward, mashing her forehead into Dalia's hip/side.

the sweet yearling frowned as the pup began to gag on the bug, worried at first she'd have to put some CPR to use. thank god it seemed none of the sort would be needed. kiwi swallowed and then simply looked frazzled. with a gentle sigh, dalia, leaned over to the pup who rammed herself into her leg, giving the child a few licks to the head. "you're okay," she said with some encouragement, "just a bug-- not very tasty, is it?" 

she hoped kiwi wouldn't run around eating more bugs. there were far better things to eat than creepy crawly critters-- they were innocent and provided absolutely no nutritional value... but, whatever.

She shook her head in agreement... not tasty at all! But she'd hunted it, just like she was supposed to, and why wasn't it like the rabbit nomi had brought?

Her panicked overreaction subsided gradually, with her sobbing breathing slowing to more of a shuddering.  She lifted her head and looked at Dalia, frowning.  "I didn sniff it."  Maybe that's what was wrong.  It hadn't smelled like a rabbit, so she probably shoulda known it wouldn't taste as good.

crap i suck. i'm so sorry. maybe wrap this up? <3

"that's right... bugs aren't very good eats, are they, babe?" she said, repeating herself to get the thought through kiwi's head though... likely, it would stick anyway-- haha. don't eat bugs! easy. "sniffing things is good-- it can tell us if they're yummy or dangerous," she continued, and then nudged the girl gently, "wanna go find some good food? i can find you something better than a dirty ol' bug."

She nodded - lesson learned! - and followed Dalia hopefully when she talked of something better.  Already the fright was fading from her immediate memory, though she'd hold a newfound distaste for bugs for a very long time after.