Bearclaw Valley you have to sleep; it's what keeps you pretty

Someone come interrupt Piper's nap!

What bliss!
 
Sleeping was everything that Piper truly loved. I mean, hogging out on mom’s milk had been tons of fun, but they were long past the days of hanging out with a good teat and the kids had moved well into the days of gnawing on chewy meat. While the meat tasted alright, the Redleaf girl really missed the good days of mom’s milk train. She was looking at hopping back on board that express lane anyway she could. Since the lactose express seemed to have been closed for business, the second-best thing to gorging on milk was sleeping the day away.
 
Piper was sprawled on her side with her arm tucked beneath her, pinching against a nerve that would surely cause her to lose feeling in her leg. Her tiny mouth was parted just slightly so that the tip of her tongue protruded from between her lips. From deep within the back of her throat, the russet-colored Redleaf child was producing the world’s most obnoxious snoring noise. Alas, she was so deep in her slumber that sleeping beauty could not hear the echoing sounds of her snores against the den walls.
 
Again, what bliss!

Nunataq had spent the early morning hours by pestering one of the adults, until he or she gave in and played with her. Which was not an easy task, because the puppy did not seem to know the concept "tired" - and even, when she was tripping over her feet and could barely keep her eyes open for exhaustion, her inner will to be constantly on the move and to be doing something was stronger. Eventually she had fallen asleep with a little twig still clasped in her jaws.

An hour later her eyes were open, she got to her feet, shook her coat and was in the "what to do now" mode again. Having slept by the doorstep of the den, she now peered inside to see, if anyone would be up for some mischief. And luck (really?) would have it that her eyes fell on Piper's sleeping form. Nuna crouched, approached her sister in a stealthy manner, waited and then with set of teeth ready for an assault, pounced at her butt, intent to sink her teeth in the soft fur and flesh.

Damn that nap had been so good, but it had been cut short by the dramatic and well-aimed pounce of Nuna.
 
The movement was enough to startle the Redleaf girl from her slumber with a violent kick of her limbs that resulted in her little frame being flopped forward into the dirt with a muffled sound. She threw her head up and glanced around with wild eyes, trying to figure out what had happened to cause such a ruckus and interrupt her beautiful nap. When she locked her gaze on the form of Nuna, she tapped her tail softly in the dirt and flopped back over on her side.
 
“Nu playin?” she asked the girl with a wide yawn that made her words stretch out much further than they would have originally. The russet little pup wasn’t sure if she wanted to jump up and play; she might have needed a little more coaxing from the other pup to get a good reaction.

Nuna learned the hard way, that if you decide to attack someone's precious back-end, you should expect some repercussions - as Piper scrambled forward, one of her hind paws hit the mischief-maker straight in the eye. The pain was dull, unpleasant and the girl, who hardly ever cried or whined, sat with squinted and watering eyes and let out some pitiful whimpers.

This moment of weakness, however, did not last long, because the fact that Piper was up and going, made Nuna forget that she had been hurt (though she still kept the assaulted eye only half-open). She got in a playbow and with a wagging tail, and happy series of barks, invited the other puppy for some action.

Somehow, Piper had struck Nuna when she had scrambled to escape her sharp teeth. The Redleaf girl whirled around and wagged her tail tentatively at the other puppy, concerned that she had caused damage to the pup’s eye and that she might get in trouble. Nuna did appear to have a squinty expression gong on and she had whimpered. Piper wiggled her bottom half in hopes that she could cheer up the other puppy. Her eyes searched her friend with a sad expression for a moment.
 
“Okay, Nu? Get hurt? Pie’s sorry…” she remarked in a quiet tone, inching toward the other pup with a wiggly bottom and her ears flattened to her skull. Nunataq seemed as though she was doing alright and that she was ready to play some more, but Piper wanted to ensure that she wasn’t going to cause any more harm than she already had.

It took another 30 seconds and Nuna forgot that her eyes was hurt at all - the energy that fuelled every fibre of her body was very good at suppressing any pain. But Piper did not seem to be inclined to tackle, but was more in a "I am cute, are you too" mode (that was, how the brown puppy translated it). Nuna's brow furrowed, then the crease disappeared and she eased in a relaxed standing position and went towards her sister with a wagging tail. She reached out towards her and attempted to plant some reassuring licks on the other puppy's muzzle. She had seen Indra do this on many occasions, when peace-making, and Nuna copied this now, to put Piper's worries at rest.

The young Redleaf girl wiggled her way toward Nunataq with a sweet expression. It was not until her sister started to reach out with a happy face that Piper felt relieved she had not caused any real harm. She had a tendency to get too rough when tousling with her playmates. She had driven her teeth too deeply into her aunt a few times, only to get reprimanded for being too rough. It was something she was doing her best to keep an eye on, not wanting to cause harm to her family.
 
Nuna seemed as though she was in the mood for forgiving. She drew close and planted puppy kisses to the bridge of Piper’s nose. The Redleaf girl felt her heart thrum inside of her and she wiggled herself so hard that she nearly lost her balance. The young pup reared back on her hind legs and batted gently with her front paws toward her sister, eager to join her in playtime.

While Piper was concerned about, whether she was not too rough with others, then for Nuna term "too much" simply did not exist. She was fast, she was as soft as a hungry piranha, when she fought, and, even after the harshest form of reprimand, she would look guilty for half a minute, then shake it off and go on with the same good mood and amount of energy.

However, slowly she learned that not all shared her level of enthusiasm and not all were as bullet-proof and stubborn as she was. She also had learned that if she did not adjust her style and rules of play with others, the games were bound to come to an end too soon. Therefore - having caught the vibe that Piper was of a gentler material, rather than tackling her as she would have Marten or Indra, Nuna pretended that her "blow" had thrown her on the ground. She rolled on her back and tried to grab either limb that was in the vicinity from the upside-down vantage point.

Nunataq seemed to fall backwards, taking in the playful mood that Piper was giving off and adapting to it almost instinctually. The Redleaf pup was surprised that she had been so willing after almost having her eye gouged out. It seemed as though Nuna was eager to continue their session. Piper watched as she reached out to grab at one of the russet girl’s limbs. Knowing that this was a good game, the young girl fell into the grabbing and seemed to land right over top of Nunataq.
 
Piper released a play growl at her sister, reaching out with her pointy teeth in hopes of latching them to her playmate’s ear. Her aim was to tug gently at the dark ear tips while she was grappled by her sister against the earthen floor. Piper’s tail still wagged excitedly at her rear.

An ear for a cheek - while Piper had got hold of Nunataq's left ear, she wasted no time, by slobbering, chewing and grazing with her teeth as much as she could get from the russet girls cheek. When this proved to be not too effective and mellow for her taste she began to wriggle underneath her sister, to break free. One hind foot was trying to press against the other girl's belly, one of the forepaws - against her chest and together she tried to push the puppy off her.

The feeling of Nuna’s teeth against her cheek was strange – to say the least – but Piper did little to fight against it. The same could not be said for her sister, who writhed beneath her frame with surprising force. The tan and black puppy found purchase in Piper’s stomach and chest before she heaved with all her might and sent the Redleaf girl flying several inches into the air and off of her mark. Piper’s eyes grew wide as she traveled away. Not prepared for the quick movements, she stumbled against catching herself and toppled over onto her back.
 
At that point, Piper resembled more of a potato bug that had managed to roll itself over. She grumbled and squeaked with some delight and some frustration as she attempted to right herself. The swinging of her body was doing very little to fix her upside-down state. She was nothing if not persistent, though, and she swung herself hard enough that she managed to roll to her side. With that, Piper looked to Nunataq with a feisty expression and yapped.

Nunataq had not expected to get rid off Piper so quickly, therefore for her also was the moment of confusion of, where her playmate had suddenly disappeared. The girl rolled to her stomach and craned her neck to better see her sister wriggling in the dim light of the den. And just, when the idea of pouncing at her from this position occured to the little pup, the other one had got back to her feet and yapped at her.

"Wruff, wruff, wruff," she replied in her own voice and with a squeaky battle cry of "Oroooooo!" she charged at Piper again.

It seemed that even though Piper was not a great play fighter, Nuna still seemed to want to continue. She took delight in the fact that she had found a good sibling to tousle with; the Redleaf girl had always been afraid of being too aggressive with Lucas. It was with renewed vigor that the russet pup bowed her front half toward the earth and waggled her tail. Her sister charged and Piper squeaked, bouncing upward and sending herself flying to the right of their fighting location. She had almost lost her footing, but found balance in the sturdiness of her back legs. With a great big heave of breath, Piper reared back on her hind legs and batted her font paws at Nuna with playful growls.

When it came to playing - Piper was no weakling and Nuna appreciated it to have a buddy, who could match the level of energy and excitement. The russet girl was quick to avoid her sister's very forward attack and dove sideways. Surprised at this unexpected turn of events, the brown piranha stopped and took a moment to locate the other and then met her half-way by raising to her hindpaws as well, embracing Piper and with a very determined intent to topple her over.

They sparred for a while longer, until it was Nuna's turn to feel sleepy and tired. Then there was a 45 minute break in the playing.