Moonspear Two for one, you know a bitch buy four

Today @Altair 's noise and screams awoke her. Her nostrils flared like a dragon, and Mira pulled herself to her feet, fed up with his childish nonsense. Who did he think he was? She was in charge here, she decided what would and would not take place in the den- as far as she was concerned, Mira was the queen of her littermates. The snake slithered toward him with speedy fervor, pausing rather closely and raising her front legs off the ground to try and tackle him over his back. He would be subdued; she would make sure of it.

Perhaps it was cruel for Hydra to not abide by her sons wails when she heard them, but by now she was used to his antics and knew when he was in need and when he might simply desire attention. It was only a matter of time before one of his siblings gathered this much, too, and it seemed Mira had enough; she could sense her fierce little daughter shifting to take care of things as she lay around them, though one eye cracked open in a similarly draconian fashion to observe her hoard, and what her daughter might do next.

cameoooo!

While everyone else was apparently trying to sleep, a certain little prince was bound and determined to find his voice. The previous day of howling and carrying on had only bolstered his desire to be active, and Altair had wasted absolutely no time in springing into practice.

It was exciting, this new form of noise making.

In a moment of rest as he sized up the denmouth—and what a curious little patch of light that was, how interested he was becoming in and those who came and went—, his tongue lolled out of his mouth in a fit of weariness and over stimulation; he was oblivious to Mira’s plans.

He instead drew in a breath as far as it would go, preparing to rally all.

The sound was barely out of his mouth when Mira came knocking into him, cutting off his attempt with a squeak. A growl replaced it in the stumbling fashion he went teetering towards the ground—how dare. Much like the serpent way she had struck him he was rounding on her in a wobbly puppy fashion, his mouth ready to grasp at anything she put in his way.

The feeling of knocking Altair to the ground was a delightful one, and Mira's tail truly wagged enthusiastically for what might've been the first time. He came back at her though- she was beginning to learn that this was the way it was; those she attacked would try to defend themselves. Just as Mira had defended herself against Mintaka's kiss-attack before. And so when puppy mouth came for her, her eyes widened, fearful of the wetness within. She intended to lean in for an attack of her own, but grasping mouth met her chin, and she visibly winced with disgust. She drew back as suddenly as she could, though it seemed impossible to shake that horrible feeling- and so Mira raised a paw, intending to bat him across the eyes, perhaps revenge for what he'd done to her eye before.

Success! Triumph filled him for only the briefest of moments—he saw her raise her paw and swing it, but was too slow to roll out of the way of the blow. It was a mighty smack, brain rattling; he let her go with a surprised pip. He blinked furiously then, feeling grit in his fur as much as it was in his eyes.

But it renewed him with vigor, and he found himself reaching out for her again.

If she didn’t like it so much then maybe she needed to stop hitting everyone, sheesh.

Rude.

Her brother failed to escape, and was shaken with the blow, dust from her paws invading his gaze. When he blinked over and over, a devilish sort of grin grew on Mira's face that seemed atypical for a child. Soon though, he was coming back at her fiercely, rattling her brain in turn. She was a child; and had no fast reflex to dodge- and likely neither did he, and so their battle was one of continuous success and failure on both ends. It took a moment for her to gather herself after the blow, but once she had, Mira elicited a little snarl, baring only the tiny beginnings of milk teeth. She ran at Altair, wishing to try something different, curving a path around him with the intention of grabbing ahold of his tail.

Further success only served to embolden him, though she was swift to move on. Her snarling only provoked growling from him, though it was all in play. He pawed after her only to be distracted at the image behind her—their mother.

Altair beamed at her, his tail wagging. In all the ruckus he had almost forgotten about their precious life-giver, but how could he? His mouth opened to babble and whine at her when he felt something grasp at his tail. Oh, right—Mira.

His head swung around to catch her in his sights, this time with a glare.

Couldn’t she see that he was busy? He turned to face her with another growl, this time pawing at her insistently to stop. MOTHER was there, didn’t she see?

The boy was distracted, and in that time Mira found his tail. As he swung his head around to glare at her, she smiled darkly at him before tugging sharply, wishing she could rip the length of it clean off. Sadly, such things were not possible for a puppy- and so she released her grip, tumbling back onto her haunches. It was his move now, and she beckoned him with taunting blue.

Mother was always watching, of course. 

Altair watched her, and Hydra let out a rumbling noise of her own, not that he could discern tone or tenor at this point in his life. Best he pay attention to what he was dealing with than her, and what better way to learn than by Mira's retaliation? He would learn not to turn his back on her this way even in play, but it would apply in future battles to come should he come to be a part of any. She did not interfere, and continued to watch, quiet now. Would Altair decide it was time to eat, sleep, or retaliate? 

Cameo x2, but y'all can keep skipping me ;)

PP to wrap.

It seemed Altair was tired of being tormented. As he turned away and did not attack again, Mira's chest puffed proudly, feeling victorious. It was her first win, a simple children's spar, but this moment would inspire her future desires to claim the role as the dominant puppy, and make her place known. She shot a proud look to her mother, stubby tail wagging, and made her way to her own corner of the den to rest.