Redhawk Caldera Words don't make the rain go

The Caldera had once been his home, but within the pack's territories were the empty homes that had once belonged to wolves who no longer called the Caldera home. Wolves that had died, or moved on. He visited those places, and felt slightly satisfied to see those unclaimed dens neglected and empty. It was like checking under the bed, just to make sure that there were no monsters there. 

He made his way toward the lake, which was where he'd spent much of his time recovering the last time he'd returned to the Caldera, weak and wounded. It was how he remembered it, peaceful and quiet. A heron waded in the shallows, looking for a fish to catch. It eyed him for a moment, but didn't pay him much mind as he ambled along the shore. He was more keen on scanning the soft, wet earth to see who had visited recently, and collect those scents, whether they belonged to prey or packmates.

Chapter 4

Day 26 of established existance

Upgrade from tiny tank to toy-size armoured personnel carrier. More mobility and speed on solid, flat ground. Less so in untamed terrain. No visibility in tall grass. Got totally stuck in mud. Travel range limited by parent-radar systems. [i][size=small]On-board computer update ongoing. Current level: tetris.[/size][/i]

[size=small]Situation: training in progress. 
Mood: explorative

End of update[/size]

Now that puppies were old enough to roam around during good weather they were allowed to play outside. One could argue that this might have been a bit irresponsible from the parents, but for the sake of sanity, air-quality and general hygiene, the more time dirrrrty little puppies spent outside, the less mess there would be inside.

Dwin was beyond excited for this change. If it had been up to her, she would never go in again. She explored diligently every inch of the area she was allowed to play in. She took great interest in every single object she found - were it a rock, a piece of twig, leaf, bug, sand, anything really - it was examined from all sides, slobbered on (not enough teeth to chew). 

When this got boring, she either wrestled with her siblings or picked up, whatever they were doing. At present, Dwin had perched herself up on a roomba-sized flat rock and with her muzzle held up trained her vocal cords. She would never have a singing voice like Chicadee, but every wolf is gifted with a beautiful howl. 

She is near the den under a watchful eye of either @Maia or @Eljay and in company of other puppies.

Each paw print, footprint and hoof print he found along the lake’s edge was logged even if they were a few days old. The territory was thriving, with a balance of wolves and other animals that lived in the area. He’d checked out several sets of paw prints belonging to packmates he had yet to meet, and gathered what intelligence he could about them by the scent they left behind. 

One area was obviously a place that was frequented by both Eljay and Maia- perhaps it was their favourite place to go for a drink, but when he heard youthful voices calling out nearby, he smiled faintly. This was probably the closest water source they could get to, snag a drink, and then get back to the kids. 

It certainly sounded like one of them was having a good time, as their high little voice called out over and over. Such was the way with kids- they found something they liked to do, and they’d do it a lot. Figuring perhaps that Eljay and Maia might want a break from being serenaded, Bronco headed off in the direction of the den, and soon saw the very vocal culprit, sunning on a stone and singing to the sky. 

In a gesture he hoped would be received as benevolent, he flashed her a gentle smile and tilted his head back, adding his voice to hers as softly as he could, so that his voice wouldn’t simply overpower hers, but compliment it.

Roger that?

Dwin paused her perfomance on howl-wave frequency and turned to look at her siblings and see their reactions. Much to her disappointment, no one seemed to have paid any mind to her very important message. They were playing around and making their own noise, parent figures were either busy or dozing off in the sun. She frowned at them and a new plan began forming in her mind, when...

Airship alert! Airship alert!

Bronco had not intended to scare Dwin, but his appearance caught her by surprise and his voice - as soft as he had attempted it to be - was still that of a grown-wolf. The girl stared at him, neck craned back, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape. After a moment of silence she uttered a quiet "EEEP!" and she dove quite ungracefully from the rock, to hiding behind it. From the safety of, what she considered a good-enough cover, she carefully lifted her head and peered curiously at the Airship, who had responded to her summon. 

Well, he couldn’t expect all kids to simply run up to him and accept him as their fun uncle. The little one uttered a surprised squeak and lunged away, disappearing out of sight behind a rock. Had she belonged to anyone other than Eljay and Maia, he might’ve worried that her parents might’ve come running to see who had frightened their daughter. As it was, he feared no repercussions for the surprise.

He figured a game of monkey-see-monkey-do might interest her. So when he saw her peek out from behind her rock, he too uttered an alarmed ”EEEEP!” before he dove behind a rock as well. 

His rock was about the same size as hers, but with him being a much larger wolf in comparison, it left much to be desired in terms of being a suitable hiding place. He did his best to hide at least his nose and his eyes behind it, curling his front paws beneath his chest though the rest of him was completely visible. He remained where he was, holding his breath and listening to see if she came any closer before he, too, peeked over the rock.

Hindenburg down!

The stranger shrunk behind a rock too and peered back at Dwin. He was huge and because she did not know him that well, the effect was all the more impressive. She was not afraid and was in the process of deciding, what to do with the guy now that his full attention was on her. What was he good for? There was a portion of health distrust too, because by now she knew that all adults were capable of violating children's rights of remaining in camouflage (read - grubby, muddy, smelly and dirty) and having absolute disregard of very important missions, when it was bedtime. According to this logic - keeping distance and being out of reach was important.

On the other hand - she was curious. That part of her eventually got a slight advantage over the cautious part. She carefully left her hiding post, made some careful steps towards the man and with her neck craned forward, she hesitantly sniffed the air. 

There was a chance she might simply decide not to engage with him at all and saunter off to find something more interesting. He listened to see if she moved, and when he heard quiet paw pads, he lifted his head to peek over the rock at her. 

She was almost stalking, the way she approached cautiously and quietly. She might make an excellent hunter if she had a natural knack for being stealthy, and play was an excellent way to hone those skills. 

Almost as soon as he spotted her, having come a few steps closer, he ducked his head back down again, and waited a moment. After a slight hesitation, he bobbed his head up, uttered a high pitched ”PEEK!” and then ducked his head back down again.

Dwin jumped, when the big and sturdy warship like wolf emitted a loud squeak. She stared at him wide-eyed, frozen mid-step, then gradually her expression changed from that of a surprise to calculating. 

 

Tactical withdrawal!

She slunk back to her hide-out behind the rock she had been perched upon earlier. There she plopped down, plotting her next move. For a moment, her attention was drawn by a shouting contest between her siblings near the densite and it was very tempting to join them, but there were more important things at hand. 

Enemy had to be neutralized. Dwin turned around, scrambled atop the rock, behind, which Bronco was lying low. In her mind she was as swift as any Marvel hero, the reality of short legs, very round belly and general clumsiness of an agile war-machine in the making was less graceful.

Nevertheless - it is about accomplishment of a mission, not the beauty of it. Dwin was atop the rock, peered down at the man, whose head was the size of her, and pounced at him.

He heard the quiet scuffle of paw steps, and the sound of claws on stone. He suppressed a chuckle by holding his breath and tilted his head back to look up- just in time to see Ceridwen silhouetted against the sky. ”Oh!” He blurted in surprise, and when he saw her hunch, he knew what was coming next. 

He let out a soft woof when she pounced right onto his head, and tried to cushion her landing as much as he could, but his skull wasn’t a soft place to land on. He thumped his chin against the ground but chuckled in good humour. 

”Rascal!” He laughed, and tried to take advantage of her proximity to give her belly a gentle poke to see if she was at all ticklish.

Landing accomplished!!!

Dwin's glee for the succesfuly manouvre was short lived, because once the man moved she lost her balance and tumbled down on the ground. Good thing - her target had been thoughtful enough to keep his head on the ground so that the fall was neither far, nor very painful. 

She growled at him, when he poked at her belly, wiggled her paws and body, until she was back on her feet again. After quick assessment of the situation she jumped up and attempted to grab one of Bronco's big ears. Experience told her that latching on one of the stationary radars oftentimes helped to temporarily incapacitate enemies bigger than her. 

Ceridwen was a playful child, once she seemed to overcome her reservations. Without hesitation, she clamped her teeth into Bronco’s one remaining ear. He squirmed and yowled- not tugging too hard so he gave her a chance to keep her grip, but acting plenty theatric to make her believe she’d found his weakness. 

”Nooo! Not my ears! Not my beautiful, soft, precious ears!” He complained bitterly. He’d tilt his head this way and that, wincing slightly as her dagger-like puppy teeth pressed into the tender flesh. 

As soon as he was able to pull his ear from her grasp, though, he turned his head to the side- to show her the ear which had been torn long ago, turned into little more than a stump. 

”My ear! How bad does it look?” He asked.

Bad choice asking the little ear-assailant for an opinion of her work. Dwin replied with a toothy grin and jumped up to grab the exposed appendage a second time. The only thing that save Bronco from losing it was the fact that he was tall (in puppy's eyes a literal giant) and that her actual height did not match the size of her personality. More time was needed for that to happen. 

She let out an annoyed bark-growl at him and kicked some dirt in frustration. Her intense green gaze was fixed on the target she could not reach and the more she looked, the angrier she got, until it exploded with her pouncing at the man's forepaw. If an ear was out of question, she was going to try to clip off some fingers. After all - what would losing two or three mean, if he had - how much? - 14 - 15 left?

He chuckled at first, when she glared daggers at him for lifting his head out of reach. She was bold- and determined, it seemed, to take a chunk out of him one way or another. His large paws made for an easy target. 

”Oh! Hey! I need those!” He exclaimed, pushing himself up onto his feet, which he had to lift and pull away from her snapping jaws. ”If you wanted me to dance all you had to do was ask!” He laughed, before he frisked sideways, to see if she’d still come after him.