Redsand Canyon Footloose

The week following her eyes opening up hadn't been very interesting. There was a lot going on now, almost too much input for little Leo to handle, and when she wasn't staring intently at one thing or another she wedged herself against Jack Snipe and slept for long hours.

Today, having woken from another long period of stagnation, Leo was watching the adults from far away. She couldn't tell any of them apart except Towhee or Maxim, and she knew it wasn't either of them.

People came and went - with Leo keeping tabs on all of them. Someone staggered by with fresh meat; a pair of strangers were having a heated discussion and their voices dropped as they neared the den; a few hours later, a figure marched by.

Leo was tired of watching and listening. She wanted to play, or to explore, and so she waited until another shape drew close to the den and launched herself outside, directly in the figure's path with a grimace and a tiny, pitchy growl. Her feet stamped the dust and as the grit plumed around her, she sneezed.

Katniss, a newer member to Mereo, smiled and stepped back as a little pup jumped out in front of her. "Hello little one." She said kindly. She lie down to be at the pups level. "What's your name?" she asked. "I'm Katniss." She told her.

She was glad this pup was having fun. Remembering her own puphood, Katniss shuddered. Her parents kicking her out, her older sister being hard on her to get her to mature, then the loneliness from 1 year until Germanicus found her.

When little Leo launched herself out of the den, Towhee prowled out right behind her. The pup had thrown herself into the path of a stranger and put on an endearing little show of dominance, disrupted by a sudden sneeze.

Looming over her child, Towhee echoed the growl with a much louder one of her own. Her teeth bared as she leered at the unfamiliar she-wolf, silently commanding her to back away from her baby.

When she finished her stomping and the dust began to settle, there was a shape materializing on the other side; it was at her level, very large, and unfamiliar — plus, the stranger was talking! Leona's ears were very sensitive; her mother sometimes spoke to the kids or around them, but it wasn't the same sound she was used to, and anyway it surprised the heck out of her.

With a squawk Leona shoved off the dirt and reared backwards, practically falling over her own ass while her forelegs wheeled about in the air. She was unbreakable at this age and recovered quickly, though she was not graceful about it.

A thunderous sound erupted over her head, which was also very new and monumentally more terrifying, so Leona bolted away from it — right in to Katniss' face, which was a firm barrier to the three-week-old.

Katniss dipped her head and backed up in a submissive pose.
“I’m sorry, I did not realize how young your pup was. She seemed curious so I offered to play with her. I never got to enjoy my puphood, but I wish to allow others to enjoy theirs. I can go now if you’d rather me not.” Katniss told the mother

“My name is Katniss.” She added in case the mother had missed that

Leona scrambled, for lack of a better word. Towhee sucked in a breath when her child ran directly into the stranger’s face, which was alarming, to say the least. Despite her submissive posturing and reassurances (which fell on deaf ears), she was still unknown.

The mother darted forward and snatched her child by the scruff, quickly but gently lifting her away from the she-wolf. She turned and deposited Leo just inside the den, blocking the door with her body as she looked over at the woman.

Get the fuck away from my den, she said lowly, tail lashing, and don’t come near it again.

It was harsh, but it really riled her, these newcomers coming so close to her den. Towhee wanted the pack to meet her children and vice versa, but on her terms. Her fur prickled, wondering if she ought to have a word with the Imperator to remind these tenderfoots of their place.

After colliding head-on with the giant face, Leona kicked and adjusted and tried to get back, only when that happened it wasn't within her own control. Suddenly she was weightless; the pinch at her scruff made her go limp, and she was airlifted to freedom.

Once inside the den she scurried to the very back, curled in to a ball, and stared at the shape of her mother at the door. All the excitement had overwhelmed her to the point if weariness.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. The pup did run into me, and I was
just trying to be nice." Katniss explained, backing up and lowering herself down, hers
ears pinned back submissively. "I'll go now." She said.

Katniss out!

The Plebian apologized and departed, Towhee’s hard eyes following her until she disappeared. She stood there a moment longer, exhaling through her nose, then turned and ducked inside the den.

She spotted little Leo tucked up against the back wall. Was she cowering? Towhee paused, then lowered herself to the floor. She splayed out her forelegs and thumped her tail a few times.

-“Lil’ Leo,”- she said slowly, lowering her head nearly to the dirt floor, expression affectionate, -“I didn’t scare you, did I?”-

Blinking in to the dark, Leona didn't know who came to talk to her until she heard - and felt - the familiar voice that was her mother. She saw the face descend and then recognized that too.

I didn't scare you, did I?

The girl went from coiled-up to untangled, and with a leap collided with Towhee's snout in a four-legged bear hug.

MAAA!

She laughed approvingly when Leo launched at her face, little legs wrapping around her snout and batting at her cheekbones. Playfully, Towhee lifted her head, raising her little girl into the air. She then set her back down, sliding her muzzle out of the pup’s grasp.

But she didn’t go anywhere. Actually, she flipped over onto her back, hoping that Leo might accept an invitation for some more playful rassling or, well, any other bonding activity that would put the altercation out of their minds.