This was the exact spot, where she resided now - lying on top of the tree trunk, having a piece of hide to keep herself busy. It was one of the oldest, therefore smelt the worst out of them all, but oddly - tasted a lot better in it's decayed state. Even though she was immersed in chewing it, she kept one eye and ear alert on her surroundings - she was ready to scare off any unwelcome visitor, who would want to have a piece of her food.
It had been a couple days since having been taken under Jinx’s proverbial wing as her ward, and his, in accordance, acceptance into Horizon Ridge. Ira did not exactly trust anyone - even though he’d only met two of Horizon Ridge’s wolves. They were foreign to him, and he convinced himself that by not trusting anyone, pushing them away and what not, would keep them from growing to have affection for him. Even though he could not place Jinx and ‘affection for him’ in the same sentence without snorting softly. She didn’t come across as the overtly affectionate type, though he planned on beinga buttmunchinsolent just in case. Reluctantly Ira had eaten bits and pieces of the meat Jinx had brought him earlier that morning, ripping small chunks off and chewing them with exaggerated slowness, and forcing himself to swallow them down. If she had wanted to kill him, surely, she would have done it already. Not to mention, his life probably had some semblance of meaning to her given her odd speech about her enigmatic and nameless “Gods” she had spoken to Tark of.
Tucking what was left of his breakfast into his corner of the den - the furthest corner away from Jinx he could possibly manage, he had placed it on top of a rabbit fur he had confiscated (though from who or where he had no intentions of telling) and had thoroughly claimed as his own - his first piece of possession (since owning others was messy, especially when they died like Tark had) - with the intention of returning to it later, preferably when Jinx was off doing something else and attack it ravenously because he was a growing boy and his hunger was not easily sated with the small chunks he ate with exceeding suspicion - mostly just a show. He escaped the shadows of the den, letting the rays of the sun linger across his spine like warm fingertips stroking the silver fur there. He was eager to explore away from Jinx’s watchful eye, and the shadow of the den, which he had sort of more, or less, clung too for the first couple of days. There had been nothing comforting in the scents that had surrounded him, nothing truly comforting in Jinx’s presence for him, and adapting had been hard at first. Harder than Ira had liked to pretend it wasn’t.
Stretching his legs felt great, as he plowed through the powdered snow, nose stuck to the ground, investigating and imprinting; trying to learn where the borders were and how far they spanned. There had been hints of something that smelled off to Ira the further forward he moved, though at first he had paid little attention to it. As he continued on, however, the putrid scent grew stronger, assaulting his nostrils unappealingly. Black, leathery nose wrinkled and he made a soft gagging sound of disgust, as he followed the scent, curious as to what it was. There was an ebony figure - lounging atop a tree trunk, and brazenly Ira padded in her direction - his eyes going to the meat she held between her paws, likely the perpetrator behind the wretched scent. "Wass smells like ass?" Ira demanded impudently, tilting his head to look up at her, though he was pretty sure he knew exactly what it was.
As far as wolf-dog was concerned - she did not like children. And the less of them there were in the world, the better. They meant nothing but trouble, broken hearts and wasted efforts, especially if they died young in mid-winter. She didn't like children of obscure birth either - even though she would tolerate the Akhlut's or Pied's offspring, because they were high ranked and respected members, she would not tolerate or even try to like anyone else.
She put down the hide, jumped off her tree trunk and with her fur bristled and tail raised high, she approached the little one in silence and sniffed his fur and other relevant parts of his body, to gain as much information as possible. If this was a stranger, then she would kill him right on the spot. Kids with no connections or use to the world ought not have the chance to live. There was no place for the weak in the world. Another wisdom of her grandma's.
But he smelled of Jinx and, since she was a pack member she respected, she retreated reluctantly, fighting the urge to sink her teeth in his neck and break the spine. "Get lost!" she growled, looking him directly in the eyes.
For a few steady heart beats Ira stood, head tilted up eyeing the strange to him looking wolf with expectant eyes, clearly waiting for an answer to his uncouth question, just as she paused mid-chew and in turn stared at him. Ira stood still and unrelenting as he watched her set the hide down, disturbing the already stench filled air with more of the scent of decaying meat caused his nose to wrinkle with pellucid disgust once more. "Oh," Left the insolent child’s lips in an expel of a breath. "That’s what smells like ass." He concluded in a hiss, milky blue eyes flashing to her form as she leapt off of the long and stood before him, her hackles bristled and tail raised above her in a display he recognized. It was a display of dominance. Ira drew back - not in fear, but in indignation, puffing up, lips curling back ever-so-slightly. Ira had no regard for her, for she was not Jinx and he certainly didn't appreciate the lording of a rank that he did not know. For all he knew she could be of a lower rank than puppies. Not to say that he really cared anyway - he was a Princeling Jinx's Princeling a fact that he took great pride in though he'd rather eat a frog (he hates frogs) than actually admit that out loud to Jinx or to anyone.
Pride in being her ward meant that he was getting attached. Attachment if he wasn't careful had the potential to lead to love. And to love was to destroy.
The irate woman looked him directly in the eyes and growled at him to “get lost”. The child let out a snort of cynical amusement. Was that supposed to scare him? If Ira had been like most other children he would have been scared, would have retreated and crawled to Jinx’s side with his tail between his legs. Perhaps Ira had a early death wish, but he wasn’t like the majority. In his short life he had seen more gruesome things than some mutt growling in his face - things he had wholeheartedly refused to share with Tark. He had seen the Outsiders slaughter the medic and in turn his uncle before he had forced himself to look away, to run away. It was the first time he had felt real terror, and gradually the terror had turned into subtle but potent rage. This rage had not entirely left him, it burned - a flickering flame that refused to be smothered and killed. "You’re not my Mambo," Ira told the woman defiantly, in a tone that bordered snobbish as he spoke of Jinx as his, a tiny hint towards his possessive tendencies. "I don’t have to listen to you.” Ira spoke firmly, unwilling to be bent to her will. Only Jinx could tell him what to do - this was a rule he had set for himself the day she had taken him under her wing.
That was simply how it was. It was resolute to Ira, and put him in control of his life by dictating who he had to listen to and who he did not. Control was something the child liked.
Therefore she bared her teeth and took one bold step towards the kid. "So, will you go to your mambo yourself or I will have to escort you?" she asked, adding another growl, clearly implying that the intended "escorting" did not quite mean a nice walk in the park side by side.
Ira was, despite that his attitude portrayed otherwise, aware that all the adults were bigger than him - given that he was only three months old he was still small. Growing, but small to them. It would be… not effortless because Ira did not plan to go quietly or obediently… but theoretically easy for an adult to grasp him by the scruff and carry him off. Or drag him off by his tail. Ira was not a complacent creature by nature however, and if the woman even considered doing such a thing he would be sure to raise as much raucous as he could, along with squirming and snapping his teeth. As far as Ira had established not even Jinx herself was allowed to touch him - though he was still working out what he would allow and not allow her to do. Little did he know, that that wasn’t how things worked, but he was content in his little world of seized control.
The woman bared her teeth and slunk one step closer to him. A bold move, the child acknowledged. Guard hairs bristled slightly at the enunciation she put on ’Mambo’ - idly Ira wondered if she realized he was speaking of Jinx, whom he knew to be highly ranked in Horizon Ridge - and felt him snorting at her second growl and the prospect of her escorting him. Apparently, she had thought of it. "You’ll have to catch me first," The insolent child taunted in a crudely playful manner as took steps backwards, muscles pulled taunt and ready to spring if she attempted to play along in his cruel little game. "But if you do manage to catch me, just know that Jinx will not like that you dared to touch me." Ira threatened boldly. In truth, he wasn’t sure if Jinx would care either way, but Pump didn’t know that, and Ira wasn’t about to clue her in on the no-affection basis Jinx and Ira made their Guardian/Ward relationship upon.
Ira was nothing if not crafty. It was a natural born gift of his.
Until then...
She sat down and looked at the small kid thoughtfully. "You do know that Jinx's name is the only for deterring me from snapping your spine in two?" she asked. "Other than that - you are a pup just like any other. At the bottom of the tiers, a toerag to be stepped on."
The woman did not give into his cruel game. She made no moves to chase after him, he noted, fierce milky blue eyes squinting up at her as he assessed her with the same repugnance he would give to a rat. Or a duck. He did not particularly like ducks. She was on a mutual par with ducks to Ira at the moment. Not even his taunting seemed to spurn any sort of physical reaction that she was going to come after him from her. Ears lifted to rest at half mast atop his skull as he considered what this meant. Rather, what he thought that this meant. Her lack of reaction and the according action when he had called her on her threat, served to prove to Ira a simple fact. In that moment, Ira considered her one of those creatures that was “all talk and no bite”. She had made a threat to him and failed to carry through with it - for he was still here, wasn’t he? He had challenged her, yes, because he wasn’t just going to stand there and allow her to touch a hair on him. If she wanted to escort him away, it would have to be done by force. Other children were obedient (for the most part), the other children at Red Keep would have ran away from her when she had first spoken.
Ira hadn’t ever been like the other children at Red Keep. He was a princeling. He feared no one. He got what he wanted. It was as simple (and possibly deluded) as that.
"Is that sssso?" Ira hissed at her, briefly trying out the hissing way in which Jinx talked, before he decided that it didn’t hold quite the same darkness when he did it as Jinx accomplished when she spoke. Ira wasn’t terrified of her, in fact it was quite the opposite, he was amused. Given his previous experience with her and her threats, he was confident she wouldn’t follow through with it, even if he did not have Jinx as a shield. Of course, she very might well have; but that didn’t matter. "I am no ordinary pup," Ira corrected her calmly, though his nostrils flared ever so slightly. "I am a Princeling and you…you," The child repeated ‘you’ in a softer, gentler tone. "Are nothing more than an ant under my paw." Ira could play the game of insults just as well as she could.
Now that pup was so full of himself... At the place, where Pump came from, this kind of foolishness would easily be wiped out of one's head. Alpha litter or not, pups received no special treatment from adults. All were raised as equals in the beginning and, when they were old enough to find food of their own, they had to prove their worth for a higher rank and better treatment by being the toughest, the strongest, the most talented and quickest in hunts and scavenging. You earned your rank, not claimed it, because you thought it belonged to you.
"Yeah... such big paws you have," Pump said in a mock admiration, staring down pointedly at princeling's small paws compared to her big and sturdy claws. "And look at the crown on your head - can't look - so shiny it is - hurts my eyes," she pretended to be dazzled, squinted her eyes and turned her gaze away from him.
Ira did not remember much of his life in Red Keep. As it was, he barely remembered his parents, though he knew that he hated them for abandoning him. None of that, of them mattered anymore, any way. All that mattered now was Jinx and his future. He could not recall if his parents had been the source of his belief that he should get what he wanted, when he wanted it or if he had developed that demanding selfishness on his own, or his superiority complex for that matter. To be honest, if someone made him wait until all the adults ate he would throw a massive fit, and if the fit didn’t work he’d steal scraps of meat until he was satisfied. Ira was hardly above taking matters into his own paws if it came to it. Of course, Jinx’s encouragement of his behavior was not aiding in anyone’s attempts to get Ira off his proverbial Trojan Horse. Her praise was something to be desired by the child, and so he would act like a spoiled, demanding Prince because she had yet to tell him it wasn’t ok. He was young. He was extremely impressionable. It was as easy and simple as that.
Ira’s fur on his chest puffed in indignation when the woman took to mocking him some more. "Don’t talk down to me." Ira demanded in a snapping tone, his temper flaring before it cooled, and he squinted at her with evident disgust playing across the lines of his young face. "You think you’re so clever." Ira hissed at her and laughed, cruelness seeping into a laugh that should have been a delightful child one’s. He took it upon himself in a personal game to not let her get to his temper. One day, he would be big and strong, he would lead legions and slaughter anyone who dare belittle him so mercilessly, or take them prisoner so he could do with what he wanted. "You still smell like ass." The insolent child returned calmly, wrinkling his nose at her.
"What will you do, if I won't?" Pump continued to tease the little pup more, observing amusedly, how angry and annoyed he got with every passing moment. Picking up on kids was probably not the nicest thing she could come up with and she would have ignored him, if he had been any other child. But he had asked for it and, since she could not inflict any physical damage on him, she could have her share of malicious fun.
"Well, I smell like an ass - that is a fact," Pump agreed, knowing well that she probably was the foulest smelling wolf in the pack and maybe in the valley too. "Therefore if you want to insult me, you have to choose something else," she said, lying down on her belly, while keeping her gaze fixed on the pup. "You look cute, when you are angry, by the way," she added to tick him off even more.