Redhawk Caldera a feather for your hare

@Wildfire

Now that the new parents were allowing visitors to see their pups, Jaws thought it only appropriate that he make the effort. Truthfully, he had never interacted with pups even though it was probable that there were a dozen running around with half his blood, perhaps one of them even had his iconic canines, owing to his many escapades while on the move. But he was not about to show up empty pawed. Jaws had taken to his responsibilities as a gamekeeper like a duck takes to water, and so that morning his priority had been to find some fresh kill to take with him to the den.

Last time he had brought an offering of squirrels and mice, this time he was determined to bring something different. He had not yet located a badger for Fox, so he settled for a hare he found foraging on some alder branches. He had crept up so far and then charged it. After a short chase, the coywolf caught it by its back legs and quickly killed it with a bite to the neck. It was a sizeable male, delightfully plump. Winter had not been to hard on that fellow.

On his way to the den with his catch, Jaws spied a long black feather sticking out of a snow bank and scooped that up too. It had not occurred to him that pups were yet blind and deaf, he saw the feather as a plaything, reflecting on an early memory when he had played with one himself. Arriving at the den, he dropped the rabbit at the corner of the entrance, keeping the feather between his teeth as he peeked in to see if he would be welcome.

While their father lay in the den's entrance with his chin beside his crossed forelegs, the pups played nearby. All three were awake and rather lively today. It seemed they spent more time up and at 'em with each passing day. Soon, their eyes and then their ears would open and they would find their sea legs. Even while still relatively senseless, they sure know how to keep themselves occupied.

Wildfire was being loudest and most rambunctious, of course. Today, she was practicing the art of barking. It sounded like a gravelly squeak, not that she could hear it for herself. It just felt satisfying, somehow, to expel the air from her lungs. She did it continuously, up until the Alpha male sat up and placed a broad black paw on top of her head, gently and playfully squashing her to the floor.

The pup wriggled and writhed, grasping her father's paw with her own tiny ones and biting him as well. As she squirmed, she grunted and tried futilely to heave the weight off her small body. She continued struggling until she became exhausted. Right around the time she flopped in defeat, a strange smell wafted into her tiny button of a nose and she fell still beneath Peregrine's foot, sniffing the air.

"Trade ya," her father rumbled above her, lifting his paw as he attempted to barter his loudmouth child for Jaws's rabbit and feather combination.

Wildfire's reputation was not undeserved. No sooner had Jaws arrived at the den than were his ears met with various noises from the little girl. He marvelled at her, beneath Peregrine's large black paw she looked so very small. Smaller than the coywolf was anticipating, but then he was not quite sure what to expect. He laughed quietly as Peregrine offered a trade. "What would I do with it?" he asked as he stretched out a paw and oh so carefully touched the fiery child's nose, in the same manner that a curious youngster pokes something he never seen before. Jaws drew his foot back and realizing his blunder quickly corrected himself. "I mean her..." Jaws felt terribly awkward around the pup. He suddenly remembered the feather that he held between his teeth, and stretched his neck out to drop it in front of Wildfire.

Wildfire flipped onto her belly even as something touched her nose, causing her to sneeze. With a squawk, she hauled herself forward to investigate whatever it was that had bumped her. It turned out to be a paw. At long last, she had come to know the difference between toes and teats (and various other objects in her everyday life). All the same, she opened her toothless mouth and began to gnaw on Jaws's foot, exploring it with her pink gums and tongue.

Meanwhile, Peregrine chortled. "Thank you for the pawcifier!" he quipped, tilting his head at the hybrid's question. "Hmmm, there are many uses for week-old puppies. They're great for playing catch, plugging leaks and stuffing up your enemies' tailpipes," he joked crudely. "They also double as magic beans. If you plant them, a beanstalk will grow into the sky and lead you to a golden kingdom."

As if she'd heard the story and felt the need to give her opinion of it, Wildfire spat out Jaws's paw and screeched like a banshee. No more than two seconds later, she evacuated her bowels. That's what I think of your story, dad: it was shit!

Jaws' eyes widened as the fiery pup latched on to one of his toes, his body frozen with complete uncertainty about what one does in this situation. It was a very strange, foreign sensation, to be mouthed in this manner. The coywolf cast his Alpha an unsure look that practically begged for guidance, but all he got in return was a thank-you for providing the pup with something to occupy her.

"Magic beans..." Jaws echoed absently, his attention back on the furry spud-like child, slowly lifting his paw but finding Wildfire briefly still attached. He leaned in cautiously with his nose mere inches from Peregrine's offspring, venturing a sniff, when all of a sudden - without his paw to distract her - the pup ripped the quiet with a startling scream. Jaws jerked his head back, his eyes widened again as they sought Peregrine, but as the pup defecated they fell to her again. Jaws simply stared, bewildered.

Somehow, the miracle of life did not seem so miraculous. Nor cute.

She escaped her own mess by crawling forward, slipping past Jaws's assaulted forepaw and then winding around the other side. Here she discovered a tuft of stiff, bristly grass, which tickled her nose. Wildfire stopped and then began sneezing. After the fit passed, she pushed herself back, nose wriggling.

Peregrine kept an eye on her even as he spoke to Jaws. "If she tries to go much further, grab her." Because the male seemed so uncertain of himself, he added, "You just clip 'em by the loose skin on the back of their necks and lift. Here, I'll show you. Prepare your ears; she'll surely scream."

The Alpha moved forward to stand over the unsuspecting Wildfire, then bent down over her. He could easily close his jaws around her midriff and hoist her into the air, yet he wanted to demonstrate a proper scruffing technique. He gave her a reassuring lick on the head in the hopes that she wouldn't screech, then bared his teeth and grasped the fold of fur at the back of her tiny skull. Peregrine lifted his own head.

Wildfire swung in the air. She gave a single cry of distaste, then began punching and kicking the air as if fighting an invisible enemy. Amused by this, Peregrine stepped toward Jaws, playfully threatening him with his feisty daughter.

Knowing Jaws, an effort made by him to grab a fleeing child would probably have ended up with the pup dangling from his mouth like the dead hare he brought - held up unceremoniously by her feet. Fortunately, Peregrine sensed his ignorance surrounding caretaking and demonstrated a more sensible technique, to which Jaws announced his understanding with an, "Ah..." instead a typical quiet nod.

As Peregrine held his daughter aloft, her tiny limbs flailing in the air, Jaws grinned. It was such a comical sight he could not help himself. "She's some spirited," he commented, feeling her name upon his tongue. "Wildfire." Jaws retrieved the feather from the ground and held it within reach of the swinging paws, the soft tip of the feather lightly tickling the fiery pup's stomach.

The fiery pup grew still when she felt a puff of warm air (Jaws's breath), then began squirming so wildly that she swung like a pendulum in her father's jaws. She only stopped again when she felt something tickling first her toes then her belly. Despite herself, Wildfire unleashed a high-pitched giggle that was like music to Peregrine's ears. She then clasped the feather against herself and shoved it into her mouth, of course.

Seeing as the usually rowdy pup was preoccupied and quiet for once, the Alpha male made no move to relinquish his grip. Ignoring the slight stiffness in his neck, he continued holding her aloft while she busied herself with the feather. Of course, it was only a matter of time before it went up her nose and when Wildfire subsequently sneezed, the feather drifted to the ground. She immediately began to wail.

Hastily, Peregrine put her down next to the makeshift toy, sighing a breath of relief when Wildfire fell quiet again and began rolling on the feather, much like her parents often rolled in scat. She tittered again, her little black tail snapping to and fro as she rubbed her pudgy little body all over the soft, oily object.

Jaws was warmed by the pup's giggle and antics with the feather and he smiled at her. Fortunately, even though she was still blind and deaf the feather did not prove to be an awkwardly timed gift. The child clearly had strong senses regardless of the two she was deprived of, and was readily taking in the world with them. Jaws knew enough to know it was a promising sign, that there was little chance she would meet the same unfortunate fate of her late brother.

When the feather dropped and once more their ears were assaulted by Wildfire's protests, Jaws made to grab the feather - but Peregrine's response was quicker, placing his daughter on the ground where she could resume playing quietly. Jaws chuckled. "I played with a lot of feathers when I was a pup," he shared as he settled to his stomach, splaying his legs so that between him and Peregrine there was a sort of 'corral' for Wildfire to fumble about in.

Seeing the pup enjoy the new scent and sensation the feather provided, Jaws reached over and plucked a chunk of fur from the hare, dropping it next to the girl for something else for her to discover.

She might have rolled on that feather all day long, if Jaws hadn't provided her with yet another stimuli. Wildfire froze when the lock of rabbit fur tickled at her nose, then righted herself and craned out her squat little neck to sniff at it more intently. She sneezed lightly, then opened her mouth in a loud yowl even as she struck out a foreleg to drag the little patch of fur closer. She buried her nose in it, inhaling deeply. Meanwhile, the feather remained underneath her, momentarily forgotten in favor of the new toy.

For a long time (a solid five minutes), Wildfire sniffed and licked the soft shock of fur. She then opened her mouth and stuffed it in there, naturally. It promptly got stuck to the roof of her mouth. The pup coughed, then made a slight gagging noise before swallowing loudly. Down it went into the pit of her stomach, leaving the pup a bit confused and bereft. She yowled again, more inquisitively this time, then coughed when a few stray hairs stuck in her throat.

That's when she remembered the feather. She squealed happily and buried her face in it, the vanished rabbit fur suddenly forgotten.

Jaws was pleased that his offerings were so well received, and watched with wonder as the pup checked out his newest gift, hardly aware of the minutes passing. When she began to cough and gag his ears fell to his skull - suddenly worried he had erred in giving her the fur, worried that the pup was choking. But her distress was very brief, only long enough for her to gulp the the fur down. Jaws snorted in amusement. His earlier uncertainty had gradually waned and the coywolf was now relaxed.

Pups were not so bad, he decided, at least not in small doses; but he could not imagine being responsible for them fully as a parent. For how confident he was in providing for his own survival, Jaws had been quite unsure about tending to the needs of the pack, that is, to mostly self-reliant adults. All he really had to do was contribute to food stores and keep an eye on the borders. Raising fragile, very dependent little wolves was an entirely different game, one he was not keen to play lest he do something wrong and end up killing the little buggers.

"I will bring her a whole bird next time," Jaws declared quietly, as he lay his chin on the ground, content to watch Wildfire rediscover the feather. Behind him, his gently wagging tail left swish marks in the snow as he blew a soft puff of breath in the pup's direction, making the feather flutter slightly in between her mashing her face against it.

She was much too busy wriggling to pay much attention when Jaws blew on her, though she did make a strange and shrill peeping noise. Wildfire just kept rubbing herself all over the feather while the two black males watched. Peregrine was wondering whether she was trying to rub its scent on herself or the other way around. One way or the other, she had certainly laid claim to it.

The Alpha smiled when Jaws offered to bring an entire bird next time. "In the next week or so, they'll start eating meat. Well, regurgitated," he clarified. Brows raising, he added, "You're welcome to bring some of that by, if you're willing. Nothing will bond you quite like some barf soup." He laughed for a moment, then sort of reluctantly concluded, "I think I'd better take her inside to wash down that fur, just in case. Thanks again for the feather. I'll let her play with it until she destroys it."

Wildfire squalled when the Alpha male stepped forward and lifted her by her scruff again. She batted her little forelimbs, clearly reaching for the feather. Peregrine deftly positioned her so she could grasp it off the ground, then lifted her clear and swung around to carry her into the den. He plopped her inside, nosing her toward Fox in the hope that she would temporarily set the feather aside and have a drink of milk. The other two had ceased their playing and settled down at the proverbial supper table too.

The Alpha's head reappeared in the den's mouth. "Looks like it's mealtime. Come by again sometime later and you can meet the others. See you later?" After smiling at the hybrid, he withdrew just in time to see Wildfire spit out the saliva-covered feather, latch onto a teat and begin nursing herself to sleep.

Jaws stared at Peregrine, blank-faced, as the Alpha described what would be on the pup's menu in the upcoming weeks. The coywolf was more than content to bring by any meat that he could find and would not shy away from requests for a specific type (like a badger for Fox)... but he was not prepared to bring said offerings in his stomach and toss them back up. His answer to this was the type of smile that said "riiiight". He was pretty certain he would leave 'cooking soup' to the Alphas, he would simply provide the ingredients for them to do so.

The coywolf sat up as Peregrine scooped Wildfire into his mouth and carried her into the den, but not before she had been given the chance to retrieve the feather she coveted. "Later," Jaws echoed with a respectful dip of his head as Peregrine bid him farewell, extending another invitation to come by and meet the remaining pups another time. Turning his back on the Alpha's den, Jaws trekked off in the direction of his own.