Redhawk Caldera one step at a time

Elwoof Junior didn't like that his mommy thought he should eat meat only. Sure, meat was alright, but he really liked mommy's milk, too. It just tasted so darned good, yet his mother often refused him to drink. While he was growing larger, and everyone constantly told him "my, how he'd grown", Elwoof still felt very tiny. He had gotten a bit better at social contact, though, and controlling his emotions (and those of others that seemed to invade his head and feels at will).

Today Elwoof sat outside the den and watched as the sun started to set. He lifted his head into air and carefully tried his hand at his very first "awahooowoooo". It didn't sound very good yet, but for reasons unknown to the boy he just wanted to try it anyway.

I CAN'T HELP MYSELF.

She was back, empty-handed. To add insult to injury (or perhaps the other way around), her paws were rubbed raw from all the traveling and the allergic reaction to the pine needles in Neverwinter Forest. She stayed off them as much as she could, though she was nothing if not a wanderer... even if she only wandered around the caldera. Walking gingerly on her aching feet, the juvenile tried not to feel too down in the dumps over her failure or her condition as she found herself moseying toward the Betas' den.

A little howl cut through the air, causing her to stop and prick her ears. She smiled, immediately recognizing the voice. "Elwood Jr!" she shouted at the top of her voice, which wasn't loud at all. Wildfire began moving again, ignoring the stinging in her paws and the concern about Pan's whereabouts. The pup came into view and she smiled, waving her black tail as she moved closer. "Was that you singing?" she asked despite already knowing the answer.

don't ever help yoself :D

Elwoof turned his head curiously when he heard someone call, and stopped his howling practise. Ears poked forward alertly, and instantly fell back in unmitigated joy when Wifi came into view. "Wifee!" Elwoof Junior excitedly called out, and he got to his feet and bounded over to Wifi to lick her chin.

"Yas!" confirmed Elwoof Junior, his answer definite but without much emotion: as though he was still pondering whether to be proud because he was singing stuff, or self-conscious that someone heard it.

For some reason, the touch of Elwood Jr's tongue against her chin stirred some interesting thoughts and feelings within Wildfire. Although she was the highest-ranked among the puppies, their hierarchy was much looser than the adults' and she never, ever asserted herself. This type of acknowledgement served as a reminder that she would soon rise to join the official ranks, assuming a relative position among the other members of the pack. She did not aspire to rise into leadership, though she found herself looking forward to that day of ascension, when she would become a full-fledged adult member of Redhawk Caldera.

Focusing back on the present, Wildfire smiled and nibbled the bridge of the toddler's nose. "You have a very nice voice. Can I hear it again?" she requested, black tail waving.

"Yas," Elwoof confirmed. He was often shy and self-conscious, but not so much around Wifi, because she was always brave and friendly and she never got mad at him, ever. Raven was pretty cool too, since she often watched him and she was super nice too (and never got mad much, either); he felt at ease around her, too.

After clearing his throat Elwoof lifted his nose a little, closed his eyes and opened his mouth. He inhaled, but then reopened his eyes as he looked at Wifi. "Wifee singing Elwoof!" And he made ready to start the howls again, as soon as Wifi confirmed that she would join in on the song and howl with him.

He prepared to oblige her, though at the last second, he cracked his eyes open again and implored her to join him. "I'll try," she promised, "though I'm not very good at howling. I got hurt when I was around your age and ever since, I can't raise my voice much. But I'll try," she repeated, lips lifting as she waited for him to begin.

When he shut his eyes again and began to howl, Wildfire tipped her head back slightly and lent her soft voice to his song. Even though he was younger and with less developed vocal chords, his was easily twice as loud as her own. Wildfire didn't mind this, though. She was content to be his accompaniment and she thought they sounded pretty good together.

Elwoof didn't understand much of what Wifi said about getting hurt; did she have an ouchy? He glanced at her with tilted head, clearly wanting to understand, but also very clearly not understanding. However, she said she would try, which meant that she would do it, and that was good enough for Elwoof to commence his howling.

"awoooooohoooo," he howled, and he continued to, although it surprised him that Wifi howled less loud than he even though she was a lot bigger than he. He liked the way it sounded though, and so when the howls died down, Elwoof cheerily concluded: "Wifee goooood singing!"

They howled together a few minutes longer, then Wildfire ran out of breath and Elwood Jr fell quiet soon after. He complimented her on her effort and the juvenile smiled at him. "I'll be your backup singer anytime," she said, then bent to nip at the tip of one gray ear.

He had seemed a bit confused by her earlier mention of an injury, so she took the opportunity to tell him, "I'm healed now. But sometimes when you get hurt, it leaves something called a scar. Something the damage is permanent. Do you know that word?" If he didn't, she would quickly explain.

"Speaking of booboos," she said in the next breath, "look at my paws!" She flipped her forepaws over to show Elwood Jr their red, raw undersides. "It looks like I walked on hot rocks, doesn't it? This is what happens when I touch pine. Do you know what an allergy is, Elwood Jr?"

Elwoof looked at Wifi with a confused look on his face when she explained about injuries and healing. He understood part of it, and when Wifi asked if he knew what the word 'permanent' meant he shook his head, after which Wifi explained to him what it meant. Altogether, the pup looked pretty confused as he heard the story. He couldn't really wrap his mind around a booboo being permanent just yet.

Wifi then flipped her forepaws so he could look at the underside. When he saw the raw, red undersides, Elwoof quickly took a peak at his own forepaws to make sure that they were differently. He hadn't spent much time checking them out, so he wasn't sure if maybe Wifi's looked like they were supposed to.

Upon the discovery that they were different from his, Elwoof said: "Red!" He'd already forgotten that Wifi had asked him if he knew about allergies, but he looked up at her with big, questioning eyes as he wondered why Wifi's paws were red-looking.

Elwood Jr checked out his own forepaws. They were a healthy, glowing, adorable pink color. Meanwhile, hers looked red and angry. Seeing that the visual aid helped him understand, she moved hers closer to his so he could compare. When he exclaimed, "Red!" she smiled and nodded.

"They hurt a bit, though not that much. I'm allergic to pine, which means when I touch a pine cone or pine needle or anything related to a pine tree—even sap—it hurts me and makes me feel sick." There were some very particular reactions that happened, though she wasn't going to bother him with the gruesome details. "It goes away eventually, though," she was sure to assure him.

Elwoof stared at Wifi's paw some more as she explained some other things about it, although he registered very little of it, just staring at the redness and thinking to himself about how it looked different than his own paw did. He looked up a couple of times, listening when she mentioned that she was allergic to pine, though he didn't understand much of what that meant and his attention was all over the place.

Wifi concluded that the redness would go away on its own, and Elwoof nodded. Then he looked up at Wifi expectantly, as though waiting for her to tell him more stories.

He didn't have much to say, not that this bothered her. She could fill in the silences. "You know who can help me with these?" Wildfire asked rhetorically, pausing only for a second before answering herself, "Raven. She's a Healer in training. She's really good at it too. She can find a magical, medicinal plant, mush it up and then smear it on my paws like paste. It helps soothe the skin. She promised she would have some ready the next time we saw each other, actually..." she mused aloud, glancing off in the general direction of the rendezvous site.

But honestly Elwood Jr's company was just as much a soothing relief as some healing cream. "So, what do you wanna do today? Besides singing?" she wondered companionably, clearly game for anything.

Elwoof looked up at Wifi with a somewhat quizzical expression as she explained that Raven was a healer. He wasn't sure what it meant; was Raven really magical?! She never seemed very magical when she was watching him. Wifi then asked Elwoof what he wanted to do, and he didn't need to think long.

"Get Raven!" he said, because Raven could fix Wifi again and so what Elwoof wanted to do most was to fetch her so she could fix the red pawpad now.

Wanna fade this here? :)

The child exuberantly shouted her sister's name, eliciting a laugh from Wildfire. "All right, let's go find her so she can heal me with her magical powers," she playfully replied even as she swept onto all fours, gave Elwood Jr a nudge and began trotting off in search of her sister. All right, so she wasn't actually magical but she was damn close and Wildfire actually looked forward to the relief of her medicinal salve.

sure! :)

The pup nodded when Wifi agreed with his plan to find Raven. He followed closely behind as she trotted off, making sure to stick super close to her; he didn't want to wind up alone and lost again, after all! And so they set off together to look for Raven, hopefully finding her swiftly so that Wifi's paws would feel better soon.