Silver Creek building a wolf

For @Indra!

It was a hot, hot day, and hungry old Shreya was adamant on surviving. The trick, she knew, was to drink a lot of water — an easy mission to accomplish in the newly-discovered territory of Silver Creek. The water was crisp, ample, and — in the shade — blessedly cool. She drank to distract her hunger pangs, then finished off her scraps from yesterday. She nodded at her own reflection. She would be fine. But, just in case the growing famine had other plans for her in the weeks to come, she had work to do. So she set off for the den where her great grandchildren would be playing, and after a warm and respectful greeting for their mother, settled among them comfortably, stretching out her front legs. Come on, let's have you, she said cheerily to the nearest pup, ushering it towards her for inspection.

thank you for starting! <3 slight PP of @Saena if that is okay?

indra had watched her mother sullenly, eyeing the creek that was glittering tantilizingly in the distance. her mother had, under no uncertain terms, forbade her for wading in the water unattended and indra found great offense in this. sourly she watched as shreya approached, though she could not maintain her grouchiness for long. coldly she strode past her mother and then zoomed excitedly towards shreya, shrieking with delight and wriggling as the old she-wolf reached out to grab her.

yw! ^___^

Shreya chuckled at the little lady's pouty personality and happy energy, and failed to grab her a few times before flumping one big old paw gently down on the babe. Hello Princess Wriggles, she smiled. What have you been up to today, hm? Took down another grizzly bear, I bet.

indra swirmed wormily in between shreya's paws, the sensation elliciting loud shrieks and giggles from the bright child. with a grin she flipped over, the motion slow and graceless as she tried to steady her up-turned body with a broad front paw. she yanked her head up and looked at shreya with a wide smile, a girlish giggle pressed forth from her lips excitedly: "no! i's sleep." her tail thumped rapidly alongside her as she shakily spoke.

Shreya chuckled once more. Well hang on now, she had never been so charmed by her own kids. Was there something different about being related but not the parent...? The pups of Reek and Saena counted as the first time Shreya had played an active role in the lives of children that weren't her own, so this was interestingly new to her.

Asleep?! she replied with mock-surprise, but recovered quickly. Well now, the tip of her tail swished lazily, that means you have to make up for it by being very awake. What are you going to do today?

indra giggled as a new expression crossed shreya's face; she was too young yet to have mastered the quick recognition of artifice, and as such, took shreya's mock surprise at face value with a delighted gurgle. her eyes strayed to shreya's tail as it thumped and she wriggled her haunches, preparing to pounce on the object that caught her eye. she lacked coordination and instead flopped behind shreya's haunch, rolling onto her side with more endless giggles. she didn't really care for the idea of not sleeping -- sleeping was fun! -- yet all the same her gaze looked up to shreya curiously. she tilted her head, as if shocked by the inquiry. "SLEEP!" she shrieked, cackling at her own (undeveloped) humor.

Ooh, she was almost tempted to give up her intentions for the day — it was just so fun playing with the little one and enjoying her silliness. Indra was utterly inoffensive, and hey, wasn't that enough? But no, not really. Times were tough, and the pair of them (old and young though they were) could be of help right here and now by considering Indra's future and setting it in motion. After a good bit of chuckling and tickling, the old woman recovered, and smiled down at the kid, deciding to move on to the next subject quick before the little 'un reeled off on a new tangent. So tell me — what are you going to do when you grow up big like mommy?

indra was still taken by her unique brand of humor, though in many ways it was just like she -- juvenile and undeveloped. she fell into a lapse of loud giggles as shreya continued to torment her with tickles; her nose was cold and indra tried her best to wriggle delightedly away from it. she cast the older wolf a sly look as she considered her question, pausing for dramatic effect... "SLEEP!" she proclaimed loudly, falling into a secondary fit of giggles at her no doubt infuriating and disappointing reply.

Keen though she was to find this one a path and send her off along it, too early meant too early. And not in the mood meant not in the mood. And Shreya was a patient sort, and perfectly happy to enjoy Indra's jokes, which in themselves were a bit of a talent. If this kept up, maybe they'd have a Bard on their paws...

Sleep?! she exclaimed again. But you're the worst sleeper ever! she chuckled. An astute observation. If anyone in Silver Creek was still snoozing at this point, they were deaf.

indra scrunched her face as shreya devalued her most intrinsic talent - hey! her contorted face gave way to a sloppy grin and she set herself upright on her elbows, summoning the most serious expression she was capable of. "not truth!" she proclaimed hotly, though her defiance lacked any mean streak in it. with a dramatic gesture she squeezed her eyes shut and promptly collapsed onto her front paws in a dramatic gesture of slumber. "see?" the little child whispered, prying one eye open to look up at shreya.

So she was keen to prove herself! This was very fair, given that the little girl's great grandmother had been terribly adamant in her refusal of Indra's skills. Gosh, she murmured to herself as the girl "fell asleep". She really is a good sleeper...

Then she gave a great, dramatic yawn herself and rested her grizzled muzzle on her forepaws. This is making me... ever so... snoozy...

indra stifled a cackle, struggling to keep her little ears from canting as she strained to listen to shreya's response. this charade was tough -- but indra gave it her entire -- her hunched form still as possible. she even tried to give her ruse extra authenticity by relaxing her toes the way she had noticed milo did in his sleep.. and she would have been an excellent thespian were it not for the thumping tail that betrayed her. as shreya started to doze off indra pried a single eye open and watched her slyly.. waiting.....

and then the moment came, when shreya 'fell' asleep atop her paws. with a mighty heave the toddler surged towards shreya and gallumphed about her ears; "WAKE UP!"

Oh boy, she was glad she wasn't raising these tykes. A doting and judgemental great grandmother she could be, no problem, but she was pretty glad Saena would shortly be coming along to sweep this one up and give her a feed or a bath or something else that would give Shreya a good long break.

Though — ow. That would be ringing in her ears for a while. Nooo, she faked a teenage whine. Five more minutes. She rolled over onto her other side and let out a vast, snorting snore.

i hope you're ok with an archive.. ty for being so patient with me!

indra would have given a valiant protest if she were not so tired herself; she shouted "no!" but instantly realized her folly -- for she was the greatest sleeper and by god she was not going to let shreya out-sleep her!

with a launch into shreya's face the little red child curled into a ball, snuggling right up to shreya's chin with soft and pleased whimpers. before she knew it she was asleep, and shreya was released from her unholy duty of entertaining the little red terror.