Kintla Flatlands xena: warrior princess

She hadn't understood the concept of trades at all when first explained to her but now Osprey Jr. not only grasped the notion, she seized it by the horns! She was excited to fashion herself into the pack's next young Warrior and her aspirations now took up much of her time and energy. Although she still maintained her role as Alpha pup, she scarcely antagonized the others anymore, choosing instead to tousle with the adults or otherwise learn more about becoming a warrior princess.

Just this morning, Uncle Kisu had explained again the difference between Warriors and Wardens and what Junior took away was this: Wardens stayed home and waited for trouble to come to them but Warriors went out looking for it before that could happen! With that in mind, the three-month-old whelp stomped purposefully away from the rendezvous site intent to find trouble and whack it before it could find her family.

She reached the foot of the plateau and paused in the grassland just beyond, gigantic ears swiveling as she took in her surroundings. The sun shone brightly on this muggy July morning and warmed her sleek black back, though she paid it no attention. There didn't appear to be any sign of Trouble (it had started to become a personified entity in her head) here, so young Osprey began to trot forward toward the none too distant riverbank.

And Hawkeye was right behind the little furball.

She moved quickly behind the girl, sliding down the plateau and pushing off with her back legs as soon as she hit the ground. Hawkeye quickly and stealthily moved forward like a cat until she could jump in front of the girl. The large wolf stayed low, following the girl's movements with her sharp eyes.

Readying herself, Hawkeye gave an evil grin and pounced.

Osprey's startled scream echoed off the nearby plateau and frightened a flock of birds out of the long grasses growing nearer the river. Unaware of her attacker's identity, the youngster did not go down without a fight. The cry quickly transformed, lowering in pitch and developing into a fearsome growl. The sound poured out of her continuously as she flipped over onto her back, snapping and flailing at her assailant.

"Mama!" she yelled in surprise when she realized who was standing over her. Immediately, she ceased her attack. Swallowing her surprise, she gave Hawkeye a reproachful look and slipped out from her mother's grasp. Trying to maintain her dignity, she stood up straight and shook out her dark pelt with a low woof.

"Why you attack me?" she questioned indignantly. Spotting the opportunity, her expression cleared and she asked, "Wanna look for Trouble together? We can bof be Warriors!" Even before Hawkeye could answer, she began to bounce around excitedly, her tail waving and her jaws flapping open and closed with breathy titters.

Hawkeye's intent had been to teach Junior a "lesson" — one that said to always be aware of your surroundings. Instead, the puppy replied as the grown female should have guessed: surprise, accusation, and confrontation. Hawkeye held back a laugh and smile, thinking that her daughter was completely her own. Especially the stubborn part.

Watching Junior in amusement, Hawkeye looked to the sky while sighing and said, "Ohhhh, I don't know... a Warrior? Sounds miiighty fierce to me... Maybe even too fierce for a small black pup with blue eyes..." The mother looked at the girl out of the corner of her eye to see what Osprey Jr.'s reaction would be.

Although Osprey knew her mother was teasing her, she couldn't help but take the bait. "I'm fierce!" she bellowed. "I'm not small! I'm a big girl! I'm gonna be the bestest Warrior ever!" she declared rather ambitiously, looking her mother square in the eye as if daring Hawkeye to challenge this proclamation.

Softening slightly a moment later, Junior said cajolingly, "Mama, yer big and bad and foshes too! Let's be Warriors, pleeeeease!?" To show her eagerness, she began to run in a circle, chasing her tail. When she grew dizzy, she broke it and stumbled drunkenly into her mother's leg, giggling all the while.

Hawkeye chuckled at the enthusiasm of her daughter. "The bestest warrior ever, huh?" She moved her nose right in front of the quickly growing Osprey, Jr.

When she begged for the two of them to be warriors, Hawkeye brought on the dramatics again. "Ohhhh... hmm... I mean, if you think we can take on some baddies I guess we can be big strong warriors..." Hawkeye tried not to smile, but it was impossible. "Where to, squirt?" The large black female scoped the land, but there wasn't much surrounding the plateau — one of the many reasons she had chosen it to bring her pack to.

"Ya!" Osprey replied emphatically despite her spinning head. When her mother appeared dubious, she cried, "We can! We can!" and jumped to her feet. "We can kick aaalllll da bad guys' butts!" Her eyes glittered brightly, conveying her enthusiasm in case her loud, vehement declarations weren't evidence enough.

Where to? Hawkeye wanted to know and Osprey began to bound parallel to the river. "I fink Trouble's dis way!" she shouted, heading northwest.

ooc: yeaaaaa... didn't see you replied. sorry :x

Hawkeye couldn't help but smile no matter how hard she tried to fight it. Junior was just too cute, and she reminded Hawkeye of herself when she was that age: stubborn and oh-so adventurous.

"WELL," she began. "If you say we can kick their asses (fuck yea teaching my kid to swear! butts, I'm sure we can!" Hawkeye was having a blast playing along with her daughter.

The large female followed the leader, smiling once again — this time at the fact that O.J. was tiny in comparison to herself yet taking control of the situation (even if Hawkeye handed her the reins).

"What do you think we are going to find?" Hawkeye was actually curious as to what her daughter's imagination would bring.

No worries. :)

It gave Osprey an immense sense of satisfaction when her mother began to follow her. The puppy puffed up her chest, arched her head, pricked her ears and hoisted her tail into the air as she marched along the riverbank. She was an Alpha pup through and through and, perhaps, an heir to leadership one day in the distant future.

For now, the only thing she led was this adventure! "TROUBLE," she replied to her dam's question, enunciating it in the impatient tone of a youth. She rolled her eyes, then grinned over her shoulder at Hawkeye. "Trouble has..." Osprey thought a second. "Two heads, four legs and eleventy-seven butts!" she cried and then broke into peals of squealing laughter.

Hawkeye tried to contain a burst of laughter at the way her daughter dramatically puffed up her chest and propped her tail high — she looked just like her father. The mother wondered where the girl was leading them to, but shrugged. Why do I care? I'm just along for the ride.

The dark she-wolf let out a shocked gasp at the reply her daughter gave her. "Eleventy-seven?! Are you sure it isn't fiddy-leven?! (fifty eleven) Eleventy-even means that they have large fangs and smelly breath! You know who else have smelly breath?!" Hawkeye had been around pups before, but while she was also young. She was sad to have missed her younger brother growing up, and she hadn't really thought about visiting her family since before the pups were born. Hawkeye frowned, wondering what her family would think about her having pups and then being left.

Hawkeye seemed bemusedly impressed, then questioned her daughter just to be sure the information was accurate. "No," Osprey chirruped, then repeated emphatically, "eleventy-seven." She grinned, revealing slightly crooked and already dreadfully sharp teeth. "Who? You?!" she replied daringly, giggling again.

Funnily enough, Trouble abruptly appeared on the scene, perhaps in response to the mother's and child's boisterous exchange. It didn't have two heads but it did have four legs. And it only had one butt but thrusting out of it were exactly eleventy-seven incredibly sharp quills. It scuffed its paws in the dirt and ground its teeth together in warning as it neared the two noisy wolves.

Junior turned in response to the sound and screamed, "MAMA! WE FOUND TROUBLE!" She then began to hop toward the porcupine even as it began to curl inward, readying to strike out and defend itself with its tail full of spikes.

Hawkeye did her best gasp when Junior confirmed that it was indeed eleventy-seven. Her grin nearly made her mother show one herself, but Hawkeye kept a straight face for the sake of the game.

When Junior flung out that Hawkeye had smelly breath, the green-eyed wolf kept inside that O.J.'s father had halitosis and instead tickled her daughter's belly with her nose and said, "No, you stinky butt!"

Hawkeye's orbs went wide at first when the little black girl made her journey towards the porcupine, but then stayed back and watched in amusement. When she was about her daughter's age, her parents had done the same thing — letting Hawkeye learn very quickly not to mess with the spiky little creatures.

As Osprey neared the porcupine, her natural instincts kicked into gear and she slowed, making a more cautious approach. She came to a full stop about six feet from the large, prickly beast and turned halfway around to make sure her mother was watching. Hawkeye hung back watchfully, saying nothing. Junior took this to mean that she should handle Trouble all on her own.

"Are you havin' a bad hair day?" the youngster teased the porcupine. It answered by grinding its teeth and making strange weaving motions intended to intimidate her. "You wanna dance?" she questioned, prancing on her tiptoes a moment before dissolving into laughter. "You look so stupid, y'know! You're not a lot of Tr—"

Even she spoke haughtily to the porcupine, she grew more cocky and moved forward, waving a paw in its face dismissively. The critter retaliated by swinging around with surprising swiftness and drilling at her paw with its club-like tail. It missed, for the most part, though one barb made its way into the pup's foot, earning an immediate and bloodcurdling scream.

Amusement danced rapidly in Hawkeye's pastel orbs. She momentarily felt guilty that her daughter would be poked by the poor creature, but wiped that away, knowing that this was a lesson her daughter needed to learn — being cocky and void (mostly) of cautiousness had its prices.

She held back a ball of laughter that swelled in her chest. No wonder mama laughed when this happened to me when I was young. Forcing herself to straight composure, Hawkeye walked up to Junior with genuine concern. "Sit still," she spoke calmly before bending down (careful not to poke herself) and quickly pulling the spike from her daughter's paw. The mother nuzzled her daughter to comfort her for a moment, then pulled back, waiting for her daughter to speak before she taught her a lesson. by beating her with the porcupine

When commanded to sit still, Osprey quieted, though tears of pain wobbled in her colorful eyes. "It hurts," she said emphatically. When Hawkeye made to touch it, she shrank away from her, yet the black she-wolf managed to quickly extricate the barb. Junior cried out again, then held the injured foot close to her breast. Her eyes flicked to the porcupine and she wanted to hurt it the way it had hurt her, yet she didn't dare repeat her attack. Anyway, it was trundling away.

"That's enough Trouble," she muttered after a moment, wet and glistening eyes lifting to her mother's face. "I'm ready to go back now," she said thickly, then rose and began to hobble toward the plateau. She kept her throbbing paw lifted off the ground and limped rather dramatically. Maybe once they got home, Aunt Willow could help fix her.

Hawkeye looked sadly at her daughter when she cried out in pain and when she looked to the porcupine. The mother thought back to the time she'd done the same thing as Junior, and she'd behaved the same exact way: wanting to give the porcupine a taste of what she was feeling.

The dark wolf smiled at Junior's pout — it was heartbreakingly adorable. Hawkeye couldn't hold her laugh in when the girl hobbled off in exaggeration. The large female moved forward. "If you were still a tiny pup, I could carry you," she mentioned in passing. Hawkeye nuzzled her daughter sideways and said exactly what Junior had thought: "Maybe we can find Blue Willow and she'll fix you right up."