Ankyra Sound ch-ch-ch-changes

Midday; same time as this
Kids! Parents! Rusalka! Tags are for reference but everyone is welcome.

There was something going on outside and the two-month-old didn't like the tension in the air because of it. Maybe it was just the pressure of the moody clouds overhead, or the oppressive humidity of the summer, but there was something going on and it made Reyes more antsy than usual. He ventured out of the den he shared with so many other children — intent on finding @Rosalyn or @Erzulie so he could suss out what was happening, and heard a rising din of voices speaking of things that were too advanced for his young brain to understand. He could spy a dark shape further up the beach, and beside them was the trickster @Illidan — who Reyes remembered as the gift-giver but not pleasantly — and scooted his way along the beach with the intent on sneaking up close to listen. He got waylayed by the roar of the sea as a particularly raucous wave swept too close for comfort, and when Reyes turned back the silhouettes had slipped from view.

Always the outsider looking in, Cadeau was adjusting to this new life. She'd gotten used to living on the open wilds since setting out at the beginning of winter, a sense of belonging was something alien to her still. It felt strange knowing her adventures with Illidan were over but she was glad to have had them. She wasn't very sure what was expected of her here, she hadn't really joined for own self but because she wanted to keep close to her friend. She'd missed him since they split up, Illidan couldn't hit the open road like they used to when he was called to lead a pack. So she had taken his old offer of joining Rusalka from back when they first met up at long last. Now, she just needed to adapt.

Cadeau met plenty of wolves on her little soul searching quest for her sense of self, being around them in a pack was an entirely new and frankly kind of overwhelming experience. She wouldn't voice that aloud though, Cadeau knew it would sound silly. She took to wandering about to get the antsy energy out of her, heaving a sigh as she walked.

You can do this, the halfling told herself, chin up and almond eyes determined. She saw something small out of the corner of her vision, Cadeau pausing to investigate when curiosity pricked her like a bee sting. It was fluffy, cute, little and dark colored, Cadeau soon deduced it was a wolf pup. She'd never seen a wolf puppy before, were wolf pups in Rusalka allowed out and about unattended like this? Furrowing her brow in contemplation, she approached the lad after a few hesitant moments.

"Hey there kiddo, you looking for your mom or something?" Cadeau asked.

For reference he is two months old, and so he looks like: this!

He tawdled along for a bit, at least until his path became obscured by forgotten logs that had been washed ashore ages ago. They lined the edge of the beach and seemed to have collected in such a way as to form a fence, and their round sides, naked of bark and bleached by the sun, were impossible for him to climb. He tried — again and again, scrambling against the sand and reaching with his forelegs, or taking a running start and trying to make a great leap to clear them (which failed horribly), but in the end all Reyes managed to do was dig out the sand with his scrambling.

He sank down to rest with his belly pressed against the wet sand he'd uncovered, having accidentally made a nice scrape, sort of like an alcove against the dead trunks within which he could nape. He had barely settled against the exposed patch of sand when he heard a voice — at first thinking it was his mother and sitting upright so that his ears could be seen over the tops of the logs — and then he was looking around, stopping only when his transitional gaze landed on the ruddy figure approaching.

Not many wolves in Reyes' life held the ruddy complexion of his mother (or of himself, albeit his coat was only vaguely auburn-toned at this time in his life); so at first he thought it was Rosalyn, and he bolted from his hiding spot to greet her. His little tail shimmied behind him, his head up, his gait seemingly conforming to the trot of a happy gazelle or some such beast — until he was close enough to discern Cadeau's foreign scent, which made Reyes halt abruptly.

He wrrrrrr-ed a warning, his little growl sounding more like the dying of an electric motor. Nuh-uh, he shot back in response to the question, I not need mama, I big! How dare she! He was indignant for no other reason than the fact he was young, small, and caught by surprise - it was the way of most kids his age.

Cadeau felt her heart melt at the little guy, she'd always had a soft spot for the young. They were just so cute, playful and innocent, a fond reminder of times long past in one's youth. The halfling lowered her head so she was more so at his level, arching her brows in an exaggerated manner at his defense to humor him.

"Oh, I see, I'm sorry about the wrong assumption, big fella," she told him in an apologetic tone, holding back a smile and laugh. Let the lad feel big, where was the harm? Cadeau was curious though, just where was his mother and was he allowed out like this at all? The pup smelled like the rest of the pack, of sea, salt and the wind, so Cadeau felt responsible to keep an eye on him. He was a packmate.

She looked vaguely like his mother, but the more he watched her - with all the bravado of a child that never learned to temper his curiosity nor fear the world around him - the less and less familiar the girl looked. She had the red coat but that was all. Her body was smaller, more compact, younger. If he was older then maybe Reyes would've described her as pretty in the way a Monet painting was pretty; common enough subject matter but arranged in a way that could be compelling. No, for now Reyes just thought, this is not my mother! And he felt indignant about it, as if he'd been tricked and she was to blame.

Whassa ass-hump-tons? He huffed back at her, glowering with his eyes but inching closer with the rest of him. Curious, curious, curious - but careful too.

Cadeau slowly let herself lay down so that she could be at proper eye level with the young boy, not caring she was getting sand rubbed into her belly and legs. She adjusted her satchel, not wanting to accidentally crush the pitcher plant and its herbs she carried with in. This was weeks of careful research, after all!

"It means to make the wrong call about something," Cadeau told him, speaking slowly as to make the statement clear to his young ears and mind. "Like...  the sky is green! That's a wrong assumption because it's not green, see?"

The smaller she made herself the better he felt; the more she spoke, the less sense she made. At the mention of the sky he looked up at it, expecting the colors to shift as she explained, but nothing happened. It didn't occur to little Reyes that the sky was only ever one color - he was not outside the den enough to notice, but in the days to come he'd make sure to keep his eyes heavenward.

As the girl adjusted herself Reyes took notice of a strange bulbous thing she was tugging on. It looked like one of the weird plants that the sea sometimes washed ashore; someone had deposited a kelp bulb near the den for the children at some point, and that's what he compared it to. Forgetting about the conversation for a second or two, the boy boldly lunged for the pitcher and made to grab at it with his needle teeth, wondering if it would pop like the salty kelp toy.

[I'm sorry about the delay, been uninspired and kinda busied ;_;]

Cadeau wondered just how much sense she was making to the youngster, perhaps she was over estimating the child's sense of self just yet. She wasn't opposed to try teaching the little one some things though regardless. She could see the gears turning in his head as he look up at the sky, seeing that indeed it was blue and not green. Suddenly though, the boy lunged at her and Cadeau gave a girlish squeal in surprise when he sank his teeth into her pitcher plant.

Cadeau pulled away, trying to get the puppy off her satchel without being too rough on the kid. Cadeau used her paw to try nudging him away, hastily scolding and shooing him all the while. "No! Bad boy, don't bite that please!" Cadeau pinned her ears in dismay once she managed to free her pitcher plant, seeing the satchel was ripped badly. The contents in it threatened to spill out, Cadeau pressing a paw against the gaping hole to make sure nothing could fall. Last thing she needed was the pup getting sick on herbs! "You can't just sink your teeth into anything all willy nilly, fella." 

Cadeau pouted, sighing. Puppies! Always teething! My poor pitcher plant bag!

He had never been told off in the manner that Cadeau now employed, trying to extract him from the bulbous plant pouch. He flailed, protesting and snapping his blunt muzzle at her, and outright ignored her worried words. It was a new game to Reyes! She was trying to keep the pouch intact and herbs contained, but he wouldn't relent until he had felt the bulb pop. With a squeaky child's roar he dove in again and snapped at the pouch - huffing after he managed to graze some of the contents, as pollen plus assorted leaf litter caught on his tongue. Reyes spat and dove in again, tail battering to and fro as he threw himself in to battle.

The halfling gave a indigent sounding squawk at how determined the little pup was to get at her pouch. Usually she could say she admired a tenacious spirit but not in this moment! Luckily for her, Cadeau was more legs than the boy was and so she shot to her paws to get the height advantage, Cadeau scowling sternly at the playful lad. She craned her neck higher in an attempt to get the torn pitcher plant away from his grasp. "I said stop!" Cadeau exclaimed, leveling him with a stare she could recall her mother using many times in her own youth.

He was relentless; her refusal, even her agitated rise to her paws and her shouted, only egged him on for more. Any kind of reaction made the boy eager to continue the game and while she'd made it a touch harder by lifting the object of his fixation out of his reach, he wasn't going to quit just yet. Reyes was being a little brat and whether he knew it or not didn't appear to matter; he wanted to chew on that pouch plant thing that was somehow wrapped around the adult's shoulders, and so he'd do it!

Still, it was rare for anyone to raise their voice to the usually-quiet boy, and it took him a split-second to rebound from it. He stood there blinking at her while Cadeau shot him daggers, and then with a wide devil's grin, he lunged and began to harass her with more insistence. He wove one way, then another, ducked between her paws if possible - or under her raised belly - giggling to himself each time he nearly grabbed at the object. At some point Reyes grew a touch frustrated as he couldn't do any lasting damage to the pouch if he couldn't reach it, so he turned upon Cadeau in earnest - snarling with his tiny teeth bared and burnished coat bristling; Why so mean!! I wanna play, play wiv me! Stupid head!!