Blackfeather Woods Reading between text

@Rowan sorry for the wait!

He heard them before he saw them. The obnoxious cry of a crow in the canopy above seemed to draw the attention of others, unfortunately, and when one called out the others were swift to screech back. They reminded young Ven of his mother's awful companion, who'd often eye him long enough to rouse discomfort with those beady black eyes. Initially the boy would've swatted him away, though Ven was a quick learner. Ignoring Tulugak yielded better results than anticipated, so he practiced the same technique with Blackfeather's birds.

Pressing on through the foliage with ears tipped back and platinum eyes fixed on the worn fox trail ahead, the young Melonii did not register the presence of another juvenile until their collision. Both cubs tumbled to the ground in a tangle of limbs and Venamis' snarl of outrage enough to silence the crows in the branches above.

Having always been the bitey one of Damien and Astrid's brood, Venamis parted his jaws at once, arching his neck in attempt to deliver a sharp nip to whichever body part was closest. Jumping to conclusions, he was certain that this was an attack - an assertion of dominance that he simply wouldn't stand for. He may be the new kid, but he was the biggest and he sure as hell wasn't prepared to submit to any of these other pups.