Whitebark Stream what’s expected of you, what’s expected of me?

Toshi’s gone where no pup’s gone before (or should go). He didn’t know how he managed to pull it off, but he had slipped away from the den and found a bustling stream. Quite the escape artist if he did say so himself!

The hatchling sat dangerously close to the water’s edge. He leaned forward so his nose was just above the water. Woah. There was a distorted little Toshi staring back up at him. It’s freaky in a cool way.

Normalcy. 
She craved it. Something to do to keep her mind off the crippling sensation of panic every time she had left the den. 
She of course had medicine- lavender and chamomile, lining her den and chewed every few hours. Even poppies, very carefully rolled in her mouth. Too much and one became addicted. She even had been lucky enough to find a queer, musky smelling bush with sticky, waxy flowers that made her feel calm and disconnected- as well as drool quite a bit. It was a slippery slope between medicine and escape, and if she didn't have a pack to keep her busy she would be lost in her herbs and her pain. 
She made her way to the stream, preparing to bathe and perhaps catch a fish or two, when she realized there was a pup, dangling himself over the water. 
She gasped, rushing forward and snatching the boy by the scruff and tossing him away from the bank. 
"Be careful!" She gasped. "You could fall in and drown!" 
After a moment she relaxed, sighing. "What are you doing out here anyway?" 

hey, hey, woah woah WOAH. What’s the big deal? Someone came out of nowhere and scooped him up before he could blink. And then she just throws him to the side! Not cool man. 

At first he thought it was Momma. She usually didn’t mind him wandering around on his own, but to be fair this was a way farther trip than usual. Maybe an apologetic smile would save him from whatever punishment she had in mind.

Toshi turned around, innocent little smile already on his face. But wait- this wasn’t Momma. Just some random chick. He frowned. He would’ve been fine with Kaori doing that to him, as out of the ordinary as it seemed, but not some stranger.

The hatchling could barely understand what she said at his age, but it wouldn’t matter even if he did. Toshi was more pissed than he had ever been in his life. Her speech went in one ear and out the other. If only he knew the right words to express his anger. He’d have to settle for a stink eye and a puckered lip for now.

casually swoops in

When the child escaped that day, Kaori was not within the den. Out on one of her walks, she took her time, as usual, expecting her hatchlings to be as well-mannered as usual. But when she arrived back home, a bone at the ready to gift her children with, she found only one waiting. Searching the den and coming up empty-handed, the young mother ushered Kiyoshi to the back of the den and instructed him to remain there, leaving the bone before him as some sort of bribe. Thereafter, she was out the den and searching, nose to the ground, and movements quick, although her overall disposition remained seemingly calm.

Kaori arrived at the trail’s end in time to see her eldest son cast aside like some ragdoll by a wolf she only barely recognised; focusing often on her family, the Draconid knew many of her packmates in passing only, whilst they as a whole remained mysteries. Uncertain, the mother hunkered down in the brush, hidden away and watching with serpentine stealth—her body tensed and ready to spring forth, should she need to.

In her panic she had thrown the pup a little harder than she had meant to. 
it was an easy mistake to make- after all he was too small to be that close to the Waters edge. 
It dawned on her he was so young he probably could not even understand her. 
"Just...come here. You should be back at the dens anyway." She fretted. How was she supposed to want pups when she didn't even know how to properly communicate with them? Ignoring the protests of the little one she moved to gently pick him up by the scruff in order to carry him back.

Most vocabulary flew over his head, but there were a few words and phrases he managed to pick up. Come here was one of them. It’s something his momma said from time to time, something only his momma could tell him. His jaw dropped when this lady told him to do it. The nerve!

Toshi’s lip stuck out again, and he stomped the earth with his foot. He had a little word of his own for her. No. She’d have to drag him if she wanted him to go anywhere! And that is.. exactly what she did.

He gasped when he was picked up off the ground. No! The boy wiggled in her grasp. This was so embarrassing.