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Everything was happening so fast. Larus couldn't make any sense of things as their journey came to an end - not that he was complaining, mind you. He was all too happy to get settled in to the den, find a nice corner and zone right out. But something had been off right from the get go. The den was smaller than he remembered, for one thing. It didn't smell familiar either. There were no dust bunnies to play with, no warm pelts, and no toys. It just wasn't right. This wasn't the home he had expected at all!
While the others got settled in quickly (as he had hoped to do), Larus found himself completely lost by the strange newness of everything. His mummy was busy arranging things, talking to strange wolves, or dealing with his sisters - so there was little time to comfort him. The boy managed to drum up enough courage to stumble out of the den one afternoon, not long after their arrival. Caution followed his every step - slow, steady, quickly withdrawn if the ground so much as looked bad - and he made minimal progress in his investigation.
While others went to get settled in and search for places to spend the night, Danica preferred to wander, looking about and exploring a bit. She had never been one to create a den, not until winter got a bit closer. She preferred to sleep out under the stars, seeking shelter only in times of rain or storm. She was sure, when that time came, the mountains would hold some sort of ledge that she could hide beneath, evading the wet and cold of a night spent uncovered.
For now she was nosing about closer to where they had stopped. In the process, she stumbled across the den that Tuwawi and Njal must have chosen/created for their family dwelling. For them to have such a sheltered place made sense... they had children to think of.
One such child didn't seem to be quite so tired, for he ventured forth as she looked on, his steps tremulous. It was the same shy child she had greeted before, the one that had fallen over backwards (literally) when he found himself confronted by a stranger. Some might find such shyness endearing, but Danica hoped he would grow out of it. Such a trait would not bode well if he kept it to adulthood, for to carry so much fear was surely a weakness.
Still, he was young, and could not be faulted for it. Sitting, she watched him for a moment, wondering what he would do when he saw her. Would he run? Or would he come?
He paused every few steps and cocked his head to one side, then the other, then fanned his ears in every direction - like radar trying to home in on a signal. The boy was searching for the familiar lull of the river, but... There was no such sound. The trees made a different kind of whisper-quiet cacophony which he did find interesting, but only for a short span of time; when Larus couldn't find the sound of the river, he began to search again. The sounds and smells here were very different (too different) and there were so many things he'd never tasted before - his tongue flicked out and caught at a leaf still attached to a low growing plant, he chewed on the spindly branches of a chest-high sapling, and nosed in the dirt.
Every new discovery made him a little more bold...But never quite bold enough.
And then there was an overwhelming familiar scent. It was wolf, he knew that much - like mummy and daddy and almost like Valtyr, but with the watery river scent he had been hunting for. It wasn't strong, but it was enough to reroute the boy; not that it mattered, as Danica was perched so close to where Larus was probing the surroundings. When he turned and caught sight of her he nearly fell down again, but this time he didn't roll backwards on his butt. Ahh,
the boy chirruped as he stared at her, a deer caught in the headlights, Hhh.. Hi.
He was utterly stupefied.
She wondered how well the pups were adjusting to their knew home and how much they even remembered of the Creek. She was... content here. It was beautiful enough, and she could pass the days without worrying about running into an unagreeable situation (not that she would have minded having a good yell at her former Alphaess). Sleep was still somewhat hard to come by, though. She was used to the sound of the creek as background music to her rest. Now she had silence in that regard.
While her speech might have been a bit lacking in understanding, she did hunker down, not wanting to alarm the boy any more than she already had. Besides, if he moved on, it was about time for a nap anyway.
Shy? What was shy? He'd never heard the word before -- was it an insult? Probably. As the words flitted from Danica's mouth, Larus' ears fell back and he slumped even lower. It sounded like something that Maera would say to him, but... At the same time, Danica's voice wasn't terribly accusatory or sharp, so maybe he was wrong.
I'm not gonna eat you, ya know. Gotta wait until you're a bit bigger to do that.
What? EAT HIM?
The boy sucked in a breath and bolted upright, his eyes wide and filled to the brim with real fear. E-eat? P-Peese, don' do that! I... I tase' bad! Weally bad!
His head shook as he proclaimed his foul flavor, with his lopsided ears flopping all over the place due to the effort; he rolled to his paws and lurched backwards as if to put distance between them - and then Danica lowered herself in to a more manageable position. If she was laying down then maybe, maybe he was safe?
Larus' head was lower than the rest of him as he peered upon the other wolf, and he found himself wishing that Valtyr could be here to save him - or even Jokull, she was big and strong and could probably take this big fat old person in a fight! Alas, neither sibling were present, so he'd have to deal with her on his own. Gulp.
G-Go away! No eatin'!
Larus shrieked his demand, but his limbs shivered and his flank quaked with fear.
He hadn't gotten her joking manner from her words (unsurprising, since her joking manner wasn't much different from her normal one), so she bent down, winking. "You think you can stop me? Come on, gotta impress me or in my stomach you go!" She licked her lips exaggeratedly, wondering if the flighty pup would take the challenge as an invitation to play or duck back into the safety of the den.
He couldn't take his eyes off of her for the entire explanation; her warning fell upon young, inexperienced ears, so while Larus really did want to pay attention and heed the warning, his head turned and he cast a woeful glance back the way he had come. If he hadn't left the den then he'd have avoided this Big And Scary Thing, or at the very least Valtyr would've been around to protect him.
The tail-end of Danica's speech made Larus turn his ears, and then face her in stupefied silence until she dipped down to his own level. You think you can stop me? Come on, gotta impress me or in my stomach you go!
Larus reacted by dropping low as well, his front limbs splaying out on either side - almost like an invitation to play, except his body was shivering in fright. He watched Danica's tongue slide out of her mouth and slip across her lips, and he gave a tiny, tremulous whine as a response. He really didn't want to be eaten.
Gathering what minuscule courage he had, Larus lifted his eyes to Danica's yellow face and muttered, I don' wan' be in your belly.
Oh my god his terror was so flippin cute. She didn't want to scar the poor kid but if this sort of easy jesting caused him issues then something was wrong. Pups didn't always have to be coddled, and her particular brand of playing sometimes didn't sit well with overprotective parents. She turned out alright though, didn't she? Actually, that was a matter of perspective, and she could think of many who would disagree with that statement... but those opinions hardly counted. Kids needed some heckling so they knew how to handle life.
So he had some fight in him yet! The words were quiet and tremulous, but he met her gaze, so she was mildly impressed. Only mildly wasn't good enough. "What was that? I don't think I heard." She took a step forward, playfully challenging. She wanted to hear this boy give some passion to his voice, stand up for himself. If he didn't his siblings and packmates would walk all over him for sure. She would know. "And if I can't hear, who's to say I can't eat you up right now?" She didn't move any closer, though, than her single step. After all, she didn't want to terrify the kid completely.
No no no no! He wouldn't be in anybodies belly! The boy began to shake his head back and forth, push against the earth like a cat, and pull away from Danica's voice as if it were intent on eating him, bite by bite. When he gathered enough courage to finally speak again he opened his mouth to refuse - to shout, holler, and demand that the big scary lady would please not eat him; however, just as he opened his mouth a great big pffffft whistled from his rear. The sound was so drawn out it became exceptionally high in pitch, enough to make Larus squint and bow his head.
That was probably the best answer he could've given, all things considered. Ohhh but then the smell hit his nose. Rising up like a bouquet of unripe fruit. It wasn't that bad to Larus. Kind of pungent, like the flowers that once grew alongside the den, but also sort of... eggy. Maybe the stench would be enough to drive Danica away from him (or at least make her rethink the whole eating thing).
And a smelly one. Danica wrinkled her nose as, instead of a shout, something else erupted from the pup. "Holy.... ok kid, you win!" she took a few steps back. "I am sufficiently beaten." She laughed, somewhat approving. "Quite a defense mechanism there. Hope you won't be too offended if I don't stick around." He likely had parents to get back to and she had duties to attend. Besides that, though the smell might not have been so unpleasant to Larus, to Danica it was rather moreso.
"See you around, kid." And with that she trotted off.