Redhawk Caldera freedom & freedom

Sphyra had been growing fast. Where at first her eyesight had been blurry it had soon grown better and better. Her nose was good, too, possibly her sharpest tool, if not for her greedy usage of her teeth. Now that they lived at the rendezvous site the rest of the pack was welcome to help raise the pups, though so far Sphyrapicus hadn't seen much of a variation from her initial crew of caretakers in the form of Towhee, Reyes, Ruenna and Meerkat. There were others in the pack, but they didn't frequent as often as the aforementioned, and being at the early quickly developing age, Sphyra quickly forgot about those she hadn't seen for a week or more.

Today Sphyra had tried everything: napping — boooring! — pestering @Tierra or @Caracal — who were boooring too, for whatever reasons, be it they wanted a nap, weren't in a playful mood, or Sphyra herself was just done with playing with them because she knew their every move already — and even playing with whatever adults were available. Now she wanted something different. Something new.

She was ready to explore the world.

Not alone, of course. Sphyra grabbed her favourite bone — the one that, if anyone else played with it, they'd be in big trouble — and she started heading out from the rendezvous site towards... well, wherever. The opposite direction of the den, at least, because she knew that part of the world already so it would hardly be a challenge to discover that old place.

@Sphyra might have been bored of Ruenna, but Autie Woo was only growing more and more adoring of the children as they each developed their own tiny personalities. For instance, there was the fierce and independent little Sphyra coming down the hill now, seemingly on a mission. Rue only knew her by her favorite security-bone she held in her mouth; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to tell the girl apart from her twin, @Tierra, at the current distance. 

It didn't appear that the child had spotted her Autie Woo yet-- her senses of smell and sight were still developing, after all-- so Rue took the opportunity to duck behind a bush at the base of the hill. She began shaking the bush, wondering if she would be able to successfully capture the child's attention.

And so explorer Sphyra set off to explore the world, ready with the rendezvous site. She didn't go very far before something happened; there was a nearby bush that suddenly started to move! Sphyra dropped her bone immediately and crouched down to the ground, even though she was in the middle of a path. Her every sense was focused on the bush in front of her, and she held her body low to the ground for some time, her butt in the air and tail wiggling tensely while she made ready for pouncing if something would come out.

In the end she couldn't wait that long and Sphyra jumped forward to pounce the bush.

Rue peered through the branches, watching as the child alerted toward her bush and then fell into a crouch. She smiled. Sphyra had good instincts-- she did none of that puppyish barrel-straight-for-the-thing while barking and wagging everywhere. She took a defensive stance, and she waited. She investigated. 

She pounced. 

Rue tiptoed quickly backwards, keeping the bush directly in between her position and Sphyra's line of sight. Her goal was to make it behind another bush without the child spotting her. 

She backed straight into a tree, so the tree would have to do. Rue ducked around the tree and stilled, listening for any approaching footfalls or accusing shouts of "Aunt WOO!" that would indicate that she had been seen.

Sphyra pounced the bush and immediately found herself getting entangled in it. With an indignant yowl she chewed on branches and pawed at leaves and tried to find whatever had made it move, but there was nothing there. Being a young child though, Sphyra didn't really think much of this, taking life as it was right now and figuring that this was just what bushes did, anyway.

Finally the bush let go of her and Sphyra let go of the bush and she flopped to the ground. She shook the excess leaves and branches from her fur and glanced around. She was too late to notice Ruenna move to the tree, but she did notice something by the tree...

A tail?!

Just the tip was sticking out from behind the tree and Sphyra lowered her front to the ground, tail and butt wiggling as she prepared... And pounced again!

The sounds of the bush rustling stilled, and all was quiet for a moment. Rue chanced a peek out from behind the tree. ..Where was Spyhra?

A heaviness landed upon her tail, and Rue started with an audible yip of surprise. She whirled around. She was equal parts acutely embarrassed and ridiculously proud of the child for managing to sneak up on her, particularly when Rue had been so keen on surprising the child herself. 

Rue growled and snapped lightly at the air beside Sphyra's ear, hoping to tempt her into another pounce, or perhaps a little tussle. "What a disrespectful child you are, startling your Auntie Rue like that," Rue noted, with so much affection in her voice that the chiding actually came across sounding more like praise.

Sphyra felt a rush of victory gush over her as she managed to get her paws on the tail. Victory! She growled lowly though her bites were playful, as she realised swiftly from scent and the sound of the startled yip that this was aunt Ruenna. She let go of the tail and lowered her front to the ground in another play bow, her tongue lolling from her mouth and tail wagging happily.

Aunt Ruenna's words might have been bad, but Sphyra recognised praise when it was lavished upon her. That snap in the air next to her ear? Just more play! She yipped happily in response to the words and said, Play!! while she batted the ground in front of her and then tried pouncing at Ruenna's nose in a belated retaliation for the air-bite.

Sphyra paid Ruenna's words no mind, and she was easily tempted into pouncing again. Sphyra was one who could typically be counted on for these things.

Play! she shouted, though whether it was an exclamation or a demand was anyone's guess. Probably a little of both. 

Rue ducked her head when the child leaped, and Sphyra's pounce landed squarely on her ear. Rue rotated her head against Sphyra's weight, nudging her nose into the little crook of Sphyra's body where her belly met her haunch. She bit lightly, knowing it was a ticklish spot for many pups.

Ha! What a fool Aunt Ruenna was for ducking her head so that Sphyra landed on top of her head, rather than managing to dodge the attack. Sphyra growled and bit Ruenna's ear — though her teeth weren't that sharp yet — but because of her lacking size, she was easily wriggled off Ruenna's head.

Sphyra thought she still had the upper hand until suddenly there was tickling! What a traitorous move to make! Sphyra yowled in annoyance in between helpless involuntary giggles, but there was nothing she could do against it; she was powerless now as she rolled to the ground giggling.

Sphyra:

Rue had almost lost count of the litters she'd helped to raise, but one thing was always the same: children seemed incapable of resisting the temptation that presented itself in Rue's large, expressive ears. 

The tickling was a dirty move, perhaps, but by the stars, her poor ears were sensitive!

A laugh came to Ruenna's expression as Sphyra rolled around, resisting the show of mirth with the occasional indignant yowl. Glimpses of the child's lighter underbelly were visible with every roll, providing the perfect target for Rue's tickles. She dashed her maw into the silvery fluff. Perhaps the child was ticklish here too? Either way, it would serve as an unspoken lesson, reminding her what would happen if she exposed her vulnerable underside.

Sphyra had told herself that she would be strong, but after a few seconds of tickling she finally caved and started to shout and plead for mercy. NO NO NO! NO TICKS! She liked pouncing things but she hated to be out of control this way. Hopefully Ruenna would be merciful and indulge her pleading.

Ruenna wasn't completely heartless-- far from it. She pulled back from the child, giving in to her pleas for mercy. Although Sphyra probably thought that Rue was an ancient old crone, the Redfern had been a child herself only a few short years ago. She hadn't forgotten the inexorable vulnerability of being tickled.

"Stars, you know what I'd like right now? A big, juicy bone. Yep, I think I could eat one up completely..." Ruenna made a show of looking around, and then "spotting" Sphyra's prize bone sitting on the ground, where she'd dropped it by the bush. "Oh, yum! I could eat that in one bite!" Of course, Ruenna wasn't about to swallow a bone whole, but Sphyra didn't know that. She just wanted to put some pep in the girl's step, and initiate a little race.

They were probably pretty well matched for speed, truth be told. Even though Sphyra had to take three steps for every one of Rue's, the Regent's limp slowed her down considerably.

Finally the tickles stopped, and Sphyra lifted her head and quickly got to her feet, ready to defend another bout of tickles or whatever else, really. It seemed for now the danger was gone, though, as Aunt Ruenna started to talk about how she could eat a whole bone. Sphyra didn't immediately link this to the bone she'd left behind, and initially just said, You always think about food! with a giggle.

Then as she followed aunt Ruenna's gaze, Sphyra realised that her favourite bone existed at all. NO, IS MINE! she bellowed loudly as Ruenna set off, and she quickly headed to the bone, wasting no more breath on whining and all of her breath on getting to the bone faster than Ruenna so she could snatch it in her teeth and run far away to safety with it.

There was a mischievous glimmer in Ruenna's eye as Sphyra accused her of being often preoccupied with food. The child hadn't yet caught on to Rue's intentions for her bone, and Rue looked forward to the indignant expression that would fly over her face when realization dawned.

It did tickle her a bit, to hear Sphyra's impression of her. It made sense that Sphyra would see her as obsessed with food, because it was so often an anxiety on Rue mind. Since Rue was unable to hunt for the children herself, she was completely reliant on others to see the children fed. She loathed being so helpless, and she had thought that she kept this this anxiety hidden from the children. But Sphyra was a perceptive little thing, wasn't she?

Rue would tell herself that she had let Sphyra win the race, although the burst of activity had admittedly pushed Rue to her limits. She stood, watching the child flee with her prize, a look of bemusement upon her features. Perhaps if her back hadn't been so bad, she'd have given chase. But her back was already protesting its harsh treatment, and it was time for Auntie Woo to take a little break. 

Feel free to wrap or archive! And thank you for the kudos!! Sphyra makes a delightful thread buddy. <3

Sphyra felt a rush of victory when her little legs carried her fast enough to beat Ruenna to the bone. MINE! she reiterated as she almost reached it and then she took off. She didn't want to wait and see if Ruenna would follow her, because she knew that if you snooze, you lose, and Sphyra was in no mood for losing! She sped up and rushed off as fast she could, before eventually settling down somewhere to do some well-deserved gnawing on her bone.