Sleepy Fox Hollow Bruder

Siblings and/or momma/dad! Particularly seeking @Anselm to pick on. :3

Spring had started to shift to warmer weather. The clouds that once threatened snow only brought rainfall and warm winds. With the winds came the scent of the woods and the world beyond.

Emmerich was plopped firmly on his hindquarters just outside their family den. The sun beamed down on his dark cloak, making his eyelids bob heavily. The stout young pup swung his head around to squint into the darkness of the den and who was inside. A dim charcoal figure could be made out in the shade, probably sleeping.

The pup rose to his paws and prowled into where his siblings were resting. With a small sniff at Anselm’s head, Emmerich aimed a sharp bite for the grey of his brother’s ear. It did look pleasantly plush.

Anselm had been busy being perfect, curled up against Isa and Wylla dreaming of chasing dust motes and butterflies when he was rocked to the waking world by positively extraordinary pain.

His ear! YOWCH. Anselm wailed loudly, coming to with a caterwaul that shook the dim cave. He fumbled in the dark, feeling a figure (a tick? a leech? some other parasitic nematode?) affixed firmly to his ear, which now gushed freely with the blood of an innocent.

Anselm pushed back ineffectively, little paws kicking at his oppressor.

There was no need to wail.

Emmerich frowned and pulled back from Anselm’s noisemaker reaction. The young boy’s ears were flattened to his head. Perhaps if his brother had not squirmed so pleasantly, he might have done well to fend off another attack. Instead, Emmerich found that he was compelled to return to his brother’s grey-dusted ears.

A loud whumph was sucked from his mouth when Anselm found purchase in his gut. Emmerich snapped his teeth with a popping noise before he jumped toward his brother and aimed another snap of his teeth for the other ear. Might as well give Anselm a matching pair.

Still reeling from the pain in his ear, Anselm squirmed around on his back with his legs flailing. He was too uncoordinated to propose a planned attack: he wasn't even aware his hind leg had socked his brother's beermilk-belly either. Anselm was too busy trying to squirm right-side up with a concentrated frown.

He was still struggling on his back when a shadow crossed his face. His brother, readying up for round two. Anselm squawked with indignity as Emmerich's body accosted him, this time throwing up his little grubby paws in an attempt to divert Emmerich from a secondary ear piercing.

Oh, Anselm made it so easy. 

Emmerich yapped loudly at the sight of his brother on his back. The kicking of paws was only enticing. The boy tested the air with a few chomps. His nubbin tail waved back and forth. If he’d known that Anselm was going to be that much fun, he might have tested the plush of his brother’s ears sooner. 

Paws lifted wobbly into the air as Emmerich plopped them down on his sibling. They were much too large to be any use, but he did enjoy the sound they made when they struck Anselm. A nip was aimed for his brother’s paw.

A battering of paws met Anselm as he struggled to regain his footing. After several unsuccessful twists (and subsequent 'encouragement' from his brother) Anselm finally found his feet -- only to have a paw stolen out from under him.

With a yelp he collapsed headfirst into the ground; yet rather than rise, Anselm drove towards each of Emmerich's little toesies, teeth ready to clamp like a piranha on anything he could reach.

Boy, it was fun to bully the hell out of his brother.

Emmerich delighted in the flopping paws that Anselm offered. Even as his greyscale brother toppled forward, the white-hooded child yapped happily, excitedly. He bowed so that his toes were stretched out and in perfect range for Anselm’s assault. Connection was made and those teeth were sharper than Emmerich had anticipated. He yiped! The roundness of his frame rolled over so that his feet kicked up in the air.

The troublemaker extended his neck to nip at Anselm’s forelegs. His own paws churned in the air, striking at whatever they could reach. They stung to high heaven, though. Emmerich was not a fan of that pain.

Anselm was not picky. Later in life, this lack of discernment might hinder him. But for now he nipped at anything within reach, retreating when Emmerich battered him and advancing when he caught his breath.

A nip at his foreleg caused Anselm's advancement to grind to a halt. Ouch! He snapped with a high shriek, scuttling backwards with a flurry of puppy snaps aimed to dissuade further assailing.

Anselm shrieked with the strength of a wounded banshee. The noise filled the air and brought Emmerich’s relentless biting to a sharp halt. The boy’s dark ears stood tall on his head. He peered at Anselm with a smug pant, tongue lapping at his snout.

What was the reason for such a noise? A little bite never hurt anyone.

Emmerich yapped at his brother, bowing down on his front paws so that his butt was elevated, and his tail swayed from side to side. The expression on his face was bratty, but he did not want his brother to stop playing with him. His pointy puppy teeth bared, he lunged forward and snapped at the scurrying figure. A spoiled grin formed on his snout.

Only babies run away!

Anselm was definitely baby. Big, rolly polly, squishy jello-legged baby. And this baby, having experienced his first lick of pain, wanted nothing to do with it.

Even if it came from the stinky face of his dingly brother.

Anselm kept backing up, eyes on Emmerich as he continued to advance. Unfortunately for Anselm, coordinating two sets of legs was still a rather novel concept for him -- and arranging them to go backwards in tandem may well have been the field of metaphysics.

He fell with a thump, tripping on his own back legs. Emmerich loomed over him like a specter, leaving Anselm no choice but to bring out the big guns -- a plaintive wail that unmistakably signaled MAAAAAAWM!! EMMERICH IS BEING MEAN TO ME!

Emmerich laughed heartily at his brother’s faltered steps. When Anselm fell to his side in a plop, the white-hooded boy nearly tumbled over from the effort of holding in a wheeze. What a clumsy little thing, he thought of his sibling with a snide smile.

Anselm did not waste any time in hurrying to their mother to tattle. When the other boy called out to their parent, Emmerich rolled his eyes and shuffled to where Anselm had fallen in the dirt. He circled a few times before planting his butt in the same spot. Drawing his snout upward to stare after his brother, Emmerich called out a smug, chicken!