Redhawk Caldera hide and go seek

Eljay had been resting a lot since putting down his position as Auspex, and like when he had first joined Brecheliant, it felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders. It was a bit easier to accept needing to take it easy this time around, because Eljay had been here before, and this time there was no crushing guilt like there had been last time; this time, he had a capable leader to take over from him. He was so immensely proud of Maia, and he hoped that she would feel the same about that in time (if not right now, as she should). It had helped him grow a lot to be Auspex of Brecheliant, picked by the wolves of it, however small the pack had been at the time. Hopefully it would do the same for Maia. It helped him relax, too, knowing that it wasn't that he had run away from his responsibilities this time, like he had last time. This time, he actually just needed to unwind — no lingering guilt.

Lately, he'd felt like he was gaining some more energy again and today he decided it was time to play with the kids; or whoever wanted, anyway. Eljay howled for @Sorana @Shenanigans Aiden @Jay @Chickadee and @Ceridwen to invite them for a game of hide and go seek.

daddy seemed happier now, and less tired. at six months of age, she had reached her full height but had never quite shed a bit of baby pudge, clinging to her waist. with no one to shame her for it, chickadee had grown up rather confident in herself.
hide and seek sounded very fun. she ran at her father with a bark, reaching to worry his ear with her muzzle before dancing away. "i'm gonna win," she declared matter of factly, rolling her eyes as she expected him to fully agree.

Wherever Chickadee went, Ani wasn’t usually far behind. They hadn’t actually been together when Eljay howled, though when the youngest Nestling scrambled to heed his call and she found her favorite already there, Ani let out a squeal of delight.

Yeet! she cried, throwing herself at her sister, forelegs aiming to wrap loosely around the older girl’s neck as Ani’s giggles pealed.

Jay was eating and extremely reluctant to stop stuffing his face even for a call from his dad.  The food was so good, but there was also fun that he might miss out on!  And missing out sucked bigtime.

When Jay finally came charging into the scene, it was with a half-eaten bird bouncing beside him as he carried it by a single wing.  There was no rule that said he couldn't eat and play!

Eljay smiled as Chickadee arrived and boldly arrived that she was going to win. It was hard to win in hide and go seek (at least as far as Eljay was concerned) because it was more about hiding and searching and the fun you had together than about being good at it, but Eljay chuckled nonetheless at his ambitious daughter's words, not contesting nor confirming them.

Where Chickadee was, Shenanigans was never far behind and she arrived and wrapped herself around Chickadee, of course. Jay was last to arrive, carrying a half-eaten bird in his mouth that he didn't intend to stop eating.

Alright, you can all hide first, and I'll go search for you when I'm done counting to ten! Eljay said to the kids that had come to his call, and he then turned around and started to count, slowly — One... Two... Three...

she hugged nanny as soon as she arrived, laughing happily. "yeet!" jay arrived with a meal in tow and chickadee chuckled at him, rolling her eyes.
he was funny though! she stuck her tongue out and then danced toward her dad, only to grab at her sister and race off with a squeal when she saw that he was counting!
"uhum, we need a big tree!" she stage-whispered, running as fast as she could into the forest.

She hung off her sister like a monkey, grinning at Jay upside down when he arrived. Ani loosened her grip and righted herself a moment later, wondering what he was eating. It looked like a bird of some sort.

Eljay captured the youths’ attention and shortly began counting down to begin their game. Ani’s eyes went wide, her head snapping around to see what Chickadee planned to do. Her sister grabbed her and together they raced away.

The Hobbit Hole flashed through her mind. But before Ani could suggest it as a hiding place, Chickadee mentioned a tree. Right away, the smaller Nestling began looking everywhere for the perfect candidate.

Here, here! she yelled, yanking on the other girl’s elbow as she used her other paw to point at a particularly stout oak with leaves heaped around its roots.

She didn’t actually know where Chickadee intended to hide. Did she mean to climb the tree? Or maybe they could get inside it somehow? Or perhaps they could simply tuck themselves beneath all these fragrant leaves!

Ani jumped into them with a laugh, rolling onto her back and swiping out a foreleg to cover herself. There were so many, it was quite easy to blanket them over her small body and disappear.

The instant Ani settled in to wait, she realized, I gotta pee so bad!

Oh!  Oh.  Jay was a little slow on the uptake, so his dad was already counting by the time he thought to hide.  He looked around frantically, then relaxed when he saw some bushes nearby.  Score!

He walked backwards towards them, still dragging his bird, and pulled it in after him as he settled into the hiding spot.  Then he set to happily munching on his snack again, one wing of it still clearly hanging out of the bush and jerking, every so often, as he crunched.

Four... Five... Six... There was rustling as the children all dashed off. Eljay tried his best not to hear where they were going precisely, so that he actually needed to do his best once he was done counting. Seven... Eight... The sounds started to die down now. ... Nine... Ten! I'm coming to get ya!

Eljay opened his eyes and turned around. He looked around, and soon saw a trail where Jay had dragged his food along. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he looked around further. He didn't immediately see where Shenanigans and Chickadee could've gone, but it was easy enough to follow the trail to Jay's bush.

Hmm, where could they be, Eljay wondered aloud to himself as he approached the bush. He noticed the plopping wing that hung out of it immediately, and managed to suppress a chuckle as he thought to himself, Jay should never become a spy. Thankfully, that wasn't exactly Brecheliant's thing to begin with.

The father then walked past the bush and peeked to the side, revealing Jay. Aha! Found you! he said with a smirk. Now you can help me find your sisters. Eljay smiled at his son, inviting him lightly to join as he turned towards the forest from which he heard a distant mumbling.

she laughed, frantically heaping the leaves onto herself and helping to cover nanny as well. "hold it!" she hissed with a giggle, listening to their father count outside their hiding place!
"shh! shhh!" chickadee snickered, slapping a paw over her mouth. she couldn't help it! and she tried not to look at her sister, lest she start laughing again! the girl pulled her muzzle as far beneath the leaves as she could and was silent.

Ani would do anything Chickadee asked of her, though she wasn’t sure she would be able to, “Hold it.” She would try her best.

Soon the two of them were bundled up in the leaves, their bodies close enough that all of her sister’s giggles vibrated through Ani too. Normally, she would’ve rather enjoyed this, though now it made her need feel more urgent.

Afraid she might wet not just herself but both of them, Ani tried to wriggle away. She really worried she might burst, though she froze again when she swore she heard the sound of approaching footfalls.

Nuh uh!!!  Jay protested, but then he grinned and scrambled out of the bush, still dragging his bird after him.  He ran around in a circle, but then decided eating was better than looking right now.  He hadn't gotten to finish lunch yet!

He watched his dad looking though, still giggling occasionally while he ate.  He'd help look when he was done!  He just couldn't see them from here!

Eljay had hoped that Jay would join him in the search, since it was no real challenge to find the children, but it seemed that he was more into eating the remainder of his bird right now. This bought some time for Shenanigans to shuffle out of the giggle puddle, but unfortunately the fact that the pair had been giggling a lot had already given away their position to Eljay, so he knew what direction to go for.

If she hadn't frozen at his approach, then maybe Shenanigans could've gotten away with being the last one found, as Eljay headed towards the shaking giggle-pile of leaves. However, as she froze out in the open, Eljay said, A-ha, there you are! He smirked at Shenanigans and moved over to nuzzle her in the face. Then he quizzically said, Hmm, now where could your sister be... while he started to slowly walk towards the Chickadee-shaped pile, gaze looking about, about ready to accidentally step on her...

chickadee froze too, barely daring to breathe! she heard jay's protest, and then eljay had found nanny!
she heard her father's feet shuffling; she giggled helplessly, and at last thrashed from the leaf pile with a shout of enthusiasm.

But the jig was up. As soon as Eljay found her, Ani leaped out of the pile of leaves and darted behind a nearby tree to relieve herself, shouting, No peeking! to the boys in particular.

Wait… he heard…

Bluejay stopped eating as his dad started going towards a pile that was definitely making Chickadee-like noises.  Score!

I FOUND YOU!!  He hollered, abandoning his meal to dart past Eljay and dive into the leaves in a pounce.  He got there just as she was thrashing free anyway!

He was too caught up to hear Ani’s pronouncement, but luckily, he was also too occupied with his victory to do any peeking.  No matter that he’d been found first.  Best looker still counted!

Shenanigans rushed off, though Eljay was a little confused what she meant by peaking; he didn't realise that she had needed to pee all along.

Now, as he stepped towards the pile of leaves, a few things seemed to happen at once: Jay shouting "I found you!" (which made Eljay happy; to see Jay, who had had lukewarm interest in this game from the start, rejoin the game and find some excitement for it) and Chickadee bursting from her hiding place. While Eljay'd suspected her whereabouts, her sudden leap out of her pile startled him and he reeled back in genuine surprise accompanied by a Woah!

As he tumbled to the ground, Eljay burst into hearty chuckles, even though it hurt him a little to hit the ground. Alright, who wants to seek next? he asked, still on the ground, ready to look for the perfect hiding place himself.

we could fade here? :D

gosh sorry D: last for me! <3

"ME ME!" chickadee shouted very loudly.
and then, in the same volume, she began to count, immediately and at once before anyone else was ready!
that was the game, wasn't it?

This time he had no lunch so he was TOTALLY winning!

Jay cackled loudly as he sped away to hide and Chickadee counted.  He’d likely be just as bad at hiding as the first time - maybe worse, considering he couldn’t control the giggles he’d caught from the others.  But the hiding spot he picked would also be the perfect place to pounce from as soon as Deedee found him! So either way he would win!