Stavanger Bay the thief in the night

Levi was a few days older than a month and already he was beginning to show signs of his personality. Quiet, contemplative exploration seemed to be his favorite thing these days. The walks through the forest with their mother brought him great happiness, as it meant he could be away from Kevlyn's robust lungs for a while. It also meant that he could enjoy his sister's company, which he didn't get to do often enough in the crowded den.

Levi had enjoyed the sensations of sight and sound these last few weeks and had gotten the hang of it in short order, though he still wasn't entirely used to being able to see things he wanted. Like milk, for example. He could see that Julooke's belly was full of it, and so he would waddle over and place his mouth around a teat, forming a suction that began to pull milk into his mouth. He'd smile when this happened and thank the gods for his sight, because it meant he knew what he wanted and how to get it.

This morning, Levi was sitting alone outside the den, playing with a stick. He chewed on it, slobber running down the wood and onto his paws. He didn't have many teeth yet, so he was simply gumming the poor toy. His ears would swivel across his head to catch any stray sounds, like birds or squirrels or even the far-off waves, but he would remain right where he was, chewing on his little stick.

i kept vague whether the whole family's still in tact or not at this point. also: i left open whether Charon actually bumps into Levi or not, so that's up to you (if he doesn't bump into Levi because he moves or somesuch, feel free to assume Charon falling on his face ^^).

When he awoke, Charon stretched each tiny, stubby leg, one by one. He yawned wide and comical and smacked his lips a few times before deciding he was awake enough to face the outside world. Abruptly, paying little attention to who was in the den, Charon started to bound outside. He was eager to play, full of energy — although, due to Kevlyn's loud mouth, it didn't often show, for Charon was a fairly average child in most manners — and ready to find adventure outside.

Not realising that one of his brothers was outside, Charon didn't pay much attention where it was he was running, or who or what was in front of him, expecting the den mouth to be clear.

With a surprised yelp, Charon noticed one of his brothers sitting there, right outside the den. He saw a blur of grey and tried to backpedal as to not bump into the quieter of the two grey Ostrega brothers, but he was going too fast and didn't have quite enough control over his own legs just yet to make it. He was headed straight for Levi, and because he was trying to slow down, if he didn't bump right into his brother because said brother would have better reflexes or foresight than Charon, he would likely fall flat on his face.

I figured this was just before they realize anything is wrong, while Julooke is out with Kevlyn.

Levi was so preoccupied by the stick that he didn't have time to retreat from Charon's advancing form. With a yelp, Levi felt his larger brother crash into and topple over him. Levi dropped the stick, which rolled away a few yards, and the blue-eyed grey pup turned toward his brother in playful glee. "Goo! he yelled, tackling his brother with the playful force of a toddler.

Their father was somewhere nearby, watching them quietly, and Liyani was probably with him. Levi had said goodbye to his brother and mother when they went on their walk, but now had completely forgotten that they should be back by now. He was too busy playing with his brother. Levi laughed and tumbled heels-over-head into the grass next to Charon, giggling at his own clumsiness.

Ok!

Charon crashed head-first into his brother; since he hadn't seen this disturbance in his path coming at all, Charon helplessly summersaulted over Levi's back, toppling over and landing facing the other way. To anyone watching, it might've looked like quite the acrobatic achievement, but Charon noticed none of this. He yelped as though in pain when he landed — though mostly out of surprise rather than pain — and when he turned around to look at Levi, he heard a playful 'goo' and was tackled before he could react.

With little aspect of time just yet, Charon didn't notice much about the absence of his brother and mother. He actually enjoyed having the household attention to himself for once, because Kevlyn was usually loud-mouthedly stealing it from him.

When Levi plopped down into the grass next to him, Charon got to his feet and shook his fur, which had gotten sandy from all the rolling in the dirt. "Rawawaw!" he fiercely (or so he thought, anyway) barked at Levi to show his might and invite his brother for more play, before noticing the stick his brother had thrown to the ground. Charon quickly started running in the direction of the stick, so that he could scoop it into his mouth and play with it.

Charon flipped over him and giggled before dancing backwards and inviting him to play. Levi barked at his brother before realizing that he was distracted by the stick that Levi had dropped. Charon went for it and Levi followed, barking and yapping at him, as if saying Oh no you don't!

Charon was taller, but Levi was fatter, and he used that to his advantage. He tumbled forward, trying to catch his brother off-guard by taking out his hind legs. With a growl that was more in his mind than in reality, Levi sprang forward and tapped his brother's rear end with his paws. Laughing, Levi pushed against Charon and barked, hoping his brother would spin around to play.

While Charon ran towards the stick on the ground, Levi followed. He could hear his brother running noisily behind him, and heard him bark and growl in play. Charon made some nonsensical noises of joy in response, but he did not let it deter him from his goal to grab Levi's stick and kept speeding forward.

When Levi lurched forward to trip Charon's hind legs, Charon let out a surprised yelp as he crashed to the ground, summersaulted once and then landed on his butt on the ground, feeling kind of dizzy.

Soon Charon regained his wits, however, shook his head and quickly jumped to his feet, dashing at Levi (he'd forgotten about the stick again). When he reached his brother, Charon stopped and jumped around in place while batting his paws at his brother's face and making excited playful noises.

Levi giggled as his brother turned upside down and tumbled back to sit on his butt. He had never seen anything so funny, so when Charon right himself and came at him, Levi was bent double in childish laughter. Charon's paws swept the air in front of his Levi's face, and the grey pup returned the playful motions with ones of his own, bouncing up and down in front of Charon, barking at his brother.

In the playful moment, Levi also forgot about the stick, and instead focused solely on Charon. He bent down and bounced up, enticing his brother to tackle him. With a bark he said, Come and get me! and lunged away, though not far.

Levi and Charon batted at each other and Charon giggled with childish glee while he fought with his brother, in between play-pretend growls (which sounded more like extended mewls than actualy growls). Neither seemed to get the upper hand and Levi was the one who distanced himself from the unwinnable paw-batting fight and lowered himself to the ground in play.

Charon yipped happily and batted at Levi a couple more times before he accepted the invitation and bounced in Levi's direction. He aimed to tackle Levi to the ground and get entangled in playful rolling on the floor, hoping he'd be the one who landed on top in the end.

Wrap this up and have a new one? :)

The pair of pups tumbled and giggled, Charon gaining the upper paw by the advantage of his weight alone. With a laugh, Levi kicked at his brother's belly with his back paws, hoping to move him off, but not trying to hurt him. He barked and yipped at Charon, giggling between the more playful noises, his eyes bright with glee. It was always fun to play with his siblings, and he wished that his sister and twin were here to play, too.

Yes! :D I'll archive this.

Charon's tail wiggled from left to right in excitement as he played with his brother. He managed to perform a successful tackle and yipped happily as he hit his target. The brothers flew to the ground and Charon felt Levi's paws kick to his belly as he tried to get him to get off. Charon pinned Levi to the ground triumphantly before he bounced off his brother.

The two played for a good while before finally tiring and retreating into the den to rest and recover from all the activity.