Redhawk Caldera Who's got a poopy-doopy-doopy

PPing Peregrine. Anyone welcome!

At just over a month old, the Caldera's litter was given almost free reign of the area just outside the den entrance. Nightjar in particular liked to spend his time in this area, while Wildfire liked to try to escape and Raven fittingly liked to hide out in the shadows. He preferred to tromp around their grassy terrace with which he was so intimately familiar. He even had a favourite spot to poop, which he was eager to get to, but for some strange reason, he never went without parental supervision.

He was now a shining example of a young, rotund wolf pup. Both of his ears stood tall, although if one watched closely, only the right one ever seemed to turn toward stimuli. The left twitched and swivelled as well, but never toward anything of interest; it was more like a reflex than anything, and a troubling sign for any adult who happened to notice it. Nightjar didn't notice a thing, though, having never known anything different from a dead left ear.

His muzzle was elongating, but was still rather broad, and his tail was beginning to fluff out just a little. His paws were now enormous and he could walk stably and even run on his strong little legs. He was doing that now, racing back to Peregrine with gleeful shouts of, "Daaaah! Daaaah!" When he reached Peregrine's feet, he began to dance excitedly on the balls of his own paws, and pleadingly stammered, "P-poo-peeeeeeees." This was the first word he'd learned only a few days ago. At the time, it was nonsense to him and had no meaning, but Peregrine's raucous laughter had soon turned into a lesson on what "poopee" was, and it was now Nightjar's favourite word out of the three or four he could say (probably because it was his favourite thing to do at this point in his life).

More often than not, Elwood found his paws leading him towards the Alphas' den whenever he had a bit of downtime. When he wasn't hunting or patrolling, he was usually with Finley or the firebirds -- or a combination of the two. He hadn't been able to track down Finley this afternoon, and was just close enough to the Redleaf-DiSarinno homestead to hear Nightjar's cries, so he decided to stop by for a visit.

The little boy was hopping excitedly around Peregrine's feet as Elwood approached -- and he was most certainly yelping about poop. A smile tugged at the Beta's lips as he paused a few feet from the father and son, watching as Nightjar attempted to usher Peregrine towards a particular patch of grass.

"I can come back later," he said with a laugh and a jovial wave of his tail. Hey, at least it seemed that the pups were making progress -- rather than urinating and defecating on themselves and each other, it seemed that Nightjar had gained an awareness of the sensation of having to go.

Unfortunately, having acquired the urge to defecate didn't mean that Nightjar prioritized it properly. As soon as the ashy Beta male stepped onto the scene, Nightjar's bowels were forgotten and he scampered away from Peregrine. He only stopped when he ran smack-dab into Elwood's pale legs, and he was unapologetic about it as he began to prance around the Beta instead.

"Ewooowoowoo," Nightjar greeted his uncle, butchering the male's name without even really knowing he was saying it. Language acquisition would occur rapidly, but most of it was accidental. There were few words aside from "ma", "da", and "poopy" that Nightjar purposefully said. "Woowoo," he continued to chirp as he paraded excitedly around Elwood. His tummy groaned, but the excitement of seeing the Beta male effectively stifled it, even though Nightjar was most certainly prairie dogging by now.

Nightjar abruptly ceased his hollering and ran right towards Elwood, unceremoniously greeting him by slamming into his front legs. Elwood laughed and took a step back -- thankfully, the fluffy, rotund puppy wasn't capable of inflicting any damage. The pup quickly righted himself and began to hop around Elwood, saying his uncle's name in his adorable childish babble. He would have been happy to be called "Elwoowoowoo" for the rest of his days.

"Hey, buddy!" he said, turning in a slow circle as he watched his nephew prance. Even over Nightjar's "woo-ing," Elwood could hear the rumbling of his tummy, though he didn't address it; he just hoped the pup wouldn't suddenly explode.

"Hee boo-ee!" Nightjar echoed back, whipping his tail over his back and positively bouncing on the spot. Peregrine's laughter in the background distracted him—he turned to face his father with his good ear propped up and his dead one hanging listlessly to the side—and that was all he needed for his more pressing bowel concerns to come forth, literally.

He barely managed to tuck his butt and step away from Elwood's paw before his gut unclenched. Nightjar wasn't all that concerned about anybody watching him, since it was the most natural thing in the world and no one would ever teach him that some wolves thought it impolite. What he was concerned about was that his grass patch was not under his feet, and so he turned and waddled, ass hanging down, for the patch at the edge of the clearing. By the time he reached it, he'd already left his droppings in a line behind him.

Elwood laughed along with Peregrine, and Nightjar continued to show off for his uncle and father. The silver Beta hardly had time to notice the peculiar droop of the boy's left ear as he turned towards Peregrine -- just as soon as he did, Nightjar suddenly curled his haunches beneath him. Preemptively taking a step back just as Nightjar started to move away, Elwood watched as the boy started to relieve himself -- a perfectly natural process, although the pup's hurried movement was humorous.

Even as Nightjar left his droppings along the ground on his way to his "spot," Uncle El turned his gaze away to give him a little privacy. He wasn't quite sure why he wanted to go on that particular patch of grass, but he bit his lower lip to keep himself from chuckling any further. Exchanging a quick glance with Peregrine, Elwood then shifted his gaze back to Nightjar, looking to see if the cub was done with his business.

"Feel better?" he called out with a wave of his tail.

To say he was disappointed that there was nothing left in him to drop on his favourite patch of grass, the boy stood still for a moment, ears drooping. He stared down at the floor, surely thinking that staring would make the urge to poop come back, until Elwood called out to him. His right ear twisted immediately around, the left following much slower, and suddenly he whirled and was padding back to his uncle's feet.

"Yurrrrr," he crooned in response, somewhat understanding what the Beta male was asking but finding it too difficult to answer the way he really felt. "Disappointed" was a word he didn't know and, even if he had known it, it was far too difficult for him to pronounce. He thought about trying to articulate himself, but ended up distracted by the swaying tip of Elwood's tail instead, which he proceeded to watch with a heated intensity. Only five or so seconds passed before Nightjar made his decision. He galloped right around the Beta male and made a leap for the grey wolf's tail, not realizing at all just how sensitive tails were nor that he was likely to hurt Elwood if he actually managed to grab it.

The boy responded with the immature speech pattern typical of his age, and Elwood misunderstood it for a simple "yes." He was unaware of the complex thoughts running through Nightjar's mind -- that he was disappointed that he hadn't been able to land a turd on his favorite grassy area -- but knew that someday, once the little Redleaf-DiSarinno mastered the art of verbalization, he would be able to express himself more completely.

It took Elwood a moment to realize that Nightjar had focused his attention on his tail; by the time he noticed the direction of the pup's distracted gaze, he was already bolting towards his uncle. Luckily, Elwood's reflexes were relatively fast -- in comparison to Nightjar's -- so with a laugh, he simultaneously turned away and lifted his tail into the air. He dangled it just out of Nightjar's reach, spinning slowly in an effort to entice him into chasing it.

His aim proved untrue and he missed Elwood's tail by a little more than a hair. If asked, he would've insisted in his babyish babble that he'd almost had it, but of course, nobody would ask. All those in attendance had seen his colossal failure, but he wasn't deterred in the slightest by it. Nightjar already had an iron will at less than two months of age. It would take a lot more than one miss to bring him down.

Elwood seemed to enjoy the new game as well, for the Beta swung his tail just out of reach and spun in a slow circle. Nightjar was unable to ignore the temptation and soon was racing around beneath the male's tail, leaping as high as he could and snapping his jaws shut on air with each expert sweep of the Beta male's tail. It was a splendid display of the grace a wolf possessed as an adult, and served a dual purpose for the pup. While it enabled him to exercise his jumping and chasing skills, it also showed him Elwood's skill with avoidance, a skill he could later recall and practice himself.

Nightjar was quick to take Elwood's bait -- both literally and figuratively -- and began making a valiant effort to catch his uncle's waving tail. The Beta continued to move away, eventually ceasing his circling and taking a few forward steps. All the while, his bottlebrush whipped back and forth and up and down, pursued hotly by Nightjar's teeth and forepaws.

With his head turned back over his shoulder, he watched as the stout boy writhed in the air, moving with a lot more grace than he would have expected. He knew that it wouldn't take long to tire him out, though, so he came to a halt and swiftly lowered himself to the ground. His tail splayed out behind him -- like a snake in the grass -- providing the firebird with the opportunity to pounce it as he would a small prey animal.

Jumping in place was easy, but the moment Elwood began to move forward, Nightjar's momentum failed him. He was unable to properly judge both forward and upward directions, so more often than not he would fall short in one or the other, making the Beta's tail truly impossible to catch. Luckily, before he had a chance to get fussy about it, Elwood dropped to the ground and switched his tail across the grass, changing the game to be more in his godson's favour.

Predatory instinct took over where playfulness subsided. Nightjar's spastic movements were suddenly more refined and gradual as he crept through the grass with eyes locked on Elwood's tail tip. This sort of thing didn't take any teaching. Wolves naturally had it. Of course, the patience that came with hunting had to be learned, but Nightjar had no time for patience, and so as soon as he was close he gave himself away with a cry. He leaped, aiming as best he could for Elwood's tail and missing by several inches. He tumbled in the grass at the Beta male's haunch, recovered quickly, and closed the last little distance between himself and his fluffy target, which he began to mouth happily.

Want to wrap this one up soon?

Over his shoulder, Elwood watched with interest at Nightjar's instincts took over. Even at such a tender age, he still had an innate sense of how to act and react in certain situations. He focused on the Beta male's tail as though it were a living animal; and, to make it even more convincing, Elwood gave it a twitch or two.

He couldn't help but grin and stifle a laugh at the sound of Nightjar's war cry. Although the pup was enthusiastic, he still needed to improve his aim. He missed Elwood's tail tip entirely, but was quick to right himself -- and this time, his little milk teeth found purchase. "Nice work!" Elwood praised, though he winced at the sharp poking that ensued.

Sure! Maybe another post or two? I can make my next post my last one!

He was happy to nom on Elwood's tail for a little while—so happy, in fact, that he didn't even really hear the compliment. Stalking and pinning the Beta's tail came so naturally to Nightjar that it was a wonder any wolf could possibly be bad at it. Of course, the tail wasn't a terrified rabbit fleeing for its life and therefore was slower and more predictable, but Nightjar didn't need to know that. Instinct had kicked in all the same.

He tired eventually of chewing on Elwood's tail, which consisted mostly of fluff and shielded the tender bone from the majority of Nightjar's jaw strength. With his attention wandering again, the boy turned over on his back right behind the male and managed to drape Elwood's tail right across his chest like a blanket. It would become unbearably warm very quickly, but in the meantime, Nightjar enjoyed it with a sleepy yawn.

Sounds good! :)

Elwood watched Nightjar's contented nomming with a smile. After a few moments, he happily realized that there wasn't enough feeling in his tail for him to be in any discomfort. There was the occasional poke as one of the boy's little teeth made its way through the thick fur, but for the most part, Elwood had no complaints.

Eventually, though, the youngster grew tired of that particular activity and turned over onto his back  with a yawn. Elwood had taken to looking around in the meantime, watching as a small red bird hopped from limb to limb in a nearby tree. When he noticed the lack of pressure on his tail, he looked down and found that Nightjar was nearly asleep. "Nap time?" he murmured quietly; he wouldn't take his leave until after his nephew had slipped into dreamland.

Elwood's words fell on sleepy ears. In fact, Nightjar didn't even register his godfather's voice. He was drifting rapidly into dreamland, a fact that Peregrine noticed at about the same time the Beta male did. As the Alpha came to collect his son, Nightjar murmured only once in his sleep, something about how he was hunting tail monsters in the morning...