Redhawk Caldera I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti

Stuffed to the gills with pork, Wildfire relaxed near the edge of the clearing overlooking Lake Rodney, feeling quite content indeed. She had recovered well from her episode five days before; in fact, it was nothing but a distant memory already. At the moment, the young puppy—now eleven weeks of age and about to enter a great growth spurt—wanted for nothing. She flopped onto her side with a happy sigh.

She fell asleep. She dreamed of this and that, although it was all forgotten when she snapped awake suddenly. Some time had passed. The clear sky had become gray and ominous. Wildfire sat up, trying to gather her bearings. What had woken her? Another growl of thunder gave her her answer. The pup licked her lips and stood, golden eyes searching the rendezvous site for any sign of her family. She saw no one.

More intrigued than afraid, the youth began to lope around the clearing's edge, intermittently peering at the sky as it grew darker and drearier. It would begin raining any moment, she knew. She wasn't particularly bothered by the thought. What interested her more was the peals of thunder already growing in volume and the flashes of light now pulsing against the horizon. Wildfire paused, the red fur along her spine standing on end as she observed one such distant lightning strike.

A few days had passed since the incident at the borders with Wildfire, Reek, and Peregrine. Returning from Lake Rodney -- where he had spent the better part of the afternoon fishing -- Elwood decided to stop by the rendezvous site to check on his niece. Luckily, the allergic reaction had seemed to be somewhat mild, so he was sure that she was fully recovered; truthfully, he just liked to use any excuse to visit his godchildren.

By the time he reached the edge of the clearing, the sky had darkened considerably with heavy clouds that promised rain. There was a rumble of thunder in the distance, accompanied by a flash of lightning. Elwood considered turning for home, but then saw a flash of red in his peripheral vision. Wildfire was nearby, gazing up at the tumultuous sky with wonder.

With a grin -- and a wince, as another fork of lightning split the humid May air -- he trotted towards Wildfire, halting next to her and nudging her shoulder with his nose. "There's a storm coming," he commented, though the pup was already very aware of that fact.

Thanks for joining! It occurred to me earlier that we have two NPCs in the pack that are almost never mentioned... so I'ma gonna puppeteer some @Dove in here. :)

She was so focused on the encroaching storm that she didn't even notice the encroaching uncle until he spoke from right beside her. Wildfire jumped slightly, then blinked sideways at him. Quickly, her face broke into a smile and her little black tail began to wag. She bumped her dark snout against the Beta male's shoulder, bobbing her head in a sage nod.

"I know!" It was clear by her shining eyes and toothy grin that she was not only unafraid but actually looking forward to the foul weather. "D'you like storms, Uncle El?" she wondered, an ear twisting as the thunder went up a few notches in volume. It was getting closer, fast.

"Hey!" a voice called from behind them and Wildfire turned to see her Aunt Dove trotting toward them. She spent a lot of time to herself, yet the puppy was fairly familiar with her aunt. She was not among the pup's favorites, though. "Shouldn't we be taking shelter or something?" she asked, looking shifty and a little disapproving as she peered between Elwood and Wildfire.

I always forget about them!

He grinned down at Wildfire as she replied excitedly, her eyes reflecting her anticipation as well as the bright flashes of light in the distance. As her words reached his ears, Elwood couldn't help but be surprised at how clearly she was able to speak. The rapid development of the firebirds truly stunned him, but he was glad to be a part of their childhood and get to see all of the subtle changes as they took place.

"D'you like storms?" she asked, and Elwood pursed his lips together before answering. He had never been afraid of thunder or lightning, but he was a cautious wolf in general; he often preferred to observe such acts of nature from a safe distance. But rather than explain all of that to Wildfire, he simply replied, "Yes, I like to see the lightning and hear the thunder."

At that moment, a voice piped up behind them, and Elwood looked back to see Dove approaching. She quickly suggested that they get out of the elements, and he had to agree, though he knew Wildfire wouldn't want to miss the show. "Yeah, we could probably find someplace safe to watch the storm," he offered, glancing at Wildfire. "Do you know of anywhere?" She was young, but she knew the nooks and crannies of the rendezvous site better than either adult.

Haha, me too!

The pair of adults seemed to think it was a good idea to seek shelter and watch the storm from a safe distance. Wildfire was a typically obedient puppy, though her face fell into a frown when Elwood agreed with Dove's suggestion. She shot her aunt a furtively displeased look, then her expression became a pleading pout as her golden eyes shifted to Elwood. Maybe if she asked nicely, he would pull rank and insist they could stay outdoors in their front row seats.

"But I dun' wanna go inside," Wildfire said, trying not to whine (but failing). "I wanna stay outside 'n' watch! Pretty pleeease?" Her eyes grew wide and pleading and she thrust out her bottom lip. She touched the tip of her snout to the Beta's chin, ignoring Dove entirely. "Please, please, please, Uncle El?"

The white she-wolf snorted quietly and rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever, get soaked and struck by lightning if that's what you want." Without even giving Elwood a chance to respond to Wildfire's pleading one way or the other, she marched away, disappearing into a thicket on the far side of the clearing.

Not surprisingly, Wildfire protested Elwood's suggestion. He couldn't blame her; thunderstorms were one of nature's most spectacular shows, and he knew that she was especially interested as a naturalist apprentice. With a playful smile and roll of his eyes, he looked to Dove, hoping to get some backup from Fox's sister. The white she-wolf seemed irritated by Wildfire's attitude, however, and unceremoniously departed. Elwood's brows raised as he watched her receding figure; he thought that her response was somewhat rude, but had grown to expect such a demeanor from her.

He shook his head gently, then refocused his attention on Wildfire. Overhead, there was another rumble of thunder; it sounded closer than before, and it was soon accompanied by a not-so-distant blaze of lightning. "I know it's neat to see, but lightning can be dangerous," he explained patiently, though his paws were itching to find cover. He wanted to make a compromise to ensure their safety and simultaneously please his niece. This would perhaps be the first time he learned that it wasn't always possible to do both.

"Maybe we can lay under some bushes where we can see through the leaves. Or what about a big rock?" he wondered aloud; if there was some sort of stone outcropping, they could potentially hide under an overhang.

When Dove snorted and marched off into the woods, Wildfire glanced at her back, then looked up at Elwood and blurted, "Aunt Dove is a butt." Realizing she had just badmouthed an adult and superior, her ears flattened abruptly and she mumbled something unintelligible. Her black tail became limp and then curled between her hind legs.

Because of this indiscretion, she no longer felt like she had any room to refute Elwood. When he told her that lightning could be dangerous and then proposed they find some shrubs or an overhang to take cover, Wildfire bobbed her head. She froze, waiting for him to lead the way, when she abruptly remembered that he had asked her if she knew of anywhere.

"This way," the puppy said after a moment of thought. "'Member the badger den?" she asked as they walked, her question punctuated by a throaty rumble of thunder. She ran her tongue over her lips, wondering if Elwood would find this a suitable location from which to observe the storm. They would have a roof over their heads (and a bunch of odds and ends at their backs) but the low, wide entrance should still afford them a decent view, supposing it was facing the right direction.

When Wildfire passed judgement on her aunt, Elwood had to struggle to keep the grin from his face. He wanted to agree with her -- he kind of thought Dove was a butt, too -- but didn't think it would be prudent to tell her so. Instead, he pinched his lips shut and pretended as though he hadn't heard her, focusing on where they could hide out and still watch the storm.

After a moment, Wildfire recovered from what appeared to be a brief bout of embarrassment and made a suggestion. Elwood bobbed his head in response; he did, indeed, remember the badger den that they had explored together. It had been Wildfire's find, and she had been excited to share it with her uncle. "That's a great idea, Wifi," he praised as he began to follow her, even as the first fat raindrops began to fall from the sky.

Elwood offered praise for her brilliant suggestion, which earned a toothy smile from Wildfire. She began to trot, hastening her step when raindrops splattered against her red backbone. In fact, despite her earlier reluctance to take shelter, she veritably scrambled the last few feet and then dove into the badger den. She turned around and squeezed to one side to make room for her uncle. It would be a tight squeeze, seeing as the back half of the den was crammed with the little Naturalist's treasure trove. But they should both fit.

And they could still see, which was all that mattered. "Oooh!" the puppy said loudly when thunder cracked directly overhead, startling her mildly and causing her to jump. Wildfire's head bumped against the low ceiling and she scrunched up her face as she lifted an over-sized paw to rub at the small lump already forming.

Both wolves accelerated as rain began to pelt them from above, spurring them on. The cool droplets of water felt good, but Elwood kept moving quickly, knowing that the storm was nearly upon them. Soon, the badger den came into view and Wildfire scurried inside, leaving room for her uncle to curl up next to her.

He was decidedly too large for the small space, but he still managed to compress his frame and squeeze inside. As he turned, intending to rest on his belly with his paws very nearly protruding from the entrance, he caught sight of Wildfire's collection of trinkets in the back of the burrow. Had she not been so preoccupied by the thunderstorm, he would have asked her about her cache; instead, he put it in the back of his mind and planned to press her for details later.

As he situated himself, there was a distinct rumble of thunder from above them, and it seemed as though they had found shelter none too soon. Propping himself up on his elbows, Elwood peered out in time to see the landscape illuminated in a flash of broad daylight that was soon swallowed by the stormy darkness. He grinned down at Wildfire as she rubbed at her head, having been startled by the closeness of the thunder. "You okay? It's pretty cool, isn't it?"

This title suddenly seems to be in poor taste...

When Elwood asked if she was okay, the pup placed her paw back on the ground and bobbed her head. "Ya," she replied even as a flash of lightning lit up the outdoors like the negative of a photograph. She sucked in a breath, then squealed slightly when the rain suddenly picked up with a crash. She could feel it spraying into the den, so she pushed herself backward slightly even while grinning. The storm was invigorating!

"What makes a storm?" she questioned, blinking in the damp gloom at her godfather. A boom of thunder answered her. "Sounds like duddy's farts," she mused, eyes slowly rolling toward the angry heavens.

>_>

Wildfire posed a question and Elwood hummed thoughtfully as he came up with an answer. He was no naturalist and in time the young pup would have more knowledge in that department than he ever would. But before he could provide her with a response, she made an off-handed comment that made him laugh out loud: "Sounds like duddy's farts." Elwood was no stranger to Peregrine's flatulence, and now that Wildfire mentioned it, the ominous growling of the thunder did sound awfully familiar.

Truthfully, he didn't know the intricacies of what caused a storm. But he recalled something that he was told as a child, and decided to share it with Wildfire. "I'm not exactly sure. I think you'll learn all about that, being a naturalist, and you'll be able to tell me someday. But my mom told me once that we hear thunder when the clouds bump into each other," he said, looking down at his niece to gauge her reaction. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he thought again of Peregrine's farts.

Elwood didn't know, which surprised the youngster. Didn't adults know everything? How could she possibly know more, when she was so much littler? She was marveling over this and nearly missed his educated guess, though she blinked hard and backtracked, repeating what he'd said in her mind and chuckling at the mental picture it elicited.

"But clouds are fluffy!" she protested, though Wildfire was unable to articulate why this should prevent them from making such loud noises. She just knew. "What makes the flashings?" she wanted to know next, forgetting that Elwood probably wouldn't know the answer to that either.

Elwood laughed. He couldn't argue with Wildfire's logic; she was exactly right. Clouds were fluffy, but not all of the time. The cumulonimbus overhead were heavy and dark; their edges almost appeared sharp, as though they were pieces of flint striking each other to create fire. That was where lightning came from, as far as he was concerned, but he suspected that Wildfire wanted a more scientific answer.

"Well, look at the clouds right now. They don't look so fluffy and nice, do they? When they get all dark and scary like that, I think it means the air is kind of fighting with itself. There's cold air and hot air, and when it crashes together, it creates the thunder and lightning," he said, his forehead wrinkling as he put together his explanation. He really wished he had fingers, an internet connection, and Wikipedia at that moment. (Luckily, I do!)

Her forehead wrinkled too as she processed Elwood's explanation. It didn't make much sense, though at this age, some concepts were just over her head (literally!). She accepted it with a bob of her snout and quieted down for a few moments to simply enjoy the storm. Already, the thunder was moving away from them, rolling toward the horizon. The lightning, of course, went with it. The rain kept coming down and Wildfire suddenly realized that her whole front end was slightly damp.

"The air's wet," Wildfire observed aloud, glancing at her uncle to see if he concurred. That made sense, since it was raining. But it was also strangely heavy. Little did she know she was experiencing a sudden increase in humidity. It made her fur feel really clammy, which was not particularly comfortable. It was sort of like wetting yourself all over. "I dun' like it," she announced, even though she was definitely a big fan of rainstorms otherwise.

While Elwood and Wildfire conversed, the thunderstorm stayed its course. Soon enough, the rumbles of thunder seemed to be receding into the distance once more, and the flashes of lightning were not as brilliant. In its wake, however, it left rain -- a thick, heavy drizzle that made the air feel warm and viscous. Wildfire noticed the change in pressure almost immediately, commenting on the dampness of her fur as well as the way the atmosphere felt around her.

This was something that Elwood understood a bit more intimately. "It's humid," he said, putting an emphasis on the word so that she would know it was important vocabulary. "After a storm, the rain sometimes makes the air feel all wet and sticky like it is now. It might make your fur puff up," he added, reaching out with a forepaw to ruffle the hair between Wildfire's ears.

Humid, she repeated in her head, her lips moving. Uncle Elwood reached out to ruffle the fur on her head, which hurt a little from when she had bumped it earlier. Wildfire didn't complain, though. She was too busy frowning about the air's mugginess. She really didn't like it, which was probably ironic because she loved playing in water.

Speaking of which, she suddenly sat upright and scooted forward, sticking her head out of the den a few inches. "Can we go dance in the rain, Uncle El?!" she asked, her voice rising with excitement. Her yellow eyes darted to his face. "And stomp in puddles?! Pretty please?!"

How could he say no to that face? Wildfire looked at him earnestly as she begged to go out into the elements, and he couldn't turn her down. The dangerous part of the storm had passed; the worst that could happen would be for her to catch a cold, but he doubted the possibility due to the humidity. He scrunched his face up thoughtfully, reaching a paw to tap his chin as though he really had to consider her request.

"I'll race you to the nearest puddle," he suddenly said, his expression shifting to one of delight as he took to his feet and squeezed out of the den. Immediately, his shoulders and back were pelted with warm rain, and he paused to shake in spite of himself. He then darted towards the first puddle that he saw, his paws squelching in the wet mud as he drew near.

"Cannonball!" he yelped, launching himself into the water and creating a miniature splash. Surely, Wildfire was right behind him.

Would you like to fade this and have another soon? I can't wait for Wifi to meet Elwood the Remix! :)

She tried to read his expression, her butt beginning to wiggle hopefully. She could see that he was going to agree, though instead of answering her, Uncle Elwood abruptly challenged her to a race. He squeezed out of the den and she squealed loudly as she ran after him, sliding and stumbling on the slick ground but refusing to slow down lest she lose the race!

When Elwood leaped into the first puddle, Wildfire squealed again and threw herself in after him, exercising no caution or restraint whatsoever. She knocked into her godfather's backside, streaking muddy water up it which would quickly be washed away by the continued rainfall. Wildfire then lost her footing and fell forward, swallowing a giant mouthful of the stuff, though she quickly recovered and began laughing.

Between splashes and gleeful giggles, Wildfire announced to the world, "You da bestest, Uncle El!"

Me too! I'll fade this one, then reply to our warrior training thread. :)

"Of course I am!" Elwood agreed with a laugh as he splashed alongside Wifi. He then leaned down towards her and said, "You need to tell Aunt Flea that. She thinks she's the best." He had the sneaking suspicion that "Aunt Flea" would forever be Wildfire's favorite, but he was happy to be a close second.

For the next little while, Elwood danced with his niece in the rain, until she eventually tired and agreed to let him walk her home. He was out of breath but happy, and would treasure the memories of that day for years to come.