Artfully concealed in a thicket of tall grass, Hael zeroed in on his prey, eagerly licking his chops as he examined it from the short distance of a few feet. Perched on a fallen log, the bug was like nothing he'd ever seen before: nearly as big as his paw, with a bulbous black body and vibrant yellow stripes. Its wings were iridescent and spanned the length of its body, while long feelers waved in front of its bug-eyed head. But the noise it made was the coolest thing ever -- a loud, sustained bzzzzzz... It twitched its wings slightly as it sat there completely unaware that its fate would soon be decided.

"C'mon... don't... move," Hael breathed, silently willing the huge bug to stay put for a few more seconds. Luckily, it didn't seem to know he was there. Perfect -- Fenru would definitely be jealous when he saw Hael carrying it around! Maybe he'd give it to mom as a present! The possibilities were endless, and the stocky, pint-sized pup's heart raced as he felt his muscles tense, preparing for the kill.

"GOTCHA!" The kid exclaimed, rocketing forward with his mouth wide open, but -- "Mmph!" He made contact with the log and felt his jaws clamp shut on a mouthful of wood. He sat disoriented now, plunked down on the soft ground, simultaneously spitting out bits of log and frantically looking around for his escaped prey. The thing must have taken off at the last second...

Oh, no, wait, there it was! It was flying around him now... buzzing furiously. And in a moment that seemed like time had stopped, Rihael realized that he'd overlooked a very important body part of his intended prey. As the bug retaliated by dive-bombing his head, he saw with wide eyes that it was equipped with a really, really big stinger.

...Oops.

Attuned as he was to the scents and smells of his children Indru noticed the crossing of his oldest son's over the borders without any difficulty, a small smile creeping onto his face at the thought of him. Quickly the father had found that there was no greater pleasure than being with his children and watching them grow—without any effort their presence seemed to (at least temporarily) solve any problem and sooth any worries. So it was not without curiosity that the lead male reared of to trail Rihael's scent and find his son, he had patrolled the borders today and was pleased to find no traces of misdoing or knavery and the opportunity to sneak up on Hael and see what he was up too was just far to tempting.

Indru's pace was a casual lope as he navigated through the grove, nose dropping to the ground ever so often to check he was on the right path, but never the less it didn't take long for his most confident son's dulcet tones to echo through the trees, bringing a grin to his father's face. The exclamation had potential to be worrying but Indru was close enough to make out the word and predicted that some practice hunting was afoot—after the recent pack hunt he was not surprised they had been inspired to do some practising of their own, though hopefully with a target far easier than a boar. When his son came into view Indru watched him fondly with his fiery eyes, not interrupting yet and hoping that as engrossed as he was that his presence would go unnoticed, a rather dejected Hael was sitting down (not at all the correct response to go with 'gotcha!', he thought) and he deduced that the confident exclamation had, perhaps, proven false. With another grin Indru prowled forward from his cover, whisper quiet, his tail waving behind him as he stalked towards his son hoping to cheer him up with a playful hunt of his own, even if Hael had not imagined to the prey.

Just when he had dropped, ready to pounce beside Hael and topple him, he saw the boy perk up and his attention suddenly rivet on a bug that was flying towards him—both clearly riled and agitated by, Indru suspected, being the intended 'catch of the day'. Without thought he bounded forward like intended but instead of aiming for Rihael he lifted a large paw and swatted the bug that had attempted retaliation upon his son, watching with a hint of satisfaction as it fell to the ground either stunned or dead once having a not so friendly encounter with the sole of his forepaw. And that, son, he began, a teasing grin on his face, is how it's done. With a quick laugh he ducked his head to nip Hael's cheek affectionately, placing a overly slobbery lick on his nose for added affect. Your ol' Pa's here to save the day again. Then, with a curious eye, Indru dipped his head to look at the bug that had been the subject of Hael's attention, a 'hmm' full of interest escaping him before, with an idle wave of the paw, flicking it towards his son's toes with a mischievous, toothy grin.

If the horrible thing had been buzzing loudly whilst just sitting there, its sound was now amplified, pounding in Hael's ears along with the beating of his heart. He stared, slack-jawed, at the thing, orange eyes following it as it zoomed around him, attempting to duck out of the way of its blazing trajectory. "Gah! Sorry! I'm sorry!" he barked frantically, but it was no use— that huge stinger was seconds away from being lodged in his nose, and now the insect that had been fascinating prey moments before was surely going to end his life!

But suddenly, a larger creature emerged from the brush, and Rihael found himself watching wide-eyed as Dad quickly made easy work of the offending, huge insect. The kid gasped as the large paw swung at the thing, his eyes narrowing; what if it stung Dad's paw! But luckily, it lay on the ground split seconds later, twitching helplessly. The droning buzz had stopped, and Hael stared at his father, his gaping jaw finally spreading into a grin once he realized everything was okay. He withdrew as much as he could to endure his slobbering lick, shaking his head quickly as if to rid his masked face of the parental cooties with which Indru had just coated it. "Daaaad!" he protested, rubbing his eyes with a forepaw, the embarrassment at Dad having had to save him from a bug just beginning to wash over him. He was old, now, he was a big kid! Wasn't he? The boar that Mom and Dad and the others had hunted were way bigger, and way scarier, so what did he have to be afraid of...? Was Dad going to think he was weak, now? No way, he wasn't scared of anythi—

"DAD! No—!" He danced a few steps away as the terrifying thing was flicked to his paws, landing just a hair away from his big toe. Of course, having evaded it, he laughed, jumping over it to attempt to headbutt his father in the chest mischievously. Even if he was scared of a dumb bug, which he totally should have been with its HUGE stinger, he was going show his father that he was strong enough to wrestle with him! His growls mixed with laughter, he opened his jaws and tucked his ears back, hoping to playfully catch some of Indru's fur.

A deep chuckle escaped him at his son's protests to his affection, he rolled his shoulders in a gesture who's meaning was as clear as if he had spoken it — deal with it, part of the liberties parents had after all were be able to cover their cubs in unrestrained cooties. A grin broke his face none the less and his tail waved wildly behind him as he replicated his sons whine teasingly, Haaaaelll. The shock that was so apparent in his sons gestures and voice caused another burst of laughter from him but as he bound forward to get his revenge he let the boy headbutt him, feeling his smaller teeth in his fur as he flicked his forelegs upwards and over Hael's shoulders as he rolled backwards, hoping to bring him down with him.

A big wolf like you — a Tainn no less! — afraid of a thing so small as a bug! Though Indru teased his son, his tone was light and the laughter in it took about the potentially wounding edge for his was well aware of the plethora of things that spooked him as a young wolf. What trouble are you trying to cause out here anyway, my boy? Still lying on his back Indru turned his head to try and aim a few affectionate nips and tugs at his son's ears, peering at him from the corner of his eyes as he waited for an answer, his teeth exposed in a seemingly permanent grin.

Success! He made contact with Dad's fur. But, as he should've expected, he was soon brought down to the ground in a fit of laughter. He lay there for a moment against Dad, laughing too hard to move, and then settled down. His father's words made a disgruntled frown cross his face, so he started to right himself, planting his hind legs on the ground and assuming a playful position with his head still on Dad's chest. "I wasn't scared," he protested, though they both knew he was lying. "Did you see the stinger?!" He huffed, allowing his ears to be tugged with little amusement at first, then breaking into a grin.

He shook his head, having now remained in the same spot for too long, and attempted to struggle gently to wriggle himself free of Dad and stand up again. "Just exploring! I'm not in trouble am I?" He didn't think he was, but sometimes Dad's judgment and Mom's opinions differed, and Rihael didn't want to be punished for straying too far from the den.

Sure you weren't, he retorted, his tongue lolling in a comical pose as he looked down at his son lying against him with an affectionate smile. Indru didn't think he'd ever quite get over the thrill he received each time he was able to spend time with his and Cori's cubs, it was a feeling he had severely underestimated before they had been born. As naturally protective as the leader was of his family, it was no surprise that he felt the same towards all his children, but with them and Corinna it went beyond his usual protectiveness and Indru knew undoubtedly he'd do anything for any of them. The stinger was quite big though, he whispered into Rihael's ear as he dropped down to nuzzle his boy, unable to resist even if he did suffer for it after.

Indru watched the young boy raise himself up and shook his head quickly at his worried question. Of course not... But maybe keep it quiet from your Mother. A small playful laugh escaped him and he winked at his oldest son in jest, I was quite the keen explorer myself. Just make sure you keep yourself safe, not too far. His voice adopted a more serious tone at the end, a gentle reminder to his son, as great as exploring was it had the potential to be full of danger too. However, I think we best head home, yes? Before we make Mom worry to much! With a pounce Indru jumped to his feet and stretched his hind legs into the air as he reclined his front half, taking pleasure in the stretching of his muscles. I'll race ya! He yelled suddenly, bounding off with a chuckle, sure that Rihael would follow.

Hael glared skeptically at the huge dead insect as Dad came in for the nuzzle; he accepted it, eyes on the bug to make sure it was really dead after all. He gave a small shudder at the thought of what had just happened to him, and resolved, then, and there, never to mess with any scary-looking giant insect again. But... also never to tell anyone about his newfound distaste for them.

He grinned at Dad, tail beating the air behind him. Of course Dad wouldn't tell! He laughed, at the same time fascinated by the visual Dad's words gave him: he briefly pictured him climbing mountains, fighting bears, jumping through fire! Of course, his fantasies were interrupted by a reminder to stay safe, and Hael nodded silently, obedient, yet (as usual) fighting back the urge to roll his eyes like the kid he was. Yeah, yeah, danger, shmanger! This bug was a one-time thing, right? Just unlucky— exploring alone wasn't that bad. Just like Simba, Rihael walked on the wild side, and danger was his middle name.

Dad offered to race him, and that was an offer Hael couldn't refuse. Besides, the mention of Mom had brought a very familiar urgency to their situation— when Mom worried, Mom wasn't happy. He stood on his hind legs for a second, batting at the air, raring to go. Then, he went down into the classic playful puppy stance, butt in the air and head on the ground, galloping off after Dad.

His little limbs pumped furiously behind Dad, who he thought had had an unfair head start. But it was okay— he could catch up, he knew it! The desperation he felt didn't show on his face, with his pink tongue lolling out of his open mouth as he sprinted along. [dohtml]"Come back here Dad!"[/dohtml] he yelled mischievously, [dohtml]"I'm gonna get you!"[/dohtml] And once he was close enough, a flying tackle would be in order.

As he ran Indru turned back to look over his shoulder, a laugh escaping him as he watched Rihael's classic pose (rump raised, head down) before he took off after him. The young boy's legs were pumping and though he now ran with much more success that he did 6 months ago when he could barely walk, he was still no competition for Indru. His oldest son's taunts and teasing caused Indru to laugh once more, pleased at his confidence and overjoyed at just beingwith his son, and he couldn't resist lightly spinning on his paws and turning to face Rihael at the words. Oh really? He called back, flashing his teeth in a grin as he watched his son's leg's pumping, what's to say I don't catch you first?!

Indru dropped into Rihael's pose earlier, his hind legs stretching to their full height behind him while his chin dropped to rest on the ground, and waited as his son continued to run towards him. Quickly he saw the muscles in Rihael's hind leg's bunch before he reclined a little to leap forwards, the intention to clearly tackle Indru to the ground. With an excited woof Indru decided quickly to rear up as his son sailed towards him, feeling Hael collide with his chest, and immediately his forelegs and large paws flicked around his son as best they could to keep him safe and above him as they tumbled back down to the ground.

Air escaped him in a large breath as Indru felt himself, with the weight of Hael, collide into the ground but after a moment he caught his breath and he laughed again—peering down at the cub that had been still resting on his chest. Well, I think you got me, Hael. He grinned, stretching his neck down to lick affectionately between his boy's ears while he had him still caught between his strong forelegs. The question is... Am I going to let you go?

Hael ran furiously after Dad, but no matter how hard he tried, it was becoming clear that he wasn't going to catch up. Dad was just too big! But then he turned around, and Hael kicked it into high gear, sprinting toward him, preparing for his tackle. Dad was prepared too, and so they both went tumbling down together, Hael enclosed in his father's arms. Briefly he rested there, too overcome with laughter and joy to move. But once he got his breath, the struggling began.

Dad planted a wet lick on top of his head, and that much fatherly love was all it took to set Hael squirming and wriggling against Dad's chest. He knew he probably wasn't getting out of this iron hug unless Dad wanted him to— but he could try! [dohtml]"Noooo Dad! Lemme! Go—!"[/dohtml] he managed to whine, though his voice broken with laughter and the toils of his struggle. [dohtml]"We— gotta go to Mom!"[/dohtml] Actually, heading back to his mother was a pretty important priority, given what Dad had said about her being worried. They both knew they couldn't let that happen! Of course, her worries had become his first priority only whilst confined to Dad's ultra-snuggle— but Hael laughed still, nipping softly at his father's neck, as though it would do anything.

If released, he would go bounding away as soon as his paws hit the ground: determined, though he would fail, to win the race, unless Dad let him.

Indru had barely a few moments before his young son started to struggle against his playful grip and though he knew his signs of affection would only encourage it further Indru couldn't resist, especially not with Hael in such close proximity. Rihael whined as his tried to escape but the tone and his son's laughs only made Indru hold him tighter, his own laughs escaping him, as—with a mischievous glint in his eye—he stretched his neck down to nuzzle at Rihael's head, no doubt turning him into a frenzy as he tried to escape his father's affections.

Okay, okay, Smallteeth, humour still coated Indru's voice as he receded his 'torture' on the young wolf with a exasperated sigh, grinning before he gave him a final departing lick before he shunted him off his chest to hopefully fall rather ungraciously. As soon as Hael's overly large paws hit the ground he was off and with an excited yowl Indru leapt to his feet and followed, soon catching up to his son with ease and nipping playfully at his heels as they headed towards home.