Most of his time after eating, rough housing with his brother and making sure there was nothing new inside their dark den, he spent the rest sleeping. It was nice, his stumpy legs sometimes grew tired after waddling inside the den carrying his plump meatball body. Sometimes he dreamt, though he was never able to retain or remember any of his dreams, but he twitched and grumbled along within the dream. This particular dream had his stumpy legs twitching and horizontally running (if you could really call it running). As it seemed to reach the climax of his dream, a sound outside of the dream interrupted and awoke him from his sleep.


A pitiful excuse of a growl from his brother woke him. Blinking his puppy blue eyes, his tiny jaws yawning, he focused on the meatball body of his brother at the mouth of the den. Barking, but what came out was more of a squeak, Adimar tried to get him to get back over to where they were supposed to be when the larger wolves weren't around. Adimar knew they wouldn't be happy with them if they were caught out of the den and Bero was practically a paw away from being out there. Attempting to grumble to himself, he decided he'd have to take things into his own paws if he wanted to stay out of trouble.


Stomping over to his twin, he was about to try to get his brother back to the outskirts of the den with him where they were supposed to be. But before he could reach him, a deep growl reached his ears. Ears flattening, he knew they were going to get in trouble! Look at what Bero did?! Went and got the big wolves mad at them for trying to get out of the den. But as he waited for the teeth to clasp around his scruff, nothing came. Just more deep grumbles.


Curious, he crept closer to his brother, his blue eyes peering outside of the den.

It never occurred to Bero that maybe he should have been quieter, that he wouldn’t have woken his brother up. Adimar was up! So what? If his twin disapproved, so be it. At this age, the older boy (by minutes, thank you very much) was hardly in a position to stop him. So he greeted the other Aethsila with a nudge to his muzzle, stumpy tail giving a few wiggles before the sky growled again. It drew puppy blue eyes upwards and Bero crawled on his belly until his front half was exposed, giving him a much better view of the world and everything up above. The blue above the thicket was missing, replaced instead by big, dark swirls – the world rumbled again, so low and deep that even the plants seemed to vibrate.

And it was So. Freaking. Cool.

Bero’s tiny tail began to wiggle again. This time, when he nudged his twin, it was only to confer just how awesome this experience was – like maybe there was a giant wolf somewhere, or they were witnessing a creature in the sky, or something else totally amazing that never would have happened if their parents were around. He rumbled back – a sound that paled in comparison – and nudged Adimar for a second time. “C’mon.”

It was hard to say exactly what that sound was coming from. Meir's total life experiences amounted to the pure essentials, though the small pup knew what the sky sounded similar to. He was able to connected the two sounds together, but Adimar could only imagine it was coming from a much larger wolf that even Da. Nonetheless, he took his little brothers nudge in stride and followed behind him as they both crawled to the entrance of the den to take a better look outside.

After his soft blue eyes adjusted, the normally blue sky was dark and gloomy, almost like it was night time. But the child knew it couldn't be night just yet. Ma and Da were still gone, so that couldn't be right! The growl sounded again and this time, he could feel it in his toes!

Bero nudged him again and he could tell his brother thought whatever this was, was cool. Granted, whatever this was, it was a first for them. The eldest twin was nervous to really find out what this was. But as Bero nudged him to follow in suit behind him, the twin silently obliged. Only slightly curious as to what the growl was coming from, but more so to keep Bero from getting into too much trouble with Ma and Da gone.

Why didn’t his brother want to say anything? Didn’t he think the sky rumbles were cool, too? Bero glanced over his shoulder, checking just long enough to ensure that his twin was actually following along before continuing. The (slightly) older Athesila didn’t seem that impressed – or happy – about the entire scenario. He shrugged. His brother never seemed that impressed with anything at all, whereas Bero was more than willing to enjoy each and every new experience life offered him. And without Ma and Da (or any of their siblings!) here to tell them that dreaded word (‘No.’), why, the youngest member of the family saw absolutely no reason why he shouldn’t.

That was until the sky rumbled again – but so much louder this time. The leaves on the trees seemed to shake, as did all the dirt across the ground, rattling up through his legs and into his ears. Bero froze, his puppy blue eyes wider than plates as he glanced up at the late arvo sky, mouth agape. “Whoa,” the little boy murmured, turning his startled gaze back into his brother. His tiny tail had started to wag, a furious little stump thrashing as hard as it could. “Whoa!”

And then he was off like a shot, galloping through the twigs as he sought out the source of this wild sound.

Had his brother not been so intrigued by the curious rumbles in the sky, Meir would of comfortably slept through them until they woke him up – if they ever did as he tended to be a heavy sleeper these days. Being as the twins were alone without his protective parents, the inexperienced pup didn't have the courage to back up his curiosity. Perhaps, it would come in time for him. Oh, but his brother sure didn't have that problem. As the sky rumbled again, the trees and the ground shook along with it, his brother's jaw dropped in awe as he mustered a 'Whoa' before turning his matching blue eyes back towards him. Adimar's ears flattened against his skull as his frozen body waited for the rumble to pass.

Bero had a much different reaction. Blue eyes watched as his brother's tail began a furious wag, his own ears lifting tentatively as his courage spiked momentarily with his twin's reaction. Feeding off his brother, the tawny boy stepped a paw forward just before his rash brother galloped off away from the safety of the den.

Quickly, his courage began to diminish as his widened blue eyes watched his braver twin run towards the rumbles. The boy was apprehensive to leave the den, but something moved inside him that made him suddenly launch after his darker brother. Before he was filled with an uneasy fear, now he could feel all the rumbles beneath his toes as he ran with a new found courage as adrenaline surged through his tiny veins. The Athesila boy wasn't sure what came over him, but this was fun! “Wooooooooaaaaaa!” He yelled wildly as he chased after his brother and towards whatever they were after.

Haha! Curiosity won out again!

I mean, really, it was never much of a question for young Bero, even at this age. He was gonna chase the sounds (the thunder, he’d later learn it to be called). He wanted to know. He wanted to see. Even if that wasn’t possible (though at this moment in time, everything was quite possible in his expansive mind), he was going to try.

So it was good that his brother was coming with him. Because Meir could try too. And surely, two twins was better than one, right? With their powers combine, they’d find the source of the rumbles and…and…

Well, he’d figure that part out once they actually found it.

Bero paused, large feet patting against the ground as he turned, giving the older (only slightly older!) brother a moment or two to catch up. He rewarded Adimar with a happy smile, tongue lolling out to the side before the thunder shook the forest again. Even the leaves themselves seemed to tremble with the flash of light and long, low roll of sound that followed. But the pup only looked up, smile study – until a fat rain drop plopped onto his nose. He blinked owlishly, ears pricking forward…and then another hit him right in the eye!

Hahahaha!