Archer Valle

Archer was getting braver about wandering beyond the borders, especially since Eros met that other pup. He hated to admit it, but he was jealous. He wouldn't mind meeting someone he wasn't related to, for one. He'd love it, actually, but he wouldn't be caught saying that out loud. Eros was the social one; Archer just followed behind and made sure his littermate didn't get himself into too much trouble. It was a hard job. That's why he was taking lessons from Clover after all.

Today the youngest Valle decided to explore up the creek, even though it was far to cold to swim. He already hated having to break the ice just to get a drink most mornings. The further up he wandered, however, the less ice there was in the water. He watched it bubble around the rocks; maybe it was moving to fast here for it to freeze? Moving kept him warmer, too.

Speaking of warmer, he was getting too cold standing here. He moved on, picking up pace and trotting down the embankment of the river until he reached a spot with rapids. The water was loud in his ears and he flattened them against his head. He much preferred the quiet trickling of the backwater to this nonsense.

A sprinkling of snow from tree branches above him drifted in front of his nose. Archer sneezed and looked accusingly up at the barren twigs betraying him. Stupid trees. Stupid snow. Stupid cloudy sky threatening to dumb more white crap on all of them. When would it be warm again?

He looked back at the river, rushing away around the rocks, a fine spray dancing in the air around the biggest stones in the water's path. That was an idea; dancing. It might warm him up a bit; his nose was starting to go numb. If one of his siblings was here he might try to talk them into making a fool of themselves with these antics, but as it was he was alone. He quickly looked around himself to make sure his brother hadn't followed him, or one of his uncles, and then he started to wiggle around. He felt silly at first, but as his blood started flowing and he warmed up, he got more into it.

This was surprisingly fun.

Archer Valle

Archer was getting so into his wriggling that he committed the mortal sin: he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. Between his dancing and the burbling of the creek, he'd missed Clover coming up behind him. Archer jumped and spun around, fur fluffing up and ears pinning back as he stared at his mentor with wide eyes. If it had been Eros he would have only known he had an audience when the older boy pounced on him, so out of everyone Archer had to be grateful it was the other mother.

After his heart settled down and Archer relaxed his stance, he glared at Clover. "What'd you have to sneak up on me for?" he complained, even though he knew it was his own fault for not paying attention. He was beyond the borders; anything could happen out here.

Archer Valle

Between her ears falling back and her tone as she apologized, Archer knew Clover genuinely felt bad about scaring him, even if he wasn't sure she regretted walking up on him. His eyes narrowed suspiciously, no longer a glare, as her tone changed to a more playful one. He sniffed and relaxed, considering her when she asked if he would teach her. After a long moment he said, "Promise you won't tell anybody?"

It had been fun, but if Eros knew then Archer would never hear the end of it, and the younger Valle boy had an image to maintain. As his mentor Clo clearly saw beyond that image, and Archer admitted he did feel more comfortable with her than he did many of their other pack members, in some ways moreso than his parents because he didn't want to impress her the same way he did Ma and Da.

"Okay," he finally acquiesced, trying to get back into the mood he'd been in when he'd started dancing. "First you gotta wiggle your hips like this..."

Archer Valle

A promise was made, and Archer felt a little better about being caught dancing. He trusted Clo to keep her word; she didn't seem like the sort to tell others things that were none of their business. She could keep secrets. So Archer showed her how to wiggle her hips, and she started shifting back and forth with a bit of a bounce. It wasn't exactly what he'd been doing, but he liked that move anyway, so when she looked to him for approval he nodded. "That works," he said. "Then you've got to kind of shuffle your shoulders like this, while you're wiggling your hips." He demonstrated, shifting his shoulders forward and back opposite to his wiggle rhythm so his body arched to either side as he moved. "You've got to stay in rhythm."