Mom had said to 'stay here'.

Well, actually, she'd done a little bit more than just say it. Iopah had sat her younger daughter down, using the end of her muzzle to gently push down till the child's gray rump meet the ground and withdrawn slowly, as if Bracken was a band-aid that would fly free with movement. The request itself was spoken into the gray down of her shoulders and her mother's voice was so soft and low that the words felt more like a hum. Not that Bracken would have really followed or understood them anyways. The whole time the gray pup had been swiveling on her butt to smear puppy-kisses and test tiny needle teeth.

Just as soon as Iopah slipped under the thorny curtain of salmonberry Bracken was moving. She circled the clearing, cramped to an adult wolf and vast to a pup. Bracken was old enough to walk now, but she had months to go before reaching any of her mother's grace. She toddled to and fro, tripping over her own feet in excitement and lack of coordination.

She stumbled upon the perfect toy by accident. The sprig of salmonberry snagged the gray of her coat she shuffled past. The thing seemed harmless, but it stuck like glue to her! By the time Bracken managed to pull it away every thorn had been rubbed off. Bracken was in the process of bringing it to show @Ember when she heard Arion. It was another puppy and they were looking for something! She scrambled under the salmonberry curtain, sprig clamped between milk teeth. It flipped up and caught on the plants for a brief moment. Planting her feet wide, Bracken pulled with a soft growl and went sailing head-over-heels as it came free. She followed the yips and the sprig dragged under her. By the time she arrived Bracken was as dusty as her prize. She watched Arion for a moment, tail whipping behind, then opened her mouth to spit out a mouthful of saliva, dirt and salmonberry sprig. "...'viss?"  She inquired, wondering if "this" is what Arion wanted.

There was only time for a brief passing glance from the sprig to Arion. She regarded the spit-and-dirt covered thing, then looked up to boy-pup questioningly. There was no time for a hopeful glance back down at the sprig (for that was certainly her next move) when Arion launched into motion at that instant. Slate blue eyes went wide with delight and her stubby legs started bouncing without any sort of inhibition. He circled her and she moved in turn, chirping back happily with every 'viss'. It didn't matter who he was or if this was part of a game or not... this was fun!

It took a moment to notice she'd misplaced the salmonberry sprig. Bracken stopped suddenly and spun a clumsy circle to locate it again. She pounced on it and shook it with what she imagined was great vehemence. Her butt hit the ground as her 'great vehemence' knocked her off-balance. She toddled to her feet and pranced over to her new play-mate to solemnly lay it at his feet. She beamed at him proudly for a minute, entire hind-end swaying, before realizing the problem. Two pups and one toy. They would need another toy.

The clearing of a throat caught her attention. The girl twisted around to see Inkheart and her visage perked up. Good! She toddled to the adult male and, despite not knowing him, whined up ingratiatingly. 'Help us?' her whine asked. Bracken tried to cement the appeal with an affectionate lick to his inky forepaw, before leaning back expectantly. In her limited experience, adults always helped and she expected this to be no different.

It took very little to entice Bracken to play, and the fox pelt dancing before her was more than enough. Slate-blue eyes went wide, following the rusty fur back and forth. Stubby legs crouched as the puppy made her stealthy approach. A pink tongue slipped between milk teeth in concentration. With a scramble of paws and enthusiastic yip, she sprang forward!

Tiny teeth sank into the pelt and a flood of scents filled her nose. Bracken froze for a second, surprised to have caught it and surprised by the smell of it. Wow! It moved under her teeth, possibly from Zia's manipulation of it, and instinct kicked in. Four weeks old she might be, Bracken was a wolf. She growled happily and set her tiny feet into the dirt as she pulled back on the pelt.

No matter how hard she tugged it would not move! The game was not quite as fun when it was so one-sided. Bracken squinted up at Zia, wondering what part she had in the fox pelt's unexplained strength. She dropped it slowly, making sure it wouldn't try to vanish once puppy teeth let go of it. Bracken was a little too young to understand that it was dead and Zia was the one controlling it now. "'Viss!" She exclaimed to Arion, bouncing excitedly over to him. Together they could conquer the might fox pelt!

The smudged pup toddled towards him, vibrated in place, and ran back to the pelt. Her little mouth was small enough, and the pelt would stretch enough, for their to be space for the two pups to grab hold. With one last excited bark, Bracken gobbled up a mouthful of fox hair and readied herself to pull!