Grizzly Hollow this great wide world of mine

Felix sucked in a sharp breath as his sister toppled down beside him – either he hadn’t realized she’d been trying to bite his ear, or he simply didn’t mind. His sisters played rough. Even now, the young Macieo seemed to realized that would be his fate as long as he wished to share in their company.

Thankfully, @Ophelia rebounded quickly, and the boy could exhale. Puppy blue eyes gave her a good once over. There was no obvious damage, so he let Joan inquire after her well-being as he peered back down at his little creepy-crawly rocks. Some of them looked a little…flat after his sister’s tumble, and his ears drooped as he sighed. Poor rocks.

“They not ew,” he replied, rationally. They moved around a whole lot, but they did not bother you if you did not bother them first. “They not walk if you not fall.” Which was not to say it was Ophelia’s fault – but it was kind of Ophelia’s fault, bothering them like that. Joan’s question, however, was much more intelligent, and the boy found himself furrowing his brows as he peered down. That was food for thought.

After a heady silence, Felix hummed. “Walk,” he decided. “Also, hide. And sleep. Under rocks. Tickle, too, on your nose. Not sure what for, though. Not eats. But what else?”

Still trying to shiver away the remaining feeling of the rocks crawling and squirming beneath her back, Ophelia nodded at her sister's worried question. "Yeah," the littlest pup answered, turning distractedly to lick @Joan's nose in thanks. Ophelia, too, peered at her brother with concern to the moving rocks. Whatever they were, they weren't rocks. Of that, she was convinced. Rocks didn't crack and show gooey insides when you fell on them and they didn't crumbled between your teeth either! However, she had no good name for them at the moment and didn't bother bringing up the argument.

However, there was an argument she wouldn't pass up. "Yes huh they walk if I not fall. Look. They walk," she pointed out, watching as a few of the beetles scrambled for the cover of another stone. Of course, @Felix was already back in his own world and answering Joan's question with his made-up knowledge!

As one of the creepy crawlies came closer to the pale princess, she smacked a paw down on it heavily before skittering away. "Go!" she demanded of it, though the beetle's exoskeleton was damaged beyond repair by her attack. It was going nowhere again. Ophelia moved behind Joan and Felix as if the pair of them may serve as a barrier between her and the rest of the hoard of moving rocks.

pulling joan out since this is pretty old now xD

The girl bobbed her head as her brother went on at length—well, at as much length as a pup could go—about the rocks. So many things they could do, they didn't seem to be very much like rocks at all! Only their shiny black, round exterior made them look that way. Maybe they were just like the red ones with black spots: some sort of non-wolfish creature that lived out its own life doing it's own things.

Seemed sort of boring, though.

"Maybe rocks is just for rocks," she said with a pouty, thoughtful nod. Not everything that wasn't Mama and Papa and Dada was automatically for eating. The was the bright circle in the sky that hurt her eyes, and the trees, and things that made high pitch noises in the morning, and these things weren't for eating. They just existed in the world and seemed beholden to different rules than Joan and her siblings or even wolves at all. It was like, just beyond the boundaries of her vision, whole worlds were just going about their day without any knowledge of a little girl named Joan and her whiny sister and bookish brother.

When Ophie suddenly brushed against her, sort of shoving Joan in a direction, the girl blinked several times until she found herself out of her stupor. There were many more rocks, suddenly, and they were all coming at her. "No. Done. DONE" she screeched, no longer desiring to wonder about the rocks in such close proximity. "Ma maaaaaaaa" she screeched, paws flapping underneath her as she waddled back to the den.

Joan @ ~8 months: Adult fur and winter coat grown in, eyes are now grey, nearly adult sized. Human age ~11-12

@Ophelia -- Feel free to exit and archive! :D

No one else was as curious about the walking rocks as was little Felix. Truthfully, the boy could have been quite satisfied if his sisters had left him behind to watch the beetles – he did not share the girls’ ignominy for the creepy crawly little things. They were not wolves, and they were so very interesting! In fact, he might have done just that, stayed where he was, had Ophelia not bumped into Joan, and sent the little shiny creatures scattering.

Well.

If we were being totally honest, it wasn’t the bugs’ movement that got his attention, but the eldest of the litter’s sudden screeching.

The boy’s head shot up, his eyes wide in alarm as he peered at the pair of girls. His ears laid back against his skull, tail curling under his belly slowly as if he’d done something wrong. But what? All he did was look! Was looking really that bad?

“Joan?” he questions as the girl left. “J-Joan? Wait! Wait, it okay!” he tried to insist, eyes already glassy as big wet, round tears began to form. Whatever it was, whatever he’d done to upset her, he certainly didn’t mean to do. The boy began to stumble after his sister as quickly as he could. “Joan! Wait!”

That the disgusting little crunchies even gave her sister the willies was warning enough to Ophelia. The stiffer fur along her shoulders and back all the way to the tip of her tail stood on end and she growled at them not to come any closure. Even Felix - Felix! The not-rock, rock-lover! - had abandoned her to be eaten alive by the nasties.

She squealed herself, following after her brother and sister with tail tucked, squealing the entire way. Though as distance grew, her squeals turned into peals of laughter that echoed around the den site. They should do sibling activities more often with these not-rocks. It was the only time she and Joan ever seemed to agree on anything.

As Felix encouraged Joan to wait, Ophelia lifted her vocal cords above his, hot on his heels, and screeched delightedly for her to run faster. The pup even took to nipping at her brother's tail just for the fun of it, easily distracted by her previous misgivings about the creatures sharing their den site. Not a single pack mate within the territory would be able to not hear the three pups carrying on like hooligans. No doubt, naps were disturbed and any attempts at hunting in silence were abandoned. Ophelia made especially sure that naps were disturbed and took to leaping rudely upon the mute girl within the pack without warning before scampering off again.

THREAD FADE~