Toes were curled, and she crouched, wiggling her butt in the air, aiming at nothing in particular. Her dark blue eyes were darkened by her bright eye lids, squinting at the end of the root now. A few more waggles and she tensed for the jump. A rustle in the bushes caused her to lose her balance though, and she tumbled forward down the root into the mossy dirt. Like a cat, she leaped back onto her paws, wobbling unsteadily again, before she turned towards the brush. Borlla crouched again, eyes narrowed in curiosity and evil. "I'm gonna get you!" Tensing up, she leaped into the brush, making contact with whatever had make her lose her balance.
http://a.imageshack.us/img717/5995/70049898.png);"> THERE'S A PLACE I KNOW IF YOU'RE LOOKIN' FOR A SHOW Her younger sister sure was quite the character—a lot like Ioni and perhaps even a bit like Junai herself... Not much like annoying Torla, despite their similar names; Borlla was far more bearable, by Junai's standards, in spite of the fact that most forms of stupidity (and thus most children) annoyed her. Her sister was an exception to this general rule and, silent, Junai watched her younger sister most lazily from the bushes. The others were off, probably getting food or maybe scaring off some of the new neighbors. No matter, the fact of the matter was that they were gone and that Junai was pretending to be, if only to see how her younger sibling would use such freedom. It would seem that Borlla was content to stay near the den, if only for the time being—Junai had every intention of keeping it that way, considering the new visitors they had. Until her sister got a little more daring, however, Junai had every intention of resting her stiff legs with the knowledge of how tiring caring for the little one's could be. Forever overprotective of what she considered hers, the bush Junai had so carefully hidden in shook slightly as she leaned forward, anxiously watching as her sister balanced most precariously on a tree root. Junai wished for little more than to prevent any injuries to befall the child while she was in her care, but her anxious movement left her younger sister somersaulting forward. Junai stared, embarrassed at the turn of events and stared, dumbfounded, at her now glaring sister... Ioni—she definitely took after Ioni, above all else. Junai did not have long to linger, however, for her face was soon being assaulted by the dear midget and she stood instinctively, crying out, <b style="color:#333E4B; font-family:georgia;">“Get off!” Her face was sore from essentially being pelted with a small child and, glaring down at the puppy at her feet, Junai remarked indignantly, <b style="color:#333E4B; font-family:georgia;">“You're lucky I wasn't a bear. Or a bobcat. Or a fox.” |
"Why were you spying on me?" The scowl was still clearly present, and her dark blue eyes were attempting to dig holes into her older sister's skull. Borlla seemed to forget how young she was on a constant basis. She was more focused on the fact that she wasn't far from home and nothing would have bothered her here.
http://a.imageshack.us/img717/5995/70049898.png);"> THERE'S A PLACE I KNOW IF YOU'RE LOOKIN' FOR A SHOW Could beat any of those stupid animals, hmm? Where had she heard such self-assured talk before? Oh, right—'I was young and silly.' And so was Borlla, if not a bit foolish with the statement. Hell, a bear could kill Junai without much problem and it could probably kill one of the others, too, depending on the species; Borlla would have been little more than an afternoon snack to a being such as a bear. There were other enemies, too, though Junai didn't mention them, if only because she doubted her sister cared anyways. Honestly, Junai wouldn't have been surprised is Borlla thought of herself as both immortal and invincible. Looking down at her sibling with a raised brow (her expression seemed to say, "are you honestly asking me that question?"), Junai replied, <b style="color:#333E4B; font-family:georgia;">“Borlla. You're two months old. Indy's not gonna leave you alone, you turd.” Independence was awesome, yeah, but not when you were a wimpy little twerp like Borlla that wouldn't be able to hold your own against a simple squirrel. She seemed unaffected by her sister's glare (if not a little exasperated), and lowered her muzzle to nudge the pup's forehead gently. <b style="color:#333E4B; font-family:georgia;">“Just cause I'm babysitting doesn't mean we can't have any fun. I mean, games aren't very fun with you as the only player, are they, Borlla?” She pulled away and stepped gingerly around her sister, looking for something that the younger sibling might find interesting. |
So, she tossed aside her huffiness, and put on a smile. She began to nod in agreement with Junai. Games were no fun on your own. Well, some games were, but only the really fun ones had more than one player. So what could they play? Her paws were still itching from what she thought would be something scary in the bushes, so her growing mind honed in on the first thing it thought of. "Let's fight!" Borlla grinned, rolling up on her toes, a delicate smile overtaking her previous post-huff one. "Or maybe we could play tag! It would be like hide-and-seek too, 'cause of all these trees. You'd never find me!"
http://a.imageshack.us/img717/5995/70049898.png);"> WITHOUT YOU THERE'S NO REASON FOR MY STORY As per usual, Junai was right—it was silly for her baby sister to think she would ever be left alone for long, considering the recent tragedy. Giving a slight nod to herself, evidently pleased that her sister recognized her intelligence and was now acting considerably nicer. Unable to help herself, Junai even grinned, her expression full of mischief. Fight? A pup? <b style="color:#333E4B; font-family:georgia;">“How bout when your ears reach my should, then we'll spar? Otherwise you wouldn't even have a chance!” Borlla was little more than a pesky ankle-biter right now, after all; simply stepping on her would mean winning the fight and Junai wanted more of a challenge. Tag (and, with it, hide-and-seek), however, seemed a far more plausible way for the duo to spend their time. <b style="color:#333E4B; font-family:georgia;">“All right, how about I give you a ten-second head start—I don't wanna beat you too badly, right? I'll close my eyes, too, since I feel sorry for you.” Wagging her tail good-naturedly, Junai closed her eyes and gestured with her muzzle for her sister to make her escape. <b style="color:#333E4B; font-family:georgia;">“Oneeee... Twoooo... Threee...” Her words dragged out, giving her sister extra time to run and hide, because Junai felt certain that she would be able to find her sister within a few minutes after opening her eyes. |
Then it was game time. Borlla rose quickly, tail wagging in anticipation. She didn't say anything this time, knowing full well that Junai had no chance against her. She was little, her big sister was, well, big! Surely she had the upper hand. Once Junai had started counting, Borlla ran off, stumbling quickly over tree roots, and through bushes. She found a good hiding spot beneath a large root, and nuzzled her way into the shadows. There was even a little escape route. If Junai came from the front, she could escape from the back, and the other way around. There was no way her sister could ever find her!
http://a.imageshack.us/img717/5995/70049898.png);"> WITHOUT YOU THERE'S NO REASON FOR MY STORY It was not long before, grinning silently to herself, Junai called out, <b style="color:#333E4B; font-family:georgia;">“Ten!” While the word was simple and short, it was quite loud, spoken so her sister (wherever she was now) was sure to hear the warning. Her jaws closed with a menacing click and Junai opened her eyes, looking about suspiciously. Which way would she have gone? Feeling particularly mischievous (was using your other four senses allowed in this game?), Junai sniffed at the air and, grinning to herself (she'd find that silly runt without a hitch!), Junai stole away into the forest. Keeping her nose low to the ground, Junai followed the rough path her sister had made rather quickly. Undeterred by things so simple as roots and bushes, Junai found her sisters supposed hiding spot within seconds though, raising her head, she wondered about the area and called out sadly, <b style="color:#333E4B; font-family:georgia;">“Ohh noo, where did Borlla go? Indy's gonna kiiiiill me.” Clearly, Junai was no acting prodigy and, after waiting a few moments of wandering about the area, she made her way to the suspected hiding spot and said, <b style="color:#333E4B; font-family:georgia;">“Gotchya!” But Borlla, blue eyes and creamy fur, was not there. Junai panicked, her head darting from side to side quickly, trying to see where her sister had run off to. She had been there just seconds ago, hadn't she? <b style="color:#333E4B; font-family:georgia;">“Borlla? Borlla, come out, this isn't funny, the others will eat me like a deer!” She hoped that her sister had the compassion to respond—or, better yet, was able to respond. |
Looking over her shoulder would undoubtedly result in tripping over her paws, and therefore getting caught. She just had to run and hope that she could find a hiding spot before Junai spotted her. There was no way the little girl could outrun her older sister. Especially not with awkward limbs. Some of the roots were bigger than she was. And that's when she thought of it. She paused for a moment, grinning slyly, before making a wide arc back around, heading back towards her original hiding spot, which Junai had, hopefully, vacated by now. On her way back, she tripped up a bit, landing in a murky puddle, but managed to spatchcock herself between the earth and the root again. It was rather unfortunate that Borlla hadn't heard her sister's now legitimately worried cries, since she'd been running away at the time. But she could see the dark wolf from her spot again and wondered if Junai would look again. It was Borlla's hope that she wouldn't. It would have been a waste of a trip.
http://a.imageshack.us/img717/5995/70049898.png);"> WITHOUT YOU THERE'S NO REASON FOR MY STORY No reply, not even a squeal or a howl or... Why the hell wasn't she replying? Worry mixed with fear, creating unwarranted anger; annoyed, Junai abandoned the spot and, swearing vehemently under her breath, make her way to the river surrounding the area, afraid her sister had thought water might equate to a good hiding spot. In her fervent search, all senses aside from sight were abandoned and Junai was left pacing about relentlessly. Where had the midget gone? She had stubby little legs, she couldn't have gotten too far... Though, a cougar that had her in its jaws possibly could have. Finding no trace of her sister (no tiny little wolf being carried away by the river, thank god!), Junai stomped (yes, stomped) her way back to the spot she had originally though her sister had hidden. She remained oblivious to her sister's return to her original hiding spot and flopped onto her stomach with a groan, grumbling, <b style="color:#333E4B; font-family:georgia;">“I'm dead meat.” And yet, after laying down in defeat, Junai stole an angry glance in the direction of her sister's original hiding spot, cursing the stupid game and—and were those blue eyes? Pale fur framed a youthful face that seemed amused at the situation. Her lip gave an irritable twitch and she inquired, <b style="color:#333E4B; font-family:georgia;">“Where'd ya go? I was callin' for you.” In spite of her anger, however, Junai's relief at seeing her sister okay was clear, an exasperated smile slowly replacing the annoyed expression on her countenance. |