Wild Rye Fields Walk like an Egyptian

For @Sphinx but the other rye pups can hop in any time.

The Avalon pups were trouble, heap loads of it.

If he thought Percy had been bad...Well he was wrong, or at least he was in comparison to these little bundles of mischief. They were happy, healthy and well cared for but shit, if they weren't a pain in his arse. He didn't mind looking after them as it was his job to ensure that his fellow Rye wolves were safe, but did @Drestig really have to pass them off to him as often as he did? He was certain the Old Man got a kick out of it, got some weird sort of satisfaction from watching Askan be tackled by his pesky spawn.

He couldn't exactly blame the pups, they were simply doing what did best. But did that mean he'd leave himself in harms way where they could easily find him? Hell no.

Traipsing along the forest's edge, a distance away from the communal den, Askan thought he was safe. That he could go about his patrol without risk of being interrupted. But he was wrong, oh he was so very wrong.

Jessie had always kept the pups on a short leash, kept a close eye on each and every one of them whenever she could. But of course try as she might they often wandered off and did whatever they pleased. And it seemed as though now would be one of those instances, an unlucky encounter between the grumpy guardian and a pesky little pup.

Oh, Askan had another thing coming if he thought he could escape the clutches of Sphinx so easily even if just for one whole hour.

"Ungkull Asscaaaan!" The young girl's high pitched voice pierced the calm silence of the final hours of daylight, the sunset's soft orange glow illuminating the speckles of white that were gradually growing in amongst the darker collection of fur across the expanse of her body and in higher concentration around her face. A wide grin spread across her all too eager face while paws still too large for her body clumsily clambered for the retreating Guardian. Here came trouble.

For once her brothers were content to take their mischief away from her line of sight and into the confines of the den to avoid her being the 'buzz kill' per usual which left Sphinx with the perfect opportunity to seek out a new face for the day to try and con into playing with her. Especially since Mama had her paws full with the boys. Who better to pester, though, than the pack's big, strong Guardian who she found to be amusing with that constant look upon his face like that time she ate a piece of bird poop; which in her defense she only did because Griffin convinced her to think it was that tasty stuff the adults sometimes brought them, and she made a deep scowl. Plus he huffed a lot and it made her wonder why he needed to let out air so often. Was he broken?

Word Count: 255

(This post was last modified: Jul 24, 2017, 10:27 PM by Sphinx.)

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity

Aw crap.

Stowing away his usual grimace, Askan turned to the pup and greeted her with a friendly swish of his tail. His gaze darted behind her, then to the long grass, which was dyed fiery orange by the setting sun. It seemed as though it was only her, the quietest pup out of the bunch. Like her Mother. Good. Askan wasn't sure he could deal with the puppy hoard right now. Sphinx wasn't so bad, but her brothers were demons in disguise.

"Hey lil bug."

He wasn't sure where they had gotten the idea that he was their uncle from, but it was okay. He wasn't going to correct her. Being an ungkull wasn't so bad. There were worse things to be, like being dead. Anyway...Askan bowed down to push his nose into fur atop her head. Ah yep, she had been with her Mother and brothers not long ago, must have slipped away like the silent shadow she was. Good on her. Askan knew full well what it was like to have- or rather have had- loud siblings. They were a pain but he really missed them sometimes.

"What are you doing out here?" They were some distance away from the den after all. Then again the pups were getting more adventurous with each passing day."Keeping out of trouble I hope." He gave her a stern look, but it was more or less ruined by the wry smile on his lips.

What could he say, he had a soft spot for small'uns.

Maybe it would be nice to spend some time with her, without her siblings yanking at his ears and tail. It was peaceful, nice out so maybe she'd want to go for a walk? Or a trot, if she insisted on running.

"I was gonna head to the lookout, want to come?"

The hill was a sort of steep for little legs but he believed in her, she could do anything if she put her mind to it, and he'd be by her side the whole way.

(This post was last modified: Jul 24, 2017, 11:30 PM by Askan.)

Broken or not the tall dark man was quick as ever to notice the approaching pup; unaware of how loud her thundering paws actually were on the grass underfoot, and offer Sphinx a friendly swish of his tail before taking his watchful gaze off of her to study the trail she had come from. No doubt expecting either her obnoxious brothers to be not far behind or an adult giving chase in a poor attempt at wrangling up the escaped children. Luckily for him, though, it was just the one monster to deal with today.

Gradually transitioned irises closed beneath the soft touch of his nose to the top of her head, her little tail giving a few excited waves in a greeting of her own and at the relief of not being shooed away back to where she had just come from. Another reason she liked the big broken grump. "Lil bug want to play and plore. Brothers no want bossy sis round." At this the speckled child made her best attempt at mimicking that grimace Askan held upon his maw on the daily followed by one of his infamous huffs.

Immediately the expression melted away under the stern look he tried to give and her tiny rump plopped down onto the ground underneath, head nodding to answer instead of using her words since she was starting to comprehend what things others said that did and did not need her mouth to move; a trick she picked up from mom, and honestly she liked not having to talk all the time. It made her jaw hurt and a sore jaw wasn't very much fun. If it wasn't fun Sphinx wanted nothing to do with it. Typical puppy fashion.

Yet, the little girl hadn't put her rump to the earth for long before it was quickly standing back up, an excited yap escaping her lips when Askan did the unthinkable. HE invited HER to go to the lookout. Whatever that was, but if the adults went there then it totally had to be cool right? Right. "Sphinx come. Sphinx come!" Eagerly bolting past the man even though she had not a single clue which direction this lookout was, but that didn't stop the enthusiasm that plastered itself upon her young face in the form of a wide grin and her tiny salmon tongue sticking out the side of her mouth as she ran.

During her sprint, something caught her eye in the fading light of the sun. Something in the earth that looked darker than the mud that lay around it and ever the curious mind all four limbs came to a screeching halt, eyes bright with childish fascination. Her head lowered to brush the tip of her nose along the smooth edges before pushing it into the indents, unintentionally smooshing the would be rabbit track into a new shape that uncannily mirrored that of her nose. Nostrils and all. It smelt funny, but not like Chimera or Griffin funny. Sort of familiar too. "What's that?" She asked her Guardian now turned teacher, eyes turning to him before looking back to the spot, but a few inches higher. Another one! And another one! Amazement and wonder filled her tiny mind as her paws acquired a mind of their own and began to follow the trail of tiny imprints, leaving behind much larger ones where her own pressed moments before.

Word Count: 569

Askan couldn't say that he was surprised to hear that. Sphinx was the curious sort and when it came to her brothers she was rather headstrong. He couldn't say that he blamed her, they were tough to deal with and sometimes even he had to get a little firm with them. Otherwise things would no doubt get out of hand. But at the same time he knew her siblings wouldn't appreciate Sphinx being the voice of reason. They no doubt saw her as a buzzkill, or as she'd put it a 'bossy sis.'

The Selwyn couldn't help but feel for her. He'd been in her position not too long ago. Outnumbered and called all sorts of names just because he didn't want to play along with his sister's antics. Worst of all, was that sad little frown on her face. Oh no, anything but that. Maybe if he hadn't been so caught up in the moment he would have realised that it was a-pretty accurate- impression of his own sour grimaces, but as of then he merely sighed and gave her an affectionate nudge.

"Well I like having you around, so there."

Not all the time, of course, but he'd never chase her away. Never ever.

With an amused chuff, Askan followed her along, shadowing the little pup at a decent distance. She probably didn't know it, but they were heading in the right direction. Which was a relief, as Askan wasn't sure he had the heart to call her to a stop, not when she looked so happy.

Following her line of sight, the Guardian trotted closer and bowed down to see what had caught her interest. He didn't expect her to find anything out of the ordinary, but she no doubt found it exciting so he had to as well. It was infectious really, like that nasty cold he had the other day.

"Huh." He said with an overly dramatic tilt of his head."What an interesting find, Sphinx. Great job! Seem's like there are some rabbits around here. You know rabbits, fluffy things with long ears, taste good.

If only she, Sphinx Avalon, had realized that in that moment she had found the hidden code to unlocking Askan's weakness and all she had to do was turn the corner of her lips downward into a frown. A sigh fell from her buddy's lips and was shortly accompanied by an affectionate nudge which the young girl happily accepted and a declaration that unlike her rowdy siblings actually enjoyed her being around. She even went so far as to return his gesture briefly by prodding the small surface of her snout against the man's front leg. "Sphinx likes Ungle Asskun."

Sour expressions, brokenness and all.

As his head came down to investigate for himself the young Avalon's findings, her gaze once more shifted to watch his face to gauge how great these mystery things in the mud were. The speed in which her tail began to wag intensifying with the overly enthusiastic praise he rewarded her with and a wide childish grin spreading across the expanse of her face, but of course, she was still too young to realize the extraness that laced his words.

Rabbits? At this Sphinx tilted her head in pup like curiousness, not exactly sure what to make of whatever this rabbit thing was. So far in her young life, she had chased field mice, various insects, some small birds that feasted on the seeds that would fall from the tall golden grass. All of these her parents have told her what they were, but not once had rabbit fallen from their lips. So what was a rabbit? According to Askan they were fluffy and taste good and the details made her tiny mouth start to water at the thought of food, but still, she couldn't make a connection. The confusion clearly was written on her face.

Word Count: 301

"Good." His response was simple but warm nonetheless.

There were a whole lot of wolves who didn't like Askan, even once they'd gotten to know him. But as long as there were a few like Sphinx who did, then that was more than enough for him. He didn't care about how many wolves liked having him around, he preferred quality over quantity. And little Sphinx here was golden, of the highest quality, a good girl through and through.

The reaction to his praise was more than enough to put a sappy smile on his face, the sort rarely seen by anyone who wasn't a Rye wolf. She was just so enthusiastic, how could he not find it at least a little cute? With her blurry tail and goofy grin, what wasn't there to love?

Despite his simple explanation, it seemed as though she still didn't understand. That was fine, they could take a quick detour, wasn't as though they were in any rush to reach the lookout. If he really wanted to tend to the borders, he wouldn't have offered for her to tag along. If anything, this was a leisurely trip, the sort where the journey mattered more than the destination.

"Well, let's see if we can find it, so you can see it for yourself."Prodding her with his nose, he nudged her forward to follow the little paw tracks in the mud. "Lead the way, follow the smell, lil bug. We have to be quiet though, or we'll scare it away. Okay?"

If she did, it was no big deal. There were plenty of rabbits in the field, in fact it was teaming with them. Sooner or later Sphinx would see her very first rabbit, then in no time at all she would catch her first one. Man he was getting a little emotional thinking about that. He was such a damn sap these days, bloody awful.

Her special little one on one outing with Askan just kept getting better and better. Although confusion had its time in the lime light upon her facial features it was quickly overshadowed by a new sense of excitement when the Guardian threw out the idea of them actually going out to find this so called rabbit, oh, but the fun didn't stop there. He wanted her to lead the way and that little prodding of his nose was more than enough to get those tiny paws into motion and her snout low to the ground like she had seen her parents do plenty of times before. The extent of her excitement evident in the never slowing wag of her tail while she bounded along the trail of tiny tracks.

Each deep inhale Sphinx made filled her lungs with a fresh supply of musk that caused her nose to twitch, huffing outward before pausing to glance over her silvery shoulder toward the looming form of her champerone. "Sphinx quiet. We hunting wabbits." She tried so hard to keep her voice quiet like he had said to, but it took so much will power to keep the excitement out of her voice. Her desire to please the man that had more or less taken her under his wing for the evening showing. Maybe if she kept him pleased he'd be a little less broken than usual. Already he had improved on the number of huffing and puffing he did!

Suddenly the sound of rustling up ahead halted the breaks on her tracking and warranted oversized ears to pin forward, eyes widening in fascination while mud flung in the wake of her and erased some of the tracks beneath her. "WABBIT?!" She said in her best attempt at a whispered yell, once more looking back at Askan for guidance on the next move to make. Did she chase it like she did her brothers when they were playing, or would it chase her?! Oh god! What if Askan had let her go after something that would eat her! He wouldn't let that happen....right?

Word Count: 350

Askan had a hard time holding back laughter at her words. Oh jeeze, she was too damn cute for her own good. It was clear that she had inherited all of her Father's charm, because she had it in the bucket loads. He might not like pups in general- who is he kidding, he's a massive softie- but he damn well couldn't say that he disliked Sphinx. Anything but, really.

It wasn't nice to claim favourites, but out of this years litter she was definitely at the top.

She was just so earnest and trying so hard to do as she was told, even if in her efforts she was being anything but quiet. He trailed after her, making sure to stay by her side when he nearly jumped out of his skin at her sudden, if not odd, combination of a whisper and yell. Jeeze she had a good set of lungs in her. Good thing they didn't really have to be sneaky, otherwise she would have surely given away their position. She was still young, there was plenty of time to make a good stalker out of her yet. For hunting of course, what else would he be thinking of?

Sinking down, so the short tufts of grass tickled his belly, Askan watched the little brown rabbit hop along, somehow completely oblivious to their presence. Well, they'd found the rabbit, what next?

"Good job lil bug, you found it!" He murmured,crawling closer to give her a congratulatory nudge."What do you wanna do? Chase it? Or just watch it and see what it does?"

She'd found it, so it only seemed fair to let her decide. It was no skin off his nose, he was happy as long as she was.