White Fir Notch the leaning tree

@Arwyn || Morning, Cloudy, 56 ° F, 13 ° C

She had laid in the mouth of the den that morning hope for some sunshine but it seemed like a useless waiting game. Clouds littered the sky and didn't allow enough sun for sunbathing. With a rather disgruntled sound, she clambered to growing paws and toddled off into the pack lands. Hawthorne didn't have any specific idea of where she was going. She did know what she was going to do. She was going to find adventure and something better than waiting around for the dumb sun to come out.

The Riverflow had made sure to grab her chewing stick and bring it along with her in case this adventure turned out to be completely pointless. Now that she was growing along with learning how to properly move (she still had her clumsy moments, though) the stick didn't drag on the ground so much. She was able to mostly carry it off the ground. Hawthorne had learned that if she closed her mouth around the middle it didn't hang to one side so much. Who would have known!

Part of her wondered if she should go find one of the adults. Surely Emrys or Nauja wouldn't mind taking her out for a bit. Then again she figured mama might worry where she had gone off to.

It was a rather eventful morning already, for today was her first encounter with meat. Her father had presented her with the strange substance, from where he got it, she did not know. Slimey and red, it was nothing like the sweet, creamy milk she'd been living on for the entirety of her life so far. She didn't know if she liked it or not yet, but with her needle sharp baby teeth managed to gum up some of the small, already chewed chunk and gulp it down.

Fueled by the strange red substance, Arwyn set about the rest of her day in the usual manner. Once her parents were done fussing over her, she slipped away from the den and into the wonderland of the forest. Arwyn's little white paws pitter pattered over the dusty dry forest floor, the little black button of her nose poking into every little nook and cranny along the way. She was still getting the hang of the information her nose gave her, finally realizing that certain scents meant certain things. Different animals had their own smells, and even each member of her family and pack smelled different from eachother. Little triangular ears perked as she heard a sound ahead, little black nose twitching as she sniffed the air. It was... a wolf... She sniffed some more. It smelled like.... Hawthorne! Arwyn rocked forward, stout little limbs sending her towards the other girl.

Arwyn's eyes first gravitated towards the big stick the shadowy black girl was holding in her jaws. Well, she wanted the stick too! Bounding up to Hawthorne, Arwyn reached out and grabbed an end protruding from the Riverflow girl's mouth, tactlessly tugging on the branch as the concept of sharing evaded her.

There is a rabbit's nest nearby. +1 Health

Usually, Hawthorne would have been rather pleased to see the cream-toned girl but when the other latched onto her stick there was no happiness. Her puppy jaws gripped tighter and tugged back. Hawthorne did her best to growl. She wanted to sound big and scary in order to shoo Arwyn off from the stick. Perhaps the Riverflow girl would have shared had the other asked or even greeted her before trying to take it.

For now, Hawthorne was starting an unintentional game of tug-of-war with every intention to win.

Her over-sized paws would firmly seek the ground below her. Puppy blues narrowed the slightest bit with displeasure. This was her stick! All hers! Didn't the girl know how to find one? Couldn't Emrys or Jynx get her one? The young Riverflow's tail whipped behind her with a mixture of pleasure and aggression. Tugging on the stick was certainly enjoyable but the situation in which it had occurred wasn't as enjoyable.

Part of her wondered what would happen if she gave Arwyn the stick. Would the girl still stick around to keep her company or would she vanish once she had what she wanted? The latter seemed...well, sad so she wouldn't give up! Not yet at least.

lemme know if i should change anything!

Though Arwyn grabbed and pulled, the other girl didn't relinquish the stick. Had the growl come from any other wolf, it might have been frightening. But coming from a pup who was no bigger than herself, it only made Arwyn think it was a game. Her little tail wriggled and waggled over her backside as she braced her tiny cream paws against the earth. Arwyn growled back, a high-pitched, playful rumble to compliment Hawthorne's.

Try as she might, Arwyn couldn't seem to get the upper paw on Hawthorne. Even with all four paws anchored to the ground and claws dug in for maximum effect, Hawthorne was slowly dragging Arwyn. But the little Myrddin was a tenacious lass, and wasn't going to let go unless she was sure there was no way she could win.

Or... Maybe there was more than one way to win. She just had to utilize the element of surprise. Arwyn swiftly released the slobbery end of the stick from her grasp. And just as swiftly, the creamy coated cub leapt forward towards the other pup, her stubby little forelimbs outstretched as she wrapped them around Hawthorne, her pink tongue flailing as she lapped at the grey pup's face.

Hawthorne was starting to think that Arwyn didn't know when to quit. The Riverflow girl had managed to get the upper hand in this situation. She thought that her cream friend would have let go by now.

It seemed she was getting her wish. When the Myrddin child let go Hawthorne was fully prepared to take her stick and go elsewhere for a bit. Little did she know that there was a bigger reason why Arwyn let go. With a squeal, the stick was dropped and she was being smothered by Arwyn with kisses. She knew that without the stick in her jaws and the other Notch pup making a full fledge killer attack she had to do something!

She aimed to open her jaws and grab some part of the girl. Hawthorne had no intent to really hurt her friend, though. She was merely defending what was hers. Being smothered in sloppy puppy kisses kind of made the aiming hard but she would be content with holding onto any part of her friend. If Elyan was here surely he'd help her out! They were like really good friends, weren't they? The Riverflow girl didn't actually know but she kind of figured they were. Especially after that whole bird thing.

Aha! Arwyn's dastardly plan had worked like a charm. Hawthorne seemed woefully unprepared for her attack and relinquished the prize. The stick clattered to the ground between them, rolling under flailing paws as the pair struggled under Arwyn's licking frenzy. Now all Arwyn had to do was pull away and grab it, and she would be the winner. But apparently it couldn't be that easy, and as Arwyn tried to duck down to reach for the stick something sharp grabbed onto her ear. Arwyn cried out, while it didn't necessarily hurt it surprised and shocked the girl.

Whimpering and whining Arwyn batted a paw at Hawthorne's face as she tried to get her to let go. She just wanted the stick, and now Hawthorne was using her ear as a chew toy instead! Maybe she should have just left the stick alone.

"Owwwwwwwieee!!! Owwww, owwww, lemme go!" She yowled out in great distress as if she were being gravely injured rather than mildly inconvenienced by the puppy shaped earring she was now sporting. And indeed, this was possibly the greatest suffering she had endured in her few short weeks of life. She crumpled to the ground like a lead weight, paws stuck straight out like a dead bug.

Aha! Hawthorne felt her little puppy teeth grab a hold of something and when Arwyn's kisses stopped the Riverflow girl could tell she had latched onto her friend's ear. The cries of the cream colored girl were unexpected but let Hawth know she had down what she had wanted to do. Defend her stick.

As she released her grip on Arwyn's ear she instantly moved for her stick that she had so bravely fought for. Without much of a warning or word, the Riverflow child bounded off away from the other girl. She had to make sure that her toy was safe and that Arwyn wasn't gonna try to take it again. Her puppy blue eyes stayed locked on the cream girl as Hawthorne very carefully set her stick down before proceeding to lower her body in a protective crouching position.

"Mine." The Riverflow announced with a stern tone. She was more than willing to tussle again if Arwyn hadn't got the point from all that ear tugging. Hawthorne wasn't exactly sure where she picked it up (likely from patrols with @Emrys) but her small tail dared to lift upwards. She was big and tough. If she could fend Arwyn off then she could fend anyone off! Right?

All the while her ear was getting tugged on the stick had been forgotten as she pawed at Hawthorne to get her off. Her cries for the release of her ear seemed to have worked as the somewhat larger puppy let her go. Arwyn shook her head flopping her ears as she did so before peering at the darker puppy. Hawthorne had bounded off toward her stick which only reminded the Myrddin child of the chew toy.

Arwyn got to her feet as the Riverflow girl took up a defensive position over the stick. This didn't deter the cream girl in bit. She still wanted to get the stick away from her friend. Her tail swayed over her back as she decided that Hawthorne was only playing.

Taking one step toward Hawthorne she readied herself to pounce on the darker pup. Without warning she bounded toward her and tried to push her away from the stick with her paws. “We see about that,” challenged the cream pup playfully.