Willow Ridge Dangerous gifts

Daegal, you disturb a snake who is bathing in the water. All welcome to Willow Ridge members!

Daegal grew bolder every day. He wandered farther on his own when he felt so inclined, sometimes dodging the Bigs when he worried he might be further than his mum would like. He was just so curious, thirsting for all the knowledge he could get. No longer overwhelmed by the new information each day brought, he sought it out.

Today he saw something shining in the dirt. His eyes brightened and he trotted towards it. His head tilted as he looked at the strange substance. It wasn't big, but it was flat and reflected the light. He poked it with his paw and jumped as it rippled. He sniffed it and then snorted in surprise. It was water! He'd never seen it like this, though; water didn't just sit around on the ground; it was brought to them by the other Bigs. He dabbed at it again, giggling as the ripples bounced back, and then yelped with a long shape suddenly twisted around with a hiss and strike that barely missed him.

In the weeks following the first excursion of her children outside the den Avella didn't go far from them. She kept them as close to her as she could. She of all wolves knew how easily it was to get separated from her family. She didn't want her children to become lost as she had. If she couldn't be with them she did her best to make sure that someone was with them. However, there were times that they snuck off getting around her and the other adults. She knew that their solo explorations couldn't be avoided.

Now as they started to get bigger and older she kept a close ye on them but didn't stop them from going too far from her. They had to learn about the world and not be afraid of the things that were in it.

She'd been watching the children play from a distance when she noticed her youngest son had disappeared. She waited a few moments for him to reappear but when he didn't she became worried. Leaving Nineve and Iseldir with their father she went in search of Daegal.

When she found him she was pleased that he'd found water. Her face fell when she saw him almost get bitten by the snake that had been hiding in the water. Her protective instincts took over as she charged the water ready to take on the snake to protect her son.

The- the water attacked him! That had never happened before! He didn't know it could do that! Why would everyone bring them something that could attack them? Maybe they killed it before they brought it home to them, and that's why it was safe. What did he do? He didn't think the water would attack him!

Just as Daegal was scrambling back to better assess the situation his mother was suddenly there, charging into the puddle in all her glory. He blinked up at her in surprise. Had she heard him yelp? She didn't know she'd noticed him wander away. Did mother have eyes in the back of her head? Could she read minds? Have super hearing?

The shape in the water writhed around, making a terrible hissing noise. Completely bewildered by the turn of events, Dae could think of only one thing to do: he imitated the sound, hissing right back.

When Avella arrived on the scene and saw what her young son was facing her heart sunk. She couldn't let the snake get any closer to Daegal. He didn't know what it was or what it could do and she had no intention of letting him find out. Some lessons didn't need to be learned the hard way and this was one of them.

The Ridge matriarch charged in with no thought of herself or of what could happen to her. All she thought about was the fact that her son was in trouble and needed to be protected. Behind her she could hear the hissing sounds coming from her son but her focus was on the threat before her.

Loud growls elicited from her throat as she attacked the snake before it could attack her. Her blows were aimed at its head, she hoped to grasp it and end the Snake's life before it could get away from her.

Daegal didn't understand what was happening. All he knew was that he was both angry and afraid and that the strange thing writhing in the water wanted to hurt him. He also knew his mother would protect him. She was fierce and could stop anything that tried to harm him or his siblings. Dae knew everything would be okay now that mother was here.

He watched as she stomped and snapped at the thing, water from the puddle splashing up and shimmering in the air. If it was just him, Daegal might have leapt into the air as well, trying to catch the glittering drops, but as it was he was focused on what his mother was doing and hissing back at the strange creature that had attacked him for no reason. Didn't it know how to share?

The masked woman was relentless in her attack on the snake. All that was going through her mind was that she needed to protect her son. Any thoughts she might have had regarding the risk to her own life hadn't even entered her mind. She could hear Daegal hissing behind her and had it been any other time she woukd have laughed and thought it was cute. He didn't understand the danger that he was in but he would once she'd neutralized it.

It only took a couple more blows before the snake lay limp in the water. She stated at the unmoving body for a moment just to be sure before turning to her son. Stepping from the water she moved to pull him into an embrace. "I'm so glad your okay my little one," she whispered against his puppy fur.

Daegal watched with satisfaction as his mom rained blow after blow upon the strange beast in the water until it no longer moved. The pup's head tilted as he stared at its long, limp form still so difficult to see in the puddle. No wonder he'd missed it. It wasn't fair that it got to hide so good and then try and keep him from drinking! Good riddance to it anyway.

Mother finally turned and embraced him, whispering into his fur. He hugged tight against her. "What wazzit?" he asked, trying to peek around her without pulling away. "Whyzzit so mean?"

Avella pulled her son tightly against her once the threat was over. She was so relieved that he was okay. The new mother didn't even want to think about what would have happened had she not gotten there in time to protect Daegal from the snake. She was very glad that she wouldn't have to find out. She was so lost in the relief that he was okay she almost missed his question.

"Its called a snake," she told him, "They can be poisonous so you must remain cautious with them." She hoped that she was explaining it in such a way hebwould understand. "He wasn't being mean but he was protecting himself. Unfortunately that also meant you could get hurt." She obviously couldn't allow her son to get hurt it was either him or the snake and she chose her son.

Daegal leaned into his mother's embrace even as he tried to look at the once again benign-looking puddle. He glanced up as she answered his questions. "Sssnake," he said, trying out the new word. He wasn't sure he liked it, the way the air hissed over his tongue. Mom continued speaking, and he cocked his head at her. "Wa's 'po-sin-us'?" he asked before frowning and looking back toward the still snake. It had been protecting itself? That didn't make sense! "But I wasn't gonna hurt it," he protested. He'd just wanted to play in the puddle and get a drink of water!

Now that the danger was past Avella felt like she coukd relax. What had started as something really scary was now turning into a teaching moment with her son. This pleased the new mother. Being able to share her knowledge with her children was something she'd been looking forward to. She looked upin Daegal as he formed the word in his mouth and thstbwas soon followed by a question.

"Well," she said nudging for him to follow her. Then Avella settled in a shady spot where she could speak with her son. "Poisonous means that it can hurt you really badly." She tried to explain it in terms that a small pup would understand. She wanted to make sure because of how dangerous the situation was. "I know love but the snake didn't know that. So he felt thstbhe had to protect himself just like I protected you."