Willow Ridge I'm the girl you'd die for

Deirdre says hello ;)

A soft growl left her maw, sounding scary to her ears as she tried her best to pounce on the strange hopping bug. She missed again, and again, and again, but each miss just made her more eager to catch whatever it was.

"C'mere!" She huffed and puffed, starting to tire from the workout of hopping all around the place. Deirdre was completely oblivious to her surroundings, not that she could really see anything too far away to begin with. Her focus was primed on the bug, and probably for the first time ever in her life she stilled. All except for her tail which she just couldn't stop from wagging excitedly behind her.

The bug also stopped, and she could only wait for a few moments before letting out another puppy growl and pouncing again, finally trapping its weird buzzing body beneath her paws.

A victorious cry escaped her then, head tipping back as she announced to the world that she had trapped the bug once and for all. Anyone in the nearby vicinity needed to know just how amazing she was.

die for is right >:)

Hagar had been resting nearby, his daughter's silent guardian. His eyes were nearly closed, held open just a pinch only to keep an eye on Deirdre. Chestnut features tilted upward to take in the warm sun. She was filled with her usual energy, practicing the beginning building blocks of her hunting skills, but he wasn't moved to stir until she called out. A raucous, wonderful little noise that roused him onto lumbering limbs and drew him closer to inspect whatever it was she was so pleased with.

He looked down a stout muzzle with bright eyes, and tilted his head to the side in order to communicate his curiosity while his tail wagged behind him. Whatever Deirdre had to display, he would pay her proper, rapt attention.

As if beckoned by her victorious call her father appeared, like her own personal knight in shining armour. Deirdre grinned up at him, the back half of her body swaying from the force of her wagging tail at seeing his interest in her activities.

"Daaaa!" She crowed up to him, wanting him to see just how good at bug catching she was. It continued to buzz under her little paws, and she lifted one away to partially reveal it, the other still firmly placed on it so it couldn't escape.

"Look! Bug!" The buzzing was tickling the underside of her paw making her want to lift it away, but she remained steadfast, wanting her father to get a good look at her prize.

Daaaa. He hadn't gotten that with the triplets, his name to them just 'Hagar' until they were several months old. It melted his heart, and he was thankful every time he'd heard it that @Niamh had gifted him with this. She was truly sent to him, sent to them. She and Deirdre both.

The pup gave him a peek at her captive and he gasped at the sight of it, feigning prompt awe.

"So big!" he praised, big, dark nose snuffling at the air near it while his green eyes shone.

"How did you do that?"

His gasp was the recognition she had been looking for and a giggle erupted out of her, all loud and bubbly. She let him get in close to inspect the bug, a chirruped "so big!" escaping her to emphasis that yes, it was big and she had caught it all herself.

There was barely a pause between the question he asked and her excited response. "I jump!" And a big jump it had been, at least to her. "I show!" He just had to see how good she was at catching the strange hopping bug, and so she released it from its prison underneath her paw.

In the blink of an eye it sprang away, and with another loud cry Deirdre went pouncing after it again, chasing it around her father in a big circle. It took a bit longer but she finally managed to capture it once again, this time almost falling right on top of it and into the dirt. She grinned up at Hagar then, wanting to see just how proud he was at her amazing jumping skills.

His dark tail wagged in great sweeps behind him as he watched her, joy and energy apparent in every sound and movement. She reminded him of her feisty older sister, hoped dearly the two would connect over their similarities rather than be pulled apart by differences. As Iseldir may have been...

Hagar showed only rapt attention, green eyes bouncing along with Deirdre's small form. Then she let her prey go, and he was certain it would be now eternally out of her reach. His daughter's determination proved him wrong, and he let out a truly celebratory whoop! as she managed to catch the insect once more.

"What a hunter!"

He stomped his large forepaws like applause, a wide grin adorning his muzzle.

"You'll be leading the pack to food in no time, won't you?"

Deirdre squealed with excitement at her father's praise, though the intricacies of his words did go a bit above her head. "Hunterrr!" She parroted, not truly understanding the meaning of the word, but liking it nonetheless. Anything he said to her was important regardless of if she knew what exactly he was talking about.

"Fooood!" She chirruped back. The bug didn't seem like it was edible to her, but she enjoyed catching it nonetheless.

It buzzed underneath her stomach and she giggled as its fluttering wings tickled her. "You catch now!" He was the best at everything in her mind, and Deirdre wanted to see him catch the bug too. Why should she have all the fun?

And so she leaped up to her paws, releasing the bug which seemed to buzz angrily as it hopped away from her.

Ope. His far larger frame wasn't so nimble, and as he watched her release the bug, he felt again that it was the last they would be seeing of the critter. Still, she had asked, and so he would try! Hagar's lungs let out a huff as he lunged after their pray. It sprung into the air several times, eluding a few of his attempts, but then-

chomp.

Hagar caught it in his mouth mid-leap, feeling it struggle upon his tongue with satisfaction. He turned to grin at Deirdre, before noticeably chewing and swallowing the tiny thing.

"Yum, protein," he purred, eyes squinting with contentment as his tail continued to wag behind him.

(This post was last modified: Nov 24, 2023, 10:25 PM by Hagar.)

Deirdre watched with glee as her father dutifully hunted down the hopping bug, squealing with rising excitement with each miss until yes! Success! She had believed in him from the start, the thought that he wouldn't catch it having never even crossed her young mind.

She watched with an opened maw as he chewed and ate the bug, eyes widening as her body, probably for the first time ever, was completely still in shock.

"Eat bug?!" She exclaimed in response, thoroughly gobsmacked. If Deirdre had known it could be eaten she wouldn't have spent so much time chasing it around.

After a few moments movement returned to her body, brows now furrowed with concentration as she formulated a plan: find another strange hopping bug and then eat it. "I eat bug," she said with an air of importance, not waiting to ask for permission before bounding back into the bushes in search of another.

Hagar couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction.

"Bugs can be good food," he told her. There was more to it, but she was too young to dive too deeply into the why's of certain survival skills. His green eyes watched as she went to find her own insect to swallow, largely letting her hunt on her own. This was her game, and he didn't want to take the fun out of it! He could give little bits of help though. Like pointing out a grasshopper as it whizzed past his ear...

/Fade