Sacred Grove The other side of what?

At two-and-a-half-months-old the youngest of the Swift River wolves felt that the world could no longer hold him back. Summer, in its string of seemingly endless sunny and overcast weather, was indeed a good time to grow up. While he and his siblings had abandoned the den in exchange for meticulously chosen rendezvous sites, Fenru was starting to view his family's territory as a large playground; and, when neither Rihael and Kisla wanted to join him on a random adventure, he'd go off on his own... even if it was usually only a few feet away behind a tree. Today, however, he only wandered a few meters from the den to investigate a strange, moss-covered tree trunk.

He placed his large forepaws over the fallen tree before using his hind legs to boost himself up. Almost immediately after, he planted his large nose into the odd green foliage. Bushes, grass, and leaves he had been acquainted with but this stuff... this was something else! His tail wagged as he toddled to the other end of the large log but suddenly stopped as he eyed a strange brown thing right in the middle of the furry green stuff he was inspecting. What... was THAT?!

Fenru's eyes widened, his irises (which was now sporting a bit of gold around the inner edges) gleaming in the early morning light. He inhaled deeply, trying to get a whiff of the mushroom's scent, which was absolutely funky to begin with. A small growl rumbled from his throat and, after realizing that the fungi wasn't something alive like a squirrel or a fish was, he slowly opened his jowls to "test" the texture of the odd organism. Just sticking his tongue out and inching his head forward over the ambsace ought to suffice his curiosity.

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Kisla at many times was far more reserved in her explorations than her brothers. She still sought the comfort of Corinna on a daily basis, and was reluctant to leave such safety behind. The world, with all of its strange sights, smells and noises was a scary thing to the whelp, and for the most part she reserved judgement on what to think of most of nature’s aspects. However, each day that passed had slowly begun to break down the girl’s reserves, and she found herself plodding further and further from the den site with each rising of the sun.

Today’s earlier adventures had been cut off swiftly by her mother, and Kisla had been sent back to den with a sharp nip from the grey leader. After a light snooze to ebb away her sulking, the young babe finally awoke with a refreshed start, earlier memories of her mother’s strict rules already far from her mind. Of course, as her puppy strut lead her to the outside of the den, the middle child’s eyes fell upon a curious Fenru. Galloping clumsily over to her brother at full puppy lope, Kisla halted rather harshly before the tree, her eyes widening lightly at inspection of what her sibling had found. Trees, in he rmind, had only ever been standing. Why was this one laying down? Lifting a paw to gently graze the bark, Kisla glanced up at her brother, unabashedly interrupting whatever it was he was after up there. “Whatcha doin’, Fen?” Her quip was loud as the girl canted her muzzle to the side, wondering if there was room for two on top of the sleeping tree trunk.

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CHOMP! Tiny fangs pierced into the soft, spongy material with ease but its taste... Ohhhh my goodness... that taste! Fenru's eyes clamped shut and with his tongue he forced the fungus out of his mouth. Ick! His ears had folded back and his nose had wrinkled in disgust but as his sister approached, they perked back up and smoothed out. She asked what he was doing. Even if it was loud and could have caused him to lose his footing atop the fallen tree, he merely sat down in his place. With his two siblings, curiosity was simply expected. "Nothin'" he lied. Anything but sampling that yucky thing on the log here... He gave her a bashful grin as his tail wriggled behind him.

"What're you doin'?" he asked, eyeing Kisla curiously now. Usually he could spend an hour or two on his own without being bothered, what had brought her his way? Surely it couldn't have been her interest in this now-boring-and-disgusting log.

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Her presence was noticed by her brother, and yet her eyes were far too intent upon studying her littermate’s expression to something he had tasted. As Fenru settled, his façade shifting back to normalcy, Kisla’s muzzle canted lightly to the left. “Was it yucky?”

At the other pup’s question, the golden girl settled herself down with a good deal less grace than Fenru had, who was cautiously balancing himself. Kisla’s butt plopped on to the ground with comfort, and she lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. “Bored,” she affirmed, her eyes flickering from Fenru momentarily to the den before settling back to the darker sibling’s gaze. “Let’s play a game?” Her suggestion was hesitant, for sometimes Kisla found her brothers played pretty rough.

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<blockquote><b>"Yeaaah,"</b> he admitted slowly. Truth be told, he had hoped the peculiar-looking thing was something that could be eaten. He would have loved to spend afternoons wandering around the territory looking for them. Kisla uttered that she had been simply bored and Fenru merely nodded to acknowledge the word. Bored was when there was nothing to do or nothing interesting around to play with; he hadn't fully grasped the meaning of the word, though he knew the state of mind was what often brought him away from the den... not too far, but just far enough where he could be on his own.

His sister asked if they could play a game. The question caught the young Tainn by surprise. <b>"A game?"</b> he echoed. <i>Really?</i> He stood back up and arched down into a playful and curious bow. <b>"What kind of game?"</b></blockquote>

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Humor was not lost on the young girl, though she had yet to fully appreciate the lighter side of the world. Even so, as Fenru's words echoed slowly and what almost seemed like in shame with his answer to her question, the youthful girl's tail gave a small wag of amusement as a low grin twitched at the corners of her petite mouth.

At the mention of play, her darker brother bowed himself readily, and after only a moments hesitation did Kisla preen back to her hind limbs, lift herself up to balance one forepaw on the fallen tree before she smacked her littermate lightly on his paw. "You're it, Fen! Catch me if y'can!" Twisting suddenly, Kisla plopped back down with four paws to the ground and took off and away from Fenru's perch, her small tail waving like an excited banner behind her as she lead encouraged the chase.

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<blockquote>It seemed to happen in a flash. Kisla's paw reached forward and TAP! <i>"You're it, Fen!"</i> she had trilled. <i>"Catch me if y' can!"</i> Fenru blinked as she bounded away in a blur of tan and cream hues. <b>"Hey!"</b> he called after her, laughing as he realized the a game of "tag" had been initiated. It took him a moment to jump down from the log - he tried evening out his forepaws at first in attempt to judge the short distance from his perch to the ground - but as soon as all four of his sandy feet touched the forest floor, he was off!

His tail waved about behind him as he scampered after his sister. Wrestling and tumbling, he could deal with, but a game with chasing involved? That was one of his <i>favorite</i> things in the world - even if he sometimes worried about running too far or ending up someplace he and his siblings were not allowed to be. He let out a few yips and let his tongue loll out of his mouth. <b>"I'm-a getchyouuu!"</b>
</blockquote>

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Even with her head start, her brother was not far behind her and Kisla gave an excited giggle as she heard Fenru call to her. For that very moment, as the wind whipped at her face and her muzzle lifted to the sun, Kisla Tainn was happy. Corinna worried for the three youngsters who grew thinner and wearier with malnourishment, but Kisla knew no other concept of life. Hunger was a day to day issue; Corinna’s mouth would come home with a meal in the morning or evening, or she wouldn’t. ‘Pack’ was a concept that the young girl could barely grasp, only having the contact of her mother and siblings. ‘Father’ was simply a figure that did not exist in her life, and therefore she did not dwell on such things. No, Kisla Tainn, despite the rumble of hunger in her stomach and the small figure form lack of nutrition was perfectly content to spend her days chasing her brother’s in the hot sun.

Kisla was quick – perhaps at times quicker than her brothers, for she was weaker than them in strength. But her endurance was not as great as Fenru’s, and while she had shot off like a bolt of lightning, within minutes of running she could feel her sides heave with fatigue. Soon, she was in Fenru’s reach.

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<blockquote>Fen smirked to himself as he started to catch up, an excited growl rolling from his chest. Within minutes of scampering along, Kisla was easily within reach and he quickly raised a large paw to pat his sister's lower back. <b>"Ha!"</b> he barked. <b>"I gotch--"</b> Without warning the pup tumbled, tripping over his own toes and stumbling head-over-heels with a soft thud into the dirt. He slowly sat up and shook his mousy brown coat out before glancing to his sister.

<b>"Gotchou!"</b> he finished, coughing afterwards when a bit of dust got caught at the back of his throat. </blockquote>

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She could hear her brother’s playful growl coming closer, and glancing back, Kisla gave a squeal as she realized Fenru was quick upon her heels just as her sibling swatted his paw to her back. Skidding on her paws now, grass and moss uprooting to dirt that sprayed the ground around her, the light tawny wolf was about to turn and chase her brother when her eyes widened.

Fenru went ass over head down in to the ground, and pausing with her mouth hanging open for a minute, uncertain if he was okay or not, it was only when his eyes locked to hers and his shout of catching her finished that she relaxed. With a playful growl, Kisla bowed her figure down, waiting for Fenru’s coughs to subside. “Well, run!” Impatient to wait and continue their game, the girl would allow Fenru to lead the chase once more rather than cheat and pounce on him while he recovered from his spill. Luckily, Rihael wasn’t there to make fun of him for it!

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