Wild Rye Fields The Future's Not That Far Away

For little miss @Sphinx :D

The leaves were starting to change colour.

He didn't know what to make of the fact. Was he supposed to feel excited or was he supposed to feel disappointed? Because the summer had been nice. Especially when he was a part of a pack and he didn't have to spend the hotter days constantly looking for water and shade before he melted to death. But at the same time his life didn't have the same hint of desperation clinging to everything he did like when he was a lone wolf.

It was weird.

Climbing trees and hooting like an owl didn't have the same affect it did before. Not when it was almost like everybody was used to him being a weirdo. It was all very iconoclastic. Somewhere behind him his tail gave a lazy wag and he continued his trek along the territory's southern forest. His thoughts were all over the place. He could feel his mind jumping from one train of thought to another and it was starting to make him feel antsy. Would pacing help it or worsen it?

With a pointed sigh he flopped onto the ground. It wouldn't hurt for him to at least try one of the options. He could try more pacing later. For now the dirt was hard and seemed to radiate coldness. His nose twitched and he took to poking at the ground with the blunt end of his muzzle. When he couldn't find anything interesting he rolled onto his back. Directly above him was nothing but branches and leaves. From gaps in between the canopy he could see blue sky and light.

He decided to stay there, sprawled out on his back with his tail dragging lazily along the ground that was littered with fall's first yellowed leaves.

Things were most definitely starting to change and Sphinx was starting to take notice of these. Not only in the world around her but also in herself. Once upon a time, she knew nothing but darkness and strange noises, the gentle coos of her mother and father while they adorned her tiny body in affectionate licks to keep their trio of children at a certain level of cleanliness. Unable to remove the piss and shit from their own bums themselves. That had changed and now she knew both light and dark, registered that she was no longer that tiny defenseless ball of fur. She had learned to speak and comprehend to an extent what others were saying, although she still remained quiet in comparison to her rambunctious brothers.

Sphinx Avalon had endured the sweltering heat of the summer in her kingdom of gold, faced the ominous wrath of the sky and its scary clouds and survived. Today, she was witnessing a whole new phenomenon unfold with the changing of the seasons from summer to autumn and its magnificent display that came with the process while following the forest that bordered most of their home. Surely mom would not approve and throw a buffalo if she caught her out here, but today the speckled child had plans of finding something of interest considering her brothers liked to avoid miss Sphinx 'buzzkill' Avalon.

Growing paws leisurely strolled along the thinned section of vegetation where grassland met forest, content to just walk the day away until a familiar scent tickled at her developing sense of smell. Hmm? Was Askan out on another patrol? Head lowered and giving the cool dirt underfoot a sniff it didn't take long for the girl to connect the dots and confirm that this was not her favorite uncle, but the younger pale coated guy that lived amongst them. Well, mama would want her to have a babysitter all the way out here wouldn't she? Guess that automatically nominated Cottongrass.

It took the pup some time to find the subordinate sprawled out on his back, belly up and exposed to the changing colors of the canopy above. For a moment the girl glanced up at the gaps in the leaves, eyes glistened over in momentary fascination at the various shades of yellow and soft orange starting to overtake the sea of green overhead before settling her attention back to Cottongrass who was still wistfully unaware of his new visitor and Sphinx was content to leave it at that for now. She had heard tales of the pack weirdo and what better chance to observe such a strange creature than in its natural habitat.

So quietly she watched, crawling on her stomach into the depths of a small bush and peeking out between a gap in some of the lower hanging branches near her eye level. Unknowing that her snout wasn't exactly hiding in the bush anymore and stuck out like a sore thumb...

The longer he stayed still the more uncomfortable he became. It was like a superpower. But it was one of the worst superpowers in the whole entire world and he was pretty sure he was starting to lose his mind. And when faced with this budding realization—

He let out a high-pitched whine and wiggled like some kind of freaky worm hybrid along the ground. It didn't help with his restlessness. If anything it made it worse. He forced himself to settle for some stretching. Which probably would have been the normal answer when faced with antsy paws but he wasn't normal. His legs stretched out to the sky and his toes wiggled against a backdrop of fading green leaves.

The idea of pacing was becoming more and more appealing. It would probably be more entertaining than rolling around on the ground. He could probably even disappear outside of pack territory for a few hours and return before nightfall if he really wanted to. Maybe he would. And as easy as that his mind was made up. He'd go exploring and head right back. Which was his usual routine but he decided he was just being spontaneous.

His tail continued to thump against the ground. With one last stretch he rolled onto his side and then onto his stomach. Things were going smoothly. Maybe even more than smoothly when his plan for the day was already made up. But from the corner of his eye he caught sight of something. Movement? Something was different and he wasn't sure he was seeing things.

He fell still. Because that was definitely a tiny muzzle poking out from leaves and branches. Maybe even little paws if he squinted. His mind made the sound of a thousand confused question marks and his head cocked. Was there a puppy attached to that muzzle or...?

He was tempted to call out for help. But seeing how he wasn't in any danger and it was hopefully just one of the puppies... He kept quiet.

Don't mind her joining the weirdo club xD

Suddenly the belly up wolf fell frozen, his pastel yellow gaze eerily shifting from the transitioning canopy above to focus right where she was hiding and it instantly sent a hard swallow down Sphinx's throat. Damn it, she had thought she was being so quiet when she slunk into this bush but apparently she still needed some honing to do on her silent stalking. Curse these damn oversized paws that made so much noise!

Well, so much for her little expedition of studying the pack weirdo from the shadows and seeing what weirdos liked to do for fun in their free time. Figuring it was no use hiding behind a bush anymore the pup did the only thing that made sense in that moment and lunged forward through the branches, a high pitched war cry escaping her mouth while jaws parted intent on grabbing hold of the older man's ear or paw. Anything that came within reach really since if you couldn't watch a weirdo why not join them? Besides, there was no better time than play time and since neither of her siblings or Risa was around to wrestle with, why not test her growing might on a larger target?

"AAARGH!" She called out before sinking needle sharp teeth into the man's undefended ear and giving it a tug, releasing her hold as quick as she acquired it to leap back and bend her upper body into a play bow. A mischievous grin on her face while the speed of her wagging tail increased. "Gotcha!"

When he first caught sight of the little muzzle that was poking out from the nearby brush he expected the scenario to play out differently. Like maybe the little muzzle was attached to the face of a bear cub or something and he was about to get brutally mauled. Or maybe he would part the branches of the bush and it would reveal that there was nothing there and he was just seeing things. Who knew! The world was full of possibility and Cottongrass was no stranger to this fact.

But when the little muzzle launched forward and revealed a very angry sounding little puppy that he knew belonged to the leaders—

He wasn't ready.

And it was in that moment he knew he should have called for help. The puppies were Askan's duty. He didn't know the first thing about little animals that were easily squished and it couldn't be more obvious. It only worsened when he felt the sensation of small-but-mighty needle teeth sinking into one of his ears. He yelped and puffed up like some kind of panicked owl. And it took a few seconds but eventually he found his bearings and launched himself upright and backwards onto his paws.

The look he gave the little creature was one of pure bewilderment and betrayal.

"I'm gonna get you." He spoke to the play-bowing puppy before him. And he was trying to be serious. Like his threat was something that should be listened to. But somewhere behind him his tail wagged a mile a minute and he couldn't stop the smile that was spreading across his features. He crouched down and got ready to pounce at the girl, rear end wiggling like crazy in the air.

Calling for help was probably the smartest move this poor guy could have made and the time to call for reinforcements no longer seemed like an option. Here he was caught by the speckled child alone and at her mercy. That look of pure and utter disbelief and betrayal that painted itself on Cottongrass's face was priceless to Sphinx and only made that grin upon her face grow tenfold, tail wagging fiercely behind her speckled rump.

Her invitation for play had been accepted and soft amber irises watched cautiously; widening slightly even, as the bigger wolf dared to speak a verbal threat, a challenge she most happily accepted. Slowly, he lowered into a position that mirrored her own and any attempt at making his threat seem real was made futile by that smile that grew across his face and the wind his tail made behind his wriggling rear.

Little Sphinx couldn't help but edge him on by releasing her most ferocious growl. "Nuh uh! You slow!" She yipped, and to prove her point she quickly darted out to bop the top of his nose with her paw. "Tag!" Then in a flash of black and white, she was off, bounding through the forest and its discarded piles of leaves with a childish laughter filling the air.

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

It was official.

Today was the day Cottongrass No Surname died. Because there was no other explanation for the way the puppy was acting. She attacked him and now she was challenging him to a game of tag. The worst part was that he couldn't tell whether or not it was intentional. Could puppies feel malice? He didn't know. And maybe he should have thought about the fact that he was a puppy once but he wasn't thinking straight.

Instead his yellow eyes widened and he continued to fluff himself up. Because he was absolutely intimidating and the type of wolf to use scare tactics on a puppy. "No!" He barked like the very idea of what she suggested was some horrible offence against all of humanity. "You're slower!" He added on for good measure. Her little paw bumping against his snout only added to the fire inside of him.

There was no way in the world he was going to be outdone by a wolf as tiny and cute as her.

He stumbled to his paws. And in his mind he liked to think he looked very majestic doing so. But a part of him was painfully aware of the fact that he might have lost his balance more than once and almost face-planted in his haste. He could worry about looking good later. For now there was a puppy for him to catch. One that was surprisingly fast when he thought about it. He was starting to wonder if he made a mistake playing along.

But he was never one to admit defeat so easily. He let out a hoot of laughter and forced himself to go faster. Because he was gaining on her. He was absolutely moments away from leaning over and swooping her up in her jaws. It would be something he would brag about until the end of the world.

And that's when he fell.

One second his paws were landing against packed dirt and there was wind rustling through his thick coat. The next he was letting out a loud yelp as one of his paws collided against something hard and solid. It was a tree root. He was getting tripped up by a tree root and he could do nothing but flail as he collided hard against the ground. His only thought was that he was absolutely about to be beaten by a puppy in a game of tag.

He would never live this down.

Clearly calling the big man slow had struck some secret chord deep within, a quickly retorted no and that she was slower warranting a childish scoff. No way was Sphinx Avalon slow. She had to chase her brothers all day every day to keep them out of trouble and from tearing each other's ears off, she climbed really big hills with Askan to help make sure their home was nice and safe and she even tried running after rabbits when she came across them on the days she chose to be alone. All of those just helped to build her tiny muscles and make her probably the fastest member of the rye. According to her wild imagination and she would prove it.

Trap set, she could hear the thundering of his paws behind her eventually begin and the man lets loose a hoot of laughter that had the fleeing girl squealing in fear of being caught. No, no no! He was getting much too close much too fast and to Sphinx this was unacceptable. Any minute now she half expected to feel jaws wrap around the scruff of her neck and the ground melt beneath her paws to make way for the air that would greet then instead as she dangled from his jaws, captured and the inevitable loser of their game of tag.

But where she expected to feel his impending victory grab hold; for he sounded awfully close and she dared not look over her shoulder to face her demise, there was nothing but the sudden sound of a loud yelp and a thump signaling the mighty fall of Cottongrass. Oh, how the mighty fell and fell hard.

Whirling around, soft amber eyes widened at the sight of Cottongrass colliding face first with the ground. The young Avalon halted where she stood and gave her head a tilt to the side, batty ears flopping to one side as she tried to figure out why he decided to lay down and take a nap now during the middle of their game. "No nap! Tag!" Cautiously she approached should he be planning a secret attack to win; something her brothers often did and boy did Sphinx hate cheaters, unaware of the root that she tripped the ivory male.

It didn't seem like he was faking it, though, the closer she got. A sudden huff escaping her as she grabbed hold of an ear and tugged on it, mumbling around the mouthful of fur. "Up! Up! UP!" Nobody got to cut playtime short while there was still sunlight to burn!

He's trying to pin her with one of his paws, lemme know if you want me to change something~

He wasn't napping. There was no way in the whole entire world would he stop right in the middle of a rousing game of tag to sleep. He wasn't an old man! But he found that he couldn't bring himself to convince the puppy otherwise. Instead he settled for wiggling around until he was comfortable on his side. And when pointy little teeth found their way around one of his ears? He just let out a huff and squirmed around some more.

"No." He whined, the vowels drawn out while he struggled to lift one of his paws. She was only a puppy with little puppy teeth. Why the hell did her bite hurt so much? It must have been one of the mysteries of the universe. Or maybe she was just freakishly strong. Who knew! With another pointed huff his brows furrowed and he mustered a blank stare. "You're a bully." It was a statement he spoke without hesitation. But the seriousness of the statement was cut short when he let out another yelp as her teeth found a new place to gnaw on.

Being a puppy chew-toy wasn't fun. He doubt it ever would be.

Which meant it was time for him to move onto part two of his plan. He was pretty sure there wasn't even a part one but he continued anyway. So with some awkward stretching he lifted one of front paws and draped it over her. He tilted his head and tried to get a better view of the very demanding girl. His tail started to thump against the ground with renewed energy.

"Tag." He chirped while ever so gently pressing down with his draped paw. Because if she was going to use her puppy teeth against him than he would use his size and strength. Or at least try to because he was quickly learning that puppies were surprisingly wily when it came down to it.