ORIGIN

For once, Max had a Purpose.

He was looking for something that wasn't food, or a bug, or a shiny thing. Instead, he was looking for something soft, and rather useless, and particularly inedible. It was one of the few things he never tried to eat, in fact.

It was that stuffed bear that he had found--that Humphrey had found, and given him soon after. He hadn't seen the poorly little fox in ages, and he missed him dearly. Which was why he found himself seeking out the precious little stuffy.

The problem was, Max couldn't remember what he'd done five minutes ago. Much less what he'd done almost a Cycle ago, storing the stuffy away carefully so that he wouldn't lose it when he went to run with everyone else in circles around the Spire.

He still didn't know why they had done that, but that was neither here nor there.

So he had to walk around Polaris, seeking out that faint scent of Humphrey and Other, looking for his precious stuffy. He had put it somewhere he could easily find it--he just didn't remember where.

The Golden Retriever almost walked plum past it.

It sat atop a tree stump, and his not-too-good vision counted it as part of the stump, despite them being very different shades of brown. But Humphrey's scent caught his nose and, attention grabbed, he whirled around as though someone had caught his nose with a fishhook, tail wagging violently. He'd found it! A happy woof spilled from his chest without his say-so, but he didn't care. He was a happy dog!

Max's tail wagged, and he pranced in place as he barked a few times at the stuffed bear. "You were hiding from me!" he accused it uncaring, or, perhaps, unaware, that it could not understand nor answer him. "That is very mean!"

But that didn't keep him from running forward, and taking its too-long torso in his teeth in a surprisingly gentle grip. It only lasted for a moment however, as he flung his head upwards, releasing the stuffy and watching it sore up up up, and he lunged in an attempt to catch it, only for the bear to bounce off of his head.

Shaking his head, Max watched as the bear bounced away. He whuffed, and shook his head as he trotted after it. His 'third eye' gleamed brightly, and the ground beneath the bear exploded, sending it into the air. Barking in excitement, he jumped upwards, teeth clamping shut on its leg, and he hit the ground, stumbling.

Wagging his tail, Max growled playfully, flinging his head from side to side. The bears' arms and legs flailed, beating against his head, but it only urged him on. This was fun! This was so fun! His eyes closed, and he stumbled from the force of his thrashing, but he didn't allow that to stop him.

He reared up again, flinging the bear up into the air, and watched it soar upwards. Twisting, he attempted to catch it, but it bounced off the back of his head, hitting the ground.

Max barked, loping after the teddy bear. This was fun!

His third-eye gleamed, and the ground beneath it exploded, launching it into the air. The dog coiled his legs, and jumped into the air, turning a neat beat-flip as he caught it perfectly between his teeth, landing on his paws lightly as though he had only hopped.

That, by far, was the coolest thing he had ever done. Not that he knew, or cared.

That had been fun! Could he do a flip again? He'd have to try later!

For the moment, though, he was focused entirely on the teddy-bear in his maw, and he clenched his teeth on it, careful not to pierce it. It was soft but also solid, whatever was inside it strong enough to withstand the test of time. The fake-fur that covered it was some material that was strong, thread-bare from many years, and bald for the most part. But he loved it dearly.

With a muffled "woof!" he threw it upwards again, and hopped up to catch it, but it landed with an anti-climactic thump! on the ground nearby.

Oh boy! He could try that flip again!

The dog trotted to where his precious teddy had landed, gemstone gleaming. It was flung weakly into the air, not nearly as high as before. But Max wasn't quite able to tell that that would make his goal a bit harder, so he still leaped up, attempting the same flip.

He caught the teddybear precariously, the arm caught between his teeth, and hit the ground hard on his back, the wind knocked out of him with a startled "Whuff!"

Max grunted, rolling over to stand up on his paws. He wheezed, catching his breath, but was wholly unbothered.

Flinging his head back, the teddy-bear was thrown up into the air, arms and legs flopping around. Max reared up, following it with his head, and managed to catch it, for once, without casting Dispel. His teeth clasped tight around its thread-bare leg, and he arched to land on his paws, tail wagging.

He did it! He did it!