The dingo pup was young--perhaps too young to be out on her own, realistically speaking. She was prowling forward, oversized pale paws shuffling first one, then the other through the thick fern cover.

Her sensitive nosed had picked up the scent of rodent. She had eaten one already--the owl had fed her, once. Now she'd found her way into Eridanus from her birthplace in an adjacent tunnel, and she was overjoyed. So overjoyed, in fact, that when she spotted the rat only to see it dive down a hole, she didn't care, much.

She yipped, instead, leaping directly up and prancing about, then racing to and fro, biting at the ferns. She danced in place and rolled in the dirt. Everything smelled so fresh, so alive; it was all so green and vibrant and wonderful. The moss was squishy underfoot where it lay, and where it didn't, the earth was so pleasingly rich and damp and filled with odors that the young and excitable dingo was overwhelmed.

After leaping and racing around, she trotted back to the rat hole and began to dig, flinging dirt up behind her. Now and again she paused to sniff at the hole, growling softly to herself in frustration.

But the tunnel seemed to just go deeper and deeper; when she paused to listen, she couldn't even hear the rat's breathing.

At length, frustrated, she sat back and let out a high-pitched, hoarse howl. She still had no concept whatsoever of words, and perhaps was entirely nonvocal, but she certainly was able to voice her annoyance in her own way.

Loudly.

((ooc -- @Arkrael ))

Audit's twitched, perking up on pure instinct as the sound of a baying howl quickly drew her away from her dreams. Tucked away into the tallest of fern bushes, cushioned by the plushest moss patch she could find Arkrael had been sleeping most of the day. A rumbling vibrated in her chest as multi-colored eyes slowly opened, glossy with sleep. The annoyance within the voice perturbed Arkrael only for but a moment before she let out a slow sigh and pulled herself up to her paws. Her lips peeled back as she began to yawn, exposing all those fully grown sharp fangs. After her yawn she leisurely bowed her front half and gave a nice good stretch that soon caused her to give a quick shake of her body.

After a few moments of attempting to wake herself up fully Arkrael turned her attention to where the annoyed howl had came from. It was new. A sound she had not heard before. A stranger was in Eridanus. Her hackles bristled briefly before they settled down. Her work was never done she guessed. With one more short yawn Arkrael set off towards the sounds. Her large paws slowly carrying her through the jungle of tall grass and ferns. The soft moss below cushioning her paw steps and making it far easier for her to walk as silent as needed.

Her gem hummed to life, vibrating in her chest as soft lights seemed to flicker behind the speckle colored translucent gem. The sensation of another gem quickly washed over her and she hummed thoughtfully, studying over it's particular vibration. A carnelian born was it? Finding the exact location of this gembound was simple after her magic had been cast and it was a matter of minutes before Arkrael was upon the young gembound. "Hey," She called out to it, studying it's pelt and gem upon the back of her neck. Another canine? That was definitely interesting. It wasn't often she met a fellow canine, albeit a different species. She was definitely no wolf.

"Speech"
'Thoughts'

---

Tags: @Feral
OoC: sorreh

Feral turned her head, large ears swivelling at the gentle sound of a padded approach over soft earth, and the voice that followed. She hopped up, spinning to face Arkrael, her hackles immediately on end and tail tucked. This other canine was huge, by comparison, and could snap her up and eat her very quickly.

The pup scurried backwards, head bowing low and ears pinning, a high-pitched growl erupting from her throat as she bared tiny, needle-like fangs. Then she waited, frozen, to see if Arkrael were friend or foe.

Feral didn't speak--she didn't know any words, and judging by her past thus far she might never speak. Instead she watched, waiting and listening, guessing by the stranger's posture and gentle voice that she wasn't a threat--but too intimidated to assume.

((ooc -- @Arkrael ))

The pups reaction was only Arkrael's second guess on how this meeting may go. She studied the quivering form, curious to know if this little pup even knew how to talk yet. With a grin Arkrael bowed her front half in a playful gesture, tail swaying in the air as if she were waiting to pounce upon the pup. Yet, all she did was drop her rump until she was laying on her belly just before the pup. Perhaps if she looked more relaxed and came down to the pips level she would relax.

She gave off a few short yips and barks at the pup, curious to see if she would better respond to the common sounds of canines. "Don't be afraid. I will not cause you harm," she soon spoke as she rolled to her side and stretched her back legs out into a more comfortable position. Even if this pup did not speak Arkrael was curious to know if she would even understand what she was saying. She hadn't met a gembound who could not use their voice to create words, but there was also still a lot of things in this cave she was sure she had yet to learn of.


"Speech"
'Thoughts'

---

Tags: @Feral
OoC:sorreh

Feral blinked. The play-bow, she understood, and before Arkrael had even laid fully down, the pup pounced, forgetting all fear and leaping toward the much larger adult wolf. Yipping, tail and, really, whole rump wagging, her ears flattened back in submission, the pup bounded all over Arkrael, focusing on her front legs and face.

She tried to lick at the wolf's jaws, to flop over on her legs--and immediately bound away, then race back, clumsily tumbling onto and over her back, if she let her. All in all she seemed wholly the bumbling, friendly puppy, overjoyed at meeting another like her.

A friend.

Still, however, the dingo didn't speak; instead she ended up on her back, tail thumping, panting with a goofy canine grin up at Arkrael above her. She sniffed her, but otherwise seemed content to just flop in between the wolf's front legs.

((ooc -- @Arkrael ))

A grin slipped over Arkrael's features as she merely rested there, allowing the pup her fun. Her tail swatted against the ground as the pup began licking at her jowls only to bound away and rush around before coming back. A laugh escaped her as the pup soon just flopped on her back between her front paws. "You're definitely full of energy aren't you," She laughed a bit as she dipped her muzzle down and nuzzled the fur on Feral's stomach. It was relieving to see, having thought she had lost her own childish excitement long ago.

For a moment Arkrael remained silent, simply observing the younger pup as it rested between her front legs. Audits perked as she suddenly heard a rumbling coming from her own stomach before a soft laugh escaped her. "Are you hungry little one?" She wasn't sure if this little pup had even had her first meal yet, but Arkrael was definitely getting hungry so it wouldn't hurt to see if she needed to find some food for the pup if she decided to go find some food.

"Speech"
'Thoughts'

---

Tags:
OoC: eep

@Feral

The dingo listened intently, silent in her position between Arkrael's forelegs. At last the word "hungry" was mentioned, and something sparked in the little pup, sending her scurrying up and forward like a rocket, back toward the bank of moss where she'd been digging.

Right back to her task she went, scratching frantically at the hole the rat had vanished down. Had it been a rat...? She thought so. With a frustrated whine she sat back, looking up at the much larger grey wolf with hope and pleading in her amber eyes. She was hungry, and she was pretty certain through instincts that drove her powerfully toward this odor each time her stomach rumbled painfully that this was food, that down this hole, whatever smelled of rat was edible.

Was dinner.

The only problem was, she couldn't dig it out alone. Or each time she tried, a rat shot out between her front paws and escaped. As a hunter, the pup was still too young, and too small and inexperienced. She just kept bumbling, fumbling it.

Maybe, with any luck, the older canine could do better? Feral let out a brief and whining howl, before looking again to Arkrael expectantly.

((ooc -- @Arkrael ))

Quietly Arkrael watched as the puppy suddenly jumped to attention the very moment she had uttered the word food. Her head tilted to the side curiously as she watched the puppy start digging at something. A grin slipped across her features as a whining howl quickly left the now frustrated puppy. Slowly the large wolfess rose to her paws, stretching out her legs for only a brief moment. Shaking herself Arkrael padded over to the pup and looked at what she had been digging at. It was a small hole, which only made Arkrael believe it had been a rat. Slowly she shook her head and took a step back. "Let us hunt for food that taste far better than any ol' cave rat," She gave a grin to the pup before dipping her head down and nudging her along before she trotted off towards the spot she found was the easiest to hunt in.

Once she was satisfied with where she was she turned her gaze to the puppy curious to see if she had followed. With a nod she moved over to a fern bush and motioned the puppy over. "Here, you wait here and watch. I will show you," She offered a grin once again as if to urge the puppy to the spot she would be most out of site from the prey Arkrael would hopefully be catching them for a meal.

"Speech"
'Thoughts'

---

Tags:
OoC: eh smolpost. sorry.

@Feral

The grey wolf spoke again, words a nonsensical jumble in the dingo's mind, and then she was trotting off. The tawny pup bumbled along behind, tumbling once into Arkrael's hind legs before learning to keep her distance. When the wolf glanced back, Feral was indeed still following--and when the wolf told her to wait, she obeyed, understanding instinctively what was being asked of her.

She dove headlong into the ferns, tussling with them for a moment, forgetting all else in favor of biting and shoving and wrestling the plant. Then Arkrael was speaking of food, again, and the pup calmed, turning to sit and peer intently, bright-eyed, at her new guardian.

The dingo gave one brief and excited yip, then sat panting, her little tail sweeping to and fro over the dirt.

The moment Arkrael slipped away to hunt, however, the pup would be not too far behind, creeping along oblivious to the fact that she wasn't really meant to.

After a moment, a butterfly distracted the dingo pup's attention--and off she went, bounding into the ferns of Eridanus, oblivious to the poor would-be wolf parent she'd just left behind.

((ooc -- editing this into an exit post, since I can't really write her as a puppy anymore, hard to get into that mindset. Exit Feral! ))