A soft black nose twitched curiously, the long dark ears flicking back and forth as Kisun picked her way ever so slowly through the trees. Lots of interesting things to do and see around here, surely there were. She hadn’t been here before though, so she didn’t know. But everything had something interesting to do. It’s always new, and new is interesting and exciting and of course she just had to see what it was.
Not that old was necessarily boring. But she was looking forward, bright blue eyes gleaming with anticipation, for whatever wonders today might hold. This very moment. Or this one. Or this one. Or this one. Any one of them. Who knew? She certainly didn’t. Not yet.
But something, surely. Something for certain. She’d find out soon enough.
Daddy was busy. Gigglepaws would have loved to be playing with him, or sitting with him, or watching him. She just liked being with her daddy was all. But she understood ‘busy’ happened sometimes. Usually she’d play with her sister, but Goldenpawed had been mean to her lately. She’d ventured out nearer the border before too, but… maybe adventures were scary after all.
But staying in here was safe enough, right? The Peke Na territories were full of grown-ups who could make sure nothing eated her. And she could still play. Salihah had mentioned seeing a hare around here somewheres…that could be some fun!
Kisun sniffed, her black nose twitching further as she hopped easily through a clump of brush. It smelled of wild dogs all over here, better be careful. But pups were as much fun as cubs, and she loved playing with little ones! Still, she’d no plans for getting eaten, a little caution would be a good idea. She could still have fun.
Sharp blue eyes caught sight of a splotchy little brown and yellow tail-tip waving and the hare grinned to herself. A pup. Just what she’d been looking for… Giggling quietly, Kisun slipped out of the brush and began to stalk the little white pup.
What was that? Lika froze, flopped white ears perking up at the small stifled little noise. Was something behind her? What? Who? Had Salihah decided to play with her after all? Was that green pup back? WAS IT AN ALLIGATOR? It would eat her! But the green pup she’d met on the borders said that the grass spirits would protect her!
What if he’d been wrong???
Oh, oh, please don’t eat me!” the pup cried, hunching into a frightened little ball. Where were the grownups when she needed one?
Oh drat, she’d been heard. Kisun froze as the adorably floppy and oversized ears lifted at the small noise she’d made. Well, she could still play, it’d be just as fun as… what? Don’t eat her? Why would Kisun eat…had someone hurt the pup? Scared it? …or…er…scared her? The poor little thing!
”It’s okay!” Kisun soothed, bounding forward to crouch beside the quivering little thing. Not that the hare was really larger than the young dog but, well, it was the idea behind the phrase really. ”I won’t hurt you, I’m a friend! I wanna play,” she explained, reaching forward to poke lightly at the white shoulder. ”Don’t be scared of me.”
Gigglepaws made a tiny squeaking noise when the strange thing bounded towards her, shrinking even further in upon herself. Her bright blue eyes were squeezed shut, her face covered with the paws that looked so like her daddy’s. If she couldn’t see it, it couldn’t get her. Typical pup logic.
”Nooo…” she moaned as she felt something touch her. But it wasn’t growing or being scary. It actually sounded quite friendly. But what if it was a trick? What if it wanted to eat her ,but couldn’t because it couldn’t see her eyes? Maybe the grass spirits the green pup had told her about were working, but he’d forgotten to tell her something important about them? Like they only worked with her eyes shut or something…
”What if you’re lying?” she sniffled, ”It’s a trick!”
…what?
Kisun blinked at the pup’s words. A trick? Saying she wanted to play was just a trick? What on earth had happened to this little pup? She didn’t look hurt, any blood would stand out sharply against that pretty white fur. She was just frightened then. Who on earth would threaten to eat a wild dog?
”No, really. I’m a hare, take a sniff. I eat plants, not pups,” Kisun assured the little one, waving her paw in front of that little nose. She was ready to take off if she had to, one of the pups around her loved chasing her and even though this one was white rather than brown the idea was probably about the same. ”I won’t eat you, I promise.”
Lika didn't move as the thing spoke, but, cautiously, she took a small sniff when something was waved in front of her, little black puppy nose twitching. It didn't smell scaly and scary and bad. But that might not mean anything! But it did smell furry...kind of. Soft. Like grass, she realized suddenly. It smelled like grass.
Aligators were afraid of the grass spirits! They would never smell like grass!
Hesitantly, the little pup peeked out of one eye, then the other. A bunny. Black and brown and white and looking very soft. Not scary at all.
"...oh. Hi there..." Giggles tried sheepishly, feeling rather silly for being so frightened of a hare.
Oh good! Progress!
Kisun waited patiently as the puppy sniffed at her, then slowly, timidly, opened her pretty blue eyes. She smiled cheerfully at the little pup, her smile growing into a full-out grin as the little one relaxed.
"There, see? I'm not scary!" the hare chuckled. "I just wanted to play some games with you, do you like to play? Promise it'll be fun," she coaxed, bounding a few paces away and dropping down into a wriggly play-bow. Playing was fun, and if the pup was upset, some fun would make her feel better!
"I know bunnies aren't scary," Gigglepaws protested, slowly sitting up. "I thought you were an alligator," the pup explained mournfully. But at the words that followed, she brightened instantly. Playing games? Oooh, yes yes yes! She loved games.
"Oooh, ooh, let's play tag! I love tag! Run away, run away and I'll chase you!" she cried eagerly, bounding to her feet and bouncing back and forth. "Ready set go!" she cried, already anxious and eager to start. "Go! Go! Go!" she laughed, racing in a circle as she waited for the hare to run. Tag was fun, she loved running. Running was fun too. Playing was fun!
Well...that was...unexpected.
Kisun blinked at the speed at which the cub went from terrified and begging not to be eaten to running in happy circles. Some little ones just loved to play. Kisun wriggled excitedly. She loved meeting the happy ones, it was such fun to play.
"Okay, okay, I'm going!" she laughed, looking around for a moment indecisively, trying to pick a direction. "Here I go!" she cheered, bolting back the way she'd come. No sense in running straight into someone who wanted to eat her, she knew that path was clear. Or it had been at least. That was good enough.
Lika bounced excitedly from paw to paw as she waited for the hare to run. Salihah chased them sometimes she knew. But Lika didn't want to catch them to eat them when she helped her sister. She just liked to chase. Chasing was fun. She loved tag, it was the bestest game ever.
"Okay! Okay! Here I come!" she squealed, chasing her waving splotchy tail in one last circle before bounding off after the hare on clumsy puppy paws. She got stuck in a bush almost instantly, the hare getting a few more seconds ahead while she freed herself. She caught up slowly, but not by much. It seemed that this hare, like all the others, was quicker than she was.
Suddenly she skidded to a halt. The border! She didn't wanna cross the border! Not by herself, and even though the hare seemed nice...she was still too nervous...
Kisun giggled like a kit as she ran, hearing the puppy crashing through the brush after her. Maybe it would have been better if they weren't playing at twilight, it would be easier to see. But they were both equally handicapped, so it was okay she supposed. Darting around a tree and leaping a small twisty root, Kisun kept her lead as they hit an open grassy area. There she could really cut and run!
...except she didn't hear the white pup panting behind her anymore. Pausing, she turned to see her sitting anxiously at the edge of the treeline.
"...what's wrong?" she asked, hopping back towards the pup.
Gigglepaws watched sadly as the hare started to disappear, her oversized ears drooping faintly. She'd wanted to play more... but she didn't want to go outside again. It was scary.
"I don't want to leave my pack's ter-torri-tertor- my home. It's scary..." she explained quietly, her tail giving a hopeful little wag. "Could we play here instead? We could play an asking-questions-and-guess game?" Then they could stay right here and everything would be fine.
Pack's...oh. Ohhh.
"Oh, I see. Okay then, we can play here." Kisun hopped back to sit down by the pup. "Shall I go first? I'm thinking of...something... now. Okay, you can guess if you'd like."
It was a quieter sort of game than she usually played, but the goal was to have fun. But more important, to make the puppy, or cub, happy. Little ones deserved to have fun. Just because she failed as a mother didn't mean she couldn't make a good friend...
FIN