The young dog padded happily along the familiar slopes towards the usual training grounds. His father had just left on patrol, leaving the young Jumper to entertain himself as usual. He’d started off looking for the young Squire he’d befriended, but Kurroa was nowhere to be found around the dens. She was hard to find now it seemed, even though she wasn’t that much older than he was. It still seemed to amount to a good deal though. Maybe it was because she was a Squire now and he was just a Jumper. She was always busy…too busy for him?

Aheero’s ears drooped slightly when he reached the first of the small valleys. It was dangerous to practice on the slippery slopes and along the jagged ledges, but there weren’t many flat areas tucked nicely away in the mountains like this. And Kurroa wasn’t here, the soft purple fur of the dog down below was definitely not his friend’s. She had such rich dark colored fur, he’d recognize her anywhere. Still, maybe this person might maybe want to play? Or at least, she might know where he could try to find his friend.

A little less than carefully the pup skittered down the incline, dodging a loose clump of rocks in the last second to come to a staggering halt a bit more abruptly than he’d intended. But he didn’t want to run into the girl! “Hello,” he greeted brightly, his little tail giving a hopeful wag, “Are you a Squire?”

Awiti was desperate to make her Pack proud. Once she knew of her future, she was intent on performing it to the best of her abilities. She trained hard, very hard...so hard, in fact, she had stopped attempting to make new friends because of it. Well, not actively anyway. If another Dog came by she would converse, but outside of that her head was in her training. She was darting this way and that, working on her agility, when the other Dog came skidding down.

The female saw him out of the corner of her eye; and with a loud cry of surprise she jumped away from him, lowering instantly into a defensive stance. It was hardly a warning though; her eyes were wide and her ears pinned back...she wasn't prepared, she was frightened.

Though, upon recognizing him as a fellow pack member, Awiti straightened up, sitting as tall and proud as she could. "...Y-yeah." She sputtered out, trying to regain her composure. Nope, he hadn't caught her off guard, never! "Um. Hello. I'm...I'm Awiti. I...I don't think I've met you before?"

Aheero’s ears pinned back when he saw hers lay back, and he glanced over his shoulder as though expecting to see some kind of monster come charging out at him. When there was nothing there, he looked back at the female with a bewildered expression only to see she’d straightened up proudly. Like every other female he’d met, she seemed to be somehow important, and his tail gave another little friendly wag as he cocked his head the other way in curious response.

“Nope, we haven’t. I’m Aheero, I’m a Jumper,” he told her brightly, the one little wag turning into several. Kurroa had been insistent on knowing who he was and what he did. He’d mistaken her question for what he was, and she’d been a bit insulted when he told her he was a ‘dog’. He certainly knew better now though! “I’m not interrupting your training, am I?” he asked anxiously after a moment. He knew how seriously Kurroa took it, she’d just about chewed his ears off the first time he’d disrupted her, and he’d been careful never to do it again. Awati didn’t seem to be that upset though, just a little surprised.

"Oh...Then it is very nice to meet you, Aheero." Awiti said, carefully choosing her words. She was supposed to be someone important, she had to start acting that way! Sadly, his wagging tail was infectious and despite herself and her very proud attempts to be an outstanding future Dame, her own fluffy purple tail was starting to wag across the ground behind her.

"Umm....No, it's okay! I was, almost done?" Her head tilted a bit, rolling her shoulders and kneading the ground with her paws. Yeah, she was a little sore, it was about time to stop for now, anyway. Standing back on all fours, she shook out her fur and padded a little closer, forgetting her valiant attempts to be a superior in favor of sniffing curiously in his direction.

"What are you doing down here?"

Oh, good, if she was almost done then he wasn’t interrupting her. And she thought it was nice to meet him? That was nice! “I’m glad to meet you too!” he told her brightly, his forepaws shifting in what was almost a little dance of happiness. It was often very lonely living with just his daddy who was busy doing Knight things that the Ranger’s son would never truly get to know much about. Friends were awkward for him to come by sometimes, but any friends he could find he was more than happy to have.

“I was looking for someone,” he explained, apparently oblivious to his own vagueness, “But…do you wanna play?” Aheero asked, his eager tone going almost shy as he looked hopefully at the pretty purple female. Her tail was wagging too after all, she probably would want to play. Training never seemed like it was all that fun anyway, and fun was fun after all. How else would he describe it?

Her ears pushed forward a little more. He was...he was just so cheery! It was actually pretty refreshing! very out of place and something she was steadily getting unused to seeing, but at the same time, so refreshing! It reminded her of the older days, where she could play carelessly and--hey wait she wasn't that old! It was strange how fast she had gotten used to the stoic training.

Her jaw had opened, quite intent on asking him just who he was looking for, when he instead asked her to play. Play? Play. She never played anymore! It was unbecomming of her future -- "Okay!" Well, nevermind then. You can take the Pup from play, but you can't take the play out of the Pup.

"Um. Play what?" She found herself doing an excited dance with her forepaws. The very nice Aheero's excitement was getting her excited, and since they were alone, it was totally okay, right?

She did want to play! “Yay!” Aheero squeaked gleefully, his tail now pumping furiously enough that it seemed as though it might actually managed to shake itself off. That hadn’t been nearly as hard as it was to ask if Kurroa wanted to play, she was just a little bit scary sometimes. But Awati wasn’t scary, not really. She seemed like she was going to be fun!

“A game! I dunno, anything. Hide and find, or chase and catch or…or…anything!” he exclaimed eagerly, not being fully aware of all the different kinds of games pups might play. “What do you like to play?” Aheero asked abruptly, “We can play that.” He didn’t really care what they did, he just wanted to do something. Anything they got to do was better than sitting by himself again while he waited for his daddy to come back.

Awiti - gasp - actually giggled when Aheero squealed. That was so cute~! So very cute. He just happened to be an adorable male. She was staring wide eyed until he left the game up to her. "Umm...th-that might not be...a good idea." Awiti murmured sheepily, her ears dropping again and her tail tucking momentarily between her legs. Though, before she could continue her whining, Aheero gave some suggestions. Well, there went her problem! She didn't know what she wanted to play, because she wasn't really used to playing regular games anymore.

"How about...Chase and Catch?" She suggested, brightening again. Her tail wagged for a moment until she lept forward, reaching out a paw to 'tag' him. Pouncing backwards again, she lowered her chin to the ground, her tail wagging in the air; the was getting ready to dash the moment he'd leap for her.

Catch and chase? “Okay then!” Aheero agreed brightly, his concern for why she had gotten so sad looking before fading with her brightening. He’d just opened his mouth to ask who was going to be chasing first when she reached out one purple paw and tagged him. He supposed that answered that question, and dropped into a play-bow, his rump in the air with his still furiously wagging tail as he grinned at her.

“I’m gonna getcha!” he teased, before bounding forward towards her. She, of course, dodged his initial assault, it wouldn’t be nearly as fun if it were that easy anyway. And then they were off, Aheero’s tongue lolling comically from his mouth as he bounded after the young Squire, gleeful and eager to play more than to actually win the game. Kurroa always won when he played with her, but Aheero didn’t really mind that at all, it was still fun and that was all the mattered! Giggling happily, he batted at her whenever he was near enough to reach, trying his best to tag her back. Then it would be his turn to skitter and scamper away.