tonight the foxes hunt the hounds...

Time worked quickly on the pups it seemed, her legs had grown long and her face narrow like her mother’s with the fox-like features sharpening her rounded puppy face. With the onset of fall and the consistently dropping temperatures of the mountain realm her coat had thickened generously and she was determined to keep it clean. Nonstop she groomed her fluff, her pick tongue coaxing the silky strands to lay down flat and even. It grew longer around her neck and scruff before becoming more sleek over her backside but she always felt it gave her a regal appearance. She was grooming the dirt off of her paws when she heard the call go up, the too-big ears atop her head perking in the distance before her icy blue eyes swept the area to find her siblings. They all tended to stay close but none of them were above wandering off, today however they all new to be the day that a gathering of all the young pups and possibly some adults was taking place. Bastille’s thoughts flicked to Rhaegal, the gray-brown prince she had met on their trip to the sea. Her heart flipped once before she reminded herself that he might not even be there.

She spied Jax in the shadows and she scoffed quietly to herself. He always seemed to lurk in the shadows, thinking himself invisible and playing at protector. He was so serious all the time! She shook her two-toned head, about to call out for Embla or Constantine who always seemed better company to go along with her when she saw the gray form of her sister heading down the mountainside. Honestly she was a little hurt that Em hadn’t waited on her, more often than not he golden-caped girl was glued to her sisters side but Em’s curiosity often got the best of her. She stood, giving a good shake before trotting over to her brother and promptly biting at one of his gray ears. “Come ooonnn, Jax!” she whined even as he simply leaned in to the pinch of her teeth on his ears, making no real move to fight back. She bounced away, her feet light, before taking off the way Embla had disappeared. “It’s no fun if you don’t fight back!” she called over her shoulder.

Being born in the mountainous terrain had its advantages; she quickly descended the mountain with ease while hearing the sound of her brother crashing through the bushes behind her. Graceful he was not. She finally busted through the shrubs that encompassed the sprawling meadow, her eyes landing on the familiar form of her sister and a cream and black hued woman atop a small rock. That had to be Sorcha, she thought, a name her parents had mentioned would be the one leading this story time. She raced forward, eager to hear whatever her sister was saying to the woman.

She was almost there when she spied the three brothers from the corner of her eye, watching as they joined the group at the rock. As per usual they jumped around one another and moved with a fluidity she didn’t share with her own siblings. For a moment she paused to watch them, focusing on the boy with the two toned eyes with care. Then, huffing to herself, her dark-brindled paws finished carrying her to her sister’s side and rubbing her golden shoulder into the gray. She turned her eyes up to the storyteller with a smile full of teeth and a waggling tail. “Hello Sorcha,” she yipped, making sure not to glance over at Rhaegal.