The vibrant orange that haloed my irises surely became far more visible than normal as my eyes popped wide at the sound of laughter. My tail froze mid swing and ears pricked alertly, taken by surprise more because I'd had no idea anyone else was around than by the actual sound itself. Tilting my head to the side I spotted the inky black girl with a face of white, and my tail immediately began to wave back and forth once more. Obviously she had to be laughing at the retreat of the weasel, he did look a bit foolish didn't he? I smiled back at the other pup as she approached, legs still stiff from the excitement of my face off with my first adversary, and now carrying into the anticipation of meeting someone new. Today was amounting to a great adventure indeed! The praise that was spoken by the other girl only further bolstered my pride and my juvenile chest puffed out just a little more. "Yeah, yes I did!" I agreed with her, giving a firm nod of my head in a way that mimicked my mother's confidence. "Pah, I'd like to see him try!" I said, reaching a paw forward and batting at the ground as if to squash the imaginary form of the returned rodent.

Shifting so that we stood face to face, my tail betrayed my eagerness to keep the adventures of the day coming. "I'm Nymeria, but you can call me Nym if you want." After all, if Sam wanted to share her nickname with me then why shouldn't I share mine with her? Seemed like the sort of thing friends would do. Before I could invite her to join me in my escapades around our mountain home, the sound of rustling branches had my ears flicking back. Ah man, we'd been found by one of my siblings - I was sure of it - coming to chaperone. What a killjoy. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the blackened form of an adolescent approaching and at first I just assumed it was Drogon. But as I turned to glare petulantly at my elder brother for disturbing my fun and making me look bad in front of my new friend, I realized..this was all wrong. This wolf wasn't as big as my powerhouse of a brother, and even from a distance I could see that his eyes were purple, not garnet. And he absolutely stank, of what, I didn't know or really have time to care.

Without much time to react once I realized this was most certainly not a friend, I turned to face the wolf as he came pummeling across the clearing towards us. I was a princess, daughter of Daenerys and Jericho, descendant of the great primordial beast Boneclaw. I tried to be brave, like I'd been with the weasel; I had to defend Sam as I'd defended the rabbits. It was just like that, right? Lips pulled back in defiance, against every instinct and siren in my youthful brain that told me to run. And then, all at once, I was on the ground. A sound akin to a yelp wooshed from my mouth as I made impact on my side. Pain blossomed over my shoulder, where he must have hit me with a paw or leg or something. But as I fell my eyes flashed up towards him and so I saw his jaws lash out to try to cease my snout. No way, man! Sharp puppy teeth flashed forward to meet the oncoming assault, hoping to bite the flap of his lip, and effectively keeping him from grabbing my muzzle.

His attention quickly turned from me to Sam, and my brindled legs thrashed in the grass as I rushed to get them underneath me once more. By the time I was back on my feet, the brute was already headed for Sam. I was winded from my fall and my body trembled with a potent combination of fear and adrenaline. This wasn't like rough housing with my big brothers; this boy wasn't playing nice. He'd come into our home and tried to bite me for no reason at all! And now he was going to try to bite my new friend?! Not on my watch! On slightly shaking legs I ran forward, lunging as best as a season old pup was capable of, and trying to bite into the lower portion of his hind leg - where unbeknownst to me the tender and important achilles tendon lays. Maybe I was being foolishly brave in doing this rather than using my energy to call for help, but no one would get here before he got to Sam. And I had to at least try to help her, didn't I?