The castle courtyard shrouded in the magical autumn glow was certainly a sight to behold- and what better way to enjoy it than to be outside in the middle of it? The flora of the gardens were all painted in red, orange, and yellow jewel tones. And in each breath of wind, the leaves that covered the ground were reshuffled in their stained glass collage. Though, Talyssa couldn’t help but noticed a lot of the fallen leaves had been pushed up against the base of the courtyard walls. From where she stood at her vantage point on the descending steps, she noticed a visible height difference. Cocking her head to the side, she couldn’t help but wonder just how deep they went. And with thought, her curiosity left her no choice but to investigate for herself.

Bounding up to a particularly tall leaf pile, she gently placed a paw on top. The proceeding slow crunch that followed when she began putting her weight down on her outstretched limb was delightful. It brought a smile to her face as she came down on the pile a lot more forcefully with her other paw. She reached as deeply as she could, falling to her elbows to support herself in a play bow. The leaves settled over the tops of her arms and came to rest on her chin. Who would have thought that dead leaves could be so fun to play with?
 

Thorn had been heading back to the garden area wanting to find a nice large.  The last stick he’d played with had clearly been too small.  He needed a really really big stick to chew into the right shape and swing about.  It seemed the main thing Thorn had made so far was to turn branches into twigs.

His plans of a stick were diverted however when he spotted his sister plopped partially on top of a life pile.  Huh, that had potential!  It seemed the leaf piles went pretty deep.  Look how much of Talyssa was in them.  Thorn pondered this idea for a moment and then ran charging at a pile, leaping up high to crash down into it with a bark of conquest in the air, splashing down in the leaf pile with a huff.  The leaves he landed on crushed down, pressed into the ground.  It was still a bit of a hard landing but not nearly like it would have just landed on the stone.  Thorn knew what it felt like, to fall on stone, from earlier mishaps.  Snapping at leaves right in front of his face and swatting at them, Thorn did a good job of helping to make a mess of the piles.  “Hi Taly!  This is great!  You can go real deep in here.”

"Carpathius Family"

She had gotten so absorbed in enjoying herself in the leaf pile, she didn’t know that her brother was there … until he came barreling into the leaf pile in front of her. Just as he barked, she yipped in surprise as she withdrew her arms from underneath. After blinking a couple of times, she was flooded with recognition, and then annoyance. Reaching out with her paw, she attempted to lightly shove him in the shoulder. “Thorn! You scared me!” She accused. But as he declared how great the leaf pile was, that irritation began to fade. “Yeah, I know, right!?” Talyssa agreed. Hesitating just a moment before she flopped her front half into the pile once more. But then, she got an idea. Looking at all the leaves that covered the ground around them, she wondered if they could make the Leaf pile even bigger. “You wanna see if we can make it bigger?” She asked, but she didn’t wait for him to respond before she moved to push more of the surrounding leaves towards the courtyard wall. In her attempt, she tried to flatten her front half against the ground and extend her arms as far apart as she could reach. Using her back legs to propel herself forward, she shoved all the leaves she managed to catch into what had naturally collected.

Thorn just grinned at his sister's reaction, not bothering to dodge her pushing at his shoulder.  Even as he smiled at her from within the leaves her anger was fading. “Sorry Taly!  It looked like you had a great idea though, I just wanted to play also.” Thorn started to roll about in the pile when Taly spoke up with her idea of making a bigger pile.  Thorn craned his neck up, looking at all the leaves around them.  Hmm.  That could work!  Thorn imagined a giant of a pile in his mind and how much fun it would be to dive in it.

Talyssa had already gotten to work so Thorn rolled himself upright and backed out of their leaf pile.  “Lets try and put them in the middle of all the piles so none of them are too far away!”

Thorn watched Taly work, glancing about for any bright ideas to make it easier.  It felt like there should be a better method but Thorn wasn’t coming up with it.  In the end, he mimicked his sister.  Lying with his front end on the ground, paws spread he started moving in the same direction as her.  The competitive spirit came into it and he tried to move a bit faster at it than she did.  It cost a few of his leaves but he was picking up a bit more speed, the ground rubbing up against his front end.  

"Thorn Carpathius"

Talyssa tipped her muzzle up in the air ever so slightly at her brother, making a pointed effort to look down at him. After a moment of silence- minus the crunch of leaves of course. She finally relaxed all the way. "Apology accepted, we can play together." She agreed as if she was an authority on the scattered leaves in the courtyard. After a few more seconds, she went back to trying to scoop up more leaves.  

When Thorn mentioned making sure to get the new leaves in the middle, she nodded vigorously. "Good idea!" Talyssa agreed. With her newfound enthusiasm, she kicked at the surrounding leads with a little more ferocity. It sent some of them flying in the wind. But most of them ended up in their pile, and it was a lot faster. Watching it grow with each addition was truly exciting. "It's really big now!" The Carpathius girl exclaimed. She wondered what it would be like to dive in.

But then ... she had another idea. "Hey, do you wanna have a race?" She asked, looking at him through a playful squint. "We could start from the other side of the courtyard, and the first one in the leaf pile wins?" She knew her brother was super competitive. Generally, she was not. But that seemed more fun than just jumping into the leaves. They could get a running start.

Thorn helped Taly get all the leaves shoved together.  It was actually a good bit of work, a lot more than he would have expected.  One leaf weighs nothing but a lot of them start to weigh more and yet they also try to escape when pushed in larger numbers.  Eventually, the two pups had a great solid pile of leaves.  They had also done a wonderful job of spreading bits and pieces of leaves all about the place.

Thorn was eyeing just where he wanted to try and jump into the pile when Taly came up with an idea.  “Alright, a race sounds great! I’m warning you though Tal, I’m gonna win!” The warning was said with a playful grin as he turned about to run to the end of the courtyard that Taly had mentioned.  

Once there he looked to Talyssa, “You can do the countdown if you want.  Count down from 3?  Say ‘Go’ to officially start running?” Thorn took a moment to lower his front end down, stretching it, and then his rump went down to stretch up.  He was going to run faster than he had ever run before!  

"Thorn Carpathius"

Once he agreed to the race, her tail wagged with glee. Though, there wasn't much left to discuss, as Thorn ran to the starting position. With a quiet huff, she pursued, arriving at the opposite wall shortly after he did. He offered her the countdown, which she was all too happy to oblige. "That sounds good to me!" She assured.

As Thorn dropped into a ready position, so did she. Scooting her back paws to be braced against the wall so she wouldn't slide when she made that initial bound. "Ready?" She said, giving him the opportunity to get set. "3 ... 2 ... 1 ... GO!" She squealed.

And with that, she launched herself forward!

Talyssa vs Thorn for Race
Round 1/2
Age: Under 6 Months
Size: Large
Build: Light
Skills: Advanced Intellectual & Intermediate Navigator

Thorn and Talyssa still hadn’t lived life for all that long but the two kids knew each other well.  This was going to be fun, even if Thorn did lose but he wasn’t going to let that happen.  With his small tail wagging ferociously in the air he lowered his head to be even with his shoulders, little paws pressing hard into the ground, ready to shove off the moment it was time.

When she asked if he was ready the boy gave a firm fast nod. The moment Taly said ‘go’ the boy started running as fast as he could.  The need to win pushed him onward, the only thing he saw was the pile of leaves he had to make it to first.

Thorn vs Talyssa for Race to the leaves!
Round 1/2
Age: under 6 months
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Medium
Skills: Beginner Fighter & Advanced Navigator

"Thorn Carpathius"

After the set off in their race, her attention fell away from her brother all together. Her eyes focused only on the leaf pile at the other side of the courtyard as she pushed her pup-clumsy legs as fast as they could carry her. It didn't particularly matter to her who got their first ... as long as Thorn didn't ruin it before she could jump in herself. As she veered around the fountain that marked the halfway point, she nearly lost her footing sliding through some of the other loose leaves. But she was quick to find her balance once again and found a rhythm in her best attempt at a sprint. With the exertion of effort, her tongue lolled out of her mouth. And just as she felt she was close enough to make her target, she leaped into the air with paws outstretched towards the huge pile of leaves- clenching her eyes tight as she prepared herself for impact.

Talyssa vs Thorn for Race to the Leaves!
Round 2/2
Age: Under 6 Months
Size: Large
Build: Light
Skills: Advanced Intellectual & Intermediate Navigator

Who knew it was an obstacle course? Thorn hadn’t thought of the stray leaves being slippery but they certainly were!  If a lone paw landed on certain leaves it would try to cause his paw to slip out from under him!  Thorn never fell, but he slipped several times.  It slowed him down a time but one of the leaves made him stumble forward, fast enough he almost lost balance, landing hard on his front legs.  Pups are meant to bounce though and he pressed on, forgetting about the slip a second later.

The leaf pile was all that mattered, that and winning.  Thorn didn’t dare look to see where his sister was and throw off his game.  Best not to think on it, only think of how fun it would be to leap into that pile of leaves.  They were coming up fast!  A bit more and he’d surely win!

Thorn vs Talyssa for Race
Round 2/2
Age: under 6 months
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Medium
Skills: Beginner Fighter & Advanced Navigator

"Thorn Carpathius"

And the winner is...

TALYSSA

THORN has lost the race. Totals: Talyssa Speed Roll: 5 Stamina Roll: 86 Balance Roll: 87 Total: 178 Speed[5] + 5% Bonus[0.25]: 5.25 Stamina[86] + 5% Bonus[4.30]: 90.30 Balance[87] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 87.00 Total[182.55] + -20% Bonus[-36.51]: 146.04 Thorn Speed Roll: 63 Stamina Roll: 52 Balance Roll: 31 Total: 146 Speed[63] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 63.00 Stamina[52] + 10% Bonus[5.20]: 57.20 Balance[31] + 5% Bonus[1.55]: 32.55 Total[152.75] + -15% Bonus[-22.91]: 129.84