As winter morphed into spring, the foliage in the castle gardens was bursting with life. It was hard for Clove to stay indoors given how beautiful it was outside, so every chance she was given to explore, she took it. Mother had offered to take her into the gardens to explore, which was something they did together frequently. But today, Clove had another goal in mind.  Yesterday while collecting berries from a bush that bordered the towering walls, something new caught her attention. At first, it was a mere flash of grey that caught her eye. The sound of underbrush rattling followed, but Clove never got to discover what small creature had made the commotion.

Today, she wanted to discover and capture whatever was lurking in the bushes. So she asked for her mother’s help. “I last saw it over here!” She called out, leading Briar towards the bushes she had been poking around yesterday. She had already told her mother about what she experienced, and she said she may have run into something called a lizard.

Stopping near the bush, Clove lifted her head and sniffed at the air. “I don’t smell nothin…”  She mused aloud, hoping she would be able to smell a lizard. But all that lingered in the air was the floral aroma of the gardens.


*Capture any small animal (lizard).

"Clove Carpathius"

Code by Shelby

She was always eager to bring her pups out to explore and get to know the world around them–or at least the world within the castle garden walls–but when Clove started telling her all about the creature she had spotted in the bushes that she wanted to capture she was even more excited to accompany her little girl out to do just that. Finding her children's interests and what excited them was one of the best parts of raising them and something like this showed a spark of a promising little hunter. "I'm coming!" she called after Clove with a chuckle as her daughter ran ahead and called back that she had last seen her target in a certain direction. Following behind her, she did keep an eye out among the bushes just incase it was something more dangerous than just the lizard she expected it to be, but considering they were still within the wall that surrounded the castle gardens she highly doubted it was.

By the time she caught up with Clove, she was sniffing the air, commenting on how she didn't smell anything out of the ordinary. Briar hummed and crouched down so that she was closer to eye level with Clove and started peeking into the bushes while pointing for Clove to do the same. "Most lizards and other reptiles would actually be pretty hard to find by smell," she told her, using this moment as a little lesson for her potential hunter. "They're small and fast and their scales don't give off a strong scent the way our fur or the fur of other mammals does–especially not strong enough to smell over the scents of all the flowers. Instead, look for movement in the branches or the leaves and listen very closely for any rustling or movement."

"Briar Carpathius"

As Briar crouched lower to bring herself level with Clove, she looked up at her mother to meet her gaze. Clove’s eyes were filled with child-like wonder, excitement, and determination She wanted to capture this lizard, to satiate her curiosity and make her mother proud. So when Briar peeked into the bushes, Clove followed in suit, pushing her head past the initial layer of leaves so she could see into the labyrinth of branches within.

Mama said lizards and other reptiles were hard to smell, and the girl released a soft huff. Now she felt silly having tried to sniff it out! But at least she knew that for next time. Instead of using her smell, she was instructed to use her sense of hearing and vision. “Okay Mama.” She replied softly, trying to keep her voice down so as to not spook any lizards that could be hiding out. She fell silent then, her body becoming still aside from the slow wag of her tail.

Peering into the bushes, Clove tried to listen for any rustling of the leaves. Her eyes darted from left to right, even up and down, as she examined the twisted branches that made up the interior of the bushes. But after what felt like forever to the girl, she figured it was time to check another bush. She went to pull her head out, but suddenly, she heard the rustling she had been waiting for, as a flash of grey rushed out of the bush and into the clearing behind them. “I think that’s it!” She practically squealed, twisting around frantically to look at the lizard. It was a tiny creature, scaly just like her mother described, and fast. It was running towards another bush nearby, and Clove ran after it, hoping Briar would follow.

"Clove Carpathius"

Code by Shelby

She knew that sitting still and quiet were two things that were particularly difficult for puppies so when Clove did just that in her pursuit of the lizard she was seeking it made Briar very proud of her little girl. She remained quiet and still as well, keeping an eye out for the lizard while letting Clove take the initiative on this little hunt. She spotted a small flash over movement among the branches of the shrubbery, but she held her tongue, waiting to see if Clove would notice it first so she could have that excitement of finding her "prey". Just as it seemed Clove was about to give up and she began to pull away from the bush, the little reptile they had been searching for darted out from the rustling her movement made and her daughter noticed it then, her attention immediately locked on to the skittering lizard darting out from the leaves and across the clearing.

Briar grinned at her girl's squeal of excitement and was quickly on her paws as well as Clove darted after the lizard. With a little chuckle she bounded off right at Clove's heels, keeping an eye on the fast moving lizard so she could help her daughter keep up with where it was heading. It's little, slightly shiny body wasn't too difficult to spot in the grass with the sun reflecting off of its scales, but once it got to the bush it was heading toward it would be more difficult to find. Using her longer strides, Briar leapt forward to intercept the lizard's path, her tawny paws landing in front of their target and blocking off its path. It wouldn't have been too difficult for the lizard to skitter over her paws or dart around them, but luckily the sudden thud of her paws in front of it seemed to startle it or at least make it hesitate long enough to hopefully help give Clove time to catch up before it figured out that it wasn't actually captured yet.

"Briar Carpathius"

Although Clove felt like she was running at warp speed, her small strides weren’t enough to keep her close enough to pounce on the lizard. The gap between herself and the scaly creature was growing, and it was only a matter of time before it escaped into the bushes. Clove let out a little yip, adrenaline, and excitement coursing through her body in the heat of the chase. Even if she wasn’t able to catch it, the experience would be one she would treasure forever. Her first hunt with her mother.

Briar must have known Clove stood no real chance of catching the lizard. It was just too fast for her, given how clumsy she was on her young paws. And so, her mother would leap forward to cut off the creature, placing herself between it and the bush. Clove giggled again, glancing up at her mother in awe at her speed and elegance, hoping one day she too would be able to complete such a feat.

With the lizard’s path cut off, it twisted around and tried to dart another way, which gave Clove the opening she needed. She fainted towards the lizard’s left, which made it twist to the right before she pivoted on her paws and leaped forward off her hind legs. Her front paws slammed down on the lizard, a tiny oof! leaving her mouth as she fell belly first onto the ground. It knocked some of the wind out of her lungs, but it was a small price to pay.

Because, for the first time in her life, Clove had caught something!

“Mama! I got it!”  The excitement in her voice made it even more high-pitched, as she looked up at her mother while holding the wiggling lizard down with her front paws.“Did you see me? Did you see how high I jumped!”  Her feet had barely come off the ground, but she felt like she jumped miles into the air. “I almost touched the clouds!” She waited for Briar’s response before looking down at her prize. “And now I have a new friend to play with!” Clove intended on chasing the lizard some more, but for now, she wanted to look at it with her mother and bask in the glow of her victory.


"Clove Carpathius"

Code by Shelby

Briar watched with pride as her daughter took advantage of the lizard's pivot in direction just as she hoped she would. Clove's leap to pounce on the small creature was far from a graceful maneuver, but it was effective enough and certainly not a bad attempt for a young pup making her first real attempt at a hunt. "You did!" she agreed with a bright grin, her tail wagging happily behind her as she matched her daughter's excited energy at the exclamation of how she had captured the lizard. She came over to where Clove was holding down the lizard that was wiggling under her paws, nodding eagerly as she was questioned on whether she had seen the hight of her jump. "I did! You went so high!" She was nothing if not her children's biggest cheerleader.

She settled down onto her stomach in front of Clove with her forelegs loosely creating a bit of a barrier on either side of where the young girl was holding the lizard. Briar made it look like she was just getting close so she could get a better look at the lizard that she had caught, but secretly she was just waiting and at the ready just in case the wiggly little thing managed to escape her daughter's paws. She'd be ready to catch it to make sure Clove got to enjoy her achievement for as long as she wished. "You sure do," she agreed with a chuckle. "Are you going to give him a name?" she asked, already trying to think through the logistics of trying to keep a lizard as a pet if Clove decided she wanted to keep her friend for good.

"Briar Carpathius"

Her little tail kept wagging vigorously behind her, the smile on her face widening when her mother confirmed she had jumped very high when pouncing on the lizard. The reptile kept trying to escape her paws, and Clove did her best to hold it down with enough pressure to keep it still, but also not hurt it. She appreciated Briar creating a barrier with her forelegs to help it from running off should it worm out of her grasp, because she wouldn’t have been able to catch it again so soon. She had already used a lot of energy chasing after it!

When Briar asked if she would give it a name, a ponderous expression spread across her face. A name… she hadn’t thought about giving it one until now. If she gave it a name, that meant she would be claiming it as her own, which wasn’t something she was opposed to. “How about….” Her little mind was racing, trying to think of something clever. But after some thought, all she could come up with was, “..friend!” The lizard would become her first friend outside of her family, so why not call the lizard friend? “Oh, mama, we will need something to keep it in!” Her mind was already jumping to the next task, which would be making an enclosure for it to live in. “Will you help me make a house for it?” She didn’t have the first clue of what a lizard would need to survive, but surely Briar would know. And it would be yet another way she could spend time with, and bond with her mother.

-exit/fade out with them making a lizard enclosure? <3-  

"Clove Carpathius"

Code by Shelby