Better watch your step
Enlil caught the scent of another puppy and his tail set to wiggling. Excitement filled him, his amber eyes shining as he began to trot after the stranger right into the entrance of the mine. It was there that Enlil paused, giving a soft whine. It was... Dark in here. He hesitated, not wanting to get lost. Shifting on his paws he let out a nervous bark, calling to the other pup he assumed had to be inside. “H-Hey! Can you hear me?” Were they too far in already to hear his call?
Stomping his little puppy paws, Ramsay made his way beck to the cave's entrance, where he could see light pouring in, and a small figure silhouetted against the daylight. "Who're you?!" he demanded as he approached the smaller pup. But as the features of the other pup became apparent, he stopped in his tracks for a moment, realizing it was one of Avalon's pups. He probably shouldn't talk to the boy roughly - he had to be nice to the other pup. "Oh, your mother is the Alpha, right?" he asked, wanting confirmation - if he didn't have to be nice, he wasn't going to bother faking it. But he knew he had to have respect for the pack leader and her kids, even if he thought his dad was the coolest, toughest wolf around.
“That’s right!” Enlil barked. His ears lifted and his tail began to wag… trying to be big and strong was too hard. He wanted to have fun! “Sorry if I startled you… I didn’t recognize your scent and well…” He frowned. “Looks pretty dark in there, isn’t it?” He cocked his head to the side, his golden eyes shinning with innocence. “My name is Enlil. What’s your name?”
"Hey Enlil... I'm Ramsay," he responded after hearing the other pup's introduction, "It's Ramsay Armada. Surely you've heard of the Armada's before?" Okay, so he'd gotten a little carried away with the rights of his birth name. But, as far as he knew, his bloodline was of only the finest, and he wasn't about to go around acting like he was some sort of lesser species, not even around the kid of an Alpha. One day, he and his siblings would reign over the rest of them. For now, he knew most of his limitations, yet he would still boast proudly about his lineage.
“So you’re actually family of some sort, that’s so cool!” The young boy glanced back at the mine, his ears perking forward. If his... Whatever Ramsay was to him... Was able to go in there then surely he could too, right? “You said only the bravest go in there alone, huh?” Enlil was feeling a bit more confident, taking a step towards the darkness. “What if... We had a race to see who could get to the deepest part first?” Enlil shifted his golden gaze back to Ramsay with a grin, his innocence truly shining through.
“Unless that defeats the purpose of being brave...” He added, a bit of a sheepish smile on his face.
"Fine, you're on!" he retorted, black-tipped tail waving back and forth. Maybe if Enlil put up a good race, he could really believe that they were related. He was just so thrown off by the idea that they were actually family, he couldn't believe it quite yet. "Like I said, only the brave go inside on their own," he snipped, "We'll see how far you make it.. ready? Go!" With very little warning, the boy turned and darted back into the cave, his paws carrying him back into the darkness. It wasn't like he'd gone very far on his own, but he wasn't going to let this little scamp show him up. His slightly longer legs carried him into the cave, and he didn't stop to look back and see if Enlil was following.
Soon, it was very dark, and he could feel drips of water landing on his back, trickling from the cave ceiling. It was dead quiet, and he was starting to lose his bearings. When he briefly glanced over his shoulder, somewhat nervously (although he'd never admit to it), he could still see the light from the cave's entrance, but the light was just a speck in an unknown distance now. Suddenly his paws hit something metallic. Hmmph, that was it. He must have made it very deep into the cave, since the ground beneath his paws had changed. There was a strange pattern of metal and wood beneath his paws. "I win!" he announced, placing his paws on the old mine tracks that must have once carried carts full of rock and dirt. In the back of his mind he knew he hadn't played fair, but then again, they hadn't really decided on any rules. And, being the older of the two, he had set the rules to suit himself and ensure his own victory - typical little cheater, proud and stubborn and always wanting to win at any cost! Of course, at this point he was deep into the mines, and he hoped he'd be able to make it back... it seemed fairly straight-forward, as he could see the light, but it kind of felt like he was beneath a mountainous amount of earth, and it was a rather suffocating realization... almost like there wasn't enough air down in the mine shaft. Fear started to prickle at him, but he wasn't going to show it, especially if Enlil was nearby. Now... where was the boy?
He could hear Ramsay’s voice echoing throughout the cave… and the child gave a low whimper. He didn’t know where it was coming from exactly… and he was scared. He swallowed hard, turning this way and that quickly as the cool stone clicked under his claws.
“H-hey…” Enlil called, his voice wavering though he willed it not to. “I… I t-think I’m… lost…” His ears pinned to the back of his head, starting to head off in a random direction that happened to be even deeper into the mine shaft. It was getting harder to breathe too… though whether from lack of air or his own fear he didn’t know.