This thread is backdated to before the Habari challenge

The pup’s day begins when the rest of the world is settling in for sleep and the sun is painting the horizon with gentle blues and pinks. Enki sits a large, flat rock, his head tilted back to watch the cosmic dance once again. As the sun sinks, the sky darkens in a promises that the stars will soon shine. Colors splash the horizon in one last hoorah, showing off before the darkness that is swift to follow. The golden ray’s daylight, begin to loosen their hold as the sun goes sinks down to sleep.

Stars begin to shine, their celestial light weak at first as they vie for attention against the fading day. This dance has been played out since time immortal and, although Enki is still very young, he too is learning to spy the patterns in their steps. The sun finally relinquishes its hold on the day, disappearing and taking with it, all the beautiful colors. Now it is the moon’s dominion, her silver light gentle and calm next to her brother’s blazing golden rays.

This is the time of the Klein family and the marbled pup’s ears swivel backward as the sounds of his family playing reach him. Enki turns his head to look down at the world below him and, although his perch is not that far off the ground, the pup feels like a king surveying his realm. Standing, the marbled pup quickly descends his ragtag throne, moving to join his mother and siblings in their nightly routines. Maybe tonight he can pull mom away to go explore with him! He prances happily onward, determined to steal his mother away for some one on one time.

"Enki Klein"

"Speech"
Recluse loved playing with her children, but she had to admit that her grief had left her with less energy than she'd had previously. Still she made an effort to make sure she was romping around with them as much as she could manage and justify. She had other things she had to tend too of course but she had to make sure that her children knew her love and attention. Still she didn't have the stamina to keep up with them, and the woman found a space to pull herself away from the group of puppies, cherry gaze spotting her pale son and Recluse moved to meet him on his way towards his siblings. "What were you getting up to?" She asked, though her tone was clearly teasing, her son wasn't in any trouble, but she wanted to know what he'd been doing away from the rest of his siblings. If he wanted her attention, he'd gotten it.

Art by petitecanine

With the celestial dance complete and night now firmly gripping the land, the marbled pup descends his rocky throne to rejoin his family. His pale mother spies him, questioning what he is getting up to and Enki moves toward her, grinning wide as he says, “Nothin’. I was just watching the sun go to bed! It is so cool. Have you ever watched it?” Coming to a stop in front of Recluse, the pup cranes his neck back to look at his mom, pale blue eyes catching her cherry gaze as he beams a grin at her.

Eyes flick to the side, glancing at the rest of his family before recapturing his mother’s gaze, his tail lazy wagging behind him. Truthfully, there has been something that the small pup has wanted to do since the day they stepped out of the safety of their den and, since he seems to have his mom’s attention, today seems as good a day as any to do it! Excitement lights his eyes as Enki asks, “Mommy can we go explore a little closer to the top?” He turns slightly to jut a paw out at the volcano’s glowing maw, before turning his head back so he can  grin up at his mom, hoping that she will go exploring with him.


"Enki Klein"

"Speech"
Ah! It seemed her children held some fascination with the sun, not a surprising considering it's light was impossible to keep from leaking into the den and it's warmth was comforting even as it burned her skin when she got a little too much of it. (And it was very easy for her to get too much sun with her delicate skin.) She reached down to nose at her son and chuckled at his question. "I've watched many a sunset little one, your father actually found the cave we use as a den, he suggested it to me because the hole in the roof would allow for a clear view of the sky while staying out of the sun."

Enki was a curious child and she knew well enough that there were certain things you had to give in to keep young children from going too far when their curiosity got the better of them but going up higher... Well, Recluse would be lying if she said it didn't scare her. She took a moment to breathe and think the question through. "We can go a little farther up, we won't go all the way to the top though okay?" It was a compromise, she'd do her best to impart to Enki the dangers of the caldera while they climbed.

Art by petitecanine

As Recluse reaches down her nose toward the small boy, Enki reaches up so that their noses touch and a grin appears on his pink lips. Her words have his eyes rounding in wonder and he softly coos, “Oh. Dad picked out a really great den!” The grin blooms into a wide smile as he excitedly asks if they can go closer to the top, tail wagging as he waits to hear the verdict, eyes widening into his best ‘I’m a puppy and I am cute’ pleading face.

Mom relents and Enki lets out a sharp, short bark of joy as his tail picks up speed, beginning to go around in a circle from the sheer speed. Wide, excited eyes look to Recluse as he says, “Okay! Let’s go!” and, with that he turns and scrambles toward a path that leads upward. After a moment, he pauses to look back at his mom, calling out, “Coming?” in a teasing voice that is laced with laughter. While he jokes, Enki makes no move to go any further, the boy waiting until his mother joins him.

The black volcanic rocks can be slippery and there are spots with bright orange liquid that can burn him so he knows it best to for Recluse. Pale blue eyes sweep over to the path that leads up, the glowing mouth of the volcano beckoning him forward.


"Enki Klein"

"Speech"

"He did didn't he?" Recluse said laughing lightly as Enki exclaimed that Eraithus had picked a good den. It was his excited run up the slope that shot a thrill of panic through her though she caught her breath when he waited. "I'm coming." She responded with a slightly exaggerated tone and to hide the genuine fear she'd just felt, taking the time to lead him upwards, she was careful to pick a path that wouldn't take them up too far and would avoid some of the more active vents.

"Under the stone is a big cavern of liquid fire called lava, it's why it's so warm even when the air is cold." She began, keeping her explanation simple but also making a point to make it clear she was serious about how dangerous this could be as she continued. "Sometimes the mountain has holes that this lava can reach, it's very dangerous to touch it, even more than regular fire. The air is also very warm inside the cavern so sometimes the holes let hot air escape instead, those are also dangerous."

Art by petitecanine

Mom’s exaggerated words pull a grin to the pup’s lips, tail wagging as he giggles in glee at her. Enki does not see his mother’s fear at his actions but the boy still waits for her to lead him upward. Wide eyes scan everything, jaw hanging slack as they go. Is the getting thinner the higher they go? This is so cool!

His mother’s voice pulls his attention to her, mouth rounding into an ‘o’ as he listens. Her tone is very serious so Enki makes sure to pay rapt attention to her words. Lava? Oh, that bright orange stuff that pools! A vent blows some steam several feet away from them as Recluse finishes speaking.

Pointing it out, the pup asks, “What would happen if that touched me? Would I be hurt?” His natural curiosity has the question bubbling out and the small, pink boy needs to know exactly what he can and cannot touch. Better to hear it from his mom then try to stick a paw in it and lose some fur.


"Enki Klein"

"Speech"
Recluse followed her son's gaze as he asked a question, hearing the tell-tale hiss of a steam vent, a sound she only just now realized she'd grown so used to she hadn't noticed it at first. She nodded. "It would hurt." She confirmed. "Sometimes the air is hot enough it could light a fire if you stuck a stick in it, so don't go poking your nose into any holes okay?" The words she spoke were a warning but there was a light teasing to the end of her sentence and she gently nudged her son with a forepaw. No need to fill his head with images of his fur catching on fire, even if that was what danced through her mind. She gently ushered him onwards, directing his attention towards the top of the mountain even though they absolutely were not visiting that tonight. "At the very top there's an opening in the stone, wider than 10 wolves. It's not a cave though it's a big hole straight to the lava which is so bright it's visible even as far up as the hole is."

She thought for a moment before she ushered them slightly further up the mountain just high enough that he'd be able to feel the difference in the heat of the air. "The higher you go the warmer the air is because all the heat from the lava is coming out of the top, only adults are allowed at the top, am I clear?" She worried enough about her adult children getting too cocky at the lip of the opening she didn't need to encourage her youngest to play with fate.

Art by petitecanine

Enki listens to his mother’s warning; the seriousness of the situation is not lost on the pup even as she teases him to not go sticking his nose in stuff. Feigning sadness, he groans out, “But mommmmmm!” Her nudge cuts off any further m’s that might have been added to his statement and the pup chuckles as she ushers him onward. Her explanation of the top has the pup’s eyes rounding in wonder again and, the fact that is filled with lava, cements the reason they are not going to the top.

The black volcanic stones that cover the side of the mountain are a mixture of rough stones with smoothed, almost polished sides. The obsidian is darker then the night’s sky but it catches and reflects the silvery moonlight at the pup. As Enki and Recluse ascend further, the temperature subtly changes, growing hotter the further they go. Gaze flicks over to his mom as she explains and lays down the law, the pink boy nodding his understanding and saying, “Understood. No going to the top until I’m an adult.”

Another firm dip of his head before he looks to some of the obsidian laying scattered around their paws. After a moment, Enki asks, “Can this stuff be used for anything? Oh and, I know I can’t go up there yet, but does the climb get more difficult the higher you go?” He wants to know everything.


"Enki Klein"

"Speech"
Recluse chuckled softly and gave a mocking shake of her head and roll of her eyes at her son's exaggerated protests. She could tell he was curious, drinking in everything around him and she couldn't help but feel again just how much she loved each of her children, they really were the light of her life. His next question made her pause to think.

"Sometimes it can be yes, I've seen wolves use similar stones for weapon blades before, like spearheads. It can be quite sharp if you find the right one." Luckily the stones on the mountainside had mostly been worn down by the years of her pack's paws. The second question, linked only by the curiosity of a child, was easier to answer. "The mountain gets steeper the higher you go, a careful or skilled wolf can still climb it but it'll take longer the higher you go. The majority of the pack stays where it's easier to move."

Art by petitecanine

Mom talks about the stones being used as weapons and Enki quickly casts his gaze about in search of one. Darn, they all seem too smooth and big to be of any use to him! His next question is answered and he looks back up toward the top, thoughtfully contemplating his next question. Pale blue eyes move to catch his mother’s rosy gaze and he says, “If it is so dangerous, and the climb can be difficult, does that mean that there really is no reason to go up there except to… see what is up there?”

It seems a waste, the big glowing mouth calls to him but if it is as bad as she says, then why should he waste his time and energy getting up there when he could go explore the neighboring lands with much more ease? Now, Enki knows that, one day he will make the climb to lay eyes on the lava that bubbles within but, for now, the pup contents himself with the fact that it is too much work for him.


"Enki Klein"