Making Things Right

There was an excited glint in the child's eyes as he closed the distance between himself and his newly spotted weed, and his tail wagged his excitement. For a first trip outside of the den, it was sure turning out to be a momentous, eventful occasion. He had never imagined to find so many plants simply waiting to be plucked up and taken back to the den, so many more ways that his brother could be helped. That his mother had overlooked them seemed an insignificant detail compared to the approval he hoped to receive for assisting her without an invitation to do so, regardless of the fact he was currently breaking rules simply by being outside of the den. That could be overlooked once she recognized his capabilities, right? That he knew what he was doing and could be trusted to help instead of sitting around doing nothing?

He sure liked to think so, and did think so as he set aside his wilting weed to grasp another and begin tearing it too from its stem with an unnecessary show of force and another determined growl. This one broke sooner than the last, and he stumbled back a step, falling onto his rump with a startled blink that silenced the growl he had been making. But with another piece of plant between his teeth, the child only felt victorious for a second time, and getting his small, round body to his paws with a vigorous shake, he marched over to his first plant to add the second to it.

Movement made him stop before he could grab up both plants and begin a search for a third. For a fraction of a second, the pitch colored boy feared he was caught. It was Mommy, the healer lady, and he was going to be in serious trouble for being out here on his own, regardless of the plants. Frantically, he reached for the weeds, crushing them further in his haste, and paused again as he realized the wolf was not his mother. In fact, the wolf was a stranger. Though...not entirely. Frozen, the two-blue-eyed pup stared as the large grey male stalked forward and deposited a piece of meat at the front of the den and began tearing it into more manageable bits. I know this wolf, the child thought. He had seen him a number of times, always just at a glance and never so directly. The healer lady never allowed it. Which meant he probably was not technically allowed here now either...

Determined to follow his mother's example, the grey-pawed boy strode forward purposefully, weeds still roughly gripped in his jaws with his head and ears perked up and his tail curved with a dominant authority that was his own creation. This was his den, with his sick brother inside. If Mommy was not here to do the growling, then he would! And so he did, his tiny voice raised in the most threatening growl he could achieve at his age. His blue gaze stared at the back of the larger figure, marching closer toward him with the determination to get his attention and make him leave. On impulse, he spit out the plants he was carrying and leaped forward, aiming to latch his tiny legs around the wolf's tail and bite at it repeatedly. He would make this stranger sorry he showed up when Mommy was away!