A Dream of Spring

"Talk" Walk

Ignis had decided today, to try a patrol on his own. He was determined to prove to his new pack that he was capable of doing adult stuff, even though he wasn't quite yet an adult. He almost was, so that counted right? Whether it did or not, he didn't care. Back in his old home, his father had kept telling him to stay away from the borders and not to talk to strangers, blah blah blah. But Ignis wasn't afraid when he came across their first visitor, and he wasn't afraid now. Hell, if someone did come and try to cause trouble, he was pretty sure he could scare them with his size alone. And maybe try out some moves he had learned from his uncle. Granted, he still had a lot to learn when it came to fighting since his uncle beat his ass every time, but...well...he mostly decided to rely on his size to intimidate for now.

He was near the far edge of the border, paws occasionally crisscrossing inside and outside the pack boundary. Since he wasn't yet a yearling, he wasn't allowed beyond pack boundaries without an adult. That's what his uncle told him, anyway. He was close to his first year, but his uncle made it a point that if he disobeyed and went outside without a babysitter, he'd get in real big trouble and Ignis didn't wanna make his uncle angry. So the most he did was occasionally toe the line. Remaining within inches of the boundary and testing those limits today. He didn't know if anyone would yell at him if they saw him doing that, so he continued doing it. That is until some strange noises caught his attention.

Ears perked and his bouncing pace slowed to a stop, the boy tilting his head as he listened. What was that sound? Was it a badger? A coyote? The thoughts of fighting off a predator excited the boy, so he headed off to follow the sound. He didn't quite think to take a whiff and determine what exactly was making those sounds, oh no. His mind had gone straight to 'whatever it is, I'm gonna take it down all by myself' mode. He did his best to tiptoe, or in his case...walk as quietly as he could without much success. There was a big tree standing right where the sound was coming from, and he hazarded a guess that something was digging on the other side of it. With a smirk, Ignis crept up until he saw clumps of dirt being hurled well past the tree, and then he pounced!

In one big leap, he landed a couple of feet beyond the tree and whirled around only to find that a clump of dirt was hurled towards him, landing right on top of his head. Soil slid down his muzzle, neck, and shoulders, and he was a little surprised by that. Looking past the freshly dug dirt that sat in a little pile on the bridge of his nose, he spotted a wolf furiously digging beneath the tree. "Heya! You diggin' yer way to the other side of the world or somethin'?" He chirped lightheartedly, tail wagging as he looked on.