Special To Me

Early life had been relaxed, at least from Artemus' perspective. Lots of napping, lots of wriggling, time spent watching leaves dance in sun, dancing with them. She had been both relentlessly curious and easily distracted, with so many things to know and to understand. Even within the complex there had been bugs to catch! But she knew that staying inside wouldn't sustain her forever, and it seemed her parents understood that, because soon after she had felt the impatient itch to go find more, Chimera had decided to take her for a walk.

The pup's pace was breakneck considering her size, as fast a trot she could manage without breaking into a run. A girl on a mission, eyes fixed on each new noise and rustling of foilage. There were a couple of detours taken, typically spurred by the sighting of a large bug. Plenty of impossible question fired her father's way, 'Why's the sky blue,' 'Why does the ocean stay at the shore,' 'What the heck made that noise?'

Her expedition was interruped by her dad's speckled nose, nudging her gently, the movement still enough to lose her balance for a moment, leaning dangerously to one side before rectifying her posture and pace. "Okay." She responded to his offer quickly and flatly, in the cheerful tone of a child who hadn't considered accepting it for a second. She grimaced at the rogue lick her father gave her. It was her fur damn it! Maybe she like it that way?! She responded with a halfhearted snap at his muzzle, never fully closing her jaws, not actually seeking to do any damage. The offense was doomed to miss given her father's towering height, but it was the principle of the thing that mattered.