Missed It By That Much

Sometimes the black and white girl feels a little out of place in Ashen with the way all the wolves here carry themselves like the royalty they obviously are. Then there is her, the pup who prefers to spend her days tumbling in the mud and chasing down the bullfrogs that croak their songs for the world. Where her tall grandmother is the very figure of grace and dignity, the rather small, rather round puppy seems to be the exact opposite of all that. Still, the love that Unagi has for Venom is deep and profound and the girl is forever thankful that the older wolf does not chastise her for being… well her.

The pout transforms as she looks up to Venom, her grandmother assuring her that there are better things to eat than bullfrogs. A grin tugs the corners of her lips up while her tail happily thumps the ground and she goes on to mention how amazing a fighter her grandmother is. The woman chuckles which has the pup’s grin growing, happiness sparkling in her black and pink eyes. As Venom offers her next words, the pup nods along sagely as if she understands. Truthfully, learning isn’t her favorite thing to do in the world but, if it means learning from wolves like Venom and others like her, then Unagi is willing to sit still and listen.

Venom cracks a grin, ruffling the fur on top of her head with one white glove paw and Unagi cannot stop the sharp set of giggles that follow the action. Leaning back on her haunches, the girl attempts to capture the large paw with her own as she asks, “Are you still learning, Grammie? Who taught how to fight? Was it hard?” Questions flow quickly from the girl even as she moves the woman’s captured paw toward her mouth, only growing quiet when she suddenly begins to nom on the older woman’s toes with her puppy sharp teeth. Eyes sparkle with joy as she looks up at Venom and continues to nibble on the older woman’s toes.


"Hattori-Klein Unagi"