Just a Peek
Without any apparent purpose, Aurora traveled across the prairie. She carried herself with confidence, a faint smile set within her soft, round features, while her dark blue ears stood erect and her tail waved like a banner above her haunches. Today was a good day. There was no particular reason for it - nothing truly exciting had happened to set it apart from any other day - but it was still a good day nonetheless. And she had hopes that it would get better.
Her mood was cheery as she strode along, as if she was off on some mission that only she knew about. Which was rather close to the truth. Though she looked like she was just out for nothing more than a walk, there were other thoughts roaming about within her young mind. For a couple months now, she and her sister had been confined to the Algoma Prairie, restricted to this one location even though she recalled clearly that they had once slept somewhere else. The cave at the beach called to her, as did the beach itself, but for some reason no one seemed to go there anymore, even though they were all big enough not to be scared of the water.
Well, Rory had grown quite a bit since she had been dragged here to the prairie, big enough she figured that she could at least go peek at the place without a grown up hovering over her shoulder. And if she walked in that direction like she had every right to be there, who really would question her? With those devious thoughts in mind, thoughts that further curved her smile wider the closer she got to her target, the blue-coated pup continued to march toward the border, intent upon getting a peek at the beach her family had abandoned.
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Oblivious to the aunt who followed at her heels, Rory felt her mood brighten considerably as she marched in closer toward her destination. This was actually going to work! There was no one in sight, no one to stop her from creeping in close and getting a good look at the beach and the potential flooding that still remained. Or maybe - if she could be so lucky - she would even find the flood waters receded and she could be the first to make it back onto the beach!
Her smile was bright as she heard, vaguely, some quiet, muffled sound. She thought nothing of it at first, so intent upon her target that she hardly registered it, but as a taller, shadowy figure stepped in around her the young pup gave a start and stopped in her tracks. Her golden eyes went wide as she stared up into the curious face of her aunt, panic beginning to set in as the black and grey wolf took a seat in front of her. No, no! She was so close! She could not have her plans thwarted after getting so far!
Which only left one course of action. Though she stood, holding still, in the place that Selíni had stopped her, the blue pup's eyes darted once around her side and toward the border she had been intent upon, her serious face calculating. Maybe...maybe if she was really quick... Without any hesitation, Aurora leaped toward Selíni's side and tried to dash around the older wolf, knowing it was really her only chance of reaching the beach if she would succeed at all.
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The loudly spoken words were almost caught in their entirety by the young pup's ears, but it did not stop her in the least. She saw freedom right there, right on the other side of this aunt of hers, and she had every intention of not going down without a fight. And fighting, for her, meant running for it.
Her heart raced within her chest in that second she leaped forward and bounded ahead, but before she could lose Selíni, before she could feel the rush of success starting to creep in through her round, puppy frame, she felt a pinch to her scruff and the ground suddenly rush away beneath her paws as she was hefted into the air. Oh no! Drat, she was caught!
Instinctively, she went still, curling up slightly as she was carried by her aunt. Her little ears tucked themselves against her head and her expression was clearly guilty, but unrepentant as she stared off in the direction of the beach. So close. Was it always going to be this way? There was a quiet string of mumbles, completely incoherent with no chance of understanding, but Rory was smart enough to realize when she was beat. Unable to do anything else, she held still like a good little pup and waited for her aunt to set her down.