Zabrina had found lunch. When her mommy came back she would be so proud of her. So far she'd found water and food and shelter all by herself! Zabrina was super proud of herself so she could only imagine how proud her momma would be. Though she may have been little she was basically a grown up now - maybe her mom would let her be in charge sometimes! She was doing - in her opinion - a good job of it so why not?

The tiny pup settled down with her back to the stony crevice she'd been calling home for the day or so and pulled her lunch close. It was a squirrel tail - she had no idea where the rest of it was - and even though it was pretty dry and crackly it still smelled like squirrel so that meant it was still good, right?

She popped the squirrel tail into her mouth and started to chew vigorously. Her enthusiasm faded quickly, however, as the lackluster flavor filled her mouth. Boy it was dry. And fluffy. Maybe she should have pulled some of the fur off first.

Zabrina spit the tail out and began to yank on the brittle fur. It came out in tufts and all seemed to be going well when she noticed that she was losing an awful lot of whatever was beneath the fur - meat? skin? it all looked the same - and leaving nothing but bone behind. Well that was no good! She couldn't make a meal out of nothing but little tiny bones.

Aggrieved with the stupid, uncooperative tail Zabrina kicked it away. It was fine, she'd look for something else to eat. Something better. Something she could share with her mom when she finally came back.

Sirius made his way past the Fern Gully on his way back home. A string of rabbits tied together tossed over his back. Marshal road shotgun on his shoulders, one talon upon the string to keep them in place. Bast was somewhere in the tall grass, her smaller frame lost to the flowers. He was in high moods after a successful hunt, and was eager to bring home breakfast to his pregnant wife.

He would have strolled on by a fair distance from the pup and been nonthewiser if the snow leopard hadn’t let out a soft chuff in the distance, warning him. He turned towards his companion, weary of what she was reacting to, and trotted towards her. He found her standing a short distance from a small stone crevice, the scent of old squirrel and young pup mixing together. “What have you found, Bast. another addition to lunch?” he teased. His nose was already telling him there was a child hidden in the rocks, and by the scents around him, he didn’t think the parents had been around for a few days. How strange.

Upon hearing Sirius' approach Zabrina had quickly scuttled back into the crevice. It was a tight fit and she kinda had to hold her head sideways to keep from getting wedged (again) but the squeeziness of it was kind of reassuring, really, because it meant no one else could get in after her. So, squished or not, she was feeling pretty good about her hiding place when she heard Sirius talking to his companion. When lunch was mentioned her thoughts immediately went to the squirrel tail and she was incensed thinking the stranger was talking about it and not her. Yes, she'd thrown the tail away and yes, it kinda tasted like butt, but it was hers and no one else could have it!

Still firmly hidden in the crevice Zabrina snapped, "Hey!" She wiggled closer to the entrance so she could see what she was dealing with, but hung back far enough to be out of reach of searching jaws. If he hadn't been so friggin' tall she would have stared daggers into his eyes, but from her place close to the ground all she could see of Sirius was his legs so she just stared angrily at those instead. "That's my lunch! Find your own!"

At his words a little voice piped up, all young aggression and possessiveness. Sirius grinned, knowing full well the small creature couldn’t see the expression. He heard the scrambling of her movements and he shook his coat a little until Marshal took a step back, releasing the string of rabbits. They fell to the ground with a heavy thud, and Sirius turned to look at Bast. “Want to help me tie this tail to our string?” he asked the Leopard, his grin echoed in the amusement of his eyes.

He had a feeling the only way to get this pup out of her hole would be something rather enticing. Like a whole buffet of food before him as he took the one little morsel she had for herself. He wrinkled his nose a little at the smell of old rabbit, and the rather depressing tail. There wasn’t any meat to get from it, was she really so desperate? Taking things not even a scavenger would bother with?

He picked up the tail slowly, letting it hang in full view (but not reach) of her crevice for a moment. Would she take the bait?

Upon hearing the beast outside was going to take her meal despite her protests Zabrina's mouth fell open in disbelief. Her eye followed the string of rabbits to the ground as they were dropped. Seeing them only stoked her agitation. They had plenty of food and they were going to take her tail? How rude! Zabrina was incensed. Not on her watch! She would not be stolen from, not today or ever! "I'll bite you if you touch it!" she shouted shrilly.

She watched the nose come down. That was a heckin big nose but it belonged to a butthole so she was determined not to be impressed or scared. Nope, it belonged to the biggest butthole ever and as a rule she was not a fan of buttholes. The beastly thief probably smelled like one too. He was a big, dumb butthole and if he touched that squirrel she was going to kick him right in his butthole mouth. "Jerk! Jerk! Big butthole jerk! That's mine, don't touch it!"He touched it; his big stupid teeth closing around it and holding it aloft. Welp, now she had to do battle.

With an enraged shriek Zabrina wormed out of the crevice and threw herself at Sirius' left foreleg. She couldn't jump and get the tail back but she could maybe (probably?) chew his paw off at the ankle or at least bite him hard enough to make him drop it. So that's what she was going to do. She was going to bite his ankle so hard he'd drop the tail and cry for his mommy.

Ooof, her shrill cry was almost a battle shriek. She sure had a lot of spunk, this tiny little bite of a creature. His shins already shook in fear of her. He managed to wipe his grin off his face as he held the tail in her view, wrinkling at the scent of it close to his face. Her yells only grew more instant, and he was certain his ploy would work. He didn’t have to wait long, and his shins were proven right to be fearful as she launched herself from the den onto her. He made care not to drop the tail, thinking she might take to opportunity to grab it and flee. Instead he passed it over to Marshal who still sat on his back, to free his mouth a little.

Her teeth latched onto his leg rather hard, tiny little puppy incisors scraping away more at fur then skin. “Ugggh!” he cried out, as through in pain, and wobbled a little, as through her fearsome attack had put him off balance. “Oh my, peace! I didn’t realise you were such a warrior” he said. “Say, I could use the help of a warrior, instead of chewing off my poor leg, how about we see if we can make a deal? If you help me, I'll give you a whole rabbit?” at his nod Marshal dropped the tail, so she wouldn’t think he wasn’t playing fair.

The big butthole's cry warmed the cockles of Zabrina's heart and only encouraged her to keep gnawing. She put everything she had into closing her jaws on his ankle; biting so hard her little body shook with the effort. She was going to teach him a lesson! He'd think twice about being a jerk next time he came across something that wasn't his. He started to speak but Zabrina paid him no mind, at least not in the beginning. Once she put the words 'deal' and 'rabbit' together Zabrina froze mid chew. A whole rabbit? Her lips slowly slipped off Sirius' ankle as she glanced over at the string of rabbits. Each one was almost as big as she was; she could eat on one for ages!

Zabrina pulled back and then looked up at Sirius. And then she took another big step backwards so she could actually see his face properly. Gosh he was tall. It was like standing at the base of a tree and trying to look at the top. She squinted at him suspiciously and then cocked her head to give him her best side eye. "Yer a big butthole so why is that a good idea fer me, huh? If you steal you prolly lie too."

He looked down at the ferocious little wolf. She had released his poor calf and looked at him now with distrusting, hungry eyes. "I have no doubt-" he began, knowing she would certainly try "-that if I dont keep my word you will teach me a lesson I wont soon forget." She was as brave as any pup birthed by deathbelle herself, and with no pack to back her up. She was young enough to mold, and with tenacity and bravery. He wanted her.

He lowered himself down, the brace of rabbits under his paw as he crouched to look better at the tiny young pup. She was a pretty wee thing. Did she look familiar to him? This was his first time seeing her proper, and he realised he had seen a coat just like hers before. "Let's make a pact, you and I. If you come back to my pack, which isn't far from here, and help me make the area safe for my pregnant wife, I will give a meal every day, the size of this rabbit or bigger. Well you help me, and I you, we can keep the scent from here till the pack fresh so Amaretto can find you" that was her mother, was it now? The strange traveler that had asked for supplies at his borders.

Though it certainly wasn't needed, in response to Sirius' first statement Zabrina jutted out her chin and gave a sharp, confirming nod. Dang right she would. Sure he was big, but if she felt double-crossed she'd be mad and she wouldn't care if he was the height of a sapling. She could take care of herself; she'd been doing just fine on her own for a couple of days now, hadn't she? If she could do that she could handle this too.

Zabrina's eyes followed Sirius as he crouched down in front of her. Her gaze was hard and unflinching even while he spoke about deals and food and a pack. It stayed that way until he mentioned her mother by name. They widened then. He knew her mom? Had he seen her? Now she was brimming with questions.

Her bottom lip jutted out as she considered the deal. If he knew her mom he might be able to answer some of her questions. Maybe she could sneak those in on the way to his pack because duh she was going to say yes. Zabrina lifted her chin. "Alright, you've got a deal."

Sirius lifted a paw, retracting his feline-like claws as he bumped his paw against the tiny one of this little pup before him. Grief, she was so small, she would just be an easy bite for Sirius. “Deal.” he echoed, and offered her a friendly smile. No need to be rough with her, she was his now. He would prected her, mould her, train her.

He grabbed the brace of rabbits, subtly snipping near the end of a line with a claw with a bit of slight-of-hand, letting the last rabbit in the brace fall to the ground. He tisked as he tossed the rabbits over his back, and Marshal once again put a claw upon it. Holding it down and steady so the rhythm of his walking would not knock them loose. “well, might as well have that rabbit, your first of many. You carry that well I carry the rest” he suggested. She was a skinny wee thing, if she took a few bites before carrying the meal with her, he wouldn’t judge her.

With that, he did a quick assessment of the area, putting his scent near the den she had lived in - if her mother was around, she would know where to find them. He could barter her agreement to join the pack, if she came looking for her - now his - pup.

With that, he would start off in the direction of the Armada.

Zabrina's eyes followed Sirius' paw as it inched towards her own. When they made contact his massive foot dwarfed hers. While she couldn't see the pads of it Zabrina was willing to bet her whole paw would fit on one of Sirius' toe pads. If he'd had the dexterity for it he probably could have wrapped his whole paw around her head. Well that was just dumb. He was much too big. No way he'd be able to fit more than a pal into any of her favorite hiding places. His loss, really.

Her gaze shifted away from him and settled hungrily on the rabbit that had been dropped. After a beat she nodded her understanding and nosed at the rabbit as she was getting ready to pick it up, but she paused when Sirius stood up and began to look around. Zabrina was still a bit wary so she watched him as he went, but when it became clear he was ready to go she finally picked up the rabbit and set after him.

-exit-