Each pup had one by one made their way home and been directed back into the den for the night - all except one. Zee's paw lifted to scratch at her neck as she sighed, remembering her other littlest girl and how many grey hairs she could directly blame upon her. Asla had nearly drowned her first day out of the den, so what exactly had Ari been getting up to so late at night? She stood, sighed, and stepped out into the grasses in search of the little troublemaker. In front of her den both companions sat to wait, just in case Zee was to miss the pup on her way home. "Ari?" She whisper-yelled, not wanting to alert Sirius quite yet to the fact that one pup hadn't found it's way back. It wasn't an emergency until it was an emergency, and Zee was holding out hope that perhaps the tiny pup had merely gotten turned around in the foliage and passed out beside a rock. "Ari?" The further she moved from the den, the more she allowed her voice to travel. Eventually, she leapt up onto a nearby boulder so her small form could peek out over the towering grasses. From there, she gave a few soft barks of summoning.   "Speech"

The creature that lurked in the long grasses little resembled the child who had left the den that day. No, this was a wild creature, covered in the foul mud of the river and stuck all over with carefully acquired leaves and feathers. The only thing that remained were the eyes, narrowed in a predatory scowl as the creature hunted her prey. The prey cried out softly, like the piping of an injured bird, and it was all the creature could do not to leap out of hiding in her eagerness, but she held still as the prey moved through the grasses. The creature followed in a low slink, carefully placing each paw only when the prey did, the rustle lost in the larger prey-noises. Then the prey leaped on a rock, and for one agonized second the creature though it had escaped.... but lo! The prey's long banner was within reach! The creature lowered herself further into a crouch... then sprang with a bloodcurdling shriek to latch onto the prey with teeth and unsheathed claws. Die, beast, die!

The fur along Zee's back had begun to bristle with stress, and though she peered out through the grasses she saw no sign of her lively pup bounding over to her call. She'd need to get Sirius, he'd need to send out a search party, they'd need to have a long conversation with their daughter, and it'd be a pretty terrible end to their first day of fun. Already Zee was preparing to dismount the boulder, one rear paw backing off and searching for the ground below when suddenly her rear was viciously and cruelly attacked. It was easy to shed her concern when faced with the little one she'd recently granted freedom too, and Zee fell into the play without so much as a frown Aris' way. "No, please!" She mock-begged, lifting a paw to her chest and slinking down onto her side so her head and tail hung off of the boulder. "I have children, they need their mom alive!" As she felt the tug of claws and teeth upon her tail, Zee let out a strangled gasp. "Tell Aris.. I hid... her pillow." She managed with her dying breaths, before letting her body fall limp. "Speech"

The prey collapsed, begging for mercy, but the creature only cackled and gnawed ruthlessly on the appendage its claws were clinging to with such tenacity. Finally the prey died with all the drama any feral beast could hope for, and the killer leaped onto its victim to screech a triumphant howl of victory. Success! To the winner went the spoils! "You didn't see me! I win I win!" the little beast crowed, bounding down the prone body to mash muddy mucky paws against Zee's cheeks. "I won, right Mom? Right? Mom? Mom?" She batted at Zee in frustration. "Wake up, Mom, I won, I killed you, right? Mooooooom." She shoved at her mother's face before falling back in a dramatic heap of baby, mud, and debris.

Being batted and mauled by one so young was as painful as being swatted by the fish she liked to catch for breakfast, and Zee had to resist the smile that threatened her lips as her daughter's ferocity only grew. She remained as still as she could until the pup grew frustrated enough to collapse into a puddle of puppy, and then threw herself off her side with a loud "I'm a zombie, now!" - intending on landing directly above her daughter and hopefully giving her a fright in the process. "I smell some delicious wolf brains and I'm going to eat them all!" Her maw pried open wide as she came down in a very slow threatening bite towards her head, hoping the scary effect would be intensified seeing as the inside of her mouth fucking glowed now. Damn Firefly man. "Speech"

Ari's frustration didn't abate when she'd thrown herself down dramatically, but suddenly her mother was looming over her. A zombie she was a zombie! What was a zombie??? Didn't matter! Aris gave a piercing shriek of delight and thrill as her zombie-mom moved slowly, great big maw open wide to swallow her up. "Nooooooooo you can't eat my brains I need them!" She threw herself to her side to scramble onto her little puppy legs and then, instead of running away, threw her tiny body against her mother's belly in a fierce and probably extremely ineffectual tackle, though Zee would likely have a puppy-shaped mudprint on her underfur. Still shrieking a gleeful battle-cry Ari made her very best attempt to wrestle her much-larger mother, chomping and clawing with her tiny puppy weaponry as she did. The thrill of a much scarier Zombie Mom instead of Prey made it way better!