Haiku raced over the plains, his dual toned tail wagging at his hips as his long stride carried him through the browned grasses. Winter was soon coming, and while the young boy couldn’t be exactly sure what that would entertain he wasn’t blind to the changes of the season. He watched as the leaves in the trees subtly changed from green to oranges, golds, and reds, and finally brown and yellow before they fell off the tree all together. He loved to chase after the fallen foliage and catch them mid air with his mouth. They didn’t taste very good but he felt accomplished and talented when he did. What was better than catching leaves though, was catching leaves with Senryu.

He wasn’t often found anywhere without his brother and today was no different. However, the serpent plains were a terrible place to chase leaves. Most of the trees were far apart from each other and there wasn’t much wind here to knock them off. Haiku was determined to find something fun for them to do though, and he raced again sen as he looked. They had to be careful to follow the rules, he’d only just received a pretty rough scolding after he’d strayed too close to the waters.

So, with his resolve to keep away from the water he had his eye out for something else to occupy them. Both boys enjoyed a good dig so Haiku continued on to where he remembered there being lots of old holes in the ground. Their Da said it was from prairie dogs or something, but as he approached there was another scent here he didn’t remember. It was pungent for sure, but that also made it all the more interesting for the boy to investigate. ”Oh, smell that Ru?” He asked as he slowed, his smelling slightly interrupted by the way he sucked in his breaths after such a long run.

He was only slightly cautious, if only because he didn’t want to find himself in trouble again. Mismatched paws shuffled forward as he was certain he’d found the den that held his prize. Haiku’s blue and lavender eyes were wide and curious. ”Helloooo?” He called in, but felt his hackles prickle as an eerie growl sounded back.

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Tail wiggling a million miles behind him, Ru followed his look alike through the sun-bleached grass. They were growing to be tall, tall, tall wolves. Already bigger than their siblings, the two of them seemed likely to be the height of Abaven. If not the center of all trouble in it, too.

Chasing what few leaves they could find, they made their way to the plains, keeping far from the river. It was better that way, Ru got distracted easily by shiny things. Out of sight, out of mind, right? If he didn’t see anything in the river, he wouldn’t get it in his head to chase it.

Ru obligingly put his nose to the ground and took a big whiss as his brother's question. Pheeewy Ku, what did you eat for breakfast?” he asked, nudging his brother with a shoulder. He knew the scent wasn’t coming from his littermate, but it was in his nature to tease.

Ku was off again a moment later, and he followed his brother to the source of the smell. He was already contemplating fun things - like leaving the creature in Ruin’s bed for their sister to smell. Or perhaps hiding it where their puppa might trip over it.

Grinning, he ducked his head down and looked into the burrow, the funky scent was stronger here, and a growl chased its way back to them. cool Ku breathed, excitement vibrating in his tones. Maybe they could try and tame this beast. He could prance back to the pack with… whatever it was on his shoulders, and teach it to spray any of his siblings when ever they annoyed it. Except not Ku, of course. Ku was his hero. “What do you think it is?” he asked, taking a step into the den. Foolishly fearless, especially with his brother at his side.

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Haiku could always count on his brother to have his back, or be at his back, or whatever. He was always there. They were inseparable. Even though Kaiku sometimes wished he didn’t have to get in trouble for everything they got into it was always worth it when the two of them were having fun. Life just wasn’t the same without his twin. Even though they weren’t at the river it wasn’t terribly difficult to find something to get into. ”The one who smelt it, dealt it!” He reminded his brother in returned teasing before they moved forward so their attention could better focus on the task at hand. They had something smelly to harass.

The growl that came up brought Ru’s attention as much as his brothers and even though they couldn’t see the creature they were both daydreaming about the end results. The possibilities were endless with such a stinky thing. The growl made it obvious it was alive, maybe they really could tame it down. If they could manage to control something with a stench like that…What a battle partner that might be! Though the boy couldn’t spare too much thought of the future, it would be much more fun fighting it themselves.

Another growl bubbled up from the hole in the ground, another warning before things got serious. However, the boy certainly wasn’t about to take it seriously. Haiku bared his teeth and growled back in his puppy like voice. It wasn’t near enough to keep the skunk from coming out. While the puppies had no idea what they were dealing with, the black and white stinker knew exactly what was come knocking at its door.

Like it had with pups before them, the skunk emerged from the burrow, but not face first. ”Ooh! Look Ru!” He squealed as the creature began to take shape in the darkness. It really was a shame he was so eager, because before he could make out the dangerous backside skunk spray came squirting out of the den, easily covering Haiku’s face.

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