Though Jiro enjoyed being lazy, he also thoroughly enjoyed getting in trouble. Not necessarily with his father all the time either. There were others who could rightfully get mad at him and that made it all the more fun. With a thump of his paw to Shinrei's head, Jiro headed out of the den to the bright sunny afternoon. They'd just gotten up from a nap, making Jiro feel more energetic than usual. "C'mon bro, follow me," he calls back to Shinrei with a daring smile full of pearly white teeth. The glint in his shining silver eyes tells tale of what mischief they were about to get into.

Leading the way with prancing puppy paws to the oak forest, he doesn't stop until they're well within the confines of the territory. Nearby, a rather large creek bubbles away with little fish popping up to the surface every now and then. Getting muddy sounded like just the perfect idea to get them in just enough trouble to disappoint their father and cause their mother to be slightly more stressed than she already was.

Heading down to the creek's shore, Jiro doesn't hesitate to jump right in up to his belly. A cacophony of laughter echoes around him as he turns to splash Shinrei back. "Stop being a slowpoke!" He calls out, his watered down tail flinging droplets back and forth until a sound caught his attention. Both ears perked as he turned to investigate. What had that been? It almost sounded as if a tree had fallen and was being dragged somewhere. Jiro's brow knits together as he looks to Shinrei and then back to the source of commotion.

1/3 track a beaver

Truthfully, Shinrei didn't mind being whapped awake by his brother's paw - he was rather used to it, considering all of their littermates were growing at an exponential rate and the birth den was getting more cramped by the day. What once was a warm comfort became more claustrophobic in his opinion. Thus, he blinked his eyes awake and yawned as he emerged from the den, doing his best to ignore the throbbing of his forepaws in order to keep up the pace with Jiro. "C'mon bro, follow me," He said in their native tongue, making Shinrei sigh softly as he picked through the undergrowth of the beginnings of the Oaks. "Yeah, yeah. Right behind you," He said back.

As they reached a rather muddy creek, Shinrei did his best to carefully traipse around the puddles of murky water that lay near the creek's edge, though it didn't prevent his paws from sinking into the thick pools of mud, either. Even as Jiro bellyflopped into the waters and teased him for being a slowpoke, he simply shook himself as dry as he could, rolling his eyes slightly. He wasn't fussy, so he bit his tongue of any complaint before it could be heard. He didn't like how it would disappoint his parents to see him all filthy, but at the same time, it was to be expected with children, no? He followed closely by Jiro's side, suddenly hearing the thump of fallen lumber not far from where they traveled.

As Jiro looked to him for some recognition of what exactly made the noise, Shinrei shrugged. "Let's check it out then. Unless you want to wade around like a fish." Ah, he'd definitely inherited a bone-dry sense of humor, but it was his best attempt at a teasing banter he could. He began making his way towards the source of the noise, creeping slowly, wondering if his brother had the courage to follow.

His brother's shrug does nothing to help solve the mystery. Even the bone dry sense of humor forces out a sarcastic har-har-har from him as he followers after Shinrei. "Wadin' round like a fish would be better than the dawdlin' you do," Jiro teases back, sticking out his tongue even if his brother doesn't see it.

Some more splashing turns his attention away from bullying Shinrei to the muddy creek bed. A few moments ago, the water had been flowing rather generously and now, as he looked to his paws, he notices how slow its became. His weight presses him down into the mud further as he looks up to where the sound of splashing water comes from. A few more steps before he stops. The sound of something heavy being dragged across mud and then a rough surface makes him more confused. What was this noise?

Plunking through the mud, Jiro doesn't stop until the sight of a wall of lumber comes into view. From the top of it, he can see water on the other side as it tries to push through openings in the wall of tree trunks. His head tilts to the side, pale gaze looking around. What had made this? Tilting his nose to scent the air, he notices the musky scent that makes him twinge a bit. "What do ya think it is?" Jiro asks, taking a few more steps forward before looking to his brother once more for confirmation on what the animal could possibly be.

2/3 track a beaver

Shinrei rolls his eyes at his brother's reply -- dawdling? Really? He was moving and exploring, that was the furthest thing from it. No matter, they pressed onwards; the pale boy reaching the trickling riverbank as mud squelched around his paws. His own weight became a bit of a burden at this point, the water no longer a buffer for the thick swells of clay and mud all mixed together.

They reach a pile of wood that appears meticulously put together, intricately placed pieces of lumber stacked in ways that make shinrei tilt his head at the sheer ingenuity of it. Clearly, whatever it was, it was built, not honed by the elements. The musky scent is pungent at this point, heavy in the air as Shinrei wrinkles his nose in confusion. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices a brown furry creature creeping from the woodpile, watching them as much as they are watching it. Jiro asked him what he thought it was and well..he didn't know.

The creature stares at them, slapping its strangely flat, leathery tail upon the puddles of water surrounding its home.

"I dunno, but clearly it's displeased."

Jiro too looks at the beaver as it looks at them. The suspicion and weariness in the beaver's expression is obvious as it moves about the wall blocking the water. When it begins to slap its weird, leathery tail against the puddles of water, Jiro's ears fall back and his brow furrows. What did this thing think it was! Slapping its tail wouldn't deter them! It was felling their trees so they had to do something about it. Right? He looks to Shinrei, the smarter of them, hoping his brother had some direction. "Think if you take the left and I take the right, we can corner it and snag it?" Jiro asks, his head tilting in question as he turns back to continue watching the beaver that warns them to keep away.

Shinrei was certainly intelligent -- not that he boasted about it, but he knew he had an air of strategy befitting his father's lineage. He watched as the beaver slapped its tail angrily against the water, but like Jiro, he also wasn't that easily deterred. The anger of such a lumbering and arguably slow creature wasn't enough to keep him from attempting what his brother so aptly suggested.

Think if you take the left and I take the right, we can corner and snag it?" Jiro asked, looking over at him, then at the tail-flapping beast that was in their way. Cutting their trees down, destroying their territory. They couldn't let that slide, of course. "Sure. I'll grab the neck, you take its tail so it can't thump it around," Shinrei said. Figuring out their strategy, he hunkered down low to the ground in a slow crouch, awaiting his brother to do the same so they could launch right at it.

Jiro smiles that quirky smile at his brother before also lowering down into a crouching position. Though the beaver knows that they are there, it wouldn't make sense to force it to run off before they had a chance to jump it. Waiting as patiently as he can, Jiro gives the beaver time to calm and forget about them before making his move. Slinking forward, he glides through the grass as easily as a too large puppy could manage.

When he is close enough on his side, he looks to Shinrei. Giving his brother the 'go ahead' nod, Jiro bursts from cover and leaps through the water toward the beaver. Quickly, he clamps down on the beaver's tail, pinning it to the ground so that Shinrei has a chance to grab its neck and end its life before it could get away.