It was not uncommon to find Sinclair right next to Dova, or just behind her. Weaving back and forth as if he wanted to make sure that any predators would not dare sneak up behind her. The pup was always alert, his pale green eyes taking in the sights around them whilst his ears pivoted reacting with little real precision to each sound that occurred. Sinclair would continue his weaving motion tirelessly when he started to notice Dova veer off the trail he was maintaining behind her and he trotted into her lackadaisically. Their shoulders bumping together. Sinclair blinked at her exclamation having not expected it. Granted, he expected very little usually.

Sinclair immediately took it as a challenge, however and just as Dova dashed away he would also run. A clumsy mess he tried to keep some semblance of order and traction as he lumbered after Dova. He was larger than Dova and was able to close the distance with fewer steps, but he was not as fast. Sinclair's larger paws made it harder to act with any grace.

Adonis' form came into view, but unlike Dova who became distracted there was a sense of competitive concentration upon the pups face as he cleared her and the tiger guardian. But only momentarily as Dova would run after him soon after. Large ears pivoting to hear the loud chaotic crinkling of the leaves behind him. The two were at an uneven pace for a moment, but Dova would catch up and the two would disappear together into the grass and reeds paw to paw, shoulder to shoulder.

The world was most genuinely a blur, one that the young Sinclair could barely keep up with visually. He was not yet used to this sort of motion blur, and even more so with his large paws keeping him from his truest potential he was just a mess. Running after, then with Dova. He did nothing but his best. Determined to keep her safe, but also occasionally distracted enough to simply do nothing but explore and play. He was after all, a pup. The world was constantly changing and he struggled to maintain his focus on anything for too long.

Keep running. Grass and reeds brushing past muzzle, whiskers, fur, and all. Wrinkling his nose in irritation from the heavy stimulation the youth chose to begin nipping at the long grasses, biting clean through some strands, whilst only leaving drool-ee bite marks in others. Slobbering on everything he went. Sinclair was not exactly what one might called composed. In some ways he possessed a princely mannerism about him, but he did not have the concentration or attention span to keep the looks up at all times. Most of the time, he forgot that anyone could see that he was being a downright idiot.

On and on they would go, but it was far from an eternity as the reeds and grass would end and they would burst forth upon a lake, the two pups would now be in muddy shallow waters. Sinclair would come to a screeching halt, his swimming not quite up to par. He would begin to bounce around the area immediately. Splashing in the water disturbing the natural order of things and sending ripples outwards.

The grass towered and swayed above the wolf pup, masking all but the top of her head as she loped through the reeds. Surrounded by a magical forest of green, she momentarily forgot about any dangers or threads to her well being, focused solely on the fact that today was yet another day that she could play with her favourite individuals. A gentle rustling at her side drew her attention, and she squealed in delight as Sinclair ran up next to her, and then past, splashing into the muddy shallows of the lake.

Where one might have feared bugs and leeches, the pup bravely dove in, her little tail stump wagging miniature circles. Although she dared not venture beyond the tops of her toes, Dova was happy to prance along the shoreline, trampling the vegetation, jumping at the ripples that pushed into the banks. "Don't go far!" She warned her companion in the best maternal tone she could muster, despite seeing that he was no more eager to try swimming than she was. She much preferred to stay warm and dry, though after a hot summer, she had grown to appreciate getting her paws wet.

The pup stared at the female incredulously when she insisted that he not go far. Of course he wouldn't go far! He couldn't swim! A small snort left his nostrils, before he continued to prance the water reaching to just above his carpus but he could still see his paws the water was so pristine and clear even as he pranced along making it slightly muddy. He wouldn't go any further, but his splashes caused water to hit his underbelly and make him quite wet.

"I know.. I know!" He finally responded, before plopping himself down in the water butt first. Now he was quite heavily submerged but it felt good, and he batted at the little fish fry that he could see.

"Hey look Dova!" Sinclair would shout, he was a bit too loud for his own good. The pup in him too excited to realize that if he wanted to catch anything he would need to be quiet and still. "There are fish in here, help me catch them!" It was an idea he felt worth exploring as he batted over and over at the water. He felt a tickle of a fin against his paw once, but just as he got excited at having caught a fish he realized there was nothing there and he was sitting there once more. Ears compressing downwards a bit dejected when he found out that catching wasn't as easy as he thought.

"Aw, stupid fish.." He whined, putting one paw down rather aggressively against the water, the flat surface colliding with his pads causing for water to fly everywhere.

Dova glanced back at her companion, unimpressed by his answer, but clearly taking the response in good faith. Her mismatched eyes narrowed as she watched him lower his small body into the depths, but seemed satisfied that he did not inch any further in. She certainly could not be expected to drag him back to shore! If he was too big to push around on a good day, she figured that all the extra water weight would make things even trickier; being responsible for saving Sinclair from drowning was very low on her list of things she wanted to do that day.

In fact, she was happy enough to move away from the water, until Sinclair made a very exciting discovery. "Fish?" She hadn't seen any just a minute ago, when her rambunctious splashing about had scared everything within a mile away. Both suspicious and curious, she crept towards her hollering companion, eyeing the water carefully. Indeed, just below the surface of the water, she could see tiny fish gathering in a school. Delighted by the new opportunity, Dova scrambled back to Sinclair's side, just in time to be splashed as the larger pup began to frantically paw at the water.

Not only did he not catch anything at all, but he had managed to soak Dova through. With a derisive little snort, she shook out her coat, and took a step back. "You didn't catch anything at all?" For all that effort, she was surprised to see Sinclair had not caught a single fish. "But you tried so hard!" She had not quite figured out hunting, but had the vague sense that trying your best yielded results. "Try again?" The pup encouraged uncertainly, taking another step back just in case Sinclair's efforts once again yielded another violent spray of water.

Sinclair took a few steps back, fortunately the water did not get much deeper not significantly in this area anyway and they were safe from any sudden drops in level which meant that the pups would be safe from drowning or having to swim. The nearby reeds a sign that the water would remain shallow for quite a bit inward. The water would clear as he stood still in the water now he would lean down his nose just above the water, but he could see the school of fish nonetheless.

A small snort and he would lunge himself forward, but the lunge itself would cause the fish to dart in every direction possible causing for Sinclair to land on nothing more than water, sand and rock. Inspecting the water below - even sticking his nose down into the water briefly to check to see and bite at under his paws - he found that there was nothing there.

"Stupid fish! Why do they move so much?" He whined again, looking up at Dova as he snorted out water from his nostrils and then stood to shake out what was in his fur. "Maybe if we tried to do it together?" He suggested, green eyes piercing into his friend hoping that she would agree to the concept.

Flailing about in the water was hardly Dova's idea of fun, but she was happy enough to stay on the sidelines, watching as Sinclair tried time after time to catch a fish. His technique that Dova found rather impressive, was doing little more than stirring up the muck at the bottom of the pond, and making the water cloudy with silt. Despite his best efforts, he had absolutely no success. Dova gazed upon the stirred waters sympathetically, watching the fry swim chaotically, trying to make sense of their world that had been so cruelly disrupted. She almost didn't even notice her friend pose a question.

"Huh?" Her head bobbed upward, as she looked from Sinclair to the turbulent waters doubtfully. If she could help it, she did not really want to fish, but her friend had a point. Things usually went a lot smoother when the two of them tried to accomplish something together. "Well," She began hesitantly, before taking a bold step froward. "I can try too." She agreed finally, taking a dainty step into the pond. "Let's wait until the water's still again." Dova suggested, lingering where it was just a little more shallow than where her friend stood. "We'll trap some between us." If she was on one end, and he was on another, there was no way the fish could escape!

"We'll trap them, and once they're trapped dip your head in and try to grab some.. We'll both do it!" The odds seemed in their favor, if they did it like that. But then again, Sinclair was a pup and his idea of statistics was quite poor. Still, he believed that between he and Dova they could easily accomplish whatever they set their minds to. The boy would back up and lower himself into the water once more he would begin still as a leaf with no breeze. Nothing on him disturbing the water except for the wind that ran through the top of his coat that was not fully submerged in cool water.

Just then he saw a large glint of silver slither on through, and he believed it to be a bigger fish. His eyes widened and he motioned with his gaze to Dova to indicate that there was now a new prey item that they could potentially try and catch. Two maws were better than one. He was ready to go, so he counted in his head.

He would glance to Dova before pouncing, giving her a nod as to also go for it at the same time. He would lunge forward hoping to get his paws and Dova's paws nice and close before probing his head down into the water his mouth open as he reached to the very bottom and biting viciously... He wanted to be victorious!

Dova very much did not like the idea of dunking her head in the water for any reason. It meant that her whole head would be wet, and it would take forever to dry off. She shuddered at the thought, but did not refuse the task. After all, Sinclair was so excited, and he seemed to truly believe that together, they could catch fish. Even if it was a long shot, she did not want to rain on his parade. Mustering a grin, she nodded, wordlessly agreeing to the plan. Besides, what was a little water, when they could have bellies full of fish?

Deciding the plan was totally viable, the brown wolf pup followed suit, mirroring Sinclair's actions. She watched the water worriedly, forgetting for a moment to keep an eye out for the very best fish to catch. Luckily, her companion was on top of things, and he motioned for Dova to jump in, just before pouncing on what she could only imagine was their next meal. In a bit of a flap, too hurried to pay much attention, the young wolf leaped forward blindly, hoping that having a general idea of where their prey was located would be good enough.

Hunting, it seemed, and fishing in particular, was a rather nuanced and difficult task. There was more than slapping blindly at the waves and hoping for the best. A little mouth wrapped around her paw, and Dova realized that somehow, in all the chaos, Sinclair had grabbed a hold of her instead of the fish! "Let go! That's me!" She yelped, tumbling over herself to try and escape. At best, she managed fall gracelessly into the water, thrown into a panic as suddenly, her world went quiet, and her head became submerged.

It didn't take particularly long for Sinclair to realize that what he was holding was a bit too fuzzy to be a fish. He had seen fish after all, and they didn't look particularly furry. So after a bite and yank he realized that it was Dova he was yanking on. She was under water in moments, but he was quite quick to let go and jump away, immediately trying get her up and out of the water.

"Wow! Sorry! Your paw got in the way of the fish!" He splish-splashed and spoke, being loud as per usual and probably scaring any other kind of prey that was around... They were more likely to attract predators at this rate than anything else. But, in truth Sinclair didn't care and didn't notice. He was certain that their tiger guardian would be more than enough if something would arise so he was not paying attention to their surroundings at all! Just trying to make sure that his friend was not drowning or anything like that. The water was entirely too shallow to drown in, but he was still concerned.

"Does it hurt? Did I bite too hard? I know I can bite really hard." It was a bit of a boyish boast but it all came in a tone of worry to make sure that his dearest companion was alright. He really wanted to catch a fish! But if that wasn't going to work, maybe they could get a toad or frog! Maybe.

She was back out of the water in seconds, spluttering and snorting worriedly as she tried to shake the water out of her ears. Amidst the cacophony of splashing water and squealing pups, she could hear Sinclair say something about her paw getting in the way of the fish. "Yeah well your mouth got in the way of my paw." She grumbled to herself, though was far more concerned with getting out of the water than with who was at fault.

After scrambling back onto the shore, she was able to assess the damage, which was marginal at worst. "I'm ok, I think." Dova finally decided, giving her foot an experimental wiggle. The pain had lasted only for a second, and it had been more surprising than anything else. "You can bite really hard," Dova echoed, wholeheartedly agreeing with the young pup. "But luckily I'm really fast." She said, trying not to be completely out done. Without a doubt, her friend was the stronger pup between the two, but Dova wasn't going to let that go to his head. "We just gotta plan a little better next time, and then we'll catch a fish for sure." She reassured him, before sitting down in the tall grass, and looking out across the pond as she began to pant. "Let's take a little break, and we can try again when the water settles a bit." By that point she had begun to work up an appetite, and catching a fish was beginning to sound more and more appealing.

Sinclair puffed up his chest a little bit when the female told him that he was in fact strong and had a good bite. It made him proud. All the better of a jaw for gnawing on some fish! Once they caught one of course. But to feed both of them, they would need to catch something bigger than a little tiny fish that swam about in the shallows. Maybe they would have better luck with a frog? Although Sinclair could not vouch for the deliciousness of a frog.

Prancing over to the shore the boy would sit dark rump in the muddy sand and watch the water. It was still murky from all of their playing, and hunting. But it didn't take very long to settle.

"Maybe we can somehow find a big fish? I don't think a little fish would feed us very well, no?" He suggested to Dova, his ears pressing against cranium briefly, the concept of catching one little fish wasn't appetizing. For they could easily swallow one in one not even bite. But literally swallow one! It wouldn't feed them at all and Sinclair was trying to come up with ways in which they could feed themselves....

Finding a big fish to share between the two sounded very appealing to the pup, who immediately began to scan the rippling surface, as if it might provide her with clues as to where the larger prey lurked. It was only when her mind had fully begun to wander that she realized that she wasn't getting anywhere. Yawning, she gave her head a little shake, trying to bring herself back up to full alertness. "Ok! Let's catch a big fish!" She agreed enthusiastically, rising to her paws with a howl of triumph.

The silt barely had a chance to settle before Dova was already loping back to the waters. She could already imagine dragging a massive shark back to the grassy hill to eat, but just as she was starting to get ahead of herself, she realized there was a fatal flaw in their plan. "Where are we gonna find one?" Pumping hard on the brakes, she came screeching to a halt, clumsily stumbling into the shallows, but recovered triumphantly with a derisive snort. "I've only seen little fish here." She began perplexedly, before casting a dubious glance back at the pond. Sometimes Adonis would bring them large fish, but being much larger, he was capable of wading deeper than Dova was able to, and she had never really paid much attention while waiting on the shores. The moment something closer, more tangible, came within her sphere, her focus would redirect from observing to learn, to learning by practicing.

Sinclair did not bound after Dova when she had decided that they were going to catch a fish right then and there. It was far too much work to move in this very moment in time. So he just watched the girl in silence for a moment, until she came to a rather abrupt and screeching halt. The plan was to catch a fish, but how does one get a plan to catch said fish? It was a head scratcher for sure, and slowly the big pup would stand and lumber into the water, trying to mind himself and not kick up all of the silt, although that was too a very futile effort.

"Well..." He mused, he wasn't entirely sure. There were only basic things he knew, and his dad had taught him some stuff, but not enough to really track fish in any effective way.

"Big fish eat.. Little fish, right? So wouldn't they be near where the little fish are? Or something like that?" It was not exactly the worst line of logic, but it was far from ideal, as Sinclair was missing a very vital piece of information and that was that big fish could not make it onto very shallow waters because of their size.

Dova cocked her head, rounded ears quivering as she thought long and hard about how they would hunt a nice, big, tasty fish. Expression sombre, she scanned the surface of the water, watching the ripples distort the view below. Slowly, the minnows were beginning to emerge once again, darting back and forth from their hiding spot to the open water as they searched for bugs to feed on. "Big fish eat little fish." She repeated, nodding knowingly as her focus expanded from the little fish to the surrounding areas. Hesitantly, she waded out further, inching along slowly, feeling the lake rise up her legs, and her chest, until she was so deep that she nearly swayed with the water, barely able to keep her paws grounded to the floor of the pond.


"Well are you gonna help me look?" She turned to huff indignantly, but not too seriously, at her companion. "You're taller, so I bet you can go deeper." They were, for good reason, forbidden from going to deep in the pond, but in the name of food, surely some exceptions could be made. "I think I see something in the water just a little further out!" Dova exclaimed, teetering precariously in place as the watery blues swirled around her. "C'mon, before it gets away!" She yelped, wiggling excitedly, her stump tail flinging droplets everywhere.