Something about the way the water tumbles across the shore sends shivers down the pup’s spine. While he is brave among the bamboo and oak forest, he is unsure of the bay. Though the water here is crystal clear - kept clean by his older half-brother, Akito is still wary of what hides in the depths. He has seen his siblings play and swim already, fearless or careless - he wasn’t sure which - of the liquid that could see to their demise. He thinks of this now as his ebony toes are enveloped by foam capped waves. It darkens the sand in front of him as it rolls back out into the bay. Unless there is a storm, the water appears to always be calm — his older brother has even assured him of that many times. Still… he is unsure. Captivated by the unknown entity that is water, his ears turn to a sudden burst of loud cawing. His eyes moved upward toward the sky as his brow furrows with concern and curiosity. Feathers stick out in all sorts of awkward positions as a long taloned bird dives back toward the bay’s surface. Akito’s face lilts slightly as he watches the spectacle. Beneath the bird, a sharp-toothed dolphin clicks repeatedly as if laughing at the bird’s attempts. The quarrel was between the dolphin and the eagle with water splashing and one specific fish being unfortunately torn to shreds. The pup would have turned to leave the bay. To let the two bickering fools flash it out on their own. If it weren’t for what happened next. As his body twisted to lead him back up the sandy shore, he felt a rather wet and heavy object fly into his side. Stumbling as he lost his footing, taken by surprise at the attack, his nose instantly wrinkled at the fishy and rotten scent. Both of his ears fell back upon his skull as his narrowed gaze shot over to where the dolphin was peering above the surface, laughing in the annoying way that it does. Thought it is not worth his time to seek out the dolphin, Akito attempts to place the fish upon the sand and continue on his way. The eagle, whose fish had been stolen from him, had other ideas. Without much notice, the feathered demon dive bombs the pup with claws extended. From the corner of his eye, he feels as if the bird was planning on taking him up into its grasp. A startled yelp leaves his lips - a singular moment of weakness - as he stumbles once more to the side to avoid being gored by long talons. Thus begins his dance upon the shore as he attempts to evade the oncoming bird’s attack.

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Word count: 298
Total: 760

Tachi couldn't say he loved his baby siblings all that much, he wasn't so needy to hate them cause they took away Sedna's attention. It was more that...well, pups as a rule were annoying, the only real value in them he could find was that it might be fun to bully them a bit. See what made them tick, to check if they really were Tojo material. Even then he hadn't sought any of them out yet, figured he'd run into one eventually and sure enough, out on the bay he saw the dark shape of one of his younger brothers. The stoic and silent one, like he'd taken a page right from Hattori's book. And he wasn't alone. Tachi had no clue how but it was clear he'd somehow managed to rile a bird- an eagle, or a buzzard he couldn't quite tell- enough to make it go for his eyes.

Tachi was sort of tempted to just watch and see how things unfolded, but at the same time he was from Tojo and Tachi didn't like the idea of dipping out of a chance to fight.

And thus he entered the fray. Dashing in quick, with jaws snapping he made to lunge for the bird only to miss and clamp down on empty air as a gush of wind walloped his face from the beat of its wings. It let out an indignant squawk, beady eyes focused and claws still hooked as it attempted to claw at the pup anew. Not even a little deterred by another wolf's presence. Tachi couldn't tell if it was brave or stupid but either way it was determined to make a mess of the pups face, maybe claw out an eye if he wasn't lucky. Tachi wondered if he was.

Claws near missed him as Akito dipped out of the way. Lowering to the sand until he near full on his belly, he wondered if the eagle would realize that the fish he wanted was right there. Yet, the feathered demon would not give him a chance to explain. Not that the beady eyed mongrel would understand the common tongue anyway.

About ready to roll over and attempt to evade the attack that way, his eyes widened as a larger chocolate blur came racing over. The sound of sand spraying through the air and the eagl-vulture-monster screeching unhappily caused Akito to stare at his older brother. Though he had never met this Tachi that his mother had told him about, he was not hard to miss.

Before he could really address whether his older brother was helping or not, talons came swooping back down. A waft of air pushed by large feathered wings near knocked him out as he tried to roll back up onto his paws. Akito was not much for dramatics or words really, but he saw no other option. “Go away!” He screeched back as he lashed out with gnashing teeth. Rolling back and forth on the sand, he tried his best to evade the sharp grasp of the enemy.

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word count: 322
total:1,295

It was a stubborn thing, Tachi was almost impressed by its determination to keep on going, to do what it wanted despite the circumstances. It really ought to cut its losses though, it'd gain nothing from this, it wasn't like the pup was small enough to eat...though maybe it'd be able to scoop him up in its claws. Tachi was sort of curious now. His ears perked as the pup squeaked, near demanded it leave him alone, which whist it was a fair thing to say and want he doubted the bird would listen to any form of reason. It was too late for that, it was beyond furious, for one reason or another.

If a warding snap wasn't enough to make it leave then Tachi supposed he could commit a little more, push to see what would be too much for the seafaring bird.

He lunged again, this time spinning on his foot in anticipation, knowing full well it would try and flap out of the way, gain some distance before leaning back in for another peck. Its eyes snapped wide when he followed its attack pattern, already had it worked out since there was only so much a bird could do, right? He grinned as he followed through, chasing it back, teeth snapping and growls rolling from his throat. It unfurled its talons, aiming to try and grab a hold of his muzzle, to clamp his mouth shut and deny him his bite. Smart, might have worked if Tachi hadn't been watching it so closely, learning every mood it made and using his keen sight to try and piece together what it might do next.

It let out a squawk of frustration, deciding that it'd had enough of Tachi and his knowing too much, and clearly smug about it attitude and so it made another dive for the pup, seemingly intent on claiming one of his horns as it's own.

Silently, Akito was thankful for his older brother showing up. To have someone to come save him when he was in dire trouble was a relief. As he struggled to escape the clutches of the pissed off bird, he could feel the drum of his heart beating into his chest. Sweat surged beneath his fur, coating his skin, until he was nearly covered in sand. His puppy sharp teeth snapped and lashed out at the talons, but dared not get too close. Pain seared across his cheek as a talon did strike once or twice, but nothing too damaging. Tachi had been enough of a distraction to at least keep him from harm’s way.

That last moment of distraction, he had been able to scramble a bit away. His long legs lifting him up until his upper half was off of the shore. His back legs kicked out at the sand as he tried to find a good enough purchase to stand up. His own distraction in attempting to escape made it so he was taken by surprise. A large beak came swooping in and aimed right for his horn. All Akito saw was a large bundle of feathers beating a strong wind in his direction. He nearly tumbled at the force of those wings. A yelp left him as he barely dodged. The tip of the beak managed to puncture his ear.

Quickly turning on the bird as he hopped out of the way, Akito lunged. The bird would feel his wrath. He would not be completely beat by some avian predator. Pushing off of the ground and propelling himself through the air, he opened his jaws. Twisting his head to the side, he aimed to grab onto a leg and latch on enough to show that damn bird who was boss!

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