The white-furred adult scolded him lightly, and Skoll snapped his ears down to appease the male. “Tell me about it,” he said, honesty coming through in his tone. “I was actually terrified. I mean, it was crazy, like—thrilling, that’s the word—but I thought that she was crazy.” He hoped this would show Niro that he wasn’t as irresponsible as his friend; he wouldn’t dream of doing the same to a puppy friend of his own.
He still couldn’t find it in himself to dislike Terra for her often risky actions, however; she outsmarted death with admirable skill. A little bit of him still idolized her for this, even if he was beginning to learn from the adults around him that it was a bit too risky to be real fun. For a good-natured, obedient prince in a peaceful pack, however, it was about all the danger he needed.
Niro continued to talk about Terra, adding that she probably wouldn’t be around to influence Heiro more than she had. The boy hunched his shoulders uncomfortably, embarrassed on behalf of his trickster friend, but he still nodded. Maybe he’d show Heiro how to do pranks and other tricks without risk of hurting those he cared about. The elaborate traps Terra made were dangerous, but stuffing a rabbit with grass or smearing berry juice on a sleeping grownup’s face was safer and still could be entertaining.
“I can show him other ways to have fun,” Skoll suggested out loud, mainly trying to wrap the uncomfortable (for him) subject up. He would have to see his half-niece and half-nephew, he knew, just to see what they were like firsthand and play more. It’d been too long since he’d really been able to act like a kid with other kids; Hati was withdrawn, often clinging to their mother, and Lottie spent all her time around Vigilante (which made Skoll more than a little jealous).
“I hunted this rabbit!” the wolfdog said cheekily, nudging the one he’d given up on eating; the conversation was far more interesting than their surroundings. “But I haven’t really taken down anything big yet. I want to, though… Maybe we could hunt together sometime.” He wagged his tail and continued to answer the questions out of order. “And I’ve been reading some and taking care of my horse, Hwin. Alder taught me how to do that and how to ride her, too, but she’s really, really stubborn sometimes.”
And then the last question—which made Skoll gulp and avert his eyes. “I have a girl friend,” he offered, putting clear emphasis on the space between the words. “Adelle—she’s from Casa di Cavalieri, and we spar together, because she’s training to be a warrior and stuff. She’s, um, really good and brave, and she’s strong enough to beat me up.” He circled his paw in the grass, shy. While it was true that he was too young to have truly intimate feelings for the girl, it was obvious that there was a puppy crush involved.
Word Count → 506
You get an instareply novel only because I'm working on getting Skoll's post count up, and I'm going on vacation tomorrow. xD So you can take your time posting back!
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