Word Count - 412 :: Had to jump in, bwahaha.

The adventurous puppy had found a new kind of adventure in reading the books the man from the festival gave him, and all the Court could breathe a sigh of relief now that the prince was often curled up listening to stories rather than running underpaw. He was beginning to learn how to sound out some of the letters and words, but more often than not he’d simply dump his book in an adult’s lap and beg them to read a story.

The chronicles of Mowgli and his wolf brothers was his favorite, but he had taken a break from those jungle tales to hear the story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. He liked to pretend that he was the brave mongoose, sometimes, often leaping at the pieces of rope hidden away in some of the houses, pouncing at shadows, pretending that his green eyes could glow red. Luckily, there were no real live cobras in Cour des Miracles, as the cub might have chanced battling them as well.

Skoll broke out into a run now, leaping over the melting piles of snow, the sunlight bringing out the yellows in his creamy fur. Spring was coming, coming sooner every day, and he couldn’t wait for the first flowers to bloom and the days to grow long and warm. This first winter made him kind of miserable, and he didn’t enjoy it as much as his siblings did. He just hoped that these warm days were leading up to something, rather than just a little break in the freezing cold weather.

A happy howl came from the boy, whose growing gangly legs were eating up the earth at a steady tempo. Like Darzee, the silly tailorbird, he broke out into a childish song:

His voice was too young to hold any true sweetness or talent, and it was more of a battle shout than anything—one that was interrupted before he could go into the next verse by the sight of his mother and a very muddy sister. He skidded to a halt and stared at the complaining Charlotte, her pretty pelt all covered with melted snow and mud. Green eyes flickered to his amused mother, her own fur stained, and he cackled loudly as he realized that Ayita had been the one to get Lottie messy.

“Is there room for me?” Skoll yelled, mocking his perplexed sibling gently before he galloped forward, executing a magnificent jump and landing right in the middle of the puddle.

Word Count - 303

His sister’s squeal was music to his ears, and the prince grinned very wickedly as he looked at her. The color of his coat was all but hidden by the splashes of mud on his cream flanks and growing legs, but Skoll was very much a boy and though a little vain had no care for his appearance. After all, one could still be big and strong, a force to be reckoned with, even all covered in mud! He giggled then pricked his ears at the sound of his brother, completing the young trio.

Ayita noted Hati’s appearance as well, and she jumped at him and knocked him down into the mud. The sight had the sun-chaser laughing; it was nice to see someone else push Hati for a change! He loved his brother, though, and loved to see his mother having fun as if she were an oversized cub herself. Her muzzle pressed him as she gave little nips, at least until the dark shape leaped from the mud and chased her into another puddle.

Charlotte answered the rallying cry, charging toward their mother, and the young Haskel wondered if he shouldn’t try to save her. It would be the right thing to do in any other case, but this was a game and he didn’t want to ruin the fun for his siblings! He giggled and growled as he began to chase after them, perhaps not as fast but tireless.

“You gonna go down, Mom!”

He didn’t fancy getting a mouthful of muddy fur like Lottie was, and so he only took advantage of his growing body to throw it against his mother, hoping to knock her over in the mud—gently if he could, of course. His tail wagged behind him, sending great sweeps of the stuff over his family.