(forward dated to 6/16)

The young girl would stir from her sleep with a soft huff, blinking sleepy eyes as the den came into focus, the world wasn't blurry anymore like it used to be, colors were brighter and shapes made more sense. Her gaze moved around the space, settling on her favorite face, her tail began to wag Mama! she beamed happily as she scrambled upright. She only made it about three steps before one foot tangled with another and sent her tumbling nose first into a her sister making her blink in surprise. Oops.. she muttered before giggling. The accident soon forgotten she clambered over the unfortunate victim and continued onward.

Mama! Mama! Scarlett barreled forward with all the grace of a rolling stone before crashing gently into her mothers side. Pressing close, her tail swishing furiously as she buried her face into familiar fur, content for nearly five whole seconds before something outside moved and drew her attention and her eyes widened at the bird.

Birdie! she spun around so quickly she nearly fell over again, tiny legs scrambling furiously as she chased after absolutely nothing, the bird having long since disappeared from sight.

Halfway there she became distracted by a leaf to which she pounced, rolled twice and eventually caught it, Got it! proudly she scooped it up and trotted back toward her mother with her prize dropping it in front of her For you she beamed at her own generosity, tail wagging wildly over her back.

—

There was a lot to take in, but thankfully, all the time in the world to parse it, the only thing that stumped the toddler was which to focus on first. Anastasia was interested in everything; the smells around the den that weren’t her mother’s or siblings’, the bugs that crawled into the den, the muted sounds she wanted to hear more clearly as her ears were opening.

She had been preoccupied with her denmates and mother, figuring out this whole “walking” situation by following them around and trying to catch a tail or a hock. (Scarlett did NOT like her tail being grabbed, she learned, which only made it funnier.) One time she followed her mother outside of the den and discovered that there was a lot… A LOT more to see beyond her birth place. Now that she knew, it was hard to keep her inside, as she often wandered to inspect the surrounding area… But not too far, she was far too attached to her mama to stray.

Currently, she was busy staring at a line of ants traveling along the ground, some of them carrying tiny cuts of leaves in their mandibles. She watched for a moment, before quickly locking onto something more interesting; her sister.

Carlet! she yapped, galloping over to the other pup as fast as her fat little toddler body could run. Stopping, though, was not a skill she’d perfected, so naturally she tumbled right into her, Oof! Carlet! Carlet come! Play!