Teasing Teva (Teva and Lazarus)

Teva stretched, leaning back on her haunches, before rising. The sun had risen a while ago but she hadn't wanted to leave the warmth of the den. In the end, the warmth left her to complete their tasks for the day. She pursed her lips, looking at the emptiness of the den, then frowned. Teva had wanted to stay inside today, away from the cold, nestled beside whoever was to babysit her but there was no one here. Whoever their caretaker was that day, they had probably left with the other pups to deal with the twins or something.

With a final yawn, the pup padded out of the den, her blue eyes squinting in the brightness of the day. After they adjusted she took in her surroundings. No siblings in sight - at first. As she walked away from the den, she caught a movement in the corner of her eye. The black pup turned and found Lazarus. She began to turn away but something about where he was piqued her interest. Not only that, he seemed to be confined to that area. Oh.

Teva smiled to herself as she approached him. He'd gotten caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing unlike her. She was far better at evading punishment.

"So what did you get caught doing this time?" She mocked, unable to mask the superiority she felt at being free while he wasn't. "Did you lick that thing dad said to stay away from?" She paused, her tail and head high but cocked to the side to look at him. To others, Teva's words would sound cruel but Lazarus would know she was just pushing his buttons. "Well, I was just stopping by to let you know that I'm going to enjoy my freedom today."

Lazarus was settled down on his belly in a corner to the main den site, watching the wolves go back with her tufted ears perked. His pale grey eyes followed the wolves as they passed, bored. But his father had been angry in a way he had never been before, and for once Lazarus thought it best to actually listen to him. Lazarus watched Teva as she padded out of the den site. She was about to walk by but then she saw him and she seemed to realize that he was grounded.

Never to be discouraged, Lazarus put on a smile as she approached and questioned him, meeting her mocking gave with his own cool silver eyes. Perhaps he would not be so bored after all. An idea came to mind and he heaved himself onto his haunches, covering a yawn with his paw to make himself seem disinterested. ”Nope, no licking this time,” Lazarus assured her, ”Enjoy it well, then. Maybe you can even kill your first deer. But learn from me and don’t get caught. That is what landed me here.” He answered nonchalantly.  

Every muscle froze solid in Teva, paralyzing her in place with her back to her sibling. Her eyes were open wide. Lazarus had done what?! She found the ability to move again and spun around, her face close to Lazarus's. "You're lying." She hissed, jealousy boiling within her. The black pup couldn't be shown up by her smug brother. And how could he even do that! Deer were huge - or so it seemed. She'd only seen one once but maybe there were small, pup sized deer that they could hunt. How could she not have known about these deer?!

Teva's brow furrowed deeply as she looked at her brother. No matter what she did now, he would always be able to claim the first one to kill prey and that ate away at her. To be second best was an insult!

Pride wounded, Teva looked around the two before focusing her attention back on Lazarus. "Take me to where you-" she paused, a dramatic exasperated breath escaping her maw "killed the deer. If you really did it, that is." She poked at him though Teva didn't actually doubt that Lazarus had killed one but she wanted to see it. That way she could at least set her sights on killing a bigger one since she couldn't beat him to it. Teva knew at least that way, she could outdo him.

Lazarus met her blazing eyes with his own, calm as still water. A smirk played on his lips. This would sure be fun. ”Believe what you want, but Dad knows the truth,” Lazarus said, knowing that his father was not home right now so Teva could not ask him at least until tonight. But claiming that their father would back him up would certainly make his case more believable, even if only temporarily. And he only wanted this to be temporary. He knew that it would bother his sister to no end to know he had killed something before she had, and he had no desire to upset her other than a little bit of harmless antagonizing to keep things interesting right now.  

Lazarus shrugged helplessly, ”I can’t! Not allowed to leave the main den site,” he said.

Teva squinted suspiciously at her brother. Dad had seen it? It made sense that he would have kept it from her. Teva would have been quick to bound off into the forest to kill one of her own. But so what? If Lazarus was capable of taking down a deer then so was she! Teva scrunched up her nose wanting to believe he was lying but finding it more and more difficult. The dark female pup felt a deep annoyance at her parents' absence. She wanted to interrogate their dad about it.

The pup scoffed at Lazarus. Who was going to stop him from leaving? "So? Who's going to see you? Mom and dad are hardly around." She rolled her eyes at him. "We both leave the main den sit all the time."

Lazarus got to his paws, stretching luxuriously and then trotted forward, giving Teva a sideways smirk, ”Alright, then. Let’s go, then.” he said. What was the big deal, anyway, if he got caught again. What were they going to do? He flicked under Teva’s chin with his tail tip as he walked, heading toward the entrance. He glanced around to make sure no one would see them and then paused to look back at her, ”You sure you want to see? I mean, I would hate for you to know for sure that you will always be the second one to catch prey. How will you live with yourself, big sister?”

The skin on Teva's muzzle wrinkled with displeasure as Lazarus brushed her chin with his tail but she did get what she wanted. Her brother was going to show her this deer that he'd killed. It made her boil with jealousy.

She padded past her brother as he looked around to see if anyone was watching. Teva didn't care if anyone was. She was going to see this deer.

The little pup flattened her ears and glared at her brother as he rubbed in his feat. "Shut up and show me." She said, lifting her head proudly as though she was above Lazarus no matter what. "Then I'll know how much larger of a deer I need to hunt to be a better hunter than you." The she wolf stated, emphasizing that he may have won that but she could still beat him in other ways.

Lazarus snorted, ”You’ll have to get a pretty big one!” the little wolf scoffed as they made their way into the forest. He didn’t know how far he would take her, but for now they headed toward Fellfang territory, the way he had gone during his supposed hunt. ”So what have you been up to recently? Slay any bears? Conquer any packs?” He knew his sister was very ambitious, and sometimes he wondered what sort of wolf she would grow to be. With the determination she possessed right now, he wouldn’t be surprised if either of his suggestions would become true before her second birthday.

Teva gazed around her with curiosity. She hadn't been this way before. She returned her attention to her brother as he indirectly boasted about how big the deer he'd killed was yet again. Folding her ears back she 'hmph'd as if it would be no trouble to find such large prey.

The little pup rolled her eyes at her brother as he questioned what she'd been up to until he asked 'conquer a pack'? She scoffed as though he should have known the answer already. "I don't need to conquer a pack. I'm going to be the Lady of Aryn one day." Teva informed Lazarus proudly. She believed it her birthright as the first born of the litter and that she knew what was best for the pack.

Teva trotted proudly with her tail high until she heard a twig snap. Her ears shot up and tail dipped just a little as she looked around for the source, her heart pounding. In the thick bush ahead of them, two ears perked up then the entire head of a deer rose into view. It stared at the two with big dark eyes while still chewing its food.

Teva looked over to her brother then back to the deer and grinned. This deer was huge! Surely it was larger than the one Lazarus had killed! This was the perfect opportunity for her to outdo her brother! And what a bonus to have him see it.

Without a word, Teva bolted forward. Lazarus had probably already figured out what she was thinking. The small twigs in the brush seemed to snap and crackle as she rushed forward. She could see the deer's legs ahead of her just as it turned to run but she wasn't going to give up that easily. "You're not gonna get away!"

Lazarus gave her a small smile. ”Are you, now?” Lazarus asked. He didn’t know anything about the culture of Aryn in terms of succession of power, so he didn’t know if Teva was telling the truth or if was something she just liked to gloat about. He didn’t really mind either way, but he could not help but wonder what kind of Alpha she would be… she would never be lacking in confidence, that was for sure, and that was certainly an important part of being an Alpha!

Lazarus looked over as the deer came into view. Teva bolted off and Lazarus sprang after her in his own excitement. And then he saw those large pounding hooves up close. He had never seen a deer up close, but they were big! He felt a flash of concern for Teva. They would catch up to the deer before it could turn and get away; she could easily get kicked and all because she was trying to outdo his fantastical deer hunt. He veered to the side, throwing himself at Teva with the intention of crashing into her and send them both tumbling safely into the ground.

Teva hit the ground with an 'oof' as Lazarus knocked her down. She twisted her head to look at the deer now bounding off well out of her reach. Her heart sank but that feeling didn't last long as she looked toward her brother. She shoved him off roughly and rolled over so she could stand up. The black pup's fur stuck up from a combination of irritation with Lazarus and the excitement of hunting.

"That's cheating, Lazarus!" Teva shouted, shaking the dirt and snow from her fur. "You can't just push me out of the way so you can keep the record!" She furrowed her brow at her brother. Who knows how long it would take her to find another deer! The sooner she could outdo him the better.

Lazarus tumbled back as Teva pushed him off roughly, getting up and facing him in anger. Lazarus got to his paws, shaking off his black fur. He faced his sister, ”It’s not cheating, I could have saved your life! That deer was huge, it could have crushed you.” Lazarus explained to her, ”you should be thanking me for saving you. Looks to me like you owe me for that now too.” he teased, a mischievous grin on his face again.

Teva turned her nose up at her brother. Saved her? Pf! As if! "It was just some dumb deer! I would have been fine!" She countered. Even if it was huge, it wasn't smart. At least, not to her. "I'll just have to get one while I'm out without you!"

She looked inquisitively at her brother with a tad bit of offense on her face. "Owe you?" The black pup questioned. "Whatever." Rolling her blue eyes, she decided to not even pursue what he would want her to do in return for his 'favor'. "Let's go see your dumb deer."

Lazarus sighed. He didn’t want to be responsible for his sister getting hurt. Looks like he’d have to end this game early. ”Yeah, well, we can’t see my deer because I never caught one.” he explained, ”I wanted to keep teasing you for a while, but not if you are going to go be stupid.” he said, giving her a shove.

Teva stared at her brother in a stunned frustration. He'd never gotten one to begin with? She opened her mouth to berate him for tricking her but she closed it when she realized that this meant she could still kill a deer first.

The little pup smiled at her brother. "Okay. Let's make it fair then." She began, "We'll go on our first hunt at the same time when we're older and whoever gets one first wins." She offered a paw as if to seal the deal but drew back for a moment, her tone shifting back to an angry one. "But if you cheat and go without me I'll hunt you instead!" It wasn't serious of course but the black pup could think of nothing else to threaten before offering her paw back to Lazarus. "Deal?"

Lazarus returned her smile, a bit uncertainly. Teva didn’t usually look pleased. But he supposed it made sense. After all, now she could be the one to hunt the first deer! Lazarus listened to her terms, putting out his paw and then drawing it back as she added one more condition. He chuckled in amusement, but he would take the threat seriously. After all, he didn’t care if Teva killed a deer before him, but Teva sure did care, so it was best to just listen to her.

He put his paw out, grabbing her paw in his own and shaking it once, firmly. ”Alright, Teva. You have got a deal.”