Pups and the Hound

(Creative Title is Creative. Feb 14th. Open to Copper and Dixie’s Brats... Er Pups.)

Even shrouded in darkness it was easy to see how much of a wasteland the Outlands were. However, having lived there for over six months now had made the hound well accustomed to the surroundings. When without his fairly good vision in the dark he could get around without much trouble. Though, that fact was greatly helped by the large black nose at the end of his snout. Still, Copper knew that by now he didn’t even need to follow his nose to get to his destination. He’d practically moved into the little nook in the termite mound since the incident that had occurred two months ago. While he didn’t sleep in the den itself, he’d made himself right at home just outside it.

Had the world outside the darkness been able to poke its head out, one would have seen that it was nearing noon. The sun had long since risen, but it was just beginning to reach its peak in the middle of the sky. At times, Copper wished to have the golden warm and light of the large star would return, but for the time being it didn’t look like that was going to happen.

As he reached the den, he slowly moved to step inside. With the everlasting blackness, it had become hard to tell what was night and what was day, and as such sleeping times were messed up for some of the animals. Seemed Dixie’s pups were no exceptions. While there was no sign of either the golden-furred female(which Copper was a little disappointed of), nor her Doberman mate(that fact left a bad taste in the hound’s mouth), it wasn’t hard to spot the forms of the three pups curled up together near the back of the den. For a moment, he considered leaving and possibly going to try and find the pup’s mother, but the thought was quickly pushed from his mind. He hadn’t spent much time with them lately, they were usually always off doing their own things while he was following their mother around. Perhaps it was time he fixed that.

Stepping in a bit farther, Copper nosed the closest body to the entrance to the den. “Hey,” he called lightly. Loud enough to rouse but not enough to startle. “Wake up sleepyheads it’s beyond time for you three to be up.” He then gave the sleeping form another quick nudge. If that wasn’t enough to wake them, he’d try something else but for now he hoped that the light shove would be enough.

Copper would be rudely responded to with a swift kick in the nose from Umeme. She was chasing a rabbit in her dream and the rabbit started speaking to her. Wake up Sleepyheads...she was startled right into the spring in her leg that caught Copper's nose. She woke up first because of it. She shrieked and leaped in the air before seeing it was her uncle Copper. She smiled up at him. Uncle Copper was nice enough. He wasn't trying to be their Dad like that mean ole Mister Cash. Sasha woke up seconds after to her sister's scream. She blinked awake but saw Copper first before she could freak out. She smiled as well. Enzo remained asleep until both girls had a similar reaction to his state.

"EWWWWWWWW!!!!" He woke up.

"AWWW ENZO! Sasha groaned, leaping away from her brother with ease and swiftness obviously inherited from her mother.

"MISTER COPPER!" Umeme whined, "Enzo wet the bed AGAIN!" Enzo blushed as best a dog could. He was scared, he couldn't help it, scared and having nightmares. This was happening every night since Zira took him and threw him in jail with Lady. A reaction to pure fear. He hunched his shoulders and offered a gruff response.

"I'm sorry..." It was barely a whisper.

The sound that left the hound’s throat as the smaller canine’s foot connected with his nose was more of a squeak than a yelp. Even so, the sharp shock of pain it sent through him was enough to make Copper take a few steps back. Letting out a snort as he blinked away the few drops of salty liquid that had gathered in his eyes, Copper looked up to see that both girls had woken up and were smiling up at him. He offered to return them when he noticed that Enzo was still out cold. That was, until his sisters both let out identical groans of disgust.

Watching as Sasha leapt away from her brother, Copper perked an ear as Umeme complained. Enzo wet the bed… Again? Had It happened before? To Copper, that didn’t seem like something that would happen to the little male. Not Enzo, who was always jumping headfirst into things without thinking twice. Though, then again, he supposed things like that could happen to anyone, regardless of how they were during their waking hours.

Turning slightly discolored brown eyes onto the pup, he took note of his hunched form. It was beyond clear that he was embarrassed, which was only natural, but from the note in his voice as he spoke, Copper couldn’t help but think there may have been something else.

Lowering himself closer to the younger male, Copper offered a slow, soft, smile. “Ya okay, Enzo?” he asked, ears perking as he spoke. He spared a quick glanced at the girls, silently letting them know that if their brother didn’t answer they could do so for him.

“ NO, he’s NOT.” Umeme took to embarrassing her brother further. “It’s disgusting. He’s been doing it since he got thrown in the jail cell by Zira. He’s just being a big baby!” Umeme looked up at her Uncle with a stern look. “Tell him to cut it out!” Enzo flushed as visibly as he could. He couldn’t help it. All of his nightmares now included a giant lioness trying to kill him and his family. He didn’t like it one bit.

“What’re you doin’ here, Uncle Copper?” Enzo asked, “Did you come here to teach us to hunt again?”

“I clipped a bird yesterday!” Umeme woofed, “I didn’t catch him…but I clipped his wing with my teeth!”

Copper’s brow furrowed into a deep frown as Umeme spoke up. She hadn’t even given her brother time to respond to Copper’s question. Not that that was anything unusual. As she continued, however, Copper found his eyes widening in slight surprise as his ears perked toward the smaller black-furred female.

“Zira did what to Enzo?” he demanded, a frown that slowly turned into a shallow snarl worked its way onto the hound’s face. If he found out that Zira had done anything to hurt Enzo, she’d have one angry huntin’ dog on her paws. But, for now, it seemed the pups’ attention span was extremely short as Enzo piped up then and asked him what he was doing there. Copper turned deep brown orbs onto the pup for a moment, before answering.

“Well, actually, I came out here to spend the day with you pups. If huntin’ lessons are what ya want, I can give’em to ya,” despite the anger that had been present just a moment before, Copper had a small smile tugging at his jows. He lowered his nose to Enzo to give him a light push. “Don’t worry about it. If you wanna talk later ‘m all ears.” His voice was a whisper as he looked down at the little male with slight concern. He then turned his gaze back to Umeme as she spoke up again, this time about her hunting skills.

“Nice job,” Copper nodded slowly, before seeming to think something over. “What kinda bird was it? Or do ya even know?” his voice was still soft but had turned back to its usually almost emotionless note.

Umeme took a big breath. “All of us went to go visit the lady in the cage. She was nice but Zira came and then she grabbed Enzo and he got scared and we ran and he got thrown in the jail cell with the lady and since then he’s been having nightmares and wetting the bed ever since then and now he’s afraid of lions-gaaaaaaaasp-.” Umeme collapsed. Enzo flushed.

“She keeps comin’ for me in my nightmares…” Enzo mumbled, “She’s angry all the time…I see her everywhere…” Sasha’s ears lowered as she turned to Umeme. Umeme got the hint and wagged her tail, staring up at Copper.

“HUGE! It was one of those birds that eat dead things! I saw it eating a dead mouse!” She crouched down to demonstrate. “So I snuck up on’em…and BAM! Grabbed one with my teeth!” She puffed her chest out proudly. Sasha placed a paw on Enzo’s back before looking up Copper, pleading almost for help for her embarrassed brother.

Dark brown narrowed for a moment as the hound listened to Umeme tell of what had happened to Enzo. For a brief moment, Copper considered telling the pups that he’d be back and go and confront Zira, but after a quick glance to Sasha and Enzo as the little female tried to comfort her brother made him pause. It wouldn’t do any good now anyway, but if he ever did come across the old lioness he would certainly make sure she got more than an ear full.

He was drawn from his thoughts as Enzo spoke up, talking about his nightmares. The sneer that had made its way onto the hound’s face melted away and he lowered himself to lay next to the younger male. He spared another quick glance at Sasha and offered her a small smile. He wasn’t completely sure how he could offer Enzo comfort, but he’d try at the very least.

“Enzo, I don’t know how much this’ll help yer nightmares, but whenever ya see that crazy lion in your dreams you just try and remember that your ol’ d… Uncle Copper here will always be ‘ere to protect ya.” Copper offered softly as he swallowed. He almost wanted to kick himself for the word he’d almost spoken. If they were still referring to him as they always had, it was clear that Dixie hadn’t told them of anything that had happened between them. And while, he would love to be able to refer to himself as something far more than they’re ‘Uncle’, he supposed he would just have to deal with it for now.

Looking up again as Umeme started rambling about what kind of bird she’d clipped, Copper couldn’t help the small smile of pride that spread across his muzzle. “A buzzard?” he asked as he glanced at Enzo before pulling himself up into a sit. “Those are some of the bigger birds out here… And you were able to grab it without it seein’ ya? Good job, Umeme, yer gettin’ better.” The first part had been spoken as if toward himself though the second had obviously been directed at the pup in front of him. His gaze then drifted between all three of the pups. “Have you been the only one practicin’ or have ya all been?”

The pups caught the sneer from their uncle, that wasn’t hidden. The females spied a glance at each other, sharing a strange look between the two of them. Enzo, however, smiled softly up at Copper. He knew his Uncle would be there to protect him no matter what. He scooted closer on his bum and gave Copper a hug. He would…he’d always be there for them.

Umeme puffed her chest out again. Sasha rolled her eyes. She knew her sister was exaggerating and she probably just slapped the thing rather than clip it with her teeth. But she let her sister have this one. The most mature of the siblings had to stay a little mature.

“Well sorta…sometimes,” Sasha whistled, “Can’t really see too well in this dark, y’know…”

“Yeah! We wanted ta ask ya that, Uncle Copper!” Umeme said, “What does a huntin’ dog do if he needs to hunt in the dark?”

As Enzo scooted close to him and pushed his head against Copper’s in a hug, the hound couldn’t keep the small smile from curling at his lips. He may have tried to come off as emotionless as much as possible, but he knew he couldn’t fool himself. Not around them. Their mother was a different matter, and the other outlanders even more so, but these pups? He couldn’t have hidden anything from them if he wanted to. Though, just how much they truly knew about him(and/or their mother) he didn’t know.

He also knew that they knew he would be there for them. It wasn’t like he’d ever hidden that fact anyway. He truly did love these pups as if they were his own and he’d protect them as such whether they saw him as their dad or as just their uncle, he didn’t much care, just as long as they knew he cared that was enough for him. For now.

Copper’s ears perked as Sasha spoke up in answer to his question. She made a good point, and it seemed she hadn’t been the only one to think that as Umeme spoke up just after her sister with a question of her own. While it was a good point, Copper couldn’t keep the small huff from leaving him. It a way the sound itself reminded him of long ago when he was still just a hunter-in-training and Chief would do the same thing. He wondered what Chief would think if he saw him now, teaching these pups the lessons he’d taught to him oh so long ago.

Giving his head a light shake to clear it, Copper turned his attention back to the three pups and chuckled lowly. “That one’s easy, ya just use yer nose. If your trackin’ somethin’ you use your nose to follow it don’t ya? Well, it’s the same in the dark. If ya can’t see what yer lookin’ for you just smell’em out!” he nudged Enzo with his nose and stood. “C’mon, let’s try. I’ll go hide and you three try to smell me out. What’dya say?”