Oak Tree Bend the aftermath - Printable Version

Corsair was still squinting when the first member of his pack family appeared. He fixed her with a narrow gaze that was broken by rapid blinking. For reasons unknown to him, a tear or two streamed from each eye as he struggled to cope with the brilliance of the outside world. He was accustomed to the gloomy dark and struggled to process the change in scenery mentally and physically, so his stunned gaze remained on Arnaq, though he hardly realised she was there, even as he began to adjust to the light.

By the time he could properly see her and note that she was not the same as mom, Serach had descended in front of them, and Corsair's vision lingered on the white-haired wolf. The one behind him, the one who came first, was a different sort of mom, an Other Mom as it were, and the real difference between his mom and any other female wolf, he would not comprehend for several weeks more. Even from here, he could tell she smelled different but similar to mom, and that was what made her Other Mom. Serach, on the other hand, smelled different entirely from mom, from his masculine musk to his individual aroma. He was not an Other Mom. He was different yet, and so Corsair would come to know him as something else, but not so clearly defined.

After all, his notice went far past things like coat colour and composition and body type. Corsair couldn't tell Aponi from Arnaq from Serach based on any of those things, for while he was capable of telling they were different, it seemed irrelevant to his young mind. They were all much larger than he. He would only develop the ability or desire to differentiate based on physical traits later on. Instead, he relied solely on scent to identify them, and currently, Real Mom smelled the best.

He noticed the arrival of the fourth, the Other-Other Mom, by smell alone. Serach remained in his way, but Corsair bobbed his head in an effort to see around his much larger father until he realised the futility of it and ventured into the space below Serach's belly instead in search of Other Mom and Other-Other Mom.

"Don't go shouting out loud that you're claiming the crown"

Aponi’s response brought a wolfish grin to the young woman’s lips, the image of her aunt as a rowdy, silvery pup flashing through her mind. Then time came for introductions, and she dutifully followed the mother’s gaze as each pup was named, though she had a feeling she would forget again soon enough, until they were old enough to talk for themselves, there was little point in keeping track anyway. The yearling continued her childish display, greeting the pups again in a high pitched voice and practically bouncing on the spot. Her question made Nalda roll her eyes as soon as she turned away, a sig escaping her nostrils with a low snort. But she supposed it was good, the girl being so excited; she would probably take on pupsitting duty happily, as was her place, and perhaps the cousin could go free.

The children were a spirited bunch, immediately setting out to explore their new world, each in their own way. Mabel, the palest one, managed to make Nalda smirk again as she greeted her father with resounding head-butt, before continuing one, seemingly unabashed. The boy was one an adventure too, taking advantage of Serach’s diverted attention to set out between his legs, heading towards the rest of the group. As unimpressed as she was by the whole display, the girl admired her cousins’ adventurousness; They might grow interesting one day…

A sudden bump at her leg drew the youth’s attention from the other two pups, golden eyes turning down on the third, who had managed to slip away unnoticed. Her blurry, sky blue eyes stared up at Nalda, a rather dopy expression on the small face. Feeling suddenly unsure, the slate and russet wolfess glanced around, then, seeing that everyone else seemed preoccupied, she slowly lowered her muzzle to the little tan creature. She’d never been around pups before and knew nothing about how to deal with them. Mildly panicked, she glanced around again, then returned her attention to the girl; Which one was this again..? She tried to smile kindly, waving her batty ears. “Uh… hi,” she said, softly, reaching to touch her nose against the pup’s; “Y’ uuh… Better g’back t’you mum.” Gently she pushed at the little one’s side, trying to turn her around and nudge her back to her parents. She wanted to get rid of the scrawny thing as quick as possible, and yet as she worked, the tip of her tail wagged softly.

Word Count: 411

Thoughts "Speech"

Khalliysgraphy @DA

Go get em, Serach encouraged his son, but Corsair hardly even glanced around at his pop's face before stumbling out from under his father's rear end. He blinked rapidly as he emerged from the shadows and attempted to focus his blurry vision on the Other Mom and Other Other Mom beyond his father. All at once it became far too overwhelming and the cub retreated timidly back into the darker space beneath Serach.

Soon enough he would be a lot more brave, but for now, he had been introduced to too many things at once. His brain was too busy processing all this new information for him to really focus it on anything else, so he did the next best thing: flopped down on his side beside Serach's leg hind leg and closed his eyes. He mentally told himself, as best he could in his puppy jargon and immature thought process, that it was only a brief rest. He would be up again in a few minutes, and he would be brave enough to approach them then. His heart would stop its rapid beating and he would calm down, and then he would greet his pack mates. Or so he told himself as best he could.

In spite of all of Corsair's convictions, however, he was fast asleep before he even knew what hit him, and remained that way long after the last pack mate had drifted away from the scene.