Though he had never seen them, Marsh knew plenty about the newest generation, and was as devoted to their safety as he was to their older siblings, if not more so. Fenru, Kisla and Rihael had all grown without incident, and were fine creatures in their own right now. No doubt Rissa, Torrel and Aiyana would be the same - certainly, nothing nefarious would happen to them if Marsh had anything to say about it.

The summons came, and for a moment, Marsh hesitated. He had not been impatient to meet them, content as he was to protect them from afar. Still, it would be good to put faces to the scents.

With a huff, he turned away from the riverside, loping slowly towards the den. A small part of him disliked knowing that the majority of the pack would be absent from the borders, but he knew that the meet would not take long - and how much more well-guarded could the den get with the entire pack crowded around it? Yes, they would be fine, and finally he allowed himself some measure of innocent excitement at the prospect of meeting the children, silly as it was. He would be seeing plenty of them in the coming year, after all - and maybe even beyond.

When he arrived, most of the pack had gathered, and it pleased him to see them all together. Cali and her sister, Angier, the older brother Fenru, Indru and Corinna, Triell, Ice - and there, the main event. Little dark brown and little black, two of the three. Aiyana and Torrel, he presumed, though his assumptions regarding which girl was which could be wrong.

Posture low and respectful, Marsh passed Indru (offering the customary lick on the way) to reach Corinna. With a quiet, congratulatory whine, he pressed his nose to her cheek and then lingered there, his head below her own, turning his gaze towards Torrel. He shared Rihael's spark, it would seem. snorting softly - affectionately - his tail wagged once behind him, as he watched his life's purpose enjoy their first day in the sun.

His father's howl rang through the woods, impossible to miss, and Rihael clambered to his feet. His perch atop a large log had played the role of a comfortable place for him to sit and think— something he'd only recently given thought to. When the call came, he knew exactly what it was. As he hopped to the ground, large paws and frame absorbing the shock, Hael could fight the mix of emotions stirring somewhere deep within him: excitement, and anxiety.

His thick tail swished at his ankles as he stepped through the trees, nose to the ground. Then, his head swung upward once more to survey the wolves who were now in his company. Dad, Mom, Ice and Uncle Triell, Fen and Angier, Cali and another female, Marsh of course, and... His orange gaze settled sturdily on the objects of everyones' attention, two very mini-sized wolves.

Hael's heart nearly stopped. They— they were way smaller than he ever remembered being. Like, barely the size of rabbits, or something, or that one weird thing he and Fen had killed that one time. Slowly, he drew nearer, eyes moving to his parents' faces. He altered his course in their direction, his posture low, eyes moving around the faces of his packmates with a roguish sort of excitement; this... this was a big day for him. While he was used to the adult ranks, this was the first time he and Fenru would be grown-up, for real. There were pups now. He wasn't one of them anymore.

As he reached his father, he stopped momentarily, giving him a lick beneath the chin and a playful nose-poke to his cheek. He did the same for his mother, though after doing so, he stepped back, the eyes that were so similar to his father's taking in her comforting features. Then, with a deep breath he hoped nobody noticed, he turned, his attention fixed on the weirdly little new munchkins as he moved to sit at Fenru's other side. He greeted his brother with his usual brotherly lean, though it was a markedly more gentle shove than normal, as his eyes were glued to the tiny dudes. One was dark-furred, resembling Uncle Triell, and it seemed she was one of the girls, either Rissa or Aiyana. Silently, he tried to guess which one she could be, associating each name with her tiny frame. Then, he stared at the other— the other was tawny, so he guessed that had to be Torrell, the boy. His new little brother... he guessed, glancing sideways to Fen, that his other little brother wasn't so little anymore, huh?

Quietly, keeping uncharacteristically calm, Hael waited to see if one of the dudes would come up to him— though there were many other new faces for them to meet. Of course, he couldn't stop his tail from thumping the ground behind him.

Seemingly out of nowhere Torrel suddenly found himself on his back, a light but firm weight upon his chest, and timidly he lifted his gaze to meet the fiery one of his father's—where a stern look had replaced the usual warmth. Tor felt his father's growl rumble against him through their connection with his paw and instantly his ears slicked back, his tail curled between his legs and he wrinkled his muzzle in a appeasing grin as small whines and yips escaped him in apology. He was held for a moment more before he felt the pressure lifted and, with a helping nudge, he quickly toppled back onto his feet and reared up to lick his father's chin before he bounded back a few paces from the invisible border.

Rather suddenly, once a communicative glance had passed between his parents, his father's muzzle rose as he called the pack—a sound that had always been muffled and distant with his weakened hearing and sheltered experience in the den. While Torrel had never witnessed this behaviour before it felt familiar and his body flooded with adrenaline, his fur tensing, as he felt the power and instinct behind it. The young cub hesitated only a moment before instinct took over and soon he howled his first howl—his erratic, high-pitched tenor mixing in with his father's and sister's.

Caught and lost in the howl it took Torrel a moment to notice that they had company and when he did his howl ended in a abrupt yowl of surprise, his blue eyes widening as he peered at the pale stranger that was now lying submissively near his father. Fascinated, Torrel stared at him hard, not yet understanding the implications of such a stare, and his eyes darted from the grey wolf to his father for reassurance. Not long after a black wolf—like 'Ana!—came into view and the young boy's nose rose skyward as he sniffed gently at the air, drawing in their scents. Soon, soon, more and more came and Torrel's eyes fell on each of the arrivals in turn, dazed, as the number of wolves he had met went beyond double in such a short period. Behind him he heard his mother speak and a sense of rightness washed over him as he peered at them with fresh, curious eyes—pack.

With a curious gaze shifting back to his father first, who gave him a reassuring nod, Torrel began to approach the pair that had drew his attention the most—their scent had a youthfulness about it, an innocence, that most reminded him of his siblings and they looked so familiar, so much like dad, that he immediately felt a kinship with them. When he was a couple of metres away he paused, leaning on the very tip of his paws and he stretched his nose forward to get his nose as close as he could. They smelt like dad, they looked like dad, and without much further ado he bounded forward excitedly, yowling, as his body curled like a snake as he smiled with not just his wrinkled muzzle but his whole body. Rearing up between the two of them Torrel's muzzle went rapidly from left to right as he tried to lick each of their chins in greeting, his ears slicked back in his desire to please and greet them both.

The Tainn watched Cori try to coax out their youngest daughter with a smile, he wasn't surprised the prospect of leaving the den was so daunting to the young cub. However his attention was soon taken from them when the rest of the pack started to show, responding to his call, to come and greet the newest additions to the pack. Indru's ears twitched in greeting to each wolf but his posture remained tense, his ears perked forward, his tail risen and his harder stare showing the added dominance he posed than normal. Each wolf responded in a way to please him though, with submissive licks to his chin or glances, and their arrival went without incident or challenge. The tension eased a little though Indru raised his hackles slightly in a non-verbal message to Jessie that she was to approach with greater caution that the other, proven, members of the pack. Indru's keen gaze watched Marsh as he continued around him and his gaze did not leave the oldest male until he saw that his and Cori's invisible circle around their children remained unbroken. So far, the cubs remained safely between their mother and father.

Unsurprisingly the mass increases of faces was a sight for surprise for the young cubs and Indru watched them with an adoring smile, offering nods of encouragement when they were sought from him. Aiyana and Torrel had both begun to approach the pack with curiosity—each picking a different 'target'—and Indru's eyes fell between them all, watching both his cubs for signs of stress and the wolves they had picked to greet. It was the cubs job to gain the pack's acceptance, to show their strength and vigour and to earn the pack's protection in their own joining ceremony, but equally it was the pack member's place to show their leaders their loyalty by giving it to their children.

When Aiyana yipped a greeting to Ice Indru smiled, giving the pale wolf a look that granted him permission to approach and break the circle. His gaze turned back to Torrel and he discovered that the boy had already bounded up to his blood brothers, and it didn't take long for yips and yowls to escape his slithering body as he bounded over the protective circle before the permission could be offered. These are your brother's, Torrel, Hael and Fen. Turning his gaze northwards his eyes lightened on his sons affectionately as they greeted their newest brother for the first time. After a pause Indru stepped in and across the boundary he and Cori had kept in a sign that the pack could follow and greet the new cubs now that they had made the first move to do so, though he kept a careful eye on the newest wolf as his watchful gaze drifted around between them all.

Angier watched the scene unfold in front of him. The pack had assembled and everyone's eyes were trained on the circle that encompassed the den that the wolves around him had helped build and the inhabitants within it. The tension in the air was thin but it still created quite a barrier over the calmness and youthful energy beneath it. Once Rihael had arrived, Angier took a slow step backwards and reclined onto his stomach. Fenru should be alright then... now that his brother was there at his side to help buffer whatever emotions shocked his system.

He continued to survey everyone, a warm smile lifting his tawny features, but as the young girl ventured forth to inspect Ice, Torrel, the boy, dared to confront his older brothers. The Lyall cast a sideways glance at the three of them off to his side, suppressing a chuckle in his throat. Though the yearlings easily towered over him, Torrel still attempted to win their acceptance, the excitement and eagerness to bond with them clearly written all over his small, mousy-pelted body. Indru introduced them and to avoid staring the Hunter turned his gaze toward Corinna and the girl she had brought out into the sunlight. Rissa. His tail thumped about behind him, a hint of pride ballooning in his chest. Was this how his uncle had felt when he and his siblings had first met him? To be honored and grateful to have been allowed to meet the pack's legacy? Not everyone, he deduced was simply allowed entrance into Swift River, but he, an outsider and member of a fallen pack, had been welcomed after swearing his loyalty. This... this was what it must truly feel like to be apart of a pack. His bond with the others might have been nearly nonexistent but, here, in this very moment, calmly sprawled out before the heart of Swift River, he could not have felt more attached to this particular family... the Tainns who currently held the center of attention.

The yearling managed to smile at his parents, to even make the smile that had manifested on his face into a more genuine one the moments when Angier's touch let him know he was going to be 'okay' and his brother appeared at his side. Rihael lent him his customary greeting and Fen leaned back into him in return before focusing on what his siblings was fixated on. While Hael's plume-like tail excitedly flailed about, Fenru's remained still. He was somewhat afraid any movement on his part would startle the small, familiar creature who hurriedly approached them. "Familiar" in the sense that at one time, he remembered Hael being about that large [or small] in relation to their parents... meaning... Fen, at one point, must have been a tad smaller.

It was both amusing and frightening to think that he had been just about Torrel's size. He observed as the boy fearlessly romped forward. Now he definitely reminded him of Hael. His eyes went to the girls Aiyana and Rissa but his attention was snagged as his younger brother momentarily planted his small forepaws against his arms. A gasp caught in his throat as he braced himself, his ears flattening against the sides of his head. He was being attacked! His teeth gritted and he tensed his muscles. Muuum! the cub-like voice cried out in his head. Help! Trembling slightly he opened an eye just enough to see that he was not the only one who was being 'pummeled' by their baby brother's affection. A small whimper rose from his chest and he slowly lifted a large paw, finding himself unable to even touch a hair on Torrel's hide.

"S-s-stawwwp," he half-pleaded, half-mandated. "I... We got it. H-hi?"

If I go crazy then will you still
call me superman?