November 10th; Morning, after sunrise; Snowfall.

For the past few nights Borden had been anticipating snow. Autumn was quickly slipping away and the chilled winds kept the thought of winter at the forefront of his mind. He had retired the night before at the front entrance of the den, barely bothered by slight wind that had ruffled his fully-acquired winter coat. By the time he had awoken he lifted his head to realize that he had been fully covered by a blanket of fresh, powder blue snow. He stretched forward before fully rising to his feet, shaking himself to 'dust off' the snow on his back.

He smiled, drinking in the forest around him. The snow was still falling but the wind from last night no longer blew; and while the sun struggled with all its might to shine through the thick cloud cover, it merely hung in the eastern sky as a dim white circle. His eyes went to the mouth of the den and was rather amused that none of the cubs had tried to attempt their usual escapades. He strode over to the back entrance that Jaysyek and Aisling had made last spring. No paw prints there either. This day would fully take them by surprise then, or so he hoped.

Walking back to the front tunnel he let out a beckoning bark into the shadowy depths.

The snowfall gave the forest a new look, and it felt like a fresh start. When Trisden first stepped out and saw the white blanket, untouched, unspoiled, with nary a pawprint in sight, she felt loathe to ruin it. But after that first step - and the soft crunch - a grin swiftly grew on her face, and the next few minutes had been spent in childish abandon.

It was not surprising that her first thought had been of her younger siblings, and how they would react to seeing snow for the first time. It brought a silly giddiness to her that swept her off her feet and sent her skipping in the direction of their den.

Her coat covered in flakes and clumps of snow - a blatant confession to her brief game - she was smiling broadly when the area came into view, and so merry was she that the sight of Borden did not dampen it at all. She wondered if they had shared a thought as regards the weather and the puppies, and when she heard his beckon, she hazarded a guess that they had.

Ryvet emerged, and Trisden could not help but laugh at him as he tested the snow with a paw and pulled back. Tail wagging, she approached them - her head down, out of respect for her father - and made a point of putting each of her forepaws in the snow, enjoying the cool on her hard pads, and grinned at Ryvet teasingly. If I can do it...

The temperature had long dropped and Jaysyek had waited for this day. The first snow of the season. It came in the night, sprinkling the forest, greeting them with a crisp,white morning. She was not exactly asleep, but hanging onto it's warmth and quiet. Though it was morning it did not seem so by the darkness that hung close. Shifting, to curl herself up in a firmer ball a bark from her mate, had her head rising instead.

She had surely heard Borden bark, and let her eyes try to adjust to what she was seeing outside. White. Ryvet was the next thing she spied, drawn to the outside by wondering looks. A smile, Jayse playfully nudged him to go ahead. It was safe, and he should go. She stifled back a chuckle as his paw first met the frosty ground. A sharp yawn, she gave the remaining pups licks to their ears to entice them to wake. Then she herself rose. They would notice her gone, the warmth that drew from the den. She crawled fourth, striding out to stretch her quiet muscles. Feeling a bit more awake she wandered to her mate's side, and affectionately she licked Borden's cheek. Her tail wagged to see Trisden coming to greet them today, as she looked happy to watch her siblings encounter this new thing.

He was exhausted after playing with Ryvet the night before, and was sleeping quite soundly. He had no idea what the adults were waiting for, when they looked to the sky, and noticed the nip of the wind. He did realize his coat had started getting thicker, and warmer and his mother had told him it was because of the month's ahead. Renier did not like the sound of that. It was already cold when the sun started to linger away.

Stretch of his paws, feeling the first starts of awakening, he heard a loud bark, and jumped in his sleep. Who was that? A lift of his sleepy head, his eyes opened half way. He could not quite see the face, but was sure it carried the mask of his father. His mother's wet kisses were felt, and he wondered why they for a change, were waking them up. A sleepy yawn, he flicked his tail, and went to pop his brother. Ryvet had already beat him outside. A frown, and prick of his ears he trailed his mother. He was greeted with a white world of what? Furrowed brows, he stuck close to his brother, his golden eyes glaring at the frosty ground. Ryvet would ask the question he wanted, and he would shift his eyes to look at his parents when he saw a face familiar, but not. He forgot all about the white, staring at her wondering why she had father's face. Wait that was right, he had been told they had an older sister as strange as that was. He wasn't sure he liked the idea how much bigger she was than him too. He was soon to catch up, his body already lengthy and awkward.

Feeling the need to be brave, he placed a cream foot in the mess and found it was certainly cold, and wet. A crinkled muzzle, he continued to test it out while keeping an eye on his sister. The more he pounced, and shifted in the snow the more he liked it. With a daring stride he meandered to Trisden, and let out a bark while wagging his raised tail.

A bark drifted through her dreams and pulled the little wolf into wakefulness. Opening her eyes and peeking over the fluffy scarf of a tail draped over her face, Sibyl blinked at the white ocean that spanned the forest around her curled form. Snow? Her eyes widened and she craned her head up to look at the pale grey sky and the small white flakes that drifted down from it. Indeed it was snow. She had nearly forgotten what the cold white stuff was like. She had wondered how the winters would be in the north, and she supposed it would be alright if the rest of the season carried on like this. But it was only November, and bound to get colder she realized with a shiver.

Sibyl got to her feet and shook the damp clumps of accumulated snow from her fur before looking over towards where that bark had come from. Borden was crouched before the den, calling forth the sleeping pups. Soon after Ryvet, then Jaysyek trailed by Renier emerged from the den. Sibyl gave a curious glance to the yearling, who she had only seen around the territory but had not actually met the girl yet. Sibyl stood still for an unsure moment, trying to make up her mind, before frolicking over to the others, sending up great plumes of the fresh powder behind her. "Morning," she greeted, her tail wagging once she'd stopped.

A summoning bark broke through the haze that had her dreaming of chasing an elusive hare. White as a cloud and as fast as the wind, a blur of limbs as it raced through the underbrush of the forest. Borden's familiar voice reached out and into Taima's subconscious, startling her dream hare across the shallow part of Jasper Rocks. She felt Jaysyek's tongue lap against one of her ears. The masked girl's eyes fluttered open and with a start she lifted her head, feeling now against her the cold air that had taken the place of her brother's snoozing bodies. She shook her head to shake the sleep from her gaze, watching the blurry form of her mother rise.

She let out a yawn then eyed the ashen ball of fur not far from her. Calla was still asleep. Getting onto all fours, she tiptoed past her sister. She would be up soon enough. With wary gold-ringed pupils she eyed the world outside, past Ryvet's shoulder where the familiar trees stood in a ring around them, giants blanketed in... clouds? had taken their place.

Confusion flickered onto her dark mask but without hesitating a moment more, she hopped curiously into the snow to step to Jaysyek's side. Fully awake now, she nuzzled her temple to the snowy leader's chin, stepping forward to touch the tip of her nose to the underside of Borden's jaw - a gesture she had picked up by constantly watching and spying on the pack when they interacted with her mother. Though she was not particularly fazed by the peculiar white stuff at first, it occurred to her that it was actually everywhere... Her eyes widened as she glanced up to the gray sky. The stuff was coming from the sky!

Her brows furrowed. Clouds, she mentally decided, studying the odd indents in the ground where her paws had been. As if to experiment with the behavior of this new element of nature, she sidestepped back over to Ryvet then turned about to romp after Renier, whose interest had fallen onto a strangely familiar face. Her fascination over how her footsteps visibly followed her only managed to last until she set her gaze upon the young woman who looked... just like Dad.

She looked to Renier and took a step back, taken by surprise. So, this was the older sister Mom had told them about. Her wagging tail stilled above her rump and her confidence flared back up in following Renier's example. She let out a loud, eager woof in greeting.

The smile on his face lifted his masked features as the sound of someone stirring reached his ears. He was greeted by Ryvet's gaze, the green- and blue-irises reflecting something akin to concern back at him. Though it had dawned on him some time ago that his sons and daughters were no longer the small balls of fluff they used to be, pride overshadowed the heartbreak. Not only had all four of them had come this far, but he had also gone the distance and managed to keep his word. His black-tipped tail waved.

"What is it Da?" Ryvet's question made him light up from within, fill every nook and cranny in his soul with the sort of joy that only came from parenting. The endearment of "Da", it seemed, only stemmed from Ryvet and with it came the constant rapture to be his parent, his father. "Snow," he answered, still grinning as he watched his son lift a forepaw to test the frosty white stuff.

Soon after Ryvet made an appearance, Trisden approached. His gaze tore away from his youngest son's surprised expression and he merely smiled back at his eldest daughter. Where they stood with one another was still a bit on the vague side and any time they crossed paths it felt to him like a battlefield was being laid out, but he still held firm to the love he had for and owed her. Today, seeing her smiling face was more than enough to signal to him that this meeting would at least have a very good start. She eyed her brother and he watched as she dared him with a grin to come out and play.

Jaysyek was the next to rise and as she encouraged him out into the open, Borden slowly sat down. His eyes closed briefly as she planted a kiss to his cheek. As soon as Jaysyek had joined him the scene before them began to quickly unfold. Renier was next to emerge from the den, and although the sight of the snow also took him aback, the shock did little to stop him from meeting Trisden for the first time. The voice of another tugged at his ear and he turned to acknowledge Sibyl as she arrived. She gamboled closer to them and he gave her a welcome nod.

The patriarch's gaze returned to the den to catch Taima's figure over Ryvet's shoulder. She barely paused to take in the scene before leaving her sibling's side and stepping over to give a formal 'good morning' to both him and Jaysyek. Taima didn't stay for long, however, and as quickly as she had ambled over, she sent a rather forward 'hello' to Trisden. His eyes followed her as she found her place next to Renier. Borden couldn't help but to allow himself to grin again, in hopes of not letting the heartache get to him. In Trisden's absence, he realized, her younger siblings, so alike in birth order and coloration, had taken her place. His brows lifted in uncertainty as he waited for Trisden's reaction, hoping with all his might this encounter would bring nothing but the impression that perhaps she really could be more than just pack and his and Jaysyek's daughter... maybe an older sister and much-needed role model for her siblings.

She was still a stranger to them. She knew it. It was her own fault, due to her own obsession with keeping herself busy - and fairly isolated as a result - in order to make herself useful to the pack. She feared getting too close to her younger siblings because... well, she had been close to her littermates. Now she was alone.

Fearing a repeat of Theo was foolish, for she knew better. But Hocus' rejection still cut deep, and she didn't want to encourage anyone else to resent her as he had. If she was going to be a sister again, she was going to do it right. It just... it wasn't as easy as it sounded.

Or perhaps it was.

She whined quietly as her mother emerged, tongue lapping the air for a moment in place of kissing her cheek, wanting to stay and provoke Ryvet. The happiness she saw on the white face she loved so much brought a fresh wave of joy to the young Lyall, and the encouragement that this was right - no, this was overdue. Renier's head popped out, and Trisden smiled at him too, seeing so much familiarity in the faces before her. He tested the snow, to which she laughed softly, her tail still swaying encouragingly behind her. An ear turned at the sound of someone approaching, and she recognised it as the female second - dipping her head in customary respect, Trisden again realised the stranger she was at the curious look on the second's face. To be such an alien in her own pack, her home, her family...

A sister appeared swiftly afterwards, and following the greeting of their parents, made a beeline for Trisden just like Renier. Smiling, Trisden returned the bark, and happened to catch Borden's gaze. The anticipation she saw there nearly broke her heart, if for love, and she suddenly felt a surge of admiration for the man. He was holding true to his promise. He had not been there for her, but he was making amends now. If she was allowed to try and make up for past mistakes, then so was he, and she had to respect him for that.

Softly she smiled again, just for him, a small gesture of reassurance and camaraderie, before falling to her elbows, tail high in the air, and snapped at the air in front of Renier's nose, growling her amusement all the while as she sprang forwards, reaching past to nip at Taima's cheek as she bolted, wanting to provoke them into the chase.

Settled to her haunches, her white coat long prepared for this cold she had her eyes on the children until she heard another familiar voice. Turning her head, she tipped her head to the tawny and red lady. "Good morning, Sibyl," she said with a broad smile. She then cast a glance to the yearling Lyall, "This is our eldest daughter, Trisden." She had thought she had seen a question in her eyes, and figured a proper introduction might help to ease confusion.

Renier drawing from the hideaway she watched him with an faintly amused expression, and noticed that Taima seemed quite in wonderment about it all. She always had to keep up with her brothers, and Jaysyek planted a quick lick to her crown in returned greeting. Then off she was again in trail of Renier to greet Trisden. This was one Jayse watched more closely, hoping this would go over smoothly.

Trisden seemed ready to embrace this, as if she had missed out and would not let this chance slip by her. She could not have taken a better chance getting them to play chase with her.as she struck up the game with playful growls. Would she realize how simliar they all were? How determined and protective? A wag of her tail behind her rump, she glimpsed to her mate, and rested her head against his shoulder to watch their children play. She was tempted to join, but wanted for once to merely witness this.