He shouldn’t have been outside of the den. He knew that. Through careful observation and several failed attempts at escape he had also quickly learned that neither his father, nor ‘mother’ were ever very far away. He had left @Sahalie sleeping in the den (although no doubt she would wake at any moment and notice his absence) and boldly stepped out into the dappled light, turning his pale face  and baby blues up towards the treetops, his mouth slightly agape in obvious wonderment.

The crack of a branch was quick to draw his attention, making the child flinch and cower. He expected to feel his dark silent fathers teeth around his nape at any moment, carrying him back into the safety the dark offered. But for once the swiftly looming shadow did not come to blot out the sun. Instead he was left staring at the dirt between his creamy toes.

An ant emerged from the disturbed earth, swiftly charting a course up the young childs limb. He watched it with such focus he found himself cross eyed when it travelled up one side of his muzzle to perch on his nose. No warning was given before the sharp pincers dug into the dark flesh causing the boy to sneeze and hastily swat at his face. What an awful creature!

Tracks of dirt now coated his pale face like war paint. He would need it out here in the big scary world where seemingly even the ants were against his very existence.

Darrah was almost certain his mother had disappeared again, but refused to make a huge fuss abut it as he'd done last time. Instead; he'd take her leave as something positive and go meet his siblings for the very first time. The prince thought he'd caught glimpse of them before, but that measly little incident couldn't compare to the real thing. He yearned to see them up close. The Tainn needed them to know they had a brother, and a never ending stream of support had they ever found it needed. 'I love them so much already..' a faint smile played across his raven-esque muzzle as he swiftly trotted across the bend's territory.

The Tainn hadn't been so excited in, well, ever! In fact, he was so amused with the thought of meeting his siblings that he'd almost completely disregarded the tiny little pup standing just in his vision as he made his travels! 'Wait...' As realization hit, Darrah found himself slowly backtracking. 'A... A pup?' his eyes weren't deceiving him? 'A pup!!' It was a pup! And it was smack dab in the center of Oak Tree Bend! Did that mean? This was one of his new siblings? What was it doing outside of the birthing den? "H-Hey there little guy! Or girl... uh! Hault!" This was it, huh? The moment he'd been impatiently waiting for. "You're brave, aren't yah?" Approaching his new sibling, Darrah couldn't help but become aware of it's pallid white coat. 'Hmm. I thought I saw a white one but.. Guess I didn't really wanna believe it..' he sighed, though not necessarily unfavorably.'It's obvious you're not 100% Tainn little guy.. But I'll be damned if I don't treat you as such..'

This was possibly the happiest moment in the prince's life! Destiny brought the pup straight to him! 'Wonder where the other one is.. Ah, there's always later. For now I'll get acquainted with this little one!' tail wagging at full throttle, Darrah waited to see if the young thing knew yet how to speak.

Sahalie knew few things about the world. But she knew what it was like to feel brother's warmth against her, and she knew just as keenly the sensation of his absence. She awoke with a start and squinted hard in the darkness of the birthing den they had been living in. Her eye sight had developed rapidly over the last few days, but she could only vaguely make out the small shape of her brother climbing towards the brightness. Something lurched in her chest as she looked around with a panic. She did not see or smell or feel the warm creature that took care of them. Or the other one. They both came and went. But brother was always here. She whimpered. If big creature was not here, then who would stop brother? As her anxiety rose she let out another small yip and she willed her brother to return.

But his shape crested the lip of their small world and suddenly he was gone, swallowed by the light.

Shakily she got to her feet. Brother and her had spent some time testing these things out, pawing lazily at each other's faces and crawling over each other. Or well, Brother didn't particularly liked when Sahalie crawled all over him, but she thought it was pretty fun. Now though, it seemed she would have to use them to get all the way up there on her own. Certainly no one else was going to bring him back.

Minutes past.

A dark little bundle crawled uncertainly out into the wide world. It was overwhelmingly bright out here, and she found herself blinking, drowning in sunlight trying to see where Brother had gone.

"H-Hey there little guy! Or girl... uh! Hault!"

"Yip!" she screeched at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. The three wolves her world had contained until this day had been hushed, caring. This one was so strange in ways she could not describe. She didn't know what to make of it, but its loudness made her jump. Thoughtlessly she tottered towards her pale brother's side, bowling him over with her clumsiness, as if she were knocking him out of the way to protect him from this interloper. Brother. Her ears and tail tucked, the young girl stood over her brother in just the manner he disliked.