Paradise Falls am I acting normal? am I being fun?

One more experience, one more first. The day had come to move Indi to the pack den. She'd been telling Indi of the move in anticipation for it, hoping that the child would be well-prepared when the day arrived. It was a bittersweet feeling. Hazey knew she'd be safer there, that there would be more eyes and ears, that things were getting a little cramped in their current quarters, but she'd picked this den. She'd dug it out from an old fox den with her own two paws, and the thought of leaving it for the pack den was.. troubling.

Thus, she set out that morning to check the Falls' den one last time. She'd cleared it of suspicious-looking spiders, and the tiniest garter snake she'd ever seen, fussed over a loose rock or two, and once it was totally, 100%, completely ready, she called for Ryder, and made her way back home.

"Come, my little one. It's time." Because it had to be. Because she couldn't keep her daughter holed up in this tiny den with her forever.

Every opportunity to leave the den was an exciting one. When Indigo heard her momma calling from the outside, she immediately raised from the ground and crawled from its depths. She had grown quite a lot since her first venture outside, though still was small compared to the size of Hazelnut. The pup smiled and greeted her momma with a nuzzle. Her body wriggled with excitement against her own volition.

"Time! Time-time time-time," she sang happily. She couldn't quite remember what it was time for but that didn't really matter. She was just happy to be outside with her momma. Indigo stumbled and rubbed against the white pillars of Hazelnut's legs, her mouth hanging open in a grin. She was raring to go wherever Hazelnut went.

Ryder didn't mind sharing his daughter with his mother and Atara. The rest of the pack, though? Excepting Flair and Chan, they were nothing but strangers to him. Strangers who got-on better with little Miss Attempted Murder. What kind of company was that to trust Indigo with, to allow to influence her as she grew? No, he wasn't happy for this day to come at all. If it were only himself he needed to consider, they would never integrate her with the others.

What if she felt isolated because of it, though? What if their little family couldn't be enough and she resented them, him, for forcing it to be? What if it robbed her of the ability to socialize fully, to find herself? Things he'd... yet to achieve. If his impulses turned her into just another version of himself, he needed to avoid them as best he could. Indi deserved much, much better.

He obliged Hazel's summons dutifully, arriving at the place that had once been so nondescript and now held so many precious, irreplaceable memories. He could hear their daughter chirping joyfully, not a trace of her parents' trepidation to be found within her small body. Ryder tried not to look too doleful as he sauntered up to join them, silent but with a small smile in place upon his muzzle.

Indie, thankfully, seemed more than happy with the coming changes. Or at least, she seemed happy enough with the words her mother had spewed. "Yes. It is time." Hazel looked up at Ryder's approach. She wondered how he felt about it, if he preferred it. Certainly, the father would have more access to their child, which meant her own role being diminished. Yet, there was nothing she could do now to change any of this. Planting the happiest smile she could manage across her maw, Hazey asked to no one in particular, "Are we ready?"

"I'm ready!" Indigo bounded around wagging her tail. She was more than ready. The den had started to feel stifling as she grew, though she was its sole occupant now. She was raring to go, to see new things and trail behind her parents.

She took no notice of her father's more reserved mood. The little girl pressed up against Ryder's legs with an open-mouthed grin, her tongue lolling out as she panted excitedly. "Are you ready?" She nearly stumbled over his paws. Her grin turned onto Hazelnut, bright eyes sparkling. She bowed down to her mother and squeaked. "I'm ready! I wanna go." Her whole body wiggled with the force of her excitement.