master of the house

{Borlla}, a thorn gets stuck in your paw.
Overcast — Current Temperature: 72° F/22° C, mid-morning

With her mate temporarily away from the lands, Borlla had resigned herself to Magnolia Glen. She'd done enough adventuring for the time being anyway, and found it perfectly fine that she should have to spend all her time with @Kyros and @Hypatia, not to mention her packmates. Her children would be vying for meat now, and she was more than happy to hunt down some little rodents for them. Perhaps when @Phineas returned, they could organize a hunt and the two pups could come along. As she wandered from the den, with promises of a yummy treat if they stayed, Borlla noted that it was overcast...again. The woman rolled her sunlit eyes and moved into a trot away from the densite. She would leave the cache full. Far more interested in hunting for her children, she put the densite behind her.

Borlla didn't have to go far to find a plentiful population of rodents, and she moved into an easy crouch. The pale Leader loved hunting. It was probably the only thing she could say she was any good at. Her passion was obvious in her near-perfect stance, and the way she danced, almost floated, over the earth towards her quarry. Nostrils quietly flared, identifying the animal in question: a mouse. And a rather fat one at that. With a graceful leap, the woman arched over the earth and landed dead on, using her incisors to carefully break the spine of the rodent. One down, one to go. Moving away from the killspot, she dug a little hole to hide her catch in, carefully moving dirt over it until she could come back.

Moving on, she circled back around to the den, falling easily into a crouch again as another prey scent flitted into her nose. But she'd hardly taken a few steps forward when a horrible pain shot up from her paw to her shoulder. A terrible yelp pierced the air and she pulled her front right leg up. She tried to move her head around to see what could have caused it, and after a few blink licks, she could feel the large thorn stuck in her pad. Hissing her displeasure and pain, she rose frustrated to her paws, and began to make her way back to the den site. Hopefully someone could help her get this dreadful thing out. The mouse would just have to wait. <b style="color:#32527a">

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Momma had said to stay here with Kyros and they would get something sweet. The idea was enough for the little lady to remain in the safety of the den. While outside made her nose burn in a faint sense, her toes dance and her tail wiggle she wasn't so sure about it. Especially now.... Daddy, he had kissed them good bye. Why the young girl was still trying to figure out what that meant Hypatia didn't have to wonder if he would come back. They always came back, and her mind was protected from scary things to fret about the what ifs.

While she was a little groggy when her mother had left, when the light had grew outside she found herself restless. An open mouth she slobbered on her brother's ears, nudging at the base a couple times. A whine was added, after her third try, but nothing happened. Blond face crumpled in her disappointment, but she felt her chest puff, her eyes narrowed looking for him to be pretending. He was rather still, and she decided to leave him alone if he wanted to sleep that bad. Tip toeing, eyes sweeping the den, she scooted closer to the mouth of their den, their sanctuary. So carefully her nose stretched past the dirt, the top of her head rising with folded ears, and wide eyes. Eyes that were changing, now more green with the hints of gold and orange soon to come. Hyp didn't know that, she was staring at the blue sky, thinking it reminded her of Kyros eyes, and the silver lady she had met not long ago. Tilting her head, her body shuddered from the cool breeze. The little girl was about to tuck inside when a yelp pierced the quiet morning. Afraid, she flattens to her stomach...waiting.

One..two..three. One..two..three.

Nothing happened, and her forehead creased in concern. "Momma?" Timidly the word breaks from her lips. She feels her legs shoot together, and she raises up cautiously on her tip toes. "Momma?" She tries more loud, but not sure if she dare leave her sanctuary. Hyp suddenly decides if that was Momma she is going to see. With Phineas gone someone had to look after her. Sucking up bit of sunshine to feed her heart, she places one paw then two, and down the small incline. Dark nose is struck with so many scents, she feels her eyes water, and her tail twitch. Momma's she knows, and begins to trail it without thinking of the complications.

(This post was last modified: Jul 23, 2013, 02:58 AM by Hypatia.)

The woman seethed. Even the faintest jostling of her paw, the slightest breeze of air caused her pad to sting. Was she beginning to get a headache? Her ears flattened against her head and she tried to move a bit faster. Admittedly, slower probably would have been better, but she'd promised her children a meal and she didn't want to lose her catch to the elements or any pesky lesser predators that might sneak over their borders. She could only shudder at that thought, but it was better, she supposed, if a fox nabbed her mouse, rather than come after her children. The den came into sight, and she slowed down finally, lips drawing back at the agony in her foot. Her bright eyes searched about for someone, just about anyone that could get their teeth on the thorn. Her nose set close to the earth, pulling in the scents. Despite other familiar, needed scents identified in her brain, the only she focuses on is Hypatia's.

Her eyes widened a bit, her heart skipping a beat. Padding quickly up to the den, she poked her nose in, seeing the faint silvery gleam of Kyros's fur, but none of the delicate blonde fur that belonged to her only daughter, Hypatia. Pulling back, she grit her teeth. Panicked, yes, but it was controllably. Her daughter's scent was strong, so she could not have gotten far. Perhaps she'd heard her mother's outcry and had gone to look. Borlla mostly felt frustration. She'd told the child to stay and she'd gone off on her own anyway, and obviously out of sight of the den. Turning on her heels, Borlla followed Hypatia's scent. The child seemed to be following Borlla's earlier scent, when she'd left earlier. So her suspicious were indeed fact. <b style="color:#32527a">"Hypatia! Ow...Where are you?" Her voice was lined with frustration, mostly at the pain in her foot, but partially at her daughter for making this all a bit harder. <b style="color:#32527a">

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Little steps, blond paws gingerly touching the ground, she tries to keep her balance. What if the trail fades? Anxiously, she begins to pick up the pace, her body swaying from one chubby limb to the other. One, two, and crash! Haunches met the ground, and she lets out a tiny grunt. Ouch! Glaring at the ground, with bewilderment etching across her light face, she decides to try again. This time a little more carefully. Teetering again, but going slower she starts again to track Momma. Little nose to the ground, she wonders were the other family is, thinking they would be much more better at this. Hypatia has no idea what howling is quite yet or she would have tried that. The blond girl continues, working her way behind the den, often her pale eyes glancing up for a sight of cream, and soft yellow eyes. Nothing greets her but the green foliage, the huge branches that raise from the ground. Briefly, she stops staring at them wondering why they were so, ginormous. Did everything have to be big?

Shaking her head, she let out a little huff, and continued thinking this was a lot of work. Momma had said to stay here, and she didn't like the idea Kyros was alone. That merely reminded her without finding Borlla she was too, and a little whine began to build in her throat, that could have turned to a cry. Suddenly, she could hear her name, her mother's voice! "Momma!" Loudly the young one calls, desperate, and terribly happy. Then swiftly she added,"I here!"

Little ears told her it sounded like Borlla was back where she had come from, and deciding it was worth the chance she made a wide turn, toddling on back. She really did not want to be in trouble. Staying in the den all the time was not her cup of tea, despite how she was quite fond of her safe haven. With mindful steps she traced around the den, coming about face to face with her parent. Light colored tail gave five quick wags, and her ears crumple back, giving a tiny kiss to the cream chin. Hyp remembered that bad sound, and sat herself down. "What ouch?" She inquired with a word her mother would have used for her own little injuries.

The shrill cry of her only daughter caught the wind and was carried all the way to the desperate mother's ears. She was not far, Borlla had been following properly. Picking up a fast pace, she felt her heart begin to slow, relieved at the fact that Hypatia had not met a terrible fate in the short time she had wandered off. The pair met finally, and Borlla dropped swiftly to her rump, accepting of her daughter's tiny kiss. Thankfully they were close to the dens now, the cream woman would not have to drag the blonde child back to the safe dark of the den. She rained her own worried licks upon her daughter, nosing at her limbs gently, as though she expected Hypatia to screech in pain from some unfortunate misstep on her little hunt to find Borlla.

<b style="color:#32527a">"Don't frighten me like that, Hypatia." The woman scolded, ears twisted back, though nothing but worry fueled her words. Borlla could only wonder if this was what Indru had felt those hundreds of times she'd run away from the den when she wasn't supposed to. Fear at the "what ifs", even more fear, perhaps, if the child had wandered so far that she could not hear her mother's searching words. And Phineas was not here. This did not mean Borlla was alone, but...The woman refused to wrap her mind around these worries and left them mangled in a pile in the back of her mind. Hypatia was fine. And her son was safe within the den. Both children were fine.

Exhaling, Borlla registered that Hypatia had asked her "What ouch?" and at the same time, she registered that there was a clear pain in her foot again that slowly trailed upward into her shoulder. She lifted her paw from the ground. <b style="color:#32527a">"I stepped on a thorn, dearest." Borlla chuckled, turning her injured foot slightly to let the child get a good look at the sharp bit of foliage that had lodged itself into her pad. <b style="color:#32527a">"And I can't seem to get it out." With a slight shake of her head, it suddenly dawned on her that perhaps Hypatia could assist her. Her ears tipped forward, and there was a gleam of curiosity in her sunlit eyes. <b style="color:#32527a">"Do you want to help me, Hypatia? Pull the thorn out for momma?" <b style="color:#32527a">

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Better late than never?

Hypatia's nudging sent him crashing back to reality, but he longed for the comforts in his dream. Within his trance like state he'd felt what it was like to have all four legs working under him, and the young cub wasn't ready to let it go so easily. Forcing himself still he ignored the prodding in favor of feeling whole again. Kyros succeed in allowing waves of sleep to drift over him once more, but this time it was different. He found himself not in his previous dream but in a nightmare. The ground underneath of him was shaky, making it even more difficult for the three-legged cub to stand. Hypatia appeared, but worry was written all over her face. Suddenly she bolted in the opposite direction, begging him to follow. He ran as hard as he could, but to no avail. His sister disappeared into the horizon, and he was alone. Resolving to find her, the ashen male pushed on. The ordeal was slowly proving to be a wild goose chase when a yelp filtered it's way into the seams of his subconscious. The cry however, did not come from his sister like he thought, but rather his mother. Panic immediately set in, and he ran for her. Unfortunately the harder he tried to run, the slower he went.

His sister's voice rubbed against his ears, shooting him awake. She called out for their mother, and bolted out of the den before Kyros even had a chance to ask what was going on. He replayed the yelp from his dream, and couldn't help but wonder if it actually happened. He felt his pelt ruffling with fear until a familiar scent engulfed him. Moments later a comforting face peered into the den, and relief poured over him in buckets. Thus far he had thought of his parents as being invincible. Nothing could touch them, and the realization that something might have was a terrible thing for the growing cub. If something could get his mother and father, then could something ever get him?

Pushing the residuum of his thoughts aside, he made to stand. There were more important matters to attend to. Rolling across the den floor he counted his way to a standing position; still seven. He could hear voices just outside the den, and his mother asking his Hypatia for help. Hoping that he could do something to alleviate whatever ailed his mother, the ashen male hobbled forward out of the den. Finding the pair just outside. His little voice peaked, filled with concern. "Whats wron' Mumma?"

Everything seemed alright, showered by Mother's warm licks, given the usual gentle prodding that made the shortest giggle leave her tiny frame. It was silenced, her blond ears crimping to the sides of her skull, while she held her head in shame. This wasn't the first time she had hear those words, and she wanted it to be the last. So the child didn't argue, but bobbed her head. Hoping to assure her, while she didn't know how her search had scared Borlla, she would try not to do it again. How well Hypatia would keep her promise was unseen..

Wide eyes gently peered up, slowly searching the cream face for forgiveness or small indication she wasn't going to make her go back to the den. Wasn't it safe now, outside with her? The golden pup suppressed a whine that wanted to creep into her throat. A tilt to her head, a smile edged onto her muzzle uncertain if it should be there.

"A thorn?" She paused to ask, locking her sight to the large paw, skimming it over till she found the nasty sticker. It made her own toes hurt, and she scowled at the dreadful thing. This sounded like a job for dad. The thorn would be crushed by his huge jaws, but again Hypatia knew that wasn't the answer today. Again her changing eyes found the bright yellow of her mom's. "Yes, I help," she answered, her voice determined. Scooting closer, her dark nose crinkled she could see it, and very slowly worked her way to grab it. Which after snapping on empty air, she managed to get the tip. A gentle tug she felt it move, but lost her grip in the same pull. Frowning, she did not notice Kyros until his voice reached her ears. Halfheartedly her tail gave a flick, but she was thinking.

"Kyros help?"

(This post was last modified: Aug 06, 2013, 01:52 PM by Hypatia.)

Holding her paw still in such an awkward position was difficult regardless of what happened to be lodged in the calloused pad. But keeping it still was key, especially since she'd asked Hypatia to assist her. Of course, it was possible that regardless of who she asked, she'd have to keep it still or risk losing a foot to some sharp adult teeth. Her daughter's tiny jaws seemed perfect for this little endeavor, however, so why not give the girl a chance? It was amusing to watch the child's face transform as she found the prick and scowled at it. A proper feeling. But Borlla smiled when the girl agreed to help. Her hindquarters shifted slightly to try and regain some semblance of comfort before Hypatia got her teeth around the thorn.

The woman's face twitched slightly as the child tugged at it. Effort had been made, but the thorn was still there, and her face relaxed when Hypatia lost her grip. She smiled sympathetically, <b style="color:#32527a">"Good effort." She offered the child a reward for trying, a playful nudge to the shoulder, before her eyes turned to Kyros. The sigh that left her was exhausted in nature, though not physically, but mentally. If Hypatia was not in the den, however, it was hardly fair to hold Kyros to it either. She'd simply speak to the both of them once this was done. It wasn't her intention to lock them in the den, but today had been something of a test of obedience. Clearly it hadn't worked out too well. But they had come to her aid, likely drawn by her unpleasant earlier cry.

<b style="color:#32527a">"I bet Kyros could try, too." She smiled at her daughter's suggestion, ears pressed forward then to address Kyros. <b style="color:#32527a">"There's a thorn in my paw. Do you think you could pull it out?" Her tail beat once against the ground, a quiet encouragement. <b style="color:#32527a">

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Kyros closed the gap between himself an his kin, taking note of the strange way his mother held her paw. There didn't seem to be anything visibly wrong with it, but he knew his mother wouldn't lie to them. Brilliant blue eyes watched as his Hypatia moved in close, seeming to nip at something, but apparently to no avail. His mother's soft voice played upon his ears as she praised his sister, before both wolves turned to him. For the very first time he felt the spotlight touching him, and to say the least it was awkward. He wasn't sure how to use it, or function with it's bright rays settled upon him. So rather than saying anything he simply nodded.

One small paw hopped forward, and the rest followed. His mother's tail beating on the ground gave him the courage to press forward, but he was afraid. If he couldn't pull the thorn out of his mother's paw, would it render him a failure? His whole life thus far he wanted a chance to be the hero. He wanted everyone to ask him for help, and now that the time was here, could he do it? The ashen male wasn't sure, but he had to at least try. If he couldn't even do this, then he knew that he might never have another chance to prove himself. In the greater outlook of things, even to his family, this moment might not have seemed like a big deal. It might be overlooked, or forgotten, but whatever the outcome, he was sure that he would hold it with him. This one trivial thing meant more to him than anything.

Finally reaching her paw he could inspect the damage. It seemed as though the thorn was really lodged in there. Carefully his muzzle reached out to the imperfection closing still-new puppy teeth around the end of it. Once he was sure that he had a good grip he began to pull. At first he tugged lightly, too afraid of hurting his mother, but when the offending item didn't come out he had to try again. This time he pulled harder, throwing all of his weight into it and wrenching it away from her paw. The sight left behind was horrifying, as he had never seen blood before. He stumbled backwards, dropping the thorn from his mouth. "I.. I sorry. I not mean to!" He didn't mean to hurt his mother, but he must have. Why else would there be blood? Would he be rejected now, forced to live as a waif?

sorry guys i couldn't come up with a better post. >.>

The child continued to frown, wishing she could have pulled it all the way out. The patient look on the cream face of Borlla's, the familiar smile brought her own lips upward, and she gave a wisp of a grin. Blond tail beating in a more easy, happy fashion she found herself filled with an ounce of pride. Even if the thorn wasn't completely out, she was helping to solve a delima, and hat seemed rather large and important in her eyes.

Expectantly, the girl looks to her brother, half beaming at him to help encourage him to try as well. It was up to them to help momma after all. Hyp figured she shouldn't say that aloud, and so she didn't. Kyros quietly bobbed his more pale head, seeming to take a moment to see what he could do. Hyp did realize he had a harder time getting around she never thought anything of it. She had yet to realize how uncommon it was. Until then, she scooted to the side of him. Watching his attempt with no idea how much it seemed to weigh upon him.

Leaning close, Hypatia was all for watching her big brother save momma from the wicked thing. He seemed to lose his grip as she had, instead of stopping he had another go. Tugging quite hard, Hypatia made a deliberate step to the side. Suddenly, when he pulled back there was icky red water! Light brows scunched together, was something else in there?

"Momma?" Worriedly, she asked, scooting over to Kyros for his support and hers.