Whisper Caverns We're Not Gonna Fall

For the lovely @Minka.

It had not been long since he had first ended up getting out of the den. As he lay in the comfort in his cave, he replayed the memory of the light outside of his little safe haven. The pain that had coursed through his eyelids, even as he shut them tight, before quickly growing use to the burning sensation that had once overtaken him. The young Thorben, however, was wise, and he knew that he would have to conquer this pain; for he would not be allowed to stay within his sweet, cozy den for his whole life. That was simply not acceptable and not taken lightly from his parents he was sure. Yuka also knew that if he stayed so would his sister, of who took pleasure in torturing him and bullying him on a regular basis. Eventually, he hoped he would outmatch his sister and become stronger than her so that he would be able to put her in her place… Not enough to hurt her though, even though Malia had done that to him a countless number of times, but he was pretty sure she had no ill intentions. They were family…and though he did not know the full meaning of family yet, he knew that they were to love and take care of one another.

Today, the young man was alone in the den. It seemed as though Mother, Father, and his bubbly siblings were already out and about, meaning he was alone in the den and free to do whatever he wished. Wagging his short tail at the realization, Yuka took pride in stumbling out of the den, readying himself for the sharp, stinging sensation of pain to greet him. The time it took him to adjust his eyes was worth the wait, as soon he could open his teal blue eyes to the world in front of him, a small grin playing over his lips. Hopping around through the territory seemed to be much more taxing than he thought it was going to be, but the boy took time in looking at his surroundings. His body would, every once in awhile, brush up against soft colorful things, and he took pleasure in looking upon these things that seemed to be connected to the ground that he stood on. It amazed him that the only way the thing moved was if he was brushing up against it, and unlike him did not move with a confident stride that only the son of an alpha could uphold.

His adventure did not stop there though. Eventually, Yuka came upon the sign of this clear area that was in the ground. Curiosity overcame the young pup and he cautiously crept forward, lowering his muzzle to the “ground” and inhaling. As he breathed in, whatever shot up into his nose shocked him and a tiny squeak erupted from his muzzle, scrambling away from the thing that was in front of him. Whatever the monster was…it was cold…and…and wet!! Yes, that was what it was called…whatever had gone through his nose was wet and cold. Meanwhile, the young pup was snorting and sneezing, trying hard to get the liquid out of his nose. How painful was this day going to turn out to be?

Thank you TABs

Minka had been resting under the one of the nearby willows, the afternoon too hot to do any kind of hunting, most of her tasks now took place at dawn and dusk. Her responsibility of the afternoon was to take care of Yuka as he had still been sleeping when his parents and siblings had gone off. Tawny sides moved in deep even breaths as she lay watching the meadow, her charge had not yet arrived but she would not allow herself to sleep, she had to stay diligent. The fae knew that pups could be there one second and gone the next without leaving a trace, and she certainly would not be the one who lose one of Narimé's pups. The sound of tiny paws upon the ground brought her attention to the entrance of the den, her golden gaze taking in the boys appearance to make sure he was alright. Her sights followed him as he hopped through the grass but she made no movement to leave her resting place, it was important for a pup to learn independence and responsibility and he never would with a nanny breathing down his neck for his every move.

When the silver boy approached the water the femme stood, moving a few paces forward, should he fall in the tawny woman would be there in a flash to scoop him out. Her golden eyes watched as he leaned forward, her body unconsciously moving another few steps closer to him, a whine leaking from her throat. Then his tiny body disappeared from sight though she could hear him snorting and sneezing and panic flooded through her. Within seconds strong legs had propelled the woman to where the boy lay snorting within the grass and the panic was quickly replaced by relieve to find that he wasn't drowning after all.

A small chuckled came from the woman's jaws as she observed the situation, comical now compared to what she imagined was happening. Leaning down she lightly touched her muzzle to the space between his ears, calling his attention to her. Minka wore a kind smile upon her face as she tried her best to explain, "Blow through your nose really hard, like this," then demonstrated by blowing long and hard through her own nostrils. The boy would know her from the times she had puppy sat, though she wasn't sure that he knew her specifically, or rather as just one of the "grown ups" that came to visit them so often.

fate hasn't finished

MINKA LEIGH

with you yet

by Sarah

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He was slightly surprised and deeply embarrassed when he realized someone had been watching him. It made him flush, but thankfully his fur was dark enough to conceal any deep red shades that would mark his skin. How had he not noticed this girl was following him? Mentally, the young boy scolded himself for not realizing that the woman in front of him was like his own personal babysitter. He never saw her watching Titan or Malia and sometimes he would wander if he was getting special treatment or if this lady just really liked him. From what he could remember he was sure that the lady’s name was Mina. He had never heard much of what his parents had said to her and had kind of missed her name but had eventually put together bits and pieces. Mina was not threat though, from what he could tell in the past she smelled like Narimé and Sloane (as he preferred to call them by their formal titles). When he felt her touch, his teal blue eyes immediately looked up towards her.

He was extremely confused as to what she was saying, but he could only assume that she was trying to help. Some words that she was saying were confusing to him, but when she finished with her words, the small Thorben slightly understood. ‘Like this’ meant that she would show him something and that he would have to do it in turn. So when Mina all but sneezed, Yuka immediately followed along, snorting. The water that had ended his nose came out in a stream and a small squeak erupted from his muzzle. Getting the wetness out of his muzzle hurt Wagging his tail, he looked up at the woman in front of him, his tiny voice extremely quiet to the point that she would almost have to lean in to hear him, "Ank yew, Mina."

WHISPER Caverns

TEMPLATE © NDA OF RCR & RPG-D

Thank you TABs

Minka saw his confusion at her words but was relieved when he followed her actions, his nose might burn a little but all in all he would be okay. The fae's heart swelled at his tiny voice, Mina? He must mean Minka, the k would be hard for him to say, she was okay with being known as Mina to the small child. Golden eyes looked over him to make sure he really was alright, that he hadn't injured himself in anyway, before smiling a warm smile to him. Her tawny tail beat like a drum in the air,"You're welcome Yuka, are you okay?" She was sure he was at least externally, she couldn't tell how he felt on the inside unless he told her, for all she knew he could have injured his throat or nostrils.

Chuckling slightly at his original thoughts about the water she could see how he had become confused, he would have only seen the other wolves leaning in, but now actually drinking it. The learning curve for pups had always fascinated her, she couldn't remember being so small that she didn't know to drink water but she knew there was a point where she had been. Looking back to the small pond she beckoned the boy closer, "You drink it, with your tongue kind of like when you lick yourself." The femme didn't know if he understood any of the words that she was saying, but puppies couldn't learn words until they had heard them before so she chose to talk to them as if she was talking to an adult and explaining anything they didn't know after. Demonstrating she lowered her head and took a few laps on the cool water so he could see how you properly drank water.

fate hasn't finished

MINKA LEIGH

with you yet

by Sarah

click!

This lady in front of him seemed quite nice, but she was definitely not as pretty as his mother. Flicking his short tail behind him, he watched the lady in front of him as she spoke and though he didn’t fully understand what she was saying, he nodded his head, picking up on the word ‘okay’ that he and his siblings commonly used. Storing all the words she was saying into his brain, even though he was sure to forget them later, he grinned up at her, his tail wagging. His teal blue eyes tracked her as she made her way towards where the wet thing had recently hurt his nostrils. Tilting his head, he watched as her tongue seemed to stroke the surface and curious himself he stepped forward. Considering that Mina did not end up coughing and sputtering he licked the surface, joy flooding over his features. He did not end up on the ground again and this caused even more happiness to run through him.

In the end, Yuka ended up jumping up and down in happiness. A small grin overcame his features, his lips pulled back to show his pearly white canines. Rearing back on his legs he pushed his front paws against Mina’s chest, his small voice overcome with sudden excitement, which caused his usual quiet self to become louder, "I id it, Mina! I id it!" He ended up in a fit of giggles and he rolled over on his back, hoping that in his mind he somehow made this discovery before either of his siblings had. It would prove to them that he was smarter than they thought he was. And just like that his earlier happiness was gone replaced with what could be called an almost serious expression.

WHISPER Caverns

TEMPLATE © NDA OF RCR & RPG-D

Thank you TABs

Joyous laughter filled her as she watched Yuka bounce with the pure excitement at such a simple thing. Oh to be so young and innocent again, to live in a world where the only thing that hurt was when your siblings played too hard. Minka herself had been born the runt and she had never really grown into becoming a large wolf like her siblings had. Yuka had already grown so far yet he had so far to grow, his home life would be different from her, the tawny woman would make sure of that. She had never had anyone to stick up for her as a pup, no one who related to what she was feeling, she had felt like an outcast in her own family.

Paws connecting with her chest broke her from the mental rambles that had began to run rampage in her head. Golden eyes stared back into puppy blue, and the sound of the boy's voice reached her ears as the fae smiled proudly down upon the pup. Gently bopping her nose against his she laughed once more, "You did do it, very good Yuka!" the woman stressed the word did, hoping next time the boy used the word he would pronounce it properly.

Seeing his serious expression Minka force her own face to become a somber mask, perhaps he would like learning something else. Looking back to the water of the small pond the tawny woman saw the tell tale ripples of fish just below the surface. They would probably be very small based on the size of the pond, but a small fish would be something that his siblings had never caught before. Looking back towards the pup the femme smiled once more, this time encouragingly, "Yuka would you like to learn to fish? If you can catch one you could bring it home to your mother." Slowly she stepped into the pond, only until it reached her ankles before turning back to the boy.

click!

Sorry, I fail at life.

Sometimes the young boy did not know why he could not enjoy himself like his brother and sister did. Everything they did seemed to be without choice and of just little nature while everything he did was well planned out and had as much choice in it as he could control. He enjoyed being in control and if that meant that he couldn’t do things like play around like his siblings did than that was fine. Yuka never wanted to find himself thrown into a dangerous situation where he wasn’t sure what was going to happen and when he could possibly be in extreme danger. That would have ended up bad and he could get badly injured with that. He would have also had to come up with immediate decisions, which his brain was not quiet use to yet. He did however want to learn as fast as possible, so he took Mina’s words and stored them in his head to remember. Blinking his teal blue eyes he tilted her head with his words, they were a long string of them but he recognized the words ‘bring’ and ‘mother’ and was curious as to what the woman meant. So letting his curiosity take over him, he dipped his head once in a brisk nod.

The prince honestly had no clue that he was actually royalty among these wolves and that they actually had to treat him with utmost respect. None the less, the wolves within his family that he had met so far were quite decent and though it wasn’t very many and Mina was the first he actually came into contact with, he had a generally good idea that Narimé and Sloane would not allow anyone who was a danger to him close. They loved him and they wanted him protected and Mina was protecting Yuka right now by just being with him. Pushing his inner thoughts away, the young man approached the water and wadded into it, to the point where he could stand stably and watched Mina from where he was, curious as to what the large lady was doing.

WHISPER Caverns

TEMPLATE © NDA OF RCR & RPG-D

Thank you TABs

Golden eyes watched carefully over the silver pup, making sure that he did not wander too deep into the pool or lose his footing. After being assured that Yuka was indeed safe where he stood the huntress looked back to the still water below her, though her ears remained firmly planted backwards to take in any noise that the pup would make. Fishing had never really been the fae's specialty so it took her a few tries, but finally her teeth clasped around the round belly of a salmon, piercing into it's sides. Taking care as to not bite deep enough to kill the fish the cinnamon woman turned around and brought the fish back to where the pup stood.

Slowly lowering her muzzle Minka placed the fish back in the pond in front of Yuka's paws, the thing was all but dead and instead of trying to retreat it wobbled and rolled pitifully in the water, occasionally splashing with it's tail. Smiling down at the boy the woman began her lesson, "This is called a fish, it's food and they're very tasty, especially in the spring. They only live in the water and too catch them you must stand very still so they will get close to you." Golden eyes looked once more to the fish that rolled between them, moved more by the slight current than by any of its own doing.

Looking back to Yuka the lesson continued, "Once they get close to you, you must be very quick and grab it in your teeth until it stops moving, then you can take it back to land and eat it.....why don't you give it a try with this one?" Anticipation filled the huntress as she watched the boy waiting to see his reaction, though fishing wasn't her specific love, she did love everything that hunting entailed and she always had. Perhaps this pup would be the same way.

click!

Yuka watched the woman’s moves attentively, his teal eyes trying to take in as much as his young mind could comprehend. There was something about the thrill of hunting that he never felt…never thought about thinking about. He loved the way nature moved around him too much to ever think too much about killing another being…but now here with Minka and watching her do it so naturally it almost made him sick to his stomach. Never could he imagine eating the meat of another living being and yet the wolves within his pack did it so easily, almost without a thought. Didn’t they believe that the nature around them was giving them something and that maybe…just maybe they didn’t have to do what they did? It was an extremely confusing topic for a boy his age and it was why his thoughts did not go into too much detail. His head already hurt! When Minka came over to him with a fish within his jaws he watched in horrification as she laid the still flipping fish at his feet. How could she do this to the creature in front of him? It had a life too. His pack mate was torturing this poor creature and when she gave him the “command” to finish off what was their prey, Yuka did so without hesitation. He figured it would be better to end its suffering before anything could get any worse. Firming he grabbed the still moving fish in his jaws and crunched down with as much force as he could muster. When he was sure that the beautiful corpse was no longer living he placed the deceased creature on the bank that he was standing on. He then raised his head, a disappointed gleam in his eyes. Opening his mouth, he spoke for the first time to Minka, <b style="color:#2cb79f">”Whad you ‘et it suffa?” His brows were scrunched together as he stared up at Minka, his question honest and serious. No creature deserved to go through what the fish just went through. He had respect for nature.

Thank you TABs

The woman watched with pride on her face as the boy stared at the fish in what she assumed was concentration, it wasn't until he turned and betrayal burned on his features that Minka realized her mistake. Shocked the tawny woman took a step backwards, never before had she seen such accusation on such a young face, such disappointment from a pup shook her down to her very core. Never before had the huntress been so appallingly unable to relate to a child before and with that one look from Yuka her heart shattered.

Softly Minka shook her head from side to side, trying to clear her tangled thoughts, how could she explain to someone so young the workings of life as a wolf? To most it came naturally and they learned to hunt without a second thought, but it seemed that Yuka would not be the usual case. Clearing her throat the woman stared hard at the boy, concern flitting across her features, "Yuka.....it's the way of life for a wolf to eat flesh and meat. It's the way it always has been, and in order for the young of the pack to learn sometimes prey must suffer for a few moments. Without the learning process our species would die of starvation." Minka finished, looking hard at the boy once more to see if he would understand what she was saying. Her thoughts filtered back to her days as a yearling when she had become a huntress apprentice, following Knox without thought and absorbing all of his tactics and suggestions like an eager sponge. Stepping slowly from the pond the woman gestured to the fish without looking upon the steel coloured boy, "Come now, you shouldn't stay near the water without an adult." her tone left no room for questions! it wasn't safe near the pond, and with a brief glance to check if he was following she made her way away from the water.

EXIT

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