Willow Ridge SkyWorld

The day had seemed pretty unremarkable to Rowan until he smelled more commotion at the densite than usual, and promptly headed off to investigate. It had been a few weeks now, hadn't it? Were the new princes ready to venture beyond the den? Deacon, Castiel, and Greer, he recalled Asriel saying. They were not his brothers, but he couldn't help but be excited to meet them by extension.

He was not the first to arrive. Elettra he could tell by smell and common sense was in the den with her brood, and he recognized Asriel within the den's opening. A female with a dark coat accented in silver and gold maintained her distance from the den. Rowan faltered for a moment, but then passed the wolf, lowering his head in respect as he did. Her smell resembled Elettra's. Besides them there was an unrecognized male - perhaps a new joiner - and another darkly colored one (more Archer?) close by. For a second he parted his jaws to introduce himself, and then noting the nature of the interaction between the two males, promptly shut them. Maybe another time.

The Attaya boy instead rounded off to the other side of the den, keeping a respectful distance from the mouth despite his excitement and settling upon his haunches. There were Archers-a-plenty here, and he assumed they would get first dibs on the little ones... but Rowan would wait patiently. From his distance he could vaguely see the bobbing of too-big puppy head silhouettes within the darkness of the den. He could not contain the way his tail wiggled excitedly in the grass. If one were perhaps to shuffle its way in his direction, he would be ready to receive the little prince.

Didn't think with so many people, there was a posting order? Everyone just come, come and be marry! (Or argue, whatever. Lol)

Castiel was standing, Deacon found himself squirming around the den floor in order to make it into his brother's direction and Greer, trying to desperately to mimic Castiel though with such long, flowing limbs, they got the better of him. The Leader of Willow Ridge was well aware of the crowd of wolves stirring just outside the pack den, offering her and her children room to exit the Infirmary, out into the pack den and then, into the open air from there. Elettra's ears twitched, picking up on some of their words, her muzzle taking in their scents. There seemed to be one wolf even that she did not know in the ranks just yet. For the most part, however, the mother's attention was directed to her newest litter. Though she was protective and cautious, Elettra had little fears that her new children would not be safe amongst her pack mates. After all, much that were gathered here was family - brothers, nephew, sister... Even Rowan, who had just joined them, was trusted enough to be amongst the group.

Elettra's body remained low, a half crouch as she kept close to her children, urging them on. Castiel held an obvious excitement within him, a happy willingness to play and explore the world. Elettra touched her muzzle to Greer's rump then, moving her nose up between his long back limbs in hopes that in a second attempt, she might be able to balance her son who maneuvered in a manner a new born doe might when trying to walk for the first time. Hopefully stabling Greer (or perhaps not) Elettra lets go, knowing fully well in time they would learn but they would not gain the strength needed in their muscles if she was to coddle them. She moved then, walking out of the pack den and past Asriel into the open air with a deep breath. If anything, her children would be more eager to move out of the den now that their mother was not at their side.

Her attention is swift upon her members, darting amongst them. She did not know the coppery hued, smaller male, though did not take to address him as it seemed her nephew was placing an assertion of dominance upon him, to be higher amongst the not only Willow Ridge hierarchy, but the Archer one. There was Rowan, which she came to with a wave of her tail, nipping at his cheek and lifting her tail high in a friendly, yet dominant display. And Sorya. Her little sister, just as recently joined with Xetor. They looked so much alike and Elettra would meet her 'twin-like' sister's side with a rouse of gruff mouthing towards her ear and muzzle.

He smiled softly when the male noticed him and gave a stare back in return. A warning on the strangers part not to mess with him. Tor wasn't dumb, he wouldn't start a full on fight here. Just entertain himself in the dance of dominance with small gestures and words. Then when the male spoke to him the male flicked his tail once and raised one of his dark brows questioning the male.

"Has your work been finished for the day? To be lounging about so lazily? " Tor felt a prickle of fur raising on his neck as the man continued to stare back, but true to form, he let loose no growl, curse, or snarl from his throat. Only calm words came and went as the young Archer waited for the man to right himself.

He noticed the presence of another join them and ignored the wolf for now. The presence also smelled of male wolf that Tor had not met yet. I'll get to him after greeting this man.

"Ah! So sorry! I'm being rude... My name is Xetor Archer, nephew of Elettra and Sorya over there.." Tor raised his voice for the others around them to hear then gestured with his tail pointing to where Sorya's scent was coming from in the clearing, yet the whole time his amber and gray gaze had not left the unnamed wolf. He smiled once more in a charming fashion before adjusting his stance to a stiffer one.

And if the fatigued man decides to escalate this further I will have to decline. Fighting in front of pups is no good way to meet them I suppose... His thoughts careened through his head as one of his black ears turned towards the den entrance where he could hear the sounds of Elettra and the little ones.

(This post was last modified: May 24, 2014, 04:56 PM by Karpos.)

A few weeks had passed since the birth of Lady Elettra's children. Adelaide had continued about her business, collecting herbs for her own stores, occasionally passing the mother's den for safety's sake. In time, she might be in charge of the bundles, and only wanted to remain aware and somewhat vigilant, even if there was little to be vigilant of. She had just returned from a round of collecting when she noticed a ruckus about the dens. Her packmates had gathered, and she could smell the children. The woman began to vibrate, and it was lucky that their backs were to her, or else they might have worried for her sanity. No, she was completely in her head, but simply unspeakably excited. It felt like ages since she'd last seen the tiny faces of the newly born. In fact, the last she had seen of a child had been her own, though they had no spark within them.

Her tail swayed erratically behind her back, parallel with the earth as she quickly approached the crowd. It was not her desire to seem pushy, but she found a place just past Rowan, a nice little opening. She offered a wide smile to her leader, her tail swaying against the grass as she settled to her haunches. Excitement closed her throat, and she could not find the ability to speak. Instead, she waited with the utmost patience for the children to approach her. There might be time in the future to approach with more vigor, but today simply was not that day.

Lurking until the end of July - Please PM/tag me to get my attention

As more wolves began to occupy the area outside the den, Lunas began to become uncomfortable. He didn't know everyone in the pack yet, and it was a fact which sent ripples of unease along him. Using his nose, he took a quick role call. Two females, one is Adelaide, the other must be Sorya. One other male, unless you count the pups and Prince Asriel. Returning his wandering attention to the stranger, he heard the lad ask why he was lounging about. He would have given the man his answer if he hadn't gone on, but Lunas couldn't complain about that too much, because he had been interested to know the name of this wolf. In the short relative silence that followed Xetor's introduction, Lunas provided his own introduction. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Xetor. I'll say, the Archer family is so large, I feel like I meet a new one every day!" His words were meant to be humorous, but not all wolves had a great sense of humor, so he didn't yet know if he had achieved his goal or not. "My apologies as well, for not introducing myself sooner. I am Lunas Axxya. My ancestors many generations ago came from Relic Lore, but I am the only one in many generations to return. I must admit I joined the pack fairly recently." He continued. In the copper man's experience, politeness could do a lot of good things for you. Then he remembered Tor's first words. "As it is, I am a Scout, and am still new to the pack and how it works, so if I can be of assistance any more, I would be more than happy to---", Lunas cut himself off, having noticed Queen Elettra exit the den, and continued, "Oh, look! Perhaps soon the pups will be coming out!" Although Lunas was considerably smaller than most of the Ridge wolves, he nodded to Xetor and gave a quick wag of his tail before settling down to seem less tall and frightening to the young pups.

More noises and scents surrounded him. Some seemed soft and soothing while others startled him. As more movement was caused from the blobs in front of him and slowly moved his head back and forth. Taking in each blob. Some seemed bigger while others were smaller. Others high up on long stilts and some close to the ground. His interest was brought up when his other brother moved towards him. It seemed both of his siblings were trying to use their awkward stubby legs. Although he was a bit scared on the idea of actually walking he would proceeded to try.

Sliding his body out his hind legs lifted his rear into the air first. It felt weird to the young child but he knew he couldn't stop. It was now or never. Forcing his awkward stubby front legs to push himself upwards he made it. Standing seemed to be easy now that he knew how to move. Though it was moving that would be the hard part. Lifting up on paw his balance seemed to be washed away. Tripping slightly he collapsed downward with a small yip. Deacon was certainly not pleased with this way of movement. Perhaps sliding around would suit him best for a while.

As more blobs made their presence known to the new prince he twitched his tiny nose. Loosing interest in the previous blurb he was moving towards he crawled over towards @Adelaide - though her name was unknown to the young boy - she seemed like a nice blob. The blob was close to the ground and low like himself. Sliding along he slowly inched closer and closer to the blob.

the princes of willow ridge

Deacon & Greer & Castiel

have you checked out my player preferences?

It was not long before their peppered Leader emerged from the den. Her good spirits were contagious and Rowan found his tail waving pleasantly in the grass as a result. As Elettra nipped at his cheek the yearling would press his ears back and slip his tongue beneath her chin, whining a low note of sincere congratulations that he had not been able to express to her during her birth. Then she was off again, with so many more pack members to greet, and Rowan allowed his attention to return to the little bobbleheads coming out of the den as well. He flicked an ear, vaguely catching some names from the other males speaking, but it was difficult to focus on his grown pack mates when there was so much adorable happening before them.

With a huff he allowed his forebody to come slowly to the ground, hoping that being on their eye-level might entice one to give him a little love. Something about the innocence of youth had a tight hold on his heart, even if his own had been swallowed by black water so early on. Each day he cherished his pack more and more, but this was not their special day, now was it? Slowly he began to sneak forward, keeping his limbs tucked and his belly to the ground. He came parallel to Adelaide and then stopped with a side-glance to the female. Rowan didn't like pressing beyond where he was welcome; he was a wolf who knew his place and knew it very well. She'd been in the pack longer, therefore he'd wait his turn after her. But when he saw Deacon set his murky blue eyes on the herbalist, he couldn't help but look on in envy. Maybe if he wiggled his toes the smallest amount, the pup would wanna come over here, per chance...

The shadow prince struggled to mimic the actions of his brother; baby blues were narrowed in determination as he tried once more to bring his small frame to a stand. Once more his legs buckled, causing Greer’s stomach to meet the earth once more as a soft whine managed to escape from between his lips. What his brother was doing was much more difficult than he had anticipated. Remaining where he had fallen, Greer observed the other blobs that had gathered; the smells overpowered him, causing his small head to spin. His tiny maw turned to follow his mother’s distinct scent, laced with milk and the scent of his brothers, to observe her blob. While his mother’s scent was most defined in his head, he also wanted to be able to recognize her by her blob shape.

After a few moments the Archer pup returned his attention to his brother; it was time to focus. With a determined grunt, Greer began to push against the earth in another attempt to stand. His thin legs quivered, threatening to buckle as he moved farther away from the ground. Once his legs straightened out the boy stood there for a moment, dumbfounded by what he had done, his baby blues lighting up with excitement as he glanced around. Now, the moving part.

He raised a forepaw hesitantly, his legs trembling even more as he placed it a step ahead. Wait, what was next? Confused, with his front leg extended, Greer allowed his gaze to wander back to his brother. Attempting to mirror what the tawny blob was doing, he moved a back leg forward to even out his weight. Another pause followed as his body shook with excitement – he was kind of doing it! Moving the opposite foreleg ahead the Archer prince began to feel more comfortable as his small body began to clumsily move ahead. However, after a few steps, the small bundle of fluff collapsed once more, his legs sprawling out beneath him.

With patient paws, the woman waited, her silver eyes trained upon the den's entrance as the pups began to tumble forth. All mostly varying shades of brown, one very nearly black, with their adorable dark blue eyes struggling to see for the first time. Her tail beat against the earth as she imagined her own children, if they'd made it this far, bumbling from the den to meet their grandparents, their packmates. Edmund smiling at her side...Startled back into reality, the smile that had been on her face had disappeared for a moment, faded into some look of farawayness. Shaking her head, she smiled again, though there was a dull emptiness in her stomach. She was thankful that she had not cried out, as memories of him often made her do. Perhaps it was part of the healing process.

When she'd come to, one of the children wobbled towards her. She offered him a wider smile, and placed her head on her paws, stretching her neck out a little bit to encourage him further. "Hello, little one. What's your name?" Addie spoke sweetly to him, ears pushed forward and alert. "So eager, aren't you? You're going to make the Ridge proud one day." She chuckled, recalling all of her siblings' children. They'd been as much her own as her siblings', and now she looked at these children, nearly an extension of herself. "Hopefully you haven't been giving your mother too much grief." With accented words, she jested, words directed mainly at Elettra.

Lurking until the end of July - Please PM/tag me to get my attention

Elettra's attention, after a few moments, was turned away from her sister who had newly arrived within the pack along her nephew when finally all three of her children came out of the pack den and into the open air - Greer coming out lastly, who fell to the ground once more after a few steps. "Those long legs are getting the best of him." She responded to her child's falling onto the soft forest floor, though did not rush to her son's aid in order to try and attempt to help him up once more. No. He would get this and until then, would build his muscles in the process of trying to. Those legs of his were destined to be powerful one day, even if they were his bane now.

"They're doves..." Elettra spoke up to Adelaide's last set of words. "...comparatively so." She then flashed her attention to Asriel, the only one of her first litter to show up so far, and a smirk pressed upon her mug towards him who had otherwise remained with Castiel. Her second litter, though having been born in very grim circumstances, had thus far given her less trouble then her first litter had. Of course, that could have also been because with her first litter Elettra was new to what came after the children were birthed. Now, she was more or less more 'trained' in caring for youth after having gained much practice from Asriel, Morganna and Skoll alike, who still at times found a way with testing her.