Cut Rock River outer heaven

Early afternoon - Partly Cloudy — Current Temperature: 63° F/17° C

Being able to see was strange. Everything had been dark for so long, and he'd simply gotten used to it, thinking that it was simply the way of the world! But eventually the dark began to give way to light, bright light, and colors and shapes. It was like a whole new experience and he had not been expecting it. The world he'd know, four bodies other than his own, had been turned right on its head. There was quite a lot to look at and explore, and he'd be damned if he didn't conquer it all. With no idea of what laid beyond the den, he began to wriggle forward, trying to find his feet, the things so awkwardly attached to the ends of his legs. The boy could see them now and they were something of a nuisance. Crawling had done him just fine, but perhaps if he could just get to his paws.

Squeals of frustration reverberated off the walls of the den until he managed to stand on all fours. In an awkward manner he took a few steps, before his belly was in the dirt again, and at that point, he managed a crawl towards the light. On his way up, he found his paws every so often, only to trip up. But Aleksei wouldn't give up so easily. It just...Took a bit of time. Before he came out into the open, the child paused, looking over his shoulder at the blobs below. The boy chirped, hoping to get their attention and draw them out as well. There wasn't any reason to leave them out of the journey, now was there?

Let the roots & soil drink of me
Whispering leaves & pointing branches will tell them where I'm lying

Bright, searing light was invading her happy place. It hadn’t happened suddenly; for a while now it had been creeping in, and Karina thought that if she could just bury her face far enough into the big warm, soft one with the milk it would all go away. She was doing just this when one of the others—you know, the ones that nudge and squirm and don’t let her drink—started squealing. Karina pulled her face away in curiosity, her eyes only able to detect the blurry discrepancies between light and dark. Sometimes other large, unfamiliar creatures came into their happy place, carrying strong smells that even Karina’s developing nose could detect. These times were the most frightening of all... Karina squealed a lot when this happened.

But this was not what was happening, from what Karina could tell. The squealing one had somehow detached himself from their happy place, and he was moving... Toward the light. No! Karina yipped in panic. If that one walked away into the light, would the others go too? Karina wiggled all the closer to her mother, cloudy eyes still locked on her adventurous brother. ”Rrrr RRRrr!” she called desperately to Aleksei. It was an experiment really-- the first time she had ever tried to communicate with anyone. He had stopping moving, and he was now making happy vocalizations—like the kind they made after eating-- which confused Karina. How could he be happy so far away? If a pup her age could look dubious, that was the look she wore now. It was an expression her family would become quite familiar with as she grew. She turned her face back into the warm belly of her mother, whining for the “big one” to correct this issue.

Something woke him from his dreams... dreams of warmth and darkness that were not much different from his waking world. His whole world, which consisted of his mother, brother, sister, and the warmth and shadows enclosed in the dirt walls around them. Lately, though, he had become aware of something else - a doorway to what must be another world, a world of light and colors, from which other forms occasionally came and went. It was something separate from his own tiny world - the den where they had been born.

Adding his own voice to the chorus (for it was this that had awoken him), Orren blinked blearily and turned his face toward the light. Seeing his brother so close to the edge of their world, he immediately began to struggle forward too, wriggling and tripping as he went. Shaky steps took him further from his sister, further from everything he had ever known... toward the outside. The pup could feel himself trembling, his heart beating frantically with excitement (and a little fear), but there was no way he was going to let Aleksei look outside alone, let alone venture out there without him. Orren had been growing increasingly curious about that other world, but thoughts of exploring it had not crossed his mind until this moment. Now that he could see his brother standing upon the precipice, he desperately wanted to be the first to step outside.

All the desire for adventure in the world couldn't prepare him, though - as he came up next to his brother, yipping excitedly, his eyes protested the sudden brightness, and blinked shut, despite his wishes to see the outside. It was so bright! How could they go outside, when just looking outside hurt? Another yip escaped him, one of confusion and defiance. Eyes still closed, he continued forward clumsily, eyes closed. The light didn't seem to hurt his body, just his eyes... it was Karina's calls of protest that stopped him short a second time, teetering upon the brink. Answering her with an exited yap, Orren forced his eye to open just a slit, trying to peer into the blinding world before the two young cubs.

@Orren @Karina sorry for the wait, guys :c

Aleksei found that he preferred to look back into the depths of the den then actually look outside. It was so...bright. It made his nose hurt just thinking about turning back around. He could just make out the shape of his sister; she looked so far away. "Prrrrrrrr." He chirped back at her, an encouraging sort of sound. He certainly didn't want to leave her behind. From her side appeared a darker shape: Orren, and he got bigger much faster than Karina did. "Griiiiip." Aleksei trilled a dissatisfied noise at his brother who had nearly startled him off of his paws, which he could hardly stand upon in the first place. His forepaws kneaded the ground still trying to tempt his sister along, but he had to be sure Orren didn't get ahead of himself.

Turning his back on Karina again, he was blinded by the early afternoon sun, which certainly was not as bright as it could have been with all the clouds in the sky, but Aleksei didn't know that. Blue eyes slowly fought the light as he grew accustomed to it, tiny tail beginning to wag as the ache in the ridge of his muzzle began to dissipate. Feeling a bit more confident now that he could...Kind of see, Aleksei stuck a leg out and leaned forward into the great unknown. As soon as his paw touched the ground, he bounded forward, before freezing, stock still. Though there were things around him, they were not the familiar brown walls of the den. They were open and empty and vast and massive and amazing and...The pup sucked in a breath and turned about, trilling eagerly towards his siblings again.

Let the roots & soil drink of me
Whispering leaves & pointing branches will tell them where I'm lying

Try as she might to bury herself in her mother’s belly fur, Karina was unable to block out her brother’s calls. She thought that he must be terrified, yelping in panic at the strange, shadowy shapes that lurked outside just outside their safe place. Karina saw them sometimes, shuffling at the mouth of the den until her mother’s low, throaty growl banished them. She felt her second brother’s warmth leave her side and for a moment she cried pitifully for her brothers’ safety and for her own newfound loneliness. She had never been without her siblings company before, and it was cold. Reluctantly lifting her head, she saw the shapes of her brothers moving toward the light, wagging and barking at what they saw. Now that she could hear and see (somewhat) clearly, Aleksei’s yelps sounded less like terror and more like excitement. Karina gave the Big One a nudge, her final attempt to alert her mother to the out-of-control situation. Nothing. The princess grunted in frustration, turning back to where her brothers stood. ”ArrrrrRaar!” she called out. Wait for me!

She thought that leaving her mother’s side would be the hardest part, but quickly she learned that it was an incredibly difficult task to move all of her appendages in a way that was conducive to forward progress. She resorted to scooting along the soft dirt of the den floor on her belly, her clumsy back legs pushing her body along. It may have only been a few wolflengths in reality, but to Karina it felt like miles. She whined a little bit as she crossed into the harsh light, her cloudy blue eyes adjusting for the first time to the sensation. The pup was still blind when she reached her brother—the one who had ventured out first—and leaning against his rigid stance she was able to pull herself to the standing position that Orren and Aleksei had both assumed. She was still leaning against him as the shapes of the outside world materialized around her, and her body froze also as she suddenly realized just how big everything out here was. She began trembling from head to toe, unable to move but also unable to tear her eyes away from the shapes and colors all around.

Puppy paws shuffled with excitement and fear and wonder, and Orren's tail wagged furiously behind him, causing his hindquarters to wobble along with it. The bright-eyed brown pup waited impatiently for his eyes for adjust to the blinding light, waited for the world to unfold before him. He found himself assaulted with a barrage of other sensations, too - smells swam before his nose, and outside sounded so much louder and bigger than inside had. With each moment, they grew a little easier to bear.

Blinking at the brightness he turned away from it, back toward the sound of Karina's voice. "Rrriiiii?" Orren answered her with a yip of his own, encouraging her along too. Who ever thought there could be so much outside? He wasn't so keen on going out there alone anymore. Aleksei was already stepping forward,and Orren's paws shuffled even more, itching to follow.

As his sister came up next to him, he stepped out alongside her. His breath sucked in, marveling at the ground beneath his feet, at the sky, at well, everything! There was no dirt roof overhead, no walls in sight - the air stretched up into blue nothingness that made his stomach drop in vertigo for a moment. Marching shakily away from the safety of the den, Orren stopped slightly apart from his brother and sister, jaw dropped open in speechless wonder. Fluffy grass tickled beneath his feet, and his fear was draining away. "Arrriii!" he called out excitedly, turning to pile into his siblings. He glanced toward the den, chirping again in hopes that a familiar, comfortingly large form might appear and explain all of these new sights and smells and sounds... but just as quickly his attention was drawn back to the spectacle itself. He wanted to see all of it!

The boy was hyper aware, but drowning at the same time. He tried so very hard to take in everything around him. It was so much! He barely heard Karina when she called out to them. Were his...Ears ringing? A quiet whine lingered in his mouth as he reached up a clumsy paw to pat his own ear. But in doing so, he lost his balance, lying in a leggy pile on the grass beside his brother. The ringing didn't stop and he was a bit embarrassed at his clumsiness. With a bit of effort, he got to his paws again. His legs would cross in front of each other without warning and make mobility rather difficult, and it took all of his effort not to stumble into Orren. Thankfully he was on his feet again before Karina arrived and came to his side. He had to make sure she was ok, and the last thing she needed was to see her brother in a silly heap on the ground. Orren, it seemed, had other plans.

To pile onto the other sights and scents and sounds around them, his brother let out his own happy cry. Before Aleksei could even register it, he was on the ground again. He squirmed beneath his siblings, squeaking in surprise. But it eventually turned into delight. He reached out to nip at his brother's feet and his own paws scrabbled at Karina, but only in the gentlest way. Carefully squirming his way out, he broke free, and attempted to run away. Running proved rather difficult though when your legs never quite agreed with you. So his running was more like high stepping and also quite messy.

OOC|| After Kaitlyn goes I'm going to bring in Naia. :)

As Karina leaned against her eldest sibling, his head swung around and she quite suddenly found herself staring into the soulful blue eyes of her brother. There was something soft in his gaze—an emotion that Karina would later come to know as concern-- and the girl made a quiet, gurgly sound in her throat in response. Her own cloudy blue eyes blinked as it suddenly clicked in her mind that this being was not simply a wiggling competitor for their mother’s food and affection. This was another person, like her, who was soft like her mother and gave out warmth and attention and well.. support—especially at the moment. Stepping out of the den had explosively expanded her world, and at the same time it had expanded her heart. Where there used to be only concern for herself and her mother, she now realized she had her brothers to love. She had a family.

Orren piled into the two of them, and Karina lost her balance as her support, Aleksei, lost his. She wriggled from underneath her mischievous brother, squeaking with delight. This was a game that they had played in the darkness, but it was so much more fun when you could see. She mouthed at Aleksei’s paws as they came toward her, snapping at the air as he drew them away. She rolled onto her side as her brother disengaged, stumbling away as quickly as he could. Karina panted as she laid on the ground in defeat, knowing that trying to run would be a lost cause. She yipped to cheer Aleksei on though— at least one of them might get away.

(This post was last modified: Jul 06, 2014, 03:10 PM by Karina.)

   

    
 

The world just kept on flooding Orren's senses with color and light and smells and sounds - and to him it seemed as if all of this ought to become their playground. The pup's tail beat happily as he fell rolling into a heap of his siblings, playful yips and chirps escaping his muzzle as he added another verse to their wordless, chaotic three-part harmony. Neither of his siblings sounded fearful any longer, and this made Orren feel more brave, too. Now this was more like it!

Gathering his feet beneath him, the middle child galloped after Aleksei's retreating form, puppy teeth snapping shut again and again on empty air as he tried to clamp onto his brother's tail - not too hard, of course, but tag wasn't tag unless you tagged somebody, right? Orren wasn't really sure where this idea of tag had come from all of a sudden... it just seemed like the natural thing to do, to chase someone when they ran from you. And this game was even more fun than tackling! Or it would have been, if he had been a little better at this whole 'coordination' thing.

All in an instant, he managed to loose track of the rhythm that had at first seemed to come naturally enough. Four feet were still quite a lot for the young boy to keep track of, and one of them missed a beat - tripping up the other three in a cascading domino effect of disaster. The grass-covered ground seemed to rush up to meet him as he tumbled forward, head over heels, face meeting earth. At least the lush green stuff made for a soft enough landing - Orren's pride hurt quite a bit more than his nose. ArrrOOOooo! he tipped his dust-covered muzzle up toward the blue, blue sky, emitting a high-pitched howl of defeat. The sound seemed to take him by surprise, and he sat for a moment after it had left his lungs, blinking in surprise at this new talent he had discovered. RooOOOooo!! rrRRROOOOoooo!!! and just like that he had quite forgotten his sore nose and wounded pride again.

(This post was last modified: Jul 07, 2014, 10:42 PM by Orren.)

PLOT WITH ME!

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In the early mornings, Naia sometimes liked to lay here, a few wolflengths from the birthing den, and listen to the puppy sounds echoing inside as Cut Rock River’s youngest awoke. She told herself that she was guarding the den, but in reality she felt joy in simply being near the new generation. The squeaking and yipping had grown stronger—louder—the past couple of days, so Naia had her honey gaze trained on the opening of the den in case a curious little face emerged. It gave her a secret thrill to imagine that she would be the first of the pack to set eyes on the new litter, aside from the parents and Lachesis of course. No doubt the medic had given the pups and their mother a check-up after the birth.

Naia stiffened as she heard a high, puppyish growl sound from the mouth of the den. It was about time for the children to be opening their eyes.. had the early morning light enticed one of them to the entrance? She barely dared to breathe as one—then two and three—tumbled from the birthing den. Naia’s heart fluttered in delight as she watched the pups discover the world for the first time through newly-opened eyes. She tried to imagine what they must be experiencing, seeing the gray morning sky for the first time, the cedars looming over them, and the soft grass beneath their paws.

It was all Naia could do not to whine in excitement. She yearned to bury her nose into the pups soft coats and to smell their sweet puppy breath. It had been so long ago when she was a teacher and pupsitter in her birthpack, but she instantly recalled the bliss she felt in those days spent with the puppies full of curiosity and enthusiasm. She stayed quiet though, knowing that if she made a sound she would likely attract their attention. The last thing Naia wanted was for Kisla to emerge and decide the River scout was much too close to her young. Despite her efforts, a bark of laughter escaped as one of the young males took a nose-dive for the ground during an attempt to catch his brother. It had only been a single bark though—perhaps it would go unnoticed by the trio.

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