Hearthwood River our hometown's in the dark

TIME TO MEET THE PUPPERS :B (well, 4 out of 5 puppers...) @Lavender @Lilliana @Matheo and @Risaela
@Lorcan @Kisla @Laike @Mace @Aytigin @Lekalta @Lilya @Otter @Inna
morning | clear, sunny 73 ° F, 23 ° C

The Stark children were getting restless as the days passed, their curiosity growing along with their size. He had already caught little Risaela straying from her mother’s den, which meant his own children were ready to explore the outside world. If it was up to his choice the sisters would remain in the comforts of their mother’s den until they reached their first birthday, but there would not be enough room for all four of them. Lachesis also knew that he could not smother them, for he wanted to maintain a good relationship with his daughters. He had already failed once as a father; he couldn’t repeat his actions from last year.

Like his children, the pale alpha had been restless the night before. He had already been awake for several hours before the sun rose above the horizon, rays of light creeping through the redwoods. It threatened to spill into the entrance of the den as he nudged the blue-eyed sparrow’s shoulder in an attempt rouse her. He was thankful for the recent bout of good weather, for the river wolves had narrowly escaped a flood shortly after the birth of Inna’s raven-cloaked daughter. The ground was still spongey in some areas, the edge of the river still fragile from the recent expulsion of water. They were fortunate to not have to relocate, as they had to when the banks of the rapids exploded, which resulted in the creation of Cut Rock River. The Kingswood belonged to the river wolves—it was going to take more than a flood to chase them away.

Before exiting the den he nosed both Lavender and Lilliana, urging them to wake up. There would be time for sleep later. “Time to see Hearthwood,” he cooed as he motioned for them to follow him, his lanky legs unfolding as he dragged himself into the clearing. Without hesitation the pale healer tossed his head to the sky, calling for the rest of the river wolves (including Kisla’s children) to join them. 

(This post was last modified: Jun 17, 2017, 04:43 AM by Lachesis.)

stick with those who stick with you

As the days rolled into weeks, Mace began to feel more and more at home among the redwoods. He fell into his routine and delighted in the normalcy of life as a pack wolf. As he padded along an old deer path, the Attaya thought himself finally at ease, and while he knew himself better than to say he was settling well, he was at least settling. He wanted for companions, but had yet to make a lasting impression on many of the pack wolves. His priority was providing for the caches and standing guard over the Baranski dens. It left little time for socializing, which he told himself he would have to remedy.

Soon, he thought as he picked up his pace, tail swinging lightly behind him. It was a fair morning and he wanted to enjoy his solitude a little while longer. He had a mind to seek out the alpha male and request permission to visit the southern mountains, where he hoped to keep his promise to Iyes. When I return, he decided resolutely, chin lifting just slightly as the thought bolstered him, I will make more of an effort to know my companions.

As luck had it, Mace didn't have to search long for Lachesis. The lead wolf's voice echoed strongly through the forest. Pulled toward the source by the inexorable heart of the wolf, the Attaya rolled into a smooth jog and headed deeper into the woods. His brow was furrowed lightly with concern, for a rallying cry was often only lifted in cases of battle with the Bloodbreakers, but when he arrived at the edge of a clearing and recognized it, then he knew the cause.

He was shocked, to say the least. For his time in Hearthwood River, Mace had been focusing his efforts on Inna and Kisla. While he hadn't formally met the latter and hadn't seen the former in a while, he spent a good deal of time around both dens, keeping a watchful eye or dropping off food. Comparatively, he had spent little time around Lilya's den. He had left food, of course, but he was far less of a sentinel around her den than he was those of the Baranski women. Mace's logic had been sound enough: Kisla was likely Lachesis' mate and so he was doing a service to both lead wolves in looking after her den. Inna, he was sworn to protect. Lilya, as far as he had known, was just a subordinate who had bred, and his attentiveness toward her and her den site was lacking as a result.

Imagine Mace's surprise—to his credit, he hid it surprisingly well as he swept forward a few steps and smiled timidly at the leader—when Lachesis emerged from Lilya's den rather than Kisla's, presumably to welcome the children into the world. His children, Mace realized now, and his mouth went dry as he understood that it was the alpha male's mate whom he'd watched over the least. The dread of that, and any consequences that might come of it, briefly overrode his excitement about meeting the new cubs, although he couldn't stop the wagging of his tail no matter how inadequate a guardian he suddenly felt.

(This post was last modified: Jun 03, 2017, 02:51 PM by Mace.)

gorgeous set by kydnt

The four-week-old was about as wild as they came. Already, she was gifted in the arts of escaping, silence, and stamina. She was outside the clearing nowadays more often than she was in, and she was beginning to understand quite a bit more of the world around her. She still wasn't making many noises - breathy little squeaks, gasps, and giggles - but she was comprehending some specific words in the vocabularies of the bigger wolves.

Mainly, she understood names - including her own, which she happened to like quite a lot, - and specific key words like 'hello,' 'food,' 'hungry,' 'tired,' 'good,' 'light,' 'happy,' and the word that seemed to be most prevalent in the child's life to date - 'no.' Not that the last one appealed to her or stopped her from wandering off. So, really, that one was moot.

Ris had to admit, even she hadn't expected to get this far from the clearing that day. She had a relatively good sense of direction - mainly because other wolves would carry her back to where she needed to be - and she knew how to make it back to the den. So she wasn't lost, and she certainly wasn't afraid, regardless of the fact that she was by herself or not. In fact, she rather enjoyed having some alone time here and there - it gave her a chance to explore to her heart's content.

When she heard the howl ring out, she almost wanted to reciprocate it. But, the nonverbal instinct was stronger, and she just followed the noise to the best of her abilities. Which became immensely easier when she saw a big, dark black shape ahead of her and recognized it as one of her favorite wolves ever - Mace. Her tail gave a furiously excited wag and she bounced after him, crashing dramatically into the clearing right behind the night-colored wolf and tripping over her own forepaws. She tumbled forward and rolled, eventually ending up sitting on her rump with her hind paws not touching the ground.

Silver eyes wide and joyful, the pup scrambled back to her feet and wove her way between Mace's forepaws, then bounded clumsily over to Lachesis - whom she also loved - and back to Mace. She looked between the two, perked ears swiveling back and forth as if to say, "What's going on?"

There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

Sorry about Inna, she's feeling a little sensetive right now.

After the river had flooded In a was glad to have Oksana back in the den where she was safe. They’d been lucky and the inside of the den hadn't been touched by the water but it had come pretty close. Since then she spent her days curled around her daughter sleeping when she slept or awake with her as she nursed or tried to stand and walk around the den. She only left her for the short amount of time it took to relieve herself. This morning was no different as she'd gone out early and returned only moments later to lay back down next to her daughter.

She'd fallen asleep with her head resting on her forepaws and was awoken by Oksana moving around beside her. She watched her for a moment before her attention was drawn to the entrance of the den. A call from Lachesis to join him and his pups, Inna was torn about what to do.

She wanted to go and see Lachesis’ pups knowing he would don't same for her but she couldn't leave her daughter alone. There wouldn't be anyone to stay with her while she went, Inna knew they would all be meeting the pale healers pups. She looked back to her daughter before raising to her feet and moving toward the entrance of the den after placing a kiss to Oksana's crown.

The Ebony Baranski felt bad for her daughter as it would be so much fun for her to go and meet everyone and play with the other pups. Though she knew it wasn't true after the events of the last month it was times like this she felt her daughter was the outcast Inna feared she would be.

~Table by Jacqueline

(This post was last modified: Jun 06, 2017, 02:47 PM by Inna.)

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you.

 

For all that Risaela was a wild child, her brother was tame.  Where she was already attempting to master the art of brinkmanship, he continued to exhibit nothing particularly remarkable.  To her emerging skills, he showed only patience, perhaps – and even then, he was still just a cub of four weeks of age.  His temper only stretched so far until he found himself snapping when his sister pushed too hard or keening when something caused pain.  The world was still a great big unknown, but what Kisla said, the boy did; the pack meeting was his first real foray into the pack territory, but he did not great it with his sister’s enthusiasm.
 
Instead, when the younger Tainn began to throw herself at various wolves, he hovered at the outer perimeter of the group, glancing back for his mother.  Puppy blue eyes moved from wolf to wolf warily, his pink tongue flicking over his lips as his stubby tail held straight behind him.  What was he supposed to do?  He was fairly certain whatever Risaela was doing was not that – but that was one no, and he had no idea what the yes was.
 
Mathéo gave a withering sigh, noise twisting to one side, and he two gave a look to Lachesis, searching it.  What’s a going on? 

Four weeks into her life Lavender had come to know and appreciate her daily routines. They lived together in the den, her and Lil and Mama and Dada. Mama and Dada were big and so sometimes they had to leave, but she and Lil always stayed. It was warm and cozy and very nice. They woke up and it was bright at the front of the den, a weird big blob that was called the Outside. Sometimes it was dark in the Outside, but usually she was sleeping for that, so she didn't care too much why. The Outside was weird and crazy, not like their den. Sometimes it was loud and sometimes it was wet and there were so many smells not like her parents or sister. Quite frankly, Lavender was not tempted by it. She liked her family. She liked it here. She didn't need anything else.

That morning she was roused by Dada, rolling toward his touch and whining pleasantly to say good morning. She was sad when he left for the day, but at least he always came back. Except this time it was different. Time to see Hearthwood, he said, and then he made a motion like when he wanted them to come closer. She saw the pale form of her father retreating into the light, and suddenly he was gone, to the Outside... and he wanted them to go out there too?!

Fear immediately fired up her heart, a thunderous drumming between her tiny ribs. Her eyes, still dark and blue, sought her sister's opinion with this new predicament. Umm, he didn't seriously think they were gonna go out there, did he? It was unknown and unknown was scary and she liked it very much inside her with Mama and Dada. In fact, Lavender was positively gutted that this new situation had transpired before she was ready for it. With a whine she rolled away from the mouth of the den and curled up tightly, high-pitched sobs echoing from her tiny chest. She didn't want to go out there. She wanted Dada to come back in here and stay with her forever!

The brown bundle of fur was reluctant to open her eyes as her father nudged her. A small grumble left her chest as she rolled with a yawn, eyes barely cracking open before they closed again. She wasn't as good at keeping a proper sleeping schedule as her sister, often waking after the rest of her family was soundly asleep. It was in these quiet hours she practiced her sounds, barely a whisper under her breath. She might not have understood what they meant, but mama and dada made them, so she wanted to make them too.

It was her sisters sobs that finally convinced her to open bleary blue eyes. First she spotted dada's retreating form, then turned to see her sister curled up against the back wall. She might have been concerned had she possessed a little more empathy for the anxious, but by some miracle she had missed that part of her parents make up. With a fearless giggle she charged her sister on roly-poly limbs, managing little more than a brush against her flank before babbling joyfully, "Yo-yo lesgo!"

Stumpy legs carried her towards the den entrance with alarming speed, even when the white wall made her eyes ache and water she didn't slow. If she hadn't bowled clean into the back of her father's legs, there would be no telling when she might have stopped to allow her puppy-blue eyes to adjust.

(This post was last modified: Jun 17, 2017, 03:53 AM by Lilliana.)

i'd still like for everyone to post something in here, even if it's a single post <3 
@Otter @Aytigin @Kisla @Lekalta @Laike @Lorcan @Mace @Lilya @Lavender @Lilliana

He felt guilty that Inna and her inky daughter were not able to take part in the puppy introduction, for he would have liked them to be present. However, there would be plenty of opportunities for the pack to meet all the puppies, and he hoped that the raven would not feel excluded from the rest of the pack. He wanted the Baranski to feel included, for she had already ostracized herself from the river wolves after her pregnancy was discovered. He did not want her to feel as though they did not want her, or her daughter, present.

His chartreuse gaze watched the entrances of the dens eagerly as he awaited the appearance of both his children and Kisla’s, his tail wagging softly behind him. Mace appeared shortly after his call ended and the ghost flashed him a warm grin, his maw tipping to the side as he invited him forward. RIsaela was the first puppy to appear and XIX was not surprised. The bundle of agouti fur was an aspiring adventurer—Lachesis knew that she was going to be causing the river wolves grief as she grew. Mathéo followed shortly after, trailing after his sister with wide, questioning eyes.

Just as his mouth propped open to explain that they were to meet to rest of the pack he could hear a defiant whine come from within Lilya’s den. Lavender. Rolling his eyes in amusement the ghost started to turn around when a soft bundle of fur collided with the back of his legs. Startled, the long-legged leader glanced down at his agouti daughter with an amused expression. “Where’s your sister?” He asked softly as he pressed his nose to Lilliana’s forehead, the corners of his mouth curling upward. “It’s time to for you all to meet the rest of the pack.”

stick with those who stick with you

It was well known that Aytigin was not at all the fastest wolf around, and since he was halfway to the border when he heard Lachesis' call, it took him a while to get to the den. His dark figure was slow to arrive, figuring that it was probably nothing urgent. In fact, as the mocha-colored wolf was expecting, it was a call to bring in the pack and welcome the leader's two daughters. Aytigin had not had the privilege of seeing them yet, unlike he had with the other pups, and he had to admit that he was quite excited for the opportunity. It felt like an eternity since he'd been part of a group setting like this, and he was relishing every moment that he got to spend with his packmates.

He arrived just in time to see one of the new pups bolt out of the den and crash directly into the back of the white wolf's leg. A smirk crawled onto his maw and he stepped into the clearing, his tail wagging back and forth in barely-disguised excitement. The massive male moved his muzzle down to nudge little Risaela's side in a greeting, and he offered Matheo a friendly smile, but was a little uncertain with approaching the boy. He didn't quite understand the little Tainn's personality as well as he understood his wilder sister, but he planned on spending time with him in the future.

After greeting Kisla's little ones, he nodded at Lachesis, and waited patiently for the other pup to leave the den.