Wild Rye Fields This is nuts!

Re:there seems to be an infestation of squirrels. They are everywhere, dropping things and chattering angrily! Pup meet and greet thread!
@Drestig @Jessie @Reyes @Cottongrass @Aleksei @Adelayde @Sphinx

Askan wasn't quite sure why or how it had happened, but it was clear that the field had an infestation.It wasn't rats or rabbits, things they could catch and eat. No, these critters were devious, tricky and seemed to enjoy nothing more than dropping sticks, stones and nutshells on Askan's head. It wouldn't have been so bad if there wasn't so many of them, but almost every pine tree in the south of their territory seemed to be crawling with the bastards. No matter where he went, those squeaking pests would harass and bother him whether he snarled at them or not.

But what was he to do? He couldn't climb the damn trees and teach them a lesson, one by one. They were fast, darting from branch to branch with ease, but Askan knew that even if they did leave the safety of the trees he'd have a damn hard time catching one. Huffing, Askan squinted up and bared his teeth. There were worst problems to have but damn it, he was starting to get annoyed.

The pups were bound to leave Jessie's den anytime soon, the last thing they needed was to have to worry about the pups being attacked by these tree rodents.

Deciding this was not a battle he could fight alone, Askan turned tail and headed towards the communal den. Surely there would be someone about at this time of day, but if push came to shove he would call if he had to.

“You pest, get down here!”

Aleksei snapped his jaws with a snarl, front paws pressed against the trunk of a tree. A squirrel had only a minute earlier plonked a pine cone on his head, startling him awake with a rather embarrassing yelp (thank the stars no one had been around to hear that). Recently, it seemed the fields had been the unfortunate target of an infestation. Squirrels. Alek knew the dastardly critters well, as they were a common sight in the forests of his previous homes, but was surprised to see them so far from the sheltered territories of Kingsfall and the Cedarwood.

The squirrel chattered at him loudly, tail twitching the whole while. It wasn’t stupid enough to venture down, instead opting to remain safe in its wolf free haven. Much to the wolf’s chagrin, he knew he wouldn’t be catching the vermin any time soon. With a scoff, Aleksei hopped back and stomped, turning away to head back to the communal den. They needed to have a culling session and soon—the furry little terrors couldn’t be suffered to get too comfortable. “Little bastard,” he muttered under his breath, casting a scowl over his shoulder as the squirrel chattered and waggled its tail at him, as if taunting the man. “You just wait,” he seethed. Oh, he’d teach that insignificant annoyance a lesson by snatching the bushy limb from its backside.

With a flick of his own tail, Aleksei galumphed back to the communal den. Hopefully there’d be someone else willing to help him with their shared problem. Lo and behold, Askan was also making his way towards the den with a face like a smacked arse. “They bothering you too, huh?”

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

Hope this soft PP of Jessie and the boys is alright <3

Someone was coming! Tiny paws as quick as unstable limbs still yet to master the art of moving could manage in the dark made their way toward the ball of light that always glowed at one end of their tiny dirt abode, Mama, and Papa without fail coming and going through this same weird light. But before black paws could even think about crossing that line from darkness into light a familiar "No Sphinx." echoed in the back of her mind in that stern tone Mama used whenever they were doing something she didn't like. And Sphinx learned quickly not to disobey Mama if she knew what was good for her. She could end wrestle time in the blink of a baby blue eye!

So like the good girl she was, a dark rump plopped itself with a dramatic huff onto the ground and allowed those very baby blue eyes stare longingly into the soft glowing light that unbeknownst to the little Avalon led to a whole new and huge world that existed outside their birthing den. Meanwhile, her much too large ears picked up on the faint hum of talking that already she could tell was not that of Papa's but who did it belong to then? "We go?" She questioned, head glancing over a small speckled shoulder toward the large shape of her mother nestled against the back of the den with her brothers feeding hungrily at her teets. The sound of their feverish eating filling the tiny den. Pigs.

Word Count: 252

In the morning light let my roots take flight

Oh he had investigated the weird light, snuck towards it time and time again, and often needed more than words to be turned back. He might not know exactly what was out there, but he knew it was something more than this confined, dark space where he’d spend all his life; And interesting enough for both Mama and Papa to disappear into and be gone for impossible stretches of time. Sometimes he would hear voices out there, others than the familiar timbre of the two big ones who cared for them. But they would never show themselves, and no matter how hard he tried, he could never make it out to them before he was stopped.

So today, when ghostly voices drifted by, he didn’t react at first, instead burying himself deeper in the warmth of his mother’s fur. But, surprisingly, his darker sibling seemed drawn by the sounds, and at her question he perked his head, tilting it and squinting towards the light. Her blurry silhouette sat patiently, waiting for permission, and Gale made a sputtering, snort sound, loosening himself from the teat and wobbling towards her. He might still be a bit unsure on stubby legs, but he could reach a surprising speed when he put his mind to it and quickly reached his sister, shoulder bumping against hers as he passed; He certainly wasn’t going to wait.

And whether because she though it was time, or she was simply too slow to react, his mom didn’t stop him this time. Barreling ahead, the mousy pup entered the light, momentarily blinded by the brightness. Watery puppy blues blinked rapidly, a tiny paw lifting to rub at them, testing his balance and making him teeter. When finally he adjusted to the light, the first thing he saw was a bushy, red tail rushing past in a flash of bright color. Zeroing in on this movement, hardly noticing anything else, the pup started walking again, trudging along determinately, chasing the first other creature he had ever seen.

There was little that could pull the little Avalon away from the warmth and comfort of his mother's tummy. After all, he had everything that he needed right there. Food whenever he was hungry, a comforting embrace of her lush fur whenever he was tired or just wanted to cuddle. And alongside him constantly, his siblings. What more could a pup want?

Well, a lot more actually. Ever since the day his eyes had opened and his hearing began to develop, the young fluff ball was growing more and more curious about his ever expanding world. He was less and less content to just sit obediently in the den and tussle with his brother and sister, or nap. The light that poured in from the entrance compelled him, pulled at his tiny imagination. What was out there in that light? He wanted to see, he wanted to know oh so badly. But each time he got within a few feet of the earthen opening, his mother was there to pull him away. Fussily he protested every time, pretending to sulk while he was really plotting out his next attempt at the great escape. Chimera was not alone in his eager curiosity, for his brother Griff, also made many attempts at breaking free from the den.

He used this to his advantage. When mom wasn't looking, distracted by rounding up his larger brother, the dark furred boy would try to slip under the radar undetected. But oh his mother was a sharp one alright! There was no fooling her, no sir. Her diligence was like a challenge he was all to willing to take up, and to one day, overcome. Outside there were sounds. Voices...new voices and flickers of unfamiliar movement. Something was going on! Normally it was so quiet, so this meant that something had to be up. The voice of his sister confirmed just as much, and in tiny little whirl of dark fur, he peeled away from his mothers teat. Stumbling forward awkwardly on his short little legs, he clambered after his brother, making directly for the source of the light. He was so excited, so hot on the heels of his brother, that he couldn't stop himself in time. Blinding white light hit his eyes, causing his baby blues to wrench shut. Tumbling forward, he barreled right into Griffin's rump with an oomph. No sooner had the collision occurred, was his brother off and gone, leaving the smallest of the trio sprawled comically, face down in the grass. Creaking his eyes open again, the daylight was less intense than before. The blurred shapes of paws much larger than his own filled his vision, and the retreating form of a bushy rust colored tail. But what mattered the most was that he was free at last! Propping himself back up on unsteady legs, with a triumphant little growl, he promptly attacked the first thing he saw. Which just so happened to be the massive black paw of Askan, which was now victim to a set of needle like puppy teeth. His first day outside, and Kasai was stirring up mischief already.

we can be blue as a neon light, singing them sad love songs all night
Niles is currently traveling with Chimera and may hop into this IC thread!

The Rye Queen had learned the hard way her first round of pregnancy to never leave her child alone. They would happily slip away and the no one could ever know what kind of wolf or creature they would run into. Jessie had made sure to be extra careful about her children this time around, and it was helpful to have a pack to back her this time around for whenever she needed a breath of fresh air. However, she knew it would only be a matter of time before her children would be moved to the communal den and they would be free to move around the rest of the territory. If Jessie had her way, she would keep them under her protective wing for their whole lives, but she knew they would hate that and eventually she would to. There were times when she just needed to be alone. If her children had not awoken her, the ruckus outside of the birthing den certainly would have. A deep frown set on her face at the language she heard float into the den. While she was no stranger to explicit language, she tried to keep it clean in front of her children, at least for the time being, for they were still quite young. They were old enough now, however, to recognize that something was going on and Silva was quick to the both of the den. Uncertainty clenched at her heart as she watched her daughter peek into the sunlight, unknowing of whatever was occurring outside, but the Tainn knew she could not shield them forever. Griffin and Kasai were quick to follow in their sister’s pawsteps and Jessie swallowed any anxiety she may have felt. Quickly, she scrambled to her paws and followed her children outside of the den. The Rye woman blinked rapidly to adjust to the bright sunlight before doing a sweep of the area, her eyes landing on the jittering critters around them. Displeased, the mother’s lips drew back and she did what she could to shield her children from any oncoming attacks from them, a long snarl escaping her maw.

foxstox @DA & Dawnthieves.de

Whoops, I dropped the ball on this one. Let's get it moving again :D

Askan wasn't left alone with the pesky critters for long. Aleksei soon appeared on the scene and it was clear they both felt the same way about the little bastards.

"You can say that again." Askan huffed as he turned to greet his packmate with a swish or two of his tail.

Squirrels weren't the worst problem to have, but they certainly were an annoying one. Perhaps he and Alek could deal with them before it got out of paw. They were both clever and resourceful, surely if anyone could fix this it would be them. Which wasn't to say he thought his fellow pack mates were stupid but...Aleksei rubbed him as the sort of guy who could get shit done, who didn't flounder about like most other wolves did.He might have joined the pack under less than happy circumstances but the Guardian was pleased he was here nonetheless. At least here Askan could keep an eye on him, and make sure he didn't get too sad.

He'd been about to duck his head closer to Alek's so they could begin to scheme and hatch up a plan together, when the-not so- thunderous stampede of puppy paws caught his attention. With a confused 'huh', he glanced up just in time to see not one, nor two pups, but three!

Ah great, just what they needed. Flying stones and little pups who might get caught up in the crossfire.

He'd been about to suggest that they-if Aleksei was willing to subject himself to such torture- herd the pups away from the treeline, when he felt sharp, pin prick teeth clamp down on his paw.

He'd been told multiple times before to mind his language around youngsters but-

"Owww fff-heck!"He bit down on his lip hard. And to have salt added to the wound, another squirrel hurled something from it's perch in the tree above , and of course it bonked Askan right in head.

Could this day get any worse? Probably.