Hearthwood River wait for it

Anyone welcome <3

At nearly eight weeks old, the young Tainn girl was more active than ever. She hardly ever stayed in the den anymore - at least not during the daytime - and she loved exploring for as long as her little legs would hold out... or, at least, as long as her mother and packmates would allow. It seemed her legs always had more "up-and-go" than her family wished for her.

Yes, the little pup did believe all of them to be family. There was mother, of course, and her brother Matheo. But apart from that, there was Lachesis, and Mace, and Ayti, and Inna, and Lekalta.... so many wolves that she loved to see and spend time with. But it became quite obvious to the girl that one, vital family member was missing - though she would have never noticed the difference, had she not seen Lavender and Liliana with their own.

A father.

Lachesis was their dad, and Lilya was their mom. But Ris and Theo... they only had a mom. She wasn't aware if Oksana had a dad, or not, but that wasn't relevant at the moment. All Risaela knew was that she and her brother did not have a dad, and she wanted one. She didn't know how one even acquired a dad - did they just pick you? Did they fall from the sky? Did your mom pick one? She just didn't know, and she wanted to.

There was one way to test one of her theories. The child peeped around at the lush, estival greenery around her, and lifted her head to call out for a father, but her voice was hoarse and disused, and she couldn't enunciate it clearly. It came out as a warbled, thin, "'Addy?"

As the days passed and Oksana grew bigger and more active Inna was starting to feel a little more comfortable leaving her. She usually tried to make sure someone was with her at all times there were also times that no one was available. It was those times that the ebony Baranski didn't leave for very long or very far in case her daughter needed her. Something she wanted Oksana to be sure of was that her mother would be there for her always. She hoped that would be enough to keep her daughter in Hearthwood when she would one day reach that age she could go out in her own.

The new mother had been in luck that day as she'd found someone to sit with Oksana while she did a quick border patrol. She was getting back into her duties a little at a time since she was a little out of shape. Mostly though she didn't want to spend too much time away from the den, while her daughter may be growing bigger Inna still felt that she needed to he there as much as possible.

When she felt she had been gone from the den long enough she started back through the trees. Weaving her way through them at a quick pace, it was nice to really have a chance to stretch her legs. The sound of a puppy voice reached her ears shortly into her return trip, it wasn't Oksana's but the child still seemed a little distressed. Inna couldn't help herself she had to make sure the pup was okay.

Following the voice she soon found the child and Inna approached with an easy smile across her maw. It was Risaela she newest sister, half sister anyway. Inna still hadn't sorted through all her feelings regarding her mother's pups but she hoped in time she would. For the time being Risaela seemed to be looking for something, Inna wasn't quite sure. “Hello Risaela, what seems to be upsetting you today?” she asked kindly of the pup.

~Table by Jacqueline

(This post was last modified: Jun 22, 2017, 01:31 PM by Inna.)

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

 

Sister time! <3

Risaela would never understand why there were so many big shadow wolves in Hearthwood. Aytigin and Mace and the Otter guy and Inna. It seemed like at least half of them were very dark, and that made it hard to tell them apart by their paws. Being such a small creature, Ris had no choice but to try and pick them out that way. None of them were the wolf she had been looking for in the first place, but any of them were absolutely welcome, because she liked them all - even if she hadn't exactly met all of them yet.

Black paws invaded her vision, and her puppy blue eyes turned upward to find a wolf that smelled much like herself and her mother - Inna. Her sister, she had come to understand, even though she was way too big to be Risaela's age. Inna was also a mom, to the dark-furred little puppy that Ris visited sometimes. The tiny pup was only a baby though, so she couldn't play just yet. That was fine, because there was no shortage of playmates in the pack, and Risaela could wait.

As soon as she saw Inna, though, she forgot what she'd been looking for in the first place. Excitement wriggled throughout her little body, and she pranced up to her older sibling's feet. A tiny paw placed itself on the dark-furred woman's own, much larger, one. The pup stood on her hind paws and tried to reach her nose up to give her an affectionate tap to the muzzle.

"N-inna!" she chirruped, stubby tail whipping back and forth. For the moment, there were no problems. Nothing was wrong - or upsetting her, as the bigger wolf had put it. Now that she wasn't alone, thinking and fretting, she was perfectly fine. "'Sana?" she asked, peering around the dark wolf to see if her pup was with her. Maybe it was time for the younger one to start exploring?

Having the pups around, her mother's pups specifically caused Inna to wonder if she had been like either of them as a child. She remembered things like the day at the river with Orren and Naia, or the day she and Orren had played just outside the den. Was she so adventurous as the young girl she approached on her way back to see her own daughter. Risaela seemed upset as Inna thought the little pup might be calling for someone though Inna didn't know who it might be that the child might be looking for.

She was careful on her approach she she didn't want to scare her little half sister since Inna wasn't sure how much Risa actually knew about her. Since Inna had been den bound before Her sister could even walk and had only just recently started venturing away from the den herself it had been hard getting away to see Risa and Matheo. The Ebony Baranski knew she needed to take more time to try and get to know her half siblings. In a way Inna felt that it was her job to keep them in Hearthwood for her mother's sake, she didn't want Risa and Matheo to end up like her mother's first litter. They wouldn't abandon Kisla if she had anything to say about it.

A smile swept across her inky maw at the greeting she received from her half sister. The Raven bent her head to give the pup a soft nudge to her side and a lick to the crown. “Happy to see you too Risa,” she said with a small laugh as she crouched until she was in the same level with her sister.

“I wish everyone I saw had your enthusiasm. Hearthwood would be I a much better place if they did.” Though she knew about the kind of enthusiasm Risaela was expressing just then. That of an innocent child who didn't understand the troubles of the world yet. The new mother's ears perked at the sound of her own daughter name. “I’m sorry Risa but Sana is back at the den sleeping. I was just on my way back to check on her when I heard your call and though I should make sure you're okay.” Inna sniffed at the girl to Indeed make sure she was in fact okay, “You are okay aren't you?”

~Table by Jacqueline

(This post was last modified: Jun 30, 2017, 05:21 PM by Inna.)

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

 

A young deer has been separated from the rest of its herd. Hunt Opportunity

Risaela was very good at names and faces. She learned early on that there were differences between wolves - colors and sizes and smells and voices. What was really super cool was that they remembered her name and face, too! She always loved to hear her packmates call her different things. Most of the time it was Ris, but sometimes Rissy, and Ayti liked to call her Kitty, and Inna named her Risa. All of which were fine and dandy, because Risaela was a mouthful and the pup couldn't say it yet - but she could say all of the other things.

Inna put her nose to the young girl's side and then kissed her head, and said she was happy to see her. Happy was a very, very good word, and was represented mostly through body language. For example, Ris showed how happy she was by wriggling about and planting a few of her own kisses to the swarthy female's nose when she bent down to her level.

It became clear that Oksana was not with her mother, and apparently Inna was going back to her. Ris' brow furrowed with confusion - had she been calling out? What was she calling for? It only took a few seconds of deliberation for the pup to remember what had brought her distress in the first place.

"Wh-wh..." she began, using her utmost concentration to form the words. She didn't like making words. "Whur's m' d-ahh... dahdd-y?" The words were slurred and the pup snorted in frustration, irritated that she couldn't talk like the big wolves could. She turned searching baby blue eyes up to her sister, hoping maybe she could help her figure out this mystery.

Since their introduction to the pack Inna hadn't had much chance to socialize with the other pups in the pack. She'd been so busy with Oksana and making sure her daughter was we'll taken care of that she had only just started leaving the den. With Ayti bringing her food and making sure she had everything she needed there hadn't been any real reason to leave the den besides to relieve herself. So running into Risa was a special treat for Inna, to finally have a chance to spend some time with her sister. She just wished it wasn't while the child was so upset though it was clear that the pup was happy to see Inna.

While it was true that Inna had been a little unaccepting of her mother's pregnancy at first she'd slowly come to terms with it. Risa and Matheo were not her father's children and that bothered Inna. Still they were her mother's children even if the new mother didn't agree with how they had come about. She supposed that she had no room to judge considering how Oksana had come about. She felt she'd put it behind her and now was looking forward to getting to know her half siblings better.

The question now was what had little Risa so upset and calling out. Since Kisla didn't seem to be around Inna felt it was her sisterly duty to take care of whatever Risa needed. What the girl finally revealed to be her dilemma was a little bit of a surprise but not unexpected. Inna was sure she would have to explain things to Oksana one day so she wouldn't wonder the same.

The ebony Baranski looked at her paws for a moment before brushing her muzzle against Risa’s tiny cheek. “I'm sorry Risa but I can't answer that. Mother hasn't said who your father is but if I knew I would tell you.” She felt that the child had a right to know who her father was which was why her daughter would know about Lorcan as soon as she could understand. “Have you asked mother about this?” She asked Risa gently.

~Table by Jacqueline

(This post was last modified: Jul 02, 2017, 11:48 AM by Inna.)

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

 

It took a second for Inna to reply, but before she did, her muzzle brushed across Risaela's cheek. The little, tawny-furred pup nuzzled her own nose, maw, and teeth across Inna's, nuzzling up as close as possible and relishing the close contact. If she wasn't so much of an explorer - and perhaps, a budding scout-to-be - the girl would hae been the biggest lovebug of them all. Even if her half-sibling didn't have an answer to her question, it was fine. It wasn't that important anyway.

"Mmmmno," she replied, because she hadn't thought to ask Kisla just yet. In fact, it was just on her walk that she'd given it much thought at all. However, now that Inna mentioned it, that probably was a good idea. Kisla knew everything - of course she would know who Ris and Theo's dad was! Though the little child had no clue how puppies came into the world, or that mommies and daddies were more biological than relational, or whatever. It didn't really matter.

What mattered was that Lachesis was a daddy to Lilliana and Lavender, and he was Risaela's own 'Uncle Cloud,' but she had no clue who her own daddy was. Maybe she just didn't have one. It didn't occur to her that daddies were a necessary component in creating puppies in the first place. For all Risaela knew, puppies could bloom from plants or something. Moms were there for food and love, not for hours of labor and pain and incubating the unborn pups before they came into the world.

The girl sent silvering blue eyes up at her sibling, tail wagging again. "G-goo... go wif N'inna?" she struggled, trying to convey that she wanted to tag along with her sister wherever she might be going.

It bothered her that she couldn't give Risa the answer to her question, that she couldn't help her in this situation. She tried to comfort her sister the only way she knew how and her gesture was reciprocated by her sister doing the same. Inna found herself hoping more than ever that Risa and Matheo would not leave Hearthwood as her older siblings had.

The ebony Baranski couldn't deny that she had been curious as to how had fathered her half siblings. One day she thought she might ask her mother but she knew that she would have to be prepared to share the name of the man who had fathered her own daughter. After all it was only fair that she share that with her mother but she couldn't do that without Lorcan's approval. Inna felt that in the situation he had the most to lose if her mother became upset once she discovered the truth of what had happened between her and the tawny healer. Inna also feared that things may have been made worse with Oksana's father becoming a part of Hearthwood.

“I can't promise she will tell you,” Inna said gently to her sister, “But it doesn't hurt to ask. Mother's usually pretty understanding if you're truthful with her.” At least that had always been her experiences with her mother. Inna had for the most part always believed Kisla to be a good mother. She so badly wanted to have the relationship she once had with Matriarch but she was afraid that she had damaged it forever. There were some things that Inna was impatient about and regaining her mother's trust was one of those things.

The new mother smiled as Risa struggled to get her words out but when she finally did the Ebony Baranski nodded. “I would like it very much if you came. We can check on Oksana together and then maybe go on a little adventure. I'm sure her sitter wouldn't mind watching her a little longer.” The truth was Inna wanted to spend time with her half sister and get to know her a little better.

~Table by Jacqueline

(This post was last modified: Jul 03, 2017, 05:44 AM by Inna.)

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

 

Ris ignored most of Inna's words, because she couldn't understand them. The whole part about asking their mother about her dad went right over her head, the conversation dropped in favor of pawing at a little beetle who had the misfortune of crawling its way up between the pup's feet. It was automatically labeled as a 'friend' in Risaela's head, and she let it crawl onto her paw and up her leg with a soft smile and wag of her tail, completely oblivious to Inna for a few moments.

Her silvery-blue gaze flicked back up to the black wolf, however, when she heard that it would be okay for her to tag along. She particularly liked the word 'adventure' that was thrown into her older sibling's sentence, a smile forming on the pup's maw and a wiggle renewed in her rump.

"Yes!" she breathed in a sotto voce, as though it were something to be kept a secret. Her paws stamped excitedly on the ground and she bounced up in between Inna's feet. The beetle had crawled up Ris' shoulder and onto her cheek at that point, but the pup had forgotten it even existed until it moved onto her muzzle, right in her line of sight. She went crosseyed to look at it, a smile still on her lips and her ears angled forward.