Dead Empress Backwater Karma's gonna come collect your debt

Time for the pups' first forage out of the den and to meet everyone else! No strict posting order, but I would like to have each round last for 1-2 irl weeks just to prevent the thread from dragging on too long <3 (aiming for the next round to start around the 21st or earlier if everyone has their post in by then)

The sun had long since risen, and yet Clover was still in the den snuggled up with the children. She was making sure to make time for them, but at the same time did feel guilty at having Viorel take up the slack of her co-leader duties. She unwrapped herself from the pile of fur, snuffling softly to gently wake each of them up in preparation for their first venture out of the den. It was still as nerve-wracking as it had been with her first litter, but she had a better idea of what to expect now.

She slipped out of the den, squinting up at the cloud cover. A nice sunny day would have been preferrable, but the sooner the four pups got used to being outside the better it would be for them all. She knew she couldn't keep them inside forever, and was sure they were eager to explore beyond what they already knew.

Tipping her head back she called out to the members of the Backwater, letting them know that it was time to meet some of their newest pack mates if they so desired. As the call died off she glanced back at the mouth of the den, crooning softly to encourage the children to follow her outside.

From charming to alarming in seconds

Khalon had so far been a quiet child. Content to watch and assess the situations around him before participating himself in any kind of way. Sure, he squabbled for a place at the table when it was time to eat, but other than that he was mostly reserved. He had learned very quickly that if you didn’t participate in the rough and tumble you weren’t as tired and Mom and Dad were more likely to give you what you want. He would grow up to learn that fighting with words rather than claws and teeth would get him what he wanted.

So today the child watched as the figure he knew as Mom left the den, as she often did, and he followed her to the mouth of the den as per usual. He knew better than to go any further, but he liked to watch her until he couldn’t see her anymore. Today was different. Today she called them forth from the den and then seemed to call for someone else. Curious.

With confidence Khalon took his first steps out into the real world. It was the start of something new and even at his young age he knew there was no going back.

The Valle man had been observing a nearby herd of deer as the sun had come up before making his way back to the territory. He had been planning on calling a pack hunt given the opportunity, but it seemed that Clover had other plans. Ears pricked forward at the call, and yellow eyes rolled in exasperation. If she were calling for the pack it was easy enough to guess that her and Vako’s litter had gotten old enough it was time to meet them.

Still, he would do what he needed to do. He promptly changed his direction and made his way towards her birthing den, only to his dismay to be the first adult that arrived. Forcing a neutral expression he gave a nod of respect to his co-lead before lounging upon the earth a few yards away. He purposely put space between himself and the first cub that had ventured forth, he wanted nothing to do with it. His head swam with the memories of his own litters seeing the world for the first time.

Viorel blinked and looked away, he didn’t want to think about that. He had brought eight children into the world and only two of them were still here in the pack, most of the others gone off to live their own lives and never be heard from again. Even worse was…no, he wouldn’t think about her.

(This post was last modified: Jun 11, 2023, 11:16 PM by Finley.)

At first she knew only warmth and milk, but gradually her world continued to grow. She had a mother who came and went, a father too, and other bodies to compete against. She rivaled loudly for the attention of all from the earliest moments of her life. Euna demanded to be dotted upon. She was spunky and boisterous. Greedy even. She did not shy away from tumbling for a teat during mealtimes or crying out to her parents about the slightest injustice done to her. Stepping on and bending others to her will not be a worry in her world, whether with words or actions, but done to her was unacceptable. Today would be no exception.

As their mother moved to awaken them, Euna's head popped up. Within an instant, she was on her paws, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, carelessly tripping over her littermates to catch up with Khalon. Eager to steal the spotlight away from him. She made her way to the mouth of the den, stopping to adjust to all the sights and sounds that greeted her. At first, it was overwhelming, but she refused to miss out on anything her brother was partaking in. Her mother's howl was echoed by her own yappy call. The tot lifted her snout and mimicked her momma without a shred of hesitation. Then responding to the encouragement given, the whelp rushed out and made sure to go a few steps further than her brother had. Today was her day to shine! Lookout world, Euna coming through.

A strange wolf had been quick to arrive, but he hardly paid attention to Khalon and not at all to her. In fact, he'd looked away too soon to notice her! The girl huffed, walking forward with a prideful step. She wanted him to see her, craved his acknowledgment and the eyes of all present."Hi." Her voice was loud, uncaring of shrill volume, obviously meant to be heard. She stood in front of him with a serious expression that demanded he paid note to her existence.

Dead Empress Backwater
— through trials to triumph.

One Kiss away from Killing

BACK OFF, I'LL TAKE YOU ON, HEADSTRONG TAKE ON ANYONE

He didn't understand why the others were moving away from him, and though one sibling remained still within the warmth confines of his world, the beckoning croon of his mother's voice was hard to resist.

With a wobble he stood, taking a few steps forward towards the light before stopping, legs slightly splayed out underneath him. Unsteady on his paws Tuwile stood there, eyes squinting against the harshness of the light as he looked at the white form of his mother just a few more steps ahead. Further beyond were more dark forms, though they were blurred and out of focus, and for the time being unimportant.

He staggered forward again, misjudging the distance between himself and his mother and promptly bumping into one of her legs. A soft oof escaped his maw and he flopped backwards onto his backside, all the while leaning up against the comforting warmth of his mother. Tuwile was perfectly content in this position, simply staring ahead at the blurry shapes around him with a somewhat unfocused gaze.

It's time to strap our boots on

Conquest

This is a perfect day to die

She was young, and yet Torianna already felt that urge. The moment that her mother slipped outside of the den, Torianna bolted after her, stumbling over her legs as she sprawled her way to the ground, a growl escaping her in frustration but at the very least she was the first to leave the den, having barreled past her siblings. That was all that mattered, not that her puppy mind could truly comprehend that it was what she cared about at the moment.

It would result in her landing at her father’s feet, wrinkling her nose as she drawled at it, nipping at it with her puppy maw that would not do much damage. She hadn’t the faintest idea that it was supposed to be a gathering, that she would encounter blobish forms that she had never come across before. She only knew the safety of the den, the warmth of her parents and the milk her mother provided. Everything else was far too foreign a concept for her to wrap her mind around.

And yet, she was ready to tackle it, headfirst and headstrong just as she had already proven to be… be it headbutting her mother when she was hungry or wanted attention of the loud mews she would let escape at times that were most inconvenient for everyone else.

(This post was last modified: Jun 17, 2023, 11:49 PM by Torianna.)

It was not right of him to say that it was exhausting, not when he knew it had to be tenfold for Clover, and so he would not say it. Instead, he would rise early in the mornings to hunt for her, spending the morning looking after the kids to give her the opportunity to stretch her legs… and then he would run patrol, from there hunting once more to ensure she had everything she could need, and then another patrol, perhaps even scouting of herds they might be able to hunt as a pack for when the pups were old enough to begin to tackle meat.

And then he would return, dote more on their surviving children with a brief flash of sadness for the little lamb they’d had to bury where the other Valles had been put to rest. He would not let anything happen to those who had survived. Fatherhood had terrified him, but in this moment it simply felt… comfortable. It felt right… it felt like something he had been meant to do no matter how much he had fought it at first. And so he would watch, following Clover into the sun as he encouraged the children along, watching as Tori collided with him and then began to gnaw on his leg with a hint of an amused chuckle.

She was going to be a handful, he could tell.

He would gently run his maw along Clover’s neck for a moment as she called for the pack, waiting and attempting to corral their children as he waited for others to arrive.

Vi was the first, and all he could offer was a soft but sympathetic smile to his cousin. He understood, to some capacity, now… and though he had never endured Vi’s pain, he knew it would destroy him should he ever be faced with it.

Vayko Valle

This call didn't seem mandatory, but it was Clover, and he could guess that anything to do with these new children of hers was important to her. Asmund traversed the territory in his own unique way, dodging from cover to cover and taking advantage of short cuts other wolves might not consider, like scaling deadened trees and squeezing through tight spaces to get through, rather than around, obstacles.

When he arrived, he didn't initially interact with those gathered. He slithered beneath low-hanging branches, nose wriggling to gather all the information it could while his brown ears pivoted. After a few moments, Az lowered onto his belly, and peeked through grass and pine needles alike. A quartet of little blurs caught his eye, and he watched them curiously.

(This post was last modified: Jul 08, 2023, 12:29 AM by Asmund.)

Eros considered not showing, but he knew the desire to completely shut everyone else out was not healthy nor intelligent. With a heavy sigh, he abandoned his hunt and turned back homeward, following after Clover's howl. When he showed, all four of the little buggers were out and about, and his ears fell back as he immediately thought of the trio who had come before and all the way these small bundles were like they had been.

He noticed his father too, and moved to sit beside him, flank touching Viorel's own. There wasn't anything he could say, but he hoped his presence was at least some kind of a comfort.

No posting order! <3 Planning on having the next round starting ~June 8th, and anyone else is still welcome to join midway through this thread

One by one the children tumbled out of the den, each with their own reaction to the new and foreign outside world. A few of the backwater members arrived in due time, and she smiled warmly at each of them in turn, glad that they had showed up. She brushed her shoulder up against Vayko, gaining comfort from his touch before addressing the motley crew before her.

"Thank you for being here, it means a lot to Vayko and I. We would like to properly introduce you all to Torianna, Khalon, Euna, and Tuwile." She glanced at each pup as she said their name, allowing the other members to place a face to the name. There was a pang in her chest at the sadness of not being able to welcome their true firstborn to the pack, but she pushed the feeling down deeper, brightening up her smile so as to not bring down the mood. It was supposed to be a happy time after all.

Clover bent her head down to nuzzle at Tuwile's crown, gently nudging him away from her foreleg towards the others. "Why don't you go say hi to someone, like Euna is doing over there?" She whispered down to him, before moving further away from the den, once again softly beckoning her children forth to interact further with the adults that had arrived.