White Fir Notch Better find your voice, better make it loud

@Jynx @Merys @Sylva @Lucia @Ryker - any of you are welcome to join! Aleris has squirrel problems - "RE: Aleris, a squirrel keeps interrupting your nap." Raela can be assumed to be sleeping back inside the pack den.

7/31/2016
Weather:
74° F, 23° C
Patchy rain nearby
1:07 PM

Midday was a good time to nap, especially when it was warm. Playing was much harder, and being hot was really gross feeling. It was much more fun to go exploring in the morning time, after several hours of which the little girl was almost always tired enough to fall asleep. Then she would wake up when it was a little less hot; and do it again. Today falling asleep had been easy. Preferring not to compound the effect of the summer air by curling up with her sister and brother, Aleris had collapsed closer to the entrance of their new abode. The soft breeze was welcome on her face, and the fuzzy black and grey form dozed peacefully; dwarfed by the sheer size of the old bear den's gaping mouth.

While she had of course been told the story of its discovery and the great battle that followed, the young pup didn't have the life experience to truly appreciate the idea of a grizzly bear and its ferocity. It was a monster, sure, but that was all she had to go on. Nevertheless, it was a fun story to hear, and had become one of her favorites. Aleris' paws shifted minutely as her dreaming mind babbled away; forming polyphonic images; usually about hunting stuff and finding new creatures to play with. A sharp chattering noise caused one of her velvety ears to flick upward, and the child's nose twitched.

It happened again; louder. This time she shifted position, rolling further onto her side. The piercing call sounded again; finally pulling the little Lieris back to reality with wide (but sleepy) teal eyes. The sound was vaguely familiar, but so loud! It was quiet then; and her curious gaze fell to half-mast. It was coming from above her ...somewhere. The eldest child settled her head back onto the gravelly dirt below and sighed. She would really rather have gone back to sleep just then, but the noise had other plans. Once more it assaulted her ears, and once more she stared up at the trees; brows furrowed slightly in irritation. Couldn't it see that she was resting?

She tried in vain to cover her ears with her paws, but the position was uncomfortable and ineffective. With a snort the girl finally rose; padding outside to confront this nuisance. It called out again; finally giving itself away to the diminutive wolf below. She recognized the scrawny tree-mouse then, with its twitching tail and beady eyes. Momma and Daddy had called it a “swirl” or something. She had chased them before; but they always escaped into the trees. How they could do such a thing was beyond her, but it was very annoying.

Aleris watched it chitter at her again, and flicked her ears back in annoyance. "Shhhh!" She corrected, glaring at it with tiny tail held high. It didn't stop right away, but it did seem to jump a little. For a moment she thought maybe it understood, and was leaving; having taken a few steps across the branch, but it stopped and taunted her again from its unreachable height. "Qwiet!" She repeated with a fearsome snarl. She was doing her very best to sound like she meant business without waking up everyone else. What a meanie this thing was, chirping at them like that. "Go'way!" Her hushed voice sounded again and she leaned forward on her paws. The “swirl” just seemed to stare and flick its tail around, oblivious to the peril her eyes promised it would find itself in if it just came down from there!

Lucia had chosen to nap just outside of the den, under the shade of some considerate foliage. The girl hated settled down to sleep, but often wore herself out so thoroughly that she really didn't have the choice of even fighting to keep her eyes open. So, she often passed out where she would be able to spring right back into play the moment she awoke. Time had passed enough that she would be able to function if woken, though her body still demanded more rest. When a polyphonic exchange began between her sister and one of the forest's many squirrels, however, it wasn't given that option. The moment her groggy mind latched onto what was happening, she was scrambling onto her stubby legs.

A stretch and a yawn delayed the girl's exit from her makeshift tent for only a moment before she was racing through the grass to reach her sister's side. Her head twisted back and forth, neck craning upward as she tried to pinpoint where the tiny beastie was for herself. Once spotted, she shouted out "Skirl!" and hopped the remaining distance between herself and Aleris.

"Was'happenin'? We gon' fight it?"

Now that the puppies had been moved into the communal den, the bear cave had gotten a lot more lively. While he thought that the pack had awoken with life just from their birth, Merys had underestimated their capabilities at getting their nose into every possible thing you do. That afternoon, he had permitted himself to an afternoon nap, as when he had returned to the den, such had been the theme. It was warm and cozy, and he had had a late night yesterday. Allowing himself the luxury of an actual opportunity to nap while the pups were also quiet, he slipped in silently and curled himself into a comfortable ball.

Of course, it was short-lived, as per normal. While the chattering was not uncommon due to the placement of the den, today it was seemingly bothering the young princesses more than normal. Groggy, he opened his eyes millimeters just enough to see the second cub bound out the entrance of the den. He breathed a heavy sigh, and closed his eyes, accepting what came next. The girl’s voices carried more than they knew, and they clearly had not come to learn selective hearing just yet. It was a lot easier to sleep through a squirrel’s noise that he knew would never come to physically disturb him, than the two unsupervised girls wandering after a squirrel that they would never catch.
 
He stretched himself onto his side, reaching his legs straight out, willing his muscles to awaken. Looking across the den, he saw Raela still asleep. She would have had to learn to sleep through much of their noise, he imagined, and was immune to things like this. Unfortunately, pleading fatigue would never hold for him in Gent’s eyes if the girls went missing. Grudgingly, he pulled himself up and out to the entrance.
 
His burly and disheveled frame appeared at the opening, happy to see the girls had not gone too far just yet. “Girls, back inside. Leave the squirrels alone,” he grumbled, the fatigue causing his beckoning to be low and rough. It was a lazy command, but he did not have the energy just yet to start from anywhere than the minimal amount of engagement.

founding member | 2016

totally don't mind me trying to get a post for Ryker in this ac. Nope.

The young pup tried to sleep through his sisters loudness but like Merys, was awoken and couldn't get back to sleep. Why were his sisters being so noisy anyway? It was nap time, he pouted to himself. Which meant being shhh, like his parents told them they should be like when others were napping.  At the mention of a Skirl, Ryker scrunched up his nose.  He disliked them, they made too much noise in his opinion. And made his sisters too noisy too. He tumbled into Merys and his legs as he stumbled to see his sisters outside.  

"Skirl is noisy." Ryker yipped from the safety of Merys's legs, peering out of the den at his sisters as they went after the critter. "Don know why like em so much." He mumbled at Merys, leaning against the elder's legs heavily with a wide yawn. He just wanted to go back to sleep but if his sisters and the Skirl kept their noises up, there was not much point gong back into the den with his mother. Tipping his head back, he was looking at the underneath of Merys's chin. "make Skirl, Luci, and Ris be shhhh? Pwease?"

Ryker liked Merys and thought he could do something about the skirls. He probably couldn't do anything about his sisters but the skirls he could surely do something about?

(This post was last modified: Aug 14, 2016, 01:03 PM by Ryker.)

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity

She was too busy glaring at the little monster to notice that Lucia was bearing down on her in all her youthful exuberance. It was her sister's voice that finally got the eldest daughter's attention. "Can't weach it," she grumbled, motioning toward the tree-dwelling pest with a flick of her snout. It seemed Lucia's zeal had roused another, and this was an adult. The little girl turned to face him just in time to catch his grumpy-sounding voice. Merys usually seemed sort of grumpy. His attempt at a command was met with her own attempt at explanation.

"But he's so lowd!" Aleris retorted, glancing back at the still chittering nuisance. Then the last of their little trio came stumbling forward, stating just the same. The young girl nodded her head quickly. Ryker knew thaaat! Didn't the grown-up? Her brother continued to babble something about making her and Lucia be quiet too. It sparked an idea in the pup's mind, and she padded toward Merys with determined teal eyes. "Yeah, make Skirl be qwiet!" he was an adult, they always knew what to do. She turned her youthful gaze back to the tree-branch, where the rodent continued to flick its tail in agitation and glare down at them.