Black Thorn Downs Black Thorn Downs Pack Thread

Black Thorn Downs Pack Thread

This is the Pack Interaction Thread for the Black Thorn Downs pack. This thread is open to all Black Thorn Downs wolves. The location of this thread is outside the pack den. Because this is a Pack thread, it cannot be archived or removed for inactivity. This serves as a place for basic and general social gathering. However, it will not serve as a place for pack meetings or threads with a specific purpose. For more information, please see THIS informational thread.

May 31st Early Afternoon, Partly Cloudy 70F/21C

@Aphrodite and anyone else :) Maybe @Noble or @Kova?

Another young one had been accepted by the alphess this morning at the borders and it was with pride now that they cinnamon she wolf laid in the clearing in front of the communal den. Her family certainly was thriving, the pups growing larger every day and the pack working like clockwork to make sure all duties and responsibilities were being fulfilled. Now her children were napping within the den as Minka stood guard, taking her turn in watching them, as they needed constant supervision even while they slept. While Kova seemed happy enough to stay within the borders they had been given Noble was often trying to wander off, sneak away whenever she had the chance. The pup was still small so she wouldn't get far of course, but far enough to cause the new mother anxiety. The occasional cloud would roll over the sun and block out the light, but Minka found the suns ray inviting. Stretching out upon the dirt she did her best to absorb all the warmth she could, even if it caused a droopiness to engulf her eyelids. For now it was alright to rest, her children were safe here in their care, and her subordinates were surely out doing some task, close enough they could protect the borders should need be. Life was peaceful.

Vinyonga @DA & Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

@Minka

With her new home secured, Aphrodite had limped off, allowing herself a long nap before attempting to socialize. And a long nap it was indeed. When she woke up, the sun was high, and nearly blinded her. Squinting, she rolled up to her hindquarters and took a deep breath, letting sink in the past events. She was here now, safe, secure. She desired to confront the leader again, Minka Lagina, speak to her on less desperate terms. Aphrodite made quick work of her pelt. Her tongue ran desperately over the kinks and dirt, her nails worked at the more unmanageable wads. She could only imagine what her back looked like, and the thought alone caused her to contort like a cat in order to clean what she could. The thin girl was out of breath by the time she'd finished, and her thick winter coat seemed to be extracted from her in that session of grooming. Tufts of dirty white fur floated about in the breeze and she scowled at them.

All cleaned up, for the most part, Aphrodite rose to her paws and began to make her way to the communal den. She kept herself somewhat low, as was her place. Ears alert and tail swishing quietly between her ankles, the girl felt odd. Once a Princess, she was now...Nothing. And that needed to be corrected. It would be! With a slow exhale, she came upon the dens, easily spotting the leader resting a few yards away. "Lady Lagina," She spoke up, her voice strong, though her appearance still was not.

Lurking until the end of July - Please PM/tag me to get my attention

Kova had been napping by his mothers side ever since she had come back from her morning patrol. He was surely turning into a momma's boy, but whether he knew that or not was in question. All the child wanted was to stay near her, and when she went away he often cried and howled until she came back. Kova wasn't sure why but every time she left he had anxiety about whether she would come back or not.
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Now as he rests with his mother a voice from outside the den wakes the silvered child. His head pops up cutely while those puppy blue eyes turn to look at the newcomer. This stranger looked much different than the other wolves who had visited him before. Her fur was so light compared to the gray, rust, and dark pelts of the others.
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Not knowing to be cautious of strangers, Kova's curiosity overwhelmed him as the pup staggered out of his mothers fur and tried to pad right up to the stranger. Excited whines and yips flew from his mouth as Kova spoke in his pup language greeting the light colored wolf.
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"WroooraaaaooooooooooooooooOOOOoooowwww!" He half yipped and howled to the strangerwhile his tail beat frantically in the air happy to see a new wolf.

Minka had not truly drifted off to sleep, rather had fallen into a thoughtless calm state, stretched out upon the clearing. Every once and a while she would catch herself humming under her breath the lullaby that Tokino sang to their children when they were reluctant to sleep. It was the sound of approaching pawsteps that broke her from her trance and after quickly taking scent of the air she determined that it was their newest member; Aphrodite Moon. Rising from her position she shook her light tawny fur back into place as she awaited the girls appearance; and she did not have to wait long. Before she got a chance to answer with a greeting of her own Kova had taken off towards the yearling at top puppy speed. Instantly muscles went rigid in the new mother as the girl was practically a stranger. Reminding herself that it had been her who accepted the ivory yearling into the pack Minka forced herself to relax slightly. Still to be on the safe side she called out, "Kova," in a tone stern enough to imply that he was to return to her side immediately. Gold eyes raised now to take in the appearance of Aphrodite, it seemed she had taken the time to properly groom her light pelt and looked much less haggard. It also pleased the alpha that her position remained low and respectful and finally Minka fully relaxed, her tail wagging softly behind her. Realizing she still had not verbally acknowledged the girl she smiled, "Aphrodite, this is my son Kova, his sister is still in the den sleeping, as a yearling I'm sure you will get to know them very well as much of the pupsitting responsibility as they age will fall to you." This jogged her memory which had been clouded by her drowsiness earlier, sitting her rump upon the ground she offered, "That reminds me, as a yearling here it is expected that you will choose a specialty to apprentice in, do you know what role inspires you?" The alpha was quiet now, it was clear in her soft voice that she would wait patiently for the answer, she was in no rush.

Vinyonga @DA & Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

Aphrodite had not expected to be greeted so...Jovially. She had seen Minka, though perhaps had not acknowledged the existence of children. That was a whole sack of potatoes that Aphrodite had not been exposed to. The things existed, of course, but she could not rightfully say where they actually came from or how. It was in that that she might consider herself lucky, but Aphrodite did not even know how lucky she'd been. Nonetheless, though startled, she had nothing against children in the slightest, and as the dark bundle of fur came running towards her, she stopped dead in her tracks and smiled. Her head dropped down a little lower to greet him, but Minka got the first word in, and the whites of the girl's eyes showed a bit out of caution.

Slowly, she moved forward again, finally coming to rest only a foot or two from her new leader, settling to her haunches. Her posture was a bit withdrawn, though she kept her eyes up to a certain extent. Not to make eye contact, of course, for she was not familiar enough with the woman yet, but so that she could see Minka's facial expressions better. It was important. Aphrodite had gotten quite good at reading faces when she could not catch voices. In the months before she'd come back, it had been a matter of life or death. A kind voice did not always imply a kind intention, and the face typically gave that away. Minka informed her of her required duty, pupsitting. The girl resisted a laugh. It wasn't her first choice, but it would certainly give her something to do.

But then she was presented with a question. To learn a real duty. Her chin tucked downwards and she looked rather serious as she began to ponder this. Once upon a time, she might've thought about herbalism. But now..."I'd like to be an advisor." She lifted her head again, quite confidently, to inspire some faith in her words. The girl had ambition. She may no longer have been a princess, but she would be a queen.

Lurking until the end of July - Please PM/tag me to get my attention

It was almost amusing how Aphrodite reacted to her son, as if she had never seen a child before and it took a moment to realize; maybe she hadn't. As a yearling herself now who knew where her parents were or if they had been expecting another litter before their daughter left. Though still cautious she watched the quiet exchange between the pair, just a silent smile as Kova howled into the girls face before returning to his mother. Content once more as her son came back to her she waited for a response to her question, it was an important inquiry, something that could shape the girl's whole time while within the pack. Once more Minka was impressed by the young she wolf before her, it seemed as if she was taking this decision with the upmost seriousness. While the moments stretched on as Aphrodite thought over what she might do the alpha's mind wandered to the time when she had made her own decision. So much younger she had been then, but she had had much longer to prepare her decision that Aphrodite had now, she had known the question was coming for a full year ahead of time. In the end she had chosen hunting and her mentor had been one of the previous year's yearlings, Knox, who Minka of course had developed a terrific and unrequited crush on. The alpha had to smother the smile that threatened to break out onto her face because at that moment Aphrodite answered. She was surprised to say the least at the girl's choice and her head tilted slightly to the left in response. However she nodded, "Quite ambitious of you young Aphrodite. Very well, my mate Tokino will be your mentor. I suggest you take the time to find him and explain that I have sent you to begin your training before the day goes out. Keep in mind over the next year it is expected that when you're not performing other duties such as watching the pups, sleeping or Tokino is too busy to teach you; you are to be with him." The alpha nodded once more, pleased that they had their first pairing when Kova let out a large yawn beside her. Nodding her goodbye Minka stooped to grab the pup in her jaws and returned him to the den next to his sister who still snoozed before settling beside them herself. EXIT MINKA

Vinyonga @DA & Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

Saying those words out loud was terribly exciting to the girl. She'd thought that, perhaps, being in a pack was all the direction she really needed and the rest would be left up to her. But it seemed that this was just another thing that she simply didn't know. Given a choice, her path was being paved as she walked along it. The direction was still her choosing, but it was simply a bit more laid out. Her tail wagged enthusiastically against the earth as Minka did not shoot down her decision. It was somewhat surprising to the girl, since certainly there might have been other yearlings, her own children even, that were more deserving of a post, but perhaps not. Aphrodite was being given a chance. And so she took it.

What surprised her more was the name of Minka's mate: Tokino. Her ears snapped back for a moment before rising again. That name was so familiar. She nodded slowly, then a bit harder so as not to be rude. Aphie continued to watch her footing. "Of course! I'll go and find him right away." Rising to all fours, she gave a polite bow to her leader before taking a few steps back to exit the scene. Her eyes flicked towards Kova again, who had yawned, and she cracked a smile. True to her word, Aphrodite was off to find her new mentor, the man who had rescued her all those months ago. Perhaps her path had been paved longer than she'd known.

Aphrodite Exit

Lurking until the end of July - Please PM/tag me to get my attention

Kova sat himself up and looked dreamily at the sunlight tapering through the mosses and plants leaning over the den's entrance. His puppy blue eyes were entranced with the sunlight as well as the dust motes that filtered through the pristine spring air.
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He was well fed for now, and with nothing else to do Kova's curiosity would get the better of him. The boy had quickly learned how to stand and walk. Just like how he was quickly learning the names of his family and those who visited the den. Though the child didn't have the stamina or strength to walk too far. The boy usually only had to be told what something was once before trying to use the words himself. Even though Kova wasn't sure what the meaning of these words were, he was getting a grip on basic words and their meanings. Like "food" meant the stuff he sucked on to make his rumbling belly feel better. Other meanings like "den, Minka, Tokino, mother, father, Noble, and Kova" all were important to him. He knew that "den" was home where his family stayed. That his mother and father were named Minka, and Tokino, then the other pup, his sister, was named Noble, and that Kova was what they were calling him.
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Sure he still had much more to learn, but he was already learning at an accelerated rate. Now the young pup wondered what everything else around him was called. He didn't know what sunlight, air, darkness, fur, or milk was called. He knew what those things were but not their names, and Kova desperately wanted to learn.

June 10, around sunrise. All are welcome, Regem wants to meet his pack mates!


The warm air of springtime was having positive effects on everything. Green leaves were rapidly returning to plants after what seemed to have been a long, difficult winter. The animals had given birth, meaning a new generation of food had arrived. Yesterday, the stony grey guardian had seen a mother deer with her fawn. And then, of course, there were the pack's puppies.

Naturally, the wolves of Black Thorn Downs had ascended surprisingly quickly to occupy a place within him that was more treasured than his own life, and the pups were at the top of his list. Now that it was his job to keep the pack strong and safe, Regem wanted the pack's youngest members to meet him and learn to trust him, for he would often be nearby. Regem worried about them so much he could've been their father. The guard hadn't actually met the pups yet. They'd been asleep the last few times he'd passed by the communal den. But that wasn't surprising. Regem was always astonished at how much puppies slept!

Speak of it, Regem hadn't met their father, the alpha male, yet either. Naturally, he had asked for Tokino's name when he gained entry to the pack, and he'd received whiffs of the man's scent, but the newest member of the pack hadn't actually come face to face with him yet. Sitting down at the edge of the clearing outside the mouth of the communal den, Regem cast a lazy eye but an alert ear around. He was kind of hoping that someone would be here watching the puppies, so that they could rest and relax and Regem could finally meet the pups.