Swiftcurrent Creek the season to be jolly

@Durnehviir @Trajan @Julius @Relonikiv - if you want! :)

Bazi took her role as aunt or lady-step-dad or whatever she was to the puppies very, very seriously indeed. She barely left the den site (except when Paarthurnax indicated that she wanted to nurse the brood in private), and watched the pups' every interaction like an angry, white hawk.

Today - like every other day in the babes' life thus far - it was bitterly cold, and the six of them were curled up near the back of the den. Outside, the winter winds played a fast and violent game, howling wickedly as they clashed with each other above the frozen ground.

Paarthurnax was catching forty winks, and Bazi had positioned herself on her side in front of the den's entrance. A mixture of skin's littered the floor, carefully arranged to spare the pups contact with bare earth.

Paging @Paarthurnax - I've PPed you sleeping, I hope that's OK. ;)

Without sight or sound to round out his sensory perception of the world, there wasn't much to do yet but eat, sleep and poop—not necessarily in that order but each done no less than a dozen times throughout the day. Presently, the litter's smallest member combined two: he slept with a teat in his mouth, giving it a slow tug perhaps every five minutes or so.

Something or other woke him and he performed a fourth skill: he wriggled. Then came the fifth and final trick in his tiny repertoire: he smiled. His mouth opened wide and his tongue lolled out over his chin, exposing his pink gums to the small world of the den. Relonikiv was unaware that this particularly dopey grin was aimed directly at Bazi.

Relonikiv was a firm favourite. His name was far to grand for his body, and Bazi called him 'Roly-poly' or 'Kiv' when his mother wasn't listening. It was this little body that squirmed first, detaching himself from mum's long-suffering teat to smile - hilariously toothless - at the second adult in the room.

"Hello, cute-patoot," Bazi whispered, rolling onto her belly and shuffling forward until her nose was no more than an inch away from the snub-nosed little critter's face. She took a deep breath in, savouring the smell of him. Milk, poop, and that special, unidentifiable 'puppy' smell. "You're wearing such a nice cologne.. that'd better be for my benefit, and not some puppy trollop you met on your travels to The Other Side of the Den."

Lmfao! "Puppy trollop", hahaha.

Durnehviir was perhaps the most vocal of the litter. If one of her brothers bumped her accidentally, mistook her for a teat, climbed over her, even breathed out the wrong nostril, the mottled Frostfur was yowling in outrage. On that particular day, however, with her mother taking a rare nap and with her siblings either quietly nursing or dozing, Durnehviir was content to bask in the warmth and comfort of her favourite resting place: tucked against her dam's chest, her little head propped atop an alabaster forelimb and the rest of her body sheltered by Paarthurnax' furry throat.

Vibrations of another adult's voice captured her attention, however, and the cinnamon-tipped infant tried to lift her crown. She mewled softly - I'm here! - and wriggled forth from her resting place, attempting to crawl over the mountain that was her mother's leg. Groaning with the effort, Durnehviir hoisted herself over but was unable to catch herself on the other side, so was sent tumbling in Bazi's direction with a sharp cry of surprise.

He sensed it when Bazi shuffled closer; he could feel the vibration as she crept along the den floor and, soon after, her warm breath washed over his face. He hoisted his head into the air and it bobbed on his spindly neck as Relonikiv's tongue poked out to lap at the air. He looked like some sort of furry, horribly misshapen snake as it darted back and forth.

Meanwhile, his sister tumbled into the small space between himself and Bazi. He didn't know it, though, as aside from a dainty pat! on the floor as Durnehviir landed, nothing changed for him. He continued to test the air with his tongue, scooting slowly forward to get a better taste.

That's when he finally sensed Durnehviir's presence. His nose bumped into her. Somehow, recognition was nearly instantaneous. Reloniv immediately closed his mouth around one of the girl's small shoulder blades, gumming her to say hello. He smiled into her fur, whimpering happily and tail stirring as he warmly greeted his sibling.

It was the vasts amount of movement that woke Julius up. He could feel his siblings squirming nearby, as well as the other big thing moving that lived in the den with them and his mother. He could sense the movement of the big thing as it got closer to him. Then, Durnehviir had bumped into him in her attempt to steal the spotlight.

Julius's head poked up, as if he was trying to find out what was going on, even though he couldn't see. Not wanting to be left out, he squirmed closer to the big thing that was giving off vibrations. With a small squeak, he escaped from Paar without much hassle and squirmed towards the big thing. He wouldn't have known it, but he was a smaller, male version of the big thing with his white pelt.

The fat little silver boy was perhaps the most aggressive of all of them, preferring to roll over, waving his clumsy paws trying to smack them before screeching at the top of his lungs to yell for backup. Most of the times, the backup failed to attack his littermates, but saved them instead. As long as everyone was out of his way.....when he slept or nursed. When Trajan was awake, he wanted everyone's attention.

The silver Angelus Mortis had been staying quietly by his mother's furry side as his idiotic siblings scurried towards the thing, deciding he would go join the fun, he slithered away too and bumped into his dam's forepaw. Loosing his balance, he flew into the air and joined the rest of his siblings.

He smiled, quite enjoying this, he scuttled towards the big thing but bumped into two of his younger littermates instead, Relonikiv and Durnehviir. Trajan tried his best to tower of the two of them, and tell them to move out of the way, not that he didn't like them, but he was the eldest after all, and the prince.

Bazi was no more than a few inches from Puppy Base Camp (colloquially known as Paarthurnax's boobies), but traversing any distance at all was difficult for someone who was about as graceful as a furry potato with four toothpicks stuck in it.

The pale Creek wolf grinned broadly at the efforts of each pup. Durnehviir scaled a mountain to join the fun, landing next to her golden brother. Bazi reached out a paw and scooped them closer to her chest, adding a third pup - her very own miniature - to the crowd by picking him bodily up in her mouth and depositing him on top of the other two. The chillaxed little runt was already gnawing his sister harmlessly, darkening her fur with drool.

Trajan was the last to leave his mother's side. Even at his tender age, the grey princeling acted every bit like the lord of the manor. Bazi widened the gap between her front legs to accommodate yet another pup, and lowered her nose until it was just above the childrens' little heads. "Come on then, you," she encouraged the tiny Shadow look-alike. "Move those little feeties, and come give auntie a kiss."

Someone came to her rescue, scooping her close to a thickly-furred chest that bore a strong scent she'd known since her birth, and at once little Durnehviir felt at ease. She nosed through the pale pelt of her guardian, snuggling close with soft mewls of contentment.

She had already discovered that this adult was not the provider of food, but she did share warmth and give protection. It was these things that the mottled Frostfur now sought, and just as she prepared to settle down and demand to be fussed over, one of her brothers saw fit to use her as some sort of chew toy.

At once, she objected. She parted her tiny jaws and cried out, a piercing sound that could very likely rouse headaches for both present adults in the den.

Too young to hear her cry of distress or understand her discomfiture, Relonikiv kept on gumming his older sister. Fortunately for Durnehviir, Bazi scooped them both closer to her chest, effectively breaking the runt's loose, drooling grip. He licked his nose as he settled in this new position, only to have Julius's weight suddenly press down on top of him, forcing all the air from his little lungs in a tiny squeak.

He was a happy-go-lucky puppy and very few things made up his list of dislikes. Suffocation was suddenly included, jumping right to the very top. He wriggled with all his might, grunting with the effort. Perhaps finding all the movement unpleasant, Julius shifted and Relonikiv popped out from beneath him like a cork from a bottle of champagne. His pink tongue lolled breathlessly from his blunt muzzle.

He forgot the incident in moments. Not sure what to do with himself now—he sensed the others close by though nobody was currently touching him—the runt curled into a ball and lifted his stubby forelegs over his face. He rubbed at his own cheeks, self-soothing, not that he really needed it. Already, little Relonikiv was back to smiling his toothless smile.

Julius was starting to learn quickly that he liked the ground underneath his feet. Whether it be his mother picking him up, or Bazi, it was always sudden and unexpected. One moment he was perfectly fine on the ground, and the next someone would have their jaws around the scruff of his neck, leaving him suspended in the air until they put him down.

When Bazi did put him down, it was on top of Relonikiv, who didn't seem as happy as Julius was when the white pup was put down. Relonikiv protested rather violently, thrashing around beneath him. Disliking all the movement, Julius crawled off of him, and closer to Bazi. Relonikiv was suddenly not there, but it didn't bother Julius too much.

Finding himself hungry, Julius started squirming, looking for a teat to latch onto. This wolf didn't have the milky scent his mother carried, but Julius wasn't old enough to make the connection that she wouldn't have any milk for him. He ended up squirming down the length of one her front legs until he came across her paw. He grabbed the edge of one of her claws in his mouth, trying to suckle. Even if it was too hard and rough to be a teat, the tip of the dull claw was still about the size of a teat.

With the two bodies out of his way, the grey princeling scooted forward, trying his best to reach his siblings quickly. The huge thing that lived in the den with them made noises that Trajan could not really comprehend, he scrunched up his features in mild confusion, not really knowing why he was doing this in first place but still trying his best to move quickly.

Suddenly, the tiny Angelus Mortis tripped on something and was hurled into the air, it was not an enjoyable experience at all and it grew even worse when he landed flat on his face. Immediately, he began batting the air angrily, his back against the ground, jaws parting letting out an ear piercing wail. The prince was not happy at all.

Already, the pups had very distinct personalities. Relonikiv took life in his stride, barely ever cried, and was already on his way to becoming a blonde little surfer dude of a wolf. Bazi licked the overturned pup's tiny, soft belly before turning her attention to the others.

Julius was a little bit of a mystery, as far as pups went. He always seemed to be on a mission to figure things out, and was now nosing blindly around her legs. Eventually, he found something to chew on, and Bazi let him be whilst she dealt with the group's gobby princess. "You have an annoyingly impressive set of lungs on you, little girl," she told Durnehviir, lowering her muzzle to groom and fuss over the demanding pup. Better to shut her up and deal with discipline when they understood what was going on.

But they weren't done. No sooner had Durnehviir been attended to than Trajan required attention. The angry little boy was stuck, laying in his back like a stranded tortoise. Bazi took a break from his sister to push the rotund pup to his feet. Trajan hated failing; that much was already plain to see. Where Relonikiv was quietly amused by a situation, his grey prince of a sibling would scrunch up his face in distress. "Quite a temper you've got," Bazi commented quietly, smearing a wet kiss on top of his head.

She would continue like this for as long as Paarthurnax needed to nap - soothing, playing, preventing escape. It was like herding a swarm of fat mosquitoes, and it was rather wonderful.

Work towards conclusion? :)

Despite the lack of mother and siblings to cushion and warm him, Relonikiv did not complain. He kept kneading his own golden cheeks, eventually putting himself to sleep. With a quiet sigh, his tiny body relaxed, uncurling from its balled position. He settled on his right side, his cheek resting on his trapped paw, his left hind leg pointed straight up into the air to reveal his chubby, pale pink belly.

Even if Bazi's claw didn't give any milk when sucking on it, the familiar motion of sucking on things was comforting. The repetitive motion soon made him drowsy. Even if he was a little hungry, the heaviness in his body was winning over. Julius fell asleep with Bazi's claw in his mouth, a tiny puddle of drool forming nearby. Hopefully Bazi had no intentions of moving soon, for her claw could be considered hostage to his mouth.

Trajan soon calmed down and began scooting towards his siblings, as soon as he got there, he squashed himself against his brothers and yawned widely, twisting and turning until he found a comfortable position. With this adventure over, or he considered this adventure over, the silver Angelus Mortis decided to return to the realm of sleep. And with him doing nothing, it was easy enough.