Sawtooth Spire entire season of savings

The change wasn't sudden, as it had been with his vision. No, his hearing had slowly evolved from nothing, to muffled sounds, to sharper sounds, to what it was now. Malrok had begun to turn his head whenever his mother spoke (which was not terribly often) or when there was a rustling outside the den (a place he instinctively wanted to go, but had not been allowed as of yet). Of course, not being allowed outside had not stopped Malrok from trying. Every chance he got, the young Tartok wolf was trying to sneak his way out of the den into that inviting light. Toward that red creature that looked much like Pingasut.

Tonravik was absent, as far as Malrok could tell, and his brothers were sound asleep. He had managed to wake without disturbing them. Either that, or they had simply gone back to sleep after he had stirred them. In any case, they slumbered now, and Malrok was wide-eyed and bushy tailed. With his mother absent (presumably on one of her many quick trips outside the den for water), Malrok was unhindered in his quest to reach the den's entrance. "Baaaaaaa!" he screeched as loud as he could, unaware of the dangers this might bring.

Not quite asleep, not quite awake, Atuaserk had been drifting in between both states until the rather startling sound that came from his brother. His small head jerked up, unfolded ears twitching as he listened to this new sound. Head tilted slightly, it was only a moment before he was up on his feet, bounding towards his brother to tackle him with a loud "Raaaaa!" This, of course, on his way to the entrance of the cave.

While he hadn't attempted a prison break nearly as much as his younger brother, the boy was not unfamiliar with the opportunity of rushing towards the light. Instinct pulled him there, made him want to explore and learn and experience everything the outside world had to offer. But first, he had to chew at Malrok's ear, another sound coming from him: "Rrrrrrr".

Tonravik had slipped away to grab a drink. He'd slunk a little further from the den, contenting himself in the shadows of the trees. His ears turned, tuning in to all the various sounds of the forest. Nothing seemed out of place. The scents were calm and collected. Again. Nothing out of place. All was well with the world and he settled down to rest when he heard the squabbles come from the den.

His ears turned, head lifting from where he lay as he listened to the pups play fight with one another. He still had no idea who was who, but he supposed he'd find out sooner or later. Until then, it sounded like they were play fighting of some kind. He saw flashes of their tumbling near the mouth of the den. Good for them. Sparring at such a young age was sure to develop skills that would last them all a life time.

A smirk spread upon his lips. Time to be a Dad again. "Baaaaaaa!" he screeched, trying to mimic the pitch of the pup. "Raaaaa!" He waited, inching a few paws closer as he still lay some distance away. "Rrrrrrr." What other noises would they make? Could he communicate with pup kind? The world may never know.

Having slipped away but moments ago for a drink, Tonravik, too, heard the commotion in the den. The volume was off. Different than their incessant mewling. Not quite intelligent... but... 

Tonravik trotted to the den, spotting her mate and hearing him make noises similar to the ones she had heard. She had a healthy helping of breakfast for the cubs inside, but she threw him a puzzled expression. Was that you? It had sounded like the cubs but, he truly had done a good job at mimicking them... The alpha female then moved to relieve herself before returning to the babes. Tonravik slid back inside and sniffed at them. Should one prompt her to, she would feed them, but for now she contented herself in trying her hand at pushing the most rambunctious—Malrok—over to give him a quick bath. 

Atuaserk would be next, as the both of them were up. Her ears flicked as she listened to them... trying to sense the change. Surely there was a new one today. Tonravik was trying to discern what it was. Was that an ear twitch? ..."Malrok," she tries, watching, "Atuaserk," her eyes shift to their ears.

A brother—the one who looked the most like the glimpses he caught of his own hide—appeared seemingly from nowhere, and Malrok yipped in response. Atuaserk then grabbed ahold of his ear, to which Malrok tugged it away. It was only then that he noticed the noises outside. He could not comprehend that he and his brother were being copied, but the noises were most intriguing. He tried to make (yet another) break for it, but Tonravik came back then, forcing him to tolerate bath time. He squirmed as she licked him, trying to wriggle free of her grasp.

Whether or not he was able to free himself or if she just let him go, he was finally on his own four feet again. She spoke, and Malrok's attention was drawn to her voice. "Geeee!" he replied.

Sounds. More sounds! This time, not from his brother or mother but from something else. His head snapped around, bright blue eyes searching for something to connect the source to. The eldest was only a few steps from the entrance when the giant mother-creature came in to scoop up his brother and bathe him.

Bah. He turned away from her hulking form to scamper towards the den mouth again, a pitched "Yaaaaaaaa!" coming from him. At the same time, he looked back to make sure mother-creature was not following him; this was likely the fatal error in his plan, legs tangling as he did not watch where he was headed, which led to him biting the dust in a spectacular fashion.

Tonravik returned. That meant fun time was over. The look she gave him was one of question and he returned an equally as questioning gaze. Do you really think it was me? He turned his eyes back towards the den entrance a she relieved herself. Would one of them try to steal away? He hoped so. It was about time those little guys roam free. Past time. He could tell they were ready to see the outside world. Call it father's intuition. A very, very valid thing.

She stole one of them for a bath. He didn't get a chance to really catch an eye of it, but he could hear her none-too-gentle way of things. Of course, that came with the protests of another child and one random pup who seized the opportunity to fly the coop. Almost... Almost... Damn. Kid stumbled. Better luck next time. All the same, he woofed at it, encouraging the child to get back up.

Based on Ton's grumbles, he had the names of these two. Heh. One and Two. Both were up and at 'em, but he was more curious as to why she'd spoken their names to being with. "Think they know their names yet?" he asked, curious. Since she was the only one with direct contact with them, she was the only one who could answer the question.

One clean, one near-escapee to go. Dragging him back roughly, the mother placed him near her belly to swipe her tongue over him. He was bigger now, which meant it took a bit longer. Their sounds were certainly louder. And it was as though they were responding to her. The mother nosed Atuaserk and was about to speak his name again but her mate spoke. Did they know their names? No, she did not think so. But now she felt they would soon pick up on it.

"Naga," she responded, shaking her head. "They are more vocal today," Tonravik informed, and looked at the boys. "Perhaps they soon will." The mother was sure to keep them away from the mouth of the den, bullying them backward with a rough nudge of her snout. "Atuaserk," she spoke, looking to him. Then, his brother, "Malrok." How would she teach them who she was? What she was to be called?

At the very least, she could teach them of the beast that lay outside. "Your atatak is there," she gestured to the light, "Silata," the outside. It would take time for them to learn, but every day in the next coming week she would speak to them to identify. "Atatak," she called, hoping he would respond verbally, wanting them to hear and know. These things she would do, little by little. She would not speak too much, but when she would, it was to teach them of some words. She did not know how long it would take her cubs to form them, but if they could understand, she would figure it out. Day by day. As they were sure to do.

More words that Malrok did not understand, though he looked on with a curious expression. When Tonravik motioned outside, Malrok's eyes brightened and he made a break for it. He would, of course, be stopped—one way or another—but nothing would or could keep him from trying. Restrained by his mother, he listened as she spoke again, making noises that he had heard in some form or another since the day he was born.

"Kaa waaaa!" he replied nonsensically. The "ah" sound was, without a doubt, the easiest one for him to make. Putting other sounds in front of it was turning out to be quite fun. The long E sound was fun, too, but in a different way, and he had to really use the muscles in his throat for that one.

He was still kept from the blinding outside, but he would try again anyway, at his brother's side. First though, he had to get a bath which was endured with many sounds of protest. He squirmed free eventually and tumbled onto the den floor from his mother's paws. His head twisted around looking at her as she spoke, ears twitching almost imperceptibly as he stared at her, mind churning to analyze the sounds she was making. At this moment, he could not comprehend what she was saying but that would come in time, of course.

For now, he babbled back at her, making nonsensical sounds as befit his age. "Reeeeeeee." He looked to the other creature now, the one from outside and stood on his feet as he opened his mouth and "Aaaaaa!" Screaming? Maybe, but to him, he was just testing the sounds that he could hear now. "Raaaaa Raaa Raa Raaaa." More formless chatter, but a step towards shaking his utter dependency from the mother-unit.

Paw over paw, Iqniq inched forward until he flipped his nose just inside the den. He couldn't see much past the dark shadows of her back, but that really wasn't his purpose here now was it? In this moment, his job was simply to speak so the infants she guarded would be familiar with his voice. Talking? He could do that. It was one of the many things he considered himself to be good at.

"Yes, Mom?" he asked, a touch of sarcasm to his voice as he lingered in the light and stared into the darkness of her cave. Nevertheless, the boys were jabbering and he was well inclined to talk back. They were starting to learn singular sounds, it seemed. Just one vowel sound at a time. The easy ones, but also the important ones.

They were well on their way to mastering the letter 'A'. Time for the next vowel. "Eeeeeeee," he prompted, wondering if the little ones could figure out how to form that sound.

NOT SO SURE ABOUT THE "IT" BUT, GOING WITH IT. When I saw anything in that Inuktitut dictionary with "your" "it" was always at the end of the word >_>

Tonravik heard her mate speak, and she greeted him, "Ai," Hello or Hi. Her sons had made sounds like it, though certainly without knowing what it meant. All the same, they were there, and in time they would learn that they knew it already. Her tail waved as her sons babbled, content only now with the noise. In the coming days it would become obnoxious to her but for now, the first time, she was pleased with it. "Aippaqga," she informed the cubs, telling them of her name for him—her partner, spouse—"atatakit." Your father. Ga, to the addition of things, meant "my"; "it" to the end of the word meant "your".

Now their father was smart. No doubt he would be able to teach them their first word before she would, what with her full usage of things and inability to break things down. As he instructed from beyond, she looked to her cubs. Would they mimic him?

I'm pretty sure I wrote this post once already, but then I closed the tab, oops. Gonna make this my last post, since a lot has happened since!

Malrok continued to scream and squeal, making whatever noises happened to pop into his little big mouth. It was like he had the lung capacity of a dolphin for as much as he wailed. This was, of course, nothing new, but perhaps his efforts could be put toward communicating rather than simply complaining once he learned a few key words. Not that he would be learning anything today, of course. Skipping merrily around his family—and occasionally yelling in their faces—Malrok spent the rest of the day babbling every waking moment.