Broken Antler Fen and eh, there's nothing else i can say

anyone who'd be allowed around the den <3

Once her eyes had opened, Ivy didn't seem to want to shut them.  That had been a few days ago now, and it introduced her to a den full of slightly blurry blobs.  She recognized them by feel at first, but now she knew the larger blobs were her parents and the smaller ones were her siblings.  Sight and sound broadened her world considerably despite not having left the comfortable confines of the small familial space.  And now her gums started to hurt.. but that was a problem for another time.  There was only so much a girl could take in!

She'd wiggled away from her warm siblings several minutes ago toward the mouth of the den.  Despite feeling rather accomplished and proud of herself, Ivy hadn't made it far enough to be of any concern.  She pouted and let out a heavy sigh.  Wasn't anyone else going to get up and do anything?  The smallest Broken Antler Fen child looked back in the direction of her family and opened her mouth: Ba.. babababa.  Her babbling was quiet - a shocking display of consideration for her parents and siblings, to be sure - but still insistant.

Pearl was dozing cozily in the den, which she rarely left nowadays, surrounded by love and warmth. The occasional breeze of brisk autumn air would flutter through, bringing with it the crisp scent of drying leaves and chilling air. She enjoyed watching her kids wonder at the world around them, allowing them to wander about the den freely, or as far as they could make it without falling asleep. They were getting more interesting as the days passed, gradually doing more than drinking and sleeping. 

This was one of those days where it was obvious they were getting older. Her smallest girl had broken away from her familial cluster and had paused her movements, every one of which were followed by her mother's protective yet amused eyes. She raised her eyebrows slightly as the little one began making incoherent noises, seemingly directed at her unmoving family. "You want some more action in here?" she asked, not expecting a response of any kind. "Well, you're outta luck for now. We can take you all out sometime when you aren't falling asleep sporadically." Pearl smiled and moved her tail around slowly, just to see if the smallest would take notice.

Her face lit up instantly when the sweet voice of her mother carried over the pathetically short distance she'd managed to put between herself and the rest of her siblings.  Ivy let out a high-pitched squeal, her pale stub of a tail working double time to further convey her joy at the attention she'd been granted.  Aaa! she cried much more loudly this time as her delight took on some semblance of a word.

Ivy managed to turn herself around so she faced her mother once more.  Naturally this process took several moments, though it felt much longer to the small girl.  By time time she properly faced Pearl again, her small mouth was open, tongue lolling out as a physical manifestation of her exhaustion.  Movement at this point in her life was a great feat, after all.  Once she stood up and took those first few steps Ivy would likely be unstoppable.  That was a bit farther off in her development at this point, though.

Pearl flicked her ears at the unforgiving pitch emitting from her daughter, shutting her eyes slightly as if to shield from the noise. How on earth could such a tiny thing be so incredibly loud? The second noise was even louder, but sounded happier. That was..good? "Mm hm, hi!" she said in response.

She lay her head on her paws and watched her smallest slowly move her body around, wondering if she should help her out or just let her do her own thing. The latter would be better, but maybe when she could manage on her own. For now, she leaned over to lick her youngest daughter over the head to see if she could come back to the body heater. "Can you come back? Or do I have to move you back myself?"

Her mother's sweet voice was like music to her ears.  Much more soothing than her siblings, anyway.  Ivy didn't have the self-awareness yet to realize that her sqeaky voice was also awful, but even if she did it wasn't likely to phase her.  Her dad's voice was good, too, but in a different way.  Lower.  The smallest of the Broken Antler Fen pups blinked a few times, that same pout forming on her tiny face once again.

Just when she felt another wail coming on, the blurry form of her mother's head reached across what Ivy was certain had been an vast, immeasurable distance and gave her a lick.  She continued on with two more blinks - a brilliant response to her mother's questions - and tilted her head to the side.  Words had no meaning to her just yet though she did rather enjoy hearing them.  With a sassy huff the pale gray girl rolled onto her back and batted at the air between herself and her mother with her stubby front paws.  She kept her squeaks and squeals at bay for now though they'd resurface in no time.

Pearl's only reaction was to smile and watch, a normal reaction for pups this adorable. Bearing the high-pitched squeals were alright for now, but hopefully their voices wouldn't be like this for long. She smiled tenderly at her smallest's blinking response, impressive for how young she still was. 

The little one rolled over and attempted to bat off her attacker with all four limbs, but to no avail as Peral breached the flimsy battlements and tickled the pup with her nose, hoping she was ticklish.

There was nothing to be done about her high-pitched voice now - Pearl's tickling had unleashed a barrage of giggles and Ivy was powerless to stop them.  She wiggled around, still positioned on her back, in a pathetic half-attempt to escape her attacker but all that effort was in vain.

Aaa! she cried again, a huge smile spread across her tiny, pale face.  Ivy didn't care at the moment that the wild noises she emitted would likely wake up everyone in a five mile radius - how could she!  The girl was having a lovely time with her mother and that was all that mattered.  She was getting even more exhaused by the second, though, and that fact became evident when her squealing was abrputly stopped by a larger-than-life yawn.  When it was finally completed the girl gave her mother a sleepy smile and another half-hearted swat.

Pearl continued with her full frontal attack, being met with sounds higher than she thought possible. There wasn't much to be done about it, so she just folded her ears back and hoped her tiny little squealer wasn't waking anyone up too harshly. Grinning, she pulled away in time to see the yawn that seemed to take an entire body's force to accomplish.

Nosing away the mini paw, she nuzzled her daughter's head with motherly affection. "Alright little one, time for you to go to sleep," she said, picking her up by the scruff and placing her gently back at her side. Was it just her or were they getting ever so slightly heavier?