Redhawk Caldera a dazzling sight i never knew

The concept of a bedtime was still foreign to Fiadh. Though she could not see, a gentle wash of starlight tricked into the den, indicating that it was much later than when she should have been active. She had been put to bed hours ago, soothed by her nightly bath and the gentle vibrations of Finley's voice. But despite all of this, she could not fall asleep. Since getting her face washed, she had been left with an odd feeling around her eyes. She couldn't describe it, nor could she alleviate it. Nothing worked, and swiftly the Tau was feeling more distressed. 

Not knowing what to do but cry, as that often solved all of her problems, Fiadh gave a sharp kick and stretched her mouth wide as she let out a pitiful wail.

Someone was being stubborn. Fin had barely been able to doze when her daughter gave a mournful wail and a violent (for an infant, anyway) kick to her stomach and likely a sibling or two. The alpha lifted her head to blink blearily at the tiny girl, huffing slightly as she took in a deep sigh. "Now what is your problem..." she murmured as she reached to scoop the girl up softly in her jaws and transplant her between her forelegs.

Fin ran her tongue beneath the girl's chin and along her cheek a few times before pausing to sniff at her little bum. No grossness there for her to deal with, and so the mother looked at Fiadh with a quirked brow. "Well?" she said, tapping her nose gently against the tip of the teensy pup's.

The small boy yawned and rolled him jellybean tongue against the roof of his mouth, stretching each stout limb straight from his body as his mind suddenly roused to consciousness. He wasn’t necessarily thrilled with this change, as he wouldn’t have awoken on his own accord.

There had been a disturbance. 

Lucca was older now but only somewhat; life was quickly rushing into the boy. During his waking hours, few as they were, he bumbled and pushed about the den as best her could on such nascent feetsies. Not only was his body active, but his mind and thoughts had rather quickly unfurled. Of course, as a mere cub most of these thoughts were exceedingly simple  — this is hard, but this is soft and I like it much better — but most of his time was spent consumed with thoughts of mama. She was the only one he knew, and he loved the milk-giver immensely. Father was still an anonymous silhouette, his siblings were simple annoyances that prevented his feeding from one time to another. No — mama was everything, and right now mama was providing attention to something else.

Well now, that wasn’t exactly fair.

Something cried out and Lucca felt spurned on to give a shrill cry of his own — if this tactic had worked for another, surely it would work for him too. The mottled boy laid in wait for his mother’s cosseting.

With each second that passed, Fiadh was creeping closer to the moment that would change her life forever. Even with the discomfort that she felt, and even though she had let out a cry, all would have been fine if it hadn't been for the disturbance around the eyes. As quickly as she had thought the call out, her worries were distracted as her mother scooped her up and examined her. 

The examination was a relatively normal process for Fiadh to undergo now, as this hadn't been the first time that she had been looked over, and so she obliged to her mother's touch. As this was happening, she could feel her eyelids loosening. Unsure of what this strange feeling was, Fiadh reached a chubby forelimb towards her eyes and attempted to bat away the pain. She wasn't sure what else could be done and, for whatever reason, irritating it more seemed to be the most logical choice for the child.

Fiadh didn't answer the question that had been posed - not surprising, and yet still the frown formed upon Finley's muzzle. By now, she was used to puppies squirming and squeaking and shrieking and crying when there wasn't a single thing to squirm or squeak or shriek or cry about at all. This seemed likely to be one of those moments, and so she settled into contentment with her daughter's discontent. She watched as the pup squished its smashed little face into even squishier faces, smiling when one particular contortion or another amused her. Otherwise, Fin left her alone and would probably have put her back soon were it for not for a second voice to join into the whinefest.

The alpha glanced back to peer at the culprit. Sceitimini - her last born son that she hadn't planned a name for. "Not you too..." Fin said quietly to him as she leaned to prod affectionately at him, "You feeling neglected? Is it cause I neglected to name you before you were born? You really came into this world neglected and unloved, didn't you?" She grinned and scooped him up in her jaws, turning her head to deposit him right beside his sister.

"Alright kids... I can only love three of you - that's mommy's max. You're gonna have to battle for my love," Fin instructed them after poking them neatly in line beside one another.

In her state of displeasure, Fiadh was unaware of the attention that had been taken away from her. Instead, she continued to fuss, as she found herself preoccupied with the task at hand: to alleviate whatever was going on with her face. Thankfully, in time, a natural remedy would relieve her irratation and present a reason to Finley as to why she was feeling this way. 

This moment showed itself as Finely placed Lucca as her side. At the surprise of feeling another sibling, as she had grown accustomed to being away from the others, Fiadh's eyes parted. She recoiled at the power of the light that touched her new eyes, but it was as her head shot back she caught sight of Finely, and she ceased all motion as she found herself captivated by what she saw. In the coming months, the view, though blurry, would have been considered beautiful to Fiadh. But, for now, with a coo, the child found herself captivated with her new ability as she kept her eyes on her mother. She was still painfully unaware of the world that surrounded them, but, this realization would come in time to her.

Fin watched the two little nuggets squirm against each other. They looked more like they were getting ready to snuggle than battle, which was adorable and a bit disappointing. She was going to have to learn them some obedience. Or maybe they actually were fighting and she needed to teach them better moves... Fin certainly had her work cut out for her.

The alpha was considering dropping a third puppy on their heads (Clover was twitching now too) when she suddenly spied two, teensy little eyes peeking up at her. Finley cocked her head as Fee blinked at her, surprised. She'd never actually witnessed one of her kids opening their eyes for the first time. Usually, she just woke up to them staring at her. This was far more magical, and way less creepy.

Her tail wagged as she reached to nuzzle the little girl's face affectionately. "Well, hello there, rosebud," Fin murmured through her smile. She glanced at Lucca then and gave him a pointed look, "Looks like you're gonna have to up your game, kid."

Overwhelmed was an understatement for how Fiadh felt. But, despite this overbearing feeling, she was calm because her curiosity kept her nerves at bay. She took everything in was wide eyes as she observed her blurred perspective of the world. She remained unmoving as she watched; not reciprocating her mother's affectionate prod, nor making a move to explore her world. Instead, she waited, not knowing what would come next.

Fin smiled down at the girl as she blinked around at the den. Lucca didn't seem to be too interested in the battle at hand, for he simply squirmed into the crook of her arm for a nap. She poked him affectionately into place before looking again at Fiadh. The pup seemed to stunned by her newfound power to do anything. She was frozen and staring at the wall as though it were the most fascinating/terrifying thing she'd ever seen. Which actually very well may be at that point in the child's young life.

Chuckling, Finley reached to place a few gentle licks upon her daughter's head, trying to garner some attention for herself. "Hey, you know there are way better-looking things to stare at," she said as she nuzzled, "You're making me feel self-conscious about my beauty."

With everything going on, as Fiadh had never experienced such stimulation in her young life, the child fell as quickly as she had risen to the occasion. Unaware of her fatigue, the baby's head fell in a matter of seconds as she fell victim to how overwhelming her gift was. With her eyes still on Finley, Fiadh kept her attention on her mother until her eyelids closed. When she woke next, she would find herself expanding her horizons and exploring more. But, for now, she reminisced about her experience as she dreamed got the needed break from her sudden exposure to the world.