Blacktail Deer Plateau that western skyline

Paging @Lavender and @Dauntless for a bit of family time!

Grayday had been busy, lately, but that didn't mean he was making the same mistakes he had when Sunny and Dawn were small. He spent much of his days with his three children, keeping them occupied while the four of them waited for Khoe to return. A part of him that'd slept for some time, now, began to rear its ugly head once more. He wanted to be angry at his wife, and to curse the name of his god for the cards he'd been dealt; that he had been abandoned twice, now, by the bone of his bone, the flesh of his flesh. Two litters, left without a mother...

But he made a point not to dwell on that fact, and somehow, kept himself afloat on a raft of dubious and waning hope, rather than succumbing immediately to the anger that fought so stridently to be released once more. And thus, he was able to sit docily with his chilren as they days dragged by, turning the summer of their infancy into the autumn of their youth. Very soon, he would begin to teach them to hunt. For now, he watched over them while they played.

Easy missed her mother. Milk had been off the menu for some time, by now, but that didn't stop Easy from associating her mother with a full belly and warm, sleepy naps. So she missed her mother, but it was in the fleeting, distant way of youth. She missed her mother, but there was enough excitment to distract her from dwelling on that fact.

Right now, it was a large, black cricket. The girl had found it under a fallen log that her father had overturned for her, after a bit of begging. There were a lot of neat things in the forest that they hadn't had back at the Old Den. Fallen logs were one of those things, as well as the myriad of creatures that could be found underneath it. And Easy had learned already that the salamanders could not be eaten, and that the black, armoured bugs with the wickedly sharp tails were not very fun to trifle with. Slowly, under the watchful eye of her father, she was learning to be cautious - but she'd had good luck with crickets, so far. And this cricket was a true prize. She wanted something to show for all her practicing, but when she finally pounced, the cricket seemed to had disappeared.

Easy returned to her father's side with a familiar droop to her ears.

Dauntless had taken the disappearance of their mother very hard. Of all the pups, he was the one most attached to his parents - needing their constant guidance and support in order to feel confident. His world had been turned upside down when she stopped returning to the pack. It was like she was there one day and then just vanished. Dauntless had spent his days scrutinizing the other adults of the pack, his little mind trying to ascertain Khoe's whereabouts by their chatter. But he was not able to comprehend anything useful. He was too young to properly appreciate the passage of time, and so he just figured she would eventually reappear. Some of the time he was able to play with his siblings and be completely distracted, but other times he kept anyone in the vicinity awake with his pitiful crying. As the weather started to turn colder, Dauntless's anxiety grew. His dad was always busy, it seemed, with leading the pack and Dauntless was growing restless with the need to learn how to survive. However, without the comfort of his mother, he was scared to stray too far from the den. He did not want to disappear like his mother - out there in the scary world. What was this new place anyway? Dauntless wished they were back at Morningside Cuesta. At least they had all been together. To Dauntless, this place seemed cursed.

Today, Grayday was there to watch over the pups while they played and so they all strayed far from the den. Dauntless explored a little bit, but lately he found that he just did not have any energy. His appetite had sharply decreased in the last few days, mirroring his depressive mood, and it wasn't long before his body responded with lethargy. He made his way over to a shaded grassy area near a group of trees and flopped down on his stomach, his little legs splayed like a frog behind him. He heaved a heavy sigh and looked up at the sky ponderously with his dark brown eyes.

Grayday gazed sadly around at his children, his heart hardening toward his absent wife even as it softened toward the sullen three. Easy was as unaffected as ever, but Dauntless was miserable, and Lavender confused and bewildered.

"Come here, Mir," he said to his son, coaxing the boy with an inviting spread of his forelegs. Easy and Lavender were quick to take up the space, but Grayday smooshed them together until there was room for Dauntless, too.

Easy curled up with her sister against her father's chest, peering worriedly out toward her brother as she did. The cocoon of warmth her father provided (needed, in the shade of the trees, and with autumn finally upon them) seemed empty and ineffectual with one third of the litter missing.

"Come snuggle, Daunty!" she commanded, wishing there was some way to knock the sadness out of her brother.

Dauntless's small ears pricked a little when he heard his father address him. He rolled his tiny eyes in their direction, but otherwise did not move. His nose twitched a little in thought and then he looked back up at the sky. He had just made up his mind to ignore his father when Easy's happy voice called to him as well. Her personality seemed to living up to her name, and her free spirit tended to be contagious. Dauntless stayed where he was a moment longer then slowly lumbered to his feet and walked over to where the three of them were laying. He licked respectfully at his father's chin, making himself small and meek as he approached and squished himself amongst his sisters. He moved around a little to settle himself in, appreciating the warm hardness of Grayday's chest. Again, he heaved a heavy sigh and stared out at the world from his secure spot.

"There, now," said Grayday, nuzzling each puppy in turn. Sitting like this, it was impossible not to think of the dream he'd recently had. Impossible not to think of his own father, holding a long-legged youth to his chest. Sometimes, he felt as though he could never be what Mud had expected of him, but at times like these, he felt like enough.

"When I was little, and I was feeling down, my dad would sing to me or tell me stories," he said to the three, his voice rumbling in his chest. Could they feel it at their backs? Was it that same kind of cathartic experience that Grayday used to have? "So what'll it be? Song or story?"

Easy looked to Lavender, who'd spoken up at once. "What do you want, Mir?" she asked solicitously. Easy didn't have much else to add, and turned expectant eyes on her brother. She wanted a story, of course, but she wasn't the sad one. She supposed it was only fair that Dauntless, who seemed to be the saddest, got to decide.

The nuzzling felt good, and Dauntless closed his eyes in appreciation as he soaked up the warm waves of affection. He could literally feeling the love and tenderness wash over him. Their mother was warm and loving, too, but the feel of being next to Grayday was somehow different. Somehow deeper. He felt himself feeling better already. The way Grayday's chest rumbled when he spoke lovingly to them made Dauntless close his eyes in happy pleasure and he pressed his back more firmly into the powerful chest.

Dauntless was a bit taken aback when Easy suggested he be the one to decide between story or song. "Song!" he chimed in quickly and with a furious wag of his tail, for he loved the sound of wolfsong and hoped one day he would have a beautiful, powerful howl. He looked up at Grayday, hoping his father would acquiesce and not go with Lavender's request, which of course had been the opposite of his.

Grayday didn't know quite what song to choose. It didn't seem right to try and cheer them up with something bright and happy; he himself didn't quite have that in him, today. But neither did he want to sing a mournful tune and drag their little spirits down further.

In the end, he went for something that was not from his father, but from his mother. A lulluby.

"Blue sky, don’t fail me now
remain open, stay starred
I’m coming for you, finally
following that white spine of mountains
those green-furred backs of the earth," Grayday sang, in a tune that was both slow and rollicking. The words had been soothing and whimsical to a young Grayday in the distant past, and he hoped it would be the same for his own children.

"My heart is in your hands
in the cavernous jaw of the ocean
in the lungs of that yellow plain

"And my eyes are open, my feet unstilled
take me to freedom
to that place where the river took flight​..."

He paused to clean a bit of drool from Easy's cheek. The girl was already snoozing, despite having been wide-awake a moment ago. Lavender looked a bit put out by this, but seemed content to continue listening to the song.

You can skip Easy!

It was so warm and comfortable, but Dauntless did not want to miss out on any of this by falling asleep like Easy had. Instead, he peered quietly out at the world and looked up to watch the wind blow through the tops of the trees. He was sure his father had the best singing voice of any wolf in the whole world. It had such a lovely timber to it and Dauntless felt instantly soothed. He saw a few birds flying high and swore they were soaring to the cadence of the tune. When Grayday paused to tend to groom Easy, Dauntless lifted his little head and licked at the underside of the bigger wolf's chin. "Again," he stated imploringly, wanting his father's voice to fill the silence again.

Grayday nuzzle his son and gladly obliged him. "Blue sky, don’t fail me now
remain open, stay starred," he sang, booping his nose against Dauntless's.

"I’ll find you in the morning
climb over your craggy fist
beg the swallows and the songbirds
to teach me your name

"And my eyes are open, my feet unstilled
take me to freedom
to that place where the river took flight -
the place where the river, the place where the river
the place where the river took flight."

The verses repeated after that, changing places as often as was his mother's want. Here, though, Grayday paused again, leaning down to nibble affectionately at the scruff of Dauntless's neck. Soon enough, he'd lose his chubby baby fat, and Grayday would die just a little bit inside. "What about you, buck-o? Wanna sing for papa?" he asked, wondering if Dauntless would have any interest in that.

His small eyes shined up at Grayday adoringly and he wiggled a little in his spot. He could feel the loving energy moving through him and, consequently, he could not hold entirely still. As Grayday sang in that smooth, even voice of his, Dauntless felt compelled to howl along but did not actually allow himself to do so. It would be disrespectful to interrupt the Leaderwolf. However, when Grayday invited Dauntless to sing, he thought he might burst with feelings of well-being. Easy was asleep and Lavender, for once, was sitting there contentedly and not trying to hog the spotlight. Dauntless had his dad's undivided attention. He looked bashfully at the elder wolf but then opened his small mouth and let out a squeaky little howl, tipping his head back and bringing his lips to a small "O" as he had seen the other, grown wolves do before. He did not attempt to sing the song his father had just being singing - too many words for a young pup - but he liked the way his breath felt as it moved out of his small lungs, through his mouth, and into the air. He took a deep breath and let loose another squeaky little howl. He was unable to hold his note steady, and it came out as a sort of "woooowooowooo" as the pitch wabbled between sharp and flat, but Dauntless was completely unaware of these technicalities. He was just enjoying the moment.

Grayday grinned, his tail thumping the ground. To him, the tinny, warbling sound of his son's howl was almost too cute to bear. Love and happiness threatened to burst his heart, and as an outlet, Grayday threw back his own head and howled along with the boy.

Easy woke up with a grumpy murmur, but quickly perked up when she saw that it was noise-making time. Soon, both girls were howling as well, and the family made such a racket that an murder of young crows suddenly burst from the canopy above them.

Grayday broke off, laughing at the idea that their howling had scared the birds away. "You scared 'em off, tough guy," he said, poking Dauntless in the chest with his nose. At Easy's offended look, he ammended his statement. "We scared them, then. But it was Mir's idea."

When Grayday joined in, Dauntless could feel the wolf's deep howl rattle his small chest. The sound was so rich and pure; Dauntless loved the way it powerfully overlapped his own howls. Once his sisters got involved though.... well, that was the end of the magic as far as Dauntless was concerned - although seeing all those birds take flight had been pretty neat to see. He started to pout but then got the encouraging nose bump from his father and his mopey face turned into a big doggy-grin. He panted happily at the praise and even tilted his head back to let loose one more tiny howl. After that, he felt content to sleep for a while. He curled up comfortably and closed his eyes, letting the heat of the afternoon sun and the afterglow of their fun time together wash over him.

End scene?