Stone Circle Poor unfortunate souls

@Murdock

Steph had napped after playing with her siblings, but once more found herself outside the den's entrance. So far, this big world had been okay to her, and she felt resonably certain that she could explore without consequence. So, she focused a little more on the area around her, and a little less on the location of the den. It was exciteing, finding out what laid beyond the hole in the ground that she had been born in. That had been her whole world for a month before she was told more existed. 

Walking gingerly, she stopped whenever a new scent greeted her nose. Her tail wagged with the download of new information, even if she didn't know where it was from. A squeak from a squirrel brought her head up, searching for the creature. She found it hanging on the side of a tree, eyeing her and flicking its tail. Her own tail waved back and forth in greeting and she closed the distance between her and her new friend. Only, her new friend ran further up the tree. Steph watched, confused as to why it was running from her. It then turned and disappeared, and as quickly as her interest had come on, it was gone. 

She continued walking, loosing track of time, and of where she was at. She looked around her at the unfamiliar territory, wondering what to do next. Instinct told her to stay quiet, so she did. But, her body had the beginning makings of terror as she realized she had no idea which way was the den. Should she cry out for her mother? Stay quiet in hopes she was looking for her? Steph didn't know. She sat back on her haunches, a soft whine coming from her throat.

Murdock had been getting more comfortable entering the territory. It was about time, after being among the Easthollow wolves for more than a month. He'd not gotten very close with any of his packmates, but the male did not have much to say, aside from a few cheerful greetings here and there.

He spent his time hunting and marking the borders, both actions ones that could be performed beyond the borders of Easthollow, and away from the oppressive scent of milk and puppies that always seemed to be tickling his nose. But even he could not always resist the allure, and - when Valette had business elsewhere - the male did occasionally find himself nearer to the den than he might normally permit himself.

He still could not see it, and it would take a a good walk before it came into view - but he and his family had been blessed with exceptional noses, and Murdock could easily detect the scent of new life in the air.

That was all he wanted. Just the scent, and a good, long nap, and dreams that were filled with happy times instead of the Great Saddness that'd come after. So it was that, when a dark, bumbling blob came cavorting through the wilderness, she came to stop a stone's throw from Murdock, who heaved another happy sigh in his sleep.

The sigh registered in her ears a moment later and Steph's head swiveled quickly to find the owner of it. She half expected her Mom, but she was disappointed not to find Valette standing behind her. But, she was not alone, either.

A big, slumbering mass laid on the ground several feet away, hidden in the shadows. Steph watch him closely, unmoving while she tried to remember if he was at the den last week. She couldn't. But, surely, he would know where her home was. 

He looked harmless enough, and so she stood and placed paw before paw until she was nose to nose with him. A fraction of an inch and they would touch. But, she didn't. She simply waited, willing him awake, her wide eyes boring into his closed ones.

It was warm in the den. Murdock laid beside his sleeping wife and watched over his three beloved children. Waytelem, Wahots, and Wyakin were nothing but dark blurs in the dark blurriness of the den, but they were the most beautiful things he'd ever seen. He and Chemukh had dreamed of having a family since they were nothing but pups themselves, and now the dream had come true

the dream had come true

the dream

Wyakin was staring at him, her bright, puppy-blue eyes mere inches from his own two-toned gold ones. For a moment, the two simply stared at each other, and then Murdock - coming back to reality - scrambled back with a startled oath. His heartbeat was almost too loud, but he heard his own voice just beyond it - "Get back!"

It was only a few seconds later that he realized it was only a girl, and no ghost that stood before him. She reeked of the dark alpha, Valette, who bore a striking resemblance to his beloved Chemukh.

"What are you doing out here?" the male demanded, standing a few yards off, his fur still bristling without his permission.

The male opened his eyes, and they stared at each other. A friendly wag of Steph's tail began, but was cut short by the quick rustling and loud voice of the male. Steph jerked back, an involuntary yelp coming from her maw. Eyes wide with fear, her legs struggled to work together at once. They kicked this way and that, succeeding to only take her a few feet.

She stopped trying to run, since she couldn't get anywhere anyways, and instead pushed her body the ground, shivering in fear. She wanted nothing more than her mother at that moment, and she whimpered,  as if it would call her. Her eyes stayed on the large, intimidating male, not registering his words. His body language told her enough, that she had made a grave mistake approaching him.

A few precious seconds ticked by, during which Murdock and Steph had a very tense stare-down. Then the male seemed to center himself, and his fur fell flat once more.

"No - hey, hey," he said cajolingly, lowering himself to the ground once more. "Don't be scared, little black thing. You're okay."

He wasn't sure whether or not the girl could understand him, but he figured his tone might be enough to calm her down. He wasn't used to being thought of as scary, and the idea didn't sit well with him.

Steph was bording on petrified, her eyes wide and her breathing quickened in fear. She had no instincts on what to do next. She had tried running, but no cooridnation. Being five weeks old, she was simply too young to come up with anything else. 

Then, he moved. Steph's body tensed and her breathing stopped while she eyed him lowering his body to the ground. He looked so much different than just a few moments ago, and a smidgeon of confusion etched into her features. His voice was different, too; soft instead of booming. 

The young pup simply didn't know what to do, and she whined in an attempt to convey that. He didn't look like he was going to harm her anymore, but she wasn't brave enough to even pull herself up off the ground.

When the tiny girl still seemed to be having trouble getting to her paws, Murdock reluctantly approached, moving just close enough to extend his neck and nudge her side. He was too afraid of breaking her to push hard enough to flip her back onto her paws, though, and quickly gave up to retreat once more.

From a few feet away, he called out in a voice of forced friendliness. "You're okay, black thing. Go on - get up."

The male was beginning to feel a bit panicky once more. What was he supposed to do, now? He didn't dare lift her. What if she struggled and got hurt? What if he dropped her? What if someone startled him, and he bit down too hard? He couldn't leave her here, though. She wasn't old enough to be out on her own, was She?

Murdock cleared his throat. "You go back to your mama, now, y'hear?" he instructed, still not sure whether or not she understood even such simple concepts.

She watched, with a little less fear, as the male approached her and nudged her side, provoking her to get up. Steph didn't have the thought process to wonder about the change in his mood. She only knew it seemed much more positive than a few moments ago.

So, she stood, but instead of doing what he said and going to find Valente, she bounded over to the male. She wound through his legs before plopping down between his front legs, and looked up at him, instant forgiveness in her eyes.

The male held himself stiffly above the tiny black wolf, not quite sure what he was supposed to be doing in this situation. There was something very endearing about her tiny little features and cute puppy prance, but Murdock was still deeply uncomfortable with her proximity. "C'mon, now, darlin'," he pleaded, backpedaling a few steps. He tried to push her away with the backs of his paws, but still, he was too afraid of hurting her or pushing her over to make any real headway.

Carefully, he moved away from her, making sure she wouldn't fall over without his legs to lean on, and moved a few feet away. "Okay, we're gonna play a game," he told her. I'm going to go this way, and you're gonna follow, alright?"

He backed toward the den area, his eyes still glued to the little wolf. "C'mon, blackie. Let's go this way," he cajoled.

After a few moments, the male tried to gently push her away. However, Steph thought he was playing and reacted accordingly. She playfully growled while attempting to gnaw on one of his paws. Her little puppy teeth had already started to break the surface of her gums, and she was learning how to use them.

The male backed away again, and Steph watched with interest. He was moving away, but slowly. She tilted her head to his words, trying to figure out what he was saying. She didn't have much comprehension of his words, but smiled all the same, her tongue lolling put of her mouth. The moment she thought he was too far from her, she barked and bounded towards him, having had no idea she did just what he wanted her to. 

She walked alongside him, keeping up as best she could.  She gave  no thought as to where they were going, but her tail wagged all the same. The fact that she was lost was gone from her mind, since she had no fear of being alone now that he was here.

"Good job, blackie!" he praised, his tail wagging almost against his will. He didn't want to play games with her, but... it was kind of cool to have a tiny wolf following him around. "Okay, let's do serpentine," he suggested, trotting a bit more slowly so that she could at least attempt to keep up. He did a few zig-zagging patterns, wondering how far he could take this 'follow me' thing.

Mostly, though, he wanted to see the way her tiny puppy legs seemed to defy physics as they carried her around. She seemed - perpetually! - to be on the verge of falling over, but she was surprisingly steady on her paws. Murdock was almost disappointed; he was sure it'd be real cute if she fell over, even though the idea scared him beyond all reason.

"Quit being so adorable, blackie," he told her, beginning to talk in a baby voice for some reason. "You stop that right now. I mean it." But he totally didn't mean it.

The excitement in the male's voice was all Steph needed to be equally excited. She barked again in response to him, and began to follow him as he zig-zagged back and forth. She had no idea why they were doing this, but it was fun for her. A few times, she almost tripped as her legs tried to keep up, but Steph was learning to catch herself before falling, and she didn't let it slow her down.

His baby voice only spurred her on more. Mid-stride, she reared up on her hind legs and placed her front paws on his chest as she attempted to get close to his muzzle to lick it. She was short, though, and it would take him lowering his head to accomidate her. Her tail wagged so furiously that her whole back half was going side to side. She didn't really understand what he was saying, so confusion between the sound of his voice and his words wasn't an issue.

As soon as he saw that Blackie was stumbling, the male slowed his pace to a crawl. A spike of adreneline kicked through him as he imagined the dark girl smashing her face into the ground and being deformed for the rest of her life. (He really didn't know how to handle pups.) She might even die from a tumble like that - she was so small!

"Be careful," he warned, peering down at her a bit anxiously. Had she stubbed her toe or something? The male gave her a gentle poke with his nose, trying to ellicit some kind of noise out of her. Didn't pups usually cry when they were hurt? Did this mean she was okay?

Somewhat suspiciously, he continued onward, his attention focused so wholly on Blackie that he didn't even look where he was going, and thus, did not see that he was about to stumble into a gopher hole. One moment, he was just fine, and the next, he'd face-planted into the mixed dirt-and-grass, earning himself a bloody nose and a very sore paw.

"Blackie? Blackie!" he gasped, dragging himself to his paws and looking fearfully underneath him for the little girl. Luckily, he hadn't squished her on the way down and would not be eaten by @Valette.

Valette was quite frantic by the time she was close to Steph. As a working alpha and tired mother, she had quickly drifted off to sleep. She didn't think her pups were mobile and brave enough to just go out and explore. She wouldn't want to discourage it but now she was really worried. Luckily the mother knew the scent of her daughter so it was easy to track her.

Valette's nose was close to the ground as she followed her child's footsteps and got her scent on the smaller plants. Valette let out soft barks to coach her closer. She really wanted her baby back. Valette wanted to rush her tracking but didn't want to overlook any signs. Not sooner than later she heard a voice but it wasn't that familiar to her at all.

Valette rushed forward and soon found Steph. "Steph!!," she let out in relief and rushed towards her baby. But she was very close to the new male. The male that had also been briefly at meeting her pups. She felt a bit defensive but it was clear her daughter wasn't injured. She also felt like a bad mother for losing her child.

Steph was caught off guard when Murdock fell, but she scrambled back quickly enough that the majority of his weight wasn't on her. The rest just felt like a tight hug. She mostly ignored it, as she was much more interested in the fact that he was down to her level now. She squirmed excitedly up to his head, her intentions still to give him some puppy kisses.

In the next moment, she heard her mother. With no thought of being in trouble, she bounded over to Valette, whining happily with her tail wagging. She had no idea the worries she had caused her mother.

The male pulled his face away from Blackie's reach, wrinkling his nose against the scent of sweet puppy breath and the wistful memories it evoked. Hobbling a bit, and with one paw lifted gingerly off the ground, the male got to his paws just in time to hear a semi-familiar voice about and wholly unfamiliar name.

It was the alpha, and she looked concerned. Murdock held back a retort that his name most certainly wasn't Steph before he realized the moniker must belong to Blackie. Stephie, thought the male, combining the two names. "Found somethin'a yours," he said instead, his voice coming out a bit gruff. He realized that the pain in his ankle was causing him to grit his teeth and forced himself to relax, and to dip his head so that it hung below hers, despite the disparity in their sizes.

"Was takin' a nap. She showed up and woke me rather rudely." Though the words were mild and somewhat teasing, he shot a tiny look of consternation at Stephie, remembering how she'd decided to wake him and how much it'd scared him.

Valette was so relieved to see her baby. She showered her with licks and soft whines. She knew that being mad wouldn't have any effect. It would only make her scared. Plus it was probably too difficult for Steph to understand the concept. She looked up at Murdock and offered him a soft smile. "Thank you for looking after her," she spoke and nuzzled her daughter again.

"I'm sorry about that. Normally they wake me instead but it seems I was so tired that she snuck right past me," She admitted and felt a bit flustered. It wasn't like she had a mate that could keep an eye on them as well. She thought she could do this all on her own but three pups were quite a lot to manage on her own 24/7.

She greeted her mother with excitement, returning the licks and whines happily as she rubbed her body against Valette's legs. While she had forgotten she was looking for the den, and her mother, she was no less excited to see her, especially since it was the longest she had been away from her ever.

The look Murdock shot her way did nothing to discern the young pup. In fact, it made her lop over to him, tail wagging, to attempt to rub against his leg. She was unaware of the fact he was injured, and therefore did not take care to leave that leg alone.

Somehow, he'd expected more anger or protectivness from the mother. They'd never formally met, and he did not consider himself the sort that ought to be around children. Perhaps it was less apparent to others than it was to himself.

"No harm done," he said gruffly, feeling uncomfortable in the face of her vulnerability. Her thanks was unexpected and unwelcome, though he tried to bear it with dignity, since she seemed so put-upon. Didn't the poor woman have a man around? Someone to shoulder half the load?

Murdock didn't ask.

"Well, see ya, Blackie. Be a good girl for your mama," he said, subtly attempting to dismiss the pair. He didn't think he'd be able to walk without limping, and since he didn't want the mother to see that, he decided that they'd have to be the first to leave.

Valette was humble. This male had been in the pack while she was close to labor and the period after labor. She didn't hear anything from Ezekiel or any other member that he wasn't trustworthy. It wouldn't make sense for the female to be mad at him while he had been looking out for her daughter. Plus, he had come to see them when she invited the whole pack and kept a respectful distance. Valette wanted to give him respect in return as well.

"If you want to babysit more often you should have let me know," she offered with a quick smile. She didn't know the male well enough to know he liked kids or not. It seemed he did fine with them. "Come, Steph," she called out for her daughter. "Back to the den with you." Valette turned in the direction towards the den and glanced over her shoulder to see if Steph was following.

Steph didn't get a reaction from the male, but before her emotions could respond, Valette was beckoning her. She glanced toward her mother before looking back at Murdock, her tail wagging a good bye before she bounded off towards Valette. While she thought her friend was a lot of fun, she simply didn't have it in her to go against what her mother said. 

All this excitement in such a short time, Steph would most certainly zonk out when she got to the den. For now, she wasn't willing to let the tiredness get to her, and instead bounded ahead of Valette a few feet. Then she remembered she had no idea where she was going, and looked back to her mother for guidance, her tail wagging. She would do this stop and go all the way back to the den.

The look of pure horror flickered across his face before he could catch it. There were few things that bothered him more than children, and babysitting the little cretins was currently at the bottom of his to-do list. Even if Stephie was very adorable, and not all that bad when she wasn't assulting him with her little puppy face.

... they'd done serpentine. That had been fun.

"Don't like kids too much," he said gruffly, turning his head away from Stephie's chubby figure. Not unless he was eating them, at least.