Blacktail Deer Plateau Just around the pond bend

@Easy , @Dauntless , feel free to PP Lavender once one of the other pups arrive
Thinking of finding the door...

Pema had been occupied off an on by all of the new wolves and many of their injuries. Dawn had healed up mostly and so had Mirabelle. Adi had his injuries, but it seemed that he didn't need her help quite yet or that he was planning on letting them heal on their own. 

So today Pema was in search of the pups of the pack and eager to have some fun. She had been throughout a majority of the terriotry so far, but had passed a place she though the pups might enjoy visiting if they hadn't already. She too hadn't gone to see it and so all of them could find some amusement on this journey. 

She had seen the pups outside her den and had baby sat them when Grayday was out, but this time she really wanted to do something out of the ordenary for them. To spice things up if the pups were otherwise sad or bored of being in the same place all the time. She headed to the rendizious site first to look for them.

Today was one of those lazy days that Easy absolutely hated. She'd slept under the stars that night, but Daddy'd been out until the small hours of the morning, and now he was asleep when Easy wanted to play or hunt or explore or something. She's gone to a couple other pack members, but they'd all either been busy with Important Adult Stuff, or had been out with Grayday, and were now catching up on sleep.

Finally, Easy got to Pema, who had been busy with her healing duties so much lately that Dawn still had little hope for the day.

"Can we go do something fun, Pema?" she asked, scooting up to the older girl and standing on her hind legs for a moment to pepper her tawny muzzle with kisses. "Everyone's busy or sleepy, and I'm bored."

Retag now that @Dauntless has a new player. 

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Easy, the most energetic of all the pups was the first one she found. She eagerly stood on her hind legs and reached up to give Pema some kiss, her usual greeting. Pema returned the favor and nuzzled the girls head, never bothered by her closeness. 

She begged Pema for them to do something fun which made her smile. Easy was always eager to do one thing or another, Pema wondered how that would translate once she got older. "Sure we can sweety. How about we go exploring, I think I found a place you haven't been before." she said with an intreging voice and a smile.

She figured Easy would be done to go, but now they just needed to find the other pups. "Why don't we find your brother and sister first, so they can come too."

"They're busy," Easy lied, her face completely straight. "Daddy took them to do something earlier, but I didn't want to go. He said I could go with you today."

Having made up her backstory, she sat and waited with a wagging tail, eager to be on their way. A day with Pema was always good fun, but it looked like she'd be getting an adventure out of it today as well. What a treat!

"Can we go now?" she begged, dancing in a little circle. "You've been so busy lately, we never get to do stuff anymore."

As Easy told her lie Pema was none the wiser. It seemed like a plausable story, Grayday having an outing with his kids. But she thought it strange that Easy wouldn't have wanted to go, seeing as how bored she was and how she was usually the one eager to do anything, like she was now. The cherry on top was how she complained about Pema not being around to play much recently, which made her feel slightly guilty. 

"I'm sorry honey. Sure we can head out then." she said turning in the direction of the forested area that they would have to pass through to get to 'the door'. She nodded her head in the direction telling Easy to follow along. 

"So has anything big happened while I've been busy?" she asked wanting to know whats been going on in the exciting life of Easy. 

Easy fell into step beside the older shewolf, tail wagging idly as they began their adventure. She was glad to be back in Pema's company, but truthfully, she was even happier to be going out on a journey again.

"Not really," said Easy, pulling a face. Everything had been really boring. Dawn had been hurt, and Pema had been busy with her, and - "Oh - Daddy's friend came to live with us," she shared, thinking about the stranger she'd often smelled on her father's pelt. Easy had now begun to notice her scent around the territory as well as in her father's fur. "He's always real happy when he smells like her."

At first Pema thought it would have been the same old same old with Easy's first statement. But as something came to mind Pema wondered when she was talking about, a friend. It was later discerned that this friend was a 'her' and that she had spent enough time with Grayday that their scents were beginning to mix, more then the normal mixing of scents with any pack.

She wondered who it was Easy was talking about. At this time the only new females to the pack would be Catori or Starbelly. She also thought it was strange how Easy phrased it, that they had come to live with them. It sounded closer then if she had mearly joined the pack. "What do you mean came to live with you guys? What color is her pelt?" she asked wanting to figure out the situation. 

But with a deep breathe and a sign Pema calmed herself, thinking of how this really wasn't any of her business and that this evening was between her and Easy. To to lighten the mood she remarked, "I much rather smell like you guys." she said as she sniffed around Easy's neck in an exaggerated manner.

"Vanilla," said Easy after a moment of thought. "And ginger."

Pema talked about how she'd rather smell like her and Lav and Mir than like Daddy or his friend, and Easy gave a half-hearted giggle at the little motion she performed. She was pretty distracted, however, by their impending adventure. She wished Pema would hurry up - even if Easy was already struggling to keep up just a tiny bit.

"Where are we going?" she asked, hopping on her toes a tiny bit.

Vanilla and ginger, definatly not black. It must have been Catori then. It seemed rather odd to Pema, she didn't think the two knew eachother that well, seeing as how she was very new to the pack. 

But Easy's persistance about their adventure brought her back to the present. "You'll see. Come on." she said with a smile as she spead up her pace, looking back at Easy following along. 

When they came to the entrance covered in veins Pema stopped. "Here we are." she said with a slight hint of playfulness in her voice. Trying to encourage Easy to take a closer look. 

Easy looked around, plainly quite oblivious to what lay before her. There were rocks and vines, and there was Pema, looking expectant and... michchievous. With a put-upon sigh, she began sniffing around - it seemed like the only way to get to the bottom of all this complication. Perhaps there was a snack hidden somewhere around here, or a pretty rock? A hidden stream?

Several long minutes passed by while Easy traversed the area, climbing over rotting logs and onto rocks to get a better vantage point. Finally, she noticed something a bit odd about the vines - there was no rock behind them!

"Pema!" she shouted, tail puffing out straight behind her as she hurried toward the strange space between the vines. Pushing past them was like entering another planet - Easy's tail began to was double-time. "There's - there's a cave! Can we explore it?"

While Easy was looking around Pema sat down and waited, facing the veins but watching Easy and she moved around. She smiled here and there and fought back little giggles as the misplaced efforts Easy was making looking for what was right infront of her. Pema had found this place by accident and it seemed that was a much easier way to find this place then to look for it for the first time. 

But then she got it. Easy looked at the veins and rushed though them, beconning Pema to follow and so she did. Easy's tail was going made and Pema felt that now that the secret was out she could let out alittle chuckle seeing Easy's sear excitement. "Of course we can explore it. Why else would be come here." she said in an exaggerated manner, her tail wagging along with Easy's. "But don't go too far and make sure you're within looking distance. I'm not sure how deep this cave goes and I wouldn't wont to lose you." she added in a small disclaimer, her inner hidden mom comming out. 

"Okay," said Easy, who had no problem sticking close by Pema's side. Except for denning, she'd never been underground before. This place seemed a lot scarier, somehow, so Easy was planning to stay as close to her guardian as she possibly could. "What makes caves?" the girl asked, gazing around in wonder as her eyes adjusted to the dark. The ceiling was higher than any wolf could stand - something truly incredible must've dug this den.

The girl travelled a bit further, nose twitching at the scent of water up ahead. "Is there a pond in here?" she asked, finding the idea strange and delightful in turns.

She had expected Easy to run off into the cave and have Pema keep up with her. But as they walked into the cave covered in a layer of moss Easy was right by her side. Pema had glanced in here before, but this too was the first time that she woud have a chance to explore the cave. It was very large and teeming with moss, which was a nice padding compared to the stone that resided beneath it. 

Then Easy asked a question Pema had never really thought about before. Another perk of spending time with those that were very young was their questions about the world that others thought didn't matter. "You know... I'm not really sure. I know it takes a really long time. Like a really really long time. Longer then any wolf has ever lived. But over time the rock hollows out kinda. Most likely because of water running through the cracks." she explained hoping that her answer was understandable and satisfactory. 

Easy's next question lead the two further into the cave and it began to light up. They arrived at a small internal cave with an opening above. "Look at that." she suggested to Easy, seeing that the sky reflected off the water. "It's most likely rain water that falls in." she explained. She bend down her head to take a sniff of the water before taking a small drink. It tasted frest like rain water, but with a small minerally taste. 

Easy nodded, mouth open in wonder at both Pema's words and the sight of the cavern. It was so... pretty. Otherwordly - different from anything that Easy had ever seen. She was glad that Pema had taken the time to show it to her, and even more grateful to have the woman there to explain what she was seeing.

Copying the older wolf's actions, Easy bent down to lap at the water as well. It tasted funny, but in a good way. Clean and something else.

"This is so cool," Easy breathed, her voice echoing around them.

"It sure is." she said as she looked around, speaking openly rather then directly to Easy. It was really beautiful to see the sun light streaming down from the ceiling, gleaming off the water and illuminating the cave. When Pema first found the entrance, she thought it would be a good find, but she couldn't have imagined how truely beautiful it would be.

"I can be our little hide away if you want." Pema playfully purposed. Even though this was open to all of the pack, it wasn't all that easy to find and it wouldn't surprise Pema if they were the only ones that knew about this place. She then playfully let out a quick "OH" to hear it echo through the caves. 

Easy looked back at Pema with bright, happy eyes. She was so glad that Pema had shared this with her instead of her dad or someone else. She always felt special when she was with Pema.

The girl padded closer, her steps silent on the mossy floor of the cave, and nestled into the thicker fur of Pema's chest. "Thank you, Mommy," she murmured, speaking lowly enough that she almost hoped Pema wouldn't hear her. She'd never tried to call her 'mommy' before, but it just seemed right at the moment. She'd been thinking a lot about how important Pema was to her while she was away. Catori had kept her company and made her feel better, and she loved Catori, but she loved Pema, too.

As the echos died down, Pema looked down to see Easy looking up at her with a bright and happy expression. It made her feel warm inside knowing that she had made Easy's day while bringing her along to discover new things. She lowered her head to nuzzle Easy as she moved closer to her chest. Even though her words were faint Pema still heard what Easy mumbled and it caused a pain in her chest. Not a bad pain but a good one. She was so happy to hear it that it physically hurt. 

Even though Easy couldn't see it, Pema's face was filled with joy as she smiled the biggest smile. For a few moments she simply stayed there holding onto her. She had always thought of Easy and her siblings as her children, especially after thier mother came back just to say goodbye. She had spent so much time with them, and cared for them. Hearing Easy call her mom only reinforced Pema's feelings and showed that Easy felt the same. 

Then after awhile Pema spoke. "No problem sweetheart. Should we go back now? See if your father and siblings are back." she asked leaving it up to Easy.

Obviously, Pema had heard her. But she could trust Pema with anything, and rested easy in the knowledge that her secret was safe with the older wolf. Easy basked in her presence for a moment long before popping back into motion and giving a decisive nod.

"Okay!" she agreed, prancing back toward the entrance. "We can bring 'em back here when they beg us!"

All was well in her world.