Dawnlark Plains for the heart whose woes are legion

i was hoping for one ( or both! ) of the baby sibz @Eventide or @Kasatka ...but anyone is welcome to hop in! tagging for reference. :-)

it's a chilly morning as dauntless tracks down and successfully catches a plump rabbit and diverts his course from one of the pack's caches to the birthing den. he's avoided going near it to give @Catori and @Grayday space with their newborns and when he wasn't patrolling the borders he's been out looking for easy as her absence stretches on and continues to worry him. not to mention baby siblings meant a whole new life for him. he wasn't the 'baby brother' any longer and while that didn't particularly bother him he was not overly sure what exactly being a 'big brother' entailed and was worried about how he'd do. baby siblings is uncharted territory for dauntless.

his pace slows as he nears the den, he readjusts his grip on the rabbit, loosening it so that when he approaches the mouth and stops just short of the den's entrance. his ears cup forth as he hears the small noises from within the den hesitating only momentarily before he makes his way inside, dropping the rabbit by for catori, his eyes adjusting to the darkness as he works to make out the three small infants.

ever since she had learned to stand she had been exploring every inch of the whelping den.  only two had been allowed to visit thus far; when a big wolf blocked the big light that was the mouth of the den she assumed it was going to be daddy.

and then it wasn't!  she booked it over to the stranger as fast as her little legs would carry her and gave a warbling howl before looking back at mommy.

There was something about having basic sight and mobility that had made a change in Eventide's temperament. No longer was he the whiny brother (of course, he wasn't completely over this phase just yet), but instead the brave and valiant young lad, ready to take on the world! Once his hearing came in and his balance settled, there would be nothing to stop him from exploring the land beyond the den, but for now, he was content with what rest inside.

There was an unfamiliar scent outside that had seemed to catch Kasatka's attention, so naturally, Eventide followed. Rushing toward the den's mouth, he brushed against his sister's side and poked his nose out only a tad bit further to get a better idea of who the new Big Body was outside.

there is movement in the shadows of the den and one of the small potatoes comes rushing towards him upon clumsy baby paws, letting out a warbling howl. dauntless looks at the brazen child for a long moment, kasatka, he thinks her name is; and then looks to the boy that joins her and fumbles for which one he was. was he river? or was he eventide? in point of fact they all kind of looked the same to him ( but there was a lot of shadows and colors were harder to define without light ). he glimpses to catori where the other potato-pup presumably still sleeps but doesn't ask which boy had greeted him if only because he doesn't want her to know he can't discern which boy was river and which one was eventide.

dauntless lets out a small, quieted noise of greeting, unsure if the kids can hear yet or not; and if they can he does not wish to startle them. it's that thought, present in the forefront of his mind, that causes dauntless to lower himself to his belly slowly with the hope that it might invite them to investigate him up close and personal so he might return the favor. "you guys are really short." dauntless observes in hushed tones to them with a soft rumble of laughter, unable to help but feel both amazed and a little afraid of how tiny were and thus how fragile they seemed to him.

yoooouuuu aaaaaaayysss, she mimicked, reaching forward to bop dauntless on the nose with one of her small toe beans as he army-crawled towards them on the ground.  she looked back at her brother momentarily (and caught a glimpse of @River moving around in the background) before focusing her attention back on this new big body.

This Big Body wasn't quite the same as the others, Eventide had come to notice. This one wasn't as big as the others, nor was he was as demanding. While he did somewhat intimidate the toddler, he had a certain ease to his voice that Ty appreciated. It was more fitting to call him Medium Body; not quite the same as Kasatka and River, but not as rude as Grayday and Catori, either.

Maybe he wanted to play? Eventide sure did, and he thought that his sister might, too. Sticking out his tongue with a goofy grin, Ty blew out an inviting blubber for the Medium Body to start up a game between the trio.