Dawnlark Plains love fills the room from the ground to the ceiling

Backdated to the evening of April 16, 2018.

Coelacanth is in the first phase of her heat and is NOT considered fertile. “During proestrus, the start of the estrous cycle, the bitch attracts male dogs, but is still not receptive to breeding.” This phase will last through April 20, 2018.

TRAVEL LOG
April 13, 2018: Sea Lion Shores
April 14, 2018: Horizon Ridge
April 15, 2018: Raven’s Watch
April 16, 2018: Hushed Willows

The atramentous sheepdog slunk past Morningside’s borders like she had something to hide. She kept the spur of one gamine shoulder tightly in line with the crest of Aditya’s hip, Neptune eyes darting shyly this way and that as though she expected to be accosted and rousted out of the territory. It was an inane worry, and logical evidence against it was all around her. This was Catori’s home. @Grayday’s home. @Sunny’s and @Dawn’s, who she remembered as tiny balls of pale gray and slightly darker gray fluff. Aditya’s presence beside her was comforting, and he was gentleman enough to remain until she was a little steadier on her feet, evinced by the gradual straightening of her spine and the forward tilt of her tufted ears. At last, Aditya howled to announce her to the @Spiritwalker and her mate; and that was when the real panic began to set in.

What if this strange feverishness really was illness of some kind? She had never experienced its like before and couldn’t bear to pass it on to the newest generation of Cortens. Conflicted, the tiny Groenendael began to fidget where she stood, now second-guessing whether she ought to be here at all. A soft, airy whine of indecision wheedled from her throat as she inched two steps forward, one back, one step forward, two back, doing the Anxious Sheepdog Shuffle — a new dance, possibly, to the golden-eyed male who stood beside her, but one she was intimately familiar with.

Grayday hurried toward Aditya's call, upping his pace even more when the wind blew him a familiar and none-too-surprising scent. "Seelie!" he hailed, failing in his excitement to see whether or not Aditya was present. "I'm glad you came! You have some new family members to meet," he told her, advancing forward until his wet nose bumped into something of hers. That was all the greeting she got, for it was then that he noticed the heady perfume she carried - more alluring than The last four he had scented, but not irresistible, as Catori's had been.

"You smell amazing," he blurted, his tail wagging for a beat before he reigned himself in and turned back toward the den. "Everyone's coming into it late this year, huh?" he commented, trying to cover up his silly outburst. "Not Catori, luckily, or you wouldn't have any puppies to coo over."

He had been busying himself with staying away from the ladies in heat and keeping the caches fresh and in stock. When the howl went up he recognised the voice. Seelie! The sound made his heart skip a beat and he raced toward the borders a grin on his face like a pup.

As he halted beside  his father he was smacked by the scent of heat. He hesitated and then breathed it in, blinking once before clearing his throat and giving an awkward sway of his tail "Hiya aunt Seelie! You smell...real nice. Hey Adi" he said, his greeting a mixture of awkwardness and happiness. He really liked Seelie, he was glad to be a part of her family now through Catori.

to be by her side brought him immense joy, and it was with some sadness that he brought her, finally, to morningside's border, howling for an audience with grayday. he desired nothing more than to whisk her away, where they could live together on some wayward island--yet obligation had brought them here, on two different paths, so close. . .yet so far.

she fidgeted beside him, and he murmured a wordless sound of reassurance to her, wanting nothing more than to comfort her with touch. but grayday appeared over the horizon, and he gave a curt nod to his father-in-law, forgetting, like always, that he didn't see well, if at all.

sunny bounded up, too, and they both commented on how lovely she smelled. with a rueful chuckle of agreement, aditya took a step back and away, letting seelie converse with grayday without any intrusion from him.

one-post cameo, feel free to skip!

Coelacanth had no real conception of what she smelled like, but she was far more interested in how Aditya and Grayday smelled than she could ever remember being. Just before the latter drew away, Coelacanth attempted to adorn the underside of his jaw with a quick kiss — but in the rush she was lucky to get him across the nose or whiskers. The same did not apply to Sunny, mainly because Seelie still saw him as a very tall, endearing puppy; it was why she adored him so much. Without considering how her nearness might affect him, she danced forward and attempted to nibble at his chin and cheek with delighted exuberance. “Hello!” she greeted them with a warm little whuff and the eager wriggling of her slim musculature; and, “How are you?” she wondered, nose attempting to poke through Sunny’s fur to measure how big and strong he’d grown since the Hunter’s Moon. He hadn’t been in peak condition then; she was pleased to see him hale and happy.

Blindly she began to follow Grayday and Sunny before she realized that Aditya had fallen back. Fretfully she shimmied in place, wondering whether to return to his side or to greet her sister-cousin at long last — but as she always would, Catori won. With an apologetic whisking of her tail and a flattening of her tufted ears, she darted toward Aditya and made to nose at his chin — “I am sorry!” — before wheeling away and clinging like a burr to Grayday and Sunny’s shadows.

Grayday's tail wagged magnanimously as their cousin greeted him with a kiss and then turned to bathe his son in affection. He was possessive of all women - especially those with whom he had a tangible connection. But he was possessive of Sunny, too, and it seemed right that Coelacanth should caper among them, even in such a state. He likely would not have approved of it if Pema or Aviana had done so, but there was something that seemed very free and untameable about the wolfdog. How funny.

He led them off toward the den, tail swaying in a chipper way - his attitude toward the scent of fertility had changed over the years, and it no longer made him quite so anxious. Now, he was glad to have it around, spreading excitement and vigor through the ranks. Almost as good as having puppies themselves - which he did.

"Cat?" he asked as they approached the @Spiritwalker's den. "Guess who stopped on by?" Whether she was there or not, though, Grayday was quick to present @Kasatka, @River, and @Eventide for their cousin's approval. He assumed that Cat would be okay with this, since she was family and all.

daddy came back and this time he had more friends!  kitten was eager to use her wobbly legs and manage out of the den and into the bright sunlight to meet them all.  so many strange scents assaulted her young nose — salt! — and she was quick to stumble up to the queerest looking one of them all.  so long as she wasn't stopped, she'd quickly taste test the sheepdog's leg feathers before deciding they tasted really bad.

Ah, Kasatka — she would be Eventide’s downfall. Every time she got it into her little mind that whatever dangers stood beyond the den needed investigating, he followed dutifully in her steps as reinforcements, should something go wrong. Being this young, his protection was essentially useless, but it would develop as time went on. 

Nonetheless, Kasatka was right this time; there was something interesting outside! The Dry Big Body (aka DBB) has brought a much prettier, much smellier, and much darker friend with him. Immediately, Eventide trotted up to her on his tiny infant paws with little regard for what the DBB had to say and found his place beside Kasatka.

Sunny hadn't been expecting the rush of affection from Seelie but when she came forward he responded eagerly, giving her nuzzles and a few quick kisses to the cheek. Her smell was strong though and after a few moments he stepped away and stood behind his father, not wanting to be overwhelmed by the strange desires it brought to him.

As his father lead Seelie towtard Cat's den he followed by their side, wondering if he'd be allowed to finally see his new siblings. As two small pups came out he froze and watched enraptured as they sniffed and chewed at Seelie. He dropped to his belly and made to go forward, looking up at his father for permission.

Though it was Catori Coealcanth most sincerely hoped to see, she was not disappointed in the slightest by what emerged from the den. One after the other, Catori and Grayday’s children bumbled out of their mother’s embrace and flocked to her willowy forelimbs. The first one, a pale little peach cream confection, gummed curiously at the feathering upon her wrists — and although it tickled, she held very still. Grayday hadn’t expressly given her courage to touch them, though her slim muzzle swept instinctively down to kiss the eggshell-fragile crown. “Oh,” she breathed timorously, her breath fluttering in her chest as tears welled in her Neptune eyes and spilled into the black velvet of her cheeks. Stopping just short of actually touching Kitten, she drew her tongue across her lips and belatedly asked her cousin-in-law, “Guppies — puppies — come. May touch?”

The more brightly colored male, an intriguing mix of Grayday’s stormy slate and a deeper, more earthy shade of Catori’s vivid red, trotted up alongside his sister — but his manner was as protective as it was curious, and she was respectful of his self-possessed nature. Very gently, she whuffed warmly at the pair with her whiskers quivering like a curious sea lion’s. She made sure to include Sunny in her observations so that the growing male would not feel left out or slighted:

“Sunny, proud brrrother?”

---

It was a joyous reunion that followed, and an invitation from Grayday for Coelacanth to stay the night at least, to give her time to recover from her journey. Her reluctance was palpable, but not the reason why — she kept her hurt and Aditya’s name locked deep inside, along with Komodo’s tumultuous trespass — and soon enough, she set it aside, mindful of the need to spend time with her family and be present for each and every shared moment. “Thank you — I stay,” she acquiesced in a silky susurrus, and spent some time whispering stories with Grayday and Catori until finally she left their den to seek out a temporary sleeping place of her own somewhere nearby.