Dawnlark Plains ahh, overly-elaborate mob schemes to take over vegas

for @Pema set this morning
@Grayday @Spiritwalker for visibility

He was bored. It was a common problem for River; easily fascinated as he was, the boy had the attention span of a gnat. When the latest strange rock he had dug up in the den inevitably became boring, he was at a loss. Where were those other big wolves, anyway? Mom and dad were cool, yeah— but he really wanted to go find that big grey wolf again! His chest fur had been really tasty. Suddenly quite determined, the pale child set his sights on the den entrance.
This time, he was careful to avoid tripping over @Kasatka or jostling @Eventide as he hurried towards freedom. Freedom and new friends! And chewing! River's tail wagged furiously behind him. He paused only briefly when he reached the mouth of the den, peering out and around with one ear fully perked. The tip of the other ear was still floppy for the moment, but he was thankfully oblivious to how ridiculous he looked. In the next moment, he was off at a trot, not entirely sure where he was going. To find that grey wolf, maybe, wherever he was.

It was good that Pema had made her den so close to Grayday's and Cat. Both for her and for them. She enjoyed seeing and playing with their new litter of pups, and they benefited from another set of eyes. Today Pema spotted a sneaky River dipping his head out of the den entrance. She didn't do anything at first but observe, waiting to see if he would in fact cross then the threshold. Once he did she stood up from her den and trotted in his direction. She didn't rush, letting him be out and about for a short while before he found out that his plans were spoiled.

With him still being rather small catching up to him wasn't any trouble, and once she got near she called out to him. "River, now where do you think you are sneaking off too."  she asked sounding motherly as she spoke with a smile. 

Neither of Eventide's siblings were as sneaky as they thought they were. Every move that they made was monitored; nothing got past Ty's ever advancing senses. Initially, so as not to foil his brother's plans, Ty pretended to ignore Winterbourne's ambitious escape, only following once he had reason to worry (which, because of a lack of the development of object permanence, was no more than thirty seconds).

It was truly terrifying what Eventide emerged to see. Yes, truly terrifying indeed.

Winterbourne had been caught by the biggest body.

It was the same one that had tried to eat Eventide just the other day! And, by gods, letting the same terrifying torture happen to either of his siblings was something that just wouldn't stand to pass. With a loud growl and raised hackles, Eventide stalked forward street-cat style and intercepted the space between Winterbourne and Pema.

it was her brother's rippling growl that caused kasatka to rouse from her third nap of the day.  she poked her head out of the den long enough to catch sight of a STRANGER!!!!

she barreled behind her brother and let out a deafening howl (that was not deafening at all, and kind of more like a squeal).

A voice interrupted his merry trot, and River froze guiltily. He turned, ears flat and tail wagging furiously as he already sought to convince her he hadn't been doing anything wrong. Before he could really get to being persuasive, he was again interrupted. This time, by his brother— his savior! Thankful for Eventide's arrival, and entirely forgetting the point of being scary, he wiggled towards his littermate and planted several sloppy kisses on his face and neck.
He forgot about Pema entirely, and failed to notice Kasatka at all until she squealed. Which, of course, startled him. River flinched and fluffed up with a squeal of his own, then shoved himself against Eventide for protection. His fierce brother would protect him from whatever awful thing made that noise, he knew! Then his gaze settled on Kitten, and he squinted with hazy blue baby eyes. Hey, wait.

At her words, the young River froze in his steps and turned towards her wagging his head with his ears back, as though he were trying to convince her that he wasn't up to no good. She looked down at him with a smirk that read 'You should know better'. But she wouldn't be mad. He was only being adventurous and with him not being her own child she hadn't grown the nerve to put her foot down quite yet.

Soon after a rambunctious Ty emerged from the den growling a little growl. This wasn't the first time she had encountered this tough guy and wasn't surprised to see his reaction. "You are quite the stinker of the bunch aren't you."  she said teasingly. Then came Kas, following her brother Ty's lead with a faint pup's howl. "And we can't forget Kasatka, our little vocalist."  she said with a smile, hoping that the young girl would calm down. She had always been the most vocal of the three in Pema's experience

The day had been saved! Both siblings huddled around Eventide for protection, which he welcomed them to do. It was his job to protect them, of course, and their acceptance of this fact just made his job all the easier. Now, as for Pema, it didn't seem that she would be giving up anytime soon. Eventide took one step forward with his eyes squinted and his snout turned right up to meet their elder's. No, he rumbled angrily, body shaking with the vibrations of his tiny voice.