Swiftcurrent Creek Balmora

The pups were what?  Three weeks now?  His eyes had opened like a week ago, and though the world was still a little blurry farther in the distance, for the most part he didn't know any better.  There wasn't anything going on in the late afternoon, and the fun-spoiling parental units were napping or something else that seemed to make them be not paying immediate attention -- honestly whichever didn't really matter, because Akatosh was bored and didn't want to bug the pile of snoozing siblings.

With his improving vision had come the ability to toddle about, and he was getting pretty secure moving about.  Most of his ambling around had just been inside the den.  They weren't supposed to go out, near as his currently tiny brain could parse.  Where that line was, though, wasn't as clear.  And so the sepia-stained pup ambled towards the open den mouth and plopped his rump down right at the threshold, with a bitty scowl on his brow.  Maybe outside would be more interesting.

Viinturuth, bored of his siblings, had gathered a large feather into his mouth and toddled comically to the rear of the family's den. There, he flopped down onto his belly and dropped the object atop his outstretched forelimbs and stared at it, stormy eyes wide with wonder as he studied the intricate pattern. Although his eyesight was not perfect, the boy could easily make out the bold tan, white and black markings, and they delighted him greatly.

Quick to tire of ogling his newest plaything, however, the firstborn Frostfur-Mayfair set about gumming it to death. He gnawed at the strands until they stuck out in all direction, dense with drool, and the detail was lost. From the corner of an eye, he noticed his mottled sibling break away from the group to make his way quietly toward the den's entrance - strictly off limits, considering their mother kept plucking them back to her whenever a cub dared to venture too far.

Viinturuth yipped in Akatosh' direction and abandoned his feather to pad clumsily in his littermate's direction. He pressed himself to the mottled youngster, reaching out to bump his snout to a tufted little ear with a playful "rrrr!"

Phoenix sought out the den of Swiftcurrent's matriarch with a tight, apprehensive plod. He was nervous approaching the place she housed her children, but if he wanted the alpha pair to continue considering him useful, then he'd need to show his face. In his jaws he ferried a partially eaten weasel— meager, by spring's standards, but it was better than nothing he thought. He hadn't meant to swallow that bite of it, after all.

When he arrived, he stood back so far that the denmouth was barely visible from where he stood. He perked up at a flicker of movement there in the shadows, but what he had hoped was Durnehviir emerging, was instead the fluffs of two infantile boys at play. With a hushed whine, Phoenix swallowed back his natural anxiety of coming near a stranger's children, and he edged forward until he could place the offering a few feet outside the den.

Dropping the mangled corpse, he trotted back several feet, and then turned from the treeline to watch what would happen next.

The pups were growing fast, and parenting them was getting increasingly difficult. With only one pair of eyes, it was proving difficult to maintain watch on all four of her mischievous children when they padded off in each direction. Her time with them mostly consisted of sorting their squabbles, chasing them around the den in attempt to heard them together or plucking them from the den's mouth as they made a bid for freedom.

She eyed two of her boys carefully, brow furrowed suspiciously as she shot them a pointed look. Of course, neither seemed to take her seriously and completely disregarded her warning, so she padded to the entrance of their hollow to chuff at them - a reminder to do as they are told.

Golden eyes stole a glance outside, squinting against the Springtime sunlight to find a gift placed several feet beyond the den. Nostrils flared, she stepped protectively over her sons to test the area for danger, but found the remains of the kill to be fresh. Durnehviir scanned the trees, her eyes finding the russet frame of a wolf who greatly resembled the description of the one her mate had recruited during their journey to Swiftcurrent.

 Durnehviir observed him quietly for a moment before gesturing her cubs out into the open to explore Phoenix' offering.

His vicious stares did nothing to make Outside do stuff.  It just kinda sat there like a lump.   He was about to get bored of that and go back in to annoy someone, but apparently his brother got a jump him, as suddenly Akatosh was being jabbed in the ear!  How uncouth!  Okay, not really.  He got to his feet, turning to playfully snap at Viinturuth's nose before whatever game got going.  He leaned back into a combination of play bow and overdramatic pounce, preparing to launch himself forward with gusto --except Outside finally did something!

Despite the world being kind of blurry that far away, something had moved so Akatosh's pounce turned into a little hop to get himself fully upright again.  That wasn't the right person!  He frowned at them, then looked to Viinturuth, then back to the weird person.  Akatosh wasn't sure if he should be scared or if they were here for a game or if they could scare him away.  Apparently, he didn't have to make that decision, as here came mom, suddenly appearing from behind them.  He hadn't heard her -- his ears weren't working well yet either -- but at least stuff from that direction was always safe.  Once he had noticed, Akatosh likely careened into his brother (what is depth perception anyway?) before pinballing forward under their mother's shadow, yipping a few times before suddenly it became apparent that they weren't actually going on an adventure.  Darn.  Wait, what was that smelly thing?  He looked to Viinturuth to see if he wanted to be the first to check it out.

Akatosh reacted just as he hoped, and Viinturuth's white tail swung to attention. Grinning mischievously, the pallid boy emitted a surprised yip as he attempted to dodge his brother's playful snap, which sent him comically tumbling to the ground. It was then that movement seemed to draw the mottled pup's attention and, curious, Viin turned his stormy gaze in the direction his litter-mate looked to, and found the approaching figure of another.

He stared. Neither of the cubs moved, seemingly frozen in place as the stranger delivered an object several feet beyond their family's hollow. Viinturuth followed the adult's movements with his eyes, before he blinked toward Akatosh in attempt to gauge his own reaction. Their mother's shadow sooned loomed over them, and the Winter-white child regarded her quietly in search of her judgement on the matter.

Surprisingly, permission was granted to go outside. Without a moment's hesitation, Viinturuth pulled himself onto clumsy paws to toddle outside and excitedly shove his nose into the carcass that'd been gifted to them.

Viinturuth took the lead, stepping beyond the threshold of their den to investigate the gift that Phoenix had delivered to them. She smiled warmly down at her little son, tail waving contently at her rear. Her palest child was a delight, just as the other two boys were. It was Talos, her only daughter, that Durnehviir felt any real need to keep her eye on.

With a bump of her ginger snout to her mottled cub's rump, Durnehviir encouraged Akatosh to join his alabaster sibling. It was about time they tested fresher meat to begin the transition of weaning properly, and she settled in the den mouth to watch with curiosity as her pups interact with their newest object of interest.