Swiftcurrent Creek #YOLO
135 Posts
Ooc — Kat
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#1
His eyes weren't meant to open until tomorrow or the next day at the earliest, yet Relonikiv must not have received that particular memo. As soon as he woke from his latest catnap, he scrubbed his sleepy face with his paws and his eyelids gently parted to reveal a sliver of stonewashed blue. Instinctively, he shut them again without realizing what he was doing, as the light was unbearably bright. Gradually, though, they reopened, though they never got beyond a squint.

Another pup might have been frightened or bothered by this development, yet he was overjoyed once the winter morning light stopped making his brand new eyeballs ache. Relonikiv lifted his head—his neck was growing stronger and sturdier by day, though it still wobbled slightly—and unleashed a happy aroo-roo-roo! that, to him, sounded very, very distant, as his ears would not fully open for another ten days or so.

He promptly began to scoot around the den on his belly, looking at things for the first time. His eyes watered constantly, he sneezed a lot due to a strong photic sneeze reflex and Relonikiv couldn't make out much more than fuzzy, blobby shapes. But already he was beginning to associate familiar scents with these new sights.

For instance, the large, pale shape taking up most of his visual field was none other than his mother (not that he knew this word yet), the giver of food and comfort. The newly sighted boy scooched closer and closer, then looked the nearest of her nipples right in the eye before latching onto it and smilingly suckling.
66 Posts
Ooc — Sydney
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#2
Going to join in an attempt to keep Julius as active as possible. Anyone else is welcome, not trying to hog the thread. ^.^

One of Julius's siblings was being more active than usual. He wasn't sure why. Everything seemed normal. At least as normal as this new environment could get. The womb had been much more stable, with no changes other than the space becoming less. But already, the memories of that place were becoming fainter and fainter. Soon, they would become nonexistent.

The one sibling, Relonikiv, was moving around a lot. With a whimper, Julius started crawling towards him. Sight was still an unknown element to the white pup, and would be until his eyes opened. When was unknown, but unlike the smallest of the litter, Julius would be a bit more on time.
135 Posts
Ooc — Kat
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#3
Something soft bumped against him and Relonikiv unlatched with a happy sigh and a loud smacking of his lips. He turned to squint at a blurry white shape beside him. He had no idea who or what it was until he thrust his button of a nose at it, burying it in warm fur. He had no names for his siblings yet, though he definitely recognized this one. The tinier pup's mouth opened and closed and he let out the predecessor of a happy growl.

He gently pawed Julius's face, though the sight of his own two feet momentarily arrested him. He stared in wonder. He moved them again, then stopped, then started again. Relonikiv smiled gleefully and even loosed a piercing squeal that, to their plugged ears, might sound like a train whistle in the distance. He began to bat harder at his brother's eyeless face, beyond delighted with the way it looked.
66 Posts
Ooc — Sydney
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#4
Apparently, Julius was the most exciting thing in the world to his sibling. He tolerated it at first, until Relonikiv didn't seem to have intention to stop doing it. Plus, there was the muffled noise; that riled him up a little. As the boxing of his face got harder and harder, Julius let out a squeak.

He started to move forward in an attempt to get away. Except, moving forward would mean crawling over Relonikiv. But, he had been crawling over and under his siblings for most the time he had spent outside the womb, so why should he deter from doing it now? He attempted to do it, dragging himself over Relonikiv's face in the process.
333 Posts
Ooc — Rebel
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#5
When the pups dozed, Paar often dozed with them. Day and night, whenever she stopped nursing them, it felt like it was time to start the process all over again. Being a single parent did exhaust her, though she did not know how any wolf could do it without the support of her beloved pack-mates. Bazi in particular had been exceptional, having been thrust into the role of pseudo-aunt without much preparation, and the crimson Frostfur was beyond grateful for the assistance in the absence of her pups' father.

So busy with the rearing of her young, Shadow had been distant a thought in Paarthurnax' mind, but one that sparked her sorrow from time to time. She wondered how he was faring, now that he seemed to have stopped lurking on Swiftcurrent outskirts; she could only assume that he'd gone back to his Noctisardor Bypass and the pack that had waited a long time for his return. It would be several weeks before he would once more have the opportunity to look upon his children again, which saddened her, but she had to remind herself that this situation would be best for both herself and the subs.

Drained of energy but with her thoughts clouded, Paarthurnax lay curled around the growing bodies of her pups. She observed one in particular: Durnehviir, her only daughter. The girl had been quiet and withdrawn the past few days, far from her usual vocal self. Durnehviir lay curled close to her mother's belly, sound asleep with her tony tongue poking past her dark lips, seemingly content. She would keep a close watch on her, for any further changes in behaviour.

A sharp squeal dragged her attention from her daughter to the smallest of her sons, and gently she unfurled herself to better look upon Relonikiv as he excitedly paws at his pale brother's face. Julius, ever-tolerant and patient, did not yowl out in protest but instead made to move away, directly over his sibling's head in a bid for escape.

Paarthurnax rumbled affectionately to her boys as she dipped her muzzle between them, forcing them apart. She brushed the tip of her snout across Julius' alabaster rump, then made to sneak a kiss at Relon's pale chin. Much to her delight she spotted the tiny slivers of dusky blue between his eyelids. "Hi baby," she said softly, her words a mere whisper despite knowing that her offspring could not hear them quite yet. "Well aren't you handsome."
135 Posts
Ooc — Kat
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#6
Julius tolerated the batting for a moment longer, though eventually he grew weary of it and plowed right over Relonikiv in his bid to escape. Although this took the littler puppy by surprise, he did not cry out. Instead, he giggled as Julius mashed him to the floor, his own tail curling toward his belly. Relonikiv was happy to show submission.

Suddenly, Julius disappeared entirely. Relonikiv rolled onto his belly and made a questioning sound: Ooora? In response, his mother's face appeared in front of him. It startled him, causing him to jump, though he just as immediately began to smile and coo when his mother's scent filled his nose. He began flailing his little forelimbs again, this time batting her face, tugging her golden snout into a babyish hug.

Their cool noses touched and Relonikiv rumbled happily when her mouth moved, her breath tickling him even if he couldn't make out her voice. In response, he opened his own tiny maw and gnawed at the moist leather of her nose, one of his little milk teeth hooking into her left nostril.
66 Posts
Ooc — Sydney
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#7
Julius let out a squeak of surprise as his mother separated them. When she brushed her nose against his rump, he let out a content squeak. Then, he remembered his first plan of trying to get away from Relonikiv's paws. While his mother was focused on his brother, Julius started squirming in the opposite direction.

Soon, the flaw in that plan became clear. Without any senses besides smell and touch to aid him, he became lost. He wasn't too far away from them, but the whole den smelled of them, and he couldn't feel them. Not being able to touch them set the idea in his mind that they had disappeared. Even though they were irritating, he preferred to have them there. He let out a volley of yelps, squeaks, and other incoherent sounds to express how he wanted them back.
333 Posts
Ooc — Rebel
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#8
Julius, shuffling across the furs they lay upon, soon became disorientated and appeared quite lost as he erupted in a flurry of yowls and squeals. The two-toned healer pricked a velvet ear in his direction and her gaze sharply followed. She lifted a pallid forelimb and hooked the alabaster youngster with a dainty paw to scoop him closer to her chest. Carefully she pressed her nose to his downy flank, breathed deep the scent of him, then exhaled softly across his side to help ease his worries with warmth.

Certain that the largest of her sons was settled, Paar's attention returned once again to the upside-down form of her smallest. She beamed down at him, her feathery tail flopping happily at her rear at the sight of his cheerful expression. Relonikiv always had a smile for her, one that was bright and filled her heart with contagious joy. He reached out with tiny forepaws to grip his mother's Winter-white muzzle and cling to her, which was when Paarthurnax stole some more smooches of the infant's chin and throat.

Unfortunately, pain sprung from her nose as, in Relon's excitement, he snagged her nostril with a brand new baby tooth. Paar squeezed her eyes shut, wincing, and gently made to pry her son from her muzzle. "Quite the little dragon already," she murmured to herself with an amused smile, flicking her tongue over her dark nose in a poor attempt to ease the throb that had developed there. "What next? Breathing fire and taking flight?"
135 Posts
Ooc — Kat
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#9
Paarthurnax gingerly pried him off her nose, though Relonikiv didn't complain. He gazed up at her as her mouth moved again, her breath tickling his ivory underside. He wiggled to show his joy at this development. While everything else was fuzzy at best, his mother's face was like the sun: clear and warm and bright. It was immediately his most favorite thing in the entire world, which meant a lot coming from him; everything was Relonikiv's favorite thing.

Although he was rather enjoying this private moment stolen between mother and son, the little dandy felt a familiar pressure in his abdomen and released his muscles without thinking. A golden stream of urine arced into the air, some of it spattering his mother and the nearby Julius (that poor guy...) but most of it showering down in his own face. Talk about a golden shower.

Relonikiv's paws flew up to scrub at his suddenly wet, warm face. He snorted some of the liquid from his nostrils, then blinked up at his mother and made some more questioning noises: Ah? Ah, ah?
66 Posts
Ooc — Sydney
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#10
His mother came to his rescue. With her comforting actions, Julius quickly stopped his yelping and instead made a content mumbling sound. He quickly became silent, and lay next to Paar's chest with the silent bliss of having her there for him. Relonikiv quickly ruined it.

Wet stuff landed on Julius. The immediate effect was to startle him. He yelped, starting to twist and turn. He then started whining, deciding that he didn't like the scent of the liquid on him. No matter how much he thrashed about, the stuff stayed on him.
333 Posts
Ooc — Rebel
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#11
Relonikiv wriggled between her dainty forepaws, and it took a lot of strength to keep from kissing his tiny, downy belly. Instead she simply looked down at the smallest of her boys, her tail swishing to and fro at her rump, her copper eyes bright with the indescribable love she felt.

That feeling soon passed, however, as suddenly a stream of hot urine arced through the air and spattered across her throat and chest. With a soft gasp, the bi-coloured healer arched her neck in attempt to avoid further spray, but unfortunately poor little Julius took the brunt of his brother's offensive bodily function. An unpleasant pale yellow hue now stained the alabaster pelt of her son, and Paarthurnax exhaled heavily in mock defeat.

Kids were gross.

She lifted a forepaw and delicately swiped it across Julius' peppered back, but it was the sputtering of Relon that captured Paar's attention. Raising her gaze and blinking at the upside-down form of her lastborn, she realised that he'd soaked himself as well as his brother with pee. Immediately the new mother made to flip him over to keep him from inhaling the liquid, then set about flicking her tongue across his nose and eyes to clear away the excess.

When her children were as free of urine as she could manage, she sank back against the den wall. "No more surprises, please," she poked fun at Relonikiv, who she made to nudge closer to the fussing Julius at her breast.
135 Posts
Ooc — Kat
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#12
The mother of dragons came to his rescue, turning him over so that he wouldn't choke on his own bodily fluids. Soon after, she brushed him with her tongue, which was simultaneously cleansing and soothing. Relonikiv grunted with pleasure, raising no complaints whatsoever when Paarthurnax nudged him closer to her chest beside his brother.

Up close, Relonikiv could see Julius's individual hairs, some of them damp from their mother's tongue. Ooo, he cooed, pressing his face into the other pup's flank. He smiled, then withdrew to further study Julius's snowy pelt. Soon, he would be able to differentiate between each sibling and their mother based not only on their scents but the color of their fur.

Paarthurnax probably hoped her boys would settle down and go back to sleep. Yet his eyes had only just opened. Julius could snooze all he wanted. Relonikiv wasn't tired of his new sense yet. Though he remained cradled in his mother's arms for a few moments, he eventually began to scoot away again, now interested in the light spot on the den floor and, above that, the little motes of dust floating in the beam of morning sunlight filtering in through the den's mouth.

As he came closer to it, he felt a familiar tingling in the bridge of his nose and sneezed so explosively that he peed a little more. Oblivious, he kept crawling toward the light like some furry moth.
66 Posts
Ooc — Sydney
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#13
This might be my last post. It depends on whether anyone wakes him up or not. :)

His mother took care of the urine on him. The rhythmic licks used to clean him also soothed Julius. A little yawn escaped his mouth as he started to get drowsy. When his mother put Relonikiv next to him, he stayed quiet and didn't complain. He was still silent, and half-asleep at this point, when Relonikiv pressed his face into his fur. When Relonikiv withdrew to go be troublesome, Julius was already snoozing with the warmth and scent of his mother encompassing him.
135 Posts
Ooc — Kat
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#14
*concludes* :)

He reached the patch of sunshine and had to squint his eyes against the brightness. When they adjusted, they slowly widened again as he stared raptly at the bits of dust floating around the den. For a long time, he simply stared, utterly fascinated. When he finally snapped out of it, he tried to grab a few of the motes. He only ended up stirring the air, causing them all to float out of reach...

Paarthurnax collected her tiniest son then, drawing him tightly against her body to encourage him to sleep. Relonikiv squawked, though didn't put up much of a fight. He did fight to keep his eyes open for the first time in his life. It was like there were minuscule weights pulling them downward. He didn't even realize it when he finally lost the battle. His baby blues drifted closed and he nodded off, his chin tucked against his chest.