Wolf RPG

It was time. The pups'd started eating more and more regurgitated meat and less and less milk, and they were ready for the next step. Charon and @Amekaze had gathered @Korei Julia , @Alya , @Lyra and @Hydra that day outside of the den, and it was time to leave it behind. The forest was warm and safe and would continue to provide safety and shelter for the pups, of course, but their territory would increase in size now; from the den and its surroundings to a bigger part of the forest and the lower slopes of the mountainside. Of course, it was imperial that the pack keep an eye on the pups from now on, all of them; it was no longer just Amekaze and Charon's task to see the pups to greatness. They would have more time for patrols and such while the pack cared for the pups and the pups became more and more independent.

Pride bubbled in Charon's chest as he gathered the pups from the den that morning, announcing: "Time to move to your new home!" And hoping to be met with enthusiasm (and, very possibly, loudness and sass, from some of them).

He was happy to be home, and when he found out that Charon and Ame intended to move the puppies away from the den and to a rendezvous site, Floki planned to be there for the transition. Luckily, he had returned from his latest trip just a few days prior; he would have been upset had he missed such a big step in the girls' lives.

He found the family gathered outside of what had been their childhood home and smiled as he came to a halt. "Hi girls," he greeted, then reached out to nudge the shoulders of both his brother and sister-in-law. "I'm here to help," he added with a smile; the youngest members of Moonspear had already proven that they were adventurous and bold, and the four of them together could be quite a handful.

Finally. She was in good spirits when she moved to rally the little ones up for their next step into the world, and while she was loathe to show it too plainly, she had been anticipating this -- perhaps even looking forward to it, too. Considering that it meant expanded horizons for her daughters but also less strict ties to the den for her, she was ready to play this out, and was glad it was finally time. Being confined to the den wasn't suiting her anymore, but neither did she wish to rush them along or make any hasty calls in what they were ready for. However, now seemed a good time -- a crisp, sunny autumn afternoon, one not unlike the days they'd put in to scout out this territory about a year ago.

Her tail waved encouragingly alongside her mate's words, and she felt nothing more needed said just yet. Eagerly, she awaited the varied responses, and hoped that more would tend towards vigorous interest than reluctance. Or at the least, earnest curiosity would be good and something she could work with. She wanted this to go smoothly, for them to settle in well and comfortably, but time would have to tell as they took it one step at a time. 

She greeted Floki warmly when he arrived, unsurprised to have him on the scene already. She was instantly glad for the extra set of eyes on this situation (not that she was overly concerned) and also for him to be a familiar face for the girls as they made this transition further out onto the mountainside.

She could tell something was different about today, even before their father announced the big change. The air buzzed and their parents were more excited and eager than usual, rousing the litter early and gathering them outside the den. Apprehensive, Lyra sat close beside her dark sisters, pressing her shoulder against one for some reassurance. When Charon finally spoke and revealed they would be going to a new home, her ears flattened and she stared at her father in shock. She wasn't exactly opposed to the change, but that didn't mean she had to be happy with it.

When others began to arrive, the girl froze before immediately scampering to the safety of her mother, ducking in between her legs and sitting so she was underneath her, staring out at the two strangers warily despite their friendly faces. "Why?" she then asked quietly, turning to look at Charon quizzically — what was wrong with their current den?

Hydra was perhaps the most indifferent about the change. It was strange, but she did not question it. As ever, she silently accepted this. If she had not liked it, there would be no question of it, but Hydra enjoyed the outdoors and claiming every part of it. Her blue eyes panned toward Lyra at her sisters question, and Hydra squinted levelly at the scaredy-cat. Had she the words for it, or the ability to speak them eloquently, Hydra would have told her to stop being such a whimp. Though she wanted to stomp on over to her and push her out from beneath their mother, something just beyond Dash caught her eye. It was a rock that shined strangely in the light, and Hydra bulldozed straight for it, tail and ears erect as she did.

Possessively she peed on it, before looking triumphantly toward her mother and father. Mine! She let her family know, and then looked to her favorite of the bunch, @Alya!!! See?! As she was in a particularly good mood, she considered sharing it... but firstly, she wanted to show it off.

She glanced toward Floki, and then moved to snap at the hocks of Dash to make him step away from what she had claimed. The little she-devil grinned as she did it, but her milk-teeth sought to land some sort of blow to show she meant business. Hydra did not understand that this might truly hurt someone; she simply wanted her way, and thus far in her life using her teeth and her body seemed to be the best way. Not even 'please' gave her things like these actions did.

Alya was pleased and excited by this new state of affairs. She was rarely allowed to go so far from the den, and although she preferred to be unsupervised, it was very cool to suddenly be able to go somewhere so new and fun. Hydra found something exciting almost at once - a very cool and fun rock!

"Wow!" Alya praised, longing to rush over and have the rock too. She knew better than that, however, and would wait for the Crown Princess's explicit invitation.

Picking on Dashie was for everyone, though, and Alya did not need an invitation to do that. As soon as she saw Hydra moving against him, Alya jumped right in. She'd been learning the art of stealth from her mother, slowly but surely enough. Lyra was better at it than her, but she'd grown more proficient in recent days. The young girl put these skills to use now, sneaking up on Dashie's other side and rushing him from there. Her needle-sharp teeth sought purchase in one of his legs, but the girl was still quite clumsy in her attacks.

Things were never easy with his triplets, and soon he was asked 'why' by one of the girls. "Because papa says so," he replied matter-of-factly, as that was the only reason she needed to know in his eyes. He nosed her butt to get her moving, but luckily soon the girl's two bolder sisters — so, Hydra and Alya, then, which meant the 'why' girl was Lyra — came outside, claiming some rock to be their own. Charon laughed heartily when she snapped at Dash to get him away from 'her' rock, and he said; "Very pretty. You can take your rock to your new home." He didn't care that she had just pissed on it. Wasn't like he had to carry the rock.

In all the fuss he'd forgotten Julia for a moment, what with the triplets being plenty of hands' full to handle for now. "Let's get moving," he decided, and he started to walk away, effectively leaving everyone with a bunch of choices: The other adults whether they'd physically take the girls or not, the girls with either living like renegades on their own here until they grew too hungry and followed, or follow now like the good girls he hoped they were.

Hydra got to keep the rock, which excited her, at first. She had been about to offer to let Alya have it, but when their father began to move, Hydra scooped it up and bounded after him. How far would they go? They never got to go too far, but Hydra was always eager to test the limits with her sisters. She was often the one who took the helm on these expidetions, but today she just wanted more of her fathers attention. So she forgot about the pretty rock, dropping it and calling for @Lyra! with a yip, thinking maybe the pretty thing would distract Lyra from whatever was actually happening. Too many words were spoken for her to really process what the heck was happening.

And, after dropping the rock and giving an encouraging nip to her sister to join her, Hydra dashed toward her father as fast as her little legs could take her--not very fast, for the record--and, once she was beneath him, began to practice her hunting skills. She'd nip at one heel before retreating and seeing the effect it had, before dashing around his legs and nipping at another heel. This was a fun way for her to pass the time, and she giggled. The hellraiser attempted to encourage Alya with but a look before nipping at his heel yet again. It was just fun!

The girls showcased a rainbow of reactions to Charon's announcement. While Hydra and Alya in particular seemed to be quite excited, Lyra was a bit apprehensive. Hydra's short attention span lent itself to a brief expedition to claim a sparkly rock and flaunt it for all to see; Floki "oohed" and "aahed" appreciatively for a moment, until Hydra and Alya lost interest and began nipping at the heels of Charon and Dash. Glad that his own ankles had been spared, he padded towards Amekaze and Lyra, glancing back at the unusually quiet Korei Julia as the group started to move.

"This will be fun," he said encouragingly to Lyra, his tail waving as he began to follow Charon.

Dash joined them as well, and she nodded back to him but promptly had her attentions diverted to Lyra when she went beneath her legs. Ame dipped her nose down to the girl, and left her with a soft nudge. Why? Well, Charon offered the short of it. She nodded because he was certainly not wrong. It was the natural progression of things and necessary. Soon, they'd all be too cramped around here. "More space, more to see and do.." she offered quietly, although was off to encourage her into motion too soon after. The others needed none of her help, and were instead seeming plenty eager to just get out and do anything, based upon their interactions with a noteworthy rock already. "It will be good." Her tail swayed because she was happy about the move and simply wished for them to all be the same way about it.

Next she glanced towards Korei with a soft chuff and was on her way after Charon's lead as well. Amekaze, however, did intend to hang near the back of the small traveling party to make sure all of them stayed mindful and moving forward -- and without a doubt, the presence of two additional, trusted adults was helpful to her concern. She was hopeful that they would all the girls would make the trek on their own since it would tire them out the best and it never hurt to get their paws busy over the terrain, but it was very important to her that they all get there, and safely.

Charon's reply didn't ease her worries much, not that she thought it had really meant to. They did a lot of things because he said so — naps, being quiet, etc — but, usually, that didn't include their mother. Today, though, Amekaze followed along with his orders. Her soft nudge was welcome and Lyra returned it with a lick of her own, but she still let out a concerned whine.

She only cheered up slightly when Hydra called to her. She hadn't kept track of what her sisters were doing after emerging from the den and racing to her mother's side, but was grateful they hadn't completely forgotten about her. She wandered cautiously over to the shiny rock her sister had offered before she had been distracted, sniffing it. If she knew it had been peed on, she gave no indication that she cared, picking it up gently between her teeth to carry all the way to their new den. She decided that it would help her find her way back home after they moved to this new place. Puppy logic at its finest.

The now extremely important item gripped tightly in her jaws, Lyra began to pad after her father who had begun to lead the expedition. She looked up to Floki as he padded past with a cheery word and wave of his tail. For some reason, it made her feel better. Or maybe it was because she felt this rock would be her connection back to this place. With an awkward half-smile up at her uncle, the girl followed after him, finally deciding that maybe this move wasn't so bad.

Seeing that the show was on the road, Alya followed obediently after the Crown Princess, only a tiny bit jealous that she had not been chosen to carry the Rock of Power. To assuage this hurt, she walked extra close to Uncle Floki, who she thought was super cool and awesome.

Whether or not he listened, she would chat excitedly the entire walk, usually using her incomprehensible Triplet Vocabulary. By the time they reached the rendezvous site, she would be entirely too sleepy for exploring.

Charon nudged forward his daughters where necessary, but it seemed like they were, for now, satisfied to walk along by themselves. Julia was a little hesitant still but Charon had no patience for her behaviour right now. She'd follow eventually. It seemed that she did, though bashfully so (as a matter of fact, she came running after them just as they were about to leave, as Charon had predicted), and Charon was content when eventually the family would arrive at the rendezvous site at the mountain's base, a bit further out of the woods but with some wood, a river, and more mountainous area involved so the girls would learn to tread on the mountains from young age.

Charon, too, would probably fall right asleep when they'd have everything settled, drained from having to herd his four little cannon balls to their new home on the mountainside.