Open to anyone! I would really like an adult packmember to join, too :-) Vague timeline & tuwa's in the den.
The morning sun roused the puppies, already set on the biological clock of wake-eat-sleep-poo. They knew nothing about the hours of the day... especially how frustrating it was for their mother, Tuwawi, to be roused at the crack of down by her mewling offspring. It mattered not to Valtýr who, as he grew older, hungered for the world and adventure.
His mother was close by, tucked into the burrow, and thus the little man's confidence soared. The Sveijarn son marched out of the burrow and felt the cold, dewy grass on his nubby little paws.
Bbbrrrrr!!! he quivered as his bright, bronze-colored eyes looked out into the misty glen, yet untouched by Eastern sun rays.
The Sunspire dramatics had finally settled down, and since relinquishing her Outrider duties (it was not befitting an Alpha to be constantly away from her grounds), Bazi was able to spend more time with the Sveijarn brood. They fascinated her. The babbling, the awkward steps, the fascination with everything... the state of Tuwawi meant that she was not yet enticed to produce her own and her youth meant that she lacked the hormones to overcome insurmountable logic: that pups were a pain in the ass.
But when they were someone else's, they were hilarious. She was resting on her belly when Valtýr trooped out of the den in the early morning. The mild temperature caused his entire body to quake, all but knocking the whelp off his clumsy little feet. Bazi put her (now clean) had no her paws and watched him emerged, grinning at the ridiculous of the little creature. "Is it adventure time already?"
^___^
Valtýr strut, half unaware of Bazi's inquisitive gaze. He could not see too far, senses still a bit foggy, and so when her massive snow-white pelt became clear the little urchin couldn't help but be drawn in like a moth. The natural inclination to be wary of others, at this fragile age, made him hesitant. Valtýr became puffed up, like a sandy tern, and gingerly approached the lounging Bazi with unsteady steps, almost pulled off balance by his pudgy weight.
Pricked ears cupped towards her as he tentatively stepped forth, far less bold than his sister Maera of Jokull would have, until he was a few inches away from his leader's slender muzzle, eyes crossed as he inspected her dark nose. Curiously he reached out with open jaws... because, after all, that's the way children explored the world... by putting things in their mouths when they weren't supposed to.
Unlike Jökull and Maera, who had boldly ganged up on her in a noise war that Tuwawi would no doubt remember, Valtýr approached his Alpha with rather more care. Bazi watched him take tiny, stiff steps towards her, swaying unsteadily on his fat little feet. Why were puppies so out of proportion? His belly was so round and his legs so stubby - features that would not last long, but that the white wolf took great delight in. No wonder they were so dependent on their parents for the first few months, with that sort of physique.
Eventually, the fuzzy little critter was right up in her face. To Bazi's question, he responded by slowly opening his gummy little mouth (were those tiny little teeth?) and shoving it in the general direction of her nose. The victim of his exploration strangled a giggle and quickly, snake-like, extended her tongue to flick him on the side of the head.
*barges in* and oohh new avatar [mate]
Galileo was not really an early bird, but he liked the sunrise almost as much as he liked to sleep in. Today he had chosen the pink and orange canvas of the sky over his rest. He had slipped from his den quietly, stray pieces of moss still entwined on his peppered coat.
Instead of watching by the entrance of his home, he began walking, ignoring really that the path he was blindly following led to the Sveijarn home. He had not exchanged more than a couple of words with the proud parents so he kept his distance..
Until, the sight of a snowy creature by the den caught his attention. Slowly he approached Bazi with his tail wagging slightly. After all the chaos with the Sunspire he was sure the female was exhasuted. Even if over the past few months the older male had felt a wall build between them, he was still very fond of the young girl that had acted as his ticket to the pack.
"Hello, there", he greeted his new Alpha, turning then to the little pup and offering him a smile, "And to you too"
omg puppy times are too cute T__T
Valtýr tested the spongy density and leathered texture of Bazi's nose, munching with little nibbles and licks here and there. Bazi stifled a laugh, and licked the pup upside the head in one, rough sweeping motion. Valtýr careened into a fit of giggles, tumbling backwards and rolling over into the grass,
"Mahaha!" His fuzzy mane became damp in the wet vegetation, but it did not matter to him. Valtýr sprung back onto his broad paws, ruddy tail wagging furiously
Messy hair, now gelled into faux-hawk, stuck out wildly as he bounded over to Galileo, who was just arriving. Only suddenly, did Valtýr realize it was not his dad.
'Hello, there, and to you too,' the elder rumbled a greeting to the pair.
"Haiiiii," Valtýr breathed as he looked up to the exceptionally tall man, ducking back towards the white one for protection.
He clamored over Bazi's paws and up to her face, unabashed. With little whines and chuffs he eagerly licked the corners of her mouth. Maybe she had some food?
Valtýr was easily won over. Jökull, brave but still the most cautious of the bunch in Bazi's opinion, would have despaired at the ease with which her little brother took to a complete stranger. Bazi wondered what they would be like when they were older, and could put all of their feelings into words. For now, it was rather wonderful that they couldn't.
Galileo's attention distracted the pup from his inspection of Bazi's face, giving her time to sluice the dribble from her nostrils with the tip of her tongue and restore her ability to breathe. She shuffled around to look at the elder wolf, staying low to the ground to give Valtýr access to whatever bit of her face he might want to chew on next. The Not Dad did not distract the little boy for long; before she could properly greet her pack-mate, he was all over her face again, searching the corners of her mouth for.. for what? Bazi did her best not to put him off, moving her head just far enough away to gaze questioningly at Galileo and ask (with her mouth still not quite her own)
"What does he want, d'you think?" Had Galileo had children, once? She seemed to remember that he had.
This little dude is so like a real baby - or my experience of them, anyway, clambering around all over the place. XD
He held his distance as he was not sure his presence was welcome. Though when the pup came bowling towards him, the salt and peppered coated wolf could not help but smile widely at the little guy. The boy murmured a greeting and ran back looking rather startled. The old wolf didn't take it personal, he was more than ten times bigger of course he had to seem frightening.
Taking a deep breath he decided to sit, his eyes falling softly on the young boy's face. He had not seen a pup since well, he had had one. His son was very much like this little fella when he was little. Ah, his little silver boy was also a chewer. After thoughts of his only son began to cloud his mind, he forced himself to look away.
Bazi's question came next. Huh? He thought, he hadn't been paying the most minimal bit of attention to the girl. He casted his eyes on the child and then back at her, "Breakfast", he barked with a feeble smile on his lips.
For Valtýr, trust was easily gained. A nod, a smile, or a lick was enough to gain his favor, though he was discouraged at Bazi's refusal. No matter how hard he tried, no deliciously regurgitated half-chewed meat was spewed back up from him to devour. Bazi even shifted her face away, and his crying became a bit frantic. Resigning, Valtýr tumbled backwards off her limbs and into the grass, scuttling over to Galileo.
He was more timid before the great man, and dragged his bald, rotund belly against the ground. Instinct told him to do this... Submit to your elders - especially to the males. Standing, Galileo was double the side of fair Bazi and though his amiable stare hinted at friendliness, Valtýr didn't want to take chances.
At first, he flattened himself on the ground, ears completely pinned as his little worm-like tail wagged beneath his bum. He cooed, dragging himself over the large male bit by bit, even going as so far to roll over now and then; even at this young age, the princling knew the rituals of their breed. Eventually, Valtýr was close enough to sit himself up, little tongue reaching for the Lambda's chin even though it seemed leagues away. His best attempt to stimulate the arrival of food yet.
Bazi's apparent refusal to feed him pushed Valtýr away, and he toddled up to Galileo was markedly less sass. "Look!" the alpha squealed, "He's submitting to you!" True enough, the little babe was exhibiting standard submission behaviour, licking his superior's chin and showing his round, pink little belly. It irked Bazi that she had not been on the receiving end of such a display, but supposed the child would learn eventually. She was female, and presumably the very scent of her spelled 'food' to the pup.
"Do they eat meat?" she asked Galileo, looking around to jog her memory of where the nearest cache might be. "Can I feed him?"
Galileo's amber eyes rested on the boy's back as he began to crawl towards him with his ears secured to his head and his tail neatly tucked between his legs. It brought a smile to the peppered man's face when he rolled onto his back, showing him, his pink tummy. He then allowed himself to lay down, placing each of his paws on one side of the pup. Then he slowly lowered his muzzle and gently prodded his belly.
It had been a while since he had had the chance to interact with a creature so young and vunerable. It certainly got his memories flooding back. After tickling the babe's belly some more with the tip of his nose, Galileo turned back to Bazi a wide smile in his aged face.
"Retched meat is their menu for now", he concluded while taking another look at the little one. He looked approximately one month old, so milk was out of his diet.
Perhaps it was their vast disparity in size that caused Valtýr to so readily submit to Galileo. Afterall, Bazi was more like his mum. His wanton begging for food continued to be ignored as the silvered male lowered himself onto the grassy earth, bordering each side of the young pup with a robust arm. The man's cold nose pressed against the firtborn's tummy, and he squealed in delight - pleased to be the center of attention. Jökull and Maera had a natural affinity for the limelight, and the two brothers were often overshadowed by their sister's strong personalities.
Valtýr giggled, but then righted himself. Seriously, where was the food? He cried, warbling voice trembling with a request for a meal. His sandy tail whipped between his nubby hocks as he shuffled back to the pale lady, brown eyes the size of dinner plates. A perfect puppydog expression.
"Retched meat.." Bazi repeated, wrinkling her nose. But Valtýr's whinging grated so viciously against her female ears that she stood up, licked the pup's begging face a few times, and toddled off with her nose to the ground to find the nearest cache.
As luck would have it, they were pretty much on top of a buried deer carcass. It only took a few swipes of Bazi's dainty paws to unearth a partially decimated haunch. The meat was soft and dark with age - the perfect texture for someone with tiny teeth, even if the taste might be a little too strong. Bazi gnawed a strip of meat loose and returned to Galileo and the hungry little Sveijarn, chewing furiously on the morsel.
"'ike ish?" she asked between chews, looking to the older wolf for confirmation. He had said regurgitated.. but how did you do that without looking like you were genuinely being sick? She wasn't about to puke in front of one of her pack-mates..
The peppered male looked down at the tiny creature he had cradled between his arms. Valtyr's cry of delight earned a wide smile from the male, a child's laugh was the greatest melody one could hear. The babe wriggled to be set free, and Galileo allowed him to slip back to Bazi, not without planting a kiss on the boy's pink belly before setting him off.
Galileo's eyes settled on the female's face as she began chewing a piece of meat for the boy. She seeked his eyes too, looking for approval, which he gave inmidiately with a nod. There was no need for her to swallow the meat and expel it again. She could feed the babe once the meat was thoroughly chewed into a mushy paste."Make it a puree, then give it to him" he instructed with a smile, the boy's adorable face and intensity had finally earned him the treat he had been longing for.
Bazi kissed his face, and it placated Valtýr long enough for the alpha to disappear into the shade. Where had she gone? Suddenly, the toddler became very concerned, and his copper eyes darted between Galileo and the shrubby his pale nanny had vanished into. A small whine eeked from his lungs, large ears twitching in an attempt to listen for her return. Eventually she came back... with a certain something in her mouth.
Valtýr's emotioned turned as easily as the tide, and he suddenly perked up and looking to his alpha with huge, expectant eyes. His tiny pink tongue licked his lips and nose as he shuffled to her, nearly underfoot. Galileo spoke instructions - some words the boy couldn't quite understand (yet) - but the firstborn Sveijarn got the gist... dinner was on its way!
Puree. Right. Bazi chewed vigorously, gazing down at Valtýr expectant little face. It was rather stressful to be watched by the diner and a wolf with experience in this sort of thing, and the young Alpha definitely over-delivered as a result - when she stooped to dribble the minced meat into a pile by the pup's feet, it was ten chews short of finely ground paste.
She sat back up and shuffled to give the child room, casting a worried look at Galileo. Was this right? If leading a pack was stressful, it had nothing on caring for pups. They couldn't feed themselves - they couldn't even communicate the correct method for preparing their food to an adult! For a short, chilling second, Bazi wondered what it had been like for her mother to give birth and rear her children all alone, without any experienced females to guide her. "When can they take care of themselves?" she whined at Galileo. "Soon, right?"
Ranks and etiquette were momentarily forgotten. The pepper male looked at the white girl with nothing but love in his eyes --but not the kind of love given to a superior or a packmate. No. It was the kind of love and warmth that could only be given when a paternal figure laid eyes on its offspring.
The affection that had captivated the older male to follow the snowy girl into the creek made a thriumphant return into his system. He had lost touch with her when the whole Sunspire drama fell onto them, the thought of seeking comfort into the loneliness that had embraced him during his early knocked in his mind --but he didn't budge he could not leave the place that after the years had grown to be his home.
At the time she turned her face to him and whined a tired question he felt that connection spark up again. The bridges that had been burned during the past few weeks had now been restored with steel linings to endure it's stability. No matter what, Galileo would not leave.
Her question painted a bright smile in his aged face, "No it'd be long until that happens" he barked while casting his eyes as the young Sveijarn momentarily. "I know some full grown adults who still can't" he barked with a softer tone; the fire-furred ex-member of the creek popping into his mind.
Last post from me! [mate]
Finally, supper was served! Though, it wasn't in the form little Val was used to. Bazi had procured a bit of rank meat from the caches, chewed it somewhat thoroughly, and delivered mince to the not-so-patiently waiting pup. He was famished, but shrewd enough to realize that this meal was different than the ones his parents delivered. Mother's meals were always of fresh meat, chewed and partially digested. There was a discernible savory aroma that accompanied Njal and Tuwawi's regurgitated dinners that Bazi's lacked... but Valtýr was hardly a picky eater. After a pause to inspect the tepid meat he dove and sucked down the chow like a mini hoover. It was gone in the blink of an eye (after all, he was used to fighting Jokull and Maera) and his already plump tummy became especially rotund.
Even though he was satiated, Valtýr's blunt muzzle voraciously sniffed the ground to search for seconds. Any crumb that had falling between the blades of grass was found; No leaf was left upturned. When he was satisfied, and feeling very tired and hefty, the firstborn waddled over to Bazi's nearest leg and curled besides, almost immediately falling asleep.
Conclude in your post? :)
Bazi snickered at Galileo's comment, bringing several faces to mind - some rather more distant than she had expected. It surprised her to see Mari's face swim briefly into view. Had her brother ever been given the opportunity to grow up? If he had, she was certain he would be among the wolves her pack-mate described, and the thought of him burdening a pack somewhere in the distant wilderness made her smile.
Valtýr, meanwhile, made short work of his meal. If cached meat was not to his liking, it didn't show, and Bazi watched as he scrutinized the ground for more despite the fact that he now resembled a football with legs. When the pup took a few laborious steps and curled up next to her, the pale girl turned a wide, joyous smile up at Galileo.
"Look!" she whispered urgently.
this was adorable
His amber eyes fell onto the hungry pup as Bazi served the almost-liquified puree at his feet. The boy devoured the meal as if he had never been fed before, poking his nose into the grass after he was finished. The male couldn't help but smile as the young Sveijarn yawned and waddled over to the white female, plopping at her side and falling into a deep sleep.
The girl, was mystified by the sight of the pup, which made Galileo smile even wider-- how long would it be until she decided to take the role of a mother too? There was no rush really, the pack was stable and she was young, but it would be sad if she allowed her biological clock to run out. She would make a good mother, if you asked the peppered male. She might not agree now, but in the future she would realize that the gift of a family was the most beautiful one.
He took a small step towards the girl and while looking at the babe coiled against her, he wagged his tail and sat down, the creek had a bright future in front of them --but not as bright as the beaming smile that was shared between the two adults.
As the day continued to roll by and Valtyr began to fall into a pool of dreams, Bazi and Galileo stayed with him, protecting his little soul that would one day be the future of the pack.