Wolf RPG

AW, but tagging @Fox <3

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given peregrine's invitation, lasher departed the plateau with a gift of two freshly slain hares. despite the weather, their pelts remained soft, and would make apt bedding for the children when they were born. he arrived after midday, and gathered his confidence some feet away from the borders, apprehensive — he recalled well the last time that he had met the ruby here.

head tilted back, lasher lifted his voice into a summons for fox to join him. it was her prerogative to accept or decline; nevertheless, the hares were hers, and as he waited, he attempted to sort the muddle of emotions churning within his breast.

An oddly familiar voice carried itself to where Fox had been napping, and she awoke with bleary eyes and dry throat. Swallowing, the mother-to-be rose from where she had been sleeping, her fur flattened against her left side from her own weight. She had gained much of it over the past few weeks, although it still took a keen eye to notice the added baby bump beneath her winter coat. Fox shook, then moved toward the nearby stream to take a few laps of the fresh, clean water.

Not forgetting the task at hand, the queen began to jog toward the source of the familiar (yet unfamiliar) voice. The rich smell of blood and flesh reached her long before she laid eyes upon the two hares and the wolf that had brought them. "Lasher," she spoke, her voice laced with surprise and confusion once she realized who the vaguely familiar voice had been. "Should I get Peregrine?" Fox glanced down at the two hares and licked her lips, though she made no move to acquire them.

[size=x-small]i noticed! <3 not that i stalk your replies or nothin' >.>;;[/size]

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fox arrived in a short while, and lasher did look upon the soft budding of her sides, and how the gravidity of her form had lent her a fuller look, versus the gangly angularity of the body he had last seen. fox, he greeted. no. they are for you, and, by proxy, the children, he joked quietly, lowering muzzle to nudge the hares toward the ruby.

i wish to make amends, he said softly, not yet settling himself until the fireflame had accepted his gift. she remained unpredictable to him, though taltos entertained hopes that motherhood would add more logic to her ambitious mind.

Fox was quick to forget old squabbles (and everything else, for that matter), and her tail wagged back and forth when Lasher explained that he was not here for Peregrine, but for her (and the children). Truth be told, she could barely remember what their argument had been about. It was long ago, and much had happened between then and now. Gingerly, she picked up the two hares in one bite and moved them behind her.

"I don't even remember why we were at odds," she confessed, "and it's probably not relevant now anyway. I know I... have my moments, but there was never a time when I outright disliked you. Consider the amends made." She said this last bit with a hearty smile, hoping that he wouldn't try and drudge up the past. "I'm guessing Peregrine told you about the kids brewing, yeah?"

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taltos was annoyed that fox did not recall the particulars of their spat, and how deeply she had hurt him, but reined back the emotion, killing it on the spot with the levelheaded thought that she was young and ambitious, and these were characteristics she could no more change than the fiery hue of her pelt. she could be forgiven the oversight.

yes, he answered with a vague wave of his plume. i should hope we would be invited to see them, when they are ready to meet those outside the burrow. ours are yet too young for visitors.

Often, Fox forgot that it was visually apparent she was pregnant. Actually, Fox forgot about a lot of things, but we won't get into that. She canted her head when he asked(?) when he would be able to see the children. A part of her wanted to balk at the idea, and mentally, she did, but she knew he was trying to make amends, and she had no desire to make things worse. Maybe this whole mother thing was making her more mature. Hah! Yeah, right.

“If you come knockin’,” Fox replied, “I don’t see why not.” Except that it goes against everything I've been taught to believe about wolves from other packs. And you might try and eat them. And you clearly have something against me. She would have preferred to wait until they were old enough to be escorted to the border, at the very least, but she could always bring that up with Peregrine.

She held her tongue.

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of course, he murmured softly. tail moving slightly, he sought her eyes with a friendly expression. what do you wish for? boys? girls? some of each? determined that their mutual past be forgotten, lasher turned his eyes to the future, where the anticipated nuzzle of tiny bodies in the crook of her body might soften fox somewhat, and would bring peregrine great joy.

Lasher inquired about what genders she hoped for. "I guess I haven't given it much thought," she replied with a shrug. "I'm sure I'll be happy with however many sons and/or daughters we have." They would be her children, and nobody would be able to take them away from her. Those who tried would be crushed. Of course, if the children themselves wanted to leave, that was up to them. She would not try and hold them back like her own parents had done.

"Do Perry's kids still loathe me?" Fox inquired. In truth, only Junior and Saena had ever expressed distaste for her, though Fox had a pretty good feeling that the other two didn't feel much different. Siblings tended to stick together.

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he nodded; he would not lie to her. perhaps in time they too will come to make amends. he thought it prudent not to tell the ruby of junior's departure; that was peregrine's lot, but once he had answered, he could seek nothing within himself of which to speak. glancing dolefully at the sky, he remembered a name that both caused him to pause and to smile, and he regarded fox in silence for an iota of time.

does finley still chase gigantic predators? lasher asked softly; now there was a subject with which the redfur was surely well-versed. finley's chaotic ways had, assumedly, not ceased though she had followed the panther and his gem to the caldera.

She highly doubted that would be the outcome. If anything, they would distance themselves further and further until they were nothing more than forgotten memories (of which Fox had many). Still, it was a thought, and if Lasher could come back and patch things up, maybe Junior, Ty, Pura, and Saena could as well. Some might have given them sympathy for what had happened in their life, but Fox was of the mind that they should suck it up and get over it. That was just her way.

“Hah, yeah!” she replied, “I’m not sure where that obsession comes from, but she does seem to like them. I saw her try and provoke a snake the other day.” Fox paused, then wondered what else there was to talk about with Lasher. It felt like they were worlds away from one another.

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the beta too wondered what there was left to discuss; they had moved from amends, to children, to finley. too different were they, the ruby and the servant — he would not force conversation. she is an odd one, taltos murmured softly, the image provoking a wry smile from him.

presently, he unfurled himself and adopted a wan stance. i must return home now, but know that i wish you well upon your foray into parenthood, yourself and peregrine both. may you have an easy time in childbirth, he added, remembering how blue willow's cries had rent him so.

“Good luck with your kids!” Fox managed to force out. "Even if they are bastards." Nobody was going to change her mind about that. Lasher slinked away, and Fox watched until he melted into the landscape. The babes in her own stomach would not be born bastards, nor would any of her children. All would be Peregrine's, and that was that. With Lasher gone, Fox returned to the heart of the caldera, most likely to bother one of her pack-mates.