He was young, which was a double-edged sword right now: he didn't understand what had happened to his mother and sister, which was a blessing... but the lack of understanding bred confusion and sadness. The usually happy Relonikiv missed them so much. He cried sometimes at night, giving voice to his bewilderment and grief.
The Alpha pair had moved Relonikiv and his brothers to a rendezvous site, which served as a distraction, although it also made him nostalgic in a way. He wanted to be back home, with his mama and his siblings. He longed for things to go back to normal. Instead, he and his brothers were now living out in the open under the watchful eye of Scimitar and Bazi.
Actually, the two of them had been gone for a few days. Fortunately, he was old enough to understand (and young enough to blindly trust) his sitters' reassurances that the Alphas would be back very soon. In the meantime, there was always one pack member or another not far away, in case he needed anything. And he had Julius and Trajan.
Presently, Relonikiv was sniffing around the edges of their new living space, unaware that everything was about to change again very soon. He was less smiley than usual, though his youth really would be his saving grace over the coming days. And he wasn't too out of sorts to flash a quick smile when a dead leaf from last autumn detached from its perch and spun down to smack him softly on the nose.
It was tragedy, that colored the creek right now. Tragedy of a somber sort. No one knew, what had happened to the gentle healer Paar or her pretty little princess. It did not stop anyone, from trying to find them. Kieran himself had searched far and as wide as he could without leaving the creek and it's surrounding area. It was with heavy heart. That he took the sustenance, he had for the remaining boys.
Kieran loped into view a hare in his maw. Perhaps they would find some good in it. Perhaps, they would find it fun to chew on or eat. He could only hope right? He tilted his head and chuffed gently to get the attention of little Relonikiv. The only son out and about.
Not ten seconds after his run-in with the leaf, a figure came trotting into view. Relonikiv blinked at the familiar face, then managed a small smile, which grew slightly when he noticed the hare in Kieran's maw. He moved to greet the adult, his head bowed and his tail low, then dipped his head to sniff at the rabbit the adult had dropped on the ground.
"Hi," he said in a quiet, friendly voice, then asked politely, "Kin I eat?" A pup his age wouldn't normally be fully weaned for a few weeks, but there was hardly a choice now. Meat had become the primary staple of his diet over the past few days, with the Alphas quickly weaning the boys from regurgitated to solid. "Bunnit?" he added after a moment, trying to remember the name of this particular type of prey and accidentally mixing up bunny and rabbit.
I wanted to jump in here! I'll get a reply up to our other thread too. I've been super busy this past week!
The world had been turned upside down. Kaskara wasn't sure what had happened to Paarthurnax and her daughter. Life was slowly realigning itself; Scimitar and Bazi were now, more or less, together, and taking care of the three Roman boys left behind. She and Kieran were taking care of them now while the alpha pair were off wandering, searching for a new home. Kas was glad that they were doing that together, since it would give Bazi some say in where they lived.
She just hoped it would bring the pair together for good.
Today she went to visit the boys, wanting to get to know them better. Kieran was watching them for now, and she had promised Scimitar she would pop in on them from time to time. Kieran was trusted implicitly, but she wanted to get to watch them, too, if only for the reason of getting to know them. She chanced upon Kieran and Relonikiv near the rendezvous site, the adult holding a rabbit in his mouth. Kas smiled as she watched Kiv sniff at it and ask if he could eat.
The beta didn't want to intrude, but she did make herself known with a low chuff of air and a grin across her face.
Kieran smiled at the smaller boy. He dropped the bunny at his feet, a small chuckle coming from the recesses of his guts.
"Yea, yer can 'av it."
He tilted his head, and brushed a soft touch across the youths head. He looked down at him and smiled at the mispronunciation. That he could understand, he himself was terrible at pronouncing things. Perhaps, that was why he liked babes. They mispronounced things too, and didn't think too much on him doing the same. They also didn't seem to realize, he spoke too differently. Sometimes, they did and he would have to explain.
"Aye! that's roi. 'tis a bunny rabbit."
It was a little backwards, and he didn't need both names, but there was no harm in it. The boy would learn soon enough, and why not let him be little for longer, instead of forcing him to say things right, immediately. He heard the gentle chuff and looked up to see Kaskara. He gave her a smile, then looked back down. He briefly thought on the conversation, with Bazi. But then just as quickly turned it around. No use thinking on such things. It didn't matter.
Relonikiv was neither old nor articulate enough to really understand the concept of accents. If he had trouble understanding Kieran, he simply read his body language to fill in the blanks. Taking the light touch to his head as approval, the puppy sniffed the dead rabbit, then began to tear into it. His fangs were small but very sharp, so as long as he deconstructed it a bit first, he could manage the carcass.
His ears flicked as he ate, picking up on Kieran's praise. Relonikiv smiled around a mouthful of delicious rabbit meat, yet didn't pause in his eating. For one usually so small and gentle, he ate with the same voraciousness as any wild wolf. He didn't take a break until he saw someone else—a familiar black she-wolf—approach. Relonikiv licked his bloody lips, then grinned at her.
"Hi," he said to Kaskara before dropping his head back down to the kill, momentarily ignoring his company in favor of food.
"Hey," Kaskara chuckled in reply, coming forward out of the shadows to sit near Kieran. She watched Kiv dig into the rabbit, using his small, yet sharp teeth to tear it into more manageable chunks. She couldn't believe how big he was getting already. As Relonikiv ate, the beta turned toward Kieran, noticing his unusually shy behavior. Deciding to let that go for the moment, she asked, "How's babysitting? Did Bazi say when they hoped to return?"
The pair of adults began chatting, though Relonikiv heard none of their conversation as he fed his face. He ate as much as he could stuff down his gullet, then burped lightly and backed away from the rest of the carcass. There was blood all over his muzzle and more of it splattered on his chest. He looked up at Kieran with a grateful (and ghoulish) smile.
"Thankth!" he chirped, then glanced to Kaskara. "Hi," he said, forgetting that he'd already greeted her. He couldn't remember her name for a moment, then said, "Oh, Kath!" and waved his tail. He then took a seat kitty corner to Kieran and Kaskara, his soft golden tail slowly thumping the snowy earth as he prepared to join their conversation (to the best of his ability, anyway).
Kaskara chuckled at Kieran's words: she agreed that the two were idiots. She hoped they would rekindle their love, too, because having their headstrong drama in the mix wasn't going to work out for long. If they would just get over their stubborn tendencies, they'd be golden. "We can only hope."
Relonikiv joined them moments after, splattered with blood on his muzzle and chest. Kaskara wanted to laugh at the sight, but only smiled and chuckled instead. "Hello Kiv. Did you enjoy lunch?" She or Kieran would clean him up soon enough, butt he sight of a tiny pup covered in his prey's blood was definitely a bit of comic relief during this stressful time.
"icelandic translation here"
Kieran watched as the child ate the food, he went at it as if his life depended on it. Which in a way, he supposed it kind of did. He looked down as he was thanked. He offered a smile.
"You're failte Relonikiv"
Kieran chuckled at Kaskara's words and then turned his gaze back to the pup. He thrust his ears forward, waiting for the boys answer.
"Yum yum," was his reply to Kaskara's question, shooting Kieran another grateful look and a thump of his sandy tail. He licked his lips and the motion of his neck called his attention to his sticky bib of blood. He looked down at himself, then up at the two adults.
His eyes shifted between them for a few beats, then settled on Kaskara. "'M sticky," he stated the obvious. "Kin you help? Wath?" It was something his mother would have done had she been here, or Bazi in her absence, so Relonikiv instinctively looked to the only woman present to help him clean up his mess.
Failte. That was a word Kaskara wasn't familiar with, though in truth she wasn't familiar with about 99% of Kieran's language. "What does failte mean?" she asked, laying down and inviting Kiv over into her arms so she could wash him. "I'll wash you, Kiv. Come." She smiled at him, rubbed her nose along his shoulders, and nuzzled his neck gently. She loved this little boy, even if they weren't related by blood. They were family nonetheless.
Kieran frowned trying hard to answer he question. He didn't know how to say the common tongue. He tightened his jaw, trying to figure out how to explain. He smiled when he realized, or hoped he could explain.
"So'tiz waaat yer say after someone says t'anks." Kieran watched their interaction, and a pain lanced across his heart. Would Kiva had been that way, with their babes? Would she have loved them as much as Kaskara loved Kiv? He hoped she would have. THen his mind went down a forbidden path, of grief. Would they have looked like him? Or her? Or would they have been a mix of their colors. Would they have been sweet and kind like Kiva, or wild and cocky like him?
When Kaskara invited him to assume the position, Relonikiv did as he was told, glad that she was going to oblige him. He stretched out to make himself accessible, rolling onto his side so that she could reach the sticky blood clumped to his throat and chest. He wondered if she might sneak a belly rub in there, though he didn't dare ask. He just settled down and laid still, tail thumping quietly and eyelids falling to half mast as he enjoyed the grooming session.
He kept one cinnamon ear pricked toward Kieran as he and Kaskara continued their conversation, though he decided not to partake any further himself. He was too young to keep up anyhow. And now that he'd fed, he was sort of ready for a nap. Most likely, Relonikiv wouldn't make it through his bath without conking out.
Wrap up?
"Oh, like 'you're welcome'?" she asked between licks. Relonikiv was a dirty boy; not only was he covered in the blood from his lunch, he had bits of dirt and sand between he toes and on his paws, which she dutifully groomed out for him. The pair of adults spoke quietly above the dozing boy's head, though really only a thunderous noise could wake a babe asleep after lunch. Kaskara smiled, wondering what it would be like to have children, wondering what her life would be like as a mother. She knew she'd only ever be an aunt, but it was nice to wonder, sometimes.
Kieran listened and nodded his head, grimacing slightly. Aye oi'm sorry oi don't 'av a ward for it, in yisser language Kieran chuckled at the amount of dirt that came from the youth before them.
Kieran had not wondered about pups of his own for sometime, and if he did start too. He always squashed the thought down. He lay down Sphinx-like his head on his paws, and listened to Kaskara. Mahogany ears, forward thrust to catch her words.
Just adding in an ending post. <3
Kaskara bathed little Kiv for a moment longer, chuckling softly at the way he fell asleep between her forepaws almost instantly. Once most of the blood was off, she simply let him remain there, cuddled between her legs. She smiled at him, the tiny hope of their future, until she turned back toward Kieran and continued their hushed conversation. They remained that way for about an hour until Kiv woke up and demanded more food. Then the beta went on her way, to check the borders for the afternoon, before settling in with Kieran and the kids for a late night story-telling session.