Redhawk Caldera goodnight, officers

@Peregrine @Ferret @Gannet @Whip @Peter Pup introduction to the pack! :D

Now that the pups' eyes were opening and they were starting to meander toward the den's entrance, Fox knew it was time for them to get to know the rest of the members of Redhawk Caldera. Peregrine would undoubtably be pleased, and she knew that the others would be eager to meet the newest and shiniest Firebirds. And so, Fox had led the four, nudged them when needed, to the small flat area just outside the den's opening. Peregrine appeared, almost as if he had sensed what was about to go down, and Fox grinned at him.

"You ready?" she asked, though his answer to the question wouldn't have any bearing on the howl that soon resonated through the caldera's claimed land.

"No," Peregrine answered even as Fox's voice carried all across the caldera. He winked at her, then scooted closer to stand beside her, joining her in looming over the puppies. "I haven't even farted on all of them yet, so how will everybody know who they belong to? Quick, there's still time!" the Alpha stage-whispered before squatting over the nearest pup (Peter, alias Smol) and screwing up one eye in his effort to produce flatulence.

But there was nothing in the pipes. Still, Peregrine hovered there, wondering what the first arrivals would think when they caught the father crouched over his pup like this. "You're just in time," he announced to no one in particular, "to experience the miracle of male birthing! Welcome to the show!" And then suddenly a fart did sneak up on him and, alas, the entire litter of four was suddenly awash in a rancid-smelling gas cloud.

At long last, the Alphas were ready to present their puppies to the rest of the pack. When their joint howl reached Elwood's ears, carried across the caldera on a warm spring breeze, he grinned. He abandoned the circuit of the borders he had been completing and loped towards the densite, his paws traversing the familiar terrain with ease.

When he arrived, he was not at all surprised to find Peregrine squatting over the litter. A particularly rank smell was present, yet it didn't phase the Beta male, who was well acquainted with Peregrine's bodily functions and odors -- as weird as that was. He smirked as he coasted to a stop a few feet away, craning his neck to peer at the four boys sprawled beneath Peregrine's bottom. "Is this a new tradition?" he asked with a laugh.

At first, Nightjar was overjoyed. Even in adulthood, he didn't understand the messages in howls and imagined that his mother's summons was solely for him—after all, it had to be about the pups, and who should get the first honour of meeting the newest pups but their elder brother? There was a skip in his step as he headed briskly up the caldera, eager to meet them at last, but that all came to a crashing halt when he veritably danced onto the scene only to see Elwood was there as well.

And then the truth really dawned on him, smacked him in the face really, that it wasn't a howl for just him or even for just him and the Beta pair, and he froze at the edge of the clearing with a frown settling across his brow. Not only did he have to share his younger brothers with Eljay, but now he would have to share them with the entire pack, even the newbies. He hadn't been invited to meet them before the rest of the pack got the opportunity.

Feeling overlooked and put out, the Gamma remained where he was, head lowered with disappointment and upset as his eyes darted questioningly between his parents. He'd been wildly excited to meet his siblings and now all the wind had whisked out of his sails faster than he could blink. He couldn't help but wonder if being reduced to meeting them with the rest of the pack, rather than having big brother privileges, was his punishment for telling Eljay to get lost, and even more horribly, he insecurely wondered if perhaps he had been forgotten, or was even unwanted around the pups, in all the hullabaloo.

Eljay was super mega excited to meet the littlest pups of the pack. He had been elevated into the adult ranks and surely, he was now allowed to meet the pups. To Eljay these two events were still inexplicably tied together, even though Uncle P had tried to explain to him that their falling together was nothing but a coincidence. Eljay felt terrified at being an adult and everyone expecting him to know how to adult, 'cause he hadn't a clue, but he decided to push the thoughts away and enjoy meeting the pups, for now.

Glued to @Finley 's side Eljay arrived at the scene. When he saw Nightjar he gasped and looked away guiltily. He was super afraid that his parents would cause a scene (specifically mommy) and that they would tell Nightjar off in general, 'cause Eljay didn't want even more trouble with Uncle P's eldest son. He admired Nightjar and wished that he was just like Nightjar so the last thing he wanted was for Nightjar to hate him even more 'cause he'd snitched on him to his parents.

Deciding to focus on the pups, Eljay quickly looked away from Nightjar and greeted daddy with a nuzzle to the chin. Then he turned to Uncle P and Aunt Fox, and he gasped again as he saw the little blobs. They were so cute! Eljay's eyes widened and he looked at them with anticipation. He licked his lips submissively with head and tail low as he looked at Fox and Peregrine, silently asking for permission to approach closer but not taking any steps until he'd receive clear permission.

Eeee! He was free again! The boy was overjoyed, and used his newfound skill at walking to parade around in awkward, staggering, and clumsy circles. He was an early walker, sure, but he had yet to develop the strength to be truly stable... or perhaps grace never would come to him. He had also yet to develop much for endurance, and soon plopped down on his rump somewhere in front of his mother.

She howled, and with his ears beginning to open, he was spurred to attempt copying. Though he managed an appreciably similar rise and fall in volume, he lacked the harmony in his sound, and his attempt was cut short as his head whipped around to the sudden movement of a leaf caused by a breeze.

His eyes roamed around what he could before only smell and feel. His eyesight was blurry, but he could distinguish ambiguous shapes and colors, and... one was moving. Toward them. He fixed on this grayish thing, lifting his butt off the ground as he leaned forward. Then there were other shapes coming.... and the little bandit peered brazenly at all of them.

There was no fear in him, just an unwavering stare as he took his first look at those who would become his next victims after he had graduated from tormenting his family alone.

There was something undeniably nerve-wracking about meeting the Alpha’s puppies.. especially when the Alpha was Fox. The howl echoed across the caldera, and the girl paused, fretting quietly to herself and wondering if she should pretend she was outside of pack borders for a moment. But she was far more nervous of the wrath of missing the event rather than attending, and so with a quick shake of her pelt, the girl loped toward the den site she had managed to avoid until now.

She was entirely certain that this was not a normal family. As she came upon them, she noticed Peregrine squatting strangely over the puppies, and a strange scent wafted through the air, though she managed to not crinkle her nose at it.

Shyly, the bi-toned Frostfur took a few paces closer, staying well behind the two other wolves she did not know, and Elwood. She studied them curiously – the ever shy Eljay, and the distraught Nightjar.. but her eyes were suddenly drifting to catch sight of the puppies – curiosity finally pulling at her heart. Her own younger siblings would be around their size – a bit bigger. Suddenly, she missed her family terribly.

At the ripe old age of 14 days, little Whip's senses were beginning to come into their own. His stubby legs still wobbled as he hopped around, but the pup no longer had any trouble traipsing around the den. Unlike when he was a newborn, Whip no longer felt the need to sit still and rest... It was always go, go, go. Sights and smells (being such new and developing sensations) stole all of the the young pup's attention. Even in this tiny whelping den, Whip could see the world was a vast place— full of wonder in even the tiniest things.  

Despite the curiosity the drove him, Whip had yet to leave the whelping den. The only sights and smells lending themselves to his mental catalogue were his mother and father, his siblings, and the brown dirt walls of the den. Today, however, Whip's world was about to get much bigger. He was coaxed out of the whelping den by his mother, and soon found himself wide eyed in the grass.

Along with his brother, Whip also attempted to imitate his mother's call in a rather dim and pitchy fashion. It was a strange thing; noise. He liked it... In the coming days he'd make as much of it as possible despite not knowing what any of it meant, probably to the chagrin of both his parents. His mother's howl had it's effect and soon their shelling den was surrounded by company. 

Seeing vague, fuzzy shapes appear around him and his brothers -- all staring -- Whip approached and stared back blankly before levying a squeaky bark toward all the strangers. Who knew there'd be so many of them?

Like his brothers, the second child had begun testing out legs that stood upright instead of the splayed crawling of the past two weeks.  He was a bit unsure of it still and, as soon as he had successfully followed his family outside, glued himself to his mom's side and plopped down. His ears twitched with interest at Fox's call, and he turned happily to watch his brothers join in. It didn't occur to him to do the same, and instead he just beamed around. When strangers appeared, his little tail beat the ground at the prospect of new and exciting. Fear and distrust weren't something the pup had learned yet - he knew his guardians would not allow danger to happen. He had never been shown otherwise.

There came a day, when the little boy's was about to change once again. He was woken up quite rudely from his slumber and unlike other times, when all it took was a bit of squirming around and re-arranging the position in the warm pile of cubs, and just fall asleep again, he prodded and pushed around. Yet unaware of a term "wimp", he did not hesitate to protest and resist. He whimpered and mewled all the way to the den entrance and made every attempt to turn around and crawl back to the darkness and safety. 

This was not to happen though, because for unknown reasons his parents were determined of moving them somewhere. And when this place happened to be so entirely different - light, cold and no food in the vicinity - the little guy decided that he had had quite enough for today. After sitting there for a moment or two, regarding everyone with sleepy eyes, he let out a deep sigh (after all it had been quite an effort to get this far) and turned around to crawl back to the den in a very determined manner.

When the howl came, Fin had been quick to seek out her son as an escort over to the alphas' den.  Part of it was because she knew Nightjar would be there and that Eljay might be grateful for his mother's support having to face him.  A much larger and less easily admitted part was that Finley needed his support just as much, if not more.

The bullying issue had successfully distracted her and Elwood's conversation about having another litter, but it had not stopped the question from blaring like a foghorn in Finley's mind every second since.  There was a part of her that had cast a very firm fuck no vote.  Despite what Elwood might have to say about it, Fin was positive she was a terrible mother to Eljay, and to inflict her mothership (Stevie can't words) on a second generation was just too cruel.  She would fail them, she would fail her first son, she would fail her mate, and this time there would be no coming back from it.  She was absolutely certain, and she just couldn't bear the thought of losing or disappointing her family.

Unfortunately, she was also pretty convinced that she'd be doing the same were she to refuse to have more kids with her mate.  

Level 1: Rock.
Level 2: Hard Place.
Level 1.5: Finley

Being the avoider that she was, Fin didn't want to even look at other puppies.  She felt guilty over staying away.  After all, she and Elwood had been there to see the Firebirds 1.0 the very night they'd been born, and now here it was however long after 2.0 had greeted the world and Fin hadn't even tried to stop by.  She hoped that had gone unnoticed, for even now as she strode alongside of her son, she wanted to turn and run for it.  But, she couldn't.  She needed to be there for Eljay.  So she insisted feebly in her mind, anyway, if only to finally get herself to approach the den.

Fin glanced at those that had gathered as they stopped - her gaze first freezing for a moment of uncertainty over Nightjar before shifting to Elwood upon seeing the boy was weirdly deflated for some reason.  She gave her mate a smile and a wag of her tail, determined to communicate that she was fine and everything was fine and there was totally not this huge unanswered question between them that just so happened to be revolving around the subject matter they were currently observing.  She felt like she ought to say something casual then.  Casual and breezy.  Yes, that would be good and very normal of her.  Something like...

Eljay moved at her side, lowering to the ground.  Fin's ears perked in alarm at his movement, thinking something negative had caused it.  But then she spotted the puppies as they crept towards the pack one by one.  They were so tiny.  She had forgotten puppies could be so tiny.  Her own had been even tinier, she remembered fondly.  Fin looked at Eljay and realized with a jolt that he wasn't being scared or anxious.  He was eager.  He was excited.  He was.. happy.

Finley was quiet as she watched the gathering unfold.  Her expression was blank and impassive.  Inwardly, though, her emotions were exploding all over the place.

not sure there's a post order with so many participants -- sorry if this is out of line, if so, let me know and i can remove. (:

Nightjar was completely forgotten when the pups were shown to the pack. Eljay kept low to the ground as to not appear too threatening to them and he gasped audibly when he first laid eyes on them. They were so tiny! It was amazing to think that they had all come from Aunt Fox' stomach!

"Look, mommy!" Eljay said in a whispery tone as he looked at them squirming about and trying to imitate the adults' sounds; he was completely mesmerised by the pups and so excited to meet them at last.

also unsure on post order <3 but figured while I was catching up

There were so many!!  By Fox was safety, but he had no reason to believe there was any danger in the wolves around.  Already he could sense pack, that these were friends and his parents were at ease.

So he stepped away and out, bumbling a little ways towards the other wolves.  In his eagerness he picked up speed, rollicking along on short legs before coming to a butt-wiggling stop in front of someone (claim?).  Playfully he lifted his muzzle and eagerly eyed his new friend, hoping they would come down to his level (if they hadn't already).

Had no intention of holding this up, but y'know how life goes. ;)

They arrived in droves. Busy keeping the four little mongrels in line, Fox could hardly keep up with who arrived in what order. She gave special attention to Finley, Elwood, and Nightjar, if only because they were the closest to the Redhawk family (not only that, but Nightjar was one of them). She stood solidly between the rest of the wolves and her children, but for those three, she allowed them closer.

An occasional, happy glance was given to Peregrine, proud of their little family.

As the first arrivals trickled into view, Peregrine righted himself, grinning foolishly as the stench inevitably hit them. He didn't notice his eldest son's distraught behavior right away, though when his gaze landed on Nightjar's face, his own smile faded. He made a c'mere motion with his snout, then when the yearling didn't come hither right away, Peregrine gesticulated emphatically for the older Firebird to come closer. Fox had decided against giving him any special treatment when it came to this moment, yet of course the young Gamma would play a starring role in the young boys' lives, starting today.

Soon, the pack's core members were surrounding the pups. Peregrine hooked a paw around the youngest, runtiest boy as he tried to squiggle back to the den, plopping his tiny body in between his own broad forepaws as he took a seat. He gazed over the gathered wolves, grinning at their various reactions to the pups, his jade eyes wandering now to Allure in particular. Out of everyone here, he knew and trusted her the least, yet he beckoned even her closer. Everyone here was family.

There were some notable absences and the Alpha sat up straighter, peering around for any sign of Mazi and Nadie. Yet as the informal ceremony drew on, they never showed. Peregrine's lips fell into a disapproving frown, yet he shook his head and forgot about them. He refocused on the joy of showing off his sons to the pack and jabbed an affectionate elbow into Fox's ribs while silently wriggling his brows in their Blackthorns' direction. Baby rabies? he mouthed at her curiously.

There was a lot going on as wolves approached the den from all sides. Elwood was joined by Nightjar, Eljay, Finley, and Allure, though he hardly paid them any mind at first. His gaze was focused on the four wriggling bundles of fur being showcased (and/or sat on) by Peregrine and Fox.

When he did look up, he grinned broadly at the sight of Eljay watching the puppies closely. The youth clearly was taking an interest in the youngest members of the pack. He exchanged a glance with Finley -- failing to notice that her smile seemed to be plastered on -- and then looked back to the firebirds. Already they were showing off their very different personalities: three of them seemed to be quite pleased with their visitors, while the fourth had clearly had enough and was marching his little self back to the den.

When Eljay silently asked for permission to get closer, he noted that Fox was putting herself between him and a girl he didn't know and the pups. His parents and Nightjar were notably included, but Eljay paid it little mind; he knew that he was pretty clumsy, so maybe they didn't want him hanging around too closely until they were a little bigger, or something like that. The aspiring Caretaker licked his lips submissively while he remained low and watched the pups from a small distance.

He didn't even notice that Mazie and Nadi weren't there — Eljay just tunnel-focussed on the pups, his mouth hanging slightly ajar while he watched them with great interest. He giggled a little when the one puppy tried to get back into the den and continued to watch in silence, his tail wagging lightly while he just observed them.

She was primarily ignored – Shithead beckoned her closer, though she only closed the distance a respectful bit. Fox, Elwood and the others remained a rather protective wall between her and the puppies, and she could feel the nervousness flutter in her stomach – an outsider looking in.

The puppies were cute, and she did take a few moments to watch them quietly. The family before her was quite proud in the newest additions to the Caldera – and it was hard to blame them. But she did not belong in this gathering, and yet it was also not possible for her to inch away.

A youthful male seemed in awe of the puppies – he was around her age, but she had yet to meet him.

The awkwardness stretched further as she remained silent, her muzzle bowed out of respect for the family, and her eyes drifting between each of the puppies.. making no movement to push herself closer to any of them.

Finley didn't really notice anyone else as the gathering proceeded, not really even the puppies.  Her attention was on her own puppy as he excitedly interacted with his new cousins. It was a beautiful thing, and already her mind was changing about what she had thought had been an absolute.

It would take maybe ten, twenty minutes before she would realize that it wasn't really that simple. The anxieties she thought were gone in that moment would be back just as soon as the moment was over. But this at least opened the door she had been afraid was not going to budge.

*slaps on a conclusion*

Fox continued to watch the pups closely, casting sidelong glances to anybody who got even a little bit too close for her comfort. All-in-all, the little gathering went well, and nobody got hurt or unnecessarily chided. By the end of it all, Fox shuffled the four little boys back into the den and collapsed into a heap so she could get some much-needed rest.