Golden Glade Come one, Come all

Lowkey pack activity. Would love to have everyone that can be in this thread, be in this thread. This will be put shortly before Eden has her pups. Doesn't matter if you've already met the pups, you can still come :) @Heartha @Bramble @Tulip @Sylvas Streiter @Eden @Shalon @Freya @Alder @Rose @Tigerlily @Rowan Pryor @Hawthorn @Estelle  Obviously Alder and the pups need to post first :3 but when they're outside i'll probably retag xD sorry

Aspen's eyes opened slowly and she let a yawn loose from her maw. It was early morning shortly after dawn. Aspen took a moment to look down at her not so tiny bundles of joy. She was so elated they had finally started to speak. Each knew their names and the names of their parents now as well as a range of other words and phrases. There personalities ever more apparent.

Aspen nudged her husband in an attempt to wake. "Alder, I think its time," she stated softly. It was time, she finally felt comfortable enough to take the pups outside the den and have them be introduced to the members of the court. She was excited but also nervous. They were her kids it was perfectly normal to be a bit nervous. 

She began to nudge each one of them trying to wake them up then proceeded to groom them. If they were to meet their pack, they would have to look presentable. They were royals after all.

I'd just like to note that though this isn't mandatory, its a good way to get noticed in both good and bad ways: if they don't show, Alder will notice and won't be happy, and vise versa if they do :D

Alder wasn't a bad parent, per say, he wasn't as active and social with them as he should be -- not as much as Aspen was, for example -- but he kept them in the den, babysat when their mother needed time outside, brought food for said mother every night. It was exactly the same for his bastard children, and none of it was out of any personal malice -- okay, maybe towards Rowan -- but he did what he needed to for his kids. They knew him, he loved them, and he cared for them -- that was that. Watching them grow was a bittersweet reminder of his sweet little Lily, but the King didn't allow those to ruin fatherhood for him. Lily had been and always would be his firstborn and eldest child, but unfortunatley death was not becoming on a Queen, even if Aspen would allow a pup not her own take over the Court one day. 

That night, he'd been dreaming of her, of the day she died: he remembered laying in the sand beside his then-mate, Melodie, joking together and allowing the warm Summer day to take their attention off of the 8 month old girl frolicking before them. Emory had been somewhere behind them, in the den sleeping. Lily -- who had looked so much like Melodie it now made Alder sick to think about, with her coffee pelt and dark chocolate freckles --  had just frolicked away from her parents' gaze, and Alder was lavishing kisses over his mates ears.... 
Then came the squeal. 
The heart-stopping, blood freezing, cry of confusion and terror from little Lily had brought both Charley and Melodie rushing to their paws and over, but the coyotes were already ripping into her limbs, blood splattering the tawny sand beneath. There had been so many -- even if he'd have roused his twin, three yearling wolves could not have saved her -- and in a cold moment of dread, he'd cut off Melodie's path. He remembered the fight, her sinking fangs into his shoulder, the tussle that had led to him pinning her.... She'd never forgiven him for not allowing her to go, despite the fact she knew it would likely have meant her own death too, and she'd left that very day: out of six children, they hadn't raised a single one, and it was too much on the young couple. 

It hurt now, sometimes, to look at his current children and be reminded of those six --  it made him no less loving of them, even if he was scared to get overly attached again -- but each day he lived to feed them and keep these ones safe. 

Aspen's nudge couldn't have come at a more welcome time as the King watched the blood drain from his daughter -- his good eye snapped open, white around the edges, and snapped at first to the children. After and only after he'd assured himself all four were there and blood-filled -- ignoring the fact that, as their weakest link, Alder merely skimmed the tiny frame of Rowan -- he grumbled sleepily and turned to his wife. Breathing light and licking his lips in concealed anxiety, Alder tried to make sense of what the white woman was talking about.

                         "Time? For?"

Aspen glanced over to Alder as he stirred in the back of her mind she noticed something was bothering him  but decided best not question it. He spoke asking of what it was time to do. "I think we ought to introduce the pups to the pack formally don't you?" she stated adding a bit of a tilt to her head at the end.

She then returned to grooming them happily one by one until their fur was in perfect shape. She took no care to the protests from the little ones. They had no choice in the matter.

Aspen explained, and Alder nodded in agreement even though he was barely listening -- behind his vision, all he could see was a long legged, graceful girl with a plush toffee coat -- but trusted her to make good decisions with their puppies. His one blue eye trailed over the silvery woman and their cubs again, lingering on Rowan with distaste and confusion: how had the little runt survived so long? Why had this albino survived where his first children had not? Why would this sickly thing one day have claim to the Golden Glade throne, instead of his Lily? Unfair as it was, he felt it and didn't deny it -- perhaps maybe out loud, but nobody ever called him out on it -- and as if reading his fathers mind, newly-awoken Rowan sent a malicious scarlet glare Alder's way. Perhaps he could feel the King's dislike of him, or perhaps it was just a coincidence that the two hated each other, but Rowan sure did make it more obvious than Alder did.

Tigerlily was rudely awoken by a rather unexpected nudge from her mother to which her eyes narrowed and she let out a vocal shriek of some sort in protest. She got even more frustrated when her mother began grooming her vigourously. "Mummm," she protested. "Too early..." she added with another whine.

Once Aspen had finished grooming Tiger's precious russet fur she scrambled away so she couldn't start again and watched as her siblings got the same treatment. Stifling a chuckle at some of their reactions. Tilting her head sideways as if to say whats going on?. She then proceeded to trot over to her father. "Dad, why up?" she stated still learning english but beginning to get better and better. Though recently her mother had made sure to teach them each their names and their title. Which was for a reason unknown to her yet.

So for the sake of my sanity I'll probably just be posting with Rowan xD

 

Rowan's morning glare was met with a turn of Alder's head, breaking eye contact to look down at his paws guiltily. The little Prince, however, was seething with victory and hate for his father, and in fact glowered most obviously in the King's direction until it was his turn to be cleaned. The boy allowed his mothers ministrations lovingly, cooing softly at her and sending a few happy licks towards her muzzle; Tiger's movement had been noted, but quite frankly Rowan didn't care about her right now. After all, she wouldn't dare come after him when Mother was right here! He watched as their father reached his muzzle out to the older twin, rubbing against the girl gently and rumbling happily through a smile.
Sure, to her he could smile and be nice, but Rowan barely remembered the touch of his father, rarely as it came. Tigerlily's words registered in Rowan's head, but Alder gave no response --likely because he didn't know what the hell she'd said -- but for his affection.

Rose was an angel from dusk until dawn, but that girl was like the devil himself when you tried to wake her up. Sleep was her sanctuary, her safe haven and god forbid if anyone woke her up, she'd release all hell on them. So when her mother nudged her Rose let out a growl warning her to keep away, but of course that wasn't going to happen. Soon enough she too would fall victim to her mother's grooming.

Once she had been cleaned and managed to scramble away from the silver queen, Rose went right back to where she had been sleeping. But before she closed her eyes she shot everyone within eyesight a glare that practically screamed "wake me up and I'll rip your throat out".

His siblings were a strange sort but he was the strangest of them all and he knew it - he embraced it. He simply didn't care. When his mother nudged him, Hawthorn refused to wake up and continued to sleep until she began to groom him. Silently, he opened his eyes and blinked, the brilliant blue orbs taking in his surroundings. He allowed her to make him presentable before he rose to his paws - just as silently and was about to go ask somebody what was going on when he caught sight of Rose shooting him a glare before she went back to sleep.

Hawthorn was about to leave her alone before he decided against it and trotted up to her, giving her a gentle nudge. If she bit, he would laugh and if she refused to wake up and go with the rest of their family, he would laugh again but he would stay with her. If Rose wasn't going, neither was he. As far as he was concerned, she was his favourite sibling, and if she wasn't going somewhere, then he was staying to protect her - it also gave him a valid excuse to opt out of things he'd rather not join into.

After all the kids looked fairly presentable the Queen smiled but her eyes narrowed as they fell on Rose who had decidely tried to go back to bed. "Come on guys, I promise we wont be out long," she spoke standing and walking over to wear Rose lay. Nudging her with her paw. "I want you to meet everyone else who shares this land with us. Do you remember your titles? Let me hear you say your full names and we will go," she stated waiting patiently and making sure none of them tried to go back to bed again.

She was sure the pack would love these crazy pups. She couldn't wait to introduce them.

After all the kids looked fairly presentable the Queen smiled but her eyes narrowed as they fell on Rose who had decidely tried to go back to bed. "Come on guys, I promise we wont be out long," she spoke standing and walking over to wear Rose lay. Nudging her with her paw. "I want you to meet everyone else who shares this land with us. Do you remember your titles? Let me hear you say your full names and we will go," she stated waiting patiently and making sure none of them tried to go back to bed again.

She was sure the pack would love these crazy pups. She couldn't wait to introduce them.