Redhawk Caldera i didn't, though

Sorana watched the water lapping at the shoreline with an intent stare.

Despite coming here every day to look across the water and call out to her packmates, she had yet to set her foot in the water. This morning, she woke up resolved. As resolved as any 6-and-a-half week old puppy could be. She was here on this island and she had mama and daddy, and she loved them so, but other visitors came only when they wanted to. Sora could not summon them to herself, nor could she go to them, and lately things were feeling weird at home. She didn't know if it was bad or not, but thought it would be nice to visit Jay when things felt weird.

She strode for the lake's edge boldly at first, but faltered when she drew close enough to see the specks of dirt and debris undulating on the surface. She licked her lips nervously. Sora had the privilege of watching mama swim all the time, and of course, Reyes came to and from the island multiple times a day. How hard could it be?

She inched forward and stretched her toes toward the water, only to giggle and snatch her paw away when it seemed to swell up to kiss them, like a dashing prince kissing her fingers.

Last time she had visited, Maia had brought Jay. This time she would have brought one or two others - any more would have been too much to ferry across herself. Making a den on an island was an odd choice for Teya to make, Maia thought, but she supposed it was easier to defend that way. She preferred hers and Eljay's, though - in the thick of the pack, easy to access. With Brecheliant around she hardly felt unsafe.

If any had come with, she'd ferry the pups across one at a time, shaking water out of her pelt as she arrived on the other side to smile at Sorana. She'd seen her playing with the water and mother's intuition told her she should probably distract immediately.

You know, the water nymphs that live in there can be pretty tricky sometimes! They aren't mean but they do like to play pranks. Maia looked at the water, then back at Sorana to see what she would make of that.

@Ceridwen @Chickadee @Aiden just in case one or two of you wanted to hop in! I can be skipped if this turns into a pup play date

"ucky" chickadee mumbled. set down on dry land, she scowled at the water and tried to cling to maia with a whimper. but mommy was off getting the others. "yuck! she growled again toward the surface.
there was someone else here. chickadee didn't want more surprises. she pinned her ears back and stared at sorana with a mixture of petulance and interest.

She lifted her head to see if anyone had caught her playing with the water and saw Maia crossing over. Sora's eyes went huge with excitement when she saw that Maia had a puppy with her.

JAAAY! Sorana squealed, beginning an excited and loud puppy slap dance that grew in intensity the closer Maia came. By the time she clambered up the bank, Sora was practically throwing rocks in her wiggling fervor. Maia placed "Jay" down and addressed Sora, who beamed at her before focusing on her friend.

JAYJAYJAY! crowed Sorana, bouncing toward him. Chickadee's reluctant mien should have been the first clue that she was off the mark, but she was a little oblivious to that. Closer and closer she bounced, until she caught her friend's scent.

Hold up.

Wait a minute.

Sora drew abruptly back and shot Maia a perturbed and confused look. This wasn't Jay! Quivering in place, she dropped her gaze and stared back at Not Jay with a nervously ticking tail. At length she issued a teensy, breathy, hi.

Aiden was a little behind, taking a drink, shaking out his pelt and then sneezing a few times at the water's edge after the swim. When he looked over his shoulder, he suddenly realised that his mother and sibling had already gone ahead, and Aiden quickly and clumsily galopped behind them to catch up.

By the time he arrived, he saw his sister play with someone else — also small, he noted immediately! — and Aiden's ears perked forward curiously as he approached. Just as he arrived, she recoiled, and Aiden walked up to his sister's side. He nosed at her shoulder and then looked at the other child. One of Aiden's ears was forward, towards the new child, and one twisted up towards his mother to gauge whether they should be on guard or if this new presence was okay.

chickadee did not understand colors yet but sorana felt warm. her initial misgivings were fading, faster as aiden bumbled up against her. 

"hi," she whispered back, both of her own ears straining toward the stranger who was not really a stranger. emboldened, she toddled forward and tried to clumsily touch noses with the other girl.

assumed skipping started but just in case <3 don't worry about me from this point on unless you pull her in!

Maia had intended to facilitate the meeting, but it seemed her kids were doing just fine introducing themselves without her. She stepped back and kept a careful eye on all three, just in case. It seemed like they were getting along so far and that was the goal! None of them seemed to be paying her, or her words, any attention.

Her son had apparently made an impression the first time. Maia chuckled as she watched the initial disappointment wear off and Sorana, Aiden, and Chickadee meet. She didn't hover but was ready to interject if things got out of hand or if they got any ideas of trying out the water themselves.

A second Not Jay came up by the first. Sorana was not a pup prone to shyness, but she was outnumbered by strangers now, which was a little sobering. Her paws continued a soft tapping on the ground as she nervously danced in place, eyes bouncing with dizzying uncertainty between the pair.

Not Jay #1 was the first to respond in a teeny tiny voice that brought a tremulous smile to Sora's lips. She looked up at Maia now and again, searching for answers to unspoken questions of consent. Not Jay #2 was more striking to look at than Not Jay #1; Sora found her eyes drawn to his contrasting features more than not. Hi, she offered quietly to him as well.

Then Chickadee reached out and touched her nose. It was like all the pent up energy in Sora's body came rushing forward and she began to vibrate with it. The front of her torso bent toward the earth while her tail whirled in the sky above her thin hips. Her lips were drawn in a panting smile now and she tossed her head in an invitation to play.

His sister greeted the other child, who looked between both of them as well as their mother. Aiden glanced up at his mother as well, but he could tell that she was calm, which in turn calmed the stalwart guardian. He looked at the child again and noted that her attention was fully on him in that moment. He looked back at her and when she offered a friendly 'hi', his tail wagged a little. Hi, he returned, a quick sidelong glance to his mother but most of his attention to the child. Aiden did not often find himself at a loss for what to do, but this New Situation caught him looking studiously at the other children in some sort of mexican standoff where none of them seemed to know what to do.

It was his sister that reached out first, moving out to touch the other child's nose. In response, the other child bent her front to the ground and her tail wagged. Aiden understood that language. Play! he said in excitement — she knew the language of play! He moved forward towards the other two and his tail wagged when he pawed towards Sorana's face — carefully, making sure he could withdraw if this all went south — to indicate that he, too, was willing to and knew how to play.

the unsister invited her to play. chickadee stared at her with wide eyes. she looked at her brother next. and then lastly she looked at her mother. 

"pay!" she crowed at last. her own chest went down and rump came up. she showed her tiny teeth and then leapt toward sorana with all the grace of a lamed goose. with luck she might pull them all down.

Oh, this was not going well.

She lifted a paw to bat back at Aiden, putting her off balance for Chickadee’s charge. Sorana still struggled with awareness. When she wasn’t looking at something, it simply ceased to exist, and that was true of Chickadee as well. With her attention on Aiden, she had forgotten about the other.

Now it was two on one and she couldn’t redirect to Chickadee fast enough. She was knocked down, leaving herself open to Aiden’s counterstrike.

Just as he and the other child pawed at each other, Chickadee came crashing in. Aiden had forgotten about her for a moment as well, so focused was he on the play, but he was quickly reminded when his sister bulldozed Sorana to the ground right in front of his eyes. Aiden only just managed to keep his balance. As Sorana was on the ground, Aiden swatted a paw at her, but that was quickly becoming uninteresting and he instead turned his efforts onto his sister and bounced towards her, then tried to push her away from Sorana with his shoulder.

many things happened at once. 
the first was the revelation that chickadee was headed to the WWE ring one day.
the second was that she couldn't comprehend why aiden was going after her and not sorana. instinct and toddler dominance insisted she lord it over the other girl, but then here was her brother, pushing her away.
she growled and bit him, not intending to hurt but to assert.

wrapping this <3 feel free to revive it if that isn't okay!

Things were quickly getting out of hand as her children ganged up on Sorana. Maia nearly moved to step in, opening her mouth to firmly remind them to play nice in a tone nearly universal to mothers. Thankfully Aiden chose to press back against Chickadee instead.

Maia breathed out a small breath of relief. It hadn't occurred to her that her children might band together as siblings in a way that left Sorana out. The thought made her heart ache. She would need to bring them more often.

Maia would keep an eye on them and stay longer than she'd intended at first. She could find some food near the shore, and maybe they could even eat before they left. She liked the idea of catching up with Teya and Reyes as well.