Sleepy Fox Hollow over cracks along under the trees

"all welcome" but realistically only to those allowed at the densite. not sure if siblings are included, so you get a tag and you get a tag! everyone gets a tag!

if siblings aren't allowed & parents are full up on threads, i can archive :)

Ilse was a happy baby.

She slept soundly and fed well — after any hearty meal, she was so rotund that less experienced parents than @Mahler and @Wylla might think she was full of worms.

She had a habit of kneading her toes like her mother did when she was young, and this gesture was reserved only for her parents. It was only when they were away that she cried. She preferred to have both nearby and was content with one, but if she were ever left alone with @Anselm or @Emmerich, she was quiet only for a few minutes before she would cry with her whole heart for one of her parents to come back.

She rouses as one of her parents rises, their shadow passing over her before disappearing entirely. She begins nosing around for the other one, soon unfolding if they can't be found.

a ring of scarring around mahler's eye proclaimed that the mother to his grown sons disavowed anyone from the den so early. he himself kept his distance unless she wished for him, taking his turn to watch and wash little ilse.
today he rumbled to her. "mutter wird nicht lange weg sein," mahler said to the singleton daughter born this year.
two sisters — three, with tiercel — and a brother abroad. two still at home. he wondered what her upcoming might be like in comparison to the others.

Emmerich arrived outside his parents den with a fat hare clasped in his teeth. The scent of blood had twisted his stomach in hunger, begging him to take the meal for himself.

Inside the den, he could hear his father speaking to the newborn pup. The young guardian felt uncertain about meeting her, about seeing another sister who might vanish the way Isa had. Perhaps if they bonded early on, he would not have to say goodbye.

Papa, the boy announced himself in a rough voice. I have food.

The hare was nudged into the opening. Emmerich waited to see if he would be invited in.

One day, Ilse would grow up to be a big girl. But today, she was still so very small. It wasn't long before her father came to comfort her — and to regulate her temperature, as she was still too terribly young for even the most ruidmentary task. She cannot hear him but she can feel his assurances vibrate through her; quickly, she calms.

mahler cradled ilse carefully in the crook of one broad forearm. he never was quite expected for how very small children were in the beginning of their lives, despite now having been a father several times over. ilse was treated to little rumbling croons and a blend of common and german babbling that emmerich would never have heard from his father before — unless he remembered those early days.
his son stirred outside the door and mahler hesitated, almost wishing the boy inside for a moment. but it was not the way of things.
"nicht heute, emmerich," came the gargoyle's kind voice from within the den. he suspected this would be difficult for his son, for this was the first time their boys would have been about younger siblings. 
he pulled the prey inside. "dein bruder hat essen mitgebracht," he told to ilse, and to his son, "do not vorry. little vones valk very soon and often. vhen she is able to come out, then you and anselm vill be velcome closer."

The young man did not want to argue with his father. His curiosity would need to be shelved.

Yes, papa.

Emmerich would not linger. The young wolf had thoughts overflowing in his head. A brisk patrol would help to settle him. If he could find Anselm, he thought that they could take a small trip into the mountains. If he was lucky, he could get his brother to share about the places he had traveled.

The white-hooded son vanished from the den site.