Redhawk Caldera Curious and curiouser

he has hit three weeks tomorrow, so I'll be showing some more development and personality. Perhaps @Finley or @Cinder? Anyone else is welcome too.

As time went on things began to grow more interesting. He suckled frequently still at the fluid that came from his mama's belly but he found himself changing in many ways as well. His previously half cracked eyes were not popped wide open in a stark blue color, his vision still blurry but now expanded to see color and shapes enough to recognize tbe difference in many others.

The past few days he had begun to push himself up with his forelegs and attempt to gather his hind legs beneath him to stand.  At first he had risen a mere inch before collapsing and whimpering softly. Then he managed to stand and wobble before his legs collapsed. After practicing relentlessly he learned how to place his weight and how far apart his paws should go to stand properly. Today he wanted to move, today he stood up and took a few wobbly and teetery steps before sprawling out.


Instead of crying out in hurt he gave a loud laugh and tried again, waddling farther toward the mouth of the den before falling back into his haunches. He babbled loudly in a series of self confident nonsensical noises, proud that he hadn't fallen entirely this time. Pushing himself up yet again he took it slow,one step at a time before he reached the front of the den for the first time ever. Outside was bigger than anything he had expected and his mouth dropped open before he turned around with so much excitement he fell over again "Mamamamamamama!"The string of vocalization burst from his mouth and he waited for someone to hear him and come.

Fin had always loved watching every moment of her children's lives. Except for weaning Eljay (mother of god that sucked), she'd enjoyed getting to see them learning how to interact with the world around them and learning how to do different things for themselves. Learning how to walk was by far one of her favorites, though. They were just so cute and so teetery and oh my goodness when they fell down on their little butts and looked around all confused like how did that even happen omgomgomg.

Today, one of her boys at least was practicing his walking and his talking. She grinned as Tywyll waddled around, squeaking nonsense strings of vowels and consonants together, happy as could be. It was a relief to see, considering how close they were to upheaving his entire world... But that was a topic she didn't need to think of now. She just needed to think of her boy, who had just discovered that there was a world outside of the den and was calling for her excitedly.

The beta stood and stepped towards him, reaching down to nuzzle the space between his ears fondly. "What's going on, kid?" she asked, looking down expectantly at him as though he were actually about to eloquently explain to her what it was he had just found.

Despite still stumbling around as an incapable potato, Cinder found himself able to see far more clearly than he had the previous week. Days and nights past with little recognition from the youngster, but the rising and falling of the sun held no real interest to him. The dazzling lights caught his attention every now and then, but only because they were so much brighter than the den's soft blanket of darkness.

The boy's charcoal sibling seemed utterly determined to get on the move, often shuffling and leaning and attempting to break free from the safety of their little home, but Cinder was content to remain close to his mother's side. So when at last Tywyll found the ability to stumble toward brightness, he took no notice. He was distantly aware of the other boy's vocalisation, but his mind drifted and zoned the noises out. Until a few heartbeats later, just as he was drifting into sleep, when a sudden screech (at least, to Cinder's ears) came from the opposite side of his little world. The young boy yelped and jumped from his place, landing in a heap on the floor - such a fright his brother had caused!

With his chest heaving from that sudden scare, the ashen youth's limbs flailed and he flopped onto the ground with a tiny, but audible, thump. And then came the crying! A shaking took hold of his body, whimpering and whining over the earth-shattering bellow that had startled him so. His brother was an evil beast! A wicked, raging beast! Poor Cinder had nearly jumped out of his skin.

God, he was so excited! He had figured out how to walk, he made it outside the den, apparently  even figured out how to summon mama properly! He wagged and wiggled,shoving his head into thebspace between her forelegs and licking sloppily at her chest. "Ahshhhide"he eloquently said,little body rigid with pride. What he had meant was "outside" but he still couldn't figure out how exactly speaking worked yet. 

Then came Cinder's crying  and he paused, looking back in the den and frowning. His lips quivered and he turned away from his mother, teetering much to quickly toward his brother and faceplanting in front of him. It had hurt but instead of complaining he wiggled closer and pushed his nose into Cinder's cheek, licking away his tears and making a low whine of shame. He hadn't meant to hurt his brother, sure the smaller grey potato blob was annoying and got in the way a lot but he was also adorable and quiet and sweet and he loved him just as much as he loved momma and daddy. Maybe even more.

Tywyll did explain, though not many would consider it eloquent. She was pleased at least that he knew the word outside, even if his pronunciation was off. He was a smart little beast, and a very energetic one as well. She had thought he was about to brave the invisible barrier between indoors and outdoors when the sound of Cinder's cries distracted them both. She looked back over her shoulder at the other boy, smiling at his pitiful little face. She was about to stand when Tywyll beat her to it - darting back to his brother to plant kisses on his face.

Fin settled back and let the pair have their moment. She assumed they would likely come back to her together once the moment of crisis was over and she could take them both out for a little jaunt. Or, they'd both end up crying for some inexplicable reason and she'd have to go back to snuggling the day away. She was okay with either scenario.