Arrow Lake Saturday, the public library will be unknowable

Seeing as both Aurewën and @Blodreina had settled their whelping dens in the heart of the pack's territory, it was only a matter of time before a nosy Dragomir or Isilmë stumbled across the other mother and her offspring. Takiyok's den at the base of the mountain was a little out of his range still, but Blodreina's was close enough that he could follow his mother's scent trail right to it without exceeding his bounds. Oh, he got lost half a dozen times along the way. Following scent trails was sometimes difficult even for a juvenile wolf, let along the equivalent of a toddler, after all. But he had a preternatural nose and eventually he discovered the renovated warren that served as Blodreina's home for the time being.

Aure's scent, which he didn't realize was several hours if not half a day old by now, went right down into the hole. There were other wolf scents heavy around here that distracted him for a little while, but after investigating them all, at last Dragomir approached the dark mouth of the den. He was just a little boy who had never even seen another pup besides his rowdy sister, so how was he to know that there was etiquette to follow when it came to these things? He invited himself right in, expecting to find Aure down there, and was practically in the den proper before he verbally announced himself.

Hi! he called out in Trigedasleng, the language to which he'd had the most exposure while his mother practiced it in his father's absence.

@Praimfaya and @Ingram also welcome of course. 100% open to him being pummeled for his terrible manners.

with praimfaya's eyes open came a more mobile and curious version of her daughter that blodreina was quickly conditioning herself to keep an eye on in a different way than she had before prior to her eyes opening. the way blodreina had watched her daughter previously had been the way of both a loving and fretful new mother who was enraptured by the life she'd given birth to, checking to make sure she was comfortable — or at least seemed comfortable — and that she was there when she'd grown too accustomed to feeling the small press of praimfaya's body against her much larger one. being a nursing mother had rapidly became a second nature to the point where blodreina was able to not really notice except when a needle sharp milk tooth — spirits of the commander, when did she get teeth?? — got her, which was gradually becoming a more common thing.

this new eyesight, poor as it might be, paved the way for a wiggling worm in the place of her little newborn previously content on slumbering and blodreina suspects that it won't be long before praimfaya is on her feet and romping around. soon, she suspects, ingram and her would have their paws full ...and they only had one cub to worry about. she couldn't imagine takiyok with her four or even really aure with her two.

the sound of footfalls that approach her den is rapid, tell-tale of someone smaller than aure or mahler and definitely not ingram — during her time spent underground she's become very good at telling who's at her door by the sound of their gait — and blodreina rises to her paws to stretch, gaze lifting from praimfaya who was focuses pretty singularly on whichever soft toy she was closest to, army crawling her way towards it with a determination that could easily be claimed rivaled blodreina's own ...when the guest lets himself into the den without her invitation announcing himself with a greeting only after he's inside.

she recognizes dragomir instantly of course ( even before he spoke trigedasleng to her ), and yet blodreina can't help the instinctual move she makes — moving to shield praimfaya, followed by a sharp snap of her teeth chidingly at the boy, followed by a low warning growl. dragomir, blodreina sighs afterwords, the aggression in her body posture melting inch by inch as she feels bad about it. he's just a little boy, as curious as her little praimfaya, and harmless she knows. but praimfaya is still smaller and younger than him and blodreina has always been aggressive by nature, being a mother only appeared to make her aggression more heightened when it came to the safety of her daughter.

you must ask to come in first, blodreina informs him in tridgedasleng, glad to hear that aure is teaching it to her children; irregardless, she — her posture relaxed at this point — sees no point in continuing to chide him. he poses no threat to her or praimfaya and she offers him a soft smile, moving back so he can see praimfaya. her name is praimfaya, blodreina introduces in common, unsure how much trigedasleng he knows or even where his vocabulary is at his age. maybe being a mother herself will eventually make her a better judge of such things. you can play with her, if you'd like ...but you must be gentle with her. she's not as strong as you are yet. blodreina both invites and warns him.

praimfaya focuses on the fawn tail aure had brought to her, currently the apple of her eye amidst her growing collection of fellow soft toys to teeth on. blodreina is also an unfortunate recipient of her teething also but praimfaya is slowly learning that it hurts the wanlida when she bites ...whereas her soft toys never make any noise of protest or pain ( though her hearing is just as poor as her eyesight at this point so what does she know? ). she reaches the fawn tail, not remembering it being quite so far away previously — unaware that blodreina had moved it, in an attempt to both clean the clutter of toys and to encourage praimfaya to keep crawling. not too far away but far enough away to make praimfaya work for it.

she grasps the soft object betwixt her jaws, oblivious to the commotion that happens as her mother rises between her and their new visitor like a scarred sentinel. once a protector of the commander, always a protector of the commander. she lets out a delighted coo at her toy, enjoying the earthy taste of the fawn tail as she worries it ...different than the sweet of blodreina's mothers milk.

it is only when blodreina moves that praimfaya swings her head to look at their new visitor, blurry in her still developing eyesight. at first glance he is a similar blur to ingram though he doesn't smell like her father, nor is he big enough. he smells like the pale blur, she categorizes and her curiosity piqued she forgets the fawn tail and makes a beeline for dragomir, army crawling her way towards him with an eagerness to investigate.

The last thing Dragomir was expecting was to be ruthlessly assaulted. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but when Blodreina loomed abruptly out of the darkness and snapped her jaws inches from him, his heart pounded so fiercely into his throat that he felt like he was physically struck. With a keening cry he stumbled backward, tears leaping to his lids out of nowhere as fright cascaded through him. He peed a little on the way down and found himself cowering on his side as Blodreina growled over him.

He couldn't help but to repeat the words she said that stood out to him: Ask? First? He remained unmoving on the floor of the den even after Blodreina pulled back and introduced Praimfaya. His wide eyes fell to the tiny pup, but his tail stayed plastered to his underbelly as he went on: Pry fy? Pay? Genil? Stong? He knew play and he knew gentle, but it was fortunate that he was too hesitant now to take her invitation; Dragomir knew the word, but he was as gentle as a boulder smashing through a village. Him hurting Praimfaya was inevitable if he tried to play with her, for he didn't yet understand his own strength, much less how to control it.

When the small cub abandoned her toy and began a determined crawl toward him, Dragomir finally moved from his downed position; he found his feet and crouched there, whining uncertainly as his eyes lifted to Blodreina and awaited another reaction.

the moments following her initial and instinctive reaction to her birthing den being invaded without her granted permission were filled with guilt and apology that would go unsaid, especially when she smells urine and realizes that dragomir peed himself a little. still, as bad as scaring the boy made her feel he needed to be taught that there was protocol. yes. ask first. blodreina reiterates with a firm nod of her head to reaffirm her words. as dragomir repeats words back to her — or repeats words back as best he can at any rate — blodreina feels herself nod but isn't so sure he entirely understands her. thus, she keeps a hawkish eye to praimfaya as the younger cub makes a beeline for dragomir who responds with a crouch and an uncertain whine.

blodreina looms close, perhaps more on edge than she has been before, muscles pulled taunt beneath her pelage as she stands ready to intervene should she need to but otherwise makes no move to stop praimfaya's curious exploration towards dragomir. she's curious about you. blodreina explains with a gentle smile, though the wanlida isn't sure he's of an age to understand ( fully ) what 'curious' meant.

oblivious to the boy's fear caused by her mother except for the distinct scent of urine — and a pause to check that it hadn't been her ( it hadn't, thank goodness )— praimfaya keeps him focused in her blurred sights and keeps shuffling nearer. he is a new presence, like the pale slyph she would eventually come to know as aure, and her curiosity is unparalleled and not to be stilled even by his uncertainty. she lets out a curious chirp at dragomir as her crawling pace slows to a stop. she lifts her head to study him as studiously as her poor eyesight will allow, feeling frustrated that she cannot yet walk about as he can and apparently everyone else that visits the den can.

Ask first, repeated Dragomir, and with that he began to feel a little more secure. Blodreina was right to assume that he didn't really understand the words, but he certainly did understand her reaction to him. He was a wolf, after all, and spoke the language of the wolf more fluently than any other. He would not enter another den without permission.

His gaze dropped down to the squirming pup as she crawled toward him. Blodreina no longer seemed to be a threat. He couldn't imagine ever being that small, but then, Dragomir couldn't imagine much of anything yet. There was too much he didn't fathom to be able to draw comparisons; that skill would come soon enough. He whapped his tail thrice against the ground as something akin to excitement welled up in his belly, but he was careful to turn his head sidelong and peer at Blodreina first.

Ask first? he requested.

i'm going to skip replying with praim in this round since she's pretty much still working on crawling nearer to dragomir, lol. :-)

he repeats the words back to her and blodreina offers the young boy an encouraging nod of her head. that's right. she praises him in common, smiling and beating her tail lightly against the earthen floor of the den in the hopes of assuring him that he was doing well. the wanlida watches diligently as praimfaya crawls nearer to dragomir determinedly at a sloth's pace. blodreina's ears cup forth atop her skull at dragomir's request. yes, she replies to his request and makes a small 'go ahead' gesture with her muzzle. go ahead. it's alright. blodreina was watching and would interject quickly if she thought dragomir was in danger of being too rough with praimfaya.

Go ahead, repeated Dragomir with a pupil's fine immediacy, in a voice hushed and vaguely breathy like his mother's. He could be very loud when he wanted to be, but he could also be quiet when he needed to be. Something in him told him that Praimfaya needed quiet rather than boisterous volume.

But just as he didn't quite understand the concept of etiquette, he did not understand the fragility of small things. One could tell from the sweeping of his tail and the grin on his lips that Dragomir likely didn't mean any harm, but as soon as Praimfaya drew close enough, he leapt upon her with teeth flashing. This was how he played with Isilmë, all rough and tumble; he wrongly assumed it was the correct way to play with Blodreina's young daughter as well.