Sawtooth Spire I was drunk, said I was sober, and you said yeah right

I have about 20 other threads needing replies but... wanted to get this up. Packtivity to come meet Wylla's pups, who are officially 1 month old! Next round will start April 10th, no particular post order. This pack activity isn't mandatory, but Wylla might be offended if anyone doesn't show up, excluding Agana since she has her own baby to deal with! @Wintersbane @Mahler @Quellcrist @Elfie @Stag @Star @Nyx @Phaedra @Thade

Up until now, Wylla managed to keep her growing pair of cubs corralled in the den. It was very different from when she'd reared Tiercel and happily taken the newborn out into the breeze; this time she felt a more fierce need to keep them sheltered. Maybe it was because she didn't know or trust her packmates as much as she ought to or perhaps it was just the delayed onset of maternal instinct coming on a year too late, but she bided her time until their senses were more or less fully developed.

Once they were reacting to both verbal and visual cues and regularly supped on meat regurgitated by their parents, she decided it was probably time to loosen the reins. She rose in her spacious den, performed a few stretches to limber up, then strolled out into the misty mountain morning. Through the thin blanket of fog, she could make out the unfurling leaf buds on the trees. Even though there was still a decent concentration of snow up on the mountain, grass was beginning to poke through in areas that saw the sun most of the day. It was positively serene.

She tilted her head back and loosed a low, sonorous howl to summon the pack to her location. With that complete, she turned around and gruffly barked, c'mon, then, to her children, slapping her forepaws on the ground and waving her tail high above her lifted rump in an effort to entice them out. No doubt they wouldn't need much coaxing.

Star was not slow to respond to Wylla's call, despite her aging physique she made her way to the source of the sound quickly. Eager, even- she had developed a soft spot for kids over the years. Maybe it was her grandma instinct kicking in- she wanted nothing more at the moment than to greet the new life. Maybe make an imprint on them before she met her end. Maybe imagine, just for a moment, that she was a mother. 

She arrived to see Wylla- whom she was not especially well-acquainted with, but knew enough about- and behind her hid the children. Star figured they would be out soon, and not wanting to overstep any boundaries, she settled onto her haunches a couple of yards away, wanting to rest her bones. All the while a pleasant smile graced her face, happy to see the products of spring as she always was.

usually, forays to the denmouth were headed off with a mouthy grab around her rump or the swift rake of a paw sweepin her back like one of those coin pusher arcade games pulling her from the brink of the pocket of some lucky predator. it was a frustrating power struggle, and now that phaedra had roughly (very roughly) mastered the piloting mechanics of her legs, it was within the realm of possibility that wylla mused over more permanent schema of staying her reckless daughter put.

broken legs took time to mend. like, weeks, yeah? 

fortunately for them all, wylla was a merciful-ish deity and the spring morning seemed to have found her more seasonable to the purpose of allowing her terrible cubs infidelity of the densite. all said, a childs mind was a vista of irrational imagination, and there was a collision of desperate yearning and shifty uncertainty when the kindilîn was enjoined to come along with her ma’s wheedling body-speak instead of the warning stay put! averred every other time her daughter intended to accompany her.

a suspicious but longing look was couched in her features. she bargained with her suspicion by taking a timid step out, peering around the outside world with sensations of fright and thrill, and then took another step past the threshold with her tail manacled to her underside. unsure of herself, she scampered alongside wylla and wedged herself between the woman’s narrow forelegs. 

her ears tensed at their lengths and then, like a flipped switch, she became delightfully immersed in all the new smells, sounds, and sights surrounding her. focusing her eyes was a task she was still working on, but she was getting better at it every day, and in her quiet way of regarding things, took observation of the sky above where a skein of geese hronked and winged across the blue.

she wished to canvass her mother for answers to questions she didn’t even know how to form in the nativity of her thoughts, much less pose them on a tongue that only knew the babyish idiolect of blathering.

lost in her wonderment, she did not notice when wylla left her standing there like a hawk's uber eats delivery ready for pickup. she leant into what she expected to the be the pillar of her mother’s leg, but tipped over and into the grass with a startled yelp. suddenly conscious of being alone, the girl hunkered down like a fawn and peeked through tall blades of grass in nervous pursuit of her brother. the earth drank great draughts of the melting snows so that wide swathes of soil were everywhere visible, and she thought she caught sight of his black breeches just ahead. the tapestry of fog made her sight even less accurate, but who else could it possibly be? small, black, near the den. all signs pointed to thade. 

replaced by a measure of mischief, her unease bed down for the time being and she straddled the ground and gingerly stepped closer towards him, ready to spring her attack. someways off was an onlooker, an unfamiliar, white birthmark on the breadth of her vision, but at the moment she was too wrapped up in her high jinks to consider that they might be something worth checking out also.  

when she was nearly upon him, or what she thought was @Thade, she gnarled and mirthfully vaulted towards him—realizing way, way too late that she wasn’t about to drop anchor on her brother, but instead, a foraging black mink who saw her as soon she saw it. with no sound, it scurried away, but left a foul-smelling odor right where phaedra tumbled to a halt.

the cloud of fetor clung to her but she didn’t mind that. she was more curious about the creature that had glamoured as her brother; what tricks! looking between her legs, under her butt and behind her, unexpectantly she spied the snowy woman a few tail-lengths away and felt qualmy sheepishness advance on her. phaedra splayed her ears deferentially and began backing away until her rear bumped against something solid— 

four weeks. mahler was quick to join the little family of his, though so swift-growing they were that he could scarcely believe it. as they tumbled after wylla, gleaning all sorts of new scents and sights from their surroundings, he hovered close, more watchful for opportunistic raptors than he was any members of sagtannet.
star was given an approving glance, and phaedra's antics provoked a brief smile to climb the forbidding crags of his dark features. the mink was given a cursory stare; he was more interested to see how his daughter would react.
compelled, mahler joined the girl — her little body butted backward against his ankle, and he lowered broad muzzle to sweep her eartips reassuringly. "that is star. she is vone of us."
surely his words would mean far less than even he knew, but it was important to sew the seeds of such lessons early.

At first, Wylla's summons had brought the weight of dread to settle in the pit of her belly. The tawny Ostrega, reluctant still even after all the time since her a ghost of her past arrived to Diaspora, considered pretending that she did not hear her call. She remained put at the mouth of her densite and did just that, setting about preening the coarse furs of a shoulder - but attempt to shift her focus elsewhere failed miserably, as it always seemed to.

She hated her, she knew, and rightly so. Nyx had carried Wylla's brother's offspring without her approval, earning a lifetime of scorn that, although deserved, would forever rouse a cold fear within her. The coastal she-wolf did not know of those pups' grim fate, thankfully, but the bitterness for such blatant disrespect remained, and that was enough.

There came a flutter in Nyx' abdomen, the first real stirring of new life that grew within a womb she'd once thought cursed. A gentle reminder, perhaps an urging, to respond to the Alphess' request for the pack to rally so that she might look upon the children she reared. Children that would be siblings of her own.

Tentatively, she went, and was glad that others had come before she could. Nyx lingered on the outskirts, wary of Wylla's sharp glare and not daring to even think to shift closer, though her yellow eyes looked curiously for the infants who emerged from her burrow for the first time.

Her jaw tightened around the still-warm carcass as Quell heeded the summons. She walked expressionlessly toward the familiar den site, pale eyes sharply focused on the path ahead. When she arrived, she paused to survey the small gathering of wolves, lavender gaze eventually fixing on Wylla's silhouette in the cave's mouth. She gently set the dead rabbit at her own feet.

Those few who knew her might expect some sort of goofy greeting, yet none come. Q continued to gaze coolly ahead, her face blank. She had no idea she'd had a seizure some days past (the first of April, ironically) and woken up afterward physically intact but inexorably altered in other ways. It was like she'd been lobotomized. For her part, she sensed something slightly amiss but it was like a low-grade fever: not very concerning and ultimately ignored.

She could still hunt, clearly, and go about her daily routines. Q's life remained more or less normal, simply sans any sign of her personality or really any personality. The lights were on but nobody was home. She didn't so much as smile as her eyes meandered, even if they happened upon one of the two pups. She still knew Wylla and Mahler, though she merely nodded her head in almost businesslike acknowledgement and folded to her haunches, attentive but also remote.

the summons rises thru the air, drawing wintersbane's attention away from his patrols; try as he might, he cannot entirely quell the stirrings of envy that he feels at knowing that he is the only eisen not to bring forth children this year. he tells himself that it is a good thing and yet ...cannot fully convince himself of it. nevertheless, he marks the place he leaves off from and heads inland, towards wylla's birthing den. he is not the first to arrive — a rush of relief washes over him — and unaware that anything has happened ( or that anything is wrong? ), seeks to brush his muzzle against quellcrist's in greeting as he steps to his daughter's side.

his gaze, however, seeks the puppies that have emerged from the safety of their den. his tail wags mutely against his hocks and a warm smile tugs at the corners of his lips as he regards them. he missed the chance to see quellcrist young like this, and that realization causes something in his chest to ache with a yearning for a chance that he hadn't allowed himself to consider since andraste's death.

one post cameo!

It was with great dread that Stag approached the den. The last time he had seen Wylla, she had converted from a packmate Stag admired to something Lovecraftian-mixed-with-Stoker -- ever since then, Stag had laid very low.

Scared he might witness her teeth again, Stag had avoided the den entirely. Yet he knew, if he didn't come today during the congregation, his absence might be noted. With hares ears in his twitching mouth, the yearling nervously made his way to the den.

There were already people here -- too many for Stag's comfort - what if Wylla told them about what had happened? Stag's nose twitched nervously as he read the scene; Mahler standing over Phaedra, Wylla and Star and Wintersbane nearby -- Nyx on the fringes -- Q with something her in mouth (and looking strange). This was all too much for Stag, who dropped the hare's velveteen ears with a quiet meep and then decided to hastily retreat.

Wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, Thade could feel that today would be different even before he found out for sure that it was. Wylla exuded the keen, taut energy of a drawn bowstring -- no doubt in anticipation of presenting her invaluable offspring to the undeserving masses -- and her son fed instinctively from the aural vitality like a ravenous sponge. But being utterly unfamiliar with the natural thrum of excitement in the air, and uncertain of what was to come, Thade soured into an anxious, fidgety mess; capable only of bellyaching as he and Phaedra were shortly abandoned to the empty corners of their den.

The boy quieted at the sound of Wylla's megaphoned voice. He'd never been able to hear it so clearly before, and his bobblehead tilted as the sound filled the whole wolf's nest and enveloped the entirety of his world. Though unaware that this trumpeting heralded the coming expansion of his universe, Thade began to quiver in anticipation of something new.

C'mon, then.

Thade scrambled out into the open, and while his precious sister was distracted with a flight of geese overhead, he made an errant run to first check both parents for any expulsion of leftovers... though all he received was the sharp upturn of their muzzles, and a sound dashing of any predictions he might've been mistaking as assurances. So he turned to his sparkling new surroundings with sparkling new expectations; sussing out every patch of cold ground and exposed tuft of grass he could find -- wading through the strange freshness of it all -- and finding it easy, then, to miss the figures trickling in on the fringes of their densite.

He swung around at the sound of Mahler's voice, indicating towards Star, and at last it seemed to dawn on him that the foursome were not alone. He stared for a long moment at the she-wolf's brilliant white fur, as if mesmerized by it, but his nose wiggled and took him beelining in another direction. Towards the bewitching smell of blood.

Having not yet earned a reasonable apprehension towards strangers, the toddler Skarp blundered nosily upon Nyx, who was interesting in her own right, but not the source of what had drawn him over in the first place. After thoroughly checking around her paws, and nipping at an ankle to "make sure," he meandered away towards where the scent grew stronger and wound up reined in at the feet of Quellcrist and Wintersbane: right where a rabbit corpse sat ripe for the taking.

He didn't know why he wanted it -- having never seen meat before that wasn't half digested -- but he made a grab for the delicious-smelling thing anyway; feeling that whatever it was, it definitely belonged in his mouth.

Next round starts April 18th! No post order!
Edit: Deadline extended to April 25th to give everyone time to respond!

Wylla was pleased and displeased in equal measure with the arrival of her packmates. Pleased that Star came forward, seemingly eager to meet her precious babes, and pleased that Quellcrist and Stag had brought food. Displeased that Nyx skulked on the fringes and that Stag promptly disappeared the moment he arrived. The biased Eisen believed her children were worth more than these disinterested displays and she disapproved of anyone not crowding in to meet Thade and Phaedra properly.

For all of Nyx's internal beliefs that Wylla hated her, however, she was actually irrelevant to Wylla and didn't earn a second glance, whereas Stag earned a cool glare from the lead female. She genuinely liked the yearling, but was bothered that he didn't want to stick around and meet her kids properly when he'd been happy to stick his head into her den inappropriately not long ago. The boy had a lot to learn about etiquette, and not for the first time, she pitied him for not learning it from his parents.

She watched, amused, as Phaedra briefly tangled with a mink and Thade began making grabby hands at Quellcrist's gift. Something was off about Wintersbane's young daughter, but not wasn't the time to make a big deal of that. She would seek the yearling out another time and get to the bottom of it—she'd fully expected Quellcrist to dash onto the scene and play with her cubs immediately. That deadpan expression was unsettling. But it was her babies' special day and she wouldn't take the focus off them. This is Phaedra, she told the assembled pack wolves, making note of those who had yet to show, and Thade. She indicated each pup in turn, then rose her muzzle high to say, I expect everyone to help raise them into strong, worthy Sagtannet wolves. The sooner they get to know who you are, the better. Come say hi.

wylla's voice rang out with a command. mahler turned his gaze over sagtannet quietly. wintersbane drew near, wan, quellcrist as well. nyx lingered back, and the gargoyle smiled her direction. but his attention was seized by the disappearing stag and the oddly acting daughter of leadership. 
both earned a closer survey, but then thade made his bid for the gift, provoking a short chuckle from the proud father. "he is a little tyrant," came the pleased observation, directed toward wintersbane as he stole the opportunity to look more closely at quellcrist.

"that is star. she is vone of us."

phaedra curled herself like a comma ‘round her father’s leg as his clement voice met her ears. she felt safe under the awning of his broad chest, and peered around to fix her fawn-eyed gaze on the lady of snow, this lady star. 
she could not determine yet how this wolf fit into the context of her life, though like stag had, she bore a scent that was familiar. all the gathering wolves were possessed of it. somewhere dormant in her innermost self, she knew this smell conveyed solidarity—of community, of unity.
after a moment, she felt her father draw away as his attention turned elsewhere, leaving the girl rooted to her spot and staring at the woman. presently, her feet felt anchored to the wet grass. summoning some courage, she slunk towards star (who looked quite like the clouds scudding across the sky) and splayed her ears, tail pinned to her undersides.
emboldened by the fact that she hadn’t (presumably) been gulped down for lunch yet, she extended her nose from as far a distance as she could muster by stretching her neck and stiffly sniffed at @Star's paws. 
that was the extent of her bravery. like a startled flock of quail flushed from the switchgrass, she fled from their brief meet and scurried in the direction of her parents talking amongst the other adults as @Thade appeared to steal away with something in his mouth, undaunted by the wolf he snatched it from. 
clearly, phaedra was an early bloomer when it came to having a reasonable apprehension towards strangers. however, her brother instilled some confidence in her and she carried herself with a bit more bravura amidst the activity. 
her mother’s voice bloomed over the crowd, but she was distracted by the sight of stag and then the white flash of him disappearing into the wood. phaedra waddled after his trail to the treeline, a beseeching whine rising unbidden from her throat, until her feet stumbled upon the velour of the hare’s ear. the child furtively glanced at her brother lingering somewhere near their parents, hauling a rabbit bigger than himself, to make sure he wasn’t about to legdrop her for the boon left by the pale runagate. 
she rolled on it before anything else, the smell agreeable to her nose. phaedra then grabbed it from its place on the ground and pranced lively towards her father fraternizing with two strangers. before she could reach him to show off her bounty, her feet got tangled in the ear and she went tail-over-teakettle onto the ground. ”ohf.”

Gonna wrap this up!

Not much else to it. Phaedra and Thade were quick to entertain themselves with rabbit corpses while the adults talked among themselves. It was as awkward as any gathering could be with everyone milling around without much happening, and it made Wylla inexplicably grumpy. She'd expected more interaction from the pack, but most of them seemed reluctant to engage the cubs.

So she allowed it to continue only a little longer before thanking her packmates for coming and ushering the children with their new toys back into the den, where she could fume over how the meeting hadn't gone exactly how she wanted. Later, it would occur to her that at least Phaedra and Thade would recognize the faces of their packmates, which was more than Tiercel had ever gotten, and that would soothe her some.