Redhawk Caldera leafheart

her children grew. teya crooned gently to @Ponyboy and @Bronte, pulling @Boris back for a bath.
it seemed she would never stop smiling. and it seemed she would never stop hurting for sorana.
the symphony continued to play in her heart. teya sang gently to the babies moving about the den, wondering if @Bronco would join them.

I know that we have an ongoing thread, but I think that we can continue doing the simultaneously. I wanted Dwin to meet the babies. [size=small]I left it vague on, whether Teya is outside of the den or inside.[/size]

Dwin had heard about the arrival of the fluffy potatoes of Teya and Bronco, but out of respect of the new parents and the care and attention newborns needed during their first weeks of life, she had given them space. She was naturally curious of, where the pair had found them, because the weather at the time of their birth had not been favourable for parsleys or - in fact - any kind of green stuff. For a moment or two, she had tried to recall all the very long and complicated alternate version of children coming into this world, but gave up on it soon enough. In the end - did it really matter, how kids were born/found/created? They were here. 

So, when the time was right (and she consulted with Maia about this), with a gift (a piece of antler) in her jaws she padded towards the area, where Teya and the puppies lived. Close enough to be heard, but not yet visible, she put the antler down and warned about her arrival. Then she continued her path in order to properly welcome the new inhabitants of the Enchanted forest.

ur always welcome! <33

teya was appreciative of ceridwin's manners. the girl had some events happening in her life; first chickadee had gone, now eljay aged into the golden years of his life.
somehow the mortality of her old friend stressed her in the same way it comforted her.
"hello, dwin," she greeted with a voice that called from the den. "come meet cousins boris, bronte, and ponyboy." she motioned the girl closer, pointing at each child as she spoke.

Dwin had not felt the least offended, if Teya had declined her company. Though Maia had yet to dispel the "parsley bed" myth, she had done a good job on telling her that the personal space of moms, who had new-borns, had to be respected. And that they might feel suspicious and unfriendly in the beginning even to faces they knew very well. 

"Hi!" she greeted the Raven a little bit louder and more excitedly than she should have, then lowered her voice as not to wake up the fluffy potatoes. She approached carefully and let her gaze rest upon the trio for a while, the furrowed brow and very intense look in her eyes telling that there were a lot of mental gears inside the girls brain working simultaneously. 

Finally she looked up at Teya and said somewhat apologetically: "They do not look like wolves at all. Are you sure, you picked the right ones?" While her words sounded like a joke, the serious and concerned look in Dwin's face that her concern was genuine. What if Teya and Bronco had picked bear-cubs in the parselys? Or - alien babies?

teya did not mind the raised voice; ceridwin was young and these pups were new. she laughed a little, shifting to allow the girl a better look as dwin raptly looked over the children.
teya put a paw over her mouth to hide a further chuckle. "i sure. they not look like wolves now. have to unfold into one. their ears and eyes open. then they look more like wolves."

"Kind of like flowers?" Dwin asked, tilting her head to the side and not totally convinced that she was being told the whole truth. Yet, come to think of it, the chosen comparison was the closest one - when flowers were not blooming yet, they did not look much like flowers at all. You got notions of them. 

"You say, that they will grow as big as us too?" her questions might have sounded childish, but it was Dwin's first experience with babies. Do you really expect that a person, who still believes that kids are found in parsley beds, would know much more about the "miracle of childbirth" and, how kids grew up?

teya nodded. "very like flowers. and yes. they grow big and tall, like us." the raven grinned. "you were once baby like this. and me also. so was your father and mother, also babies. we grew up, right?"
on impulse she reached forward to ruffle the older girl's ears. "will you help me when they are older, dwin?"
the pack needed a sitter as eljay enjoyed his retirement. ceridwin's inquisitive nature made her a natural choice.

"Help, how?" Dwin asked, looking down at the fluffy potatoes and not quite sure that she would know, what to do with them. She believed, what Teya had told her, but in a "just because you say so" way. To truly believe she would have to witness it with her own eyes. And what exactly could these would-be-wolves do? They did not have proper paws for digging trenches. They could not play football (though they could play the ball part of the game very well, but Dwin had a feeling that Teya would not approve of this), they were... useless.

But Dwin had the good sense of not voicing it aloud. 

teya smiled a little. "help me teach them, watch them. keep away hawks and the lake. show them best places to go in brecheliant. that how babies learn, after all," the raven said, watching dwin's face for any sign of understanding. "they need help growing into true wolves."

"But the lake is the best thing there is!" Dwin exclaimed, having learned by now that many adult restrictions meant were in fact fun things. Okay, not the hawks and such, but the sense of unfairness by the very thought that, while Dwin had tried to be on her best behaviour (50/50 success rate), the grown-up figures had had done all the cool prohibited stuff and enjoyed it. Being good and obedient were equivalent of many hours of joy stolen from one's life. Plain and simple. 

"So, you want me to be that boring adult that forbids all the fun stuff?" she asked, eyeing Teya somewhat skeptically. Because this was the exact opposite of, what she herself had promised to do. 

"not boring adult," teya shook her head. "safe cousin." and weren't they all, after the fashion of both nurture and family bonds? "maybe i keep them away from hawk and lake, and you tell them why hawk and lake — uncool. at first."
"then, when they bigger and older, you help me teach them to swim?"

"Teya, lying is not a good thing," Dwin said it solemnly. After all this had been one of the first lessons adults had taught kids and even the rambunctious Dwin, who had at times a very open relationship with law and order, had some moral laws she did not break. Being dishonest to other people - whether they were big or small things - was one of them. She had learned early on that even at times of trouble it was a lot easier to go through it, if you recounted the events and motivations the way they had actually been. This did not mean that she had never done it or even felt temptation to do it - she had been a kid after all. But another important thing in that Blackthorn code of honor (her invention) was that you had to be brave. Even, when you had to face mischief you had caused. 

"How are they going to trust me again, if they later find out that I have been lying?" she asked almost rhetorically. "On the other hand..." her expression became thoughtful. "Telling a cautionary tale about the Big Fish would not be technically a lie, would it? Because Big fish live there and I have seen them eat a bird the size of your kids. What do you think?"

teya grinned, but did not argue, hearing out the rest of dwin's argument. "a scary story then," she agreed, though she thought a scarier claim would be if the girl said the fish would actively come after the little ones.
she did not want another almost-drowning in brecheliant. the woman patted her belly and watched the pups inch closer. "they hungry," she sighed in a sweet sort of wonder.

"I will leave you to that then," Dwin took this as a hint that the conversation was over and that she needed to go. "It was nice seeing you all," she said and took off.