Verdigris Ravine Some people watch, some people pray

Outing for the babies!! All welcome <3

@Zoug gave more of his time to @Sari and her litter than Candle had expected. She did not think he had sired them, and would not have cared if he had. But this — she could not deny her jealousy, the feeling that he had soiled the promise made between them by sharing it with another. The priestess had withdrawn from her mate. He was still welcomed within the den and at her side, but Candle was distant now. Less affectionate; contemplative; the tired look of a wife half-planning her exit.

She was no less devoted to their children, however. At first Candle had favored her daughters, but as the days passed and her children grew into themselves, she found that the concept of a favorite child simply didn't hold up to reality. There was no choosing. She wanted equally to protect fierce little @Gaara and shy @Ebra; her heart ached just as much whether it was @Aylah babbling to her or @Brac slipping beneath her foreleg for a nap. They were still so new to the world, but already Candle found she couldn't picture it without them.

Naturally, it was with an abundance of caution that she finally brought them forth from the den. She'd called to the rest of The Tribe first, extending her invitation not only to those closest to her but to @Koa and @Hazelnut as well. Candle still did not know that @Kusuma had returned.

Then, after a thorough scope of the ravine, she finally began to lead them from the den. Today they would be allowed to explore further, see more of their home, meet their kin. Candle would hover obsessively the entire time.

he had found red earth and mixed it with water until it became a deep paste.

this he carried on a leaf to the den.

candle's distance was noticed, but in the manner of many husbands, zoug gave many assumptions for it. their many children had many demands.

not for the first time did he wish s'ari had denned inside the cave.

low sounds of pleasure grunted among the babes; he set the leaf carefully aside for later and took a place near candle, signing out this bird or that leaf or another, the names in the clan signs he had learned as a new child.

Somewhere along the way, Brac had finally opened his eyes. It hadn't been his choice; there was only so long one could pretend to be unseeing until natural took its course and you woke up with eyes blinking and sunlight filling the darkness he'd once basked in. With sight, the world rushed in. And with sight, his otherworld rushed out. He still caught flickers in visions and dreams, but it was noisy now, interrupted, at times, by things he had seen and not just imagined.

Still, he spent much time sleeping. Hoping he could hold on to any threads that meant to linger; to fill his mind with dreams more than the waking world.

There was something here he still had to understand.

Today, mama led them outside the den, and while Brac had tried to curl himself up in the nook of her arm, she rose even as he was getting comfy, and didn't turn around to settle back down. Brac grunted in protest and slunk after her.

A new world unfolded.

Heatlines, the blur of sand, a snaking oasis through the middle. He paused. Blinked. A soft wind pulled at his wayward fur. Another approached; the Windmaker.

Brac grunted. The Windmaker made gestures with his paws, but the Cavetreader dropped his gaze to the leaf his father had pushed aside. Brac zipped towards it in an instant.

Small paws thrust into the paste.

@Chisa  @Kira  @Andanari 

S'ari heard the call and rose to her paws excitedly, though she stared downwards to ensure she did not harm her little ones. Their eyes had opened some days before and they were nearly at the one moon mark. They were old enough now to leave the den for the first time. She ushered them with soft calls and nudges of her nose, then stepped past them and exited the den, tilting her face to the sun. Then she looked back over her shoulder and called her own little sunlings some more, encouraging them to come out.

She was rarely outside the den she stuck close to her mama and her siblings but when her mama led them out the den she trampled behind trying to keep up. Curse these little legs she was stuck with until she got big.

Her papa was there too and another she didn’t recognize and she looked up to the bigger coyotes curious on who this new one was but she couldn’t voice her concerns just yet she just yipped in their directions.

That’s when she seen the other babies that weren’t her siblings and she didn’t know how to react so she clung to her mama and siblings.

She saw and heard mom rise excitedly, though she didn’t know what that excited meant yet. But she felt the energy and looked to her sisters with a little smile and tail wag as if to say, come on, let’s go!!

She heard moms beckoning soft calls and followed eagerly, trying to be careful not to slip or fall. Who would they meet! Were there others like mama, or small like them? The sun felt warm once again, like a kiss on her back. Day by day her coat was starting to warm up and get more color than she was as a babe.

Andi followed behind Chisa and their mother. Eyes bright in her head. The world was much bigger than she had anticipated. Big and warm amd bright.

She made soft noises to her sisters. Traveling between first Chisa then Kira and back again.

And there were other babies. She stated and made a nose at them too. Lifting a tiny paw.

Unlike his brother, Gaara showed no resistance to leaving the den and seeing the open world beyond. For a time now, when his eyes had finally found focus, Gaara's paws would straddle the opening of the cave. Where the heat of the sun aligned with the cool shadows within. Puppy blue eyes staring out as he watched his father each and every time he exit. Watching him until his body could not be distriguished between the heat rays over the sand. He whined and waited. Had to be collected many times when he tried to go off. 

Gaara was not a cave dweller. 

The Daybreaker, Seeker of the Rising Sun. 

Then, when the time came, mother allowed them out, beckoning them. Their father joined, his cave language given to describe all of which they could see. Gaara's eyes dashed from one place to the next. He ran around his parents, jumped on and playfully growled at his siblings. His excitement could not be contained now that he was no longer contained!

Then - others. He stood still and stiff when he noticed their approach. He gives a loud bark and sneezes and comes to stand at Zoug's side for back up. Other adults he had never seen and three more children, sisters. The world had not only many things in it, but many others as well.

The sands were buzzing with puppies. Ko'a could have not have felt more happy for cousin and Candle. Her compersion radiated with the quick-footed pep in her step. She carried a few lizard, hardened from baking in the sun. Something for the teething pups to play with and chew on, she thought. 

First she came to S'ari, standing back a little ways as she gathered her three girls. Ko'a visited her cousin more often then Candle, as only natural. The daughters might know her by scent - maybe not. 

She followed out to the side of S'ari as they came to meet with Candle and her four. Ko'a would then settle the dried lizards down on the red earth and step back, taking a seat to simply watch the children's first day out.

Something shifted in the sand - perhaps it was her mother, perhaps something inside Kira herself. 

A nudge from S'ari accompanied a wide yawn as she and her sisters were ushered out into the desert sun. Like a rattlesnake, she basked in its warmth, feeling the heat of the earth under her paws. Her eyes were still adjusting to the brightness when she noticed the presence of unfamiliar figures up ahead - though hazy as they were, their silhouettes identified as foreign to the young sunling.

She walked stiffly behind the others until she drew close enough to breathe in their scents. Tribekin. Family. Tail flagging in recognition, she let out a tiny squeak.