Nova Peak emissary

stealing chelsie's idea and will leave this open for a day to see if anybody replies. if not, i'll archive it! tagging the fam for visibility: @Masquerade @Riley @Rowdy @Riot Redtail

The first few hours of their life were exhilarating. The rush of cold, the warmth of fresh milk, the squirming masses that were constantly fighting them for said fresh milk... Then there were the two large masses who brought about a sense of peace and contentment. One was the source of that fresh milk, and the other simply seemed to be. Ruckus was less impressed with that one, but they still felt some sense of attachment. As for the smaller masses, there was far less interest and very little in the way of attachment. They were nuisances at best.

Ruckus was currently trying to squirm over one of the smaller masses to get to more milk. Sure, they'd already had plenty an hour or two ago, but that was basically an eternity as far as the cub was concerned. Blind and deaf, they used only their weak sense of smell and soft paws to navigate the small area that was their world. Little did they know they were poking one of their siblings right in the eye.

“I think that a little girl would be nice.”

“I want all boys.”

She tried not to dwell on this conversation of yore, though as she came to terms with Rumpus’s death, Masque worried. She worried that she should’ve buried their little girl instead. She worried that she’d somehow steamrolled Riley’s preferences. She worried that she’d given birth too early and might lose the boys too…

A small squeak cut into her worrying. The new mother blinked down at her three tiny sons and felt choked up with another emotion entirely. She thought she’d loved them before they were here.

A few hours ago, I was pregnant with you, she murmured as she nosed one little boy away from his brother’s face, and now I’m just pregnant with emotions. It’s pretty wild, Ruckus, not gonna lie.

i had some extra time before my class!

Familiar reverberations caused Ruckus to move their wobbly head toward the milk-giver, and they sniffed idly at the dark world. Nothing in particular had changed besides the slight vibration they could feel through their feet and in the puffs of air that came toward them, but it was a change nonetheless. Change, they'd decided, was their favorite thing. There was something just so delicious about new things, and they couldn't get enough of it.

They ventured forward, nose tickled by the long hairs growing from Masquerade's body. Ruckus wrinkled their nose, swatting at the air clumsily with one paw.

Ruckus thrust out a tiny fist and all she wanted to do was kiss those little toes. So she did, marveling at their tininess. She also added another worry to her long list: she feared she might hurt her children, they were so wee. She didn’t think she’d ever been so careful in her life.

After peppering the whole of his stumpy leg in kisses, Masque gingerly mouthed the squirming Ruckus to the spot between her forelegs, tucked up against her chest. She meant to bathe him, though for a moment, she just stared down at him in abject wonder.

She glanced over at the other two, their tiny mouths latched onto teats, and the next breath came out a little tremulously. They were so damn small. Masquerade would do anything to see them live and grow.

I would die for you, she told them collectively.

Without realizing she was doing it, she began to chant their names in her head: Riot, Rowdy and Ruckus. It felt wrong, at first, to leave off poor Rumpus, though Masque slowly came to terms with her little family of five.

You know, I feel left out now, she informed baby Ruckus. I think I will start officially going by Raider, before trying on, Riley, Raider, Riot, Rowdy and Ruckus, and deciding, This pleases me.

The sensation wasn't unpleasant, and Ruckus didn't protest (too much) as they were swept in between two logs of warm fleshy fur. They wound up lying on their back, twitching their tiny feet into the air while their stub of a tail wiggled sporadically behind them. They weren't quite sure what was going on, but it didn't really matter. Being upside down was new and anything new was inherently good, as far as they were concerned.

There was more vibration and hot breath on their belly then, and they paused momentarily to yawn. Being a baby was hard work, and they would not be awake much longer.

She instinctively wanted to set Ruckus to rights, though first she had to give in to yet another irresistible urge. This time, Raider pressed her nose against that pink, pudgy tum. When he didn’t seem to mind it at all—he seemed rather content, actually—she decided she would leave him on his back. She scooted her forelegs a little closer together for extra support.

The new mother raised her head a little to get a better view of him, her golden eyes drawn to the sight of the umbilical cord stump. Raider’s head tilted as she tried to remember what she knew about such things. If she recalled correctly, it would shrivel up in the coming days and fall off on its own. She decided not to touch it in the meantime, though she wondered if it bothered Ruckus in any way.

Raider pressed a nose against their belly, and almost instantly, Ruckus burped a burp so loud it didn't seem like it could have come from a body so small. Another new sensation! It came with a feeling of relief from the built-up gas in their stomach, and the tiny blob was both amused and satisfied with their "accomplishment."

They kicked their back feet wildly in the air, deciding that was the best way to celebrate the new sensation. If this was what every day was like, they were going to have a really good time.

She was indeed impressed by the gigantic burp that erupted out of her small child. Raider’s head reared back a little and she laughed, bending to put her snout closer to his wrinkled little face again.

Better out than in, or so I’ve heard, she said, right before taking a tiny kangaroo kick to the jaw. That’s my boy, Raider could only purl, gladdened by these signs of liveliness and strength coming from a whelp so small.

She imagined that this particular motion might result in emissions from his other end, but that was a good thing too. Raider knew puppies often swallowed air while nursing and it could be painful. The new mother would much rather deal with a temporary stench—or even a mess—than a baby made colicky by discomfort.

last one from me! <3

Instead of eliciting any further bodily functions, the young pup's eyes began to droop, and they felt a sense of peace wash over them. Their tiny little legs did a few more twitchy kicks, and then they were off to dream land. Dream land for a being so young was not particularly exciting or interesting, but it was a necessity. At this stage of their life, Ruckus spent more time there than the waking world.

Splayed out in the comfort of their mother's forelegs, little Ruckus looked more drunk than anything.

Ruckus deflated like a balloon losing air, albeit without any accompanying flatulence. Raider watched him sink slowly into sleep. He was no less interesting to her just because he wasn’t moving. It gave the mother the opportunity to marvel over him.

Her legs would eventually fall asleep, yet Raider didn’t dare move until Ruckus did. She could take a little discomfort to make her child happy. As she’d told him, she would die for him and the others too. Without hesitation.