Swiftcurrent Creek Wherever you are, this is home

@Akavir @Arric @Cygnet @Pukei @Iris @Violet @Buckthorn @Burdock

Etienne & Suzu also welcome but I figured they be busy with the pups and Arlette had told them to back off haha. Feel free to assume some pack members already interacted a little with the pups!

We will work in rounds!

Arlette felt that it was time to move the family away from the den. It was getting a little cramped in there and currently the nights were rather pleasant. She had taken the pups to the rendezvous site for day trips but always returned to the safety of the den. This would be a good spot for the pups as their home base, deep into the territory and a little away from the river that it would not be too dangerous for them. This also meant that the whole pack could start to involve themselves with raising the pups. It would be good for the children to have different wolves around, it might also be good for some others. Arlette hoped that it might cheer up Akavir, though it might as well sadden him too.

Arlette busied herself with herding them to the right spot and making sure the pups wouldn't get too distracted. The little healer couldn't be more proud of her four pups. It was clear that each pup had their own color but they did match in the circle around their eye. It was adorable. She loved that they all got a stamp from their dad. Arric was doing fantastic too. Honestly, the whole pack had been helping her greatly and Arlette could only be so grateful. Once they settled on the rendezvous site, which was the previous sleeping grounds of Arric, Arlette howled for her packmembers to come join her if they had time.

Violet was really excited. She was running in front of her mother, to then be called back as she was going in the wrong direction. But!!! She wanted to go there! She looked over her shoulder but her instinct to stay close to her mother and her siblings made her run back to them. She tried to jump over Burdock in her haste but it was more a stumble and semi tackle of her brother. Huwwyyy!!!!!, she told him. Once she found her feet, she was up and running again. Violet almost tripped up her mother by going through her front legs. Violet was getting bigger and going through legs was getting more difficult.

She looked around the rendezvous site. Oh they had been here before. She huffed and glanced at her mother with slight disappointment. Why hadn't they go that other way? There was an interesting sound there, like a constant roar. It was way more exciting than this! The girl glanced at her mother and started to sneak towards where they had been coming from. She jumped in shock when her mother suddenly howled. She thought she had been caught! The russet girl felt her heart beat quickly. Instant after she was rather distracted because her mother howled. What did it mean?

Arric herded the children with Arlette. Making sure to lead any wayward little ones away from the rivers edges. And towards the site their mother had chosen. He was glad to see his old place a welcome haven for the little ones he and Arlette had brought into the world. And he was as proud as punch at the small little mark they all got from him and in turn his mother. It was a nice sight to see. 

Arlette howled and he looked to Violet who looked a little shocked at the noise. hey little ones.

A tilt of his ear and a small smile. Mama's just calling the others to see ya.

Another wolf had come, and had given birth to puppies. Cygnet was repulsed by the notion of having more children around, and was wary that these two strangers might take up too many resources- resources that belonged to the true packmates of Swiftcurrent Creek. 

All it took was a new enemy to convince Cygnet that she ought finally pay Arlette and her children a visit. They were pack, she told herself; they had a right to be here, and a right to exist- and she decided that she would do what she could to make sure that Arlette's children were given an advantage over those who had just waltzed in, and multiplied like ungrateful rabbits. 

She brought a dead hare with her, and approached with her head high and her stump of a tail bristled and lifted. She avoided looking at Arric altogether, for a moment, searching instead for Arlette...And found herself distracted, suddenly, by the young children in her company. 

She frowned, but with a mouth full of rabbit, it might have been hard to see. She still felt jealous that she'd been shrugged off, as Arlette sought out a new life with Arric, the wolf she detested only a bit less than the freeloaders who had come to join the pack. Having never seen children before, she was a bit shocked. Their proportions were just....Wrong. Their ears floppy, their legs thick and short, their tails were....Well, more complete than her own, but still, almost like rat's tails. More off-putting than anything else was the fact that their heads were enormous, and their muzzles were short. 

She looked to Arlette, her gaze surprised. 

For a woman as pretty as she was, Arlette had sure made some ugly children. 

She looked to Arric- and she hated to admit it, but he, too, was nowhere near as ugly as these children.

She pitied them both as parents, but reluctantly surrendered the rabbit with a soft sigh, maintaining her distance as she oggled one child and the next, not sure if any amount of personality would be enough to make up for their hideous conformation.

In complete contrast to Cygnet's disgust, Pukei could not contain her excitement at the sight of the pups. She had raced to where Arlette's summons had rung out from as soon as the call went up; her hesitation over visiting decreasing as the children grew older (and hopefully, Arlette's fierce protectiveness over them).

"Hi, babiesssss!" she greeted in a shrill voice as she came upon the young family, gaze immediately focusing on the four smallest wolves. Well, small was probably not the word most would use for them. They were definitely...a healthy size. A bountiful harvest of a litter. However, there was no denying that they had inherited the bulk of their father's genes – right down to the matching silver ring around each of their eyes.

She came to a stop at a respectable distance away so as not to scare the children, flopping onto her stomach with her forelegs splayed out, hoping to entice at least one closer with her invitation to play.

New round! Post order reset! Anyone stll welcome

Arlette watched as soon wolves seemed to tickle in. Perhaps not as many as she had expected but there were some curious enough. The first one was Cygnet and Arlette was so happy to see her. The woman's tail wagged. Even though their relation was a little stained she hoped that they could make a mend. She hoped Cygnet did not hold too much of a grudge. Arlette shot her a smile. Thank you for coming, she hummed and stepped a little closer. The young adult even brought them a hare which was kind, and something she did not have to do. Arlette hoped that it was a good sign. Arlette decided to approach Cygnet since she had little want for Arric, at least she assumed.

How have you been?, she dared to ask her. Then Pukei joined the scene and Arlette looked up. She smiled glad that Pukei didn't have any lasting trauma's of her. Arlette was much more relaxed about things now, and she trusted Pukei with her children.

The russet girl turned to her father when he spoke, but the words didn't all make sense. She was just a little upset that he had caught her sneaking off to the rushing sound. Her objective was soon forgotten once someone came towards them. Another wolf! She watched her curiously, she was carrying something. Violet watched as her mother got closer so she decided she might as well look at what she brought up close as well. She was on her way there when another wolf came onto the scene, and with quite a speed too.

Violet jumped at the voice and turned towards it. She was a little unsure what to do with the other wolves. She had only really been around her parents. What where these wolves then? When the latest arrival flopped onto her stomach she suddenly felt less anxious about it. The red colored girl jumped towards her curious as to what was offered to her. The girl's formally blue eyes were now somewhat of a muddy color, meaning they probably weren't going to stay as blue as that of her siblings. Violet moved in close as to inspect the wolf laying down. She smelled a little different but also somehow the same? Was that normal?

Arric blinked as Cygnet came on the scene. But he said nothing more than a soft. Hello Cygnet.

He went back to herding kids so Arlette could catch up. A small smile at Pukei.

Glad to see no lasting damage was done. Sorry bout that.

Then he settled to his haunches and kept a watchful gaze. Wondering about Mae and Akavir. And fretting quietly.

Burdock was all for a family adventure... on his own terms. Despite his best attempts of leading the group in any other direction than the one his parents had intended, it was just as an easy task as pushing a huge and heavy locomotive off the train-tracks. So, if he did not want to stay behind and watch every one else leave, he had to move. This did not mean that the little curious fellow did not make several little detours along the way. And for a portion of the path he walked with a stick held firmly in is jaws. 

He forgot all about it and let it drop, when he caught sight of other wolves. Absolute giants to him. The one that appeared first did not seem very friendly at all, though the gift she had brought along did smell very nice. Then the other one, who came to greet the group, was even more scarier and Burdock quickly put distance between her and him, by hiding behind Arlette's legs. There he remained peering around them with both curiousity and uncertainty. 

She seemed to be the only one openly inviting the kids to play, but Pukei didn't mind that one bit. She had noted Cygnet lurking in the back with a gift and wrongly attributed her hesitation to shyness. The girl was, after all, a packmate she only seen a scarce number of times, so maybe the adolescent was just naturally a bit of a loner.

The pups, however, were a different story. Well, at least one was. Pukei shot an encouraging smile at the nervous-seeming dark, rotund boy that hung back by his mother's legs before focusing on the auburn-furred child who had come up to inspect her.

Arric's comment caused the tips of her ears to burn in embarrassment but she shrugged it off with a laugh. "Ah, it was no biggie, honest." Except it had definitely felt like a bit of a biggie in the moment; but time healed all wounds, and Pukei was just glad that everything – and everyone – had turned out all okay in the end.

Lilac gaze turrned back to the girl before her, and she scooted forward to press her nose against her own tiny one. "Boop!"