Behind the Scenes / How Are You Feeling?

Hello pack! This thread is here to narrate the background hum of pack life of Nova Peak. You can post 'from' anywhere in Nova Peak territory.

When we start threads, they are set at a particular point in time - the overall story moves on, and we're still threading in the past. This thread is here so that you can post single posts about your character's thoughts and feelings in the present moment and keep current even if you don't have time to post very often. It's a bit like an IC version of the behind the scenes thread. It also gives the sense that the pack is often together, which you don't get from individual IC threads.

— Every post has to be IC, and follow all IC guidelines on length.
— You can post notifications about how your character is feeling or any behavioural patterns that you think others should notice.
— There is no active interaction in this thread, although you can make reference to innocuous conversations
— You can make announcements or summon the pack, but don't make specific reference to who is there
— Please tag the people you are referencing
— You can fast-forward time as much as you want with each post, so that you can comment on the most recent events
— You can double/triple/quadruple post as much as you want
— You don't have to respond to posts concerning your character - you can just assume stuff happened. If you would rather not be tagged here, just PM the person tagging you.

Tagging @Scimitar @Kaskara @Falwasi @Kieran @Anouk @Tryphon @Jericho @Keil - hope this makes sense! :)

Bazi was no longer straying further than a few hundred meters from her birthing den. The event itself was nearly two weeks away (not that she knew), but she felt ready to burst at any moment. Walking was nigh on impossible. The adorable waddle of weeks gone by was now a series of exhausting heaves. Bazi was certain her boulder-sized middle was pushing her legs further apart, bringing a cowboy-esque quality to her walk. Sitting was difficult, and laying down in the same position for longer than few minutes was as uncomfortable as standing up.

That day, Bazi begrudgingly summoned @Scimitar to her for help to take a bath. She could just about reach her shoulders, but a serious clean simply wasn't possible. They passed @Kaskara on their slow march to the Bitcurrent, with whom Bazi shared a sad, tired look - not long ago, they had laughed about her fear that Scimitar's babies would inflate her beyond comprehension. Look at me now.

It was @Tryphon and @Kieran that visited her the most. Neither wolf was particularly chatty, but Bazi didn't mind - she was more than capable of talking for all three, asking questions and then bulldozing the silence intended for answers with more of the same.

"Find out where that Arion went, " she instructed both wolves before they left her that day. " Don't talk to him. I just want to keep an eye - if he is still in the area."

Kaskara tried to visit her sister as much as possible, but the duties of beta held her to the borders quite often. Today she took some time to hunt for rabbit, thoughts of the near-intruder fresh in her mind, and took it to @Bazi in her den. Kas smiled at her sister, gave her a kiss, and left her to lunch. They could chat and reconnect later.

Danica's avoiding most other packmates but stops in a couple of times to visit @Bazi and see the children (providing @Scimitar allows it).  She isn't particularly chatty, but enjoys catching up and sharing some stories of what the winter held for her.  Bazi is also a good confidant when it comes to the tale of the Glacier, and Danica shares her news of the pack's apparent disappearance.

She accepted Bazi's offer, but isn't officially joining unless you wish her to!  Since she won't be around long anyway :(

Until the pups could do more than feed and sleep, there was little for Bazi to do but wait and watch them grow. With each passing day, they became more gluttonous, leaving Bazi with an appetite for meat that seemed unquenchable. Every wolf that passed was asked if they could hunt something down - and when @Falwasi and @Kieran happened by on their way to do something blissfully baby free, Bazi begged them to organised a hunt. "I want deer," she declared. Lots of it.

There was a fragility to summer darkness. Even after the sun had disappeared behind the horizon, there was a glow that never quite disappeared - as though the sun were a distracted father, rushing out the front door to retrieve the mail but never out of earshot.

Bazi sat just outside her den, watching the stars through a narrow crack in the foliage. They sparkled in the incomplete darkness, winking down at her from their lofty place in the heavens. Somewhere inside the den, one of the pups sneezed - its siblings grumbled. Bazi watched the den until they had settled back down before stepping a little further out, putting enough distance between herself and the den that she could see it, but spare their eardrums when she loosed a long, high howl into the night sky.

Spontaneous activity for @Kieran @Kaskara @Falwasi @Scimitar @Tryphon @Tarquin @Danica :)

Life moved on.

Bazi hadn't checked in with Scimitar for some time. Not really, anyway. Their lives revolved around their children, taking turns supervising their fun and imparting the knowledge they needed to survive. They hadn't shared a heart-to-heart since Bazi's outburst on the mountain. Since then, Danica had died and Kaskara had confessed her feelings for Kieran.

Bazi departed the territory alone, heading north towards the shore. She was leaving the pack-lands with increasing regularity, citing a need to get to know her surroundings better. The lie was starting to wear thin, and she was starting to wonder why she bothered. To be alone with one's thoughts was not a crime, certainly not so soon after the death of a friend.

Bazi cast an eye over her shoulder. The pups would be fine on their own for a few hours.

Tagging @Kaskara @Scimitar for info, so that you know what Bazi's patterns are!

Just some thoughts / reference notes :)

The pups are nearing two months old, and they are growing into their own individual selves.

He was born the smallest of the litter and shall remain this way, with a shorter and leaner build than his siblings. His fur is almost at its peak whiteness, while the ridge of black along his spine has remained a jet black. He looks to have a graceful appears but has demonstrated that he is anything but: Swift is clumsy, often tumbling or bumping into things.

He has a peculiar personality that seems divided: a bold, carefree pup that is eager to explore the world, and an stubborn, grumpy old man that hates to be disturbed when he is busying himself with something and does not like it when things do not go his way. Further to this, those around him will have by now picked up on his strange affinity for plants, and that he seems to know things about them that he should not. He often collects different herbs around the den and lays them out on a flat stone. But this behavior comes and goes on a switch; it takes over him suddenly and then he often forgets the plants once he has finished some 'task' that involves them.

He has yet to speak a word, nor even babble.

He is independent and spends much of his time doing his own thing, but when he is not he can be found wrestling with his siblings or laying about observing the world. He is occasionally affectionate, mostly towards his mother, but his cuddly moods do not last long.

At nearly 10 weeks old, the pups were more interesting than they had been. They were little creatures now, with personalities and habits of their own. Swift took the prize for strangest pup, acting simultaneously ancient and brand new. It unsettled her on occasion, but he was still her son.

Slowly, the escapes into the wilderness stopped and Bazi became a homebody again - and a relentless pest as far as her children were concerned, coaxing then into activity after activity in preparation for life as fully grown wolves.