Moonspear may the moon remember you in waves

A bright moon hung low overhead. Close to full, she guessed, and with clear, empty skies around it. Beyond the moon threatening to outshine them all, it was a good night for the stars. Briefly, that made her think of her mate.

She was tempered by the cooler temperatures of nighttime and a small fresh meal in her belly, so she now found herself wandering the middling meadows without too much of a thought. It was perhaps simultaneously the most rested and the least bothered she had felt in a while, and it felt good. The tranquil evening draped around her may have helped, too, paired with the fact that she had literally slept the whole long summer's day away in the darkest cave she could find. But she didn't care. She had needed it. After ousting Althaia and Harley not so long ago, and managing to not throttle Charon all the way to the northern Wilds in the meantime, she felt it was deserved -- as well as the very least she could ask of the pack to hold things together while she took her share of colossal naps.

Now, feeling a little torn between withdrawing too much too soon and still not compelled enough to put real effort into covering ground, she continued to skim across the moonlit swatch of mountainside somewhere in the middle of it all. She carried her nose low, skimming lightly over the dewy grasses, sort of like she was prowling for something. But, the meander of her gait suggested otherwise.

Not sure if you are waiting for someone.... but I've been really bored for the last few days! So if it's ok I'm giong to jump in.

He was starting to feel at home here in the Moonspear. However he was completely oblivious to the drama that had been happening behind the scenes. His peaceful settling in was not nearly as peaceful as it probably should have been. Although none of this was known to Satch as he came across his female Alpha, swollen with child. He had not known that Charon and herself were trying for pups. He stood of to the side of the small meadow, but his scent would probably carry ahead of him, alerting the female of his presence. He would chuff in her direction so as to alert her further. There could be deadly consequences for sneaking up on a pregnant female.

Slowly he would enter the meadow, although he would not fully approach the woman yet. Instead he would wait to see if she would dismiss him in favour of spending more time alone.

lol i originally posted with the wrong account! Sorry! hehe

yass, it's all good! i've needed some new AW threads badly so i'm good with anyone popping in haha

She was content to soak up the simplicity of the moment, cool, easy, and dappled in moonlight as she moved along without due purpose or in any hurry to be somewhere. Something told her to enjoy it while she had it. Times like these had been a little sparse lately, and were only bound to get more rare once her puppies arrived and a full shift of focus would be necessary -- a date she was kind of wary of still, considering all of the unknown circulating around it.

Her nose twitched when she smelled something new and soon after, the sound of his chuff drew her stare that way. "Satch," she chuffed back in greeting but did not immediately move to erase distance between them. He was still new to her, but with everything recently, she had not taken a close look into overseeing his settling. Since she had found no trace of him involved in any of this trouble, it was a good guess to say things were alright enough for him. The dark alpha pivoted slightly so she could face him better. For now, her forward motion would cease. "How has settling in been for you?" she asked.

Satch smiled taking a step toward the female, although he remained somewhat distant. He wasn't a crowder. "Settling in? Rather well, I think. I've explored a lot of the territory, traced the various trails backward and forward. I've learnt the differnet smells of the pack, however I haven't met the others to match their names to their faces." Satch was slightly worried that he had yet to meet very many within the pack, "I have really only met Dash, and your mate Charon in passing."

"And what about you Alpha Amekaze? Congradulations are in order! You're pregnant!" Satch was excited, he had no idea of the trouble that might of surrounded their conception, or the trouble they may face in the future. His tail had a quick rhythm back and forth, and a happy grin expanded on his face. "You must be excited!" He remarked, all soon to be mothers he had ever met we over the moon with excitement and joy.

He was forward in the details, with a report generally on the positive. Meeting Dash and Charon was a good place to start as far as Moonspear members went. Aside from Floki and herself, they comprised much of the core. She hoped with enough time more wolves could be added to that select few. But, it had been a time of flux for the pack, and a handful of them had been busy lately looking for Lazarus and otherwise. "Good to hear," she nodded, and was prepared to touch on the subject a little more, but he steered it elsewhere -- towards her pregnancy.

Her ears splayed but she steadied them right after. He was pretty excited about this himself and she teetered on the edge of overwhelmed at times. The topic was kind of a odd one for her still. This was her first experience with it, when really, all she'd done was everything expected of an alpha, finally, and mated with her mate with purpose. Everything was new about it still. "Ah, well.. thank you," she answered with a nod to his best wishes although she felt vaguely uncertain on what protocol was on this. Excited was not wrong, for the greater picture, but it wasn't really a word in her repertoire of typical feelings lately. Worried, uneasy, but treating it like a mission she had to finish before she could truly enjoy it. She was excited to meet them, find out what they looked like, how many there would be, and what sorts of wolves they would grow to become one day. It felt so simultaneously far off and too near. Thinking about it almost made her head spin.

"I am excited. It is.. for the first time too, so there is a lot to take in.." she added more gently, as if that may explain her apprehension about gushing about it too wildly.

Satch listened to her words, she seemed excited however he wasn't sure... there was something else. Perhaps it was a first time mothers worry, worry for her pups, worry for the life they might lead. "It is good to hear that you are excited." He nodded his head thinking for a moment. "If I may Amekaze?" Satch looked away from his leader, "I'm new here, and as such you have no need to listen to what I have to say... But I will tell you this. All of us as your subordinates have our own duties, border patrol, hunting, protection, blah, blah, blah. You have a duty as the female alpha to produce offspring, however this duty is different than anyother. At least in my opinion, we all perform our duties so that we can help the next generation survive. Your pups give all of us hope, hope for the future, hope that this pack will continue even after we a gone." 

Satch nodded to himself, he new he was babbaling, "As you say it is a lot to take in. But you aren't alone in raising these pups, a wolf is rarely alone in raising pups." He looked back toward the woman now, she probably knew all of this already, but he was always one to voice is opinion. Others didn't have to listen but at least they knew where he stood. "I guess what I'm trying to say... is that you can worry all you want, and I'll be excited for you." Satch grined, his tail once again waging. He shruged, he was over the moon with excitement. Satch loved pups, and no one would ever change his mind on the subject. "If you ever need a pup break, I volunteer to pupsitting. I just hope that you can trust someone within the pack that can share some of the burden you feel right now. You don't deserve to be so stressed when you are an expecting mother." Satch didn't mean that she was an invalid, rather the opposite. He merely wanted to let her know that she deserved to be happy about this, and not worry to much until they are born.

As untested as she were in this field, she wanted to do right by her puppies above all else. Even if Charon went lukewarm about them, and stayed that way until after they were born (which she kind of doubted, assuming none ended up looking too much like Lazarus), they would always have her regardless of the curveballs life had a habit of throwing. 

It would be for them that this pack would provide. They were why she'd needed to boot out Althaia promptly before she could turn up pregnant or not -- Amekaze didn't want to wait to find out, or let Charon develop any attachment in case it was actually him to sow the seeds.. although she hoped it wasn't. Even the possibility of it had threatened their resources and thus, her violence on the matter felt wholly justified when she could feel the littlest vague flutters of these lives' presence. These puppies she carried were the future, and the first the Spear would see. Potential bastards be damned, she didn't care if they were sired by her mate and half sibling to her own whelps. Here would never be their home.

She was all ears when he spoke, and at first, she was leery because of the subject but his words aligning with her beliefs was swift to soothe. It was good he felt this way -- the right way, in her opinion. She caught herself nodding, letting the words sink in fully before she organized her thoughts on it.  

And while he was new, just as he said, these were quick ways to earn her favor bit by bit even considering her generally horrendous attitude lately. She needed the wolves able to see the worth of her undertaking here, the ones ready to do whatever she needed and with a level head on their shoulders. She was tired of chaos and drama; for the next several weeks, she demanded her peace and comfort. It was good to know he understood this without her needing to tell him. Even better. "I know, and I know that the pack is strong and capable, even if this is a bit different from what I usually ask of them. I suppose worrying just comes naturally with so much change." Amekaze sighed, reluctant but accepting because she had to be the one to do this -- one step at a time.

On pupsitting, and the prospect of him doing so, she canted her head curiously with an arc of her brow. It had never come up before. Then again, she'd never had a reason to ask until just recently and neither did she know how much of a need for it there would be. Between her and Charon, that was at least a start. "I see, do you have much experience with pups?" she asked.

Satch nodded as the woman spoke, "That it does, that it does." Worry seeped into everyone, every once in awhile. "Although you have to stop and smell the roses every once and awhile." He's maw adorned a smile still. He took the venture and approached a little closer to the Alpha, and sat down getting comfortable.

Satch though of the question posed to him for a moment or two. Thinking of his past and the time he had spent with the Alpha's pups, he had seen two litters. He grew up with the first, and helped raise the second. Although he had been very young, and his priorities had not always been with the young. A fact he regretted now. His departure from his home and subsequent exile, had taught Satch that he wouldn't live forever. Now he saw pups as a way to live forever. Not in a pervers sense, more in a spiritual sense. Which is why Amekaze's pups gave Satch so much excitement because he couldn't wait to see them grow. Even if they were not his own, he would care for them as if they were.

"I have some experience, I looked after the little ones a few times in my previous pack. I always found them to be rather annoying. But I was a teenager then, and anything I was made to do was annoying. I have realized in my travels that the young are our form of immortality. They continue our legacy. Even if I am unfortunate to never have pups of my own I hope to pass on my knowledge to any pups you or other might have. I suppose it is rather selfish." Satch chuckled to himself, with the shake of his head.

She delicately lowered her haunches into a sit and curling her tail up tight around herself afterward. He seemed to be easing well into her presence and she had no reason to stand if she didn't have to, considering her want to conserve her energy when she could, yet not confine herself to doing nothing so very soon. "That is true," she agreed through a small smirk. She was just doing all she could to not feel overwhelmed but she reasoned it was good to work through this now, so she wouldn't have to deal with it later when she had a whole new set of concerns in the form of these puppies being actually here. 

Then, on any experience with the young, he spoke on. "I feel the same -- I want my legacy to last. It deserves to," her lips twitched thoughtfully. The efforts of the generations before her couldn't end here. Even away from the homeland, she had that.. instinctual urge to see it perpetuated into the future. Mixing her bloodline with Charon's -- the Ostrega, relatively vast in its own right if she understood correctly, would only make for an interesting twist on things.

"But last time I was around pups for any length of time was when my siblings were born and I was only a yearling," she squinted. It had been years ago, before they had all been ill-fated for various reasons. "I adored them and helped to raise them in any what I could but it was.. a far different time," she mentioned. And nothing she'd ever really felt before after them, even when Ferdie had brought Erika onto the Sunspire to whelp her misplaced mate's pups. That had made her uneasy by principle of the matter and therefore, she had spent no time around those puppies. "I do not think many of this pack have had much time around them either. It will be interesting, I think, to let everyone get to know them.." she added. It made her feel a bit better knowing he had something in the past, even if it had been about like her own experience.

Satch nodded, in some packs it was difficult to come into contact with pups. Either because there are few born, or some parents are over protective. "It will be a learning experience for everyone I am sure. Especially their parents, although I have a feeling it might come more naturally to you and Charon than you might think." Satch gave a small shrug, he had a good feeling about this. The fact that she was so anxious was a good sign. Good mothers always worried. "You have much to teach them, I have no doubt that you will be a good mother. The others will follow your example in how the pups are treated." He did chuckle a little, "Of course though it will be interesting, there if no doubt about that."

"So....." Satch drawled, "Any name suggestions? I think Satch is a lovely name you know." His snout twitched with amusement, of course he wasn't serious. I wanted to see the Alpha relax a little, and wanted her to know that she could relax around him. Satch's tail thudded against the soft grass quietly, a delighted look on his maw.

In truth, she relied on it coming naturally when the time arrived. All of this was based in instinct, her single guidance beyond a handful of other experiences here and there. Hopefully it would not let her down. She still honestly had a hard time imagining herself as a mother to anyone despite how rapidly it closed in on her. She'd really been so preoccupied with that idea that she'd not put much effort into considering Charon's capabilities as a parent either, then how he'd pair up with her strengths and weaknesses in that field. Indeed, this was going to be interesting..

Time would have to tell. That was all there was to it.

On names, she gave a thoughtful look. "Not really yet," she snickered after his suggestion. "I think Charon would like to honor family names somehow for some, and if it worked, I could do the same.. but nothing is decided," she shook her head softly.  "I considered that we look to the stars for inspirations somehow -- be it through their myths or names, since Charon knows them pretty well and so do I, but I just may not know what to call them until I see them," she explained thoughtfully, for in truth, it felt nice to sort through it aloud like this and to a relatively unbiased source. Dreaming up names for living, breathing extensions of herself and her bloodline was a daunting task, especially sight unseen. So, she wasn't going to stress about it -- not until after they got here and for some reason she failed to name them even then. That would be when she'd fret.

Satch nodded his head and gave a small shrug, "Oh well, can't blame a guy for trying right." He grinned a goofy grin. "Naming your children after family is a good way to go. I was named after my great-grandfather Mensatch Aurilius! My parents hoped I might resemble him in some way... unfortunatley it didn't quite turn out that way." He's grin died down to a genuine warm smile, remembering his parents. "The stars eh? Now there is an idea, I quite like that." He thought for a moment. "I must admit though I have no knowledge of the stars, but it would certainly give them something to live up to." Satch nodded to himself, "Definitely something to live up to."

She often let herself believe that she would simply know when she saw them, somehow, and all of this really had her wondering about them. More and more by the week, their existence was insistent alongside her own -- yet they were but strangers to her still, incomplete, not yet whole... an entire concept that encompassed life's delicate processes, and this time in creation.

Nevertheless, he provided an interesting insight into his own history in telling her he was named for his grandfather. She couldn't quite tell if it was a sour subject for him or not, and despite a small urge to ask more of the past leading him up to this moment, she refrained for now. "Ah, well, even if you did not grow to resemble him, it is still his name living on through you.." she mentioned; it was better than it fading away into obscurity, surely. "I was named for storms. It stormed when I was born, evidently, and my honored mother saw fit to give me its distinction," she explained. "But I had several siblings, and she always did well to give all of us names that suited us remarkably in the long run."

Beyond that, her own family further back had a wealth of names to choose from, if she ever wanted to do something similiar to what Satch's family had done.. which made her consider, just briefly, the names of her own grandparents. Tvastr and Dhyana then secondarily, Ulrich and Jorine, the latter of which she had never known personally, only through her mother and much of it was not favorable. They were swiftly removed from any possibility.. As for Charon's side of things, it was far more difficult -- what with him raised by Thistle and her not actually being here any longer. She couldn't even remember off the top of her head if she knew what his sire was named, let alone a grandsire. At least in her own youth, she had the privileged of being well acquainted with her immediate lineage.

Definitely something to live up to, indeed. "Truly, it would be something.. yet as my first, and the Spear's first, they will have a lot to live up to anyway, I suspect. But I have confidence in them, and that something will fit just right." she nodded. To her, these pups were precious and prized already. She may as well pluck their names from the glimmering skies overhead. Perhaps no less would suit them perfectly?

Last one for me.

Satch nodded with a smile, "Indeed, I believe he does live on within me. I often think of him, and the stories I was told." He looked to the sky now, wondering of his parents and his natal pack. Wondering where they were, and what they were up to... A small sigh he looked back to his Alpha.

"Indeed they will have a lot to live up to! With a mother and father as strong as you two are! And Alpha's no less. They will have to shoot for the stars." Satch laughed to himself, standing, "And with you mothering skills I am sure they will prove to you they are worthy of your love." He nodded, confident in his assement of Amekaze. "Now if you don't mind Amekaze, I think I'll head off for a nap." He snorted, "I'm getting tired in my old age." Although he wasn't old, only looking around 6 or 7 Satch could feel his age all of a sudden. Perhaps it was the prospect of new pups or the spirit of a new mother, but he was saddened by his lack of life.

She watched him peer skyward, and decided not to delve deeper by asking of those stories exactly despite the temptation. She would take what she had heard so far as plenty for now. There was enough else to keep her preoccupied, nevertheless.

He seemed to have plenty of faith in her, and indeed, they would have plenty to live up to. She found herself nodding softly, consumed by the mere thought of them all, although threatened to balk at the mere mention of mothering skills -- and her possessing them. To her, those remained yet unseen.. which was worth a touch of worry considering her disinterest in whelps (except for her younger siblings years back), but she'd trust instinct, as always. It would work out.

"Rest well," she offered by means of farewell after he wished to leave, although smirked softly at his jab at his age. She watched him leave and strode off on her own, eventually pointing her path towards the den to see if Charon was there, or nearby.