Stone Circle Next Step

@Steph @Ezra @Clary <3

Valette was very proud of her children and she made sure to let them know by giving them lots of affection. She was usually around her children but sometimes she had to have someone babysit them. But today they didn't need a babysitter because Valette wanted to watch them herself. She got out of the den, letting out a soft chuff for her children that they could follow her.

Valette had introduced them to the pack and now it was time to learn about the world and let them explore it. She wanted them to do that in their own ways but be there for them if they got in trouble or had questions. Valette had an idea. "Come, Little ones," she hummed. Normally she let them play before the den but the standing stones weren't too far away, and she would love to have them see the stone circle and the lands below with all prey they could hunt.

The mother felt safe enough to walk the small distance with her pups. She hoped that it would also make them excited and would raise the curiosity. Her tail wagged as she started to walk at a slow pace. After all, they still had shorter legs to move with.

Steph was a rather calm child. While most might take to the outdoors like flies on poop, Steph took in her surroundings with an uncharacteristic silent curiousity. She appeared from the den and stepped to the side to allow her brother and sister the space to come out, but then sat back on her haunches to survery the area around her home. 

She took in the leaves, the dirt, the grass, the trees, and the movement that they all created. Her brained sucked in information like a misquito sucking blood. However, the only movement she made was her head swiveling back and forth. 

It wasn't until Valette's voice reached her ears that her eyes focused on her mother. It seemed they were to follow, and so she rose and made haste to her Mom's back legs. She followed closely, but not so closely as to trip up Valette. Her eyes still scanned, wondering where they were going, but she kept quiet.

Unlike her sister, Clary took to the world with unbridled want. She had pushed the boundaries even before her eyes had opened, and though the den was better than the womb - a memory fast fading - this place still wasn't enough. There was more, so much more, and she relished these new moments of freedom their mother beckoned them toward.

True to herself, Clary followed tight on her sister's heels. She'd learned Steph to be a slower wolf, not because Steph wasn't fast, but because she seemed more interested in watching the world first. Clary could watch for a little while, she guessed, but where was the fun in watching when you could stick your nose in something and do?

Steph seemed to understand this, and Clary offered her sister a thankful bump at the den's opening before she sped past. Her eyes could still hardly drink everything in, and her energy danced across the grass in an awkward puppy gait. So much to see and so much to explore! Clary swung her head back around to see if Steph had finished watching, or where Ezra had gone - adventure was always more fun in threes - but mommy's voice distracted her and soon she found herself skipping with her siblings to meet her. Clary itched to run ahead, and she did, only to loop back in an eager display of excitement. Mommy hardly moved fast enough, and Clary raised her voice in a giggling babble of sounds she'd heard her mother croon before.

@Ezra :D

Valette smiled at seeing her pups emerge from the den. It was wonderful to see how their personalities were developing. Steph usually followed her closely while her sister was running around with all that excess energy of hers. Valette loved it. She encouraged it both. Once she had all three of them she started the walk. It would be the first time they would leave the small area before the den. Valette had a feeling that Clary wanted to explore just as much as her when she was little. This must be a feast for her.

The mother paid close attention to the other two if they were following. She didn't doubt that they would but she still wanted to make sure. They had to move through the thicker undergrowth of the woods, hence why the mother was walking and not trotting. As they moved further the forest became lighter until they broke from the trees. Instantly before them was the Stone Circle. Valette smiled and let out another soft woof to enthuse them to follow her.

The mother moved to the inside of the circle to the east laid the open plains laid out below with some deer and even a few bison grazing in the distance. She looked proudly down at her children. She loved to take them to new places. She also couldn't wait till she could explain more about the life of a wolf.

Her tail wagged at the sight of her much more enthusiastic sister. Clary's energy could easily rub off on Steph, and at the very least, she smiled in response to it as they followed their mother. Steph wondered where they were going, but as she hadn't spoken a word yet, she didn't voice the question. While her body was growing at the rate it should, Steph's mind seemed in no hurry to voice its thoughts. 

She was content to walk behind Valette, sniffing at things here and there, but made sure to keep up with the group. When the forest stopped, so did Steph, her eyes gazing over the larged meadow. In the middle stood some large stones, and Steph looked to her mother to see if they were going to go any further. 

As Valette moved forward, so did Steph. Her eyes never stayed in one spot for too long as they attempted to take in the scenery. She stopped to sniff at the large stones, taking in the scents of the wolves that had been here previously. Her eyes sought out her siblings then, to see what they were doing.

Clary drank in everything. All that she'd seen from the distant safety of the den now grew ten, twenty, a thousand times bigger and higher above her, taller and greater than anything her finite mind had ever conceived or had even begun to understand. Trees and shrubbery teemed above and around her, and she raced circuits about the slow-moving caravan of her family. Though her legs stung with the tire of never having moved so much so fast, the wonder of being out here fueled her to keep going. At times she checked back on Steph and Ezra, and sometimes bopped at the same plant her sister nosed at, but never for as long a stay. There was so much more to see and smell and (sometimes when mama wasn't looking) taste!

When the forest thinned, Clary charged ahead with a back glance over her shoulder, only to look forward against with enough time to stop short of crashing into a different sort of tree. She jerked her head back and blinked before she thrust out against to suck in a deep whiff of the cool, stony surface towering for heights above her. They weren't like any tree or plant she'd ever seen, but then, they weren't quite rock, either. Perplexed, Clary frowned and shimmied away up, both spooked by the standing rocks and running on the adrenaline high. The fur fluffed around her neck and she spun around to bounce over to Steph, who seemed to have picked up her speed of exploration since leaving the forest behind.

Though Clary couldn't make sense of the sudden dread that took her, something about this place pricked her funny, and she figured it wouldn't hurt to stick near her older sister for now. She brushed up against Steph and looked to her sister with bright, wide eyes, to invite her to lead their exploration today, before glancing around for Ezra to see if he wanted to join them, too.

Valette was glad to see her children enjoy the new area they were allowed to explore. She watched how Steph ran ahead but always stayed close enough for her not to worry. The female chuckled seeing the sisters explore the standing stones. This was also where Steady was buried and where she would watch the herds in the meadows down below.

Val stepped closer to the slope down. In the distance, she saw a herd of deer grazing along with a few bison. She woofed softly to summon her kids. She sat down. When winter would come she would know a fun game with sliding down this slope. Now she just wanted them to see the deer and bison. "Prey. Deer and Bison," she spoke, though she wasn't sure if they would understand that already.

Steph didn't feel the same dread that her sister, Clary, did. She felt a sense of curiosity over these hard rocks that loomed over them. She had no idea that underneath her paws, buried in the ground, was her namesake. She didn't even know that he had ever existed. 

Clary brushed her shoulder and Steph glanced to her, her tail wagging. She picked up on her sisters' uneasiness and extended a nudge to her shoulder in support. Just then, Valette huffed and Steph took a few steps towards her, making sure Clary was following before closing the distance. Her eyes went to take in the view of what their mother was talking about. The beasts were far enough away not to be a threat, but even at this distance, they were huge to Steph. Her eyes widdened, understanding what they were supposed to be. How? she asked, wondering how wolves took down such massive creatures.

Clary sank into Steph's comfort with the wag of her tail. Her sister's presence soothed her, and mama's woof reminded her that with her family here, there was nothing to be afraid of, because nothing could get her. Without hesitation, she followed her sister, clunky behind her calm and even pace.

When they reached mama, the pale girl craned her neck to get a closer look at the beasts down in the meadow, but they grazed far away from the Stone Circle, and no amount of stretching brought a clearer picture. Clary didn't recoil, though, only stared in hopes staring would help figure out what in the world she was looking at. What strange looking wolves! Deer. Bison. Prey. What was that supposed to mean? Prey - play?

But Steph piped up first. How? The question made little sense to Clary - but Steph watched the world so much, Clary knew the question meant something to her. Like she understood something Clary simply hadn't grasped. She had never really entertained the idea Steph was smarter than her until now, and a sudden wave of embarrassment flooded her. Not wanting to look dumb in front of her sister, Clary decided to echo her question instead of voice of her own - even though she still thought they made a lot more sense than Steph's. "Yeah, how?"

Valette was happy that they were interested in their prey. Steph asked how soon copied by her sister. She sat down and chuckled softly. "How? You mean how we catch them?," she inquired to the pups. She hoped that one of them at least would like hunting just as much as she liked it. "Well, we take them down together, many wolves.," she explained. She didn't want to go into details.

"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack," Valette cited and smiled at her daughters. She licked the top of their heads affectionately. "We live in a group because it makes us stronger. Each one of us has their own strengths to help. A wolf must live together," she nodded. She had her share of being a lone wolf and it was not her way to live. She was a pack wolf at heart. She wanted her children to know that being in a pack was the one chance of survival.

Steph nodded that it was, indeed, what she meant by her question. How did wolves take town such large creatures? Then, her Mama explained that it took more than one of them, working as team. Steph tried to imagine all the adult wolves in her head trying to kill the prey before them, but as she didn't know what moves they made, it was all chaos in her mind. 

Are they yummy? she asked. She remembered Moo giving her her first mouse, and she enjoyed that. But, she wondered how different it would be sinking her teeth in the flesh of the bison.

Clary warmed at mama’s lick across the crown of her head, and met her with a return kiss across her fleeting muzzle. A wolf must live together. Why mama had to tell them this whizzed over the young girl’s head, but she turned a bright eye to Steph, who she offered a kiss to, too. Her family was her world, and for as many days as she had them - which would be all her days - she would never be alone.

Her sister’s questions had begun to make sense to Clary, and the little girl’s eyes widened further. “We eat those!” Her question came more as a frazzled blurt, the answer already given in part by Steph’s further inquiry.

Valette loved their reactions. Of course, being so little and tiny still, it would make their prey even bigger in their eyes. "Yes, we do eat them," she confirmed to Clary. "You will taste it enough soon," she hummed. She wanted them on milk as long as her body would give it to them, and her nipples could stand their sharp teeth. She also needed to process the meat for them first before they could fully chew. She would give them their first taste of deer real soon.

"Okay, enough exploring," she hummed. "Let's get back to the den. Who knows the way home?," she asked. She knew of course, but she wanted to see if her pups would like it to do some tracking, plus it would be good skills for them to always know the way to the den and the clearing.

Too soon for Steph's liking, her mother was declaring that it was time to go back to the den. Steph wanted to stay and watch the huge beasts as they grazed in the valley below. They were fascinating creatures to the young pup. She looked to Valette when she asked if either of them knew the way home. Steph looked towards the tree line, but couldn't remember which way they had come out. So, she looked to her sister. Maybe Clary would remember.

"Woah," she breathed, and tipped her head to stare all the longer at the mighty beasts down in the meadow. Even once they managed to take one down together, how were they supposed to eat all that meat? Her belly sure couldn't handle that much, and she didn't think Steph or Ezra's could, either. But maybe that was why they were still so small, and mama and all others, so much bigger.

Engrossed, she heard her mama's question, but only replied with the twitch of her ear and an absent, "uh huh." The bison and deer must've been pretty dumb to live so close to them, especially since mama spoke like they were regular things to eat. If Clary knew there was something out there that wanted to eat her, she knew she wouldn't get so cozy at their feet.

She continued to stare wide-eyed until she felt the burn of a gaze upon her back. Clary turned to see her sister looking straight at her, a silent question on her face. "Oh." She flitted her attention back and forth between Steph and her ma. "Uhh." Clary turned to the stones for help, but they all looked the same. With a wild guess, she pointed vaguely to the West - away from the meadow, at least, and, all paws crossed, in the right direction. "That way?" She added a smile, cheesy and apologetic, for good measure.

Valette grinned as the watched her pups figure out the way. "Yes! To the forest," she praised both. At least it would be a good start so they would learn where their home was. They were still very small so Valette knew that with time they would easily learn it. She nudged them forward. "Follow me, little ones," she spoke and made her way through the forest to their den. Bringing them to safety. These were enough impressions for now.

- end! - <3