Moonspear inflection

It'd been a few days since he had seen @Gannet. Maybe the male had simply stayed clear of the pups because he didn't want to be in the way, but maybe something else was going on. Charon had been pretty certain that this thrall would take his duties seriously — that he would stay. To find him gone for a bit made Charon feel itchy, especially considering the big chunk that had been taken out of his pack's member base with the recent betrayal. Not many had come since and he didn't mind -- he was fine with their smaller, but solid base consisting largely of his children, especially with the young pups around, vulnerable as they were -- but neither did he want to lose the members they had left.

As he guarded @Amekaze and the pups that morning Charon felt the itch to go and look where Gannet'd gone, see if he could find anything, at least, a trace. He considered calling @Hydra and @Lyra but did not for now, deciding it could wait and anyway, he'd likely see them soon regardless as they would at times take over his duties to guard -- along with @Vela and @Jarilo -- just like last year so that he could get a bit of rest and some food for Amekaze. These weeks were particularly vulnerable so maybe it was best to wait a little with starting a search. Meanwhile he idly wondered how @Lucy was coming along, as he had not seen her proper since she had joined; hopefully Lyra had patched her up a bit by now so that she could contribute to the pack. And what of @Drogon? He had not seen his daughter's love interest for a while, but perhaps he, too, had steered clear of the pup den knowing that it was not yet his time to help look after them.

A moment of his inflection time on guard was given to the departed girl -- he'd already forgotten her name -- as well as Dune, the latter stinging especially much. He could not help but wonder why Dune'd left, for he had been so loyal from the start. Had he been taken or killed somehow?

A soft sigh brought the father to look back towards the den, where the soft mewls of puppies sounded, bringing him back to the present.

tags for reference, all welcome :D

✴        It had been eighteen days since he had slid from the black void, and found this place of light. Until now he had been ignorant to what this new existence entailed; for the most part, he was still oblivious to the bulk of it. But the child's awareness increased with each day, and soon his capabilities did as well. He was often jockeying for a position upon the void-mother and would settle there to feast, kicking at anything that came between him and his food. Today was no different; he had feasted until milk dribbled from his lips and he felt ready to explode.

The change happened gradually, and it happened in accordance to a timetable he adhered to unknowingly - over the course of the morning his eyes began to peek open. It wasn't really seeing, because his lashes still blocked much of the light, and he had no way of discerning exactly what was going on. But by midday, as he woke from his milk-bliss and squalled against the sleeping pile of his siblings, it was clear his eyes were open and in their darkness was an ocean's mighty shine.

For others of her age, this magical thing called eyesight may have been considered an awesome and intriguing new part of life. For Yami, it was just an annoyance. An annoyance among many, many such annoyances. Even at such a very young age, the teensy Ostrega could not help but feel frustrated by the strange sense of lacking in her life. Not that life was lacking, but that she was lacking in her ability to make the most of it. She had been given touch and feel and sight, but she could touch so little, feel so little, and see only a blur of so very little. Even then, she had some vague sense that there was more, and a very strong sense of the annoyance of her limitations.

So, as usual, when one of her lumpy, squirmy, irritating siblings shifted and squalled, Yami met the disruption with an onslaught of grumpy squeaks and grunts of her own. She reached with gaping jaws out into the blurry void, seeking the source of her frustration to give it a good chomp. Chomping was the only thing she had determined she was able to do to cope with the world, and so she chomped as much and as often as she could. Today she chomped the other squeaker to her left - a brother, also known as the lumpy blur that was light than the other lumpy blurs. Her gums found a shoulder and she went to work on it furiously, nibbling and licking and chomping at it while continuing her own squalls that suddenly and inexplicably fell into a rythymn, unconsciously becoming just an echo of his.

Charon turned 'round to look at the pups wriggling round in the den. One seemed particularly loud, screaming at its siblings as if something really important was going on. Upon closer inspection Charon saw that little Uyo Revui's eyes had opened and he smiled as he watched the youngest of his brood. "Tough guy, huh?" the guardian murmured at him. The way his grey fur was taking shape reminded him of Levi -- also the reason for his name -- though this guy's personality wasn't much like it so far.

One of the twins was up and about too and she found Revui's shoulder soon. Charon moved to the entrance of the den where he settled on the ground to watch the pair of them, content just to watch them for now.

✴        The ability he had discovered did not amount to much yet, and so the child stared in to the abyss without really seeing anything. He felt his siblings moving around him - likely awakened by his thunderous voice - and then he was twinning with Yami, and together they produced quite a racket. When Yami grew tired of this they turned upon Revui, and the silver boy felt the pressure of his sibling's mouth upon his shoulder. Unhappy with this sudden betrayal, his pitch changed and then there was a sudden silence — he rolled towards the shoulder, towards his sibling, and smacked in to Yami with his face and paws. Those little stubs were flailing about as they connected, doing very little damage but still attempting to put a stop to the strange wet feeling that overtook Revui's poor shoulder.

By the time she got some results out of her efforts, Yami had forgotten what her original intention even was. This shoulder tasted funny, and that was suddenly quite fascinating. Plus it kept moving around, and that was a challenge. Yami liked challenges, in spite of being easily frustrated. She's a conundrum to me still.

When the shoulder rolled away, Yami let out a bray of irritation. She surged forward on her own stumpy legs in pursuit, but was battered by Revui's flailing limbs. She squeaked indignantly and attempted to nab one out of the air. It wasn't too impressive of an effort. Mostly she just bobbed her head back and forth in the air with jaws open wide and tongue waggling, squawking each time her nose was smacked by a foot.

feel free to skip Charon unless he is interacted with :)

Charon watched as Revui battled Yami to get her off, excited to see that both of them were not giving up too easily. His brood should be strong and steadfast and so far both of them showed such qualities. Charon was determined that this year his pups would grow up strong in physique and mind both. "Come on, you can do it," Charon encouraged to neither of them in particular, edging both of them on -- though he knew they could not hear him nor understand him yet.

✴        Revui was oblivious to the fact he'd escaped the jaws of doom, but he yowled softly in protest still, annoyed that he was damp and not liking the chill of the air upon his fur and flesh. When his sibling struggled to get close again (but did so successfully) with a grab to his flailing paws, he let out a sharp yip — and then, not knowing his own strength, punched Yami in the fact with his other limbs almost instantly. He felt a connection and then tried again, flailing and punching, eager to be free.

Yami didn't need her father's encouragement to keep at the attack. Her personality dictated that she persist, and so she did. A little growl rumbled from her throat as she tried to nab his paw. It turned into a sharp squeak when instead of finding toes in her mouth, she found them slapping hard against her face. She backed off briefly from the shock of such a vicious attack, but was quick to swing her head back around and barrel towards her brother like a tiny bulldozer.

With interest the father watched, a smile on his face as he saw the two pups fight it out. He didn't interfere, simply enjoying the moment of peace while they pitted against each other rather than him or Ame. They needed this to grow strong, and he knew that they would considering they were already so active now. For now, he simply watched, content enough.