Hushed Willows how came her eyes so bright? not with salt tears:

she understands the facts of the matter, but she has neglected to give much thought to the many implications besides. for now, she is content not to; is it not better only to cross bridges when one comes to them? brooding and speculation is dangerous, certainly, she knows its dangerous and will not brood on this thing, which surely should be happy. she continues to hunt, to scout for recruits, patrol the borders and sort the caches as she has since joining Swiftcurrent, but today her paws take her further than she normally slips from the pack borders. 

despite the inherent wrongness of it, she slips into the territory. just because the borders here are not enforced does not mean she doesn't feel the stringing prick of wariness up and down her spine all the same, but her intent blocks out most of the discontent. she pauses and calls for @Sunny, thinking that this certainly would be easier than traipsing through the willows.

His daughter was home. The fact still dazed him and he found himself constantly keeping her alone or all three close by his side. Today he had been playing with all three pups outside the den when he heard a call from the voice he didn't even realise he had been wanting to hear most. He perked up and began to hurry away when he realised the pups were his to watch for the moment. He nudged @Valiant, @Minnow and @Aeryn to their paws "stay close" he said and herded them in front, slowly moving toward the sound. He immediately noticed she had trespassed and froze, blinking as he almost instinctively crouched defensively closer to the pups before he realised it was Dawn again. "Dawn" he said gently his eyes misting over. "How are you?" he asked once he had gotten over the surge of warmth and simultaneous pain, His eyes drifting down to the pups and he lowered his nose to them, nuzzling them lovingly before nosing them to stand in front of him "Valiant, Minnow and Aeryn. They're my children" 


He stood there nervously unsure if he had done the right thing in introducing them. Was she alright? Had she come for something urgent? Would she be proud of him?

they were bigger than she'd thought they'd be - had it truly been so long since she'd last seen her brother? the past few weeks had passed in a haze, it seemed. she paused in her step, smile bitting at the corners of her muzzle as she surveyed first her brother and then the three bundled close to his feet. "well." she answered easily enough, but her focus was on the children, now, and she eased herself onto her stomach, the movement slightly ungainly. her gaze flicked to her brother's with a grin before settling on the children, muzzle stretched toward them but at a distance she hoped wouldn't frighten them. "hello," she offered, and stilled.

She didn’t like being pushed around by the bigger wolf and she yipped in protest but in the end moved forward but she made it known that it was because she wanted to as she trotted forward with her siblings only to be met by another big wolf.

Shw looked a lot like her dad and as she watched the wolf lower herself minnow was the first to approach. She was so confident as she stepped forward but as she did so tripped a bit over her own paws and fell back into a sitting position.

There was something about Dawn that Valiant trusted instantly and implicitly. He tripped toward her with his tail wiggling excitedly, and stopped to gaze up at her face. Something shot through him — affection, understanding, recgonition — and then passed just as quickly, leaving him with an adoring but confused expression on his young face.

He woofed at her and pounced on one of her sturdy paws, rubbing his face against the strange scent of her fur.

he did not protest when their father gently guided the trio towards the border. although he’d gotten more brave when he strayed from the den, he was still hesitant. but when his family was with him (even minnow was there now!) he always felt safe.

a visitor awaits them. unlike his siblings, aeryn didn’t jump to greet her. he was a timid thing, always retreating into himself. he offers a soft smile and mutters, hi...

His gaze kept sweeping over her as if something were different and it took him a while to realise the beginning of the rounding at her abdomen. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to ask if she was pregnant, he had seen enough of it here in Elysium and with Aliac to think he could recognise it but for some reason it was hard to imagine Dawn, his hard working, responsible sister pregnant. A part of him became excited at the prospect of her being pregnant, him being an uncle while she became an aunt. He held it in, distracted by Minnow tumbling forward to meet her aunt, Valiant following with an immediate affection that made him grin eyes swimming with pride. Then he noticed little Aeryn shyly greeting Dawn and he lowered his nose, nuzzling his son reassuringly "This is my sister, your Aunt. She's one of my favorite people" he said soothingly. He wished Aliac were here to say hi too but she needed rest and he had a feeling that Dawn was here for a reason, the reason being something he know had an idea of. "So...did you just come to say hello?" he asked with a smile his tail swaying "Not that I'm complaining. I've missed you" he added in a warm tone.

the palest of them leaps forward to greet her, and for a moment her heart grows tight with love. "hello, valiant," she murmurs, planting a kiss on the child's forehead and grinning rather stupidly. he's adoring yet a touch confused, and she watches him play with her forepaw joyfully. the other child - Aeryn - doesn't quite approach but offers a small greeting, to which she responds with a wag of her tail and a "hi" in turn. 

her attention turns to her brother now, and she replies, "more or less. I wanted to let you know - I live at Swiftcurrent, now. and I found Aditya." let him make his own conclusions about the father of her pups. she wasn't proud of it, but nor would she try and hide the obvious answer.

His ears perk as she says where she's staying and then the last part sank in. For a moment he remained silent processing it his eyes darting to the roundness of her abdomen and going wide and then all at once his posture softened. He smiled "They're a good pack. I'm glad Aditiya is alright, I ran into him a while back...we parted...neutrally" he said genuinely, not saying he was happy for her or mentioning what he thought of her relationship to him. There was a certain calmness in his tone that showed he knew though and unable to help himself he pushed just a bit "Good hunting there?" his tone teasing, just a bit. Oh God what if she was just fat and he was wrong? The thought occurred too late.

neutrally is better than what she'd expected, and more or less what they've come to now - in fact, he's been distant as of late. perhaps it's better that way. he's teasing, and though she'd lost much of who she was in her youth she's not entirely stiff. "yes - there's a large herd, and - are you saying I look fat?" she morphs her face into something resembling great offense, careful not to appear too upset for the pups are still near.

He snorted, chuckling and thinking she was teasing him back before realising that she was serious, his eyes quickly widening as he stammered for a moment. "I thought you were pregnant" he finally ended up saying, not making anything much better "I was trying to tease, keep things light" he added still eyeing her warily as if unsure of her mood. He truly didn't understand why women thought they looked awful when pregnant, he thought it was amazing to see a woman carrying his child.

she's not able to hold the expression long, and a grin cracks across her muzzle. "I am, Sunny." is all she says, and pokes her muzzle at him playfully. she's careful not to dislodge the child at her paws, grinning two at the other boy - Aeryn. it feels different, somehow, to have nieces and nephews instead of more siblings.

His ears shoot up as he sees her expression soften and he laughs, reaching out and bumping her playfully with his muzzle. Then he realises what that means and he sobers a bit as he processes the emotions. A father and an uncle....his family would live on and grow for a long time. He felt warmth grow inside of him and he smiled at her, eyes bright "Congratulations Dawn....please tell me we can keep close? The pups can know one another" he asked softly, hopefully. He motioned to the trees surrounding them "you're welcome here any time...but if you want to just raise your own separate family I understand.  I'll just stick to visiting when I really miss you"  he spoke warmly and with a genuine calm that said he wouldn't be mad or hurt. He understood...He had wanted his own family more than anything upon realising that he loved Aliac. A chance to start on his own and have a family the right way with as little problems as possible. He looked down to see that Aeryn had relaxed a bit and Minnow was sitting nicely by his paws and felt himself relax, happy that his kids liked her so much.

she complies easily with his request. "of course, Sunny - I would never distance my family from yours. if it could, they'd be together." she'd wanted to give him space, after what she'd done, but now that they existed on entirely amiable terms and Aditya had more or less faded into the background, she truly wished she could up and move close to him. perhaps, she mused, she ought to have done so initially. but what was done was exactly that, and she would not leave Kavik without fulfilling her vow. it disturbed her, then, that he believes she might want to keep her own family separate from his, a chill that settles along her spine. she doesn't say aloud how she feels, however, and says, "you should come visit, when they're old enough. it isn't that far." 

It was reassuring in a way that she agreed so quickly and he felt bad for thinking that she hadn't wanted to be as close as they once had been. It was then that he began to realise that it was only his mind that kept making him believe nobody wanted to be around. "I will...I definitely will. I should probably bring them back toward the den before they get any ideas about wandering though." he said and flashed a smile full of humor "If you want you can rest up, eat something before you head out?" he was sure that Lily and Olive wouldn't mind his offering this one bit, in fact he could imagine the women doing it themselves. He gently draped a paw over Valiant as he tried to make a quick grab for Dawn's leg and pulled him back, chuckling "easy kiddo" he murmured and looked back up at Dawn, opening his mouth to say that he was really glad she came but instead he just smiled and stood up. It wasn't necessary, he was sure she could see how happy her visit had made him.