Moonspear shed your skin and expose your bones

It had been an unsettling set of days, though not of anyone's particular existence. The very ground had trembled beneath them, first gently, inconsistent. Enough at times on the upper reaches of the mountain that they could have questioned it being real or not. But then it had been more consistent, more real, as it were, and Dirge discovered that he cared not for the way the earth acted as though it were about to rise and walk away.

He had stayed off the upper climes, lingering close to the rendezvous den when he could not quell the sensation that something was not at all right. For all the trembling and otherworldly murmuring beneath his feet, he had not the sense to scatter from the mountain in spite of the inclination. To get out and away from the slope, from the loose stone that almost seemed looser now; to get away from the sway of trees both in their claim and not.

The children kept him grounded—rooted, even.

As they rested in the chill of the morning, having not yet started from waking dreams, he found himself studying the jagged edges of the mountain as though they were a gaping maw about to seize the sky. @Hydra had departed some time ago to stretch her legs with a sister or two in tow, which left him to watch over the ever-growing charges. An ear turned back to hear a murmuring voice, though he did not immediately discern if it were @Vega or @Osiris. It could have even been @Antares, or @Atlas, but when he tried to listen in it had ceased.

And the world turned still with it.

loosely a bwp thread i guess. tags are for visibility; this is open for anyone.

Within his limited experience and among a family that kept him very busy (mind and body, daily) it was easy enough to live in the present--though at the very same time, raised to be keen, he was quick to question the tremors and the resulting unease it sent rippling through the older wolves. He did not know the larger picture quite so clearly, but Hydra and her sisters did keep them exceptionally close.. much to the dismay of his want for expanding ranges to accompany an expanding curiosity.

Anyway, he was probably not the first, nor the noisiest, but Antares was slowly creeping into awareness from sleep on his own. He was fine just laying there a while, listening--the one ear he had turning towards the others and a wriggly nose, testing who else was awake, and who their guard was, plus whatever else he might need to know. It seemed quiet enough.

He knew each his siblings were near to their varying degrees, and in fact, at the very thought he decided to stretch and kick out away from whoever was laying nearest to him with his back paws. Antares sprawled onto his back after that with the motion, managing to angle his head towards his father, upside-down. He watched, and only smacked his dry lips, but made no other moves to get up and going so soon if there was no reason to.. yet.

He saw it then—the surly movement of someone waking. His gaze shifted once again, almost lazily as Antares pressed a paw firmly into Osiris. A paw that now had some heft behind it, a size to rival his siblings easily. It was the reaches of that gangly phase if he had ever seen it, though he couldn't remember his own. How lucky they were to have a relatively carefree childhood and not one particularly wrought with misfortune or incensed, spiteful words.

Dirge turned, coiling in closer towards the opening and huffed against the ground. A quiet invitation, should Antares desire to stir more. Though the boy seemed quite content where he was and who could blame him? The world was still, and quiet, and very much true to their father they stole whatever fleeting moments of it they could. Yet they were also the tools of his distraction then and there, and Dirge sought very much to keep his mind off the brewing calamities around them.

He tilted his head curiously, not quite mimicking the inverted view his son had.

sorry for the delay, i was hoping others would join in. :(

It was Vega that had spoken up, a complaint offered in protest in response to Osiris shoving against her. Conveniently enough, Antares delivered a kick to the offending brother, and Vega smirked. As Antares stretched, she, too, began to remove herself from the pile of bodies, electing to take to her feet and give a catlike extension of her back legs as she stepped away. All of this was accompanied by a yawn, and she seemed quite nonchalant in the moment, thoughts of the tremors far from her mind at present.

She peered up at her father, noting that Hydra was nowhere to be found but feeling safe nonetheless in Dirge's presence. She stepped towards him and offered a breathy chuff in imitation of the exhalation he had just uttered near the ground, golden gaze inquisitive.

Osiris woke unexpectedly, jostled into consciousness by the firm thrust of Antares' outstretched paw. Although the strike been direct, the tremors as of late had driven the child to believe that they were occurring once more. Drowsily, once he sat upright, he looked around the cavern, his anxiety evident as he investigated; all was calm, it seemed, and it confused him immensely. Even with the quiet tranquility, Osiris' heart raced as he watched the activity around him. Atlas and Antares were nearby, with Dirge and Vega at a distance. Osiris favored the proximity of his brothers and remained where he had woke as he attempted to make sense of what had happened. 

"Did another one happen?" Osiris asked uncertainly, his voice tired, as he looked at his father.

His vantage point remained upside-down for the time, and there was a new calculating glimmer behind the silence he presented, like he was laying in wait--which was not wrong. Though he drank it all in, perhaps overly sharp about it considering the still-quiet, he still savored these moments of peace being let be; and though it may not be an entirely original thought, he knew his father's cues well enough, and that this was fine for now.

But when Vega moved, he turned his head a bit to look her way and watch as she quietly joined them--which suited him. However in the next breath, Osiris piped up and though it was his fault for disturbing him awake in the first place, Antares gave a tired grumble as he rolled himself back to upright. If two more of them were going to stir proper, he should too. Even so, he was in no any hurry to answer his brother and was quite content to let him believe he had been an entire earth rumbling.

And as though on cue, the others began to stir. Except for Atlas—Dirge was certain that his ability to endure all came distinctly from Hydra. Or maybe it was truly from him and that nonchalant manner of simply taking them as they were. So the world quivered and trembled and shifted around them—what of it? What could they do? The thought that perhaps the still-sleeping son considered such crossed his mind and was gone, chased away by the uncertainty held so tightly in Osiris's voice.

"Only to the pile you were sleeping on," he offered, jokingly as much as it was to reassure. Antares had grumbled something in the midst but it went loosely acknowledged; he beckoned Vega closer instead, not quite ready to rise up and join the motion that was beginning its gentle undertakings. He stretched a forelimb out towards her, his tail sweeping lazily across the leaf litter.

"Your mother is out for the time being," he purled to them, "what ever shall we do?"

Osiris' question caused an uneasy flicker of Vega's ears; she glanced around, as though expecting to see the world turning upside down around her. But all was still for the moment, and Dirge reassured his brood with humor. Vega smiled and moved closer to her father, sidling up near him and briefly pressing her crown to his nearest leg before dropping to her haunches.

What would they do without Hydra there? The girl's lips pursed in thought. "Hide and seek?" she suggested, although she wasn't sure if her still-sleepy brothers would be up for the game. Of course, being Hydra and Dirge's child, she knew that the activity would also give them the opportunity to brush up on necessary skills; it would be fun and it would allow them to report their productivity to their mother upon her return.

Osiris regarded the puppy-pile with a tilt of his head,  with the answer he had been given. "Only to us?" he asked, turning to his father for clarification. Osiris' brows wrinkled as he considered the possibility further. "Is that... possible?" Before jumping to any further conclusion, he'd wait for whatever Dirge had to say. 

The mention of hide-and-seek chased away the remainder of Osiris' tiredness, and his posture straightened as he looked at his sister. "I'd be down to play," he answered with a wag of his tail.

Very happy to let the mystery of Earthquake Antares remain, and keep his satisfactions to himself, he just let it be. Any further explanation or answer on the matter would have to be up to their father. The young Ostrega was peering ahead to new possibilities soon enough, anyway; with Mom out, well, what did their opportunities behold?

He started to push himself into a more upright sit--one a step closer to springing into action, should his siblings begin to tip it towards that favor.  Perking an ear to his sister as he did, he piped in simply soon enough: Yeah, he spoke. Hide, suggesting his agreement with such, following a little nod towards his littermates who also seemed agreeable to the game. He would seek, too, if he had to, but his preference was obvious there already.

When he saw that everyone seemed to be in agreement, only then did he move forward again. He was in good spirits, and eager to explore their bounds with his family.