the beauty and the beast

I wanted Gali to meet the pups before the Sveijarns decide they move out :'(

Today Galileo's heart ached. Again he had begun to ponder about his past while he tried to nap in his den. He had tried to ignore the thoughts of his family members, but the memories kept crawling back everytime he let his guard now. He remembered the horrid dream he had had of his sister not more than a month ago, when the eclipse took over the sun.

But right now it wasn't Audrey who pestered his thoughts. It was the phantom of his father that haunted his dreams and ruined the moment of peace he had been seeking for. After the whole drama with the Sunspire had died out, Galileo had found it hard to rest. The peppered male felt the need to patrol more often, now even the smallest sound would disturb his sleep.

And now it was no different. He rose hastily with his face contorted into a frown. There was no worse nightmare for Galileo than the image of his father. He was the reason the man had so desperately tried to get rid of his heritage. With his spirit dragging behind him, Galileo broke into a run, that without him planning to, led him to the Sveijarn home.

As he approached the sound of cooing and giggling reached his ears. The sound of youth was one Galileo couldn't help but smile at. Once at the entrance he sat slowly, his eyes trained on the little shadows that flashed past the door every now and then.

"Knock, knock", he barked softly, in case one of the parents was in.

Nightmares were something yet unknown to the Sveijarn's litter middle child. She had never expirienced the horrors the mind could bring on itself, even with the numerous hours of sleeping she had everyday in her agenda, not even the faintest image of terror had entered her dreams. Still even if it had happen it was highly unlikely the young redhead would be able to remember.

At a month old, Maera had added more words to her vocabulary, now she didn't rely on charades to get her point across. Even so, it was sometimes hard for others to understand her --which was both frustrating and infuriating for the little fireball-- because she spoke very fast and to be honest her pronunciation wasn't the best.
But that never stopped her, as her siblings and parents --and probably everyone on at a mile radius-- knew she was very vocal. Every little action and reaction earned a little squeak or yelp from the girl.

Today however, the little girl was laying quietly in one of the corners of the den. The eerie silence was due to the fact that Maera had her mouth busy with something else. A small stick that had been placed by the wind at the mouth of the den, was her new victim. She gnawed happily at the small piece of wood while keeping her eyes on the lookout for a potential ambush from her siblings. If there was something Maera didn't like --aside from baths -- it was sharing.

She was so concentrated though, on keeping the stick from her siblings, that the soft voice of the male made her heart jump out of place. Her ears were pinned to the side of her head and her eyes widened as if she had seen a monster.

"Juu?", she called to her sister, even if calling her could mean loosing possesion of her stick she wanted her frost coated sibling by her side.

Little Val snoozed in the back of the den, curled up comfortably upon the deerskin rug Bazi had given his mother. Every now and then he would whimper and kick his paws, lips twitching as he dreamed. Only good things swam in his mind. The swaying sweet grass. The smell of his mother and father. The dragonflies flirting with the clover. Few things worried the youngster and he was completely unaware of the dire complications Swiftcurrent endured. The children had never met Fox... didn't know what Sunspire was. The tribulations his parents faced seemed so far away, and Valtýr was a shining light of unadulterated innocence. It was partially due to the sheltering of his parents, but the supportive Swiftcurrent wolves had a hand in it too. Good-natured visits from the others supercharged their learning, and the Sveijarn children bloomed with the resilience and vibrancy of wildflowers.

A deep voice roused Valtýr from his nap, and he lazily looked to the mouth of the den. 'Juu,' Maera called to Jökull, wanting their bold sister by her side. The red girl was a chatter box, and though Valtýr was much more reserved than Maera, his vocabulary grew by leaps and bounds each day. "Mae," Valtýr whispered as he stood, trotting with little wobbly steps towards the mouth of the den. Something was familiar about that platinum silhouette... and suddenly he remembered.

"Gali!" Valtýr squealed, bounding towards the older wolf who had once visited the den. Tuwawi had mentioned something like Bazi and Galileo as the two had departed that one morning, and the names had been committed to Valtýr's growing encyclopedia of knowledge.

A little grrr reached his black-tipped ears as he peered over the entrance of the den, followed by a voice that could only belong to a baby girl. He had not yet met the rest of the litter, he had only had the pleasure of meeting the first born son of the pair, Valtyr. Another voice echoed on the den, and though he didn't know it it belonged to the boy he had already met

Slowly Galileo poked his nose at the entrance of the den, sniffing curiously at the little creatures that occupied the den.It was then that the little boy screamed his name. The sound of it was pleasant to his ears, he had forgotten how wonderful puppies were. They were literally like little adults that learned quickly and as much as one would like to hold them forever, they grew into real adults in just a blink of an eye.

"Hey little man", he barked as he greeted the boy with a nudge of his cold nose. He did not know the names of any of the pups yet.

The sound of pawsteps grew stronger outside the den, and the little red baby only ducked her head and clutched her stick with her oversized paws. Before she could take a peak of what was happening at the door, her older brother -- Valtyr-- beat her to it. She thought it was going to be like the beetle thing all over again. That he'd discover something magnificent and require her company to catch it.

She stood too, though feeling a little hesitation about leaving her stick unguarded. But Val's excited shriek made her mind forget about the existense of her toy. Inmidiately she wobbled to the door, her tail curled over her back and her ears pricked attentively.

What stood at the door was no bug. It was an enormous wolf with a dusty coat hanging from his body. If it weren't because her bro showed some kind of affection towards the stranger, Maera would've pee'd herself. He was really big; but if Val was ok with him, then... why should't she? "Val hoo?", she called to her littermate, wanting to have him introduce her to the gentle giant.

The older wolf greeted him warmly, and Valtýr was completely won over for the second time. He giggled as he stood on his unsteady hind legs, dancing to try and lick the granite colored wolf's chin... but all he tasted was air. It did not dussuay him, however, and he pranced expectantly... maybe he was here to bring them more food?!? In his peripheral, Maera approached with caution. Oh right... she hadn't met Galileo yet. Val hoo? she asked her older brother with a look of suspeicious tonwards the stranger.

"Mae, is Gali!" he explained, gesturing to the massive adult. Valtýr then looked towards Galileo. "Maes ma sis!" he announced with pride "she bwave!" The eldest Sveijarn had no problem bagging about his little sister's prowess. "You wanna restl?" he asked the man as he leaned upon one of Galileo's trunk-like forelegs.

The male's amber eyes fell upon the little creature scrambling before his paws, his tiny pink tongue flicked out of his mouth reaching nothing but thin air. The sight of the boy greeting him so warmly made Galileo's heart crumble. He couldn't believe these babies would soon be taken away. Unable to voice their opinion they had to tag along with their father and mother, and though he was sure that wherever they ended up they'd grow into fine individuals he was sad he wouldn't see them grow.

Suddenly another little face poked out of the den, though it held more doubt than excitement. Galileo lowered his neck and blinked slowly at the baby girl that peeked out of the little burrow. The little boy spoke to her before he could,babbling to her what could only be an introduction --that was then directed at him too."Hello Mae," he cooed, while smiling at her, "You're very pretty" he said in while giving a last glance at her. She wore Tuwawi's same fiery dress.

These kids didn't know anything different from love. They had the fortune of having a wonderful set of loving parents and a whole pack to cherish them. Galileo hadn't been so fortunate, and though he remembered his childhood with a smile, he wished to tell these children to cling to their youth. Sadly he did not think they'd understand the urgency of his words yet.

They only wanted to play. When the boy suggested a game, Galileo lowered himself to the ground being happy to oblige in the boy's desires. He laid on the ground with his paws outstretched and a bright smile on his aged face. "I sure do!" he barked sweetly before thumping one of his paws against the dirt as if to encourage the boy to do the honors of starting.

Her own little eyes danced across his face as he lowered himself to face her. His eyes were suprisingly big and the wrinkles around his eyes created an interesting pattern for her to look at. She barely even turned her head to face her brother when the names were being exchanged. Gali, she liked it.

Before she could yell out a greeting she had learned when meeting Shadow, the runaway guy, the peppered male spoke on his own. She little fire babe lost her mind when the stranger pronounced her name. Without wasting another second she jumped up and gave the older male a broad smile that exposed her collection of pearly daggers.

But if she had though that him saying her name was amusing she hadn't seen the best of it. When he commented on her pretty looks the girl looked at the ground briefly before puffing up her chest --as if the compliment had been absorbed into her chest. While her pronunciation might not be top notch, her quick ability to recognize words was outstanding. After the ego boost provided Maera tried to sniff the old man's huge paws but he was distracted by Val who suggested a game.

Hey! She wanted to play too!
She jerked her head back and forth from Val to Gali, her little round eyes blinking at each of them with curiosity. "Wrrrrrresl me" she hissed while beginning to shake her booty little worm-like tail.

Galileo consented AND Maera joined in too! Valtýr's little tail wagged so fast that is looked like just a blur. How fun this was! Suddenly, Galileo batted one broad paw against the ground which sent the boy into a fit of squealing giggles. "Ima gonna get yuuuu!" he screeched as he danced around Galileo, showing off some fancy (ie clumsy and slow) maneuvers. Yes... the time to attack the giant was right! "Mae lets gettimmm!" he shouted a la Braveheart as he threw himself at the watchful man. Val reared up on his back feet, ready to conquer this foe, but barely reached Gali's elbow. He was a massive creature, at least to the toddlers, but they didn't let that slow the down...

Maera's smile melted the male's heart, he had forgotten how beautiful the innocence of a child could be. For a brief second her joyful expression transported him back to his childhood, and made him feel he was a child. Another part of his brain could've sworn the little babe's expression was the spitting image of Audrey --except her beloved sister wasn't drapped in flames; he quickly dismissed the thought mostly because it lately he had felt sick every time his deceased sibling came to mind.

He focused instead on the little creatures in front of him, he dedicated a big smile at the two and wiggled his toes tentatively for them. It was then when the girl let out a mighty howl that demanded she was included in the game. The peppered male moved his other paw closer to her and tapped the ground softly while Valtyr offered an alliance against him. He smiled and shook his shoulder softly as the boy tumbled on him.

While big bro began waltzing around Galileo's toes Maera wagged her tail and watched the extraordinary --in her mind at least -- coordination of her brother's dance. She watched him collide with the old man's shoulder with her bright eyes that got even wider as her own brother turned to her and included her in the game.

An innevitable shudder took hold of her body as she prepared to jump into action, it'd be like the Beetle Battle all over again, instead this time it was highly unlikely Valtyr would end up squishing the peppered male. She barked and growled while trying to --poorly-- imitate some of Val's fancy footwork.

It was then that the enormous male they had taken as a toy extended his other leg towards her with a kind smile. She curled her lip and exposed her tiny yet sharp milk-teeth while she growled in a friendly manner.

Then without further ado, she dove for his paws and wrapped her jaws as best as she could around his gigantic paw. "Bite 'im " she commanded on the split second she stopped gnawing at his toes to get air.