Sawtooth Spire All that you are is all that I'll ever need.

First invitation to leave the den! All welcome, but please let the puppers post first.  :D

Nyx peered beyond the mouth of her cave, judging the weather that morning while her little daughters continued to sleep. The day was young and bright, holding promise of a warm Summer afternoon, and the lioness was keen to make the most of it. Hawkish eyes turned toward the cubs again, sweeping warmly over the rise and fall of Ciri's dark flank before lingering fondly on the charcoal peppering of @Elke's dorsal.

Still, no matter the growth of attitudes that would likely be the source of many a headache as they aged, she adored them. That love bloomed in new ways each and every day, in manners she'd been reluctant to think possible. They brought out the good in her and, more than anything, Nyx hoped to be the best version of herself - for them.

The tawny Ostrega stepped closer to the two snoozing babes and dipped her muzzle, careful as she pressed her snout between them. Breathing deep, she stole a whiff of that soft baby scent she'd come to love, and nudged each puppy with an affectionate croon. "Today's a big day," she told them when they'd roused enough to (hopefully) pay some semblance of attention to her, "we're going outside."

She gestured toward the daylight that spilled into their burrow, then turned to meander toward it with a happy sweep of her feathered tail. "Come on," she beckoned, hopeful that there would be no fear from them. With one last glance over her shoulder, the lioness slipped into the wide world that her children would soon see for the first time.

She began to rouse at the nudgings of another, though tightened her stormy eyes shut in reluctance to rise. Ciri grumbled inwardly and curled closer to herself, though ultimately blinked awake as the pestering dared to continue for a moment longer. Her glare was pointed at first to Elke, who she'd been snuggled alongside - clearly she was to blame for such intrusion. Sluggish but frustrated, the dark Ostrega shifted to reach out to her sister with a well-aimed paw in attempt to punish her in a direct smack to the brow.

Their mother then attempted to gather the pups' attention, and Ciri's gaze shifted to look upon the adult's familiar face. She pulled herself up onto her oversized paws and turned toward her as she stepped aside, curious and eager to follow. Padding along obediently (and clumsily) at Nyx' heels, she stalled at the entrance of the family's cave. It was not a pause out of fear - Ciri was anything but afraid - and she took a moment to squint against the bright sunlight as she looked around the clearing before her.

"Oooo," she hummed with excited anticipation as she zoned in on a particularly interesting pebble, one that glinted and shimmered on the ground, and did not hesitate in moving to gather it into her mouth.

@Mahler, mind getting her back on the roster for me? :)

 

A coo, a grovel, stirred from the creamy lips of the little Elke. Her mother's warm nose brushing between the two sisters which lay together. Elke steals a quick lick to her mother's maw, wondering if it was time to eat - there was two ways of eating given not her mother, she had come to learn. Though it was not time for food. She spoke of outside. She had spoken of this before and how it was not time, even though Elke had a time or two on wobbled legs tried to reach this 'outside'. 

Yawning, she is met with a rather large brown paw, which pushes against her brow. Elke protects, biting and drooling at her sister's limb till it is retreated and she too then would lift herself up off he paws. She is as eager as her sister, if not more, and goes running after her mother at the first opportunity given to see this 'outside'. 

Quickly however, she is blinded. The light of day stinging her pale puppy blues. She beats her eyelids wildly, trying then to shield her bleached out face into the foreleg of her mother. Mmmmrrrrr....

it was a haggard-looking man that trailed up through sagtannet to meet his young family. wintersbane was disappeared completely; mahler tried not to think of what might have happened to the man. the pack now belonged to he and wylla, and he had given much time to the pondering of their dynamic.
he came upon them as nyx' gilded fur caught the light, and approached with waving plume to greet her. "it is a good day," mahler said softly, before he turned a craggy grin upon elke. "it is a big vorld, honigfrosch," the gargoyle murnured, before his lavender gaze swept to ciri.
she had found a fascinating rock; mahler watched carefully as his spawnling mouthed the hard surface. "ciri, mein entdecker," the eisen murnured, worried despite himself, "vhat have you got?"

The girls were swift at her heels, spilling from the den mouth and into the bright world that awaited them. Nyx paused just beyond the threshold to sweep her yellow gaze after the bold Ciri, who padded comically ahead.

Elke's initial confidence, on the other hand, seemed to take a nosedive. The palest of the pair thrust herself against her mother's forelimb and Nyx, distracted by her daughter's distress, diverted her attention from Ciri at once - missing the cub's attempt to choke herself to death by pebble consumption.

Thankfully, Mahler's arrival came just in time to intervene. After a warm greeting, he caught sight of the rogue child as she gathered a stone into her maw, and moved to intervene. While he attended to their second-born, Nyx focused on their first. "How about we stick to the shade," the mother suggested, dipping her head to deliver a reassuring lick to the base of her daughter's ear, before she stepped carefully away to lead her in the direction of a tree's shadow.

The stone was a large one, thankfully too large to lodge itself someplace dangerous. Ciri made a good effort of testing the texture of it though, unsure if she liked the roughness on her tongue of the sound her teeth made on connection.

Still, it was hers, and as her father veered her way she felt her grip tighten. Stormy blue eyes narrowed, the dark-furred infant gave a funny little rumbling growl as Mahler drew closer - a warning to him, just as she did when Elke dared to get too close to what was hers.

The infant let herself soften when words, not physical intervention, floated her way. In an instant her grumpiness vanished, and she turned toward her adult lookalike with a cheerful wiggle of her scruffy little tail. Unwilling to drop her prize just yet, Cirilla peeled her lips back to let him see, yet hovered on the edge of uncertainty should he choose to rob her.

The world was bright, big, beautiful and scary all at once. Thoughts which she could not yet put into words. In fact, she couldnt put much of anything into words just yet. 

Her pale cheek pressed to her mother's ankle, she is quiet swift to notice the arrival of another. A wolf large like his mother yet more so and with a voice far more gruff. She knew this wolf, somehow. Scent told her this much and his inviting smile caused her little white tail to wave. 

Her mother was licking at her ears, reassuring her and as she moved Elke would of course follow suit. To the shade of a tree they went and Elke's eyes blinked rapidly, getting a better sense now of the world around her. Bushes, trees, rocks, dirt... yet all again words she didnt have. Her sister played with a new toy and the large dark wolf. Elke was happy at her mother's side and only wa as directed when she took in just how big the tree was she sat under. 

Head lifted up, viewing the truck, the branches... so far up her head went to view it that she found herself falling right over.

mahler grinned despite himself as ciri warned him. a fierce little person already. well suited to sagtannet and the moniker given to the pair by their mother: cubs. he peered closer, satisfying himself that she could not choke on her chosen toy, and then rocked back onto his haunches. "ein kleiner stein," the gargoyle commented. 
"nur kröten schlucken steine," he joked affably, stepping away after nyx and elke with a glance to see that ciri followed with her prize.

Little Elke padded along at her heels, and seemed content to settle in the cool shade of the tree that loomed over them. Nyx lowered to her belly and smiled toward her porcelain daughter, admired the suggestion of incoming golden furs that peppered her tiny and reflected dappled light. A soft sweep of her feathered tail across the grass invited the girl closer, and when she drew close enough the lioness shifted to bump her snout affectionately to an alabaster cheek.

Toxic gaze swept briefly in the direction of her rogue child, thankful to have Mahler drop by just in time to witness and assist with this first venture beyond the whelping hollow. She enjoyed watching him interact with the girls, though was quietly disappointed that Ciri seemed to favour his presence over her own.

When her attention turned once more to Elke, she followed the youngster's stormy gaze upward. Proud, strong branches swayed in the Summer breeze; "it is very tall, isn't it?"

There was a grumble in the little snow's throat, a pleasurable sound to the affection of her mother. Whilst her sister was much more interested in knowing the new man they had majorly known by scent and voice, Elke was content to stay close to whom she knew well and trusted- her mother. 

Scrambling to her little paws, Elke nods silently to her mother's words and finds herself plopping back in a lazy sit, which would have her spine leaning against her mother's side as those paled cloudy blue eyes stared up at the world around her.

he led ciri to where nyx and elke had gone off to explore, marvelling at the tree now ringed by wolves. "a strong giant," he agreed upon the tail end of her words. "he has a role to play like everyvone in sagtannet," mahler added, letting his gaze linger on nyx a long moment before he looked to their pair. "you are like little trees. vone day you vill be large."

Satisfied that her father held no intention of stealing her prize away for himself, Ciri let her scruffy little tail wag at her rear. Tufted, raven ears pricked when he spoke to her in a tongue that was not that of her mother, but one she'd heard her whole life. 

Though she couldn't understand the words or the meaning behind them, the littlest Ostrega responded to the familiarity of their tone. Stone still clutched firm between her teeth, she pressed forward and after the adult as he turned away toward Nyx and Elke who took shelter nearby.

They spoke of trees, she gathered, and cast her stormy gaze upward to look upon the vibrant shades of their leaves. The branches rustled in the breeze and Ciri cooed enthusiastically, enraptured by the noise they made.

A purr too came from the lips of Elke aa it mimicked her sisters. The tree was large, strong, like her parents said and one day too they would be big and strong. Maybe just not that big. But Elke couldnt help but think how pretty the tree was. The sweet smell of sap it had, the bright and vibrant colors of its leaves, the rustling of the branches and of course, how well it shaded them in the bright like. It cloaked them all much like time and time before her mother had shielded them against her belly. 

Her thoughts went on, still far too young to place them into any words. She smiles and yawns, content to keep snuggling against her mother and enjoy the open air.

mahler too was transfixed by the tree, but moreso the little family that had gathered beneath it. he stood silent a moment, pensive — he considered something he had not before. in the next moment the gargoyle settled close, pawed at ciri, inviting her closer while he began to talk of trees again, a tentative contentment slipping over him.