Redhawk Caldera pupsicles

Although meteorology wasn't Raven's calling, how the climate affected her family most certainly fell under her purview as the pack's resident medic. When the temperatures plunged and then stayed put at subzero levels, she worried not only about the newborns but the rest of the pack as well. A solitary wolf could freeze to death in these conditions all too easily. Ideally, everyone in the pack should bundle together in one place. But the whelping den was much too small to accommodate all of them, despite the pack's small size.

She couldn't help but think of the cave where the pack had gone to ground during that terrible summer storm when Nightjar, Wildfire and herself had been kids. (Unbeknownst to her, they had also fled there during the locust swarm.) It was a large underground space. It would not be warm by any stretch of the imagination but it would be a few degrees higher than this above-ground den. Also, they could all fit down there together and huddle close, sharing body heat.

Raven thought about all of this even as she distractedly did her best to keep the pups warm and fed. Their eyes were beginning to open. Although she fretted about moving them at this age and in these conditions—they could very well die of exposure en route—the Gamma couldn't help but voice her thoughts as soon as she, @Elwood and @Finley were in the den at the same time.

"Uncle El? Aunt Flea? I'm worried about this cold," she began. She frowned, weighing the possible risks and rewards in her mind. If they didn't relocate, they would be leaving @Eljay, @Charlotte, @Gannet, Lagan and @Liffey out in the cold (literally). If they did attempt to move, @Orca, @Oriole, @Phox, @Titmouse and @Towhee might not survive the trip. "Speaking as a caregiver, I really think we ought to move," Raven decided hesitantly. "What do you think?"