Sawtooth Spire stealing bathrobes from the sheraton hotel

"Nnnnnggg..." Sitamat experimented. The hum in his throat tickled, and the soft droning sounds he made dissolved into a fit of giggles. He had heard his brothers making the same sounds earlier and, while he had been none too eager to move then, he wanted to try now. He was near the rear of the den, turned away from the entrance and facing the back wall as if sulking. He was doing anything but.

"Rrrnnn," he tried again, clenching his tiny teeth together as his throat vibrated. Now that his eyes were almost fully open and his hearing had improved significantly, the last born was growing more and more curious about the world. He turned his head to see if anyone else had stirred and wanted to join in on his noise-making.

Dad snatch!

The boys were starting to make sounds. He could hear it, from where he lay, basking in the afternoon glow as they all exercised their vocal chords. It was exciting. They were quickly growing into young versions of themselves. His eagerness to meet them all was paramount. Respectfully, he continued to linger outside of the den, but the time for Dad to start playing a role was coming and quickly. As Tonravik was instinctual, so too would his own version of that soon loose patience and take over. For now, he could entertain himself by remaining on the outside, looking in.

This time? There was more listening that looking. His ears swiveled, turning to hear the garbled experiments of sound as they escaped one of his son's mouths. He still did not know who was who, but  from their noises and voices he was slowly starting to distinguish one from another. This one seemed more hesitant with his voicebox, but Iqniq listened on contentedly as the child exercised his right to speak.

"Nnnnnggg..." he repeated, echoing in the sound in as close to a mimic has he could muster on his own, more mature chords. "Rrrnnn..." He poked his nose around the lip of the den and peered inward. "Buuuuurrrb," he tried, trying to emulate their sounds.

lil cameo ¡

 

It was now the youngests turn. Even despite him being outside, the father was useful. He entertained and was more vocal. Tonravik knew she had plenty to thank him for. As them man beyond the mouth sounded off, Tonravik spoke only to inform her cub in Inuktitut of who that was. Her desire to keep him away receded by the day, but was still present. She stretched her body out to keep the boy inside, and if he tried escaping she would stop him, but other than that she idled.

Yay! :D

His siblings did not stir, but his mother did, and Sitamat's tail started wiggling as she moved — even if it was just to prevent him from escaping. He was not as eager as his brothers to explore yet, but the boy waddled from the back of the den and towards Tonravik's front leg, stopping there and resting his chin on it as he stared at the sunlight seeping in from the entrance.

A noise suddenly echoed in from the outside, and Sitamat let out a small gasp, turning to his mother with a mixture of fascination and confusion. She spoke, but he could not comprehend her words. More noises from outside. The youngest swung his head back to the den's entrance, floppy ears perked as high as they could go. "Bbbbb..." he tried, seeing if that would elicit another response from the strange entity outside.

He could not see the puppy nor any of the other motion in the den, but he could hear it. Iqniq repeated a few wolds in puppy babble and hope to elicit a response. The silence extended. The child's gasp was far too soft for him to fully hear from this distance, but the following attempt at words was loud and clear. A series of B's. Not quite what Iqniq had said, but close enough. It seemed the child needed softer, less complicated sounds.

An idea struck him. They could work on this. "Aaaaaah," he started with, keeping the sound fairly simple. "Taaaaaah." Two sounds. He was curious to hear if the boy could echo these.

It took a moment or two, but more sounds eventually filtered in down into the den, and Sitamat's tail started wiggling excitedly. He had no idea who or what was making those noises, but it was one of his first attempts at communicating with the outside world. As nonplussed as he was to explore it — at least, compared to his brothers — the youngest was more than happy to continue with this exchange.

Two sounds. Sitamat turned his head to one side as he listened to the deeper voice outside, before looking up to Tonravik again as if she would provide some explanation. She did not. Features crinkling, the boy turned back to the entrance and pondered for a few beats before releasing a loud echo, "taaaahhhh!"

Ears tuned towards the den as he listened for a reply. There it was. A perfect taaah. His tail wagged. Whichever pup he'd contacted today was a bright little fellow and more than eager to use his vocals. Or so he thought. He couldn't see the curious look of question towards its mother or any of the bright curiosity upon Sitamat's face. It didn't matter. He was communicating with one of his sons and that was what counted.

He crawled a hair forward and stopped. Staring into the dark shadows of the den, Iqniq lifted his nose a bit and let out a sound somewhat akin to a howl, but without the depth or volume. "Ooo-oooo-ooooh" He called back, checking to see if he could elicit another response.

His fascination grew with each passing minute, ears strained all the way forward in attempt to catch any and all sounds that came from the outside world. He shifted upon Tonravik's foreleg, draping his own paws across it as his tail continued it's excited wiggling, gaze focused entirely on the entrance to the den. He still couldn't see who exactly he was communicating with, but his nose told him that, whoever it was, they were familiar. And entertaining.

The noise that reached him this time was lower, deeper in pitch. A drawn out sound that startled the boy. He had not expected that. After a moment or two of consideration, as if trying to figure out how to best respond, Sitamat drew himself upright with a deep breath. "Oooooh," he tested, before releasing something of a giggle at the odd sound and following it up with a louder, "OOOOOOOH."

His ears pressed forward eagerly, listening for any hint of sound. What came was an absolutely meager little howl from such immature vocal cords it made his heart hurt with joy. He found himself grinning as he crawled forward another inch in his excitement, remembered where he was, and then withdrew the same distance so as not to invoke the wrath of his still highly protective mate. A tiny howl. How adorable. Damn it. He could not wait to actually meet these kids of his.

Hmm... that howl had been good. It could definitely use a little practice, but for starters it was excellent. As for other sounds? No. No. A growl or snarl would scare them. A yip might be too sharp for their tiny ears. A whine was also high pitched... He thought on it and ended up laughing out loud at himself. Without realizing it, the sound of his own chuckle was the next thing shared. As far as noises went, joy and amusement wasn't half bad.

The next noise was also unexpected. A soft, strange sound that Sitamat hadn't heard much of — Tonravik wasn't one for laughing much. His brother's giggles were too high-pitched and were more squeals than anything else, and so the boy didn't connect the two sounds together. His tail stopped it's wagging as he puzzled at the noise, looking up to his mother in confusion. All he received was a lick.

He decided to echo the last noise; it seemed to emit a good response from the outside entity. Filling his tiny lungs, the youngest took the deepest breath he could, before throwing back his head and releasing another attempt at a howl, "OOOOOOOO—" that was cut abruptly short by a sneeze.

His laughter faded as the boy tried again. The attempt was good, solid until. Oh no. A sneeze. Iqniq let loose another hearty laugh as he found great amusement in his efforts. Dusty in there, was it? Not to mention that sneeze had been all kinds of adorable. Oh crap who was he? He'd become a wolf who used words like adorable. Children were the worst with their cuteness. Making a wolf think cute words and such.

He couldn't nudge the wolf or encourage the child to try again, so he did the only thing he could think of. Iqniq lifted his head in a full blown howl, letting his child hear and feel the depth that came with the true howl and the true power of a wolf.

He wiped his snotty nose along Tonravik's foreleg, snivelling as he then rubbed a paw over his face. The sneeze had ruined his concentration on getting the perfect howl, and he pouted as he heard the laughter echoing in from outside. He didn't understand that it was amusing to his father, but was unhappy that his attempted howl had been cut so short.

Taking another breath, the youngest again went to try before Iqniq beat him to it. The sound started low, before becoming one deep, drawn-out sound, booming in through the den, echoing around there and making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Completely silent, Sitamat listened in awe to the majesty of the Alpha's howl. When it ended, he yipped happily — a sort of round of applause for the man's great performance.

Last post from me!

His howl faded. It seemed to linger on the air, drifting with the passing wind as he lowered his head and turned his ears towards the shadows of the inner den. Silence greeted him, and after that, a yip from the youngster inside. Iqniq smiled as he shook his head in his amusement. He still couldn't wait to meet them. All of them, but he'd dilly dallied by the doorway long enough. He had his rounds to make and a snack to snatch for Tonravik before he could return and amuse himself with more chatter.

Iqniq rose. He lifted to his feet and informed Tonravik of his departure before setting off into the nearby forest.

Thanks for the thread <3

He waited again for a response from outside, but instead was met with silence. His tail wiggled, as if that would entice the man to howl once more (despite the fact that he couldn't see it), but Sitamat was only greeted with more silence. Oh! A soft murmur, one that Tonravik grunted at before the boy was swept along with her foreleg back to his brothers, signalling the end of this curious encounter. He frowned, disappointed, but Sitamat would continue to wonder at it, eager to meet the entity outside — whenever that would be.