Silvertip Mountain This will be your task.

@Steady , set after Fitz's death. Just a short thread! :D

Zaria couldn't really leave her children but she had something important and private to share with he beta of her pack. Now Fitz was dead her children would not have a father, like she did not have a mother. She could not bare the idea that they had to go though what she had, wondering what it was like. The female howled for Steady to come to her. She had fortified the den, meaning she made a higher ledge for the pups so they couldn't climb out. Still she was right by the den entrance so she could hear or see if they managed to escape anyhow. Her howl to Steady was a demanding one, and hopefully he would be there quickly.

Steady had been shattered by the loss of his brother. His grief gripped him hard and already he questioned whether he would see a happy day. He was stoic on the outside, and crying on the in. He knew he would have to suck it up, though. Fitz and Zaria's pups needed care, and the pack as a whole needed to see that this would not rip them apart.

He had been hanging by the den on and off, wanting to see the pups, but hesitating, fearing he would be intruding. Zaria's call put that to rest, however, and Steady came quickly, his head bowed. Zaria, he said softly. How can I help? he asked.

Zaria nodded at Steady once he came to her. Zaria's face was rather strict, maybe even a bit angry looking. She could not let herself grief, she had to think of the four things Fitz left behind. "You will be their father," she stated. "See it as you knew task, but you will help raise them." Zaria's demands were clear, she was strict about it too. She was not going to do it herself and she did not feel she was the right person for raising kids.

"They need someone balanced and with values, like you," she explained, she was not going to tell him that she thought she was inadequate because she disliked to admit that to anyone. She might have to Fitz but not to Steady. Though she had the feeling he would make at least a bit of a good surrogate father.

Steady noted his Alpha's stern face, sitting back on his haunches. As a general rule, he did not usually meet Zaria's gaze when he knew the situation was serious- as this one certainly was. He cast his eyes near her chest instead, keeping her face in his peripheral view.

The surprise was evident on his face, and he couldn't help bring his eyes to hers. When it sank in what she said, a smile began to grow on his maw. She may have made it sound like an order, but Steady was taking it as anything but. Zaria, he said, awe in his voice. I would be honored to raise them in Fitz' place, he responded. Quickly, he added, But, I will make sure they know him. He may be the one helping raising the pups, but he knew in his heart that Fitz would always be their father, and he would make sure his brother's memory lived on in them.

Zaria had been quick to tell him what she wanted of him, and just a quickly he accepted. She nodded and then looked back at the den. She did not really reply to his statement because who was she to tell him otherwise. She motioned him to stay here and then went in the den to dig away the ledge. She nudged the pups and made sure all came out. "These are the twins. @Stoic and @Solemn," she explained.

She then licked @Adeline. "This is Adeline, white tipped tail, and then we also have @Odette with the fluffy coat and white chest." She was as fluffy as Fitz was while the other's had her sleek coat. "Guys, this is Steady," she spoke, she couldn't really call him their father yet, it felt like a dishonor to Fitz. "No Mommy means Steady," she pointed out to them and gestured with her paw.

Stoic followed his mother's guidance outside the den. Something had happened, he could feel it. But he did not know his father enough to cry, it was as simple as that. Had he not been partially blind upon meeting his sire, he may have felt differently. But as of now, something had made his mother upset.. and he was not happy. He blinked up at the strange male. Father? No, he was not his father. Therefore, he didn't care much for the strange male. "Stock," He briefly mumbled, as much as his mouth and brain could work together. Mother had called him that a few times, so that was probably his name. There was also Ood, Lyn, and Sol. That was their names, and Sol was his brother. It was shocking how much they looked alike, Stoic was quite frightened the first time his eyes opened to see himself. He had cried at Zaria that Sol had taken his face, but to no avail. Nevertheless, he was a quite content child, despite his tendency to wander.

After his brief moment of staring at the stranger, he barrled past Steady, between his legs and into the bushes beyond. There were all sorts of things to taste, rocks.. grass.. he even found a frog once! He liked chasing the birds when they did not see him, and although he was still quite small, he was growing. Rapidly.

Odette let herself be guided out of the den by her Mother, following her siblings.  Her eyes began to flit around once she was out of the den, nervously.  As the pups bright blue eyes settled onto the strong looking male that displayed a sleek black coat, she stared at him with a questioning look.  How was this wolf?  What was his purpose here?  Her thoughts stopped quickly though as she heard one of her brother’s speak, her eyes now alight  with surprise and curiosity as he said a single word: Stock.

Her tail gave a small wag and she gave her brother a playful nudge, as if to congratulate him for being the first of the four siblings to exactly form a word.  Then her focus fell steadily one-hundred percent back on the black furred male.  Her eyes filled with pure wonder.  Who was this?

His eyes fell upon the precious pups, his tail wagging as he lowered his head before them. He was in awe at their small bodies. His ears perked as one spoke, and he smiled. They seemed as interested in him as he was them. He lifted his head, his maw opening to say something to Zaria, when Stoic chose the opportunity to run between his legs and past him into the bushed. Hey-wha-where are you going? 

Steady turned and trotted after the pup, sticking his head into the bush to attempt to retrieve his nephew. If he could get close enough, his intent would be to grab his scruff and bring him back to his siblings and mother. Otherwise, he would try to go around the bush to the other side, hoping to get closer to Stoic.

Zaria watched Stoic and how he went towards Steady. Odette on the other hand was staring at Steady. Zaria stood by her, though she was not going to feed her insecurity by telling her it would be okay to feel nervous. She wanted her young confident. Zaria watched how Stoic dashed of, as he did more often, though the mother was not to worried. "Yeah, that will happen," she pointed out to Steady. The young female wagged her tail a bit. Never in a million years she would have thought that she would enjoy watching her kids like this. She sat down, being relaxed around Steady. Hopefully Odie would copy her mental state and realize there was nothing to be afraid about.

Zaria let Steady deal with Stoic until he was not able to bring him back, only then she would call out for her eldest son, technically not the eldest. Zaria licked over the other two, nosing through Solemn's fur. She kind of liked that he mostly stayed close to her.

The boy liked to see the man was chasing him. It was like he had seen, the food running from the wolf. Was he food? He didn't think so. Mother would not allow anyone to eat him.. he thought. He shrieked in excitement, dashing under bushes in attempt to get away from the male. This was fun. He liked to run. He heard Mother call out, but she did not call him back. Perhaps she had figured out that he was an explorer, sent to map the entire forest one day. Well, at least that's what he decided when he woke up that morning. 

"Boo!" He jumped out from the bush to scare the male, as he had learnt that was a fun thing to do. He would try it on his sister later. But before the male could make a grab for him again, he snuck under a new bush again. The male was big, and he was small but fast. Perhaps when Father returned they could play the Boo game too. He did not know that that would never be possible. Innocence was bliss.

Odette watched her Brother play with the black furred male.  The sign of her Brother acting so at ease by playing with the new male made her calm down quite a bit so did her Mother’s technique.  Slowly she sat down, with a yawn and just watched the show, rooting her brother on silently.

She wondered quietly to herself who this black furred wolf really was though.  Was he related to her in someway?  It was possible, but he didn’t hold the coloring of Mother or Father.  Still though it was a possibility.  So was he a family friend then? Odie wished she could just ask him.  For a moment she found herself envious of Stoic and his ability to communicate with others.

Zaria commenting that pups dashing away was something that will happen, and Steady got the impression these pups would be running wherever they could the older they got. If he remembered correctly, some pups were extremely inquisitive as they aged and explored the world around them. They also had no idea of what dangers lurked about, and that's what scared Steady the most. 

Suddenly, Stoic jumped out from the bush, exclaiming "Boo!" He was playing! Quickly getting into the game, Steady faked shocked, Ahh!! he yelled, though tried not to be too loud, and turned to run away from the scary pup. He ran and hid- as much as he could, anyways- behind Zaria, peaking his head around her to see if Stoic would follow him. 

Steady had no idea the thoughts that were running through Odette's mind, and didn't realize one day questions would be asked about the absence of their father. For now, his only worry was making sure they were safe and well cared for... and, of course, occupied with play.

Zaria smiled very lightly when seeing Steady play with Stoic like that. It was definitely something Fitz would do. She would not think of doing that because she was of course fearless and the best. Just like her young. Even though they were hella ugly when the were born they were coming along, and they seemed to have more and more of her looks. She was pleased. A very proud mother.

Zaria sat down and watched over them with her royal gaze. This was perfect because they would learn that Steady could be played with but that she was actually in charge here. It seemed some of the pups already realized that. Her green eyes glinted. Deep inside she pushed away the hurt she was feeling because Fitz had died, that he left her. Just like her father and his Khalas.

The boy felt a sense of small triump when he sucessfully scared the much bigger male. But soon, he grew bored of the little game and waddled back to Oddie. He would be sure to play the boo! game again, when his teeth grew larger and he could scare even his risilient brother too. Resting beside his much smaller sister, he began to chew upon her ear, like he often tried to do with Brother. Adeline, he found, was much too like him to get away with doing such a thing. And it always ended with her rolling atop him. That was never fun. 

He was much to tired now to continue with the fun, and his eyes began to droop ever so slightly. Stoic did not care much about stuff in general, and the world was his bed and playground. He was far to young to consider the fact that this was his mother's land he pranced about. He did not think so much about his father, but often wondered if such thing existed to him. Unlike Oddie, he was unaffected. And he was happy.

Odie whimpered as Stoic began to chew on her ear and slunk back, trying to make herself smaller.  She didn't like this at all.  What if her brother accidently chewed a hole into her ear!  The pup fretted,even though of course that did not happen.  She wished her brother would stop tormenting her with chewing on her ear.  Odette just wanted him to leave her alone, but did not know how to express that - or rather she was too scared to express it.  She gave her Mother big sad eyes, begging her to make Stoic stop.
                  
Odette noticed Stoic's eyes begin to droop and soon her eyes began to drrop too.  It had been such a long day and  now the pup found herself so very tired.  Still she managed to keep her eyes open and pretty steadily focused on the black furred wolf, beginning to wonder who he was once more.

The pups, not having the energy that adults did, soon grew tired. Stoic didn't seem to be able to keep his eyes open, though Odette was still intent on him. Straightening, Steady moved to stand next to Zaria, his eyes soft as he watched the next generation of their pack.

He turned to his Alpha. I'll do everything I can to ensure that they're safe and well taken care of, I promise, he vowed. The pups had a lot of growing up to do, and unbeknownst to Steady, the coming weeks would bring many changes that would challenge his ability to keep that promise. With that, Steady made his way to continue his protection of the pack lands.

Zaria watched her young grow tired. Often she had to fetch them from under the bushes were they just fell asleep while playing. They were cute, even to Zaria. Steady came up to her and she could only nod at him with clear approval. "I know Steady," she spoke to him. "I am glad I can count on you. I don't even want to do this by myself. It would be crazy to even try. It is unfair that Fitz had to go," she spoke and pushed herself to her feet.

Zaria grabbed Stoic by his scruff and carried the sleeping pup inside, she returned for Odette and placed her with her siblings. The young mother then returned to Steady. "You can always come by, you know that."

Stoic, 96.7% asleep could only feel the sensation of been floated up into the air and set down again, though he was too tired to be questioning it. He snuggled up to the biggest and warmest heat source he could find and rested. He heard muffled voices of his Mother and something else, not caring what they were saying. Life was good, as far as he was concerned. 

He did not think that perhaps his behaviour towards his sister was somewhat mean, afterall, he was simply curious the many uses of an ear. He did not know that's how you actually hear things, nor your nose was to sniff things. It simply happened and those were extra ligaments for chewing purposes only. This would come to change in the later days, but for now, he would just have to learn.

Odette stayed still as she felt her Mother pick her up by the scruff and then set her down next to her siblings.  Although the pup was very tired and craved nothing but sleep, she stayed awake to listen to her Mother and the black furred male, even though could only understand a couple things that they were saying, most of it fell deafly upon her.  Into one ear and out the other.  Still it just made her feel like she had a sense of purpose in this den.  Plus Odie didn't think she could sleep right now anyway, no matter how tired she was.  Life had been too crazy today.  She would stay up till her Mother came back to the den.

Over time Odette began to tire though and her sleepy eyes faltered a little as she struggled to stay awake.  Detemermined as she was though Odette would not fall asleep.  Not yet at least.  She would wait for Mother.  She sat still, waiting.