Larksong Grotto Train Wreck

Only wolves Tapat 'knows'! @Astik @Jhala @Hiram

Often it was the case that Tapat would most likely forget what someone said to him, perhaps even done with him. However that was not the case with the attack of his sister. Tapat has changed and not for the better. The happy, excitable and quite fearless young thing was now a small pile of misery. The words he remembered the most were those of his father, commanding him to stay inside. The pup was not going to forget that. He was going to do as he was told. He linked the attack to the outside world.

He had not dared to leave the den, and stayed firmly with his butt or side against the wall that was the furthest away from the entrance to the whelping den. The pup could not forget, mostly because it was the only big event he could really remember and it would play over and over in his head. The attack happened a few days ago, and though his wounds were healing his neck felt stiff and bruised from Laurel's bite. The boy didn't dare to lift his head too much, which resulted in having one super scared wolf pup latched against the wall.

Jhala had cried a lot after the attack, and she'd tried to do it far away from her sweet, innocent babies. she'd never been more proud of Astik, and she tried to tell him that, but she really felt too defeated to get any words out. both of her step-daughters had tried to kill her sons, and Laurel had just about succeeded. she didn't know what to do at this point, her sons weren't safe outside but she knew better than to keep them hidden away. everything sucked, and she found herself more and more upset with Hiram than anyone-- he seemed to be the source of all of these problems. 

she didn't have much to worry about though, Tapat didn't want to go outside. Astik had slept through the most traumatizing of the situation, so she always hoped he wasn't as scarred, but Tapat seemed broken. it was around this time as well when Jhala started noticing that something was off about Tapat, though she would blame it solely on the attack. 

the mother huddled around her boy with dulled eyes, their warmth drained with concern for her babies. "Pat," she cooed softly, "are you hungry? your daddy can bring you food..." her voice had trailed off, but she looked around her her husband with a worried expression-- when did he last eat? she didn't remember... they were eating solids by now (i think lol) but she was terrified that if she left Indra or Laurel would come in and eat her two angels... even though Indra had disappeared a while ago. 

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Astik, uncommonly alert and aware for one so young, had noticed the change in his pallid counterpart just as surely as their parents had. It was palpable change, so very different. Tapat rarely moved from the back wall of the den, as far away from the den's mouth Astik pieced together as he could get himself. The shadow dappled Larksong boy enjoyed feeling the touch of Raas' light upon his fur though he, too, did not dare to venture into the outside world. Not when he was clearly needed here. He had not suffered the horror that Tapat had but forsaking the light for the darkest corner of the whelping den felt wrong to him, too (not that he had much grasp on religion). He did not hover over Tapat all the time, did not want to smother the pallid boy with his worry and protection, though he kept a watchful eye upon his brother, nevertheless.

The small leg bone from a rabbit that had been brought for them to play with was betwixt his paws as he chewed upon it, worrying it with small indents of his sharp teeth, suckling the succulent marrow from within. He paused mid chew, his eyes flashing to their mother as she rose and addressed Tapat. Slowly, the bone fell from Astik's mouth, coated with a fresh coat of slobber and tiny indents. He pushed himself to his paws and grasped it betwixt his jaws and padded towards the pallid boy. “Patpat,” He spoke to Tapat, drawing close and settling down close to him. Not close enough to touch him, afraid to accidentally hurt him more by jostling him the wrong way. He nosed his bone towards the pallid boy: an offering: not to play for his brother was in no state to play but for his brother to have it. Take it, the push of his nose against the bone silently encouraged.

Astik could not be of much help. He could not dress or clean Tapat's wounds, could not hunt for him. So he tried to do what little he could do: offer his brother a silent understanding and try to appeal to the happy nature that had once belonged to Tapat. Though Astik was at a general loss how to go about restoring his brother's happiness.

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Not sure if Hiram is going to join but feel free to jump in at any time!

Tapat was comforted with his mother being close to him. The pale pupper was glad that she was around. It made him relax a bit more to see her. He did not fare too well with her gone. He stayed near the back wall even though he kind of wanted to nestle close to her furry belly. Tapat did not have to wait for for she settled against him. He was in luck. The boy did not lift his head much though. He did shift his body against her.

The only 'good' thing was that him learning his words were getting better seeing he couldn't move his head to shake or nod. "No hungrwiee," he returned to his mother. With two and a half months old the boy was in fact on solids though he did try to drink with her before the attack. Now it seemed more effort, too much effort, to get it. His brother joined, nudging a piece of bone his way. Normally Tapat would be the instigator of play. It didn't matter to him that he was smaller and probably loose each game.

The pale form sniffed it, stretching his neck. It was paired with pain and the pup yelped softly. His murky colored eyes teared up and he shifted more against his mother. "Huwrt," he let out. It was sweet of his brother to give him his piece of bone. Though there was little his brother could do for him. He seemed to realize that but Tapat did not know this. He looked apologetically at his brother. The pale pup didn't understand why he had been attacked. What had he done wrong? It was frustrating to him because he couldn't remember. He only remembered the attack and the pain that followed.

Astik was a precious gift from God, though Jhala simply found him a precious gift from herself. the damn sun didn't bring down a child, he brought down sunburn, she'd pushed the fat thing out herself-- therefore a gift to herself, from herself. Tapat too was an angel, he was so naive and innocent and had nothing but light to give to the world around him, but she couldn't help but feel so much love for Astik in this moment, since he was doing nothing but caring for his injured brother.

"Astik Gray," she cooed, nosing her darker son softly, "thank you." Tapat reached for the bone, but it clearly hurt him, and it was even more clear when he told her. she sucked in a breath, nodding. "yeah... yeah i know Pat..." she murmured sadly, ears falling. she didn't know anything about medicine, and couldn't help her son past verbal support. 

"you guys wanna hear a story?" she finally said. distractions were good, this she knew.

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Astik watched Tapat with baited breath and hopeful anticipation as his pallid brother stretched out to the bone he offered only for his ears to fall back against his skull and a soft, apologetic whine to escape his lips as the pale boy let out a yelp of pain. The plump shadow's tail tucked against him for a few moments. Before he could nudge the bone closer to Tapat so the pale boy did not have to stretch for it, Astik's eyes, wide, flashed to their mother as she cooed his first and middle name at him. For a brief second he thought he was in trouble, but the touch of her nose against him soothed away that fear.

Astik blinked and nudged the bone closer to Tapat so that the pale boy barely had to stretch at all if he still wanted it, though the process involved Astik scooting closer to the pale boy. He sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth, holding it as he gave the bone a final nudge before he rose and darted away not wanting to accidentally hurt his brother. His ears lifted, slowly as he circled back around, plopping back down near Tapat (though not near enough to touch) as Jhala asked if they wanted to hear a story. “Stowy!” Astik repeated giving his mother an over eager nod of his head, his tail thumping against the earthen floor of the den with joy at the prospect of a story. Stories were good! And maybe a good story would help Tapat somehow!

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Even though the pup was very scared to go outside and was in pain, he was happy. Happy to be surrounded by his family. His mother was sweet and his big brother was amazing. When Astik nudged the bone closer Tapat did grab it. He gently started biting on it while resting his head, so his neck wouldn't be hurting so much.

He could tell his momma and Astik were sad too. When Astik settled closer to him Tapat decided to snuggle between him and his mother. He wanted to know that even though he was scared he wanted to be with them. He wanted them close. His mother suggested to tell a story. Tapat was instantly more entertained. "Yeee," he croaked, his tails started wagging. At least that part of him wasn't broken. Luckily so.

thank fuck they were open to story time, because Jhala was running out of ideas on how to cheer them up-- and she herself needed some major cheering up. what did they wanna hear? she didn't have any of those bullshit fairytale stories lined up... she never learned them as a kid. gore was probably too much, but maybe something with just a bit of action would entertain them-- yeah, solid idea.

"where i was born, everyone was this tough warrior who learned to fight when they were super young. your mama was the best fighter ever, and she was placed on this super awesome team that did super secret missions," she began, tail waving. it wasn't fully true... she was a kickass warrior, but they didn't really care. she was part of an army to fight, not to be paraded around, she was expendable and she knew it. "so one night, this group of wolves went missin', and you know who was sent out to find 'em?"

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Astik let out a content noise in his throat as he felt Tapat snuggle closer to him, the pale boy effectively sandwiching between their mother and him. There was little that Astik could do but he was happy that there was something he could do for his pallid brother even if it was just the small gestures. His tail thumped against the earth as Tapat chewed upon the bone but stilled and quieted as Astik wiggled slightly (careful not to jostle Tapat in the process), trying to get comfortable, resting his chin against his paws, his eyes focusing upon their mother as she began her story. Though his attention span, as all children’s, was limited he loved story time. A hush stole over the shadow boy Jhala’s voice filled the den.

She spoke that she was the best fighter ever — and of course Astik agreed! — and she talked of cool things like secret missions and teams (even if that word went a bit over his head). Regardless of the question that burned on his tongue he bid it back not wanting to ruin the ambiance of the story by interrupting. For a moment, Astik considered asking why they didn’t just ask Raas, unaware of much. He didn’t even fully understand Raas only that he knew everything because he was a god and that meant he had to know everything! “Youuuu, mama!” Astik giggled, hoping with breath slightly baited that he was right.

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Tapat felt much better as he felt the warmth of his brother and from his mother. The pale son also started to listen with excitement. He loved story time too, because for him the story was different every time. He didn't remember what had been told to him at story time. The young boy hummed. His mother was the best. She was super strong and this only confirmed that she was the strongest. Same for daddy, he was super strong too. He didn't know about the others so therefor they were the best in his eyes.

Tapat kept his eyes on his mother, bit breathless with the excitement of the story. When she asked Tapat glanced from the cover of his eyes at his brother who quickly replied. "Yes!," he chirped after his brother, not sure if it was the right answer but Tapat was more than entertained already. The pain was slowly forgotten as he emerged himself in the story. "Was hapweend?" he asked, eager to know more.

pleased her sons were so entertained-- why, yes! i am the most hilarious wolf in the world, thank you for noticing small, impressionable children!-- Jhala grinned widely, her tail wagging. "yeah! it was me!" she exclaimed brightly after them. "so these wolves disappeared, and my leader told me that i had to go find them," she continued, reiterating for Tapat who seemed to be looking to Astik for reassurance, gesturing with a gentle poof of her chest. "so i left the pack to find these wolves, and i traveled for days, all by myself--" oh really Jhala? what happened to that elite team of yours? "--to find my packmates. i had to go through these woods and, oh man you guys wouldn't believe it, you know what was in those woods?" she asked them, her ears perked up.

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Jhala confirmed that it had been she that her leaders had sent to rescue the missing wolves and Astik’s tail beat a steady rhythm against the earth of the den before he stilled it and sucked in a hushed breath, his attention held rapt as his mother continued her story. Tapat asked her what happened next and Astik took quiet breaths as to not disrupt the intricate atmosphere that Jhala’s story had begun to create for him. His butt wiggled and he took a sharp breath as she mentioned that she wondered for days and then asked them what was in the woods. Astik’s imagination, as bold and full of fantasy as any child’s was racing. “A dwagon?!” Astik gasped in a guess, unable to think of any mythological creature more ferocious and cool than a dragon — not that he was overly sure what a Dragon was exactly.

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Tapat was on the edge of his seat as his mother continued the story. He was very excited to know what happened and his fear was momentarily forgotten. The pup eyed at his brother as he gave a suggestion. Though he was not sure what a Dwagone was. He looked confused and glanced from his mother to his brother.

"Was a dwagone?," he asked his mother, disrupting the story a bit. It wasn't his intention really he had already partly forgotten the story of what his mother was telling him. Something about what she found in a forest right? He forgotten about the mission.

it was actually going to be a bear, one the size of a mountain. dragons didn't exist, she didn't want to put that nonsense in their heads. she wasn't even sure who told them about dragons-- maybe nova, she was usually the one who babysat. but, she didn't want to disrupt the story, so she nodded. "a god-dang dragon!" she exclaimed, mashing her teeth together in order to further illustrate her story. "it was HUGE! like, the size of a mountain--" using that reference regardless "-- and had these awful teeth! they were so frickin' sharp! but i wasn't afraid. you wanna know why?" she asked them, eyeing each child  carefully before continuing.

"cause i'm cool as heck, and also the strongest warrior in the whole wide world. nothin' scares me," she told them with a wide, toothy grin. taking this moment in for a brief second, she decided to use this for Tapat's benefit. "nothin' scares me, so nothin' should scare you two. no matter what imma be here for you both, and i'll fight anything that gets in your way. ain't nothin' in this world that would get past me, nothin' would ever harm you." yeah, watch someone else fuckin try something, she added to herself.