Swiftcurrent Creek snips and snails

For any of the pups: @Larus @Maera @Jokull @Valtyr -forward-dated to 20 days? :) I hope it's OK to powerplay Njal and Tuwawi's locations!

Bazi had only caught glimpses of the new litter so far, despite forsaking her outrider duties to stand watch near the den whenever time allowed. Other wolves came and went, offering the new family congratulations or food, but the pups were still too young to face a wider audience.

Bazi dared to lounge near the mouth of the den today, keeping watch on Njal's behalf whilst he stretched his legs elsewhere (a deserved break) and Tuwawi caught a few moment's of shut-eye. Judging by the non-stop mewling and the occasional wince from the new mother, raising a gang of four hungry milk-machines was no picnic. Bazi couldn't imagine herself doing it - much less push them out in the first place. The green girl grimaced and settled her head back on her front paws, eyes darting between inconspicuous points in the distance that looked like they might transform into danger at any moment.

There was no doubt than in the hard task that was keeping a family, the pups had the easiest job, all they had to do is sleep and eat till their bellies could hold no more milk, and the little Maera had it down, on the short weeks of her existence she had turned into a vicious eating machine, almost doubling her weight at the short age of 3 weeks.

The fiery female was greedy when it supper time arrived, she had no regrets after clawing her own sibling out of her way when Tuwawi rolled onto her side, the sign that the racing pups waited for as their bellies rumbled.

Things were easier now that the babies had opened their eyes, now they could actually see where they were going though that didn't stop Maera from giving a couple do shoved to her brothers while she made a bee-line for the best spot on the house. Even if she was still getting used to the whole 'seeing' thing, it was easy for her to recognize her mother, since she wore her same fire red coat. Telling apart her sibling was another thing, though she didn't bother to do so now. She wanted food and she wanted it now

From the bottom of her round little belly she expelled a loud shriek that was meant for her mother. She found it completely unacceptable for her to be napping when she was hungry! Sadly her cry was ignored and the little sveijarn baby could do nothing more but stare at the blurry blob of red in front of her with despair. Again the cub threw her little head up and wailed,"BUU",hoping that perhaps someone else might come and aid her before Jökull came to shut her up?

A screechy, indignant sound drew Bazi's head towards the mouth of the den. She could vaguely make Tuwawi out in the gloom, dozing but fully aware of the children around her, as if true sleep had ceased to exist the moment two had become six. The Beta knew the pups' names by now, but couldn't match one to the small, bright-red tot that turned out to be the source of the commotion. Jökull? Maera? Whoever it was, she wasn't happy about Tuwawi's need for a moment's rest between feeds.

Bazi turned her body and scooted on her belly a few inches past the threshhold. "Buu," she repeated at Maera's turned back, hoping to distract the girl enough for her mother to grab some well-deserved shut-eye.

Resting her heavy head of her paws Maera's lower lip quivered, she parted her mouth and gave a long whimper that earned no response from her mother. She sniffled and prepared herself to give her mother another agonizing call but another voice beat her to it. As the strange voice echoed the babe's previous babbles, Maera became silent, her little mind was trying to process who was also trying to wake up mommy. It didn't sound like any of her siblings..perhaps it was daddy? No that wasn't his voice either. "Aaa?" She mumbled feeling the urge to respond to the voice's sounds.

The chubby red sausage--as a Njal described them-- flailed her little feet trying to turn to face her sing along new friend. But no mattered how hard she tried to make herself spin to face Bazi, her stubby legs couldn't propel her to turn that way, the only option she had was to stand and wobble towards the mysterious voice. Ugh, that sounded like a hell lot of trouble!

But the lazy babe thought it was worth it. She hadn't really tried to stand yet but seen her brothers do it, and although they didn't get very far it worked for them so there was no reason for her not to do it too. Trying to remember how they had done it, Maera pushed the ground with her paws and managed to rise her belly from the ground.

Excited at her new accomplishment she wagged her little tail furiously which caused her to tumble sideways before she could cry victory.

"Aaa, " Bazi responded, giggling at the pudgy little whelp's flailing attempts to turn around without having to go stand up. The bum-shuffle didn't go particularly well, though, leaving fiery little Maera with no option but to expend some energy on an alternate plan. One, two, and - on your feet! But Bazi barely had time to congratulate the pup on her achievement before the resulting excitement brought the pup down again.

"Whoopsie. One more time!" the Beta encouraged, drumming the ground with her front paws. "Come on!"

As her bottom plummeted against the soft floor of the den the voice called to her again this time saying more than a simple syllable, still what Bazi tried to tell her was unknown to the girl. Her encouraging voice caused the infant's ears to swivel on her tiny cranium, trying to locate her. "UUA!" She screamed as loud as her lungs could allow her to, combining the two vowels she had previously discovered.

Then placing her paws firmly against the ground again Maera made a second trial, this time she would try to keep her feet glued to the ground no matter what. Slowly she pulled herself from the ground until she was standing, her stubby tail held straight behind her and her neck arched. She didn't dare to raise her chin just yet. A few seconds went by and the babe still stood in all fours, even if she was fairly still she felt like she was in the core of an earthquake.

She shuffled one if her paws and nearly lost her balance, she gave a little shriek at the close call and on cue the fur on her neck bristled. She had managed to stand but..now what??

Oh my freakin' god, Bazi did not say, but she did let loose a frustrated "Doh!" and dropped her head to her paws. At three months past the year mark, she was too old to remember the trails of uncooperative paws and too young to have the patience required to coach a pup.

The bristling little fluff-ball wobbled uncertainly, squealing when things nearly went south again. "Take a step," Bazi commanded impatiently from outside, mimicking the rhythmic thud-thud-thud of walking by whacking her tail hard against the bare earth. "One, two, one, two, one, two."

The voice kept speaking to her, but the babe didn't budge. She stood as still as a stone, her blinking her little eyes rapidly as she decided what to do. Oh mommy why aren't you awake! She would've screamed if she knew how, instead she just gave a soft whine followed with a little butt wiggle.

Suddenly the ground began to shake again, as Bazi thumped her paw rhythmically against the ground. Maera's ears turned and in a sudden urge to move she leaned forward until she was on the verge of plopping head first into the floor, but somehow--maybe fueled by the fear that she felt--she managed to stop her fall by placing a wobbly paw in front of her.

"Yes!" Bazi's joy at Maera's success bubbled over, and she quickly pressed the tip of her snout against a white paw with a quieter "Oops", hoping her excessive reaction to a single successful step hadn't ruined the chances of another one following it.

"One more step. Come on, you can do it - then you'll actually be able to see me!" she urged, wiggling a little further into the den. If she reached out one of her front legs and really stretched, the tip of her longest toe might graze the pup's downy, fire-kissed pelt. She didn't, though, but waited impatiently for Maera to wheel around close the gap herself. Was I this ungainly? the adult wondered, marvelling at much of a challenge it was for the little girl to simply turn around.

The neardeath experience of almost falling flat on her face was too much for the little red girl to handle. If her life wasn't so miserably short it may have flashed before her eyes. Now Maera gave a worried whine to signify her fear of falling back on her butt which only grew louder when Bazi kept telling the girl to do it again.

"EEO" she shouted as she casted her eyes at the ground where her pudgy paws wobbled uncontrollably. The pressure was on her. Part of her just wanted to drop everything and curl next to mommy until she decided to open her eyes, but the other side of her wanted to see for once and for all who was the mysterious face behind the voice that had commented on her every move.

With her stubby tail trembling behind her she tried to reposition her paws in order to prepare for another step but things didn't work as planned. Giving a mighty shriek as her front paws lost their grip, Maera slided forward unable to brake and ended up laying on her belly with her paws stretched ahead of her.

Oh well, she had a good run --or step if you will.
Her cheeks deflated like a ballon that was caught in a tree and her little ears dropped against her head. A clear sign of defeat..

If she wasn't so absorbed in her failure she would've noticed her unfortunate fall had actually accomplished the mission. She was now able to see the end of the den from where she had fallen..

She tried, bless her, but that day would not be the day that Meara Sveijarn learned to walk - at least not with any grace or dignity. Worse still, she failed to recognize that the fall had twisted her just enough to see the mouth of the den, where a white, blue-eyed stranger was staring curiously into the den.

"Eeo? Is that the best you've got?" she giggled, wiggling her head to grab the pup's attention. "Hey! Look here!"

Still to young to produce tears, the fire girl whimpered while fixing her eyes on her paws. Tiny sets of claws stretched out of her toes, claws that would one day tear through enemies instead of just looking cute. Though right now, looking cute was the only thing she was good at --walking would require more practice. Arduous practice.

Another painful lament fled from her sore throat, just as Bazi's voice echoed inside the den. Maera answered with a weak yip, after the fall her energy had been drained. She twitched her tail briefly before noticing a blur of white at the mouth of the Sveijarn's little home.

Her chin rose as she locked eyes with Bazi, the very first wolf outside her family she came across with. Maera stared at her in silent awe for a minute, her little eyes almost popping out of their orbs.

"Ere" she barked trying to mimic the Beta's last syllables. She was falling into a trance just by looking at her icy blue eyes, surely it wasn't the first time someone was left mute by her beauty.

Eventually, finally, the little babe twisted around to look her in the eye. It didn't occur to Bazi that she was the first northern wolf the pup had ever seen, and found the intensity of Maera's blatant staring hugely amusing. "Ere," the pup barked, her eyes so big that they threatened to roll out of her head.

"Well hi there," Bazi stage-whispered back. "When are you going to be old enough to play with me?"

Bazi's voice was as beautiful as the features of her face, even if the little sausage could not comprehend what she was trying to say, the words rolled off her tongue with such delicacy and gentleness the babe was instantly soothed, forgetting all about the failure of her first steps.

It was so great it made Maera want to join in, after wiggling her butt for a second she gaped her mouth and made senseless sounds of her own. "Uuusss" she yelled while staring deeply into the Beta's eyes.

Maera seemed utterly mesmerized. In a den of wolves wrought from fire and stone, Bazi looked like she had descended from another plane. It seemed to distract the little girl from her recent tumble, anyway, and it thrilled Bazi have such an effect on another creature - she was undeniably beautiful, but her voice and personality could be.. grating.

"Uuusss," the pup enthused, and the Beta nodded slowly, as if something hugely interested had just been said. Meara punctuated with an adorable little bum-wiggle and Bazi squealed with laughter, drumming her tail against the earth. "I seeee, that's so fascinating. And what else has been happening?"

The nodding and laughing strengthened the burning desire of wanting to copy each and every movement and gesture the white damsel made. With her tongue lolling out of her mouth the little copy cat bobbed her head up and down, rattling her brain inside her cranium--even her oversized ears began to wiggle on the top of her head.

Then, like old ladies catching up on their lives over a cup of coffee and a couple of biscuits, they engaged in a loud conversation that mostly consisted on gibberish words and sounds from the red babe's mouth. "Auui" answered the fiery parrot while nodding her head some more. "BUU?" She added at the end mimicking Bazi's same questioning tone.

She was not only turning into the litter's top napper but also the greatest copy cat.

Bazi imagined they were a pair of scouts discussing the latest movements of a rival pack. Were they north or south? How many? Were they strong? She itched to play the story out as a game - pups versus adults (with a gargantuan handicap), but it would have to wait until they were older.

"You keep working on it and get back to me," she instructed Maera importantly, and rose to leave. The mouth of the den was low, and she had to stoop to bid the pup a somber "Farewell, now." Tuwawi's red form stirred at the rear of the den. It was time to eat.

waa thank you for the thread :D

For Maera it was nothing but a game of echoes. Whatever left the snow pelted scout's mouth, the flame tried to say back. Though it was harder than it sounded, Bazi was an expert at the whole talking deal while little Maera was limited to a the vowels and a few other sounds. Plus, she spoke too fast for the girl to memorize all the sounds. she was barely able to grasp the last syllables of her sentences.

"Me", she repeated while opening her eyes wider as her friend got up to leave. Goodbyes were something Maera wasn't fond of. She followed her with her eyes, since she had no way of actually doing so herself --after failing to take a single step the pup would never be able to go after the white femme.

A whine erupted from her lips but it was quickly silenced by the movement from her mother. Forgetting about her friend's departure she prepared to crawl back, though at the pace she moved in she feared she wouldn't make it for supper.