Heron Lake Plateau Because I'm the only person around here who looks this cool on a bike

I think I was supposed to post this a while ago, oops. :D  But hey, this is the pups officially moved to the rendezvous site, aka Qui & Raven's old spot by the lake!  Other folks are welcome to stop by.  Vaguey-vague about the exact happenings of the Towhee thread.
@Raven @Owen @Phoebe @Kite @Vasa

Summer was over and the den had become more and more a tangle of legs rather than the cozy little hideaway it had been a few months ago.  The pups were growing and they needed to experience new things and not be locked away in the den forever -- the lack of room would make that happen even if they didn't want to.

Today was the day the family would be moved, though it was not a particularly sunny occasion, but the ordinary overcast gloom that came to be common with the season.  So, the world wasn't going to let things be festive and bright, but whatever, it wasn't like they could change the world that much.  

Being outnumbered did make transporting the pups across the plateau a bit of an adventure, but Raven certainly knew enough tricks to make it happen.  Quixote was probably closer to just moral support.  And yes, eventually the whole group ended up where they were going -- that hollow little thicket not too far from the lake shore.  There should be plenty of room for them to play and plenty of new things for them to investigate.  Quixote had taken some time from a day a little while back to make sure the place was free of annoying sticks and other such things -- nice and clean and ready for their return.  He was pretty happy with the result -- it was like they never left, except minus the snow.

After letting them rampage around and investigate for a few minutes, Quixote called the kids over, Don't wander too far from here, okay?  And keep out of the lake unless there's an adult with you.  Pretty soon you'll be big and strong enough to go on all kinds of adventures, but for now someone has to be with you.  He looked over each face in turn to make sure everyone understood, quite serious about this matter.  But after this his expression brightened, But since I'm gonna head down to the lake, you can come along now if you want.  He took a few jaunty steps back in that direction then looked back to see if anyone wanted to come.

Despite his wide-eyed apprehensions Owen hadn't resisted as his parents had nudged/carried/dragged him out to this strange new place with as gentle of coercion as they could manage. His slumped down onto the earth like a wet rag as his eyes and ears twisted and turned all about him to try and take it all in. -Wherewhatwhy...?- The babbling confusion of his half-instinctive attempts at ptero reflected the turmoil inside him. After a moment of hesitation Owen willed some life into his dead noodly appendages and scooted over into his father's shadow, where he felt a little safer and therefore able to crane his head around and check on each of his sisters in turn. His eyes lingered longest on tiny Kite, who he wanted to make doubly sure was finding some solid footing here, both literally and figuratively.

Quixote didn't give them all a whole lot of time to sit there and let any internal doubts take root. Owen craned his neck backward and gawked up at his father as warnings and admonitions were given, followed by...an invitation? Owen turned to look out at the lake that their father had spoken of. Owen wrinkled his nose a little doubtfully; he'd never seen nearly so much water all together at once, and even if Qui hadn't told them to stay away when on their own the boy would have hesitated to get overly near its banks. Nothing about this place looked or smelled right compared to the home den, from the dirt to the trees to the sun-warmed weeds bobbing gently in the breeze, but the lake itself was by far the most suspiciously strange of all. This did not stop Quixote from briskly stepping out toward the wide waters, however. Owen made a small dismayed noise in his throat and automatically stretched his own lengthening legs to follow, unwilling to let his father just leave him here like this—but he took only a few venturesome steps before stuttering to a halt and looking anxiously back over his shoulder. Ummmm... 'Oo else's coming?

If none of his siblings or his mother were going to be coming along, Owen was starting to have some second thoughts. Maybe it would be better, safer, to just stay here where they'd all stopped together. Besides, what was it about this lake that had Quixote so concerned anyway? Owen's vivid young imagination started to conjure up images of vengeful sentient fingers of water and lurking underwater monsters, all of which would obviously have it in for unwary puppies that ventured too close.

Retagging just in case :P  Feel free to tag me on Discord or somethin' if you wanna have your chars be PPed to do something specific!  Or just cameo or whatever.  STUFF. THINGS.

He looked back to @Raven, Ray, you're good with whoever stays, right?  -- Girls, last chance or you gotta wait to go for a swim!  He wouldn't be surprised if either @Phoebe or @Vasa wanted to come too, he just wasn't sure if @Kite would want to -- he still hoped that somehow her balance would improve as she got older even though he'd been saying that to himself forever.

Meanwhile Owen was still proving to be kind of a chicken about well.. Everything.  Was he gonna ever grow out of that?  On the one hand Quixote wanted him to get over it and have a bit more guts, but had absolutely no idea how to do so.  Things he could think of sounded pretty unlikely to work, at least on a kid Owen's age.  And might even be kind of questionable on older wolves too.  Ugh.  What was he doing wrong?

All three girls are currently on PPC so that means mom gets to PP them, bwahaha!

Ever hear of the expression "herding cats"?

That was what is was like for Raven as she attempted to keep all the pups together and moving in one direction. Perhaps they had taught their children a little too well not to stray too far from the den because several of them kept trying to double back, only to be intercepted by their mother. A raucous fuss was raised by them each time this happened, but thankfully they soon forgot about it in favor of what lay ahead. This was an ~adventure~, after all, and this time nobody was forcing them to come back home.

Soon they reached the new rendezvous site, and Raven took a moment to appreciate Qui's efforts in preparing it for their arrival. It was the spot Raven always slept before she met Quixote, before their hormone-induced whirlwind romance began and just as suddenly dropped parenthood on their heads. She really liked being back here, too. It was a familiar and comfortable place for her, and its central location made it easy for her not only to be found by her packmates, but it also allowed her a good view of the lake and what went on around it. She flashed her mate a grateful smile, her approval and delight clear in her features.

Vasa was wandering again, though, and Kite was wibbling and fussing, and Owen looked uncertain. Phoebe was lingering underfoot, clearly a little nervous about their new digs. Qui gave them a brief lecture, and Raven nodded in agreement. "Listen to your father," she chided a few of the kids whose attention seemed to be wandering. At his invitation to join him at the lake, all three of the girls seemed to leap at the chance to check out something new. Owen was clearly hesitant, though. His mother stepped up beside him, touching his shoulder gently with her nose. "Don't be afraid, baby," she said softly, kissing the downy fuzz behind his ear. "It's just water. Here -- stay close to me and you can hang back and watch first, if you want." She flashed him a reassuring smile, content to bring up the rear as the girls charged toward their dad.

Onoz, mom holds all the puppet strings and can make us all dance to her evil whims!  ;)  Now we're doomed.
lol, Houkie would be singlehandedly running all of Team Girl in this thread in that case...huh.  :P

Owen's wide green eyes spun to follow the surging tide of sisters that went galumphing past him in one fell swoop. Well. At least the puppyeating lake monster would get them first, right? Unless Vasa managed to raise enough of a stench to deter it, which seemed entirely possible. Owen still remembered the way she had stinkbombed the den in days past, although he thought her digestion had settled down by now...hopefully. He scooted a little further to the side and out of her direct path though just in case. Like most everything else in his young life, past experience had made him a little paranoid.

Phoebe was already close enough to bravely be sniffing the waters, and Kite was going a little crookedly... Owen abortively started to take half a step, but his wobbliest sister was getting increasingly good at correcting herself, and so Owen stayed rooted in place, paw hanging there dead in the air in a pathetic half-lifted state. He made another dismayed and uncertain noise in his throat, and jumped just a little as Momma's reassuring breath appeared like magic to tickle his right ear and then offer some additional reassurance. Just water, she said—but Owen was still a little dubious, because of course he was. He was glad that she'd told him it was his choice, that he didn't have to go running after Dad as eagerly as his sisters and was welcome to hang back here instead. Owen gratefully cleaved to his mother's side, transferring his clinginess from Quixote's shadow to his mother's shadowy muzzle.

Owen was greatly puzzled as to how his mother could seem so very relaxed and happy here, though, meantime. Didn't she know they'd left the warm and comfortable and familiar home den way, way behind them? Weren't they not supposed to wander this far from it?! Owen was feeling rather worried that even if they all survived this little adventure they might not be able to find their way back. He gave the air an experimental sniff to make sure their scent trail was still there...which it was, but it did seem to him that it was already starting to fade a little. Owen squirmed uncomfortably, but then—while still keeping his fuzzy body in contact with Raven as much as was caninely possible—took one big brave step forward and craned his neck with interest to see what Quixote was indicating to his sisters. Was he going to tell the pups about the big bad lake monster (which Owen had just about convinced himself had to be lurking somewhere underwater hereabouts, now)...? That sounded kind of exciting and interesting, at least so long as Owen had several other wolves between himself and it that is, and remained safely far back from the shoreline here by Mother's side. But on the other hand... from what Owen could glimpse beyond his father's dark bulk at least one sister seemed to really be liking the water way over there right now.

In spite of what he thought was his better judgement Owen took another venturesome step forward before he could think better of it. His ears were on high alert and his nose was twitching madly overtime as his attention was inexorably snagged by the alluring excitement of almost everyone else dancing about there at the shining waters' nearer edge. Almost everyone else—Owen cranked his neck awkwardly back for a quick glance at his mother. ...'Oo swim too? he asked impulsively, though he could hardly imagine the possibility of her answering yes. Why would anyone want to go all the way over there and into what looked like a very cold and wet expanse: mother's tongue baths were fine but surely nowolf would ever want to get that wet all over! Besides, it was easy for her to tell him not to be afraid...she was probably too big of a mouthful for the resident pondmonster to easily swallow.

Because of all the swapping around with PPC and not PPC, I'm just gonna wrap this in kind of a lame way! :P

Well, the girls certainly didn't need convincing!  Kersplash!  You guys just get to have fun for now, but soon we'll get to teach you to swim really well!  It shouldn't be too much trouble, but 'til then, as I've said, gotta follow the rules so you'll be safe.  Whether or not they'd listen was a whole other thing.  Maybe by the end of playtime they'd actually convinced Owen to put a toe in the water, but Quixote wasn't gonna hold his breath.  He did kind of wonder where he went wrong with that boy but oh well. Lacking a time machine, he'd just keep trying to keep the whole lot of them safe.  They got older, time moved forward.  Surprises good and bad were ahead.