Stone Circle and put it all back together again in the quiet of my private collection

Words. Patterns. Rhymes. They filled him, and tried to overflow, in speech, in poems, in songs - but for all his understanding, his attempts still held the eloquence of a child, and the depth of a babe. Of words, well, he knew so very many, and yet so very few - but that was okay. He had spent his whole life discovering, and not knowing simply meant that he had more still to learn, and he knew he always would.

So Merrit recited the words he knew quietly as he sought an audience today, murky eyes shifting left and right to catch the shape of another before he'd set his nose to the ground to search harder. He'd prepared himself with what he'd been learning, and he didn't need much. Just someone, anyone who would be willing to listen, to hear, and to correct him, wherever he went wrong.

With a groundhog freshly plucked from it's burrow hanging limp between porcelain jaws, Ezra steadily trudged his way towards his mother's den, intent on allowing the children a share of the prize before dropping the remains off for Stark. He hoped in some way this would help alleviate the stress and worry his mother tried so well to hide, for he did not enjoy the sight of her so uneasy.

However, the form of his younger brother in the distance set the male off his course, curiosity getting the better of him as he turned to greet the boy with a muffled grunt once close enough.

Arlette was also close to Merrit. She had been wandering more and more lately. Away from the clearing and making trips to the Stone Circle. She tried to follow her mother's tracks and scent marks to see where she would go when not with them. Her scent seemed to be strong at one of the stones. She was not sure why. The girl had sniffed out the stone to see what was so special about it. However, she couldn't find anything. Hence why she was returning to the clearing with the hope for food or a play buddy. 

As she made her way back she scented her brother first. He would be good to play with. When she poked her head from a bush she noticed that Ezra, their big brother, was approaching as well. Arlette yipped in greeting to get both their attention. Arlette trotted to her brothers ready to give them some smooches. "Mer! Ezzie," she grinned. Her red eyes shining with glee. 

In the silence of waiting, he caught a familiar voice, and Merrit turned, allowing the flick of his ear to direct his whole body like a rudder on a ship. Ezra. But before the child could do much more than open his mouth, a higher voice rushed in, and Merrit drew his mouth in a subtle smile as he shifted his attention to his sister.

"Letti," he murmured, his voice warm as he offered a gentle lick across her cheek. Meanwhile, his thoughts turned back to his brother. Merrit knew that Ezra was something of a protector, a guardian, and a provider. Apart from that, he knew very little else. In many ways his brother was an enigma, yet out of all his siblings, Merrit found a want to emulate his brother the most, and he straightened himself a little taller when he turned his way and looked up to meet him. "Can I tell you something I made?" He meant his question for the both of them, and glanced to his sister to let that be known, though his eyes favoured his brother the most.

Skipping Ezra because of inactivity.

Arlette grinned when seeing her beloved brother. She greeted him in return before plopping down on the ground close to him. Their big brother was there as well, and the perceptive little girl noticed that her brother stood a little straighter than normal, she wondered why. The girl also noticed that her brother was eying at the other male. Perhaps it was because he was a boy and their older brother too. 

Arlette instantly nodded. "Yes! Tell me!," she grinned excitedly and tried to nip her brother to get his attention as well. The pale girl wouldn't mind sharing attention but she would demand some as his littermate. She was most interested in what he was going to tell her. 

Next to his sister's bubbling warmth, Ezra might have been a pillar, for all that Merrit could read him, and he suddenly felt his courage plummet and his nerves lump up in the pit of his throat. Arlette's vies for attention went unnoticed as for the moment, he studied his brother in vain attempt to gather insight into what he was thinking, so he could figure out whether this idea was a good one, or one to back out of before he couldn't anymore. But Ezra gave no signs to help him, just his staying presence - and eventually, his sister's urging won out. Merrit turned toward her, and placed his hope in the knowing that she might like what he shared - and he wished that Ezra did, too.

"Okay."  He said, and cleared his throat,

"The moon and sun are in the sky,
The stars are also very high."

- he chose to focuse on Arlette, apart from the occasional glance he stole toward Ezra as he spoke, still searching for something more in his brother's watch.

"I'm on the ground, I don't know why,
I wish I had the wings to fly."

His nervous eyes lingered on Ezra.

"It rhymes."

Arlette shifted closer to her brother as he agreed to tell her. Her ears popped up, though only briefly as they weren't completely upright yet. Arlette gave him a beaming smile when he started. She listened curiously. Somehow the end of the sentences seemed similar! Her brother continued. Arlette's gaze also moved to her big brother as Merrit seemed eager to please him. "A rhymee!" Arlette tipped her head. "It sounded nice!"

Then again, she didn't understand the difficulty of it but she would always be supportive of her brother. She nudged him and then licked over his cheek. She then glanced at Ezra to see how he was responding. It was always interesting how adults reacted. Often they seemed extremely pleased other times they were disapproving of what one did. 

Arlette praised him, which was of no surprise, and while her words warmed him, they did little to still his nerves. She was easy to please, and quick to show her support, just like she showed it now. But Ezra -

Ezra was an enigma, and Merrit wanted to melt into the ground at the stretch of his brother's silence and maybe burrow there forever, until the smallest turn of a smile stopped the growing hunch of his shoulders, and a short step forward hammered his heart against his chest.

Merrit splayed his ears beneath the gentlest tap of Ezra's nose against his head, and heat flooded him at the point of his brother's touch. The sensation remained even as Ezra retreated and grew like a pillar again, and that was everything he needed.

A smile broke over Merrit's face, and he felt himself grow a little taller as he turned his attention to Arlette, eager now, unafraid, and spilling with a quiet rush of words.

I learned from Miss Brynn, he said, his smile so broad he nearly glowed, I can teach you, too, if you'd like. Do you wanna try?

Arlette liked their big brother but wasn't as obsessed with him as her brother seemed to be. She liked that he protect them but to her, he was less fun as he was so... static? She bounced when Merrit seemed to get the approval he wanted. He better, because Merrit deserved it. She nosed through his fur proudly. Her tail was wagging faster when she saw that Merrit was pleased. She returned the big smile to him. "I wanna!" she agreed. She really wanted to learn. Arlette was always eager to learn more.