Whitefish River Fairytale beginnings

@Speedy / Acheron, @Castor, @Spica & @Syrma
I couldn't resist checking up on these cuties ❤

The initial celebration of the pups being born fades. Evergreen hadn't been present when it happened, wanting to give the new mother privacy, and knowing that others equipped with medical knowledge were better suited to be around.

Yet, the Count cannot resist at least checking up on Speedy to make sure she is alright. Perhaps he'll even be lucky enough to learn the names and faces of the bundles of joy that join Kaistleoki's ranks.

Stopping first to catch a sizable fish for Speedy, Evergreen approaches the den—excited and nervous all the same. He slows once he hears soft puppy whines. His heart pitter-patters.

Setting the fish down at the entrance, he makes sure to give Speedy and the family privacy. Uhm, h.. hey, Speedy. It's me, uh, Evergreen. How are you and the pups?

The first few days following the birth of her children had passed in a haze of sleeping and caring for the pups. It had been easy to get lost in all the new responsibilities required of her now that she had four lives to care for; she had been able to ignore the ball of gnawing despair in her chest and focus on her children. But, as the days passed, the despair grew, spreading through her chest and into her veins until it tainted every thought and emotion she had. She had been fighting it every step of the way, though, waking up each day and going through with her routines to ensure that she remained healthy enough to protect and feed the pups. She quickly realized that if it weren't for them, she may have been swallowed by the despair almost immediately. Whenever packmates dropped in, she tried her best to hide how awful she felt, but she wondered how well she actually fooled them; she was never very good at lying.

She was curled around the nursing pups when she heard the Count call to her from the den entrance, and she raised her head to offer him a small smile. We're all doing fine, she answered, sniffing the air as the scent of food wafted towards her; her stomach rumbled in response. She had to eat quite a lot to keep herself fed and feed the four growing pups, so she was often hungry. You can come in, she offered next, knowing he was probably eager to meet his newest packmates.

Curled at her mother's side tucked up beside her lookalike, and surely not too far away from her brothers, she lifted her head towards the source of such strange smells as soon as she realized them wafting her way.

Her nostrils flared, and with bleary, blinking eyes, she searched her sights towards the entrance of the den; by the day, her eyesight was slowly improving, but most of the time, there was not that much for her to see here within the confines of her underground world. Besides the bodies of her family unit, or the fuzzy glimpses of the others the pup could grab from here within, that was about it. Anything beyond that registered as unfamiliar, and this was one of those times, apparently.

Syrma stayed still besides a soft, wary peep to basically say she was not bothered yet, but could be soon if much upheaval was to come.

Every day it felt that memories of a past life began to fade more and more. She grunted contently as she lay beside her lookalike, just happy to be where she was right then; no longer wondering about the mountain that he had toppled from, or what all of it meant very much. For now, she was happy just to be here, and it was one of the first moments like that she had.

As Syrma lifted her head Spica let out a disgruntled squeak as she awoke from being nearly-asleep. She blinked her eyes but saw nothing but splotches and blurry things; nothing much of interest. She prodded the twin with her nose in a gesture of hey, I was almost asleep! and then settled her head again.

The Count buzzes with nervous excitement, so eager and yet cautious. Never has he interacted with pups so young before, as his own mother only had a single surviving litter, and his uncle... well, he did not care much for children to say the least. Evergreen sits up straighter, lifting his head away from the entrance when he hears the squeaks of pups and then, Speedy's voice. He feels awkward, for intruding upon the family, but it's too late to turn away now.

That... That's good, he exhales. Although the invitation inside the den takes the bear-like Count offguard, he is giddy... for he hoped to see them up close eventually. I, uh, brought you something to eat, too. Eve says as he stands, and grabs the fish at his feet. Carefully and slowly as if he is in the presence of many predators, he slides into the den. It is cramped with how large he is. He does not wander far, just close enough to dip his head and place the meal before the mother.

Mismatched green eyes take a moment to adjust to the darkness. He turns his head, eager and filled with wonder. Tucked along Speedy's belly is four pups, two particular seemed to have stirred—mirrors of each other in appearance. His heart flutters with such joy at seeing them all. They're so small, Evergreen whispers, reclining so he's partly in the den and partly out. He leans towards the pups though, a smile wide on his face and he sniffs them gently.

What are their names?

Her attention was momentarily drawn to the twins as they woke, Spica's cry making her reach down to lick and nuzzle both girls. Whether it was the unfamiliar scent or just the perils of being a tiny, helpless child in a large, unknown world, Speedy wanted to assure them that were safe here with her.

She looked up to Evergreen as he entered, fish clasped between his large jaws. She smiled as he sat it down. Thank you. I really appreciate that. Food was always sure to lighten her mood some.

Instead of eating, she watched the count fondly as he studied the four pups. It was hard not to be in awe of such perfect little beings; she had felt that way since the day they were born, and the feeling only seemed to grow everyday, that and her completely consuming love for them were what kept her going most days. Speedy nodded when he commented on their size. They are, she answered, smiling. But, they grow everyday. She glanced down at them, pride in her expression. When he asked their names, the healer pointed her nose towards the twins. The twins are girls, and their names are Spica and Syrma. She moved her muzzle to her two soundly sleeping sons. She pointed first to the mostly white puppy. His name is Acheron. And, he is Castor. She lingered over the last son, smiling as she looked back at Evergreen. Aside from Castor, the names had been chosen by their father, and she had gladly honored him and kept her promise to use them. Castor had been her choosing, but she had picked it to stick with the star theme.

Her sister's crying out, although largely Syrma's fault in the first place, inspired the other twin to be even more uneasy. She had not needed much convincing anyway, but with her nose so full of the strange and unfamiliar scents that Evergreen brought into their den with him, it was easy enough to ring some alarm bells in her tiny range of what she knew to be right. Though, Speedy was quick on the draw to try to soothe them both, which did help as it often did... but there was just something else here, something just too much, and too utterly unknown!

By wobbling her head a bit, she was trying to get a better look at the dark anomaly who filled their space now so to understand what was going on and why their mother seemed so at peace with this new happening. It was blurry, awfully vague--though her nose worked in overtime, even from here. With their words lost on her, she had to do whatever she could.. but she most certainly was not leaving her sister's side to make any bold attempts to find out more that way. Absolutely not. In fact the rest of her scooted even tighter against Spica in the presence of so much unknown, sight and scent alike. She would have to find out from here where she felt safest.

While Syrma was fussing over the new appearance in the den, Spica had already settled by her side again, content enough. Especially after their mother leaned in to comfort them Spica was feeling totally alright again. She let out a content grunt and nuzzled into her mother's side. Syrma was leaning over to investigate the new presence, which was the only reason that Spica's interest was piqued, too. Her twin pressed tightly against her and Spica leaned forward curiously, head tilted as she looked out towards the new presence in the den and sniffed up the whiffs of his scent that were brought to them, all the while sticking close to her look-a-like.

Twins. He thought he was seeing double, but it’s hard to tell with pups so young if their markings and colors would remain the same. It would be exciting to see their development. His tail starts to wag, although being outside of the den, it isn’t so obvious. The other two are sound asleep, while the twin girls appear more active—though seemingly distressed by Evergreen’s presence. He feels bad to disturb them so.

“Those are wonderful names. I like how they sound,” he comments, flashing a brief grin in Speedy’s direction as he glances back towards the pups. The bear is unaware of how they connect, and the theme. “Hi, little ones.” He says softly, greeting the bundle officially. Although he is… unaware they likely could not hear him at this point. He leans back a bit to keep from scaring them too much.

“I don’t want to stress them out too much, but I’m happy to meet them.”

The girls seemed to settle some, but she could tell that Syrma was still a little uncomfortable with the count's presence. She nuzzled them again, lifting her head a little after to smile at Evergreen. Thank you; I'm fond of them, too, she said in response to his compliment about the pup's names.

It was a shame that his presence seemed to be disturbing her daughters, but she figured they would get more used to things as they got older and grew more familiar with everyone. I'm glad  you came by, she said. Everything is so new right now, but I'm sure they'll love you. Speedy was certain they would love all of their packmates. It was hard not to when everyone was so helpful and caring.

Hmmm, well, with some time, and more further assurances that no one else was going to be immediately upset by this new company, Syrma eventually started to calm down, bit by bit. With Spica here, and their mom's gentle nudges, and the brothers completely snoozing through it.. she could really get the hint that this was nothing to raise a stink about, even with the strange mass so close; maybe he was just that good of company that no one was going to object, so Syrma slowly had to convince herself this too--or get too tired to really care one way or another who came by and sniffed at them...

Still, while the twin steadily settled, she was familiarizing slowly to his scent. One day she could really know who he was, and what part he might play in her greater scheme. Already he had done so much for them, even though none of it was within Syrma's understanding. For today, she decided to just it be despite all of her vague puppy skepticism, and watched the fuzzy shapes of the others until her eyelids got too heavy for her to fight with.

prob her last reply here but pp her freely if you wanna <3

Nostrils took in the scent of the stranger to map for future purposes. Speedy seemed calm and though Syrma was a little fussed, the mother's calmth made Spica calm enough in his presence. After he went away again, Spica settled with a sigh and a smacking of her lips and nuzzled close into Syrma. She yawned wide and with a loud squee, then smacked her lips and settled, ready for naptime.

same here, my last post :)

I think this is also a good point to fade here :) Thank you guys for the thread!

Yeah? He perks up, feeling giddy and yet nervous all the same. He hopes that they will come to love him, that they love Kaistleoki in general, and flourish within their riverland home. Never will Eve forget this precious moment.

I really hope so. I’ll visit again soon, but for now, I’ll leave you guys to it! The pups seem exhausted by the meeting, and Speedy has a much deserved meal to enjoy.