Swiftcurrent Creek momentum

AW for den residents :D. @Paarthurnax @Bazi @Trajan @Julius @Relonikiv

It wasn't that he had been avoiding them -- though, puppies did not seem to lure him the same way they did for others. Instead, he had been maintaining his duties, attempting to keep the caches filled, and.. in more guilty moments, contemplating the simple idea of moving the pack away from the land that had seemingly drawn them nothing but trouble.

He knew though, that it would look like avoidance if he withheld a true visitation for much longer, and not wishing to give Paarthurnax any indication that he was uncomfortable with them, the cinnamon male loped toward the den entrance with a small deer antler held firmly in his jaws. The pups were not on meat yet -- but surely, a toy would not be turned away.

Dropping the object between his paws, the Frostfur uttered a low 'woof' to gain the mother's attention, hoping she was lured out as well as the four children. Stilling -- Scimitar sat down slowly to his haunches as he waited, knowing it was a possibility too that the new mother would chase him from the den and her pups.

With a bellyful of milk and previously-chewed and half-digested meat, Relonikiv slumped onto the floor to nap off the large meal. When he woke a while later, he felt an intense need to take a dump. Instinctively, he scuttled toward the doorway—the place furthest from where Paarthurnax and her pups kept their beds. He did not exit the den. Instead, he managed to push himself into a shaky seated position in the corner near the den's mouth. Bowlegged and grunting, his face contorted with effort as he emptied his bowels.

Even after relieving himself, he remained squatted, absently smiling up at the ceiling. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement and it startled him out of his glassy-eyed reverie. Relonikiv tried to lift himself onto all fours but the first shaky step resulted in him face-planting. He stayed down, giggling under his breath as he scooted across the stone floor, his nose soon enough bumping into one of Scimitar's forepaws.

Oogh! Relonkiv "said," tail waving as he rolled onto his back, exposing his belly to the pack's Alpha.

The horrendous smell Relonikiv had made a while back had been forgotten. Julius and the other pups must have made that smell quite a bit too, but he had forgotten about those times too. At least, until the smell came back, like it just did. Julius's opinion of it didn't change throughout the numerous times it came back. Expressing his opinion, he made an irritated sound. It was a mixture between a yelp and a vocal sound that he couldn't control yet.

After vocalizing his complaint, Julius proceeded to ram his head into Paar's side. This action had become his go-to action whenever something stank up the den. After keeping his face in his mother's fur for a few moments, he pulled his head out and sniffed. The smell was still there, but he had adjusted to it, making it not seem as bad as it originally was.

It was then that Julius noticed the blurry shape near the entrance of the den. Since he had opened his eyes, all of the shapes in the den became familiar. There was the color that the den was, the colors that his siblings, mother, and Bazi were, as well as the colors of outside at the den entrance. But now, the color of outside had another color on it. When that happened it meant that someone was coming or leaving. But, no one came or went besides Relonikiv squirming towards the entrance.

The color stayed there instead of moving, like they usually did when someone came or left. Deciding to check it out, Julius squirmed after his brother, who had a large head-start.

He crept closer to the den entrance now, his jaws bending down to scoop up the antler. Leaving them just at the outskirts of the den entrance, he remained there as well -- where a wave of nausea came to him from the whiff of a rather mischievous pup. He did not see the boy sit back, staring at the ceiling with a smile of satisfaction for a job well done, but had he, he might have known more about what he was getting in to.

This was no lamb den he was walking in to, and soon enough, the lion himself bumped right in to his large creamy paw.

Miffed for a moment, the beast stilled, his turquoise eyes glancing up to seek out Paarthurnax and her comfort level of his proximity. When he heard no warnings from the mother, the Alpha gently laid his form down, ignoring the smell and instead taking in the miracle of life that lay belly up before him. He was tiny -- the boy who had stumbled upon him, and while Scimitar was not a stranger to puppies (he had helped rear Kaskara and Estoc, as a yearling) it had certainly been awhile since he had been around one so young.

Gingerly, the male lowered his snout, his nose aiming to touch the one of the golden youth, hoping to reveal how unintimidating the bear-like beast truly was. From the corner of his eye, he could see a flash of white making its way to them as well, and he knew instantly they had a curious bunch on their paws.

And for the first time in awhile, he knew very much that he wanted his own children.. and exactly who he wanted them with.

"Was that you who left that smell for everyone?" The murmur was soft, a small smile flashing as he cast a mischievous grin to the den and their mother, if she was watching and listening. "That's worthy of a nickname I think.. at least until you begin to understand words. How about Shitballs?" Of course he teased, but there was nothing but affection in his voice.. and, of course, another grin was cast to Paar, to see if she really was paying attention.

Now that the pups were experimenting with new foods other than what she'd solely been providing them with for the past couple of weeks, they were without a doubt far smellier than before. When Relonikiv moved away to relieve himself at the entrance of their den, Paarthurnax followed his movements with her gaze. There he left a small deposit, but with a mighty stench to accompany it. The crimson healer scrunched her nose in distaste, then gathered herself to her paws to dispose of the mess her son had made.

She stepped over the wiggling little bodies of her pups, careful as always not to step of one, and just as she prepared to kick the poop outside to be buried, an unexpected visitor had arrived. Scimitar had come by regularly to deliver food and gifts, but it occurred to Paarthurnax that she hasn't had any real interaction with her Alpha since before her pups had been born.

The two-toned Frostfur welcomed her leader into the hollow, but promptly excused herself to get rid of Relon's offensive present. She strode outside into the cold, scraped away the earth that had previously covered a meal someone had delivered, and buried her child's excrement before returning and lowering herself onto the furs beside her offspring.

Durnehviir stirred in her sleep, and Paarthurnax quickly sought to aid her toward slumber again by flicking her tongue affectionately across the girl's tiny shoulders. Trajan remained deep in sleep, whereas Julius and Relonikiv were still very much awake. They were by far the most active of her children.

Scimitar spoke to the golden boy, and Paar smiled with amusement as she made to exchange a playful glance with the cinnamon leader. What he said in regards to a potential nickname, however, alerted the mother's expression to one of surprise and disapproval. "Not in this lifetime," she announced, feigning offence at the idea of her beloved baby dragon parading around such a horrifying title.

Content with a fully belly after her gigantic meal, Durnehviir was more than happy to snooze the afternoon away. She lay sprawled at her mother's side, snoring quietly and twitching her tiny ivory toes as she dreamed of pursuing that stray feather she'd seen at the corner of the den that morning. She'd tried to go to it, but her dam had retrieved her time and time again before ultimately, she gave up and snuggled down beside her siblings to map after breakfast.

She was entirely unaware of Relonikiv emptying his bowls nearby, though her little noise twitched in her sleep as she inhaled the offensive odour that accompanied him. Durnehviir rolled over to her other side and made to curl closer to her mother, only to find that she was not there. Blinking her stormy eyes open, the girl looked up and across the den in search of her, to find a stranger had arrived and settled nearby. This was one she did not recognise, but she knew his scent, and visitors came and went so often that fear was not something she experienced when an unknown wolf dipped in to say hello.

Paarthurnax soon returned, much to her daughter's delight, and when she sank to the den for beside her, Durnehviir mewled softly in request for soothing. Her mother kissed her little back and, comforted at once by the touch, scored forward and muzzled among the adult's snowy undersides to snooze once more.

Trajan awoke when the huge lump who gave him warmth vanished, he'd only woken up once the strongest part of the smell had vanished which was a relief, but it still stunk and the silver prince didn't like it all. But for the first time, he did not wail or bat at the nearest object which was probably his sister, but open his eyes and look around the den. The Angelus Mortis had stared around the den the moment he opened his eyes, observing everything, taking in everything. His mind could not comprehend what they were, but he remembered.

Noticing a bunch of shapes, including his mother, his two annoying younger brothers and a stranger, he began scooting towards them, not wanting to be left out. Trajan announced his presence by wailing at the top of his lungs, he liked being first and seeing so much wolves arrive before him was truly upsetting him. He scrunched up his features as he moved, as fast as he could towards them.

It took time, but when the silver princeling arrived, he attempting to stand on all fours, resulting in him falling on the ground, which angered him more. Bi colored eyes flashing at everyone he could see, he rolled over and attempted to whack his slightly larger white brother and the tiny golden boy, emitting a large burp as he did so, before rolling over to the stranger. He gazed up with wide bi colored eyes, wondering who the thing was. Then, he decided to try to establish his dominance and attempted once more to rise onto his paws, his whip like tail lifting upwards.

Relonikiv righted himself just before his mother briefly stepped over him and his brothers came bustling onto the scene, equally eager to greet their guest. When he saw Trajan's dominance display, he flattened himself again, though not in time to avoid the blow. It didn't hurt, not really, but he released a muffled, Oof. He then wormed backward slightly, moving himself away from his pushy older brother and turning in Paarthurnax's direction when she came back inside and lay beside the slumbering Durnehviir.

But he didn't want to sleep. Changing his mind, the littlest puppy turned again, scooting back toward the visitor but arcing around Trajan and Julius to Scimitar's other side. While the large male presumably addressed the two pups at his fore, Relonikiv slid into his shadow and emerged between his front legs, staring out at his brothers and grinning brightly at them. He didn't fear rebuke, sensing that the adult would prevent his brothers from getting at him.

When Trajan also whacked Julius, he made a yelping sound, even if it didn't hurt. While Julius was usually like Relonikiv in the fact that he would accept Trajan showing his dominance, he was unlike Relonikiv in the fact that he wouldn't tolerate it as easily. The majority of the time he would tolerate it with feelings of annoyance, but this time he wouldn't tolerate it, especially with Trajan getting violent and hitting both him and Relonikiv.

So Julius ended up squirming directly towards Trajan. He headbutted one of Trajan's legs, hopefully making him collapse. Once satisfied with his rebellious attempt, he started squirming away from Trajan and toward Scimitar. Julius didn't need to assert his dominance, as Trajan could be as dominant as he wanted as long as he didn't continuously annoy him.

She was -- the mother was quick to express her annoyance at the chosen name, and with a faux frown, Scimitar glanced back down to his new little comrade, who had now manoeuvred between his paws from the other side. "Mom disapproves," he noted, giving his shoulders a shrug as if to say 'I don't see why.'

His gaze drifted down to his next visitor -- the silver boy who had come, paws blazing to thwump at his brothers. Little mini-Shadow -- how fitting. Scimitar refrained from lifting a paw at the clumsy display of puppy dominance and poking the boy in the side, for Paar would surely box his ears for that one. The puppy lifted his tail then -- a strange thing, for dominant displays did not begin at such a tender age, and so he ignored it, giving a nod in the grey pup's direction as a lazy grin pressed to his lips. "This one will be trouble," he murmured to Paar, his wolfish brows cocking up to see what she thought of the matter.

The white boy shifted closer to him as well, no doubt for protection, and he lowered his nose down for all three, allowing them to poke and prod him as they willed. "They're truly amazing, Paar," he offered then, allowing seriousness to roll back in to the conversation as his own aqua eyes found their way to the tiny fiery she-pup next to her mother. "Have you named them?"

Atop her daughter's cinnamon-tipped crown she planted a fleeting kiss, and tucked her close against her side with her pale snout. With Durnehviir drifting off to slumber, she lifted her pretty crown to look up at her Alpha's face, the proud smile on her lips softening somewhat. Her tail flopped lazily in her contentment; this was not the perfect family unit that she'd dreamed of, but it was good enough. Maybe even better, when she and the pups had bonded better with their pack-mates.

She observed quietly as Scimitar interacted with the trio of boys at his feet, and fleetingly wrinkled her nose in distaste of yet another dominant display from Trajan. It was unusual for one so young to be such a bully, but for the time being she saw no need to correct his behaviour. He was too little to understand a scolding, but when he came of appropriate age it was something she would have to be putting a stop to, if it escalated any further.

"This one will be trouble," the agouti leader said, and Paarthurnax huffed softly through her nostrils. "He is his father's son, after all," she chimed, half-serious. She couldn't help but wonder if Shadow had been so bold as an infant much like Traianus was, and if he too regularly asserted dominance over the others of his litter. She knew that he'd loved his siblings dearly, however, so there was certainly hope that the little Angelus Mortis cub would grow out of it.

Silence lingered then, and Paar's copper eyes drifted between the three pups as they bickered among themselves presumably over who would be first to gain the attention of their visitor. She then focused on her Alpha, who fitted wonderfully into the scene by lowering his muzzle and allowing the youngsters to explore his face as they saw fit, and she felt her heart swell. He was a good wolf: kind and gentle and entirely selfless despite his bear-like appearance, and Paarthurnax couldn't help but find herself thinking, I could have loved you, perhaps.

But he had been Bazi's. He would always belong to Bazi, in her eyes, and so she shook the thought away and tried to ignore the sliver of guilt that came with it. Scimitar asked if she'd named them yet and, snapping back to reality, the two-toned Frostfur blinked dumbly up at him. "Sorry," she chirped, as though her mind did not just emerge from the dark place it had gone to, "day-dreaming." She laughed softly. "The little Shadow look-alike is named Traianus Marius, or Trajan for short. The pale boy is Julius Miraak, and that little ray of sunshine is Relonikiv Aetius." She hovered her nose above her daughter's sable back then, and smiled somewhat sadly: "the boys all have their father's surname - Angelus Mortis - and I gave her my own. It was tradition where I came from for pups to inherit the family name of their mothers, and so I asked Shadow that I continue that through our girls. He never approved. But now that we are separated, and there is only one... I named her Durnehviir Saarthal Frostfur."

She felt her mother tuck her close, and did not object. Instead, she gave in willingly, sinking against the pallid tresses of Paarthurnax' belly, her muzzle trailing sleepily through the fur. The scent and heat lulled her in and out of sleep, but she fought to stay awake.

Durnehviir's jaws parted in a mighty yawn and, when she closed them, happened to gather a mouthful of hair. She promptly spat it back out, and shuffled around in search of a teat to nurse, but soon lost interest. The little dragoness blinked up at her dam, stormy eyes wide with confusion - she didn't know what she wanted - to find the russet female gazing back down at her.

"Rrrr," she mumbled questioningly, unsure as to why all of a sudden the adult's attention had been diverted to her and her alone.

Trajan collapsed onto his belly when Julius headbutted his legs, though this time he let it go, surprisingly. Yawning, the silver boy rolled over until his belly was facing the air, his tail lying on the ground as he coughed once and after a moment, let out another burp. He had no intention of going back to sleep yet, he planned to just lie here on his back and listen to the extremely soft voice of the two adults, not comprehending their words. His ears were still sealed after all.

He'll let his pale brother go this time, but next time....

I just realized that Scimitar's not standing, so my last post doesn't make much sense. Whoops! *rolls with it* :P

Relonikiv decided he rather liked this spot, wedged between the Alpha's bearlike paws. He could see everyone else in the den all at once. He kept an eye on his squabbling brothers, though Trajan soon enough flopped on the floor. The littlest dragon cocked his head and cooed inquisitively at this development. It wasn't often that the feisty eldest pup gave up like that. Was Julius the Alpha pup now?

His bright blue gaze shifted to his larger, paler brother. Relonikiv opened his mouth and the squeaky predecessor of a bark rattled up his throat. He waved his tiny ratlike tail, showing his approval of Julius's new station as the litter's top dog. He then squeezed through the narrow space between Scimitar's paws, scooting forward to congratulate Julius with a lick to the chin.

Julius hadn't expected Trajan to submit, hence the reason for his hit-and-run assault. He hadn't meant to become temporary Alpha of the litter, he had just wanted to show that he wouldn't always put up with Trajan harassing him when the white pup already knew his place. However, Fate had decided to give Julius a taste of power.

Relonikiv seemed to like the new power shift. Julius responded to the lick with an affectionate, high-pitched, rumbling sound. He also gave the small golden sibling a clumsy, albeit good-natured, face-poke with his nose.

Now in an excellent mood, not that he hadn't been happy before, Julius attempted to stand up. He stood shakily on alabaster legs, but he wasn't asserting his dominance. No, the bigger wolves were more powerful than him, and he didn't dare challenge them. Julius wouldn't had challenged them even if he was more powerful. His tail extended in a straight line from his back. It was raised higher than submission, but not high enough to challenge the grown-ups. ....Well, it was until he took a shaky step forward and fell.

There was an interesting interchange between the siblings – wobbly puppy scrambling, and flopping, it would seem Shadow’s mini-me had decided the effort was simply not worth it and flopped over, while the other two took to glomming on to each other. Chuffing quietly, the male shifted his weight then, his nose tipping down to Trajan, giving him a playful nudge of his cold nose to the boy’s belly, as if to encourage him back upon his paws as he listened to Paar offer names – Roman names, he cringed inwardly, but spoke nothing. Two held a more exotic name, like her own, though it did not surprise him that Shadow had not agreed to allow the puppies to take her name at all.

His lack of insight to the mind of his fellow adult companion was likely a saving grace for them both – the confusion and turmoil the cinnamon wolf currently deliver deeper within from Bazi’s presence alone was something that would only hinder anything between them – that, and something far more interesting she mentioned at her surname.

Frostfur.

“Your last name is Frostfur?” His muzzle jerked upright instantly – his aqua eyes befalling the crimson she-wolf with mild surprise. Had he… put the moves on his relative?

It is 100% not my turn but this has been sitting for a month now, so I thought I'd conclude it/nudge it in that direction anyhow.

After congratulating Julius on his new status, however temporary, Relonikiv retreated back to his spot in Scimitar's arms. The tiny runt knew not what a father was, nor was he old enough to conceptualize the idea of parents at all. But if there was a father figure in his life, Scimitar was quickly assuming the station. Warm, happy and secure, he curled up against the cinnamon Frostfur, practically disappearing into his thick coat. It was the first but certainly not the last time Relonikiv would fall asleep in the majestic Alpha's shadow.