Bearclaw Valley I kick off the asphalt as I please

Xan has the sniffles. For @Scarlett & @Desna (apologies for double tag, aha), but @Sesi and @Nanook can pop in, too, if you'd like~

After they'd all arrived into the new, dry area, Xan had went right to sleep. He had tired himself out from playing in the puddles, but he would probably do it again if given the chance. The boy had yet to experience anything more satisfying than when he'd managed to splash water on his sibling. That had been hilarious, and he'd definitely do it again if ever given the chance to. He'd been dreaming of doing something similar, too, but was startled from his sleep. At first, the child was very confused, since he couldn't see any water around him like he had last time. Rolling onto his stomach, he then pushed himself up so he was sitting and looked around. He saw his siblings and mother, but was disappointed to find that his father wasn't within his line of sight. Giving a sniff to the air, he found he couldn't smell any immediate traces of the Inuit, either. In fact, he couldn't smell much of anything. Even the gross smell of all the leaves and stuff the silver one kept evaded his nose. There also seemed to be a strange liquid leaking out of his nostrils, which he didn't like at all.

Xan scrunched up his nose in disgust, then twitched it some to ensure it was working right. Realizing it was, he was left in a state of confusion, wondering why the hell he couldn't smell anything. Clearly angered by this new development, he let out a frustrated growl, though he was still so small that it sounded like nothing more than a gurgle. Then, there came something new. The inside of his snout started to itch, almost as if someone had stuffed their tail up it, and then it started to burn. He leaned his head down and pawed at his nose some, before sitting back up, figuring he'd solved the issue. Instantly, he was moved back some as a weird sensation overtook his body. It'd happened to him once or twice before, but he'd yet to figure out what it was. Again, the little boy sneezed, this time louder. He continued to sneeze, over and over again. After about the fifth sneeze, which was very aggressive and nearly knocked him over, it seemed to stop. The feeling faded away, but the second he felt happy about that, it was back. He didn't sneeze again like last time, but the feeling lingered in his nose, warning him that another was coming soon. When, though, he was unsure.

Scarlett was laying down in one of the rooms of Raziel's infirmary. It was a great cave Raziel found, which made her think of making it her forever home. Scarlett watched her babies but in the end couldn't help but doze off herself. The babies would need feeding soon and Scarlett found that she deserved a good nap before that. When she opened her eyes she realized that Xan was awake and well. Or wait, maybe he wasn't well. She tipped her head a bit and watched the pup. The gurgle was cute and the scrunching of his face. Scarlett picked the little one up and started licking him clean, to then realize he had a running nose. Oh! Poor baby.

She would need to talk to Raziel about having a cold with little ones. She decided that Xan would need bed rest and a lot of warmth. Scarlett nudged the pup in her armpit and then laid her head down, so her fuzzy neck was around Xan like a warm blanket, which he could escape with difficultly. Scarlett hoped that Raziel would return quickly so he could help her out. Maybe he had some herbs that would make their nose open. Did she ever hear something about that? She did! Wild Unions. That was what she needed. It would make a stuffy nose go away. But she didn't want to leave her babies alone. Especially now she knew Xan had the sniffles.

Edit; Did you want Raz to join this thread? o: For the wild onions?

The young wolf was not having a very good time with his nose. It was annoying him, and had even started to anger him. Why couldn't he smell? What was the liquid leaking out of his nose? He didn't care if his unasked questions were never answered, all he wanted was for it to stop. He had things to do, and didn't have time to deal with a messed up nose. Well, he did, actually, considering those things he needed to do consisted mainly of eating and sleeping. Curious about how to rid himself of his problem, he'd stood up and was prepared to start walking around in search of something that could clear his nose of whatever was in it. Xan never got that far, though, as his mother reached out and pulled him close to her. Normally, he might not have minded. This time, however, the motion irritated him. To make matters worse, she trapped him. She would not get away with that!

Xan squirmed around as he tried to escape his mother's grip. His body wiggled for awhile, until he found that doing so was only tiring him out. So, he then started to claw at any part of his mother he could reach, and even went so far as to start trying to nip at her. Of course, he wouldn't do any real damage, since she was so much bigger, but that didn't stop him from going through the motions. The young Inuit boy did not want to be held so close to fur that could tickle his nose, he wanted to fix his nose. "Go," he said, stretching the word out as he struggled to pull himself away from his mother. Though the boy had yet to learn too many words, he was starting to pick up on them. The meanings of most often refused to register in his mind for awhile, but 'go' was one he'd been quick to pick up on. He wanted to go.

@Raziel could join in. Why not! :D

Scarlett noticed that her young boy was struggling against her. Of course the pup would want the opposite of what she wanted. It was only natural. Though she disliked him nipping and clawing at her. It was disrespectful and Scarlett would want to have her pups learn manners. Her teeth instantly gazed over the side of his neck, to tell him to stop it. It was a very instinctual move that even a young pup would get. "No, you are not going young man, especially not with that attitude," she spoke. She did move him between her paws though. He was going to have to rest if he liked it or not.

Scarlett would have to wait for Raziel to get back, maybe he knew of the uses of wild union and if he didn't then he gained some knowledge how to dry up a stuffed nose. At least that is what her mother did when Scarlett was young, only if the other pups had a stuffed nose, not when she had a stuffed nose of course. Xan might look like her but somehow he had Kove written all over him. Little rebel he was. But Scarlett was not a mother that would let her household be ruled by her young. She was surprisingly strict at times.

The boy continued to struggle until he felt teeth graze his neck. The feeling made his movements stop momentarily, and he let out a disapproving cry. He did not like that at all. It was worse than having his personal space invaded, and worse than being trapped. It made him upset with his mother, as she had been the one to do it to him. Xan grew more annoyed as he heard her speak. The sentence was longer than what he was use to, but there were a few words that stood out to him—such as 'no', 'not', and 'going'. Did she really expect him to stay there with her? Couldn't she see that he wanted to go? The young Inuit needed to fix his nose, and her holding him so close was not helping. As he was moved, her fur brushed against his snout, causing him to sneeze. Again, he let out his version of a growl, which was filled to the brim with annoyance despite how small it sounded. "Go," he repeated, trying to wriggle away from her again. Clearly, he had not learned his lesson, or perhaps his determination overpowered his instincts.

After some more struggling, he stopped, needing to catch his breath and let his body regain it's strength. Xan let out an aggravated sigh, followed by a whine. The sound started out small, but then the tricky child raised his voice, making it sound almost as if he were hurt. There was nothing wrong, but he was so determined to get away that he was willing to pretend. It would become a trick that he would use multiple times in the future, milking it until everyone learned it wasn't real. "Owww," he added in then, wanting to make it as believable as he could. While his face was scrunched up in false pain, the boy was grinning like the Cheshire Cat on the inside.

Scarlett let out a long sigh when Alexander kept struggling. He really was determined and she could only admire that, though currently she wasn't really enjoying it. Even though the pup was between her paws instead of her armpit he still seemed to struggle. Scarlett almost had a life long experience with kids, before she left she was always the one that needed to babysit all the pack's young. Especially with her own children she knew the 'something is really wrong' cry compared to the 'I like to get what I want cry so I pretend I am in pain' cry. Scarlett wasn't going to let the pup go anywhere, whatever tantrum he would throw.

She noticed that he was getting tired quickly so Scarlett was most definitely not giving up. After his rest she would see how the struggling boy was doing, but for now she wasn't going to let the pup do much. He needed to keep calm and eventually he would need to surrender. She was resilient and wouldn't even let Xan' cuteness get in the way of that. If only she saw being an alpha the same as motherhood. Though, for now Scarlett was perfectly happy with being a mother only.

Despite his cries, his mother refused to let him go. Xan was losing more and more of his patience by the second, which wasn't really saying much considering his patience was always quite thin. He struggled for a bit longer, before settling down to think of another tactic. Struggling was getting him nowhere, she hadn't fallen for his injured-act, and so his choices on what to do next were limited. He thought of just giving in, but the idea was a fleeting one and was quickly forced out of his little head. He was determined to win, and had no plans of giving up anytime soon. No matter how tired he got, he was determined to keep going. Then, an idea popped into his mind. If his earlier methods wouldn't work, then he would try something else. If she was going to annoy him, then he would annoy her right back.

Xan stopped moving entirely, but then his mouth opened up. Normally, he was a quiet child, but that was only when things were going his way. The second someone decided to go against him, he was quick to voice his disapproval, wanting to be sure they knew how upset he was. Whines and cries started to fall from his mouth, each one getting louder than the last. The only times he'd stop were when he needed to take a breath, but the seconds his lungs were filled he would go right back to complaining. "Goooooo..." he shouted, giving no hints to when, or even if, he'd ever stop.

Scarlett wasn't going to give up and it seemed Xan wasn't either. Maybe he did have her stubbornness. Scarlett was going to debate over that later. Yes, his cries were horrible to her ears but now there was some actual sound in them. When Nanook was younger she would cry the whole night or even through the day with this high pitched squeal. She had survived that, so the mother could survive this too. As much as Xan slept before he was making that up now with all his struggling and squealing. Scarlett just let her ears fall against her scalp. He was going to stop squealing eventually and that moment Scarlett would thank herself for her determination. It would also make Xan learn that his mother was not one to be messed with. She wouldn't allow it.

Scarlett tried to focus her hearing on something else than the baby below her. But she did keep her eyes on him because he was not going anywhere until he rested and would give up. She was surprised how much fight the baby had in him. It only meant that he was strong even though he had a running nose. Scarlett just started grooming him since there were a few spots in his fur that weren't pale white.

Wanna wrap this up soon? c:

Whether it'd been stubbornness or just plain determination, Alexander was not willing to give up without a fight. Well, in the beginning, anyways. By now, he was growing tired, and the burning sensation had returned to his nose. His cries started to die down, before coming to a stop entirely. He ceased in his struggles as well, feeling his mother's tongue run over him. It became obvious that none of his tactics would work, but he still wanted her to know he was not pleased by the current situation. As the feeling in his nose increased, he worked to wiggle on his back, believing he would be allowed to so as to better be cleaned. That wasn't what he had in mind, however. Being cleaned was a mere diversion, and the boy waited for his real attack to come out. Sadly, the feeling in his snout vanished, which broke his entire plan apart. He was about to roll back over onto his stomach, then, but something marvelous happened—he sneezed. Not only did he sneeze, but he sneezed right on his mother's muzzle. He'd hit his target!

Realizing what he'd done, a grin crept across the boy's face. Xan's little tail started wagging for the first time in awhile, and he even allowed a few giggles out. That would show her for sure! Of course, he didn't realize that being sneezed on was nothing compared to what he and his siblings had done when they were much smaller. Being peed, pooped, and even thrown up on had to be ten times worse than a little sneeze. Still, he thought it was the best thing in the world, and was very happy over having managed to do it successfully.

Yes! :)

Scarlett let out a soft puff when Alexander was finally calming down. She shook her head for a moment and then watched at the pup finally started to rest. Scarlett didn't even react to Xan sneezing on her but his giggles and wagging tail got her attention. Was a cutie he was. See he liked being groomed and loved by his mother. Scarlett knew it. With some Love and Cuddles Xan would be totally better. When Raziel returned she would look for some wild unions and they should be good.

Scarlett hummed softly, still holding Xan close to her so he was warm and cozy. She continued her grooming session too, knowing that it would hopefully lull the pup to sleep. After that, hopefully his nose would be a bit better and the baby would feel much happier.

Last post from me~

As the boy's giggles faded away, he came to the realization that his 'attack' had had no effect on his mother. It was disappointing enough to make him frown, and caused his tail to stop wagging. Nothing ever went as planned for the boy, but that was something he was determined to change. He'd show them all, his mother included. Though, he decided he would need to wait until after he could smell properly again before taking action. While he despised the scents of the herbs, he did like the smells of some other things—like a fresh breeze blowing in from outside. It was rare for him to ever actually be able to smell it, since there was usually always someone blocking the exit, but whenever he was given the chance to, he enjoyed every second of it. Without his nose working, he could not do that, which made him upset. Not as upset as his mother had made him, but pretty damn close.

Xan worked his way back over onto his stomach, letting out a yawn as he did so. He didn't want to sleep, since that meant he would have lost the battle, but his body seemed to disagree with his mind. The warmth caused sleep to call out his name, attempting to draw him in with her soft voice, but his mother's humming helped him to stay conscious. He would not succumb to sleep—or so he had believed at first. Before the boy had even realized it'd happened, his eyes had shut and the beauty that was sleep pulled him into her dark embrace. She held onto him, casting him into his own little land of dreams, and it seemed he wouldn't be allowed to leave for awhile. At first, he tried to fight it, tried to force his eyes back open, but in the end his sleepiness had won. Unconsciously, he snuggled a bit closer to his mother, seeking the warmth and comfort she provided as he slept.