Sawtooth Spire being a father and a primadonna

All or any of the puppies! @Atuaserk @Malrok @Pingasut @Sitamat<3

Tonravik was off stretching her legs. He had no idea how long she'd be gone for, but that meant he got to have lots of quality time with his four biggest fans. Or at least, that's what he wished to be to them. Someone they could look up to. Someone they could desire to emulate, at least a little, when they were fully grown. He had high hopes for them, which in turn put the pressure on dear old Dad. These moments they shared together were some kind of special. He was going to make every one of them count.

Den duty. He was finally allowed in, but they weren't totally able to leave. No matter, he lay amidst the brood of them and babbled at them. "Aaaaaahhh" he said, mouth parted wide. "Taaaaaahhh" And now for the clincher. "Taaaaaakk" Atâtak. It was the word Tonravik wished for them to use... and since the letters there were a heck of a lot easier than dad? He grinned, amused with himself. These kids were gonna make his name their first word. Yes they were.

"Ahhhhh!!!" The sound was mimicked, blue eyes blazing as he bounded at the Bright World creature, mouth agape as he sought to "attack" him. This time, his nose was the the target, trying to latch on with small but sharp teeth. More sounds, reminiscent of a growl, of things that would develop over time. In no way was he intimidating at the moment but that too, would come, especially being the child of Iqniq and Tonravik both. For now though, perhaps his antics were cute, but they would fast become a nuisance if he was allowed to continue.

He stared at him from afar, still unsure of the large creature that blocked their way out of the den. He had made himself known from the outside to the pups a few times before, but he had only know decided to reveal himself. Like their mother, the other was huge, with fur that contrasted against the dimness of the den. He made strange noises, not unlike their mother's but still incomprehensible to the young wolf.

When Atuaserk joined in on the babbling, Sitamat swung his head to face his brother, only to see him then run forward to latch himself onto the thing's nose. Although uncertain, the boy couldn't help but draw forward. He kept a wary eye on his father, though, while the eldest assaulted his muzzle. "Ahhhrrr..." he quietly growled, slowly sneaking closer and closer.

Their father spoke to them, and the fox's attention was riveted to him, searching his face, but paying particularly close attention to the movements of the wolf's mouth. His head tilted this way and that as his ears swivelled to grab as much as the noise as possible. He parted his mouth, but before he could even attempt to babble his attention was drawn to the first born's attack, and then he watched as Sitamat crept forward. Not wanting to be left out, Pingasut fell in beside the black bear, mimicking his posture but with decidedly less seriousness. He wore a silly grin, and quietly chirped "Tak, tak, tak" as he snuck forward. His eyes were staring above, back on their father's face where they were moments prior.

Iqniq laughed. The firstborn didn’t quite seem to understand. Instead, he released a battle cry and sprang for his muzzle. Iqniq wrinkled his noise, parting his mouth a bit to make it harder for the boy to latch on. Eventually, he ended up lifting his head higher than the boy could reach and putting a paw on Ata’s head to keep him at arm’s reach. ”Aaaahhh taaaaah,” he prompted again, looking over to watch the other boys who attempted the sounds.

Sitamat was cautious as ever. He made no move to force the boy to run to him or greet him. In due time, his youngest would learn that he was safe, but until then, he had his paw filled with the eldest. ”Aaaaahhh!” he parted his jaws wide, emphasizing the sound as he repeated it. They’d get this. He knew they had it in them.

Three was jumping a little ahead of the program. It seemed his favorite sound was the last one and he “tak. tak. tak’d” away like he’d won the lottery. Iqniq grinned, laughing at the boy as he echoed the smile upon that one’s face. Fox-boy could hold his own. Tonravik didn’t have anything to worry about with this one.

”Aaaaaahhh taaaaah taaaaak” He put all three sounds together and coached each of them appropriately. These boys were bright, he knew, and even if they couldn’t quite master the sounds, at least they were exercising their voices. Learning, in any shape or size? Yup. He had full faith in them.

The muzzle was lifted from his reach and to say that the pup was unhappy with this might have been an understatement. Small teeth gnawed at the paw that kept him away, his drool wetting the fur in his mouth. Whatever sound he made now was muffled, until Ata grew bored with the current game. Pulling his teeth away, the boy moved from his father's front and instead moved to find his plush tail, his small body crouching as he readied an attack.

Moments later, he pounced, teeth looking to find something besides a mouth full of fur again. His mimicry was placed on hold for now, more concerned with how to capture and hold this appendage. His brother's voices reassured him that they were all still safe, though whether or not that would have changed his brash actions was yet unknown.

His not-so-menacing growl stopped when he noticed another drawing up beside him. The boy turned to look at his brother, head tilting as he released a series of sharp noises that caused the larger wolf to then laugh. Sitamat directed his attention to their father, confused by all the noises. His brother's grin eased his distress a little, though he still watched on unsurely as the eldest struggled out from underneath their father's large paw.

As Atuaserk made to attack the man's tail, Sitamat went to follow, curiousity beginning to win out over his wary nature. However, more noises gently sounded from above and he paused mid-step, craning his neck to look up once more at their father. His brow scrunched, and the cub was quiet for a moment, before he released an oddly confident, "ahhrrr-tah!"

The eldest went for their father's tail, and the youngest was spurred to aid in the attack. The fox was quick to follow astride his brother, who paused when the fiery wolf spoke. Ping stopped too, ahead now by a few paces as he could not predict his brother's abrupt stop. He turned his head to look back, and eager look on his face. Sitamat spoke, and Ping quickly added to his babble with a strong "taaaaak!" of his own. Together, they had more or less formed the word, though it was unlikely either realized it. The third born's attention was on Atuaserk's assault, and with a chuff to Sitamat, he turned to spring toward the brown pup, leaping in to join him with a gentle mouth seeking a grasp on the tail.

Sitamat's and Ping's babbling sounds like "heart attack" in my head LOL

These little buggers are so cute. -spins-

A paw to the face was not about to stop Ata. He nommed on his paw like a pro. Iqniq winced, tolerating the sharp milk teeth as he was thankful the bottom of his pads were rough and mostly numb from traveling. The top of them though? When his teeth slipped in that direction, Iqniq's ears pinned as he pulled his paw free as the pup became bored. Alrighty then. New game. Damn it. Not the tail.

He flipped his tail back and forth, moving it to keep it out of reach as he looked back over his shoulder and made Ata really work hard for a victory. Sitamat's arrival to check out the tail-chasing game caused Iqniq to lose his concentration on evading Ata's teeth. The wolf pup spoke. Iqniq woofed a happy sound and wagged his tail a little faster as Ping chattered back and joined in on the game. Haha. These kids were fun.

They chattered. Iqniq chose that moment to spring, rising to his feet as he spun a circle and landed in a playful bow towards the rough housing bunch. "Boo!"

Vaguely aware that his brothers were near, Atuaserk growled louder, as if to rally his brothers into attack. The babbling passed over him for now, not interesting in their vocal conversations as he watched the tail flop here and there. More than once, the pup lunged for the extremity only to come up with empty paws. The third brother joined him now and all was well and good until the large red wolf suddenly made a great movement and startled him.

He did not cower though, instead getting loud for once and yapped his high pitched bark in response to the loud word. But the bow he made was mirrored and Ata's butt wiggled in the air for a moment before he loped over to pounce on Iqniq's face once more.

Pingasut joined in on his nonsensical chatter, and Sitamat wiggled his tail as he echoed the sounds their father made. Taaaaak. Apparently the smallest was slightly more competent at this whole speaking thing than his brothers. Sitamat clenched his teeth as he tried to copy the sound, instead releasing only a high-pitched growling noise. He frowned, disappointed by the effort, before his attention was swept back to Atuaserk's mission. At Pingasut's encouraging chuff, he made to follow his brothers and aid them in pinning the pesky tail, before suddenly it swept up and away from them.

Iqniq's loud boo caused Sitamat to cry out in surprise before toppling over backwards, away from the larger wolf. He rolled a little ways before flipping onto his side, echoing the eldest with a reprimanding bark.

He had it for all of a moment, and then oh no! It was getting away. Before either of the pups could mount another attack, on a leg perhaps, their father was pivoting and dropping into a play bow with a boo!. This caused the fox to freeze, but he did not flee and his fur did not rise upon his back. One yipped back, and Four cried out rolled over before adding his own reprimand for the scare. Pingasut was silent, but as his brother pounced forward to re-initiate the attack, he turned to Sitamat and woofed to him, before leaping forward to join Atuaserk.

A jump. A spin. A playful boo. It was amusing to see each of his sons responding differently. Ata was quick to the rebound, jumping for his face. Ping barked back and kept him equally as distracted. Sitamat fell over in fear and barked back his lack of amusement. Perhaps he had a bit of Tonravik in him. Super serious. Unsure what it meant to play. No matter. Iqniq didn't have any time to think on it as the two boys pounced him.

He was careful to keep his paws somewhat light as he made his evasive maneuvers to try to sneak away. He pawed at the children, pulling his head backwards and out of the way, before he plunged it back into the fray and began licking them. Their noses. Their ears. Their little toes. Whatever weaknesses they left exposed, he licked and nudged with his nose.

Atuaserk gave little thought to the fact that Sitamat was so reserved, instead leaping for their father's face with his smallest brother. Yapping happily, the eldest mimicked him, pawing and licking atatak's nose and toes when he was within reach. More than once, the boy toppled into the ground and sometimes even into Ping, but overall, he stayed up more often than not, his mind automatically remembering small techniques that would help him when he began to learn to truly fight. It was play with a purpose, even if his young mind couldn't comprehend that right now.

Ever bold, Atuaserk lunged forward and sought to launch an attack on their father once again, quickly being joined by Pingasut. Sitamat stared after the smaller brother after his encouraging yip, hanging back instead of running in after them. His heart still hammered in his chest from the scare Iqniq gave them, and wasn't too eager to join in on the falls and tumbles that the other two were engaged in. Instead, he watched with Malrok, tail wagging despite his reservations.

Two of the brothers engaged their father while the other two spectated; to which the fox paid little attention now that he was focused on the game. He did not go for the same target as One, choosing instead to divide and conquer by going for a different target. If his brother aimed for the face, the third born went for a paw, ever shifting as their father moved and they were licked and nudged and spurred into changing their approach.

His relentless pursuit was stalled only when he tripped up on his father's leg (a rare occurrence for the graceful runt) and inhaled noseful of dirt. It initiated a sneezing fit which caused him to back away and paw at his nose, snuffling and snorting.

Double teamed! Iqniq warded them off here and let them land their blows there. They played. They wrestled. He cherished these moments up until the point where Pingasut sneezed. At that point, he had to put on a more serious dad face and check in on the fox-pup. He put one paw on Atuaserk's forehead as he charged, bringing the boy to a halt beneath the weight of it so he might pay the other more attention.

Iqniq licked Ping's nose. He had no idea if it would help, but it was worth a try. Anything to help get the dust out of his nose as he sneezed and snorted. Watching it, he couldn't help but think it was kind of cute. At that kid's size, the sneeze nearly rocketed his body with the force of the reflex. Eventually it would pass.

Until then? He woofed at Sitamat and tipped his head to Ata who lingered and squirmed beneath his paw. The eldest was wide open for a good pounce if the youngest wished to take advantage of it.

That his father held him at bay with a paw did not matter as the boy wiggled and squirmed and made every effort to escape and continue his attack. Completely unaware that his father made a suggestion for Sita to pounce him, the eldest child unsheathed tiny teeth and began to nip at the pads of the very paw that pinned him. This was fairly ineffective, he found, and he quickly went back to the drawing board, squirming once more to break free.

His energy seemingly boundless, his efforts did not relent, wanting to continue the battle with the empire of Dear Old Dad, obviously oblivious (say that three times fast) to his fox-like brother's plight.

Once or twice, Sitamat went to move forward, possibly thinking about joining his two more rambunctious brothers. He hesitated each time though, shrinking backwards and resigning to sitting back and watching them instead. That was until Pingasut stumbled over their father's leg and face-planted the dirt. He trotted forward a few steps with a concerned yip, looking up to Iqniq as he tended to the smallest.

He didn't miss the subtle gesture towards Atuaserk, though. The boy looked over to where the eldest struggled underneath a large paw, nipping and squirming to overcome the situation. Sitamat looked up to Iqniq again uncertainly, not entirely sure what he wanted him to do. It didn't seem he'd be able to help Atuaserk escape — even if they were both the largest pups of the litter.

Slowly, he crept towards his brother, nosing him once before crawling onto his father's paw and aiding in his efforts to keep the brown-furred cub pinned. He then turned to Iqniq with a small, eager smile. Was this right?

While he was pawing at his nose and snorting, his father came in for a check-up. An affectionate tongue bathed his nose, and he chittered with delight. He let loose another good sneeze and then his own tongue flicked out to collect any mess that may have resulted. With that, the fit appeared to be over, and he gazed at the spire's king appreciatively. Thanks for the help, Dad! his warm gaze would say. His attention was then drawn to his brothers: Atuaserk, who was pinned beneath a broad paw, and Sitamat, who surprisingly was beginning to creep up on him. Pingasut's ears thrust forward with interest as he observed his more timid brother making a move to further trap the brown cub.

Last post from me!

Pingasut was saved from the sneezes! It appeared the lick to the nose had helped and with it the boy rank his own tongue over his nose. Too much dad slobber? Iqniq didn't know. Instead he simply grinned as he watched Sitamat slink out of the shadows and move to help trap the squirming Atuaserk. All of the boys were playing now in some capacity, some frustratingly trying to escape, others aiding in the entrapment. It was all in good fun.

They all ganged up on Ata. Sort of. Iqniq tried lifting his paw when Sitamat plopped down on it, but the motion was a little awkward to carry any sort of weight, puppy mass or no. Nevertheless, Ata squirmed and wiggled free. Iqniq's paw, still weighted by Sita, fell to the ground and Iqniq braced for the onslaught of Ata furry. The ears. The nose. The whiskers. Whichever. He pulled all the boys into play and puppy wrestling until dear old dad was tuckered out.

and last from me! <3 Thanks all!

Suddenly, he was trapped! He couldn't get free! He couldn't even wiggle, for Sita's added weight helped to squish him a little bit and hold him still so that his teeth couldn't reach what he wanted to bite and nip at. Growling renewed and now, the boy fought harder than ever until he finally squirmed free and immediately dove to tak revenge, climbing up their father's face to get at what he could. This didn't last terribly long, of course, but it was long enough that when atatak grew tired, he was several times more so. With a few final agitated sounds, Atuaserk curled up against the plush red fur of his father and went to sleep in no longer than the blink of an eye.

Wrapping up! :D

The paw he perched atop bustled and jumped as the bear cub underneath it squirmed, trying to free himself. Sitamat stayed put, however, looking down at his brother with a smile and wag of his tail. He wasn't enjoying seeing the eldest struggle so much, but it pleased him that he was on top for once — literally. It was his first taste of success in a fight, even if it was only play, and the fact that his father was largely helping him pin his brother.

Eventually, Sitamat was forced off his spot on Iqniq's paw. Atuaserk had slipped free from his prison and released his wrath upon their father. The youngest let his tubby self roll down off the large paw and towards his sibling who sat by watching. He crawled the rest of the distance towards Pingasut to entice the smaller cub into play. It didn't take much encouragement. Before long, the pups were engaged in a confusing, chaotic wrestling match until, one by one, each wolf tired and drifted to sleep.